"People do not decide to become extraordinary. They decide to accomplish extraordinary things."

–Edmund Hilary

I do not own 'The Owl House.'

Chapter 3

The Illusionist, the Gardener, and the Advocate

…

A woman's voice. So comforting to listen to.

…

A man's kind smile and warm eyes. He has a beard to pull on.

…

An old house. So curious.

…

The man and woman holding each other. They look so happy.

…

BOOM!

With a terrified shout, Luz immediately woke up as she jerked her body forward into a sitting position on her hammock. Breathing heavily, Luz's sweat poured down her face, soaking her white, sleeping t-shirt and her web cocoon blanket. She had no idea how she became wrapped in a web cocoon every night, but wasn't about to complain against the comfort.

Luz gradually calmed down from her panicked state. Taking steady breaths, she let her eyes reclose and laid back down on her spiderweb hammock.

"Just a scary dream," Luz whispered to herself. "...Just another scary dream." She took a deep, calming breath. "...I'm…I'm just nervous about the exam, that's all," Luz said to herself. "My brain is just freaking out over the fact that I'll be starting school."

Dead silence filled her room once more. The masks lining the wall opposite of her almost seemed to leer at Luz, but she honestly never found them at all unsettling. In fact, Luz found comfort in the presence of the masks. It felt nice to not have to fall asleep alone.

Luz began to drift back to sleep.

There was a loud knock on her door.

"Up and at 'em, Luz!" she heard Eda shout from the other side of the door. "We gotta get going if we're gonna make it in time for your placement exam!"

Luz let out a groan and opened her eyes back up. "One minute!"

"Don't take too long!"

Luz wiggled out of the cocoon and hopped out of the hammock. With eyes wide with anxiety, she took as deep a breath as she could before letting it all out.

"...Today's the day," she said softly to herself. "Today. Is the freaking day."

Luz turned to her masks. "I can do this, right guys?"

No audible response.

"Yeah, you're right. I can totally do this!" Luz agreed. "I know how to use magic now. I can pass this exam and stay out of the baby class. I'll be the best damn human student Hexside has ever seen! Which is a guarantee, since I'm pretty much the only damn human student Hexside has ever seen."

Luz raised a fist in the air. "As the Titan as my witness, I will make both Azura and my mom proud!"

Another knock on the door. "Luz! Stop talking to those masks like some kind of psychopath and get out here!"

"Coming!"

After changing into her clothes, scarfing down breakfast, and intensely brushing her teeth, Luz dashed out the door, excitedly waiting for Eda to hurry up.

"Come on, Mom, let's go!" Luz shouted.

"Hold on, hold on." Eda walked out of the house, staff in hand. She gave Luz a look. "...You're leaving the mask here."

"What?" Luz reached her hands to the owl mask she wore. "But, Mom–"

"But nothing," Eda stated. "If you wanna be a student at Hexside, you need to show confidence and determination. And you can't do that wearing an owl mask."

"Personally, I love the mask, hooty hoot hoot."

"Shut up, Hooty."

"Aw, hoot."

Eda walked up to Luz and took off her mask, despite the girl's protests. "You don't have to hide who or what you are." Eda stuffed the mask in her hair and pulled down Luz's cat hood. "You're a human. Let them see it." Eda brushed off her old jacket, now worn by Luz. "Let the Isles know that a human is capable of being an even better witch than the rest of them."

Eda smiled. "Show them I did good. More importantly, show them you did even better."

Luz smiled back and nodded a little nod.

"That's my girl." Eda whisted toward the door, and King came out carrying a burlap sack over his little shoulder.

"Here, Luz," King set the bag down in front of her. "Some of the potions you brewed for the business. Figured it wouldn't hurt to show the school you can brew a decent brew."

"Awwwwww," Luz gushed. She picked King up off the ground. "Thank you, my sweet wittle guy."

King tried in vain to squirm out of Luz's hold as she gave him a bunch of kisses on his skull face. "I am not your sweet little guy! I am a king of demons!"

"Yeah, I know you are," Luz said, baby-talking to the demon. "Who's my adorwable wittle demon king? Is it you? Huh? Is it you?"

"Edaaaa!" King cried.

Eda rolled her eyes before walking up and prying King out of Luz's arms. "Quit babying this baby and let's get going."

"Hey, I'm not a baby!" King shouted.

"Ah, go play in your crib," said Eda.

"I have told you before, that is my dungeon where I lock up all those who have betrayed me!" King dropped out of Eda's hand and grumbled his way back into the house.

Eda readied her staff for flight and sat down. "Come on, Luz, let's go."

"Can I have my mask back?"

"No."

"Dangit."

The doors opened and Principle Bump walked into Hexside's student auditorium. With literally no one else present, he walked up to the front row and sat down in the purple seat closest to the stage. The old man pulled out a pen and clicked the top before hovering it over his clipboard.

"You may begin," he called up to the stage, sounding bored and unbothered.

A figure in a brown cloak emerged from the stage's purple curtains, poising dramatically.

"Born in a parallel realm, raised by witches and demons most powerful," the figure began as if she were doing theater. "I have come to this place to extend my knowledge of witchcraft, demonics, and sorcery. To reach the very peak of my full potential."

The figure flung away her cloak. "I am the good witch, Luz Clawthorne!"

Bump appeared not at all impressed.

Luz chuckled nervously. She reached into her pockets and tossed some confetti in the air. "Ta-da–ow, confetti in my eyes. Confetti in my eyes!"

"...Not even twelve seconds, and I am beginning to believe you live up to your surname," Bump commented.

"Thank you, Principal Bump," Luz replied as she got the last of the confetti out of her eyes. "I assure you, I am a Clawthorne, no doubt about it."

"He didn't mean that as a good thing," Eda whispered from off-stage.

Luz gulped. "Um…I know potions!" She ran off stage real quick and came back with her bag of potions. She dug through the bag, trying to pick a potion to show Bump. "Why aren't these labeled?" she whispered to herself.

Principal Bump blinked his eyes.

Luz pulled out a potion filled with a red liquid. "Um…m-my potions are high-quality brews. No substitute ingredients, it's all-natural and all-traditional!" Luz grinned as she uncorked the bottle. Her grin was blown off her face, however, as a belch of fire blew out of the bottle and blackened her face and hair.

Eda slapped a hand onto her forehead.

"...Uh…" Luz tried for a smile and a laugh. "Do you like your human medium rare or well done?"

Bump raised an eyebrow.

Luz wiped her face clean with her sleeve and picked another potion. "There's no arguing against the effectiveness of my potions." Luz pulled out the cork and an ear-piercing scream sounded from within the bottle.

Bump cringed and covered his ears.

Luz threw the potion across the stage, shattering the bottle against the floor in a final scream. "...Who needs an alarm clock, right?"

"Do you know any actual spells?" Bump asked. The tone of his voice suggested he was getting sick of this.

"Yes I do!" Luz tossed her bag of potions to the side, causing the bag to catch on multi-colored fire. "Prepare to be amazed! For I have uncovered a new technique of magic!"

Luz pulled some note cards out of her pockets. She started to panic when she couldn't find the second thing she needed. She quickly ran up and hopped off the stage, running up to Bump.

"Can I borrow that?" Luz asked before snatching the pen out of Bump's hand. Before the principal could protest, Luz ran back and crawled back up onto the stage.

"And now," Luz announced, putting the pen to one of her notecards. "Behold!"

Luz drew the ice glyph she had seen on the Knee. She set the notecard down on the floor and tapped the glyph. A column of ice erupted from where the notecard had been, standing as tall as Luz did.

Bump's eyes went wide. "...Huh…"

"Not impressed?" Luz asked. "How about this?!"

Luz drew her light glyph next and tapped the notecard. The glyph glowed and the paper card crumpled into a ball of light. Luz let the ball of light rise to the top of the column of ice. "I call this, the Eye of Luz," said Luz. "It's a...it's a play on The Eye of Sauron... You probably don't get the reference, do you?"

"Casting spells using paper?" Bump marveled. "I've never seen such a thing before."

Luz grinned.

"I will admit, young Miss Clawthorne, you've surprised me," said Bump. "But, what else can you do?"

Luz looked over at her burning bag of potions. Thankfully, the fire didn't spread, instead simply dying down into a smoking mess on the floor.

"Uh… Ooo! How about this?!" Luz did the taking-off-your-thumb trick. "My thumb is on. My thumb is off. On. Off. On. Off."

All Luz got from Bump was a flat stare.

Luz began to sweat. Her ball of light was starting to melt the ice column, getting water on the floor. "...Oh! How about this?!" Luz reached her hands up to her face and flipped her eyelids. "Bleep-boop-blee–Ah! Eyelash!"

Luz stumbled forward and slipped on the water from her ice column. With a cry of alarm, she slid right off of the stage, falling to the floor. She shut her eyes and braced for the fall, but Bump calmly used his magic and summoned an abomination golem that caught Luz by the back of her jacket before she could hit the floor.

