"There it is," Enjolras smiled fondly. "Come on, let's go."

"It certainly looks very fancy," Valjean commented. "Are you sure we can afford it, though?"

Enjolras looked confused. "Is education not free where you come from?"

Valjean shook his head, and Cosette mumbled something about trust funds and student loans. Enjolras tutted.

"Education is so highly valued here that we don't charge individuals," Enjolras explained. "Instead the royal court of every planet donates something towards paying staff and maintaining buildings every year. Magical education is invaluable in the Magic Universe."

"Whoa," Cosette murmured.

Valjean looked impressed. "Let's go then!" He started towards the school, but after a few feet suddenly stumbled back like he'd walked into a lamppost.

But there was nothing there.

"What in the…" he murmured, putting a hand up to… whatever it was that had stopped him. "I… I can't get through!"

"Really?" Cosette asked. She started forwards too, but nothing threw her back, or even mildly inconvenienced her. "I don't feel anything. And it's not stopping Wolter," she added as the little Dutch rabbit followed her. In shocked surprise, Wolter began examining himself to check that nothing was amiss.

Valjean tried again, but again he was unable to follow her. "I don't know what it is, ma chèrie. I just can't walk there."

Cosette raised an eyebrow at Enjolras. "Enj, did you do that?"

Enjolras shook his head. "No. It's a magical barrier around the school. It keeps non-magical beings out. I'm sorry, sir," he turned to Valjean, "but you can't go any further."

Valjean sighed sadly. "Well, I guess this is au revoir, Cosette."

Cosette ran back to him. "Don't worry, papa. I'll call you as soon as I can, and I'll email every day. I'm going to miss you, but I'm really excited! I'm becoming a Faery!"

Valjean hugged his daughter. "This was always going to happen, you going off to college. It's just a bit earlier than I was expecting. I love you, chou." He turned to Wolter. "Take care of my little girl for me, eh, Wolter. I know she can protect herself, but look after her heart." Wolter squeaked in agreement.

"You ready to go back home, sir?" Enjolras asked. When Valjean nodded, the Faery of the Shining Sun once again brandished his sceptre. "Safe journey!"

Valjean vanished, and Enjolras smiled at Cosette. "Come on, let's go!"

When they passed through the gates, their attention was caught by a line of teenagers, who were queuing up to speak to -

"Oh, shiiiiiiiit," Enjolras groaned. "It's Professor Javert! He's the strictest teacher here!"

Cosette took in the professor. He had black greying hair in a ponytail, sharp cheekbones, a large nose and a stern mouth. His skin was tanned, and his eyes were dark and narrow. He was dressed in dark blue robes with a black belt, and wore a monocle on his left eye. He certainly made an impression. "Do we need to speak to him before we go in?" she asked Enjolras.

Enjolras nodded. "We have to register with him."

"I'm registered with the school, though. Right?" Cosette narrowed her eyes at Enjolras. "Right?"

"Well…"

"Seriously?! Didn't it occur to you that registering might have been a good idea before I dropped out of high school and moved to another dimension?"

Enjolras had the decency to look sheepish. "It'll be OK," he assured her. "Uh… Oh! I have an idea!" He rummaged in his pocket and pulled out a crumpled envelope. "This is a letter from Princess Ursule of Veranda. She was supposed to take up a place here, but she's decided to be homeschooled instead." Enjolras shook his head. "Dragon above, we live in a world full of technology and magic, and Veranda is so old-fashioned that they need me to deliver a letter for them." He grinned. "But I'm not going to deliver it!" He bowed elaborately to Cosette. "From now on, you are Princess Ursule of Veranda!"

"What?" Cosette's jaw dropped. "No! Enjolras, we can't lie to them! That's bad, that's really bad!"

"Well, it's either that or -" Enjolras fell silent as a shadow loomed over them. They looked up to see Professor Javert glaring at them.

"Aah, Prince Enjolras," Javert said coldly. "I see you're back again."

"Alright there, Professor?" Enjolras chuckled nervously. "Yeah, I'm back. Heh."

Javert looked stonily at the blond boy before turning his attention to Cosette. "And who might you be?"

"I…" Cosette's nerve went, and before she knew it, there was a word-vomit disaster coming out of her mouth. "I'm Princess Ursule of Veranda!" she blurted.

