Julian stared all around the lane he had stepped into, to him it was easily the most amazing thing he had seen. He wasn't even sure if he was still in Australia, let alone Melbourne. The people caught his eyes first, they seemed to be wearing flowing robes of multiple colours, some blue, some green, he even caught one of bright gold. This excited him even more, for he now knew that he was definitely in the right place.

A kid walked past him calling 'Mummy, it's a mug-', before her mother shuffled them both away quickly. Julian watched as the two of them walked over to the side of the street and touched a section on the wall.

Suddenly the two quickly floated up into the air, their robes flowing about them, until they were level with a large alcove high up in the wall. He then noticed the high walls of the buildings next to them didn't have windows on them like anywhere else. Instead here there were holes in the wall big enough to walk in randomly spread out on them no matter how high up they were. Julian surmised that there must have been other shops in these alcoves. He guessed what the woman did was the only way to get to those shops.

He ran over to the wall the woman had touched looking for whatever had caused her to float. It was completely blank, he touched the wall hoping for the same to happen to him, but it didn't work. He gave up and instead walked over the shop right next to it.

He peered through the shop window. On the tables were detailed small glass figurines, what struck him was not the detail but something else; the figures were moving. On one table two figures danced in a circle of six that stood clapping in time to a small glass band playing on a shelf across the shop. He looked over at a sculpture that constantly shifted in shape, one moment it was a fire, next second it had become a woman's face that winked at him.

Julian backed off, something about that look made him feel as if he wasn't meant to be here. He looked back at the entrance he had come through and noticed an archway that was connected to the entrance. He must have missed it when he had run into the street. The white marble archway stood tall about three times the height of the people who walked through it, its surface ornate and looking well-kept. He saw a gold inscription on the top which read: What you are looking for is around you.

Julian thought that of course that made sense he was literally in what he was looking for. He paused, it seemed strange how the inscription just made sense like that. How was it that it seemed so perfectly fit for his situation? He stared at the arch looking for answers, the only thing he noticed was the strange shimmering around the letters of the inscription, but to Julian that didn't mean anything.

He figured he would be better off looking around more after realising that was all he would find looking at the arch. He turned and set his sights on a shop further down that appeared to sell telescopes and models of planets. He was just about to have a look inside at the-

'JULIAN!' He heard a girl scream at the top of her lungs. The people in the street looked towards the source of the noise, but Julian already knew exactly what it was. He turned to the entrance to see Hannah striding over to him looking furious. The way she walked through the crowds of people towards him conveyed one thing: there was no way she was going to let him off the hook for this. He started to move towards the door to the shop to escape her but didn't make it in time before she came up to grab him.

'Why would you just run off?'

'Getting away from you.' He threw back. 'You knew about this place and you were going to tell us just whenever?'

Hannah looked taken aback, she had obviously not expected to be caught like that. 'That doesn't matter now, everything's stuffed cause of you.' She let go of him. 'Just come back.'

'No, I just found this! You're asking me to… where's John?' He paused looking around at the passers-by staring at them, expecting John to just pop out grinning like nothing had happened.

Hannah lost her anger after hearing the question. She put a hand to her face, looking grim. 'He just…' She paused, 'Come back.' She started to walk away.

'I can't just-'

'Please.' She added.

Julian looked back over at the street, he'd been searching for this place all day, and had been wanting to find it since he saw that woman walk off the tram. He remembered sitting at the park just waiting for his friends to show up just like every other day. How could Hannah just expect him to walk away? This could be the way to make sure that never happened again. He still didn't know what had happened to John. Despite what had happened earlier with those two, they were still his friends. He had to find out what happened to John that made Hannah so bleak. Julian took a last look at the street, hoping that one day he would be able to come back without being forced to leave.

He started moving into a jog calling for Hannah to wait up.

When they had arrived at the city, John had been grinning and agreeable. Now after following Julian into that street and through that archway he had been dazed and confused, almost catatonic, with Julian and Hannah only barely able to bring him back home.

Julian and Hannah sat on the fence in the park they had met in so many hours ago. It had been two hours since they had left the street. After getting back to Ashwell the two of them had led John along back to his home, it's not as if they could take him anywhere else. With little to no explanation his state of mind just wasn't what it should be, on top of that there was no way the two of them could tell anyone else what happened other than he was feeling tired.

Julian turned to Hannah, questions running through his head and not sure which to ask first. Hannah sat with her hand on her chin, looking as if she was dreading the conversation she was about to have. But Julian was done being in the dark, he was going to get answers whether she liked it or not.

'What was all of that? Where were we? What happened to John?'

She snapped out of her daze, it finally dawning on her that she would have to explain. 'All of that, well I guess it's obvious.' She took a deep breath. 'It was all magic.'

'Magic?' Julian asked, his voice betraying how baffled he was. Just hearing it from Hannah made it seem so stupid. But at the same time, how else could someone explain what he had seen, what had happened to John. He quickly followed up with. 'Like in movies?'