The abomination carried Luz up to Bump and dangled her in front of the principal. Luz let out a nervous chuckle. "I failed, didn't I?"

"...This is going to absolutely shock you," Bump said. "but, I've seen worse."

"For real?" Luz asked. "Uh, I-I mean…seriously, for real?"

"For real." Principal Bump smiled as he stood up and shook Luz's hand. "Welcome to Hexside School of Magic and Demonics."

Luz let out a cry of pure joy and delight, until the abomination let go and dropped her on the floor.

"Your first day of classes starts first thing tomorrow morning." Bump drew a spell and a Hexside uniform and a pamphlet fell out of the air and on top of Luz. "Try to show up a little earlier so we can assign you to a track and a class schedule."

"YES!" Luz shot to her feet, uniform and pamphlet in hand and an excited glow on her face. "I mean… Yes, Principal Bump," she said more calmly.

Then she took off like a bat out of hell out of the auditorium.

Eda emerged from the curtains and dropped down from the stage, walking up to her former principal.

"Shouldn't you go after her?" Bump asked.

"Nah, she'll sprint all the way back home. I'll find her lying on the couch out of steam with a big grin on her face when I get back." Eda placed her hands on her hips. "So…not too shabby, right? Kid did good."

"You didn't lie to me about her being adopted just so I would actually consider accepting her into Hexside, did you?" Bump asked. "You're positive she's not your own flesh and blood?"

"Oh, come on, I was never that bad," Eda argued.

"You were pretty bad," said Bump. "And it's not just that. Her mannerisms–the way she moves, the way she talks, her excited energy. And you know, she does remind me a bit of Raine."

"She's not Raine's!" Eda snapped. She growled in frustration and rubbed her temples. "She is a human going to a school for witches. But she'll do great here, I promise."

"I hope so. I really do." Bump paused for a moment. "...I understand it's none of my business. But what exactly encouraged you to adopt a human, Edalyn? It seems so…out of character for you."

"...Like you said." Edalyn made her way to the exit. "It's none of your business."

Bump blinked his eyes as he watched Eda leave, taken off guard by Eda's sudden moment of defensiveness.

The very next morning, Luz burst out of the Owl House, smashing Hooty's face against the wall as she did. Dressed in her new school uniform with her blue backpack hanging from her shoulders, the ecstatic human bounced on her feet as she waited for Eda to come out of the house.

"Mom Mom Mom Mom!" Luz shouted. "First day first day first day first day first day!"

"Alright, already, sheesh," Eda said as she walked out of the house. "Who gets this excited over school, of all things?"

"Me!' Luz declared. She spread her arms, showing off her uniform. "Hexside's first-ever human student!" Luz frowned at her white sleeves and pale tunic. "...You know, I like the uniform, but I thought it'd be more colorful."

"Oh, you don't get your color until you're assigned to a Track," Eda explained. "Just go talk to Bump, he'll set you up."

Eda sat down on her staff and Luz eagerly hopped on behind her. They both took into the air, heading for Hexside.

"Hooooot," Hooty moaned against the wall.

One staff flight later, Eda landed her and Luz in front of Hexside. Luz let out a squeal of delight as she looked up at the building. Hexside kind of looked like a classic castle from a storybook, even more so than Blight Manor did. A perfectly symmetrical building with the main tower at the center, built from white brick with evergreen roofing.

Luz got off the staff. "When can I get my own palisman?"

"When you earn one," said Eda. "Now go. Make friends, learn stuff, learn how to make friends and stuff. But don't let Hexside turn you into another drone. Be unique. Stay unique. Kick society right in its ass!"

Luz glanced over at Hexside, nervously watching as other students entered the school. "...Mom…do you really think I'll…you know, fit in, at school?"

"It's not about fitting in. It's about making your mark and standing out from the rest," Eda said. "My advice? Punch the first kid you see in the face to establish dominance."

"...Uh…I don't think I should do that," said Luz.

"Alright, ya goody Luz shoes." Eda extended her hand to Luz "Now gimme the mask."

"What mask?"

"The mask you've been wearing for the last ten years."

"Oh, that mask." Luz reluctantly reached into her backpack and gave Eda her owl mask. "Can't I wear it to school?"

"Absolutely not." Eda stuffed the mask into her hair. "Show confidence to those dorks and brats. Don't be afraid to show them who you are."

The Owl Lady placed a hand on Luz's shoulder. "Be proud of who you are."

Luz sighed. "...Okay."

"Good." Eda patted Luz's head. "I'll be back to pick you up after school." She then flew away on her staff. "Byeeeeeee!"

"I love it when she says that." Luz turned around and took a deep breath. As she stared up at Hexside, her knees began to shake. Despite what Eda had said to her, Luz pulled up her cowl's hood on her uniform, hiding her ears.

"I can do this," Luz said to herself. "I can do this…I can prove that I can be a witch…I can make it in this world even as a human…I can make Mom proud."

Luz made her way to the front entrance of Hexside School of Magic and Demonics. "Here I go."

(About fifteen minutes later)

"Wow, that was fast," Eda commented. "Alright, what'd she do?"

"Your daughter punched another student in the face," Bump said quite bluntly.

"Awww, she actually took my advice?" Eda frowned. "Uh, I mean…bad Luz. Oh, where oh where could she have learned such violent behavior?"

Bump replied with only dead silence.

"...Okay, look. Luz…doesn't interact with kids her own age much. Or, at all, really. Not since she was little. She gets nervous and jumpy and she's easy to freak out sometimes." Eda clasped her hands together. "But she's really passionate about going to school. Please, don't kick her out before she can even finish her first day."

Principal Bump let out a sigh. "...I'll make you a deal, Edalyn. If Luz apologizes to the student she assaulted,"

"Do we really have to say 'assaulted–"

"and if the student accepts Luz's apology and forgives her, then we'll just call this strike one. If he doesn't, then Luz will never set foot in this school ever again." Bump pressed a button on his intercom. "Send them in, please."

A moment later, Luz and another kid walked into the principal's office. The other kid was shorter and looked younger than Luz by a year or two maybe. The thin boy was dark-skinned with dark brown hair set in a neat haircut, shortened at the sides. His eyes were so dark of a blue they looked almost gray. Although, one of them was swollen, courtesy of Luz. The sleeves and pant legs of his school uniform were light blue.

"Peregrine's kid?" Eda asked. "Your dad's the news reporter guy, right?"

"Yeah, that's right," the boy with the blackened eye said.

"I assigned Augustus here to be Luz's student guide until she gets her bearings," Bump explained. "Augustus, care to explain what happened?"

"Uh, well, I walked up to Luz, thinking she had to be the new student because of her unassigned uniform," Augustus recalled. "And before I could say three words to her, she yells and punches me in the face."

"Dude, I am sooo sorry I hit you," Luz said, her face flooded with guilt. "I don't really interact with other kids and I'm really weird around people that aren't my family and I was kinda freaking out over my first day at Hexside and I sort of panicked when you came up to me–"

"Alright alright, chill," said Augustus, stopping Luz's rant. "It's cool, I forgive you."

Luz blinked in surprise. "Y…you do? Just like that?"

"Yeah, don't worry about it." Augustus smiled. "S'all good. You seem okay."

"Hey, great! Now I don't have to bribe or threaten him!" Eda got up out of her seat. "You heard the dweebus, Bumpykins, all's forgiven."

Eda walked up to Luz. "See you after school, kid." Eda looked at Augustus and frowned at his black eye. "Titan…you barely did any damage. I taught you to hit harder than that, Luz."

Luz and Augustus watched as Eda walked out of Principal Bump's office.

"...What's it like having the Owl Lady as a mom?" Augustus asked.

"You have a black eye, what do you think it's like?"

"Huh, good point."

"Moving on," said Bump. "Augustus, if you would kindly wait out in the hall?"

"Yes, Principal Bump," Augustus said before heading out of the office.

Luz wrung her hands anxiously. "Uh...sorry about…that. I know this is a pretty bad start to my first day."

"Indeed," said Bump. "But, with that all out of the way, let's discuss your class schedule, shall we?"

"I wanna take as many classes as I'm allowed to take," Luz said eagerly.

"I love that kind of enthusiasm in a student," Bump said. "But first, you need to pick a Track to study."

"Can't I study them all?" Luz asked.

"Oh, no, that's not how it works," Bump replied. "You have to pick one of the nine Tracks to study." The principal raised his hand up to the nine colored banners that hung from the ceiling, each of them displaying the sigil of their represented Coven.

"Isn't there a Track that practices multiple Tracks?" Luz asked.

"That's called the Emperor's Coven," said Bump. "And you don't get to join that Coven unless you graduate from school and prove that you're good enough to join them."

