Hieronymous Bump had always had a soft spot for children.
He tried not to show it too much. It tended to make things hard in his line of work, especially considering who his boss was.
Principal Faust was currently preoccupied with glaring at the young girl opposite to them. Eda Calwthorne had flawlessly performed every spell he had asked her to do and then some. Several of them were obviously too advanced for a placement exam. Bump had tried to object, but Faust had simply ignored him – and, to be fair, so had Eda. She simply did whatever spell it was with a lot of flourish and no apparent effort. She seemed to think this was all a fun game, and, despite his second-hand anxiety on her behalf, Bump could not help feeling increasingly impressed by her.
She completed her advanced light spell with a flashy combination of different colors and topped it off with the most elaborate, over-the-top, obviously sarcastic courtesy. During his career as an educator, Bump had never seen his boss get treated with such fearless mockery.
"And voila", she announced. "Now, are we done here? I obviously aced this thingie, and I've got places to be."
Principal Faust pursed his lips. Bump felt nervous for the girl – but before he could intervene on her behalf, his boss spoke again.
"We're almost done", he said. "I must extend my apologies, Miss Clawthorne. Clearly, despite my best efforts, I did not make things interesting enough for you. Let me make up for it now."
Eda simply waited.
"Let's play a game", the principal said sweetly. "Why don't you go stand over there, on the other side of the room."
Eda raised an eyebrow, but did as he asked.
"You will start from over there… and we will be standing over here", the principal said. "Your goal is to reach us. If you succeed, you will be accepted in Hexside. If you fail, you're out."
Eda looked skeptical. "Is that it?"
Principal Faust smiled. "Oh, right; I forgot about the interesting part." He raised his hands; circles of light materialized in the air in front of them. He closed his eyes and focused.
A pool of lava emerged from the ground, spreading across the room. Two islands of floor remained on the two ends of the room; one for Eda, one for the school officials.
Eda took an involuntary step backward.
Bump gaped.
"Allow me to rephrase the rules", the principal said. "If you cross the field of lava successfully and join us on the other end, you win. If you fall into the lava, you lose."
Eda just stared.
Bump regained his voice. "Excuse me, sir? If she falls into the lava, I'm pretty sure she has bigger problems."
Faust waved dismissively. "Witches are supposed to be durable."
"Sir, I would like to remind you that this is a literal child."
"So? You gotta toughen them up while they're young. Can today's youth not handle a bit of heat? For Titan's sake, are we a witch training school or a daycare? Back in my day, we weren't so soft and coddled."
Bump was beginning to feel uncomfortable. Magic school, sure. Traditions involving fights against possibly child-eating creatures – fair game. High-risk sports, sign him up. But there was a line, and he had a faint suspicion that they might currently be crossing it.
He tried a different approach. "If she gets harmed, we will have to deal with a lot of bureacracy. Remember the aftermath of the Choosy Hat incident."
"Oh, very well", Faust scoffed. "Child, if you are ever in danger of falling into the lava, the vice principal is allowed to save you. That will count as a failure, though."
Eda frowned. Just who exactly did this guy think he was? "Hold up. Who says I even want to be in your stupid school? I only came to do this test because mom and dad asked me to. I know you're making up extra stuff for me to do because you're mad I did all the spells you wanted. Well, stay mad! You're not the boss of me, and I don't have to do your dumb tryout thing if I don't want to."
"Is that so?" Faust asked mildly. "Pity. Your sister performed exceptionally at her test. I'm sure she will have a great time in Hexside. It would be such a shame if you weren't there to share it with her. But of course, if you don't want to…"
Lily.
Eda bit her lip, thinking. She hated to admit it, but Faust had gotten her.
Lily wouldn't last two days in Hexside without her. Lily might think she was the responsible one, but Eda took care of her just as much as she took care of Eda. Lily was, not to put too fine a point on it, a dork. Eda found it endearing – the way her sister nerded over her beloved stories and "fun" historical trivia – but the fact remained that it made her a target for bullying, from which Eda generally had to defend her. Because of course perfect prissy Lily was too perfect and prissy to fight dirty… or to get involved in something as base as a fight in the first place. She might talk a big game, but she'd just let everyone walk over her if Eda wasn't there to show them they couldn't mess with her sister.
She glowered at Faust, hands curling into fists.
"Fine", she said firmly. "I'll do the lava crossing thing. But if I succeed, that's it. I'm in. No more tests."
Faust smiled. "Deal."
Eda nodded, taking note of the vice principal looking at her apologetically. Perhaps she could count on him to help her in some way. He seemed like a softie. Besides, anyone who let their palisman hang out on their head like that had to be a safe person on some level.
She turned her attention to her surroundings, searching for things that might help her. She had taken a fitness enhancing potion before the test, just so she'd be in top shape. She never actually expected it to come into play quite in this way, but now she was glad she had done it.
Other than that, there wasn't much to give her an advantage. There was a small desk on her side of the room, and on top of it a notebook and a pen. In her pocket, she still had one of the seeds she'd used to amuse herself with plant magic in the other room. And… that was all. She had pen and paper, a solitary seed… and her own skill.
If she survived this, Lily so owed her one.