Javert ticked a name on his list and moved on. Enjolras smirked at her and she groaned. "I done fucked up, Enjolras."

"Come on, Sette! It's not that bad."

Cosette looked at him incredulously. "Enjolras, either way I'm screwed. I have to pretend to be Princess Ursule for three years, or else I get found out and expelled! This is a disaster!"

Enjolras shushed her. "Ssshhh, Ursule. It's Headmaster Myriel!"

A tiny old man was standing on the steps up to the front doors, smiling fondly at the teenagers in the courtyard. "To our new students, welcome!" he began. "And to our old students, welcome back! Musain College is lucky to have you all. We sincerely hope to provide you with the best magical education possible. Old hands, you're free to go and unpack. New students - and those repeating their first year -" Enjolras cringed at that - "will stay with us. Professor Javert will be explaining our school policies, and then you can find your dormitories."

Professor Javert cleared his throat. "This is an institution built on rules and discipline. This school will be your home for the next three years – provided you follow the rules. Otherwise, I will personally escort you to the gate. You're not here to learn 'hocus-pocus'. You are here to learn to use your powers seriously. Consequently, you are not allowed to use magic in the hallways; in fact the only place you may display your powers is in the classrooms under teacher supervision." He glared at Enjolras. "Is that clear, Prince Enjolras? Thanks to you and your antics, the potions laboratory will not be accessible until next month at the earliest! You know how to conduct yourself if you wish to stay here this year."

"What the hell did you do?" Cosette muttered.

"Nothing!" Enjolras whispered back. "I just… may have… used magic to break open a locked cage and released a bunch of highly destructive Swamp Badgers into the lab." At Cosette's disapproving look, he said defensively, "I thought they were going to be dissected! I didn't realise they were that destructive! Or… that their teeth contain never-healing poison. My dad paid for the damages!"

Headmaster Myriel laughed. "Oh, don't scare them too much, professor! No need to be so stodgy!" Professor Javert straightened his monocle, looking as though he desperately wanted to roll his eyes. Headmaster Myriel turned and headed up the wide front steps of the school. "Now, follow me please." He led the students through the huge front doors and into the entrance hall. "Musain is one of the most highly regarded schools in the Magic Dimension," he began. "Becoming a full-fledged Faery is hard work, but I know that everyone here can do it. Keep in mind that the teachers and I are always here to help you. OK, enough of the boring stuff. Feel free to leave school and head into town; all I ask is that you are back for 9PM sharp. However, you must be careful. There are dangers lurking in this dimension, as in all dimensions."

"'Stay away from the Witches of Votirlu'," Enjolras muttered in a passable imitation of Headmaster Myriel's voice. "Now he's gonna say it."

"Please stay well away from the Witches of Votirlu," Myriel said seriously. "Alright, speech over. You are free until tomorrow. Classes start at 9AM sharp, so do be punctual!"

"Headmaster Myriel is the best, but Professor Javert is the worst," Enjolras groaned as they headed through the dormitory corridor. It was lined with green doors that had opaque yellow stained-glass panels, and Enjolras stopped to check the names on each one as he went.

"What was all that about staying away from the Witches of Votirlu?" Cosette asked. "He sounded really serious. Are Witches bad?"

"Oh right, yeah," Enjolras nodded. "So, there are three genus' of humanoids in the magical dimension. There are Faeries, like us. Our magic comes from positive forces, like happiness, belief, and love. Wizards, like those cute boys from Corinthe – Corinthe is the college for Wizards, run by Monsieur Lamarque. Their magic comes from neutral forces, like nature. And then there are Witches. Their magic comes from negative forces – anger, chaos, darkness, etcetera. Their college is Votirlu, run by seriously creepy Monsieur Thénardier. And some of those Witches can be really mean."

"Is it possible to change between any of them?" Cosette asked curiously. "Or is it biological?"

"That's… less easy to answer," Enjolras replied. "With Wizards, it's pretty much biological, but there are different kinds of Wizards. With Faeries and Witches though, it depends on the person, really. If you wanted to be a Witch, but you're fuelled by, say, flowers or music or order, you're probably better off being a Faery. In our world, genus doesn't come from physical features, but from emotional ones instead." He straightened up from the plaque outside one of the doors. "Hey, we're in the same dorm!" he said excitedly.