"But all of the Tracks seem so cool," Luz said. "How am I supposed to pick just one to study? Don't you guys have, like, a magic hat that chooses for you when you put it on?"

"Well, we used to, but, uh," Bump coughed into his fist. "Several complaints–and numerous lawsuits–from concerned parents forced us to...discontinue it."

"Aw, man."

"Alright, look, you brew potions, right? And Edalyn was one of the top students of the Potions Track when she was a student," Bump said. "How about you join the Potions Track?"

"The Potions Track?" Luz asked. "I don't know,"

"I'll level with you, Miss Clawthrone, I believe the Potions Track is your best option," said Bump. "Considering your…handicap."

"Can we not call it that?" Luz requested.

"Potions Track it is." Bump raised his hand and drew a magic circle. Starting from her feet and rising past her head, a green magic circle gave Luz's uniform its colors in a series of bright sparks of light. The tunic and cowl darkened and the white sleeves and pant legs became pineapple-yellow.

Luz stared at her new-colored sleeves. "Woah."

Principal Bump picked up a piece of paper and stood up from his seat, walking around his desk to hand the paper to Luz. "Here's your schedule. Happy studying."

Luz took the paper and read over her schedule. "But, Principle Bump…I can do way more than this. I know I can." Luz looked back up at Bump. "I know you think I can't do much just because I'm a human, but–"

"Rules are rules, Luz, no matter what or who you are," said Bump. "Look, this school has plenty of extracurricular activities that you can do if you really want to do more. But for now, just make the most with what you've got."

Luz sighed, knowing full well she should be grateful just for being able to go to Hexside. "Yes, Principal Bump. Hey, am I allowed to call you Bumpykins? That sounded really fun."

"You ever call me that, and I'll expel you without a moment's hesitation."

"Yes, sir," Luz replied before hurrying out of the office.

With Luz gone, Bump sat back down at his desk. The Principal of Hexside rested his elbows on the desk and stroked his chin thoughtfully.

"...Studying multiple tracks," he muttered.

Luz walked out of the office and stepped into the hall. In Luz's opinion, the school seemed a lot bigger once you got inside. The architecture of the building appeared quite classical. Vaulted ceiling supported by arches and columns of dark gray stone. The polished, gray floor looked well cleaned and the walls that weren't lined with tall, red lockers were instead lined with bulletin boards, windows, water fountains, or other such things you may find in a magic school. Banners hung from the ceiling and students walked by to get to where they needed to go.

Luz took another look at her class schedule. "...I can make this work," she said to herself. "Heck, maybe some more training on potion brewing might do me some good."

"Oh, cool, you got into the Potions Track?"

Startled, Luz yelped and flinched, seeing Augustus flinch as well and recoil away from her.

"Don't hit me!" he cried.

"I won't," said Luz. "And, again, seriously, I am, so sorry about that."

"Ah, don't worry about it." Augustus grinned and pointed at his black eye. "If nothing else, it makes me look tough."

Luz chuckled. "Heh…yeah, I guess so." Luz then frowned. "Wait, why are you still here? Are you actually still going to be my student guide?"

"Of course I am!" Augustus said. "Why do you think Principal Bump assigned me to be your student guide?"

"No one else wanted to?" Luz guessed.

"This may surprise you, but I happen to be totally into human culture. I am, like, obsessed with the Human Realm." Augustus smiled at Luz in amazement. Luz found it a bit flattering but also somewhat unsettling. "I still can't believe I'm talking to an actual live human. This is just incredible! But, I thought you humans had gills?"

"We do not," said Luz.

"Well, at least your ears are right." Augustus marveled at Luz's ears, reaching up to his own ears. "So round and small. Must make wearing hats so much easier."

Luz raised her hands up to cover her ears. "Okay, I get it, I'm a human, big whoop." Luz narrowed her eyes. "You're really telling me there are witches who are actually interested in human stuff?"

Augustus offered Luz a handshake. "Augustus Porter. Founder and president of the Hexside Human Appreciation Society. Or H.A.S. for short."

Luz hesitated before shaking the boy's hand. "Luz Clawthorne. There's really a society dedicated to human stuff?"

"Yeah, we're a club that studies and archives human artifacts and discusses Human Realm culture," Augustus explained. "In fact, I was kinda hoping you would join the H.A.S. After all, you are an actual human. It's one of the reasons I agreed to be your student guide."

"You want me to join your club? I've never been in a club before." Luz looked to the side. "I dunno, being the only human on the Boiling Isles…isn't always fun for me. I-I don't really like to advertise it."

"Come on, please?" Augustus begged. "Look, just stop by for our next meeting and see how you like it. It's not a very big group, and we're always looking for new material to discuss."

"Um…" Luz wrung her hands nervously.

"You gave me a black eye."

"Damn, I was afraid you would eventually use that against me." Luz sighed. "Alright, fine. I'll…I'll be there at your next meeting."

"Yes!" Augustus pulled out a pamphlet and handed it to Luz. "You're gonna love it!"

The front of the pamphlet read Human Appreciation Society: Experience the Wonder of the Human Realm.

"Um…thank you, Augustus," Luz said. "Is it cool if I call you Gus?"

"A human nickname?" Augustus, now Gus, asked excitedly. "Yeah-ha! Totally!"

Luz smiled. Then the school bell went off.

"Uh-oh. First bell," said Gus. "Classes start in ten minutes."

"Oh, then," Luz showed Gus her schedule. "Can you show me where I need to go?"

"Well, I gotta go to the Healing Ward and take care of this." Gus pointed to his black eye. "But don't worry. I've got you covered."

Gus drew a magic circle, light blue in color, and in a puff of magic smoke, created a blue, see-through copy of himself, standing next to Luz.

"Woah!" Luz's eyes shone in awe. "That's so cool!"

"Ah, it's nothing," Gus said with a modest wave of his hand. "Basic illusion magic."

"Hey, I'd give anything to be able to do that," Luz said.

Gus's face lit up from the compliment.

"Alright, Ghost Gus," Luz showed the illusion her class schedule. "Take me to where I need to go."

Ghost Gus read the schedule real quick, gave a thumbs up, then hurried down the hall.

"Thanks, Gus! Sorry again about your eye!" Luz said before hurrying down the hall after her illusion guide.

Gus brought a hand up to his black eye. "...'Barely any damage' she said."

Luz was the last one to enter the classroom but managed not to be late. The large, polished, wooden desks in the classroom were each made for two students, but Luz managed to find an empty one and sat down on the stool, setting her backpack down beside her. In a classroom with other students, none of whom Luz even knew, she began drumming her fingers anxiously along the desk, fighting the urge to hide her ears in her hood.

The chalkboard at the front of the classroom read 'Potions 101' in big letters. Behind the desk at the front of the classroom in front of the chalkboard was the teacher. He had an almost bean-shaped head with a hooked, beak-like nose and skin the color of the pale center of a cucumber. His neck-length hair was turquoise-green, and he wore a yellow beret that matched the vest he wore over his black shirt. A pair of bifocals sat atop his beak-nose and his nails were black and pointed.

"And, there's the bell," the teacher said when the second bell went off. "Hello, everyone, and welcome back! To the new faces I see in the Potions Track, I am Professor Beaker."

'Do not giggle. Do not giggle. Do not ruin your first day.' Luz thought to herself.

"I am happy to introduce you all to the Potions Track," Professor Beak continued. "This class will cover the basics of potion brewing. To start things off, how about a little pop quiz?"

Professor Beaker grabbed his chalk and wrote a question on the board. "If your typical brew is experiencing overstimulation, such as increased temperature, high boiling, frothing, popping or hissing, what should you add to the brew in order to settle down the mixture?"

Several students raised their hands. Luz was too nervous to raise her hand.

"Hmmm, one of the new students." Professor Beaker's gaze settled on Luz. "How about you? Call it picking on the new kid, if you must."

"Wha…o-oh." Luz twiddled her thumbs, surprised by actually being called on even though she didn't raise her hand. "Um…if your potion is boiling and bubbling over, the best way to calm it down is with a little bit of mandrake root."

"Very good," said Professor Beaker. "Can you tell me why you could or shouldn't use, say, the leaves of the plant?"

"The mandragora leaves aren't really used for potions," Luz said. "They…they're typically used for, like, ointments and sedatives and stuff."

"Good, good," said the Professor. "I hope to see your hand go up next time I ask the class a question, Miss…"

Luz realized the Professor was asking for her name. "Oh, uh…Cl-Clawthorne."

There was a little bit of muttering among the other students.

"Clawthorne, you say?" From behind his desk, Professor Beaker took out his attendance list. "Let's see here, Catfell, Charon, Cinder, ah, here we are, Clawthorne. Luz Clawthorne. Oh, that's right! Our new student from the Human Realm."

