The car trundled up the driveway towards the great mansion that stood at the top of Tresmont Hill. Alanna looked out the window and sighed. There was her new home. Creamy sandstone walls peered at her and the mahogany doors looked as though they were regarding her in with a certain distaste. She shivered. It's magic remember, they are probably watching you! Remarked a little voice inside her head. Magic, yes that was it. She glared at her proud, haughty woman who sat opposite her. A wicked step-mother right out of the fairy tales that had captivated Alanna's mind as a small child. When her mother had died, her father, who had never really liked his first wife or his daughter for that matter, had immediately chosen the richest, most powerful woman to be his new wife. It was her fault Al was going to this damn school. Her stepsister had been sent to the finest school for young ladies of upper classes that there was, while she, the unfortunate person that she was, was being sent to a co-ed magic school for people with 'special talents' such as herself. Her stepmother smiled vaguely as they crawled up the slope, most likely thinking of the fact that she would be rid of the little pest sitting opposite her. Every part of the old crone was covered in make up; masses of white foundation caked her face and the ludicrously red slugs that formed her mouth were like sirens blaring but in the eyes. It always made Al shudder. The wheels crunched in the gravel and slowed to a halt as they reached the foreboding front doors. Al noticed that there were actually quite a few cars lined up at the little drop off circle. More loonies. Al sighed again and stepped out of the car to grab her one suitcase. Maria, her stepsister, had had five. Not a good way to win favours. She slammed the door shut and stalked up the steps into the marble floored entrance hall. Tacky. Well not quite, actually the room was quite elegantly decorated. Huge staircases, also of mahogany, curved their way up to higher floors, and a large stage stood in between the towering giants. Inside there was quite a large throng of students and Al had to push her way to reach the inner circle. She could just see a line of the teachers over a few heads, each sitting in their own matching chair that had little gold inlays adorning them. The teacher that first caught her eye was a handsome man in about his mid thirties. He was wearing a very bright and possibly very expensive suit of silver and blue and had the coat slung back across his shoulders. His hair was slightly long and was a shade of blonde that was too yellow to be natural. He was very vain in appearance. Next to him was a woman around his age who was glaring at him with annoyance. Her hair was a beautiful shade of auburn and seemed to glow in the firelight. In contrast to the man she wore a simple, yet elegant, green dress that complemented her hair perfectly. Beside her, in deep conversation with another teacher was a young man in his twenties with chestnut hair and a kind face. These three looked to be the heads of the school and Al fixed her eyes on each of them in turn. From behind her there was a sudden bang that made several of the girls scream. The doors had been closed.

At the sound of the doors closing the blue and silver teacher looked up from the thing he held in his hands and smiled.

'Welcome, welcome to my magic school.' He grinned and flashed a perfect set of teeth around the room. Al rolled her eyes. The woman next to the man ran her fingers through her hair in an exasperated way and seemed to mouth 'idiot'.

' My name as you may already know is the Wizard Pendragon.' The woman beside the wizard muttered something and the younger man smirked.

' This school is designed to teach you the ways of spells and the ways of life. I hope you remember this. Now, these are your teachers. I expect they will wish to introduce themselves.' He looked to the auburn woman.

' My name is Witch Jenkins. Don't forget that. I don't like flashy names, unlike my husband here.' She again, glared at Pendragon. 'Jenkins.' She said again and sat down. On second thoughts she rose and said 'Call him Jenkins too, it might deflate his ego a bit.'

Laughter rang through the assembly.

' Everyone,' yelled the younger teacher, who was looking nervously at the two people beside him as though a fight were going to break out, ' You can call me Michael, and uh well stay out of Sophie and Howl's way if you don't wanna get hurt. '

Al looked at these three. Strange, they seem normal enough, for people that are supposed to be fearsome and all that. Then she saw what was in pendragons hands. It looked like a star and was incredibly beautiful. Or maybe not.

'What on earth is that?' The words slipped out of her mouth before she could stop them. Luckily it wasn't only her that let these words slip.

'Ahh, well now, let me introduce you to Calcifer. Calcifer, new students, new students Calcifer.'

' Hello all.' Whined the bright thing.

' Calcifer is my fire demon.' Stated Pendragon proudly.

' Your fire demon? Since when have I been your fire demon?'

Al saw that Witch Jenkins was grinning.

' Here we go. Its going to be fun today.' She crowed.

' Um well, I think you new people had better find your rooms,' Michael was twisting his fingers in an awkward way, 'Err, follow Mr Collins here and he'll take you to the right corridor.'

The crowd along the floor pushed Al towards the staircase to the left. She couldn't see much. Yet. They passed doors that had the residents names printed on them in gold lettering and the crowd slowly thinned out. Not hers. Not hers. There! Al dived towards the door that showed her name and yanked it open. She stopped to catch her breath and then looked up. Nice. She surveyed the room. Simple, effective. The room was a light green that was complemented by deep purples. She looked at the bed to the right of the window. Mine. Al moved back to the door and read the other names next to hers. Ebony Bralthorn. That was a nice name at least. Usually the name suited the person. Daphne Stuart. Also nice but a bit flashy for her taste. The last name on the list was different from the rest. Cailee Birmine. Al would think about that later. As Al resumed taking in her surroundings a body burst in through the door. Al stared at the girl. She was olive skinned and had perfectly curled hair, a greek looking nose and the build of a very good athlete. Actually she was quite stunning.

'Uh, hey.' Al said nervously.

'Um, hi.' Replied the girl.

Well, 2 seconds into meeting each other they were already having an umming competition.