A/N: Not too much to say here that won't spoil the chapter, but to make up for that the ending note is pretty long.

I am six years old the first time it happens. My mind is still foggy when I return to normal, not understanding what has happened to me. Just that I stopped being myself for a while, and I don't like it. There's a primal anger inside that isn't my own, screaming to be let out and it's just so loud now that it's had a taste of freedom. It pounds in my skull, reverberating through my bones. I now realize it's always been there, under the surface, but I never had words to describe what it was before. Now I do.

I'm sitting on our living room couch, or what survives of it. The place is torn to bits, scratch marks on the wooden floors, furniture gnawed upon with deep teeth marks forming grooves, and a litany of feathers litter the place. None of that concerns me nearly as much as the raised voices in the other room, though.

I'm only six, but I know my Mama and Mommy are fighting because of me. About what I did while I was away from my body. I can't make out their words, mostly, but I do hear a few.

"My daughter is a monster, Eda!"

Mommy comes out a little while later, crouching down so she's level with me, cupping my face in her big hands. "I'm going to go away for a little bit, okay? I love you, and I'll see you soon, alright?"

I just nod my little head, believing every word Mommy says.

Mommy doesn't come back for a long time. When she does, she has her own house now, and she doesn't stay over with Mama anymore. I know deep in my heart that I'm the reason her parents don't talk anymore. I ruined everything, because I am a monster.

Luz wakes from her dream and she's fourteen again. There's a light layer of sweat on her skin, from her unsettling dream or just the Summer heat, she isn't sure which.

Groaning tiredly, she checks her clock. It's only a few minutes before her alarm would have gone off, yet despite that she wants nothing more than to cover her head back up with her blanket and go back to sleep, feeling like she hadn't got any rest during the night.

It had been almost a week since the Knee, and she was still at her Mama's house. Back in the room of her childhood, which still bore the brunt of her earliest transformations into the Owl Beast. A rug in the middle of the floor hid claw marks. Her bedframe's leg had been chewed, then the marks clumsily refilled to hide the damage. Nothing that had happened recently, she hadn't transformed since… well, the Knee, but it had been years since her last one before that.

She'd almost forgotten how disturbing it felt, to be pried away from your own flesh and bones, forced into the back of your own head, where you just existed in a void until it was over. If that's what the monster inside of her was always going through, she couldn't really blame it for clawing its way out whenever it could. She'd do the same.

Luz's alarm screams at her, and she quickly shuts it off, silently pondering if she should call in sick to school again, or if she should just suck it up and go. After a minute of deliberation, she decides to go to class. Her friends always cheer her up way more than brooding in the dark ever did, anyway.

Luz tried to perk up at the idea of trying to be a dark anti-hero who couldn't brood, and it did improve her mood. Besides, how could she be truly broody when she was the only person ever to have a copy of Azura the Good Witch that had been signed by Azura herself?

That, and she'd be seeing Amity today. It would be her first day of school, after all, and that was worth getting out of bed for.

Amity was welcomed warmly into Bump's office the day after passing her audition with flying colors. She always tested well, and knew what to do to impress a teacher, and Bump hadn't been any different. He'd been honest with her after she was finished that making an ice sculpture of him had been going a little overboard, but made him feel appreciated, and that he would have accepted her as a student as long as she'd shown she was capable of magic, and the stage hadn't been set on fire during her presentation.

Amity was glad she had learned an ice glyph first, rather than whatever the fire one looked like, in that case.

She's been presented with a plain white uniform, and told to meet him bright and early for her first day of Hexside, and so here she was, getting her schedule and being told she'd have to pick just one of the nine branches of magic to learn.

"Well, any preferences, Miss, uh, Amity?" Bump asked, leaning in his chair behind the desk, eying her paperwork with it's lack of last name. He shrugged it off as a Human thing, and moved on. "Normally, as an apprentice of Eda, I'd have you put in the Potions track. It's what she took when she attended, and it's a bit of a tradition for a child or an apprentice to follow in their parents or mentors footsteps."

He leaned forward over his desk, and with a strained smile added, "However, that would mean pairing you up with miss Noceda-Clawthorne, and while you've made an excellent first impression at your audition yesterday, I'm not willing to tempt the fates and put you in the same class as her. Just to be safe."

Amity frowned at that. The only thing that had kept her out of the baby classes were her potion making skills. She did need something acidic to get rid of the giant ice sculpture of Bump, after all. Besides, getting to hang out with Luz all day had seemed like a really fun idea, only to get shot down before she even had a shot at picking it.

Seeing as Amity was struggling with her decision, Bump decided to make it for her, "How about the Oracle track? I know you don't know any spells that would help you, but after seeing your skill set I do think it's a good fit. They use a crystal ball for most of their magic, and seeing as you have to use outside sources, it's probably the best fit. Unless you play any instruments?"

Amity blanched, thinking back on the time her Mother had made her take piano lessons. Amity had gone through four tutors before her mother had given up, labeling Amity as tone deaf. It had been the only thing she'd been 'allowed' to fail. "I'll take the Oracle track, please."

"Excellent," Bump magically transformed her uniform into the deep purple associated with the class, then reached into his desk and handed her a piece of paper, "Here is your schedule, I'm sure you'll enjoy it. And if not, well, it's too late to back out now!"

Amity frowned, sticking her new schedule into her bag and hoping she'd made the right choice.

Amity had in fact not made the right choice.

The oracle track was less about predicting the future, and more about spying on everyone, using a network of undead familiars to do so that were summoned via crystal ball. They'd invisible collect that information for the summoner to judge and predict trends in groups.

A lot of the class work almost seemed business-like in it's approach. Students were expected to sabotage and feed fake information to each other, while working out the truth from the lies themselves. To reach a "prediction" students had to make graphs and charts using the information they had obtained that they had deemed truthful. This information would then be used to "make a prediction" and you were judged on how correct that prediction came to be.

Amity was frighteningly good at it, seeing as this was more or less a class on business sense applied to more than just the office. That was something she'd normally take an incredible amount of pride in, if this utter violation of her fellow students' privacy didn't make her think of Odalia, and how much she'd love to have this kind of power at her fingertips.

Beside her, a dog-like demon she'd been introduced to named Barcus seemed to notice her discomfort, nudging her with his paw. He made a few growling sounds, and she sent him a polite smile. She couldn't understand exactly what he'd said, but she caught the meaning.

"I'm okay. This is just a bit invasive for my tastes."