Cosette breathed a sigh of relief. "Thank God. It'll be a lot easier pretending to be Princess Ursule if you're with me."

Enjolras opened the door and gestured for Cosette to enter. Her jaw dropped instantly – it was less of a dormitory, and more a stylish apartment. The main room was large and bright, with pastel pink and purple walls, and green doorframes with yellow stained-glass panels similar to the main door. On the wall opposite the door, there was an enormous oval window with a glass door in the lower centre that led out to a pale pink balcony. The room was decorated with plushy green couches and armchairs with yellow and lilac cushions, and a pale wooden coffee table sat in the centre. Near the balcony was a matching larger table. Overall, it was an extremely nice apartment by college standards.

The blond boy pointed to a small list next to one of the four other doors. "I think I'm in this room."

Cosette looked at the lists on each other door until she found the one marked 'Ursule'. "Guess I'm in this one. I have a roommate, do you?

"Yeah. They're not here yet, though."

"Looks like I'm about to meet mine," Cosette murmured, noticing the silhouette on the other side of the door. She pushed it open and walked in. She'd barely had time to admire the blue and lilac beds with their neat yellow bedspreads when she stood on something that screamed.

Cosette immediately leapt backwards, yelping apologies. "I'm sorry! Shit, sorry, sorry!"

"Don't be," laughed an ethereal voice. A beautiful person (she couldn't tell what gender) stepped forwards, smiling. They had waist-length ginger hair, a tanned, freckly, thin face, wide green eyes, a delicate button nose, and long awkward limbs with delicate hands and feet.

"I'm Jehan Prouvaire," they introduced themselves. "Pronouns they/them, please." They were wearing clothes that looked both ridiculous and, somehow, correct: a pale yellow-green blouse with a frilly collar and cuffs, a floor-length pink skirt decorated with strawberry-shaped appliqués, and glittery pink sandals. They picked up the screaming thing – a creature with a large blue beak and long green tentacle-things. "Oh, calm down, you big baby, she didn't step on you that hard." They tickled the thing's beak and smiled at Cosette. "This is Yorick. It's a Narratioflore Magnocaeruleo. It's not very eloquent yet, but we're getting there."

"O-OK," Cosette stuttered. She took a tentative step backwards – maybe it was safer to just wait in the living area until Jehan was settled. "I'll just go wait for you and your – what did you say it was? Horatio-magna-Leo to get settled in and – oof!" She had bumped into someone who had been standing behind her. "Sorry!" she groaned, turning to face a boy about the same height as her.

"Don't be!" the boy said cheerfully. "Narratioflore Magnocaeruleo, right? That you were trying to pronounce? Commonly known as the Talking Bluebell." So Yorick was a plant – a talking plant. That was pretty cool. "Walking backwards is illogical, but I guess weird behaviours are pretty normal when you're in a new environment," the boy continued, holding out a hand to her and smiling brightly. "I'm Courfeyrac!" Courfeyrac had curly brown hair, freckles, and bright green eyes full of excitement. He was wearing a purple sweater, a blue button-up shirt, green Capri-pants, purple-and-green sneakers and a wide smile.

"I'm Jehan Prouvaire!" Jehan replied. "They/them."

"Cool!" Courfeyrac grinned. "He/him."

"I'm, uh, Ursule," Cosette remembered. "She/her."

There was a thud from behind Courfeyrac, followed by a loud shout of "Fuck!" The three Faeries turned to see who it was – a girl with dark hair and narrow eyes – well, one visible narrow eye, with a dark brown iris. Her jagged Emo fringe covered her left eye, and the rest of her hair was knotted into two tight buns on either side of her head. "Fuck, sorry," she groaned. "I tripped over the table. I was just – really into this music." She gestured to the bright orange headphones around her neck. An ethereal-sounding orchestral symphony was blasting from them – contrasting heavily with her punk-rock clothes; a yellow one-strap crop top, green cargo shorts and heavy black boots. Her eyeliner was sharper than a knife.

Courfeyrac dashed over to help her with her suitcase, which had burst open. "Here!" he said, handing her a set of blue-lacquered hair chopsticks. "I think these are yours?"

"Oh! Yes, thank you so much!" the girl said relievedly. "They're not broken, thank fuck." She smiled at him. "I'm Éponine."