The muttering among the students increased. Luz felt everyone's eyes on her round, human ears and her pulse began to increase. She suddenly wished she had given the professor a fake name.

"Alright, settle down, everyone," said the Professor. "Tell me, Miss Clawthorne, if mandrake root is used to calm a brew down, how would you intensify or excite a mixture?"

"Fire bee honey," Luz answered. "Or fairy dust, if you're looking for a cleaner mixture."

"Correct again," said Professor Beaker. "You see, class, potion brewing is a lot like eating a proper diet or preparing a delicious meal. You need to include all of the necessary ingredients. And that doesn't just mean reading a list of the necessary items and tossing them all into the cauldron like some bored, hourly worker. You have to be smart, you have to be creative, you must be attentive to what your brew requires and requests of you."

Professor Beaker clapped his hands together. "Let's try it out, shall we? Please pull your practice cauldrons out from under your desks."

Luz looked under the desk and spotted the small cauldron underneath. Just as the other students did, she got down and picked the somewhat heavy cauldron up, setting it on her desk.

"Now, today, we'll be making fog brews. A very typical, very basic formula, perfect for the first day," the professor explained. "I'll come around and hand out your ingredients and mixing equipment. You can partner up with some if you like, but for most, this is a very easy potion to mix."

'Yeah. Easy," Luz agreed in her head. '...Real easy.'

After a couple more classes, lunchtime came around. Luz followed the crowd of students to the cafeteria. As everyone else sat down at a table with their friends, Luz awkwardly wandered a bit, looking for her own spot to sit down and eat her lunch.

"Hey, Luz!"

Almost startled, Luz looked over and saw Gus waving at her from a table.

Smiling in appreciation, Luz went over to sit down with her student guide. Gus wasn't eating alone at his table, causing Luz's timidness to arise once more. The girl sitting across from Gus seemed harmless enough, though. More Luz's age than Gus's age, a little bit shorter than Luz, she had a cute face with full cheeks and olive-green eyes behind large, circular glasses. Her neat, dark, navy-blue hair hung down to just below her pointed ears. The girl was hardly plump, not in Luz's opinion anyway, but she definitely had a thicker, stronger build than most of the girls at Hexside, making Luz wonder if she worked out a lot. So, in short, she seemed harmless, but not that harmless. The sleeves on her student uniform were amethyst purple.

Gus smiled and patted the spot on the table next to him. His black eye was gone, giving Luz the impression that Hexside had a pretty good medical staff. "How's your first day at Hexside going so far?"

"Not bad," Luz replied as she sat down next to Gus, setting her backpack next to her and taking out her sack lunch. "I tried using my locker, but it keeps growling at me. So, I'm kinda just carrying all of my stuff around with me all day."

"Yeah, the lockers can get like that sometimes," Gus said. "Oh, Luz, this is Willow." He raised a hand to the girl across from him. "Willow, this is Luz. The human student I was telling you about."

The girl, Willow, smiled and waved her hand at Luz. "Hello."

"Hi," Luz replied, raising her own hand. "Nice to meet you."

"So, this is the one that gave you a black eye, Augustus?" Willow asked. Her face remained friendly, but there was something in her voice that suggested she took offense to someone attacking her friend.

"It's Gus now. And yeah, that was her." Gus said. "But it's cool, really. I sort of made the mistake of sneaking up on her."

"I'm…not the best around people," Luz admitted shamefully. "I guess I'm still getting used to such a social setting. I was raised by the Isles' most wanted criminal, this is my first day of actual school."

Upon assessing her first impression of Luz, Willow gave her a smile. "For what it's worth, I don't really socialize much either. I mean, I've never given anybody a black eye before, no matter how much I wanted to."

"Heh." Luz smiled back. "Yeah, I…have poor impulse control."

Willow looked at Luz's ears. "Wow, so you really are a human? From the Human Realm?" she marveled. "I never thought I'd ever actually meet one of your kind. It's sort of amazing that you're going to Hexside."

Luz noticed that some Hexside students who passed her by took a brief moment to gawk at her small, round ears. Flushing with embarrassment, Luz pulled her cowl's hood over her head.

"Oh." Willow frowned apologetically. "I...guess you don't really like to brag about it, do you?"

"There's nothing really to brag about," Luz said.

"I wouldn't say that," said Willow. "A human student being able to go to school for witches? That's pretty cool."

Luz smiled shyly. "Well…thanks."

"So, how do you like the Potions Track?" Willow asked, taking notice of Luz's sleeves.

"I'm actually pretty decent at it," Luz said, taking a ham sandwich out of her lunch bag. "Growing up, my mom taught me how to brew potions for our business. Nothing advanced, just standard stuff to sell door to door. What track are you in? I haven't memorized all the colors yet."

"I'm in the Abomination Track," Willow said, raising up her sleeve.

"Ooo, what's that Track like?" Luz asked.

Willow grimaced. "Well, truth be told, it must be nice to actually be good at your Track."

"What do you mean?" Luz asked with a mouth full of ham sandwich.

"I stink at abomination magic," Willow admitted. "The only reason I'm even in that Track is because my parents put me in it. They said the Abomination Coven would have better opportunities."

"Well, what Track did you want?" Luz asked.

"I wanted to join the Plant Track." Willow looked away and shrugged. "It's kinda the only magic I can really do."

"Ah, Willow isn't giving herself enough credit," Gus said. "She's awesome at plant magic."

"Then you should totally switch to the Plant Track," Luz said. "Do what you want to do, study what you want to study. That's what I wanted."

"You mean you didn't want to study the Potions Track?" Willow asked.

"I wanted to study all the Tracks," Luz said. "I wanted to learn everything about magic that I possibly could."

"Luz, that's really cool, but you can't study multiple tracks," Gus said. "If you really want to be able to perform all kinds of magic, you have to graduate from school and, assuming you're even good enough, join the Emperor's Coven. They're the only ones who can legally perform different kinds of magic after they graduate from school."

"Well, that's stupid," Luz said. "I don't know, maybe I should just switch Tracks while it's still early. The gen eds are pretty cool, but I was hoping to really challenge myself at Hexside. What's the toughest Track to study?"

"It's different for everybody," Willow said. "While I straight-up suck in the Abomination Track, Gus is really good in the Illusion Track."

"If you're looking for something a bit more physical, I hear the Beast Keeping Track can get pretty wild," said Gus.

"That actually sounds pretty sweet," Luz said. "My grandma is in the Beast Keeping Coven and, let me tell ya, she is one badass senior citizen."

"Uh, maybe you should at least look into it first before making that decision," Willow cautioned. "If students in the Beast Keeping Track aren't careful, they can get eaten."

"Oh, well, I don't wanna get eaten," said Luz. "Where can I go to check out the Beast Keeping Coven?"

"Tell you what. If we all hurry up and finish our lunches, I can take you to see the school's beast keeping stables while there's still time," Willow offered.

"Yeah, totally!" Luz said. "This is gonna be awesome!" She took another bite out of her sandwich, only to suddenly cringe and spit out a soggy bread-covered Lego piece. "Dangit, King!"

After quickly eating their lunches, Willow, Gus, and Luz made their way down the school halls, heading to the Beast Keeping Track's stables.

"You sure it's okay for us to check out the stables?" Luz asked. "We won't get in trouble or anything, right?"

"Nah, I have a friend in the Beast Keeping Track who can show you what beast keeping is all about," Willow said.

"What kind of beasts does Hexside keep?" Luz asked.

"Griffins, mostly," Willow answered. "Actually, I think the Beast Keeping Coven is arriving today with a jeweled tarantula for the class to examine."

"What's a jeweled tarantula?" Luz asked.

"A giant species of spider," Gus explained. "I think they're on the endangered creatures list."

"They are. That's why the Beast Keeping Coven is bringing one to show the class," Willow explained. "The Coven is trying to raise awareness for the preservation of the species. I hope you're not scared of spiders, Luz."

"Are you kidding? I literally sleep in a web." Luz let out an excited squeal and ran ahead of Willow and Gus. "This is gonna be so cool!" She looked behind her at her two new friends. "Do we get to feed the spider? Please tell me we do!"

Luz looked back ahead, only to ram into someone, bonking their foreheads together.

They both fell onto the floor with a painful grunt. Luz moaned as she rubbed her forehead, lifting herself up on one arm, as did the other girl.

"Watch where you're going!" the other girl shouted angrily.

"Sorry. Sorry." Luz looked at who she had bumped into. Upon recognizing her, Luz's eyes widdened.

It was the youngest Blight. The mint-haired girl Luz had met when she had delivered Alador's order. Wearing her student uniform, the Blight girl's sleeves and pant legs were the same amethyst purple as Willow's.

As Willow and Gus came up to help Luz back on her feet, a trio of girls came up and helped the Blight girl up as well. Luz recognized the trio as the three girls who had been at Eda's stand, including the pink-haired triclops girl who had bought the Rubik's Cube from them.