Barcus just nodded, likely having put that together from his own crystal ball readings.

Amity continued to frown, but didn't voice her displeasure. Like Bump had said, she'd be stuck with this forever now.

"I can't believe I'm stuck with this forever now," Amity groaned, head against the cafeteria table as she and her friends ate their lunch two days into her attendance.

Luz patted Amity's back, trying to console her. "I'm sorry. I'm sure you'll fit in just fine as the lessons go on."

Gus ate his sandwich, not too concerned with what Amity had to say, "I'm sure Bump was just being dramatic when he told you you'd be stuck. It's not like changing tracks is entirely unheard of here at Hexside. Willow did it!"

Amity peeked up at Willow, who looked a bit embarrassed to be called upon. "That was a special case, Gus."

Amity however, was desperate, reaching out and grabbing Willow by her green sleeve, "Tell me your secrets."

Willow patted Amity's hand, giving her a little smile. "Well, my parents wanted me to be in the Abomination Track. It would have given me a good job when I graduated, that was less physically demanding than their own line of work. They wanted me to have a nice, easy life."

Amity could sense a 'but' coming, and gestured for Willow to continue, "buuuut?"

Willow chuckled, "but, I was total garbage at it. I couldn't make an Abomination no matter how hard I tried. Even after a whole year in class, I was no better than I was on day one."

The plant witch looked back on those memories, and frowned sadly, "The other kids used to make fun of me. They called me 'half-a-witch Willow."

Amity leaned in, getting invested on where this was going, "And? How did you get transferred?"

"Well, I met Luz." Willow said, as if it was as simple as that. "She encouraged me to follow my passion, which was plant magic. So, I studied up in secret, got even better than I was, and she pushed me to ask Bump to switch my track. He was pretty hesitant at first, since by that point I'd been in Abominations for two years, but he was so impressed with my plant magic he got in contact with my parents, and did all the paperwork to get me transferred."

Luz clapped politely as the story finished, a big grin on her face. "So, all you have to do is impress Bump enough to get him to do the paperwork! It's not like it's illegal to switch tracks or anything, they aren't like covens."

Amity pondered what her friends had to say, picking at her food, "So, I've just got to get really good at one branch of magic? That'll be a task all of it's own. I don't even know all that much about the different tracks and what's expected of them here at Hexside. I only know one proper spell and a handful of potion recipes, too. And what if I get really good at one in another track, then end up hating it just as much as Oracle magic after I transfer?"

Luz just grinned, bumping their shoulders together, "You just leave that to me, I've got magical exploration covered."

Amity wasn't sure what to expect when Luz led her into an empty classroom after lunch. The place was dusty from disuse, and she didn't understand at all what this had to do with learning about more tracks, and what might fit her better in the long run.

She watched curiously as Luz took a nearby chair, and used it to prop the door behind them closed. Now it was just the two of them, alone, in a dark classroom that no one could enter, learning about 'magic.' Amity's heart thumped in her chest as her imagination went wild over what was about to go down. She'd heard stories about high schoolers sneaking off to makeout in empty classrooms. Should she go along with it, or turn Luz down? Did she even want to turn Luz down? Were her lips chapped?

When Luz walked right past her without a word, instead taking a piece of chalk from the chalkboard, Amity felt a little confused, and more than a little embarrassed. Shaking the ridiculous ideas this situation had put inside her head, at least for now, Amity watched as Luz drew a square on the board, along with a keyhole.

With a grin, the dark skinned witch turned to Amity, "Can you keep a secret?"

Amity didn't trust her tongue at the moment, so just nodded, making Luz give a squee. She pressed her hand against the board, and much like a small trapdoor, the square she drew opened up. Not a moment later Luz was climbing into the chalkboard, beckoning Amity to join her.

"What the-?" Amity gasped as she looked inside the trapdoor, and into the void on the other side. Inside of the room were doors upon doors, stretching over every inch of the place, some upside down, some sideways, others right side up, and most of them ever so slightly crooked. The room spiraled upward like a tower, the doors climbing ever upward.

"Welcome!" Luz exclaimed, spreading her arms in a very Eda-esc fashion, "to the Secret Room of Shortcuts!"

Amity quickly climbed inside the chalkboard to join Luz, who began to show her around the place. "My Mom made this room when she was attending Hexside, and used it to learn all kinds of stuff! She showed me how to use it when I started coming here, since she wanted me to be a little rulebreaker, but I mostly just use it to learn other branches of magic."

Luz waved Amity over to one of the doors, opening it just a crack. Inside was the potions classroom, where much to Amity's surprise, there was another Luz inside, stirring a pot. This second Luz caught Amity's glance, and sent her a subtle finger gun, which Amity awkwardly waving in return, before turning her focus back to the Luz beside her, "How are you-"

Luz just laughed, "Illusions. Remember, I'm pretty good at them? Not nearly as good as Gus, but I made sure to cast a clone of the two of us and sent them off to our classes. They aren't perfect, but as long as they don't talk to anyone we know really well, and people don't look too closely, no one will notice we're not actually there!"

Luz took Amity by the hand and led her over to a giant, graffitied portrait of what was clearly supposed to be Eda, "This is our patron saint of naughtiness, my Momma-dearest, or as the other's know her as, Lord Calamity."

Amity snorted at the nickname, making Luz giggle as well, "She seriously went by that in school?"

Luz nodded, mirth over every inch of her face, "I know, it's really lame, huh? Who knew Mom was such a tryhard as a kid?"

Amity's smile froze when she realized what Luz had said a moment before, "Wait, others?"

No sooner had she said it did one of the other doors open, and three figures stepped inside. A short girl dressed in Healing Track Blue, a much taller boy with a serious expression in Plant track green, and a familiar dog-like demon that Amity had met earlier that same day, Barcus. The three seemed surprised to see her in the room with Luz, who had simply sent them a cheerful wave as they approached.

The girl stepped forward first, giving Amity a friendly smile, while the boy stayed behind her, looking cautious, "Heya, Luz. Who's the newbie? I don't think I recognize her."

Barcus woofed, with the others all looking at him. The boy then spoke up, having understood him perfectly, "She's in the oracle track too?"

Luz nodded, "Yup. Today is Amity's first week at Hexside, and I'm giving her the tour. Amity, this is Viney and Jerbo, and you've already met Barcus."

The girl, who Amity now knew was Viney, offered a friendly handshake. "It's nice to meet you. We're all part of the Junior Bad-girl coven, and this is where we come to conspire to break the empire's most sacred laws."