"I'm Courfeyrac!"

"I'm Jehan," Jehan added, and Cosette waved.

"I'm Ursule."

Courfeyrac finished helping Éponine pick up her belongings. "Hey, I think I have a roommate, is it one of you?" he asked the room.

"It's me!" Enjolras poked his head out of his door. "I'm Enjolras."

Courfeyrac bounded over to shake his hand. "Nice to meet you! I'm Courfeyrac!"

"Is that all of us, then?" Jehan asked. "We could maybe go into town and get to know each other a bit better, since we're going to be sharing this room for the next three years most probably."

"Yeah!" Cosette enthused, forgetting her shyness. These people all seemed lovely. "We could go for pizza!"

Her fellow Faeries looked deeply confused. "Pizza?" Éponine asked. "What is 'pizza'?"

"It's the national dish of Veranda," Enjolras invented. "Right, Ursule?"

Cosette nodded hurriedly. "It's like, bread with tomato sauce and cheese and sometimes vegetables or meat, and you bake it in an oven. It's the best!"

They got a bus into town, from the special Musain College bus stop. It was almost the same as an Earth bus, to Cosette's surprise, except it didn't have wheels, instead hovering above the ground. When Courfeyrac found out that Cosette had never been to Magix City before, he insisted on covering her eyes until they were off the bus

"Can I look now?" Cosette asked.

"Not just yet," Courfeyrac replied. "OK… Now!" He removed his hands and Cosette opened her eyes. The Main Street of Magix City was… actually, it was surprisingly ordinary. The buildings had swirling, geometric shapes, and the cars and busses and trucks all hovered over the ground, but apart from that it was indistinguishable from a main street back in Paris.

Éponine noticed her expression. "You seem disappointed," she commented.

"Well, yeah," Cosette said. "It's so… ordinary. It's supposed to be the most magical city in the Magic Dimension, and this is it!"

"What were you expecting?" Éponine laughed.

"I dunno, dragons? Gnomes? Magic wand shops and back street magic duels?"

Enjolras laughed even more than Éponine. "That's fairy-tale stuff! This is the real world! Here, everything lives off its own magical energy. Magic is everywhere!"

Cosette yelped as she realised she'd stepped onto the road and narrowly missed being run over by a red hovercar. The driver snapped his fingers, and a space instantly opened up in the parking bay across the street, where he parked his vehicle. "Good heavens!" Cosette murmured.

"If you want to see magic, you've just got to look," Enjolras continued.

"Now let's go find some of this 'pizza'," Jehan smiled.

As the Faeries walked down the sidewalk, they passed an optician's store. Inside, an ogre was trying on various frames, but glanced up when he saw the Faeries pass by outside. He turned to the optician. "Excuse me, did you just see what I saw?" he asked, eyes wide.

"What?"

"A group of teenagers walked past. There were two blondes, a boy and a girl?"

"Oh, yeah," the optician replied. "They'll be new students from Musain College for Faeries. Today's the first day of the new term."

The ogre knew he'd recognised the blond kids! He immediately dashed out of the shop to follow them, ignoring the optician's startled yell and demand for him to come back and pay for the glasses still perched on his nose.

I must warn my Highnesses immediately! the ogre thought to himself. They're in Magix too, they can deal with things themselves this time! He pulled a mobile phone out of the pocket on his grimy dungarees and hit speed dial.

A high, cold voice answered. "Larbin, what do you want this time, you useless, smelly ogre?" it demanded crankily.

"Highness! The super-powerful Faery and her friends are in Magix City!" he replied hurriedly.

"Really?" the voice replied. "That sounds too good to be true! Prince Enjolras' sceptre will be ours! Now listen to me! You won't fail this time, or else I'll curse you so hard you'll have to look up to look down, got it?"

"No, no curses please!" Larbin begged. "I promise this time I won't fail!"

Cosette had been seriously surprised that they'd been able to find pizza in Magix. Her new friends were all stuffing their faces with it, and it cheered her to know that Faeries could like pizza as much as she did. Still, the pizza was the only thing she'd been satisfied with about her Magix City experience so far. The mobile phone signal was terrible. She groaned as she tried to call her dad to reassure him that she was OK. "I don't get it!" she tried holding the phone at different angles to get a signal. "There's no signal on my phone! There should be a ton of it out here!"

