The next day came along and it was morning. It was a sunny day outside while Eda, Luz and Maxwell were flying on Eda's staff. They were headed to Hexside, it was going to be Maxwell's first day at attending Hexside with Luz. Maxwell had his bag with him as it had everything he needed in there.
"You two alright back there?" asked Eda curiously.
"I'm alright." Luz responded.
"Maxie, how's it going on your end?" asked Eda.
Maxwell was silent as he was looking towards the direction they flew in. He had no emotion on his face but on the inside, he was a bit nervous, his stomach made a loud gurgling sound which made them grow worried about him, sensing he might be sick.
"Maxie, did you swallow a bug?" asked Luz worried.
"It's probably something he ate this morning. I sort of suspected that too much red meat in the morning was a slippery slope waiting to happen." Eda guessed.
"No estoy listo para esto." Maxwell finally spoke.
"Oh come on, Maxie. You've been to school before. Even I was nervous on my first day." Luz reassured.
Maxwell carefully wrapped his arms around Eda as if he was afraid to fly or afraid of heights when his time being with them had made him less afraid of heights or flying. Eda knew that Maxwell was panicking or nervous.
"Maxie, you gotta calm down. What are you nervous about? You've been to school before. Besides, you'll have Luz going with you there along with Willow, Gus, Amity and the twins." Eda told him trying to reassure him.
"I understand. But it's something else that's got me nervous as a chihuahua having a panic attack." Maxwell replied.
They knew that something was bothering Maxwell from how his reaction showed and they knew that it wasn't about one of the factors they've suspected.
"Maxie, are you nervous about your first day?" asked Luz.
Maxwell blushed and nodded. Both Eda and Luz remembered that at Maxwell's old school, he had a terrible time because his own father made him attend a school that was for child prodigies like him and that he had plenty of awkward moments there and that he was bullied by other kids just because he was a southerner.
"Maxie, are you afraid that you might go through the same hard time you went through at your old school?" asked Luz curiously.
Maxwell knew they guessed the truth as he was reading Luz's thoughts and he knew that both of them were worried about him because they care about him.
"Yes. It's just going to Hexside even when I do got friends going there with me. I know that this means I'm starting over. Even though I like this school and I'm going to be with Luz as I go here to learn how to control this power. Still, I don't want to go through a horrible time like I did at my old school. You guys already know what I went through before, I just don't want to go through that again." Maxwell told them showing a tinge of self doubt.
As they remembered that Maxwell was abused by his own father, his father made every choice and decision for him without even letting him have a say in anything, they knew that Maxwell's father was always controlling his life and putting so much pressure on him. That, and he was bullied before, and the loss of his mother was hard on him. They knew he was just as nervous as Luz was on her first day. They had a word of comfort.
"Well, think of it this way, little man. Since your dad isn't here, he can't tell you what to do anymore, he's not here to put any pressure on you or yell at you. Both your dad and them bullies at your old school are not here to hurt you anymore." said Eda attempting to reassure him.
"That, and I'm going to Hexside with you. So are Willow, Gus, Amity, Edric and Emira. If anyone bullies you, than we can make them leave you alone." said Luz also trying to reassure him. "Even if you do make a mistake, we all know that it happens and there's nothing wrong with it."
"By the way, since you two are going to school together now. I want the two of you to look out for each other while you attend that dweebus factory. Watch each others backs." Eda advised.
"Yes ma'am." said Luz and Maxwell in unison.
Eda saw that Maxwell needed more of a pep talk as she saw he was nervous, afraid and his expression on his face looked saddened. She smiled as she had a word of advice for him.
"Maxie, don't worry about what those dorks think, if you want my advice, walk into class and roar like the mighty lion you are to establish dominance. You got hair like a lion's mane, show it off." Eda advised.
"I appreciate that, but I'm probably not going to do that, but I appreciate advice and the compliment." said Maxwell blushing a bit.
They saw the school closer now. Eda's staff flew gently to the ground as they made a safe landing on the brick road like walk way that lead to the school. Both Luz and Maxwell got off the staff and grabbed their bags with them. The two kids were just about to walk off.
"Hold up!" called Eda.
The two kids stopped and looked towards Eda as she removed her hand from her arm and tossed it at Maxwell as it landed on top of Maxwell's head to pat his head for reassurance. It helped him feel a little better. Her hand suddenly rapidly crawled towards Eda and she placed her hand back on her arm as she screwed it back on like a screw driver twisted screws in a hole.
"If you ever get nervous, think of something that gives you unshakable confidence, like when you stood up to prissy Lilly or when you took down that blood sucking parasite on the day you got enrolled. Like you said: Mama said knock you out." said Eda gently punching the air. "You got this, just like Luz."