Amity, already mid-handshake with the grinning girl, had to fight to not immediately retract her hand. Luz just laughed, giving Amity's shoulder a squeeze, "Calm down, Amity. She just means they study more than one track of magic."

"Can we really trust her, Luz?" Jerbo asked, looking hesitantly in Amity's direction, and borderline hiding behind Viney's broader shoulder. "We can really get in trouble if she rats on us, is all I'm saying. And she's brand new, so it's not like any of us know anything about her."

Barcus barked, giving Jerbo a sly grin, to which the plant track boy retorted, "It's not like any of us who aren't Oracles know anything about her, is that better?

Luz rolled her eyes, and threw an arm around Jerbo's shoulder, "Jerbo, it's fine! I've known Amity for a month now, and she's great. She lives with my Mom as her apprentice, and we all know my Mom is the baddest gal around. Amity won't say a word, right Ams?"

Amity nodded, still not one hundred percent sure why she was here, but having no intention on getting Luz into trouble. "Uh, not to be rude, Luz, but how does this place exactly solve my Oracle track problem, and get Bump to let me switch tracks?"

Viney whistled, "You're trying to change tracks? That's a lot of paperwork for Bump to go through, as far as I know, it's only happened once before."

"I know the story," Amity assured her, glancing between Viney and Luz.

Luz however, already had the answer to Amity's question, "That's easy! You wanted to learn which track would suit you best! So, using this place, you can look around at all of them until you find one you like enough to join. Then, you get really good at it by studying it in secret, and impress Bump so much he has to change your track!"

Amity fidgeted, "Not that I doubt your plan, Luz, but if it was so easy, what are these guys doing here?"

Viney clapped Amity on the back, "Don't you worry about us. We're not trying to change tracks."

"We're interested in more than one field at once," Jerbo supplied carefully, still not fully trusting the new girl, "We're not looking for a transfer, but this is the only way we can study the tracks we want to take. I'm officially in the Plant track, but I also am really passionate about Abominations, and there are so many ways to mix and match those branches that just aren't allowed."

"I want to learn Healing and Beast Keeping," Viney added, pointing to two separate doors as she spoke that Amity could only assume led to the two tracks. Amity's mind went to what Camila did for a living, at least before Viney spoke again, "My pet Griffon, Puddles, is an amazing assistant. Sure, she can be a bit enthusiastic, but she isn't making the injuries worse. Mostly."

Barcus added his own two snails, but since Amity couldn't understand him, Luz filled in, "Barcus says he was placed in the oracle track, but wanted to revolutionize the way it worked through potions. In my opinion, as a Potioneer myself, I think he's got the right idea, potions are incredibly flexible in what you can get them to do, after all."

Barcus gave a nod of approval, and Viney continued, "Luz here helped us all out. Multi-tracking is against the rules, but because Luz wants to learn all the tracks, she was also keeping an eye on us from this room, and got us all out of being thrown into the detention track by causing a little bit of Clawthorne mischief someplace else at around the same time Bump would have busted us."

"Then it was just a matter of letting us join her here, and we've been learning a second track in secret while attending our main tracks ever since." Jerbo finished. "We really owe her a lot."

"Aw, you guys, that was all your hard work, I just opened the door for you," Luz blushed under their praise.

Viney put Luz in a headlock, ruffling her hair, "Stop being so humble and take the credit when we give it to you!"

This just got Luz back into a laughing fit, shoving against Viney to escape.

Amity smiled as she watched Luz, surrounded by her friends, the people she had helped. Luz really did everything she could to help everyone around her, including Amity, didn't she? "Is this what you did for Willow when you were younger?"

Luz winked slyly, finger gunning at her human friend, "Maaaaybe."

Amity smirked, then nodded, "Okay, I'll do it."

"Huh?" The group stopped to look at Amity as she spoke.

"I'll go along with your plan. It's a good one, and I know it'll work." Amity clarified.

Luz's face broke into one of the widest grins she'd ever had, and without warning she rushed Amity, wrapping her arms around the human girl's waist and lifting her off the ground, "We'll absolutely get you into another track! Just you wait."

"Now that that's decided," Viney added, smirking as Luz, who now remembering they had an audience, let Amity drop with a red hue on her cheeks, "Wanna put your name on the wall of troublemakers, newbie?"

The next few days were some of the busiest of Amity's life. From the time she woke up, she'd be biking to make her deliveries, then biking to school, where she'd spend her pre-lunch hours in Oracle lessons. From there she'd go hang out with her friends, new and old, then study a little bit of every other track Hexside had to offer after lunch until school closed, all while not being caught in the act, before heading back to the Owl House with Luz. It was a lot to pile on her shoulders, but she accepted it all with glee. This was a challenge she fully embraced, and there was something kind of exhilarating knowing she was learning things she wasn't supposed to.

On Friday things changed a little, her schedule going as planned until she stopped by her locker to drop off her books after lunch. Amity wouldn't need them after all, they were all for the Oracle classes she'd be skipping, and the illusion clone Luz had made of her that would be taking the class in her stead wouldn't need them either.

Just as her locker finished swallowing the books, keeping them safe in its belly, a hand slammed onto the locker next to Amity, and a flash of red hair entered her vision. She turned to see a three eyed girl giving her a triple stink-eye, a small gang of students from various other tracks behind her as they moved in on Amity.

"Can I… help you?" Amity asked cautiously, not understanding what this was about. Perhaps if she hadn't skipped as many of her Oracles classes, she'd have seen this coming from the various data points she'd have had to put together.

The triclops glared at her, "What, you don't recognize us? Are we that far below your notice, oh ruler and destroyer of the Treasure Shack?"

Now Amity was truly confused, looking behind the three eyed girl to glance at the rest for clues, "I- what?"

"It's because of you that we spent three days trapped in other people's bodies!" The girl snarled, thrusting a finger into Amity's chest, and now Amity remembered.

"Wh-wh-what! That wasn't me! I had spent that day outside of my own body! You got stuck with a demon who was running around as me!"

The girl continued to glare, "You expect me to believe that crap?"

Amity grimaced, "If it makes you feel any better, I spent the day stuck in the body of a middle aged woman and harassed by the guards?"

While that didn't make the triclops budge, it did make one of her cohorts snort behind her. A girl in red that marked her as a bard laid a hand on the other girl's shoulder, "Come on Boscha, she's acting nothing like she was at the Treasure Shack. I'd say she's telling the truth about us dealing with someone else."

