"Magic is very simple. All you have to do is want something, and then let yourself have it!" Marnie heard her grandmother's words echoing in her head as she sat in a heavy oaken chair outside the headmaster's office. It was her third week as a freshman at Witch University. There were so many things that were wonderful about living in Halloweentown year round. Getting to attend college and have classes focused on nothing but learning magic was exactly what Marnie had always dreamed of. 'Unfortunately,' she reflected, 'dreams have a way of not always transferring very well to real life,' Marnie bowed her head as Headmaster Eldritch called her into his office.
"Please, take a seat, Miss Cromwell," Eldritch began, a graying warlock with a pair of very intense eyes that could make you feel at once scrutinized and very small.
"So." He began, taking his own seat on the other side of the sturdy desk and looking at Marnie over his steepled fingers. "I've already talked to Professor Gibbous. Why don't I give you a chance to tell me what happened?" He said.
"It was an accident," Marnie began miserably. " We were doing one of the labs in Professor Gibbous' class. I really wanted to try actually conducting the lab- up to this point in his class I've just watched my lab partners and taken notes for our group. I didn't know how hard it would be- I really thought I could do it. I wasn't- I didn't mean to hurt anyone. I feel . . . absolutely terrible about it." Marnie explained, feeling dangerously close to the verge of tears.
Earlier in the day, in her Applied Magics class, there had been a lab involving the conduction of energy from the simple source of a candle to make a lightbulb light up without any electricity. Professor Gibbous had laughed along with the class when he had announced the concept of the lab. He had cautioned them not to underestimate and think that it was just a simple mortal magic trick and so could be conducted with less than adequate attention to detail. He had given them a very specific formula that he'd wanted the spell to take, whatever that had meant, and Marnie had been so sure that it would be easy. She didn't want to admit it now, but at the time, she had been overconfident, certain that this was something far beneath her skills set and scoffing at the idea that magic could need a formula to happen. She had focused on feeling the bright, welcoming surge of power flowing beneath her skin, the way she always did, and imagined transferring the light from the candle to the bulb.
The bulb had exploded, shooting fiery glass at high speeds in every direction. All the students had been wearing safety gear, fortunately, but many still had lacerations and burns on their hands, arms, faces and throats.
"I see," Headmaster Eldritch rumbled. "And how have you been doing in your other classes? What's been going on there?" Marnie thought for a moment, nonplussed. "All my other classes are going okay, I guess," She responded. "And what about using magic in your personal life? Is that something you've always done? How's that been going?" He probed further, his tone gentle and non-confrontational.
"Well. I mean, I use magic for about the same things everyone else does, I guess. Cleaning my room quickly when it's a mess, calling home with my witch's glass, flying. When I lived with my mom, in.. the Mortal World, I didn't use it as much as I do now, which is why I think it's.. why I think it's getting harder for me to use it," Marnie had to hurry to get this truth past her lips. The fact that she felt her powers dwindling more and more each time she went to use them was something she had been keeping secret for about a month, praying that it was just the stress of leaving home and coming to Halloweentown and using them so often that was telling on her, hoping that everything would go back to its normal easiness in the fullness of time. It was embarrassing, sure- a Cromwell who was struggling with simple spells that before she had only to snap her fingers to make what she wanted happen- but more than that it was worrisome. Marnie had lain awake late into the night, fretting about what this might mean. What if she'd burned through all the magic she'd had in her, and now was condemned to struggle with it for the rest of her life? Or, far more sinisterly, what if this was what happened to her mother? What if losing the majority of her powers had been what prompted her mother to seek out the Mortal World, to escape the shame of being a Cromwell with negligible magic? What if, once Marnie had finally realized one of her greatest dreams- to live in Halloweentown- she had to leave because she wasn't a witch anymore, or, almost just as bad, had so little power that it wasn't even worth training her?
