Another year had come and gone at Hexside School of Magic. As the weather became cooler and the leaves started turning orange, Principal Bump nervously anticipated the annual schoolwide inspection.

It had gone rather badly the previous year, what with a basilisk infiltrating the school by pretending to be the inspector and then trying to steal the magic of every witch and wizard in Hexside. He would not allow anything like that to happen this year.

There was a knock on his office door.

"Come in."

The door opened and a tall woman with glasses and brown hair put up in a tight bun walked in. "Good morning, Mr. Bump. I am Ms. Rosemary. Shall we begin the inspection?"

"Of course! Come with me."

"As you can see, our lockers have a very safe security system set up so that only one student can access it."

"That's very smart," said the inspector as she scribbled something on her clipboard.

At the end of the hallway, two laughing kids were writing something on a row of lockers with a thick marker. Two guards showed up almost immediately.

"You are supposed to be in class," said one of them.

One of the kids gulped. "S-sorry, we were on our way now…"

"Come with us," said the other guard, trapped the kid with his curved metal stick and started dragging him away. The first guard did the same to the other kid.

"No, no no no, we'll be good, I promise!" yelled the first kid.

"Yeah, we won't draw on the lockers ever again!" yelled the other kid.

"This seems a bit…harsh," said Ms. Rosemary.

"Yes, well, they misbehaved, so they need to be punished," said Bump, who was starting to sweat.

"Yes, but there are much better methods of punishing children. Tell me, where are the guards taking those kids?"

"Detention."

"Oh, well, that sounds reasonable."

"Yes, it's so much better now that we're back to the monster pit. We used to put misbehaving kids into the detention track, where they wouldn't be able to learn anything for an entire semester. Glad we're past that."

Ms. Rosemary looked horrified. "M-monster pit?"

Bump realized he had messed up bad. "Uh - yes - It's just a snake monster that traps them in a pod for hours and tells them to behave themselves. Most kids never end up there more than once."

"I…see." Ms. Rosemary scribbled something on her clipboard. "Let's continue the inspection, shall we?"

"Of course, of course," said Bump.

"...and this is the gym," said Bump as they walked by the gym, which was filled with students playing dodgeball.

"Seems like these kids get plenty of exercise," Ms. Rosemary noted as she wrote something down on her clipboard.

"Yes, they do," said Bump. "You see that, like, rectangle area they're standing on?"

She nodded.

"That actually opens up once a year so that a student can fight off Gromethius, which is a shadow monster that reflects a person's worst fear."
"Children fight off a fear monster?"

"Yes, well, it's necessary to make sure it doesn't attack the school."

"And what method do you use to select the student who will fight off Gromethius?"

"Oh, we just pick one at random."

"And they have a say in the matter?"

"No, they have to do it, unless they can find another student who's willing to replace them."

"Interesting…" said Ms. Rosemary as she hastily scribbled something on her clipboard.

Bump was getting nervous. The inspector did not seem pleased. But he was determined to impress her.

"Uh, come on, let's go outside where the plant and potions students are practicing magic. I can guarantee you will be impressed."

"Let's hope so," said Ms. Rosemary.

When they got outside, they saw the potions students stirring cauldrons on the left side of the field, while the plant students practiced pulling roots out from under the dirt on the right side.

A girl with round glasses and short black hair was on the right side of the field, trying desperately to get the roots out.

"Come on, you can do it!" said a girl next to her, who had round ears and short dark brown hair.

"I'm trying…" the first girl's face was red. "I don't know what's going on. I'm usually really good at working with plants," she said as she relaxed her arms and sighed.

From somewhere inside the school, they heard the bell ring, signaling that the class period was over. Both the potions and plant classes started cleaning up and heading back inside.

"It's okay. I'm sure you'll figure it out. You're Willow the Plant Master," said the round-eared girl.

"Thanks, Luz."

Behind them, a pink-haired girl with three eyes from the potions class scoffed. "Yeah, right. Half-a-Witch Willow." She shoved Willow to the ground.

"Hey, leave her alone, Boscha!" said Luz as Willow struggled to pick up her glasses.

Ms. Rosemary was there in an instant. "What is going on here?!"

"Boscha keeps picking on Willow even though she didn't do anything!"

"Boscha, go to Principal Bump over there and tell him you both need to go to his office."

"Fine, whatever."

When she was gone, Ms. Rosemary turned to Willow. "How long has she been bullying you?"

"8 years. I've learned to put up with it."

"Did Principal Bump ever do anything about it?"

"Not really. He didn't seem to care."

Ms. Rosemary placed her hand on Willow's shoulder. "Thank you for telling me. I promise you, I will not let that girl bully you again."