While not everyone in the group seemed to agree, there were enough echoes of the same sentiment to at least give Amity the benefit of the doubt to make the triclops, Boscha, back off a bit. Rather than glare at Amity, Boscha instead leaned her back against the other locker, casually inspecting her nails. "Alright, let's say I believe you. What's a human like you even doing in a school like this?"

"Learning magic, same as you," Amity said, crossing her arms.

Boscha snickered, as if that were a funny joke, "Everyone knows humans can't learn magic."

"Actually," One of her friends spoke up, the one wearing a beanie with long sleeves that covered his hands. The color marked him as an Oracle student, "She's in the Oracle Track with me. She's close to being top student, behind Barcus, after only a week."

"No one asked you," Boscha growled, but seemed to concede the point. "Fine, so you're learning magic. Big deal."

She seemed to consider something, her third eye widening, "Say, I tend to keep company with a lot of the best. I'm not saying I'll let you into the group yet, but I'm willing to give a human with the talent to be near the top of her class a chance. What do you say, wanna hang out with us for the day?"

There was a murmur of agreement among the rest of the students, all of them siding with Boscha's statement. Amity felt a little put on the spot, but they were giving her a chance, despite their run in with King when he was in her body. It would mean skipping out on hanging out with Luz and the rest of the Junior Bad-Girl Coven, but she was sure they'd understand if she took a day off of her studies to make some friends who didn't already belong to Luz.

As much as Amity liked Willow, Gus, and the Troublemakers, she did sometimes feel like she was hogging Luz from them, or that she was akin to a third wheel. She was the newest person in the friend group, who only knew everyone else because Luz was connected to them. This was Amity's chance to branch out, to get a group of her own. At worst, she could at least clear up this misunderstanding with the body swap, and clear the air between them.

Amity shrugged, "Sure, I'm game."

Boscha grinned, exposing her sharpened fangs, "Sounds great. Tell me, do you happen to play any sports?"

Amity dodged a roaring ball of fire, the flames coming so close that it singed her clothing as it passed. When she'd been asked if she wanted to play a friendly game of Grudgby, she hadn't been sure what to expect, but this hadn't been it.

It was far more exhilarating than she'd thought any sport could possibly be. Also, deadly. Really deadly.

Beside her were Cat and the boy with the beanie, who's name she'd been told, but had forgotten. They'd been assigned to her team, while Boscha had gotten Skara and Amelia. At the time, Amity hadn't realized she was being set up, her team having two novices, with only Cat being a player, while Boscha had got to keep her primary team, and was the Captain of the Hexside Banshees to boot.

Amity's team wasn't exactly winning, but she was having a lot of fun regardless. The field was utterly destroyed around them, several patches of grass iced over from Amity's own barrage, while just as much was on fire from Boscha's attempts to take Amity out of the game.

"You okay over there?" Cat asked, side eyeing Amity. The witch was winded, and almost seemed sorry for her human teammate for getting caught up in one of Boscha's rampages. "I didn't think she'd be this hard on you when we decided to play."

"I'm fine," Amity replied shortly, smirking despite how her body ached and protested every minor movement. She was going to be so sore in the morning. "I think Boscha's finally moved past trying to kill me. I might even say she looks like she's having fun!"

Amity should have known this was some kind of trap. She'd gotten so used to Luz's softness, she hadn't expected to be set up by another witch. Still, despite what Boscha had thrown at her this entire game, the fact that Amity was still standing seemed to earn some of the triclops' respect. Her sneer seemed more like a grin as she chucked more fireballs Amity's way, missing the mark on all but one, that with an ice clad hand Amity caught from out of the air, reclaiming the ball for her team.

A glance at the smoking ball made Amity's eyebrows perk, as the telltale sign of a glyph was scorched into it, quickly disappearing as the embers faded. "Here, take it," Amity threw the ball to Cat, whipping out her notebook to scrawl the glyph down for later.

"What's our play?" Beanie boy asked, and Amity kicked herself again for never learning his name.

The three huddled together to work out a plan of attack. They only had less than a minute left in the game, and were down by several points. It didn't really matter what they did, there just wasn't a way to score enough to win at this point. Still, Amity wanted to make a good impression, one Boscha would never forget, "Okay, here is what we're going to do. Cat will take the ball, and will kick it to…. You. Keep passing it back and forth, keep their team in the middle of you, then get it to me when I reach the end of the field, near their goal."

"And then what will you do?" Cat asked, pushing up her glasses, which had been cracked after she'd been tackled halfway through the game.

"Once it's to me, there will be a huge gap between the ball and them. I'll ice over the field so they can't get to me easily, then race to get it into their goal. We won't be able to win, but at least we go out with a bang. What do you say?"

The two other Hexolios nodded, pumping their fists, "We can do it!"

Amity cheered them on, loving the enthusiasm they had for the game despite knowing they'd lose. The play started, her teammates putting some distance between her and themselves as they passed the ball between them. No one on Boscha's team was paying Amity any attention as she backed towards their goal while keeping an eye on her teammates, who did their best to weave past Skara and Amelia.

They didn't do their job well enough, and Amity swore as the ball was stolen from them. Then she cursed again as she stepped on something round and smooth, feeling her foot slide out beneath her as she fell to the ground.

The sound of Boscha laughing at her met Amity's ears as she rubbed her head. "Ugh, okay, who left their… ugly metal beetle on the field?" Amity asked, lifting the object she'd tripped over up, looking around and demanding answers.

Skara, who had the ball, dropped it, mouth agape. Cat and Beanie boy took one look at Amity, then broke out into cheers, huddling around the human and lifting her off the ground and onto their shoulders. Boscha grit her teeth, spewing one foul word after the other. It all left Amity feeling very confused. "What?"

"You found the Rusty Smidge!" Amelia informed her, coming over to help support Amity on her teammates shoulders. "That means you automatically win!"

That didn't help Amity at all with her confusion, but she shrugged it off, "Well, they do say don't look a gift horse in the mouth…"

The teens set Amity down, their exuberance flowing freely with cheers and fist pumps. In the midst of this though, Boscha stepped forward, arms crossed and face unreadable, and her friends became quiet, waiting to hear what their leader had to say. Boscha eyed each of them slowly, all three eyes landing on each one of her friends, before landing on Amity, who tensed under the Captain's glare.

Then, Boscha smiled, "Not bad. For a human. What do you guys think, should she be welcomed to the Treasure Shack?"