Though of course she did honestly feel terrible about having hurt her classmates, the reason a tear beaded up and dropped from her eyelashes was because it was all finally coming out- the horrible truth that Marnie Cromwell felt like she was losing her witch's powers. Even making her broomstick levitate, much less being able to ride on it, was a struggle now. She'd considered telling her grandmother- she'd been on the verge of it so many times. She knew her sweet, wise Grandma would have words of wisdom and consolation to share with her. But every time, she had stopped herself, because she didn't know what she'd do if her grandmother looked at her with a somber, disappointed expression and explained that she was becoming fully mortal and that Sophie would replace her as the Head Witch-In-Training of the Cromwell line. So she had been trying to wait it out, to see if this was just some fluke, or if she'd been putting too much strain on herself.
"Ah. That explains it," Eldritch announced, nodding sagely. Alarmed, Marnie looked up quickly. "I want you to correct me if I'm wrong, but this is the understanding I have of your life and training as a witch up to this point. You found out that you were a witch on your 13th Halloween, came here, vanquished our previous mayor with the help of your family, and went home. Though your grandmother went with you, you were unable to devote all your time to catching up on your proper training as you still were compelled to attend a mortal school. Two years later, you had another brush with serious magic when you ended yet another threat against Halloweentown, reversing the Gray Spell that had been cast here and the Creature Spell that had been cast in the Mortal World. Two years after that, you again fought battles against much older, potentially more powerful entities that logic dictates you should not have been able to win, in defense of the exchange students from Halloweentown. Then, one year later, you enrolled here for college. Do I have about the gist of it?" He asked, and Marnie nodded, somewhat comforted by hearing a list of things she had accomplished previously.
"And you never had any formal training as to how to use magic," He asked, though it sounded more like a statement. "Well, yes, I guess, but I-" Marnie began, worry and confusion beginning to swirl inside her. "Don't worry, Marnie, we're not going to kick you out," He said, something like a laugh in his voice that made it easier to trust his word.
"The thing about it is, you've never been taught of how some of the important basics of magic work. Like how you formulate a spell in your head. It's always been enough for you just to use your raw power to make things work as you want, because you have such a vast reserve of it. That's why it's getting harder for you to use your powers recently- now that you're being called upon to do more complicated, concrete things in your classes, you can't rely on intuition anymore." Eldritch finished.
"So… I'm not losing my powers," Marnie asked, more to confirm it to herself than anything. This sudden swell of relief was almost too sweet. "No, Marnie, you're not losing your powers. Once you have all the fundamentals solidly in order, I daresay you'll have the potential to become one of the most formidable witches that has ever passed through these halls," Eldritch responded.
A sudden though occurred to her, and Marnie felt compelled to ask, "But if you knew I hadn't really been trained, why did you accept my application?" She couldn't quite shake the feeling that she was looking the proverbial horse in the mouth.
"It wasn't as though we were really going to turn down a Cromwell. Did you know it was your family that actually founded this school?" Eldritch responded. Marnie hadn't and responded accordingly. She had always known being a Cromwell meant that you constantly occupied a place in the spotlight in Halloweentown, but it had never been a problem before this year. She had always felt that she had earned the respect and admiration of the other citizens of the town through her own actions. The headmaster's statement, as well as some of the comments and actions of her classmates, were suddenly making her feel less like she deserved a spot at the most prestigious academy of sorcery in Halloweentown and more like she had lucked into it for having the right blood.
'Which really, seeing as you haven't even been trained, you kinda did,' She reminded herself, somewhat grimly. It was a sobering thought.
"So. All that remains to be done now is to get you properly trained up and on the way to greatness," the headmaster announced, splaying his hands atop his desk before drawing out a sheet of parchment and a pen, which he began to write in elegant script on. "I'm referring you to a tutor I've recently been introduced to. He's a very bright, patient young man, he actually enrolled here just this past summer. I interviewed him personally, as he had some… extenuating circumstances surrounding his admissions. But I think you'll find him to be a very approachable, thorough mentor," Eldritch then folded the piece of paper and handed it to Marnie. "I believe you'll find him at this address. His usual hours are from four to six on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays." Marnie accepted the paper, nodding.