She reached the office where Boscha was sitting across from Principal Bump at his desk.

"First things first," she said. "Normally, I would wait until the day after to give you the results of your inspection, but never in 25 years have I met a worse principal. Your job is to protect these kids and make sure they get a good education. Instead, you constantly put them in danger for your own personal benefit, you used to prevent them from learning anything for an entire semester if they misbehaved, and you let your students bully other students as much as they want and you don't do anything about it. Hieronymus Bump, you are fired, effective immediately."

"What? You're going to fire me after I worked here for over 30 years?"

"It's clear Hexside needs a new principal."

"I can't believe it. This is ridiculous." Bump walked out of the room and slammed the door behind him.

Ms. Rosemary moved behind the desk to face Boscha. "Boscha, was it?"

"Yes."

"Is it true you've been bullying a girl named Willow for 8 years?"

"Well, bullying is a strong word-"

"Yes or no?"

She hung her head. "Yes."

"The Boiling Isles Board of Education does not tolerate that kind of behavior. Now that Mr. Bump has been fired, I have the authority to expel you. Don't ever step foot in this school again, Boscha."

"What a crazy day!" said Luz Noceda as she arrived home at the Owl House that afternoon. "Guess what, Eda? Principal Bump got fired!"

"He got fired?" said Eda. "Eh, good riddance, I never liked that guy."

"Who do you think's gonna take over his position?"

"Certainly not me. I already have a full-time job keeping you and King alive, and rules have never really been my style."

2 days later, Luz and her girlfriend Amity Blight were walking to school together holding hands. When they got there, there was an announcement on the loudspeakers saying to go to the gym for an assembly.

"Maybe they found a new principal," said Luz.

When they got to the gym, Luz and Amity took a seat at the top of the bleachers next to their friends Willow Park and Gus Porter. "Hey, guys," said Amity.

"Hey Luz, hey Amity," said Gus and Willow.

"Alright, everyone, settle down, settle down. I have an important announcement."

They all turned to see the same inspector from 2 days ago, Ms. Rosemary, standing behind a podium.

"As you all know, your old principal Mr. Bump got fired 2 days ago. This assembly is to announce that he will be replaced by none other than Lillith Clawthorne! Round of applause for Lillith!"

Throughout the gym, there were whispers of, Lilith? The lady from the Emperor's Coven is our new principal? Then everyone applauded as Lillith stepped into the gym and stood behind the podium.

"Good morning, children. Yes, I am your new principal. I want you all to know that just because Bump's gone doesn't mean you can do whatever you want now. There are still going to be rules, only my punishments won't be extreme as his. And no more fighting off Grom each year! I have contacted the Beast Keeping Coven and they will be here exactly one week from now to get rid of him. Hexside will be a safe place from now on!"

Everyone cheered. "Wow, I can't believe Lillith's our new principal. Hooty must have sent her a letter about Bump getting fired," said Luz. "I've got a feeling school's going to be a lot different from now on."

That afternoon, Luz and Amity were walking down the school steps together when they came across Gus, hand-in-hand with Mattholomule.

"Hey!" said Luz. She glanced at the hand-holding and said, "Okay, when are you two going to get together?"

They glanced at each other. "Luz, we've been dating for 7 months," said Gus.

"What?"

Epilogue

It was a somewhat windy, but otherwise nice, Thursday afternoon. The Hexside grudgby team was gathered by the outdoor bleachers for their weekly practice.

"Now, as you all know, our old team captain, Boscha, was expelled earlier this week," said the coach, Mr. Shah. "I'd say we'll miss her, but I don't think anyone will, so good riddance." He smiled. "This means we need a new team captain. Any nominations?"

Luz raised her hand. "I nominate Willow Park."

"Willow, do you accept?"

"Uhhh…" she looked towards Luz, who gave her a thumbs-up and mouthed, You deserve it. Willow smiled. "Yes, I accept."

"Perfect. Any seconds?"

"I second that," said Amity.

"I second that as well," said Gus.

"I do too," said a girl with curly brown hair and glasses.

"Any other nominations?" asked Coach Shah.

Everyone was silent.

"Well, then. Congratulations to Willow Park, our new grudgby team captain! Come up here to receive your new jacket."

She blushed and stepped forward. Coach Shah handed her the special pink jacket that had once belonged to Boscha. There was a mark where the B had been. "We can sew on a W," he said. "Three cheers for Willow!"

"Woooo! Go Willow! You're gonna be the best team captain ever!" said Luz.

Gus reached into his pocket and pulled out an illusion that spelled out, You did it! "Finally, I got it right!" he said.

"Willow! Willow! Willow!"

Willow looked around at everyone cheering for her and smiled. She had never felt happier in her life.