The group unanimously cheered, and Amity was worried they'd try to heave her into the air again, "Wow, those are some high words of praise, coming from you, Boscha. Are you sure you didn't get a concussion?" Amity asked, but unable to keep a smile off her own face. Boscha's grin was infectious.

The triclops lifted a finger to her temple, and when she pulled it away there was a bit of blood sticking to her fingers, "We can't rule that out, but you did a good job regardless. You'll fit right in with the rest of my gang."

Boscha threw an arm around Amity's shoulders, pulling her in close, "You managed to beat me, even if it was just with the Smidge. That's impressive. I like impressive. I hope you'll be thinking of trying out for the team in the future."

Amity felt a heat reach her cheeks at the closeness. Between the way Boscha was eyeing her, the sweaty uniforms, and how out of breath they all were, it was hard to tell if the girl was flirting with her or not. Or if Amity liked that.

Boscha grinned and her third eye winked, and oh yeah, Amity liked it. "Yeah, I think I will." She sent the sports star a wink back, feeling a bit warm when she noticed a blush on Boscha's cheek.

Together, the group began to migrate back towards the main campus, Boscha's arm going from around Amity's shoulder to around her waist. A bit forward, but Amity wasn't complaining. Boscha had nice arms, and her confidence was incredibly attractive. "You know, it only now occurs to me that we all cut class to play a game, should we try to sneak in, or something?"

The others giggled at her suggestion, like it was ridiculous to even ask, but Boscha shut them up with a wave of her hand, "Nah, I'm the Grudgby Captain. The school lets me do impromptu practices whenever I want. Really, they'd let me get away with murder as long as I keep winning."

Knowing the Boiling Isles, Amity wasn't sure if that was exaggeration or not. She merely hummed, and hoped the redhead's body count was low if this was going to be the start of some kind of relationship between them.

At that moment, for whatever reason, Amity thought of Luz, who was also skipping her classes, though to study everything else, and felt the faintest bit of guilt for hanging out with another girl. She tried to force those feelings away, telling herself Luz would be happy for her. She'd found some new friends, and when Luz found out, she'd be ecstatic. Maybe they could even all hang out together. Yeah, Luz would like that.

The group made their way into the school, their excited murmurs echoing off the empty walls. It seemed oddly quiet, the Grudgby team being the only voices in the building, which at first didn't strike Amity as unusual, until she realized she couldn't hear the muffled speaking of teachers or students in their classrooms. It wasn't just quiet, it was as if all the ambient noise had been sucked out of the building, down to the gentle hum of the lights.

A tug at her waist pulled her from those thoughts as Boscha continued, "So, huma- er, Amity, I was thinking, you don't have to hang out with those other kids at lunch anymore. You can sit with us from now on. What do you say you and I get some grub next lunch period? Or… maybe tomorrow, if your Saturday is free?"

Amity's cheeks flushed as she realized this was probably Boscha's way of asking her on a date. There was just a bit of an issue she'd taken with Boscha's tone, though, "I'd love to, really, but, well, I happen to like those other kids I eat lunch with. I would hope they'd be invited as well, um, at school, not tomorrow. Do you have some sort of problem with them?"

Boscha grimaced, "Ugh, I wouldn't say it's a problem as long as they stay out of my way. I mean, sure, Half-a-witch got moved to a new track a few years ago, but she's still garbage at anything other than plants. Even the basic spell curriculum like shields and fire spells are out of her grasp. The Illusion brat is good, and pretty funny, but he's just a kid, I can't take him seriously."

Boscha shook her head, "But Luzer is the worst. I take Potions with her, and she can hardly stay focused on one thing, and her grades are in the tank. Besides, with her Mom being who she is, that practically makes her a criminal by association. You're better off ditching them, they'll just drag you down."

Amity frowned, side stepping out of Boscha's reach so her arm fell limp at her side. When Boscha tried to reclaim her place at Amity's side, the human girl slapped Boscha's hand away before it could snake back around her waist. "I happen to know Luz, and she's a very hard worker. Don't say stuff like that when you don't know what you're talking about."

Boscha's face fell, her mouth curved into a downward line, "She can hardly think straight. If she was as hard working as you say, she'd be the top in potions, like I am."

"I don't care that she's not the top student," Amity growled. Boscha's groups watched awkwardly from the side, not knowing who to side with in this argument. "I like Luz, she's been very kind to me. The same with Gus and Willow. They're my friends. I was hoping we could all be friends."

Boscha seemed to consider Amity's words before she spoke next, pursing her lips. "I can't be friends with those bottom of the social rung morons. You're just gonna have to choose, me or them."

The red head crossed her arms, her word final. Behind her, her friends seemed to agree with Boscha, nodding and folding their arms as well, even if they seemed a little sorry to have to do so. Cat and Beanie Boy especially, who's glances seemed to beg Amity to choose Boscha, and by extension, them.

Amity looked back at them, then looked at Boscha, coming to a realization. Breathing a sigh, the human girl spoke, "You know, I was just like you, once. Only where you seem to choose it, I wasn't allowed to have friends who were below me at my old school, so rather than disappoint myself and get close to them on my own, I'd act like a jerk and push them away before they could even try."

Boscha's eyes seemed to perk, indicating she was listening as Amity continued. "I had 'friends' who didn't actually know or even care to know me. I had to hide my real self from them constantly, because as much as I didn't really enjoy their company, it was better than being alone when they realized I wasn't all that different from the people they considered below them."

Amity looked Boscha in the eyes, a hard task to do when she only had two to Boscha's three. "So, I gotta ask, Boscha, do you actually value your friends because they're your friends, or just for their social status? And do you like who you are, or does the person you portray yourself as only exist to keep them from leaving you?"

Amity centered her gaze on Boscha's group behind her next, "And maybe I'm overstepping, but you should ask yourselves that question too. Do you guys actually want to be friends with Boscha, or is it just because she's Team Captain, and is 'going places?'"

"I'm done pretending to be someone I'm not. I'm done choosing my friends for their social status, or for what they can do for me. I won't let you call my friends names like Luzer or Half-a-Witch, and if it means choosing them over you, I will do so, because they liked me before they found out I got good grades, or because I kicked their ass at a game I'd never played before that they're supposed to be the best at. They like me for me, and I like them for them." Amity jabbed her finger into Boscha's chest, daring the other girl to say anything against her.