Courfeyrac grabbed it. "Let me take a look," he said. "I'm very good with electronic stuff. He clicked the home button, and immediately burst out laughing.

"What's so funny?" Éponine asked.

"This phone," Courfeyrac choked out. "It's practically prehistoric! Where did you get that thing?"

"It's the latest model," Cosette said confusedly. "It's a Samsung Galaxy A3! It's meant to be really good."

"On Earth, maybe," Enjolras murmured quietly.

Courfeyrac handed her back her phone. "Sorry," he apologised. "I shouldn't have laughed. That was rude."

In Paris, Jean Valjean picked up the ringing landline phone and answered. "Cosette!" he said relievedly. "How's the new college?"

"Salut, Papa!" Cosette said excitedly. She was using a payphone in Magix. "Everything is great here! I'm sharing an apartment with Enjolras and three other students! We all went out for pizza together… No, courses don't start until tomorrow morning, but I'll keep you posted! …Yes, I understand. I won't forget, I promise!" Her gaze was caught by a familiar hulking silhouette passing the phone booth. "Uh, Papa? I've gotta go now," she said uneasily. "I'm using someone else's phone pass. So, uh, hugs and kisses, I love you… bye!" Cosette pulled Courfeyrac's phone pass out of the slot in the booth; he'd lent her it to make up for laughing at her phone. Cosette followed the silhouette of the ogre who'd attacked Enjolras in Paris down the Main Street and into an alley, realising that it led back to the café where her fellow Faeries were sitting. She gasped softly as she realised the ogre was spying on her friends. He must have heard her gasp, because he turned back around, and Cosette hurriedly crouched behind some wooden crates. The ogre stumped past her hiding place and down another alley that led off of the main one. Cosette followed him, keeping herself low to the ground. She peeked above the crates when she reached the alley he'd vanished down, and gasped in realisation when she saw the ogre approach three more figures at the other end.

Witches!

The middle one, the tallest, dressed in blue and seemingly the leader, stepped forwards. He had white-blonde hair and icy blue eyes, and a high, cold voice. "Well, Larbin?" he demanded.

The ogre stuttered. "Uh, I saw the blond boy with the magic sceptre in a café, and, uh, he was with his friends."

"We've got to have that sceptre," the cold-voiced Witch muttered. Suddenly, one of his friends – the only girl, who had ankle-length brown hair and was wearing black and purple – turned and closed her yellow eyes as though in pain. She whispered something to her friends, but Cosette was too far to hear. The ogre moved in front of the Witches, and she couldn't lip-read either. "Move, you big lug!" she whispered in annoyance. "I can't see a thing!"

The brunette Witch whispered to her friends, "Shut up, dumbasses. We're being watched. I'll take care of it." She made sure that she was well behind Larbin, and clapped her hands twice. A clone of herself shot out of her chest, and she cackled quietly. "Now all I have to do it disappear, and she'll stay here." The Witch snapped her fingers, vanishing instantly. Larbin stepped aside, and to Cosette, it looked as though nothing had changed. "That's better," she murmured.

The brunette Witch reappeared behind her, and zapped her in the back with a burst of purple magic waves. "Boo!" she laughed.

Cosette yelped as she was thrown forwards. She landed at the feet of the three Witches, who smirked down at her.

The tall, white-haired Witch flicked the clone of the brunette Witch with his fingertip, and the clone vanished instantly. "So, did you like our little joke?" he grinned.

"Look behind you," a female voice came from behind Cosette, and she turned to face the real brunette Witch, who giggled meanly. "Surprise!" She walked around to stand with her cohorts.

Cosette scrambled backwards and raised a hand in warning. "Get back!" she snapped, sounding far more confident than she felt. "I'm a Faery!" Golden sparks burst from her palm, flying through the air towards the Witches, but faltering and vanishing after a few seconds.

The Witch in blue laughed. "You call that magic? I'll show you magic!" He raised his left palm, and shards of ice spun into existence, surrounding Cosette and trapping her. "Now that's magic!"

The brunette Witch laughed in agreement. She blasted violet waves at Cosette. "And that's magic!" The ice that had trapped Cosette vanished, and she was once again blasted off her feet.