"Now, as for your other classes, I recommend that you use magic as sparingly as you can until you've had a few lessons. You should still be able to participate and learn in all of them, but I'll be writing letters to all your teachers to make sure they all know that you have an excuse from practical testing until at least midterms. I have no doubts that once you're shown the basics, you'll learn very quickly." Eldritch continued smilingly while standing, to indicate that the interview was over.
"Thank you so much, Headmaster. You're not going to be disappointed!" Marnie said, shaking his proffered hand. "Oh, I'm sure I won't, Miss Cromwell. Best of luck in all your endeavors," he responded affably as he ushered her to the door. Marnie barely registered where she was walking as she left the office. The feeling of happiness was so intense she was almost lightheaded. She wasn't in lasting trouble, though of course she'd be apologizing to her classmates again, she wasn't kicked out, she had a potential new teacher to help her get caught up and really earn her spot here at Witch U, and best of all, she wasn't losing her powers! She felt almost boneless with relief.
It was as she neared her dorm that her steps began to slow and she began to think more about what had transpired. How had it escaped her grandmother's attention that she would need to know things that she had yet to be taught in order to excel in a sorcery-based college? Marnie had to wonder why neither her grandmother nor her mother, who surely remembered at least something of the process of magical training, had ever tried to tell her that there was more to doing magic than just wishing for something. As suddenly as that thought had come, another followed it. 'I hope Grandma didn't leave out the challenging parts of doing magic because she didn't think I'd still want to do it if it seemed like actual work,' It was not an entirely pleasant thought- that her grandma potentially thought she would lose interest in magic if it wasn't constantly fun and enjoyable- and it was one she vowed to disprove to herself by working more devotedly at this tutoring than she ever had at anything before. Another dark thought crossed her mind- she wondered if the treatment she had received at the hands of the headmaster was the standard procedure for improperly trained students. A sneaking suspicion told her it was not.
Pushing these thoughts aside for further reflection at a later time, a brief smile crossed Marnie's face once again as she let herself into her dorm and headed to one of the staircases. Lovecraft Hall was named, like all the dorms at the university, after great writers of the supernatural, and consisted of a large atrium over which the four floors of dorms looked. The central area had large flagstone floors and black wooden walls, with many study carrels as well as groupings of couches, chairs and fully stocked bookshelves. The ceiling far above was painted as a celestial map, complete with constellations and galaxies. There was a spiral staircase- black oak with well-trodden purple carpeting- on each end of the hall as well as two massive fireplaces. On each floor there were individual study areas filled with any number of reference spellbooks, codices and grimoires that the students could consult, the areas themselves being decorated with artwork depicting or reminiscent of some of that author's greatest works. Marnie had fallen completely in love with her dorm the moment she set foot inside it.
Her personal room was no different. Her half of it was decorated exactly to her tastes, which was to say that it fit perfectly with the rest of the dorm. It was a room that said more about Marnie personally than any previous one she'd inhabited. Almost immediately after moving in she had been possessed of the sudden, unshakeable sensation that she was exactly where she belonged. It had been even more perfect that she had been able to room with Cassie, one of the Halloweentown exchange students she knew from a year previously. They had kept up communication, and when they'd been discussing plans for their college aspirations, they'd discovered that they had both been accepted to Witch U. They were both very happy with their decision to room together- so far it had worked out more or less excellently.