"You okay, Luz?" Gus asked.

"Luz?" Recognition suddenly shone in the Blight girl's angry stare. "Wait a minute, I know you. You were at my house with my dad's order. The one with the owl mask and weird cat hood. You're that freaking owl-cat!"

Luz nodded her head nervously. "Yeah, that…that was me," she said. "You're Mittens, right?"

Mittens' three friends snickered as her face bloomed red from anger and embarrassment. "That is not my name," she hissed through her teeth.

Willow sighed. "Luz, this is Amity." Her voice was oddly flat and emotionless. "Amity Blight."

"Your name is Amity?" Luz asked. "That's a nice name."

Amity narrowed her eyes at Luz. "What are you even doing here?"

"I go to school here now." Luz drew back her hood and proudly showed off her uniform. "You're looking at Hexside's first-ever human student!"

"So you're really a human?" the triclops girl, Boscha, Luz remembered, asked. "I saw you in a couple of my classes. Why is Hexside letting some round-eared human go here? What could you possibly know about any kind of magic?"

"Hey, I can do magic." Luz reached into her backpack and pulled out a pen and notebook. She drew her light glyph and sent a ball of light floating into the air. "See? I can also do ice. Wanna see some ice?"

"You use magic by drawing on paper?" the one called Skara asked. "Huh. Never seen that before. It seems to work okay."

"Yeah, you wanna know what works even better?" Boscha drew a magic circle and shot a small fireball at Luz, who yelped as her notebook was blasted out of her hands and reduced to dust.

Boscha smirked. "That."

"Hey, knock it off, Boscha!" Willow shouted angrily.

"Or else what, Half-a-Witch Willow?" Boscha mocked. "You gonna sick an abomination on me?"

Willow ground her teeth and growled at Boscha.

"Ahem." Amelia, the green-haired girl, inconspicuously nodded her head down the hall. The students all looked and saw Principal Bump himself rounding the corner and walking down the hall toward them. Even Boscha was willing to agree to a ceasefire as Bump approached them.

"Ah, Miss Clawthorne," Bump greeted Luz.

"Clawthorne?" Amity asked.

"How has your first day in the Potions Track been going?" Bump continued. "Staying out of trouble, I hope?"

"Yes, Principal Bump," said Luz.

Principal Bump looked over at Gus. "Has she?"

"Yes, Principal Bump," Gus replied.

"Good, good." Bump continued down the hall. "Well, carry on, then."

As Bump walked away, and with his back turned toward them, Boscha looked at Luz and opened her mouth to say something.

"Carry on, then," Bump repeated without even looking back behind him. This time, the principal's voice was a little harder.

Not quite daring enough to test the Principal of Hexside, Boscha managed to swallow her pride and shut her mouth. She moved down the hall in the opposite direction of Bump, intentionally bumping her shoulder into Luz as she did. Skara and Amelia followed after Boscha.

Amity narrowed her golden eyes at Luz. "Stay out of my way, human," she said before walking after Boscha and the other two. "And if you ever call me 'Mittens' again, I'll dissect you."

Luz, Willow, and Gus watched as the four girls walked away.

"...She seems more like an Enmity than an Amity," Gus commented once they were gone. "You sure we haven't just been mispronouncing it this whole time?"

"I thought the third eye was supposed to bring enlightenment," Luz said. "Instead, it seems to just bring out your inner bitch."

"Come on, guys. We don't have a whole lot of time left for lunch period," Willow said, continuing down the hall.

"Are you okay, Willow?" Luz asked as she and Gus walked down the hall after Willow.

"I'm fine, it's just…" Willow sighed. "...Amity has a way of really getting to me, that's all."

"She does seem kind of cranky," Luz pointed out.

A ghost of a smile formed on Willow's face. "That's one way of putting it, yeah."

"Geez, why is she even like that?" Gus asked. "I have some classes with her siblings, and they seem so laid back most of the time."

"Eh. Everyone's built differently." Luz hurried ahead of Gus and Willow. "Come on, let's go see some beasts!"

The three of them exited out the back of the school where the stables were. The Hexside School Beast Keeping Stable was well-designed for handling beasts. The open grass field was perfect for beasts to frolic and run around, with the clean and spacious stable barn built next to the field. Hexside had a strong policy on proper beast care, as required of them by the Beast Keeping Coven.

Luz and company walked across the grass field to the stable barn. One of the Beast Keeping Track students was outside of the stable barn tending to a griffin. She had large, dark brown hair tied back into a messy bun with a spiked hair tie. There was a fish hook earring in her right ear and her eyes were as green as the moss on a tree. She wore a Hexside student uniform, but it had a bit of custom design to it. The cowl was ripped in a pattern and held together by a large thumbtack and the tunic's skirt was ripped as well. As a student of the Beast Keeping Track, her sleeves and pant legs were a dark orange color.

"Hey, Viney!" Willow greeted as she, Luz, and Gus approached the Beast Keeping student.

"Oh, hey, Willow!" The girl, Viney, greeted back, turning away from her griffin for a moment. In the Human Realm, griffins were portrayed as proud and majestic, half eagle, half lion beasts. In the Demon Realm, they were more like half pigeon, half large cougar creatures. Viney's particular griffin had a front half resembling that of a pigeon with gray feathers and orange feet with black talons. A pair of white, dove-like wings sat atop her back. The griffin's rear half resembled that of a brown-furred lion, with feline back legs, and a fluffy tail. The griffin had a cute face with a black beak and a pale gray cere, much like a pigeon, with orange eyes and light brown irises.

Willow raised a hand up at the griffin. "Hi, Puddles."

Puddles the griffin let out a caw at Willow.

"Viney, this is Luz. Hexside's human student." Willow raised a hand up at Luz. "She was thinking of switching her track to Beast Keeping."

"You're a human?" Viney asked Luz. "I always thought humans were way hairier."

"Some of us," Luz replied.

"So, you're thinking of switching to the Beast Keeping Track?" Viney asked. "Do you have any experience in beast keeping?"

"I have a little brother who's literally a demon," Luz said.

"Okay, that's something," Viney turned back around and lifted up one of her griffin's front feet. "Let me finish taking care of Puddles, and we'll see real quick how she responds to you."

"What's wrong with her?" Luz asked.

"Oh, the poor thing cut her foot on a sharp rock sticking out of the ground during a landing." Viney drew a magic circle over the cut on the griffin's foot. "Nothing a little magic can't fix."

Luz walked up and watched as Viney healed the cut on Puddle's foot. With her injury healed, Puddles let out a happy caw.

Luz's eyes sparkled. "Woah, that was incredible!" she said. "You do healing magic too?"

"Yeah." Viney smiled. "I almost joined the Healing Track when I started school, but I just love animals way too much not to be in the Beast Keeping Track. Initially, I wanted to learn beast keeping and healing magic, and become a healer for beasts."

"Oh, like a Boiling Isles veterinarian," Luz said.

"I don't know that word."

"See, this is why you should be allowed to study more than one track if you want to," Luz complained. "Damn the rules, why shouldn't you try to reach your full potential? Learning to be a beast healer? That sounds freakin' awesome! I mean, look at this big, fluffy sweetie."

Luz came up next to Viney and took the griffin's foot from her, holding it tenderly in her own hands. "Awwww. Look at that boo-boo." Luz gave the healed cut on Puddles' foot a kiss. "You're a big, strong, precious girl, aren't you?"

Puddles let out a sound that was part purr, part coo, and nuzzled the side of Luz's head with her cheek.

Viney smiled. "I think she likes you," she said. "You might have a talent for beast keeping after all."

Luz laughed as he ran her hand up and down Puddles' neck. The griffin started playfully pecking at Luz's hair. "I freaking love this."

Gus took a nervous step back from the griffin. "Personally, large scary beasts aren't really my track of magic. I've heard griffins can breathe spiders."

"Can they really?" Luz asked. "I love spiders!"

"Oh, you like spiders?" Viney asked. "We have a jeweled tarantula if you want to see it."

"It's already here?" Willow asked.

"Yeah, it's in the stable, come on." Viney went over to the stable barn and the other three students followed. Puddles followed after them, being a loyal, griffin companion. They entered the wooden structure and walked past all of the straw, griffin nests, and beast keeping equipment hanging the walls and beams.

"We cleared out all of the griffins. The Beast Keeping Coven agreed to hold on to them while we're keeping the tarantula here. They said it would be safer that way for both the griffins and the spider." Viney led the three students to the back of the barn. "Alright, here it is."

Trapped in a steel cage in the back of the barn was a spider the size of an SUV with eight hairy legs. Truth be told, the beast was a beautiful creature, well-deserving of the name 'jeweled tarantula.' It resembled the greenbottle blue tarantula found in the Human Realm, with lapis lazuli legs, a turquoise body, and an amber abdomen, all covered in hair that was more like luxurious fur.