Maxwell remembered how confident he felt during those two mentioned events and he was cheering up a little bit.
"Eda, how do you put up with me?" said Maxwell with a grin.
"Family is suppose to put up with each other, no matter if they get along or not. And you're my man, just like how you do anything for me or Luz and King, we do the same for you." said Eda proudly.
As Maxwell knew she was right and he was feeling a bit better from hearing those words, that's when Eda's staff pulled up and began to fly off while she waved at them and they waved back. As Eda disappeared into the distance. Maxwell was thinking of Eda and he looked towards Luz.
"Ella tiene mi corazón latiendo más rápido." said Maxwell blushing with a grin.
"Faster than jet plane at full speed limit, that's for sure." chuckled Luz.
Maxwell let out a small chuckle as they walked towards the school on the brick road like walk way as they saw other students outside that were ether talking to each other, just arriving at the school and some of them were looking like they were just hanging out before school would start with the first class. The school looked more like a castle from their angle. Some female students nearby saw Maxwell from a distance and they were waving at him while smiling as if they were flirting with him. Maxwell blushed and nervously waved back. The girls nearby let out an excited squeal as Maxwell looked down and away from them. His shy feelings were temporarily dissipated when they saw Amity stopping by them while she had an eight foot tall purple abomination creature helping her with carrying her books.
"Hey Luz, and Maxie. Congrats on getting in Maxie. And not being in the baby class." said Amity kindly greeting them.
"I'm grateful." said Maxwell. "I see you've conjured up an abomination creature."
Maxwell quickly noticed that Amity was also carrying some books of her own and he muttered a word that sounded like "táska" and snapped his fingers twice and a purple trail of smoke came from his bag, going towards Amity and it formed into a large ball and the smoke disappeared which a purple backpack appeared after the smoke cleared. Luz and Amity had no idea what this meant but they got their answer soon enough.
"Take it with you, Amity. You can place your books in it. Well, you can place a three ton anvil in it and the bag will still be light as a feather." said Maxwell offering the bag to her.
Maxwell made a motion with his hand and the bag's zipper opened up while the books that both Amity and her abomination carried floated into the bag and the zipper pulled over to close it. The bag floated towards Amity and she placed her arms through the arm loops as she carried it and it felt light as a feather like he said.
"Maxie, what did you just do?" asked Luz curiously.
"Gave Amity a spare bag. It's fire proof, water proof, it's tear resistant, even bullet proof. Just in case." Maxwell answered.
Amity was at first speechless as she felt like this was a gesture of kindness just like how Luz does something similar for her.
"Just out of curiosity, why do this for me?" asked Amity.
"I figured it could help take some of the burden off your back." Maxwell replied. "Also, what ever item your looking for in there, just say the name of the object and tell the object to rise."
Amity was left showing a small smile as she came over to Maxwell and pulled him in for a hug, she hugged him for a minute and removed her arms from him afterwards. Maxwell was blushing but he felt good in what he did for her. Both Amity and her abomination walked away while Amity felt like she was given a small miracle to help her with carrying anything heavy, both literally, figuratively and metaphorically.
"That was sweet of you, Maxie." said Luz with a grin. "Careful though, them girls might chase you."
Maxwell understood Luz was only joking about the last thing she said and he knew that what he did for Amity was a grand gesture of compassion.
"I hope I don't disappoint them girls but I already got a woman and she's the most powerful witch on the Boiling Isles." said Maxwell with a grin.
"Hey look, there's Eda and she's coming to kiss you." came a familiar male's voice.
Maxwell looked around to see if Eda was anywhere nearby but he saw no sign of her. His excitement was short lived. They saw his bag was moving and King came out of Maxwell's bag like the clown from a jack in the box toy.
"King?" said both Luz and Maxwell surprised.
"Boop!" said King giggling and lightly poking Maxwell's cheek. "Got you, lover boy."
Maxwell blushed as he knew that King was the one who pulled a bit of a joke but he brushed it off just as quickly. King jumped out of his bag and landed on his feet to the ground.
"King, why are you in my bag?" asked Maxwell curiously.
"Three reasons, one, if anyone bullies you, I'll tear them limb from limb, two, I couldn't resist telling that joke earlier, and three, the trash cans here are filled with half-eaten gold!" stated King.
King was about to jump for the trash can to rummage around for any possible half eaten food but Maxwell didn't like the idea, he felt a bit grossed out by the thought of it.
"King, you stop right there, right now!" Maxwell commanded.
King stopped and looked back at Maxwell as if he was afraid that he was about to be punished for something.