The place fell to silence. Boscha's gang shifted uncomfortably behind their leader, and Amity wondered if her words had reached any of them, and if any of them felt they were true. Boscha remained unblinking, staring Amity down, but didn't speak.

Breathing out her nose, Amity gave the Grudgby player a pat on the shoulder, "You're pretty, Boscha. And talented. And probably a lot of other things I'd have liked to have learned about. If you ever decide to change, I'll be happy to go out on that lunch date with you. Until then, goodbye."

Then she turned around, holding her head up high, and started to march away. Maybe she burned bridges. Maybe she could have handled that better. But she couldn't regret standing up for her friends and herself. Boscha finally sputtered, reaching out to Amity but she was too far down the hallway for her to grasp, "Wait, where are you going?"

Amity paused, then without looking back began to reply, "I'm going to find-"

The quiet hallway erupted into screams and hisses. Amity turned around, to see a large, snakelike monster had been where she'd been standing, it's tail pinning down Boscha's friends against the floor, while the redhead herself was in the beast's grasp. It's mouth was open, and it seemed to suck something out of Boscha, who tried to scream and cry, but her voice rang weak and hollow. The Grudgby captain fainted in the snake's grasp, and was dropped to the floor like a rag doll while the creature moved on to her friends.

"So much magic to feast upon!" The fanged demon laughed, plucking another teen, this time Skara, and repeating the process.

"- Luz…" Amity uttered out in shock, then took off as fast as her feet could carry her, hoping to make it to the empty classroom and the Secret Hall of Shortcuts before it was too late to warn her friends that the school was under attack.

Amity made it to the empty classroom, throwing herself at the door. It didn't budge, of course. Luz liked to prop a door against the handle so no one came in while they were in the room of shortcuts. Still, Amity didn't know the shortcuts well enough to find and open them anywhere else than here, so she pounded against the door, ramming her small body against it until the vibrations shook the chair on the other side enough to make it fall.

Amity crawled through the chalkboard, ignoring the dull aches of her flesh, only to be immediately pinned the moment she came through by a pair of strong hands. Fearing she was already too late, she gave a cry, only to be released just as quickly as she was taken down.

"Sorry!" Viney's voice met her ears, the stronger girl climbing off of the human and offering her a hand up, "I freaked out and pinned you like any other Beast."

As Amity was heaved back up to her feet, she breathed a sigh of relief to see everyone else was already here, looking just as panicked as she felt. Luz was pacing back and forth, her Scroll in her hand, muttering to herself. Jerbo was curled into a little ball over in the corner, looking a moment away from a panic attack, and Barcus seemed to be trying to divine the future with his crystal ball.

"I don't envy any of the animals you've worked with," Amity forced a smile, brushing herself off, "I'm going to assume from the state of things here that you all know what's going on?"

"Yeah. A Greater Basilisk attacked while classes were in session. She posed as some kind of inspector or something to get in." Viney explained.

"So, you basically know more than I do right now, good." Amity breathed a sigh of relief. "Can you tell me anything about the Basilisk? You're the Beast Keeping expert, right?"

Viney perked up a little, but deflated all the same, "Well, I can tell you only three things. One, Basilisks are shapeshifters. It's how it got inside the school. Two, they eat magic, draining it out of witches until they're too weak to defend themselves."

"And the third one?" Amity asked, hopeful it would give them some way to defeat the thing.

"They're supposed to be extinct, and have been for hundreds of years!" Jerbo cracked, losing what little composure he had left, "Meaning that any way to fight these things has basically been lost to time."

Amity bit her lip, "Gotcha. What about Luz?"

Hearing her name, Luz glanced over, giving up with her scroll, "I was trying to call my Mom, so she could help us fight this thing, but the signal can't get out of the room of shortcuts unless we open a door because it's technically a pocket dimension."

"And we can't do that, why?"

"Because the second we open that door and make a call, the magical signal from the scroll will lead the Basilisk right to this room, where it'll eat us." Luz sighed, slumping against a wall.

"We're doomed…" Jerbo moaned.

Amity looked around at their defeated faces, "Maybe not…"

Luz looked hopeful, "Gotta plan in that big brain of yours, Ams?"

"You said it eats magic, right? That explains why it more or less ignored me when it attacked the others," Amity explained. "But I can still use Glyphs. With this room, we have the element of surprise, and the ability to move around like no one else can. I say we take the fight to it when it's guard is down."

Viney clapped a hand on Amity's shoulder, "If you've got a plan, we're listening."

Amity stepped out of the Room of shortcuts, landing on the ground right behind the Greater Basilisk. With it none the wiser, she drew out a piece of paper with an ice glyph plastered on it, taping it with her finger and then quickly sliding it across the floor, where it erupted underneath the beast, slamming it against the ceiling.

With the Basilisk dazed and it's focus entirely on Amity, it lunged carelessly, slithering across the ground where the human awaited it. "Now! Do it now!" Amity cried as the Basilisk got into position.

Without any time to respond to the unseen threats, the Basilisk found itself pinned to the floor this time by Puddles, Viney's trusted pet Griffon. The two fought and wrestled, Puddles getting a good slash across the Basilisk's face and even exhaling Spider breath on it, when a hidden door below the two opened up, and the basilisk fell into the Room of Shortcuts.

Below, Luz and Jerbo were waiting, opening yet another door for the Basilisk to fall through, one that led right to the auditorium. Unfortunately, the basilisk was too big to fit through the second door, Jerbo having to summon a green Abomination made of sludge and plant material to attack, one of its arms forming into a stump that it used as a hammer to get the Basilisk through the door.

Flying down on Puddles back from above, Viney and Jerbo joined Amity and Barcus, the latter of which had crystal ball in his paws, and a potion in his muzzle, which was splashed onto the downed Basilisk's face to blind it, while a summoned familiar held the beast down.

It was Amity's turn next, as she eyed the creature before her as it wailed. With it blinded, it couldn't counter their next strike by just swallowing it. She almost felt bad for doing this. Almost. "Time to fry!" She exclaimed, pulling out the page of her notebook that had her new fire glyph on it, holding it forth and blasting the Basilisk with a jet of flame that engulfed the beast.

As it screamed in pain, glowing balls of stolen magic flew out of its mouth, it's body deflating more and more with each one freed, until all that remained of the Basilisk was a bit of charred snakeskin, cooking over the now burning auditorium stage.