The third Witch smirked. He had frizzy indigo hair, bright orange eyes, and wore green. He didn't say anything, he simply snarled and raised his hands, causing a small tornado to whirl into existence. It lifted Cosette up and deposited her so that she was grasping onto the side of a building. She screamed in terror.

Back at the café, Courfeyrac pushed his hair out of his face. "Where's Ursule? She should be back by now."

"Maybe she got lost?" Jehan suggested.

"Get down here!" the blue Witch snarled, blasting Cosette with an icy breeze and pulling her back down to Earth. "I'm not done yet!" As she landed, he shot more ice underneath her, sealing her up in an ice block. "The final touch," he sniggered, pacing towards the block. He scratched sharp fingernails down the side of the ice block. "So, you're a Faery, huh? Well, we are Patron-Minette!"

"Leave her alone!" Enjolras yelled at the Witch. "Take us on instead, I fucking dare you!"

The Witch snorted at the sight of the four Faeries, who had gone searching for their friend when she hadn't returned. "Pathetic," he laughed. "Larbin, they're all yours. Have fun."

The ogre dashed towards the Faeries, snarling. The four of them leapt away from him, and together they cried, "Transform!"

Courfeyrac was the first to change, with a shout of "Courfeyrac, Faery of Technology!" He now wore a lilac playsuit with a green gem in the centre of the chest, pale blue elbow-length fingerless gloves and knee-high boots, a pale blue headband with a green gem, and he had triangular green translucent wings.

Jehan cried "Jehan, Faery of Nature!" and was now wearing a pale pink long-sleeved playsuit with a dark pink bodice and a green belt. Their ankle boots were the same pale pink, and the flower charm on their green choker matched their hairclip. Their wings were pale green and petal-shaped.

Éponine shouted, "Éponine, Faery of Music!" She now wore bright yellow headphones that matched her dress. It had one strap, and the midriff was made of blue mesh. She wore matching blue armbands and knee-high yellow boots, and her blue wings were more traditionally fairy-like, four-pronged with rounded tips.

Enjolras shouted "Enjolras, Faery of the Shining Sun!" and was once again wearing his red top, shorts and boots with matching black accessories, and his ring had once again become his sceptre. "Well, don't say I didn't warn you," he grinned, twirling the sceptre with acrobatic ease.

The violet-haired Witch narrowed his eyes. "The boy with the sceptre!" he snarled.

Courfeyrac raised his hands and shouted, "Static Sphere!" A blast of green energy surrounded the ogre, crackling like electricity, forming into a circular cage that lifted him off his feet.

Éponine spun and blasted magenta light at the cage. "Sonic Blast!" The entire alleyway shook with low-frequency vibrations.

"Golden Pollen!" Jehan shouted, blowing on their hands. As though they had been holding the pollen, it scattered over the ground and burst into bloom instantly, wrapping the ogre in an enormous glowing vine and shaking him. The cage and the vibrations vanished, and the vine flung Larbin through the air, sending him crashing against the crates Cosette had been hiding behind. The blue Witch groaned.

"What a blockhead." He turned to the Faeries. "Alright, losers, you asked for it!" With impressive dramatic flair, he grabbed the corners of his cloak and unfurled them, sending more diamond-sharp shards of ice towards them.

"Get behind me!" Courfeyrac yelled. "Firewall!" A bright green shield appeared in front of him, and the ice shattered against it.

The Witch in green looked furious. He sent blast after blast of lightening at the shield until it vanished and Courfeyrac was knocked off his feet.

The ice Witch cackled. "Prepare to join your little friend here!" He gestured to Cosette and raised his arms above his head.

Enjolras raised his sceptre. "No thanks," he said, sounding surprisingly unworried. "See you later, we're out of here." He swung his sceptre through the air, and he and his fellow Faeries, including Cosette, vanished from the alleyway as the blue Witch unleashed a flurry of icy blasts.

When the ice settled, the blue Witch prepared to gloat, but his eyes widened in fury as he realised the Faeries had all vanished.

"Cosette, wake up!" Cosette opened her eyes slowly. Enjolras was smiling down at her, and she felt warm all over. "Cosette, you're OK now! Y'know, for an Earthling, you did great. You were very brave to try and take them on alone." She realised he was using his sun magic to warm her up.