Cassie wasn't in presently, and Marnie sank down into her desk chair to permit herself a deep breath. It had been a long day already, but it wasn't over yet. She still had this tutoring session to make it to. She felt the beginnings of seeds of anxiety beginning to take root in her chest. Marnie had never enjoyed having to ask for help when she was struggling. She resented being made to feel stupid for not understanding a concept, usually in math. It was boneheaded and prideful and she knew it, but it had stopped her from seeking assistance when she knew she needed it on more than one occasion. Magic, however, was an even touchier subject than math. At least she had no qualms about admitting that she wasn't the best at math. Being skilled at magic- or considering herself to be- had been an integral part of Marnie's identity for the better part of the past decade. It was going to be hard to reevaluate that self-conception and ask for help, but Marnie reasoned that the worst that could happen was that she'd get a jerk tutor. No matter what, she'd be learning and bettering herself, which was what mattered. She decided she'd drop by her grandmother's after the session to let her know all about the situation before she heard it from someone else, and then probably call her mom to fill her in too.
Feeling for the first time in a while that things were under control, Marnie threw some standard school supplies as well as a bit of money in one of her bags and headed out, consulting the careful script on the paper from Headmaster Eldritch. It contained directions to the multipurpose building of Sleepy Hallow, one of the nicer parks near the center of Halloweentown. All around, the tree-lined streets were ablaze with autumnal color and the late afternoon sunlight was warm on Marnie's back. The main door of the building was open, and Marnie let herself in, following the sounds of people talking to one of the main rooms. The doors were propped open welcomingly, and the room looked a bit like a classroom. There were a few children scattered here and there, playing what appeared to be various games of make-believe. Presumably they were the children of the adults clustered in a corner, all talking at once to someone who Marnie took to be the tutor she was here to see. All she could make out of him was that he had dark hair. She sidled into the room, trying to figure out what was going on without being too obtrusive. To the best she could tell, the tutor was explaining lesson plans to the adults.
Eventually, as she consulted her watch, it came to be 4 o'clock. Much to Marnie's horror, the adults began to file out the door, waving good-bye to their progeny, a few stopping for a quick last hug before the children scampered to sit in a lopsided semicircle on a rug in the middle of the room. She surveyed the children with a more critical eye as it became obvious that these were to be her peers instead of the adults she had presumed- not a one could have been out of elementary school, ages ranging from maybe 7 to 10. Fresh mortification washed over her, showing in the bright red flush coloring her cheeks- her magical skill was so poor, so remedial that she had been referred to a tutor who specialized in teaching elementary schoolers.
"Hi, you guys. Had a good weekend?" the tutor asked as he unpropped the doors and let them close gently. The children let loose a variety of exclamations in the affirmative, which Marnie was still too privately horrorstruck to consider joining in on. "All right, good, good to hear. Today we're going to be-" The tutor began, walking to stand in front of the semicircle next to the old-fashioned chalkboard, but he abruptly broke off as his eyes met Marnie's, hovering awkwardly between the children sitting expectantly on the rug and the back of the room.
Her previous humiliation was completely forgotten. Confusion, a little fear, and no small amount of anger were quickly taking its place. Still staring at her as though he'd just seen a ghost was Kal, the son of Kalabar, her old nemesis. The last time Marnie had seen him, he'd been disappearing in a flare of blue electric-looking light after having turned Halloweentown gray and almost succeeded at using the creature spell on the Mortal World. He had stolen her grandmother's spellbooks, shown a very poor understanding of how flirting worked, broken the Code of Merlin, and bragged constantly about his superior knowledge of all things evil and arcane. How he had somehow finagled a way into college and even worse, into a position of some dubious authority as an instructor of children with these marks against him escaped Marnie's understanding, but suddenly Headmaster Eldritch saying there were extenuating circumstances surrounding the tutor's admission made a horrible sort of sense. Sure, when she'd spared a thought for Kal over the years to wonder what had happened to him, she'd felt sort of sorry for him. You didn't become the person he had been without some sort of serious outside influences shaping you that way. But now that she was actually faced with him, in the flesh, she didn't exactly feel pity. Whatever his reasons for being there, Marnie was certain they couldn't mean anything good.