The beast was still quite terrifying. The largest species of spider found on the Boiling Isles, its front legs and fangs looked like they were able to tear apart just about any kind of prey they could catch. That included people. The jeweled tarantula hissed loudly and rammed its body into its cage, attempting to break free.

Gus looked the most nervous. "How in the hex is that thing on the endangered creatures list?" he asked. "Who in their right mind would even go near that thing?"

"Ah, rich people like to hunt these poor creatures for sport. And then they either mount them and display them in their homes or turn them into clothes and accessories," Viney said in disgust. "Jeweled tarantulas are very intelligent and hard-to-kill predators, and they're valued for their unique coloration."

Luz was brave enough to walk up closer to the giant spider. "Wow, he's gorgeous."

Possibly jealous of not getting any attention, Puddles growled at the tarantula from the back of the group.

"Easy, girl, easy," Viney walked up to her giffin to calm her down.

Luz turned around toward Viney, her back facing the caged spider. "Are we allowed to feed the spider?"

"Oh, no. Only the professor is allowed to feed the spider," Viney said. "They're really clever creatures. The school doesn't trust the students to feed the spider, else they might accidentally set it free."

Behind Luz, the tarantula eyed the backpack she was wearing with its eight, obsidian eyeballs.

"Believe it or not, the jeweled tarantula is surprisingly creative," Viney went on. "They're quite inventive when it comes to creating traps to catch their prey. They have these kinds of pincers at the ends of their front legs that they sometimes use for grabbing or stabbing, it's really cool."

The tarantula reached one of its front legs through the cage bars and stuck its tiny pincer into Luz's backpack. Without Luz noticing, the spider pulled out a pen.

"So we have to be careful around this big guy," Viney continued. "If he gets out–"

Using the pen it stole, the tarantula picked the lock on its cage and pushed the door open.

"...We're all dead," Viney finished.

The jeweled tarantula reared its head and let out an angry shriek.

"Fog brew!" Luz reached into her backpack and threw a bottle in front of the spider, creating a large cloud of fog that engulfed the tarantula, momentarily blinding it.

"Run!" Viney took the lead and ran out of the stable barn, Puddles and the three Hexside students hurrying after her as the tarantula let out an enraged shriek.

They all ran out of the stable and closed the barn door behind them, sliding the wooden bar across the door before backing away from the barn.

"Will that hold?" Willow asked.

The tarantula burst through the doors, breaking apart the bar that held the door closed.

"Guess not," Gus whimpered.

The four students backed up as the tarantula stalked toward them. Luz pulled a notecard and a pencil out of her backpack and drew her light glyph as quickly as she could.

"I do not fear you, vile beast!" Luz shouted defiantly at the spider. "For I am Luz Clawthorne. Human witch of the Boiling Isles. Daughter of the infamous Owl Lady. Warrior of peace."

The spider paused, as if confused.

Luz aimed her glyph at the tarantula. "Now eat this, sucka!"

She activated the glyph and a bright, blinding blast of light hit the tarantula. The giant spider shrieked in pain and recoiled away from Luz, shaking its head as it tried to restore its vision.

"Ha-ha!" Luz cheered. "Beware the light, bitch!"

Quick as a wink, the spider lurched forward and grabbed Luz by her foot. She cried out in panic as she fell to the ground and was dragged back to the barn.

"Luz!" Willow and Gus both yelled.

Before the tarantula could drag Luz back inside the barn, Puddles crashed into the giant spider. Tossing the spider away from Luz, the griffin spread her wings and reared back on her hind legs, letting out a defiant roar. The tarantula hissed at Puddles, not taking kindly to the challenge.

Puddles!" Viney shouted.

Gus traced a large, magic circle. And in a puff of magic smoke, Puddles became invisible.

The tarantula appeared obviously startled and confused, but only for a moment before Puddles reappeared and smacked the spider across the grass.

"Yeah! Go, Puddles!" Luz cheered, standing back up.

The tarantula faced the griffin once more, hissing angrily. Then, without warning, the spider shot a ball of web out of its mouth at Puddles' face. The sticky spider webbing covered the griffin's face and Puddles cawed and shook her head wildly as she attempted to get the web off her face. With its opponent blinded, the tarantula scuttled toward the griffin.

"Puddles, no!" Viney cried.

"Oh, no you don't!" Using both hands, Willow traced two green, magic circles and aimed them at the spider.

A dozen thick vines burst out of the ground around the tarantula. The spider froze, unsure and scared of what was going on.

Willow ground her teeth and her eyes lit up green like a pair of traffic lights. With her eyeballs glowing green behind her glasses, Willow manipulated the vines to form a dome around the tarantula. The thick vines were strong enough to hold the giant spider, who slammed its body in a futile attempt to break out of its prison.

Willow growled and clenched her fists. The inside of the cage developed thorns lining the vines. The tarantula submitted, whimpering as it lied down in the center of its new cage.

Luz stared mouth agape in awe at what Willow had just done. "Holy shit. Poison Ivy be damned."

"I told you she was awesome at plant magic," Gus said. "Half-a-Witch my ass."

"Puddles!" Viney ran up and pulled off the webbing on the griffin's face. "Are you okay?"

Puddles replied by affectionately nipping at Viney's ears.

"That's my girl." Viney hugged the griffin's chest.

"What's going on out here?!"

The students all turned to see Principal Bump exit the school and approach them from across the field.

"Uh-oh," said Gus.

Bump walked up to the vine cage and peered inside. "So the jeweled tarantula broke free, did it? I knew having that thing here was a bad idea." Bump looked over at Viney. "Miss Drakon, what happened?" he demanded. "Professor Charybdis put you in charge of keeping an eye on the tarantula. How in the world did it get–"

"Hold on, this was no one's fault but my own." Luz stepped forward. "The spider got loose because of me."

Bump raised an eyebrow. "Is that so?"

"It is," Luz admitted.

"What were you even doing out here?" Bump asked.

"I was considering switching to the Beast Keeping Track," Luz said.

"Not happy in the Potions Track?" Bump asked. "You wouldn't be trying to study multiple Tracks now, would you?"

"Look, Principal Bump, I'm thrilled to be here, I really am. But I came here to learn everything I could about magic. Not get stuck studying a single track of magic and just ignore everything else. It all interests me, not just potions and beast keeping," Luz explained. "And I'm hardly the only one. Viney's in the Beast Keeping Track and she also knows healing magic."

"Thanks a lot, ya snitch," Viney commented rather sourly.

"Hey, you shouldn't be ashamed of it, and you shouldn't have to hide it." Luz turned back to Bump. "She wants to learn beast keeping and healing magic because she wants to be a beast healer. That's an awesome idea! Why would anyone try to stop her from doing that? I mean, yeah, Principal Bump, I understand placing a student in the track of magic they excel at. Gus is a master illusionist. He totally belongs in the Illusion Track."

"Well, I wouldn't say 'master'," Gus smugly examined his fingernails. "but, I am pretty high up there."

"But with other students, that's not always the case," Luz went on. "You have Willow in the Abomination Track even though she's, like, a freaking plant goddess or something." She raised a hand up at the jeweled tarantula's new cage. "She's the one who trapped the tarantula."

"Willow did this?" Principal Bump asked in surprise. He looked at the vine cage once more. "Hmm. Well done, Miss Park. Although, I understand the necessity of the thorns, but I feel like the Beast Keeping Coven officials would throw a fit upon seeing it. Could you, perhaps, make it look…nicer?"

Willow raised her finger and drew a magic circle. The jeweled tarantula's cage became lined with daisies. The tarantula inside seemed to like it, letting out a content hiss.

"Ah, much better. Less of a reason for the Beast Keeping Coven to get upset," said Bump. "Perhaps Willow does belong in the Plant Track. But switching from one track to another is one thing. Muli-tracking is an entirely different thing."

"It shouldn't be, though," said Luz. "You're an educator, isn't it your job to help students reach their full potential and achieve their dreams and all that crap? How are students supposed to do that if you insist on restraining their potential? If the student is willing to learn, and willing to put in the work…I'm sorry, but by telling them they can't, you make for a pretty crappy principal."

Bump narrowed his eyes at Luz as the other three students, and even Puddles, nervously took a step back from Luz.

"...You have your mother's audacity," Bump said. "I can't tell whether or not that's a good thing."

"Oh, uh…thank you?" Luz replied.

Bump stared at Luz, his unblinking eyes deep in thought. It made Luz sort of nervous. Bump really did have a principal's professional stare.

"Three tracks," he finally said.

Luz blinked in confusion. "What?"

"If you can show me that you can perform magic in at least three tracks of magic, then I will deem you the winner of this debate, and grant your wish." Bump straightened his posture and stared down sternly at Luz. "But you have until the end of the lunch period to do so. If you cannot do it, then you can either continue with your classes, or leave this school for good."