"King, you shouldn't eat what's in the garbage, one, it's gross and not healthy, two, eating something someone bitten off from, you don't know if that person has a sickness, and three, if you're hungry, try this." Maxwell instructed.
Maxwell reached out from a compartment of his bag and pulled out what looked like a sandwich wrapped up in yellow paper, he handed it to King as he took it. King sniffed it and his tail wagged in excitement.
"Bacon, cheese, eggs over easy, sliced ham and turkey, red marinara sauce, large meat patty. Oh, you didn't." said King dreamily.
"Oh, but I did. I also got a spare bag you can use." said Maxwell.
Maxwell muttered the same word as before and a trail of dark grey smoke came from his bag and once it reached King, it stopped and formed into a ball as the smoke finally cleared and it took the form of a backpack for King and King placed the sandwich in the bag as he put his little arms through the arm loops as the bag was perfectly his size.
"There's also a sweet, cold one in there for you. By that, I mean a soda." said Maxwell.
"Oh Maxie, you're a blessing, thanks a lot." said King feeling giddy.
"Anytime little guy. But if you're going to be around here, try to stay out of hot water." Maxwell kindly instructed.
"I can't make any promises, you know kids." said King giggling.
Maxwell knew that didn't sound at all too comforting to think about but he knew that some kids are on a mischievous streak so he knew chaos could happen without warning. As both Luz and Maxwell walked off, Maxwell told King something through his mind that would help him understand how to use his backpack better which King heard him Maxwell tell him that through his mind. The two walked towards the front steps that lead inside the school as they met up with Willow and Gus.
"Luz! Maxie!" said Willow and Gus in excitement.
"Hey guys." said Luz and Maxwell in unison.
"Hello, classmates!" said Willow with a wink and grin.
"You did it, Maxie!" said Gus happily.
Gus drew a blue circle in the air and grasped it like he was grabbing a door knob and tossed it into the air like it was baseball. Than the blue circle formed into a message that read "BETTER LUCK NEXT TIME!" Willow gave him a disapproving look while Gus smiled nervously.
"Sorry, I was covering all my bases." said Gus apologetically.
"Not to worry. If we make mistakes, than it's alright. At least I got in." said Maxwell showing compassion.
Gus felt like he was forgiven for the little misunderstanding when Maxwell shown compassion and understanding for the mistake.
"So, do you know who those witches are?" said Willow pointing to nine decorated tapestries.
Maxwell looked at the nine tapestries. He took a minute to look at each one as if to memorize each tapestry that showed each coven.
"So, do you know who those witches are? Those are the heads of the main nine covens. Each one excelled at a magic school like Glandus, St. Epiderm, and, of course, Hexside." explained Willow.
As Maxwell looked at each coven on all nine tapestries, he felt like he'd rather learn about all magic and learn to control his power as if he desired to be like Eda in that magical aspect. He looked back at Luz, Willow and Gus.
"They all have one thing in common. They've all worked hard to get to where they wanted to be." said Maxwell.
"That they did, but just imagine if you invented a new coven. They'd probably have a picture of you and a lion." said Willow encouragingly.
Hearing Willow tell him that had Maxwell chuckling and blushing.
"Oh no, no, no. I'd rather not lead a coven. I'd rather not join or invent a coven. Eda never joined a coven because it's like she said, covens restrict your magic to where you only learn one form of magic. Everyone deserves to learn all forms of magic if they choose to. If Eda prefers freedom to do all forms of magic, than I'm with her on that." said Maxwell blushing deeper.
"Oh you!" Luz kindly told him with a grin.
"Are you prepared to enter these hallowed halls?" asked Willow kindly.
"Lets hope so. At my old school, my first day resulted in the building experiencing a power outage." said Maxwell with a hiccup.
"How did that happen?" asked Luz.
"One of the fuse boxes blew a fuse. We had to be sent home early before the school day could begin. But power was restored the next day." said Maxwell showing some optimism.
Willow and Gus were still learning about anything human related but they looked as though they never heard about how humans keep a building's lights on with the electricity they use and how they keep it operated.
"So humans keep their homes and other buildings power maintenanced? I've never heard of that." said Gus looking intrigued.
"Humans do things differently than witches. Although, humans probably don't know that witches do things differently because, well, humans never met a witch before so they don't know about the existence of the Boiling Isles." said Maxwell showing some understanding. "So where do we go to first?"
"I'll show you where. We'll have to head to Principle Bump's office before we go to a class." said Luz taking the lead.
Luz lead the way inside the school as Maxwell followed her. Willow and Gus were hoping that things will be alright for both Luz and Maxwell, especially since they knew Maxwell was sensitive and had it rough in the past.