She had to give him credit- he recovered quickly. He cleared his throat and dropped his gaze, a ruddy flush creeping up his neck and turning his ears scarlet, before continuing his sentence. "We're going to be learning more about how you make a spell in your mind before you can cast it," He finished. After this the flush spread from his ears to his face. He still could not meet her eyes as he added in a much more muted voice, "As I'm sure you can see, we have a visitor to our class today. Won't you please have a seat?" He asked quietly, waving his hand as the children predictably swiveled to scrutinize her. A chair materialized next to her, behind the children. For the briefest second, she considered indulging her knee-jerk reaction and simply turning on her heel and walking out the door. But she reminded herself that if she left now, she would still be no closer to a solution to the problem of her powers than she had been when she came. She sank into it wordlessly.
Marnie would almost have said Kal seemed ashamed as he continued on with the lessons. He seemed like a decent teacher- he managed to make a process that seemed to Marnie like something of a cross between sentence diagramming and stoichiometry seem understandable- which was in and of itself highly suspect. The lesson seemed well thought out, but Marnie was internally reeling, feeling much too adrift to possibly pay close attention. The children seemed inquisitive, mostly attentive, and alarmingly at ease with Kal as he sat cross-legged in front of them on the floor, rising as he needed to illustrate points with the chalkboard.
The last hour was reserved for practical application of the theory they'd been learning. The children happily paired off, lisping their way through simple spells they were casting on pencils Kal had provided them with. He roved among them, offering help where it was needed and praise where it was warranted. His manner would have seemed charming, easygoing, but Marnie, who had retreated to the side of the classroom to watch the proceedings without a contradictory word from Kal, could see that the tutor was ill at ease. The set of his shoulders and jaw and neck screamed tension even as he spoke quiet words of encouragement to a boy with a head of white blond cowlicks who was nearly in tears. He resolutely would not look in Marnie's direction. Eventually, with a quick look outside the door at the parents amassing in the hallway, Kal dismissed the students, congratulating them on another session of hard work and enthusiasm. Once all the children had been returned to his or her respective guardian, Kal closed the door. It was just him and Marnie, alone together in the room, which suddenly seemed very quiet as the sunset slowly bled across the sky. He remained facing the door, seemingly in an attempt to collect himself, before turning and facing Marnie.
"So. Extenuating circumstances, huh?" Marnie blurted, crossing her arms. Bewilderment briefly flashed across Kal's face as he asked, "What?" The span of the room lay between them, and neither of them seemed inclined to change that. Marnie realized a second too late that he was blocking the only exit. She quickly eyed the windows appraisingly. If it came to a fight, she couldn't depend on her magic. Suddenly regretting that she hadn't made more use of class time to contact someone and let them know where she was and who she found herself in the company of, she determined that if she had to, she could rely on her magic to break a window and flee out of it. Kal followed her gaze and seemed to come to the same conclusion she had. The ruddiness that had never fully left his ears the entire class surged back into his face as he began to move slowly away from the door, taking great pains to look nonthreatening.
"Headmaster Eldritch told me that there had been extenuating circumstances surrounding the admission of the tutor he referred me to, and I wondered what they were. I guess I know now," Marnie said by way of an explanation. "You're here for tutoring?" Kal asked, sounding nonplussed. "Yes. I get referred here for tutoring only to find out that I'm actually so bad I need to be taught alongside elementary school children, and that you're actually the tutor," Marnie responded angrily, inadvertently getting everything out in the open in her ire. "So you're…. You aren't here to- kill me or something?" He asked, before seeming to have thought better of it. "No- what? Why would I be here to kill you?" Marnie demanded. At this Kal dropped his gaze once more, eyes hovering somewhere around Marnie's shins. "Because of what I almost did to your homes. To your family. To you. I.. wouldn't really blame you," He responded. He looked regretful- again, Marnie would almost have said he looked ashamed if she hadn't known better. But following a sentence like that, what was she really supposed to say?