"Enjolras," three voices chorused sternly behind him. Enjolras turned and grinned sheepishly at Jehan, Courfeyrac and Éponine.

"Is there anything we should know about 'Ursule of Veranda'?" Jehan glared. "Or should I say, 'Cosette of Earth'?"

"Uh, well…" Enjolras stuttered. For such a small, soft-spoken person, Jehan's glare was quite frankly terrifying. "So we might have been fibbing a bit about her background… I'll explain everything back at Musain."

Cosette giggled a little. Enjolras' sheepishness was pretty funny.

The sceptre transported them straight to the courtyard of Musain college, and Enjolras breathed a sigh of relief at the apparent lack of teachers – until a searchlight beamed down on them. "Do you have any idea what time it is?" Professor Javert snapped.

Headmaster Myriel stood beside him. "We were worried sick about you," he said concernedly. "And with good reason! Why are you all transformed?" Enjolras began to stutter an explanation, but Myriel shook his head. "Never mind, all of you go straight to bed. We'll go over the rules in the morning."

The Faeries headed past the two teachers, but Professor Javert stopped Cosette in her tracks. "Not so fast, Princess Ursule!" he snapped. "I did a background check! Isn't there something you'd like to tell us?"

Cosette sighed unhappily. All that trouble for nothing. She knew she would be expelled for this. "I'm so sorry," she whispered unhappily. "I'm not Princess Ursule of Veranda."

"Ha!" Javert glared. "I knew it!"

"I'm sorry, this was all my idea," Enjolras started, but Cosette shook her head.

"No, it's alright, Enj. I'm Cosette Valjean of Earth," she explained to Myriel and Javert.

Javert's eyes widened so much that his monocle fell out. "A world outwith the Magical Dimension?" he said in shock. "It's not possible!"

"And yet, she must be magical, as the barrier let her through," Myriel said, deep in thought.

Cosette shrugged. "I met Enjolras yesterday, when he was attacked in my home city, Paris. I… used some sort of magic to help him, and he suggested I come here with him to find out more about my powers." She gestured to her friends – at least, she hoped she could still call them that. "They're all transformed because the thing that attacked Enjolras in Paris attacked me here tonight, they were only trying to protect me." She gazed at Professor Javert desperately. "Please, I beg of you, Monsieur, don't expel my friends! They're good people. I know I have deceived you, and I accept whatever punishment you give me. Even if it is expulsion."

Javert opened his mouth, but abruptly closed it again when Headmaster Myriel raised one hand. "We will not expel you, dear," he assured Cosette. "I must say, I am curious as to these… powers. Earth has been magic-free for centuries, but perhaps…" he trailed off, but then his face grew sterner again. "Of course, you all will have to face punishment for use of magic outside of school, but none of you will be expelled. As it is the first day, you can expect to receive your punishment sometime in the next two weeks. Professor Javert will call you into his office when the time comes." He clapped his hands twice. "Off to bed now, all of you. Quite enough excitement for one day, I think."

As the Faeries hurried off to their apartment, Myriel once again squinted in confusion. "I thought the last Earth Faery vanished hundreds of years ago."

"Indeed they did, Headmaster," Javert screwed his monocle back into place.

"Well then," Myriel murmured. "Who is Cosette?"

"Who?" Enjolras, Jehan, Courfeyrac and Éponine chorused.

Cosette smiled and got up from her bed. "Les Amis! If we're going to be a group we should have a name, don't you think? 'Les Amis' is French for 'The Friends', and after tonight, I can say with no doubt that you guys are the greatest friends I'll ever meet."

"I like it," Éponine said thoughtfully. "'Les Amis'. I'd be proud to call you guys my friends."

"Me too," Enjolras added.

"Me three!" beamed Jehan.

"That's grammatically incorrect," Courfeyrac chuckled. "But it is pretty funny. And I agree, 'Les Amis' is a great name! A name is good for quick reference."

"Those Witches call themselves 'Patron-Minette'," Cosette added. "That's where I got the idea. Although, I find it pretty amusing that they chose a name that roughly translates to 'Boss Kitty'."

As her new friends fell about laughing, Cosette hugged herself. She really was lucky to have met them.

NOTES: If you're enjoying this, please review! To paraphrase John Mulaney, "In terms of instant relief, reviews are like heroin."