"How much time do I have left?" Luz asked.

"Oh," Bump pulled out a pocket watch to check the time. "...Five minutes starting now."

"Five minutes?!" Luz began to panic. "Okay, okay, uhhhhh…potions magic!" Luz took off her backpack and quickly rifled through it. "Oh, dangit, I used my fog brew on the tarantula! Come on, come on…aha!"

Luz pulled out a small bottle of white liquid. "I brewed this when I was done with my fog brew and the teacher wasn't looking!"

"What is it?" Bump asked.

"Liquid laughter." Luz popped the top and a mad, happy laugh sounded from out of the bottle, like someone who had just won the lottery. "Perfect for lightening the mood."

"I certainly feel better now," Gus offered.

"Yeah, me too," said Willow.

"Okay, I'll count it. That's one track," said Bump. "Two more."

"Two more, two more." Luz desperately rifled through her backpack. "Come on, come on. I gotta have something in here that can help."

"Tick tock, Miss Clawthorne," said Bump.

"Uh…uh…uhhhhh," Luz gulped. "...Crap..."

Luz heard a soft hiss to her side.

She looked over and saw that the jeweled tarantula had stuck its front leg through the vines of its cage. At first, Luz was alarmed. But then she saw that there was a daisy in the spider's front leg pincer. It had picked one of the flowers on its cage and was offering it to Luz.

Taking a quick second to marvel, Luz took the flower from the spider. "Thank you," she told the spider.

Bump's eyebrows raised up just a little.

Puddles came up and, with a soft and gentle coo, rested her head in the crook of Luz's neck. Luz chuckled and gave the griffin's beak a kiss.

"Beast keeping," Luz said.

"That's two," said Bump. "You need one more."

"One more. Okay, I can do this, I can do this." Luz frantically looked all over. "Come on, come on. Give me something, give me something." Luz looked down at the flower in her hand. "Anything. Just give me any–"

Luz's eyes widened. "What the…"

On the daisy's yellow head, there was some kind of drawing. Luz narrowed her eyes and held the flower up to her eyes as she stared at the drawing. Within the circle of the flower head, there was a symbol. A triangle above a circle with a dot at its center, connected by a straight line with a 'V' at the top of the circle.

Luz gasped. "Another glyph," she whispered.

As quick as she could, Luz dug into her backpack and pulled out a pen and another notecard. Panicking at first when she fumbled, she got a better hold of her stuff and copied the glyph on the flower down on her notecard. Luz then set the card down on the ground and tapped the glyph, watching as it glowed green.

The paper notecard glowed and crumpled up, and a large daisy sprouted out of the ground. Luz laughed with utter delight. The other three students stared in amazement at Luz's method of magic.

"Plant magic!" Luz cheered. "That's three!"

The school bell rang.

Principal Bump's eyes widened. "...Huh…didn't actually expect you to do it."

Luz stared up eagerly and excitedly at Bump.

Principal Bump sighed. "...Well, I guess it's technically not illegal, given that all witches are required to join a Coven after they graduate anyway. And given that you're a human going to a witch school, I suppose with a little bit of arguing and a whole lot of paperwork, I can allow you to study multiple Tracks here at Hexside. We can argue that it's only fair, given your human handicap."

"Can we please not call it that?" Luz begged. "Please."

"Which Tracks were you hoping to study?" Bump asked.

"All of them," Luz said without hesitation.

Bump raised his finger in the air and drew a magic circle. "So be it."

From her feet and rising above her head, a magic green circle gave the sleeves and pant legs of Luz's uniform new colors. Each sleeve became two different shades of green, purple, red, and blue, representing Luz as a nine-track student of magic.

Luz's eyes sparkled as she examined her new colors. "...Awwwesome."

A small smile formed on Bump's face. "You know, Luz, I can recall only one other student who wanted to study all of the nine tracks of magic. Instead, she was put into the Potions Track, much like you were."

"Really?" Luz asked. Who?"

"Oh, a witch by the name of Edalyn Clawthorne."

Luz's face lit up with surprise.

"I figured you ought to know that." Principal Bump walked up and patted Luz's shoulder. "You are all of your mother's best qualities. I see that now."

Luz smiled in appreciation.

Bump folded his hands behind his back and walked up to Willow. "Since we're on the topic of changing Tracks, would you like to switch to the Plant Track, Miss Park?" the principal asked. "I think you would really excel there."

"Well, my parents aren't going to like it, but," Willow smiled. "I'd love to!"

"Done." Bump drew a magic circle and changed Willow's uniform color from amethyst purple to pine green, switching her from the Abomination Track to the Plant Track.

Willow beamed down at her new color. "Yes!"

"Ahem," Viney fake-coughed into her fist.

Bump rolled his eyes. "Fine. Healing Track, right?"

"And Beast Keeping Track, yes," said Viney.

Principal Bump drew yet another magic circle, and although her pant legs remained the same color, Viney's sleeves turned dark blue, the color of the Healing Track.

Viney squealed with delight. "I can't wait to tell Jerbo and Barcus about this!"

"There is a…strong possibility I'm gonna go down for this." Principal Bump looked over at Gus. "Any demands from you?"

"Can Luz join the H.A.S.?" Gus asked.

"I honestly couldn't care less," Bump said. "Now everyone get back to your classes."

"But, we're in different classes now. Don't we need different schedules?" Willow asked.

Bump pinched his brow and groaned. "Then all of you just go home. Have your parents call me if they think you just ditched class and come to my office first thing in the morning for your new schedules."

"Yes, Principal Bump," all the students said.

Viney hopped up onto Puddles' back. "You guys need a ride home?"

"Sure, thanks." Luz turned to Willow and Gus. "You guys want to come to my house?" She grinned at Gus. "I can show you the Human Realm."

"YES!" Gus recomposed himself. "I mean, yeah, I would love to."

Willow smiled and shook her head at Gus. Then the three students got on Puddles, who was just big enough to hold the four of them.

"Hey, wait," said Gus. "I didn't actually change Trac–"

"Be quiet, Gus."

"Oh, right, yeah, okay."

With that said, the griffin took off into the sky with her four passengers.

Principal Bump looked over at the giant tarantula trapped in its vine cage. "...She also seems to have her mother's penchant for getting into trouble."

The tarantula simply hissed at the principal.

By Luz's directions, Viney flew Puddles to the Owl House and dropped Luz, Willow, and Gus off in the front yard. "Thanks, Viney! See you at school!" Luz said before Viney and Puddles took to the air once more, flying her griffin home.

Gus and Willow followed Luz up to the front door. Hooty the house demon woke up from his nap upon noticing their arrival.

"Oh, hey, Luz! How was your first day of school?!" Hooty asked. "And who are these two?! Are they new friends? I love new friends, hooty hoot hoot!"

"Hooty, this is Gus and Willow," Luz said. "I invited them over to hang out."

"That's great!" Hooty cheered. "Your first-ever real friends aside from all of those creepy masks on your wall that you're always talking to, hoot hoot!"

"Uh, what?" Gus asked.

"Please just let us in, Hooty," Luz said in an annoyed and embarrassed voice.

"Okay!" The door swung open and Luz walked inside, Willow and Gus following behind.

"Welcome to, the Owl House!" Luz said dramatically.

"Ooo, I love it," Willow said as she looked around the living room. "Seems comfortable."

"King! We have visitors!" Luz announced.

King, who had been napping on the couch, opened his little mouth and let out a yawn as he woke up. "Weh?"

"Oh my Titan!" Willow's eyes sparkled as she gushed over King's cuteness. "He's adorable!"

"Oh, come on, I already have to deal with Luz–weh!" King was interrupted when Willow picked him up and cradled him in her arms.

"Who's a little cutie?" Willow gave King a belly rub. "You are. Yes you are."

"No, not the belly rub, not the belly rub!" King began to kick his leg from the joy of getting a belly rub, forming an almost dazed look on his skull face. "Ahhhhhhh…curse your gentle hands."

"Who's giving who a belly rub in here?" Eda entered the living room from the kitchen, a bottle in her hand. Luz expected her to be drinking a bottle of apple blood. But instead, Eda had a ball-shaped, glass bottle of magic elixir in her hand. The potion in the bottle almost looked like liquid gold. Luz didn't recognize the brew.

"Luz?" Eda asked in surprise. "You're home early."

Luz pointed at the bottle in Eda's hand. "What are you drinking?"

"What? This? It's nothing." Eda quickly stuffed the bottle in her hair. "Just...something I drink to keep me feeling young. If you know what I mean."

Willow and Gus grimaced, but not as much as King and Luz did. "I am…so sorry that I asked," said Luz.

"Good. So no more talking about it," said Eda. "Now why are you already back from school? And why is dweebus and four-eyes here in my house?"