Amity felt more than a little mentally scarred after watching that unfold, while beside her Barcus and Jerbo breathed sighs of relief. Viney tended to Puddles, who had sustained a few scrapes and cuts in the fight. Meanwhile, Principal Bump, who had witnessed most of this and had his magic reclaimed, now loomed over them, looking none-to-pleased to see students mixing magic. Seeing the Principal coming, Luz, still above in the secret room, grabbed the door and closed it to the point where there was just a crack allowing her to see and hear.

"Uh," Amity raised a finger, "I know you said you'd have let me join short of me burning down the auditorium, but that was on Monday, so this doesn't count as an expulsion, does it?"

"I'll get to you, Miss Amity." Bump promised ominously, instead making his way over to the members of the Junior Bad-Girl Coven. "You should know by now that mixing magic is very much against school rules. It skirts the Emperor's laws. I should be handing you all out detentions, if not outright expulsions for what you've done."

Amity strode between her principal and her friends, holding her arms out, "And yet they saved the school! Without them, you'd all be powerless at best, Basilisk food at worst. You can't punish them for that! If a rule exists just to punish someone, then it shouldn't exist at all! And that's coming from someone who loves the rules!"

Bump frowned. As much as he didn't like a student telling him what he could and couldn't do, he did have to begrudgingly admit that she had a point. "So, what would you have me do?"

"Let them take the tracks they want to take! Heck, they learned all this stuff on their own anyway, they'll just keep learning no matter how you try to stifle them." Amity pointed out, making the Principal sulk.

Heaving a sigh, Bump conceded, "Very well. I'm smart enough to know that if things don't change, you'll just rebel and overthrow the school like I did in my youth. I'd rather keep my head where it is, thank you. We'll do a trial run. I want you all to know, if your grades can't keep up, you'll be punished and put back into a one track program. And the laws haven't changed just because I'm bending school rules for you, when you come of age, you'll have to join a coven. You'll still have to pick just one of those."

The troublemaking trio's eyes lit up as Bump gave his blessing. With a faint smile, Bump beckoned them, "Now, which tracks do you want to join?"

"Healing and Beast Keeping!"

"Plants and Abominations!"

"Woof!"

With their uniforms changed, Amity was the only one left, "And what is it that you want? I presume you'll want to dual-track as well?" Bump raised a brow at the human, finger raised to change her uniform's colors.

Amity bit her lip and pondered, "Honestly, I don't know what I want to be in yet. There are nine choices, and I barely know enough about any of them to choose. I'm good at the Oracle track, but I just… lack passion for it. It just seems like a lot to ask, but is there any way I could take, I dunno, a sample course or something?"

Bump scratched at his chin, then gave a nod. With a twirl of his finger, Amity's uniform took on colors from all tracks, "I can see what you mean. You're a unique case, Miss Amity, and don't have all the context everyone else has when they make their choice on what to learn. I'll allow it. You can take as many classes as you'd like for the semester, but I expect an answer on what track or tracks you'd like to be a permanent part of by the start of next year, am I clear?"

"Crystal," Amity nodded.

That just left Luz, who was still above them, unnoticed in the Secret room. Amity glanced up at her, ready to call attention to the witch and let her get everything she'd ever wanted out of her school life, but Luz just gave her a sly smile, pressing a finger to her lips to shush Amity about her involvement. Amity sent Luz a wink, and the witch closed the door, leaving her friends to bask in the good news with Bump none the wiser of her involvement.

The school day had finally ended, and Amity and Luz were walking back to the Owl House side by side, "So, why didn't you jump in to claim a spot as an all-track student?" Amity asked, nudging the girl beside her.

Luz grinned, "Well, I kinda like the super secretness of the hideout? I'm not ready to give that up. Besides, you heard Bump, this is just for a semester for you, and I'm not ready to narrow my interests down to just two tracks."

After another moment she added, "Plus, that trial run required good grades. I'm good, but stretched between all nine tracks I'd end up getting kicked out of all the classes after just a week!"

Amity stifled a laugh, reminded of Boscha's comments on Luz's grades. She hadn't seen the girl again after the attack, and wondered if her opinion of Luz would change if she knew she'd helped save Boscha's life. But Amity mentally shrugged that off, it was the sports star's loss for not giving Luz another glance all these years.

"That reminds me," Luz said, tapping her chin, "Where were you before the attack? We had lunch, then you left for your locker, but you never showed up at the Secret Room. I left an illusion of you in your class, but I guess that got eaten by the Basilisk."

Amity opened her mouth, but hesitated. Finally, she answered, "I thought about making a few new friends. We played some grudgby for a bit, which reminded me of a sport we have back home I used to play, just a lot more weird."

Luz's smile lit up, "That's great! I'm happy you made some new friends."

Amity faltered, "Don't be. It didn't work out."

"Why not?"

Amity shrugged, "Boscha thought I should stop hanging out with you. I told her that wasn't cool, and I was going to stick with you."

Luz stopped in her tracks, eyes wide. Amity paused, looking back at the witch. "What?"

"You chose me over Boscha?" Luz asked quietly.

Amity walked back to Luz's side, pressing a hand to her shoulder, "It wasn't even a contest. You're my best friend, Luz."

Luz glanced down at her shoes, "I- I don't think anyone ever thought of me as their best friend before."

"You're kidding, right? Luz, every single one of your friends looks at you like you hung the stars in the sky. I don't think any of them don't consider you their best friend. Willow, Gus, Viney, Jerbo, or Barcus."

Luz sent Amity a wobbly smile, then wiped at her eyes as the sniffles started. "Thanks, Amity. I think you're my best friend, too."

Amity considered throwing her arm over Luz's shoulder, but it felt more right to snake it around her waist as they walked the rest of the way home, hips bumping the whole way.

I am thirty-seven years old when my worst nightmare comes to life, when I arrive home to my girlfriend screaming in terror, and my daughter covered in feathers.

An elixir later, and Luz is back to normal, but is still far from herself. The girl is clearly disturbed by what has happened to her, and Camila's panicking isn't helping. I have to drag the frantic woman out of the room before she can make things worse, and sit her down. She's is owed an explanation.

I told her everything. Because I've never uttered a word about my curse to Camila before, even after all these years together. Camila hadn't been there at Hexside when I transformed the first time, she hadn't heard the rumors about why they called me the Owl Lady, or if she has she thinks they're just that, rumors. She'd gone to St. Epiderm, far from Bonesborough, far from my childhood, and we hadn't met until we were in our twenties and I long had my condition under control, lock and key.

Except that now Luz had it, too. I have cursed her own daughter, just by having her with the woman I loved.