"Well. I'm not." She eventually settled upon, less sure of her convictions that Kal was up to no good. She wasn't as good as Sophie with trusting her intuitions, but she didn't feel that she was in danger. "So why are you here, then?" Kal asked, seeming a little less off-balance. "For tutoring. I never really got taught how to do all the things you were talking about today- I just relied on intuition to accomplish whatever I wanted, which it turns out you can't do forever." Marnie explained shortly. At this, Kal balked. "If you relied on intuition for this long without any negative impacts… you must have way more natural potential than I thought," He remarked, running a hand through his hair and seeming grudgingly impressed. "Stop trying to compliment me," Marnie snapped, narrowing her eyes. "It's not going to distract me this time. Why are you here, Kal?" She asked, no small amount of acid in her tone. "For the same reasons you are. I want an education," He responded calmly. "Oh, yeah, right, and you expect me to believe that's the only reason you've chosen this specific year, the first year I just so happen to be in Halloweentown too, to come out of the woodwork when no one has seen, heard from you, or been able to get in contact with you- because Grandma tried- for like five years and I'm not supposed to think there's something sketchy happening here?" Marnie scoffed.
"I honestly had no idea you were also going to be in Halloweentown too," Kal defended, not seeming flustered by Marnie's mocking tone. "You have to believe me, Marnie. I am not the same person you knew. I don't claim to be an angel, and I don't think I can make up for what I've done in the past, but I'm trying to move beyond that and do something worthwhile instead. I don't want anything from you, or anyone else. I'll be more than happy to stay away from you and your family and friends. But if you want me to leave Halloweentown, or something else along those lines, I'll have to say no. I'm a different person now, and I intend to live like it," Kal announced, squaring his shoulders at the end of his statement.
Marnie felt her anger receding. "I would love to be able to think you're telling the truth," She told him. "But the only proof about your intentions that I have doesn't make me inclined to believe you," She concluded. "That's reasonable," Kal acknowledged, bowing his head slightly. "However, as I've been accepted to the university, personally interviewed by the headmaster, most of the administrative staff, and carry several letters of introduction from members of the Halloweentown Council vouching for my character and scholastic merit, I find that I'm not actually accountable to you or your family, our pasts notwithstanding. So it doesn't really matter whether you believe me or not," He continued. Trying to avoid showing outwardly that she was very surprised that Kal really did appear to have gone through a rigorous and thorough screening, Marnie inquired, "And just how much of your past were all those people aware of? Or were there a few details you forgot to mention, like how you're Kalabar's son and were entirely responsible for the Grey Spell, or like how you stole my Grandma's spellbooks and broke the Code of Merlin?" At this, Kal jutted his chin out, a defiant light coming into his eyes. "As it happens, all those people are actually now aware of more of the pertinent details of my past than you currently are," He responded sharply.
"Oh, okay. Sure. Enlighten me, then," Marnie replied in an antagonistic tone. At this, Kal's face became more forbidding, his expression cold. "My past is my own to share as I see fit, not to spew out at your command. Suffice to say that I've struggled with hardships that I wouldn't wish on anyone over the course of my life, and that in the past few months I've had to make some very difficult personal decisions."
Marnie began to draw closer to Kal. "I don't know how you've somehow misled a lot of intelligent people. But I do know that you're manipulative and clever, and that neither thievery nor the murders that would have resulted of casting the Creature Spell on those innocent mortals if I hadn't intervened are beneath you. I don't like that you're here, but I see I can't do anything about it. So suffice to say that I'll be watching carefully for signs that things aren't as they should be. And if I find any, I know the first person I'll be asking about it." Marnie said, having drawn within arms reach of Kal, which was about as close to him as she wanted to get. They stared at each other wordlessly for a moment, eyes locked, and Marnie felt for the barest second an almost electrical spark pass between them. With that, she gave in to her first instinct when she had realized who the tutor was, turned sharply and sailed through the door into the slowly falling twilight outside, leaving Kal standing silent and alone in the center of the room.
A.N.- Any and all feedback is welcomed and appreciated!