Luz and Maxwell walked around the school by going down one hallway and another till they've reached the doors of the principle's office.
"Lets hope Principle Bump isn't in a grouchy mood." said Luz hopefully.
"Could be worse. He could be dancing to the Macarena." chuckled Maxwell.
"That's funny." laughed Luz.
They let out a sigh and took a minute to get serious as they knocked on the door and opened the door, walking inside it as it closed behind them. Principle Bump was looking at a crystal ball that acted like a television to the witches and wizards, he was watching a news report on the crystal ball.
"Ha! Take that, Glandus! Looks like this year's Grudgby match is going to be a forfeit." said Principle Bump feeling victorious.
Maxwell let out a whistle to get his attention which worked, he looked up to see Luz and Maxwell walking over to his desk.
"Is this a bad time?" asked Luz.
"Nope. Just seeing a news report on the crystal ball. They said something about a mysterious man in a coat was attacking students and possibly teachers at Glandus High, some of the students and teachers were left exhausted with some minor slashes from claw and teeth marks that could've come from a reptile." explained Principle Bump.
Principle Bump saw that a look of concern shown on Maxwell's face while Luz was also worried but she was mostly worried about how Maxwell would react.
"Sir, shouldn't we be on an all red alert about this too? That dangerous man they spoke of could possibly find his way here." Maxwell warned.
"I wouldn't worry about it too much. Glandus is a far distance from Hexside." said Principle Bump being dismissive.
Maxwell felt like a bit of defiance with a mix of concern for the older male kicking in as he looked at him with a stoic face.
"I wouldn't ignore this, sir. That unevolved vampire nearly tried to drain the whole school. If this mysterious man comes here, would you dismiss it if he took a chunk out of your arm like a lion who kills their prey? You need your arms and hands, you lose one of them, than it could affect how you perform magic. Also, when that vampire showed up, didn't any of the kids parents give you angry phone calls or send angry letters to you and threatened to sue? We know you don't want that, you need this job like how you need your hands." Maxwell kindly warned by reminding him of what could possibly happen.
This was when Principle Bump started to remember that day with the vampire and the incident that happened when the Greater Basilisk invaded the school and nearly drained all students and staff of their magic as a source of food. He remembered both incidents could've resulted in lawsuits filed by the students parents or worse. He hated to admit it but he knew Maxwell was right.
"You do make a good point. I'll inform the teachers and staff about this and have them inform the students." said Principle Bump relenting. "Also, Maxwell, now that you'll be attending Hexside while learning to control this strong and powerful magic you possess, we never had a student who possessed such magic, I've informed your teachers on what they'll do to help you learn to control this power."
Maxwell felt a sense of ease to know that he took his warning seriously yet he curiously wondered what did Principle Bump tell the teachers.
"Don't worry, I only told the teachers how they can help you learn to control this magic, I never told them anything personal." Principle Bump informed.
The two teens let out a sigh of relief. Principle Bump got up from his seat.
"Now, to choose a track." said Principle Bump. "Since Luz is learning all magic here, and it appears you'll be doing the same."
The older male traced a bright green circle in the air and a circle of the same color surrounded Maxwell from the floor, it flew up above him and his school uniform took the colors of all nine tracks that Luz had on her uniform. Maxwell looked at the uniform and let out a whistle of amusement.
"Hermoso." said Maxwell surprised.
"You said it." Luz said with a grin.
"Maxwell, I say this to all my students so I expect you to be on your best behavior. Based on the costly repairs from recent incidents, we're still working on repairs to any or all possible damages." informed Principle Bump with a groan.
"Maybe you could use an extra pair of hands. I can lend a hand to your people, it won't cost you anything at all." Maxwell kindly offered.
"I appreciate the offer but it's best we leave it to the men that are tending to these damages. We wouldn't want to risk a kid getting hurt." Principle Bump declining the offer. "Now off to class with you two."
As Principle Bump was just about to trace another spell circles, that's when Maxwell snapped both his fingers and Principle Bump's spell circle disappeared in a puff of green smoke, leaving him to be wide eyed a bit.
"I don't want to tell you how to do your job, sir. But I wouldn't do that if I were you. Especially to a lady. As long as I'm still around and still breathing, no man is allowed to lay a hand, finger or their magic on a woman. It's the same as hitting a lady and it's impolite to hit a lady. Not trying to argue, just figure you should allow ourselves to go to class on our own without you flying us there like tossing a football into the air when it reaches the N zone." Maxwell lectured. "We'll walk ourselves to our classes."
Maxwell and Luz walked out of the office, his words left Principle Bump speechless as if he lost a compelling argument about how human rights should be handled.
"It's going to be a long day." thought Principle Bump.