Camila wasn't happy. Who would, knowing your partner had kept such a secret from you for years. She screamed, and yelled, and threw things. Some of them hit the wall. Some of them hit me. I don't defend myself. Don't raise a hand.

Except for when-

"My daughter is a monster, Eda!"

I had just stood there and taken it this whole time, but felt something snap inside me at those words, and on instinct my hand is raised, stopping mere inches from slapping Camila's face.

"Don't," I hissed, "Don't call her that."

My eyes become wet as everything, all the revelations of the day, catch up to me, shock finally giving away to tears, "Luz isn't a monster." "

She just goes away for a little while."

"She's still in there, she's still our girl."

"She's going to be scared. Titan, I'm an adult and everytime I change I'm scared."

"She's not a monster. She's just got one inside of her now."

I say all these things as I try not to let my despair overwhelm me. Camila is sobbing, and for the first time since I have stepped into this house, she stops yelling and throwing things, and holds me. Camila apologizes, saying that she didn't mean it. Didn't mean to call Luz that. I forgive her, because I can't blame her for being scared, and tell her to watch Luz for her while I'm gone.

"Where are you going? Why are you leaving when all of this is happening?" She asks.

"I never found the person who did this to me, Cam. I gave up."

"I've got a new reason to start looking again."

"I'll have Morton drop off some elixirs for you tomorrow, enough to last a while."

"I don't know when I'll be back."

I kissed Luz on the forehead before I left, promising I'll be back soon. I lied. For the next five years, I only see my daughter a handful of times, and each time she looks at me with hopefully eyes, hoping this will be the time I stay. I don't.

I've got a list of suspects, but each of them are dead ends. A board full of names and dates and magical abilities all tangled up with string that connects them, with possible motives. After five years of searching, I've come no closer to finding them and making them pay.

I give up.

Camila has moved on, and doesn't want anything to do with me anymore. Not after I more or less abandoned them. By the Titan's graces, she is willing to work out a way for me to spend time with Luz, and I'm beyond grateful for whatever she's given me. I haven't exactly been the greatest mother. Owls were never exactly known for that.

I never found the person who hurt my baby, though. Five wasted years, down the drain, for nothing. I'm not sure who I can't forgive more, the one who cursed me, or myself for my failings.

Eda wakes in her nest with a start at the age of forty-five, groggy, mildly hung over, with a bottle of Appleblood clenched tightly in her hands. She let the bottle clatter out to the ground where it rolls, the sound banishing the memories that came with the dream, as well as spilling what was left in the bottle out into a puddle on the floor.

Eda climbs out of her nest on all fours, stretching and groaning as her joints pop. Scratching her backside, she stumbled out of her room, cursing how she feels more tired after her impromptu nap than before she took it.

The sound of laughter greets the witch's pointed ears as she heads for the stairs. Peeking down them, Eda sees her daughter on the couch, talking and laughing with Amity, so close their bodies are rubbing against each other as Luz gestures frantically as she speaks.

Eda smiles, "Ah, the kid's got it so bad." And she does. Luz is as obvious as her Mama was when Eda met her, all bright red cheeks and physical affectionate touches. Eda sometimes thinks her apprentice is just as into Luz as Luz is into her, but really, that's their business. As long as they're keeping it PG when they're sleeping in the same bedroom, Eda is happy with whatever relationship the two have… But maybe she'll have King sleep in there with them, just in case.

Eda stumbles back to her room, opening her closet and removing an old, dusty cork board covered in string from the depths. She hadn't touched it in years, but with recent events in mind, she figures it's about time to start up her manhunt again.

Her baby was hurting the other day after her transformation. Amity's presence made it better, more tolerable for Luz, but Eda couldn't rest until there was a body in the ground. She'll make them rue the day they ever cast this curse on Edalyne Clawthorne.

A/N: Okay, wow, this was a long chapter. The dream sequences were done in first person, and written a bit more choppy, just to make them feel a bit more out of place, since they are dreams. Stylistic low quality! It's like an indie game with pixel art, only not as good!

I've been seeding the idea that Luz is self conscious of herself a lot in this fic. Right down to her first conversation with Amity, she's unsure if she's being annoying, or being "too much," especially when she asks Amity if she'd like to make an Azura book club together. This unsureness has popped up a few more times, and finally gets a bit of a resolution here. Luz doesn't think highly of herself due to her curse, thinking she's a monster, and doesn't think anyone thinks of her as a close friend, despite everyone around her loving her to pieces. Amity is here to remedy that.

Also, I combined the Grudgby game from WilW with the First Day, because I had to come up with something for Boscha. I'm still undecided on exactly where to take her character, but I figure that half the reason Boscha is so bad is because Amity was there pushing her to be, bringing out her worst, and then after breaking up their friendship, Boscha got even worse because Amity chose the "losers'' over her.

In this AU, Boscha is still scummy, but she's more concerned with being on top, and being with others on top, rather than pushing everyone else down. Willow, Gus and Luz are nobodies, who she doesn't concern herself with as long as they know their place, and she isn't going to go out of her way to bully them. Doesn't mean Amity takes kindly to Boscha looking down on the person she thinks is the coolest in the world.

The Dual-track students' changed stories were interesting to come up with. Since Luz would know about the secret room, being Eda's daughter, I figure she'd have access to it long before anyone else. She found the others as kindred spirits before they could get in trouble and thrown into detention, so they still take a bunch of regular classes, but use illusions to cover for them while they sneak extra lessons elsewhere. I considered adding even more characters to the Junior Bad-girl's coven, maybe Skara, or another one of Boscha's gang, but axed that when I added Grudgby. Also, I changed Barcus' original track to oracle, so they were a little more spread out, since Luz was already in potions. It also gave Amity someone to run into before she joins the troublemakers.

I tweaked their fight just a little, because damn, rewatching the actual fight, Viney is like, the only one who contributes, and even that is through Puddles. The rest could have been done without magic. Barcus literally did nothing by combining potions and oracle track magic. Maybe he acted as a distraction, but he didn't need to use magic to do that. It's one of the weakest fights in the show, and only serves to make their magic look kinda lame and useless, at least for fighting a basilisk. Jerbo literally only cuts a rope in that fight!

As for the basilisk's death, knowing what we know now, that this Basilisk is basically insane from how Belos treated it, and after being defeated it was likely brought back to its prison to be experimented and tortured some more, I think killing it was more merciful a fate. Amity has a body count now! Yay!