"Mom, you're not gonna believe it." Luz grinned as she showed off her uniform. "Principal Bump put me in all of the magic Tracks!"

"What? No kidding?!" Eda smiled. "I didn't even know Hexside let you do that. First day of school, and you're already going the extra mile, showing up all of those other dorks."

Eda walked up and ruffled Luz's hair. "Good job, kiddo. I'm proud of ya."

Luz's smile widened.

"So," Eda pointed at Gus and Willow. "What's up with dweebus and four-eyes?"

"Mom, this is Willow, and you already know Gus, the guy I punched in the face," Luz introduced. "They're my new friends from school."

"Oh thank Titan, you actually made some friends." Eda blinked. "Uh, I mean…never doubted you for a second."

"Mom. Is it okay if they stay for a bit so we can hang out?" Luz asked.

"Sure, absolutely." Eda walked up to Willow and Gus and stared down at the two of them. Her smile was friendly enough, but a golden fire burned in her eyes. "If they do break or steal anything though, it won't take long for them to regret it."

Willow and Gus both gulped fearfully. King hopped out of Willow's arms and scampered away.

"Have fun!" Eda made her way upstairs. "I'll be in my room if you need me. Touch my apple blood and it'll cost you your fingers."

"...I have heard that the Owl Lady was scary," Willow said once Eda was gone.

"Oh, she's not so bad," Luz said. "Don't believe everything you hear. Sure she's intense sometimes, but she's not a bad person."

"Can we see the Human Realm now?" Gus asked excitedly.

"Shhh," said Luz. She walked up to the shelves on the wall. "Owlbert."

The owl palisman peered down at Luz from his nest on the top shelf.

"You wouldn't happen to have the key on you, would you?" Luz asked quietly.

'Hoo.' Owlbert reached into his nest and used his beak to pull out the portal key, hanging on its brown rope.

"Yes." Luz reached up for the key, and Owlbert dropped it down into her hand. "Thanks, little buddy."

Luz turned to her two friends. "Come on. We'll open the portal in the basement."

Willow and Gus looked at each other before following Luz to the basement. Luz opened the basement door and went down the stairs, Gus and Willow right behind her. The basement was where Eda and Luz brewed the potions for their business. There was a large cauldron set over an unlit fireplace near a workbench set against a wall lined with various potion ingredients. The rest of the basement was filled with all kinds of equipment, junk, empty bottles, and such odds and ends.

"How exactly does it work?" Willow asked curiously.

Luz grinned. "Like this." She pressed the eye on the key.

A bright, yellow ring of harsh light formed on the floor in front of the three friends. And from out of that ring of light, came forth a door. The door was brown and intricately designed, with the doorknob and keyhole centered a quarter of the way up from the bottom of the door. The door's most noticeable feature was the large, yellow eye with a black, slitted pupil at the top of the door–the same eye on the key.

Willow and Gus's eyes went wide. "Woah!" said Gus.

"It even folds into a suitcase." Luz walked up and opened the door. There was a brief flash of light, then a doorway to another world was open for them.

"Come on." Luz walked through the door. Willow and Gus hesitated, then followed Luz through the door.

Willow and Gus stepped into the Human Realm, and Luz closed the door behind them. The other side of the portal exited onto the front porch of an old and abandoned house, surrounded by a forest.

"Titan." Willow marveled at her surroundings as she stepped off the porch and looked around at all of the trees. "So much green!"

"This is so cool," Gus stated.

"Can you guys put your hoods up please?" Luz asked. She pulled up one of the porch steps and reached under it, pulling out a human wallet filled with human currency. A little something Luz liked to stash away and take out when she came to the Human Realm. "I think it would be better if no one saw your witchy, pointed ears. Actually, our outfits are pretty conspicuous too."

"I can fix that." Gus drew a magic circle and in a puff of smoke, the three of them were suddenly wearing black pants and shoes with ordinary t-shirts. Willow's was green, Gus's was blue, and Luz's was multi-colored. In addition, Gus and Willow's ears were now round like Luz's were.

"Woah, way to go, Gus," said Luz. "This really isn't my style though, but it'll do."

Luz walked ahead. "Come on. We shouldn't be here for too long, but I can show you a little bit of the human world."

Willow and Gus followed Luz through the woods. They stopped at the tree line and Luz pointed toward the road that ran through the neighborhood. Houses were lined up on either side of the street. Gus and Willow stared in awe at the cars that occasionally drove by. One lady walked down the sidewalk with her dog on a leash. On the other side of the street, a kid rode his skateboard through the town.

"This is incredible!" Gus said, barely able to contain his excitement. "What is this place?!"

"Gravesfield," said Luz. "Spooky name, I know."

An ice cream truck came down the road and parked near the sidewalk.

"Right on time." Luz looked over at Gus and Willow. "You guys ever had human desserts?"

A moment later, the three of them were sitting on the old house's front porch eating vanilla ice cream cones. Luz had decided to start the two witches off with the basic flavor, and they appeared to be enjoying it.

"This tastes sooooo good," Gus said. "Credit where credit is due, Human Realm eye scream is way better than Demon Realm eye scream."

"In the Human Realm, we pronounce it 'ice cream'," said Luz.

"Oh. That explains why it's so cold," said Gus. "And why there are no screaming eyeballs in it. That's like, the best part of eye scream."

"So, this town. Gravesfield, you called it?" Willow asked. "You were born here?"

"I mean, yeah I guess so." Luz shrugged. "I…don't really remember ever living here. My mom, Eda, I mean, found me when I was a baby. My…" Luz stared down at her ice cream. "My real parents died when I was really young."

Shock and sympathy formed on Willow and Gus's faces. "...Oh…" Willow said softly. "I'm…sorry if I upset you."

Luz smiled sadly. "You're fine."

"...Do you…wanna talk about it?" Gus asked. "O-or we can keep eating this awesome tasting eye scream or however you pronounce it if…you know, if you prefer that."

Luz sighed. "Look, I don't even remember my real parents." She looked out across the woods at nothing in particular. "Eda found me right here on the front porch of this house the day my parents died. Using her portal, she brought me back to the Demon Realm with her. She brought me into her home. Into her life. Into her family. She raised me as her daughter." A small smile formed on Luz's face. "The daughter of the infamous Owl Lady."

"What happened?" Willow asked gently.

"I don't know," Luz admitted. "I don't think Mom, Eda, likes to talk about it. She hides it well, but when it does come up, something about it really seems to bother her. And, well, if it's enough to actually bother the Owl Lady herself," Luz took a long pause. "...Maybe I'm better off not knowing."

"What were their names?" Willow asked.

"Eda told me once, when I was younger," Luz said, keeping her gaze on the trees. "My mom's name was Camila. I think my dad's name was Manuel or something like that. I forget what their last name was. We…" Luz chewed on her bottom lip. "We don't talk about…that whole thing much. A-and what I am supposed to do? Ask around the town about my dead parents from fifteen years ago? I'm pretty sure I'm declared legally dead in the Human Realm. How many red flags and alarms would go off just from me creating a fucking Google account?"

Willow and Gus glanced at each other.

"...Sorry," Luz apologized. "I guess I get…weird, when I talk about my real parents. I think this is actually the first time I have talked about my real parents in…who knows how long."

"You don't need to apologize," Gus said. "If it means anything, I haven't heard from my own mom in…I think it's been nine years now since she walked out on me and my dad. I have no idea where she is. Heck, I barely even know who she is. Dad hates talking about her."

"I never got to know my own mom," Willow said. "My mom died when I was really young, too."

"I thought your dads had a surrogate?" Gus asked.

"Actually, legally speaking, Papa is my stepdad," Willow said. "My mom was married to Dad when she died. I was, I think two, when it happened. After my mom passed away, Dad and Papa got married. They knew each other since school, Papa was there to support me and Dad after mom died, and they have both been just the best parents." A sad smile of her own adorned Willow's face. "I still have some photos of her. I have her eyes and her hair. And according to Dad, I am 'just as beautiful as she was.' His words exactly."

"I don't even know what my parents looked like." Luz looked over at the porch. Namely, the spot on the porch by the window.

"...But…sometimes…I think I dream about them," Luz said softly. "I think I hear my mom's voice. I think I can even see my dad's face. Something…something about this house. I think…I think it's the last place I ever saw my parents."

There was a moment of silence. The birds chirped, the bugs sang, the wind blew. Every now and then, the three of them would hear a car horn beep or a dog bark.

Gus smiled a little bit. "You know, they say bonding over tragedy creates the strongest friendships."

"I thought it was the unhealthiest way to form a friendship?" Willow asked.

Luz smiled. "Well, in either case,"

She lifted up her ice cream cone. "Here's to the messed up kids."

Willow and Gus lifted up their cones with Luz, bumping them together in a fun toast, laughing as they did.

"The most I can do for my friend is simply be his friend."

–Henry David Thoreau