Hannah smiled briefly. 'Kind of. It's not done with chanting and pointy hats, well we do use wands.' She looked over at Julian bluntly stating, 'I'm a witch, or I will be soon.'

The two of them sat in silence for a moment, Hannah had stopped looking at Julian and was now favouring the ground instead completely embarrassed. Julian now immediately stopped noticing everything else around him in favour of knowing everything about what she had just told him.

'Oh… ok' He stated, trying to pretend as if it was the most normal thing in the world. 'So what was that place, that's where all the witches and wizards go?'

'Yeah, basically. Every big city has a shopping street, but Guild Street is the biggest one in Australia, well that's what my mum told me. It's where the Guild is.'

Julian had no idea what the Guild was, he already felt out of his depth from what he had heard. It was a lot to take in but also didn't seem that complicated. But there was a question he had ever since he had made it into this Guild Street.

'You didn't say what happened to John.'

Hannah clamped up. 'Well… he's not like me, he doesn't have magic. The magic around the place doesn't allow them in, unless you're a parent or something. Not sure how he got in actually.'

'Why is it hidden?'

She shrugged. 'I dunno, that's just the way we do things. It's to protect muggles, those are non-magic people by the way.'

Muggles, what a stupid word. At the same time Julian realised something, if the area was magic people only, then how come he had been able to get in, could it be that-

'You're wondering how you got in?'

Hannah looked over at Julian again, she looked somewhat happy about what she was about to say. 'It should be obvious right? You're like me, a wizard. You couldn't have gotten in there if you weren't. To be honest I wasn't sure about you at first but-.'

Julian tuned her out without realising it, he thought that what he had heard so far had completely changed his view of the world, that the existence of magic and his discovery of it had made his life and the world around him so much more interesting. To him this revelation was that times a hundred. Him? A wizard? That couldn't be true. But what did this mean now? He was mulling over the thoughts in his head so much that he hadn't realised he wasn't paying Hannah any attention.

'-you'll buy a bunch of stuff, then you'll get your wand. But after that you get to go to school with the rest of us!' She stated excitedly.

The rest of us? School? This was too fast.

'Hold on, Hannah. School? I haven't done anything. I haven't even started thinking about what high school I'm going to.' He admitted.

Hannah didn't look fazed one moment. 'Julian, you're a wizard, of course you're coming to our school.'

It was a shock, but it made sense. If she was right and if Julian was wizard he might as well learn how to become one, it was a lot to take in though. Hannah's enthusiasm was oddly enough stranger to him than everything else, despite being friends for over a year he had never seen her this excited.

'This is some magic school?' He asked.

'Yep!' She started excitedly. 'We start going to school when we turn eleven, we get our wands and everything. Pretty much every wizard and witch in Australia goes there for the year. I really can't wait to start learning magic. You'd want to go as well right?

He paused for a moment, Julian did want to go. But he honestly had no idea how he would get in. Hoping he didn't seem unsure he answered. 'I guess so.'

'Great! I should get home before it gets late. Let me know when something happens. You might get a letter.' She hopped off the fence and started walking to the right. Julian watched until she had walked out of sight.

As Julian sat on the fence, he still processed what he had just discovered. He had finally solved the mystery, he'd found what he now knew to be magic. In its place however, a new surge of information had appeared which confused him to no end.

He was a wizard going to some magic school? What else, Hannah had been a witch the whole time and never mentioned it. There was something about that fact that unnerved him; Hannah, John and himself had been friends for a bit over a year, when exactly was she planning on mentioning this, if at all?

But above all, the real question that wouldn't stop entering his mind was: What would have happened had he not been a wizard? Would she just leave him and John just like that?

Of course, there was no way he could answer these questions, he wasn't even sure if he could even ask them. He decided to leave the park, not paying any attention to the walk back home.

In the days following the trip the weather had gotten so hot that Julian barely even wanted to leave the house. He spent house with a fan pointed at him as he lay down in bed reading, hoping that it would be enough to cool off, it wasn't. The heat wasn't the only reason he was staying in, however, he couldn't bring himself to think about what had happened to John. He had been avoiding seeing Hannah and John so much that even his mum had noticed.

'You should go out, it's nice outside.' She would say for the fifth breakfast in a row, 'Are Hannah and John busy?'

'Too hot, it's forty degrees' Julian panted. 'I think they're dying as much as I am right now.'

'You haven't seen them since you went out with them, everything alright?'

'It's fine mum,' Julian lied, 'John's just feeling sick, I think Hannah said something she might be coming down with something.'

'I still think you should go out though.'

'Mum, would you if you didn't have to work?'

She shrugged.

With his mum leaving for work he could have the whole house to focus on what else had changed in his life, magic. He had walked around the house trying to figure out how to use it with no success whatsoever. One attempt had even had him reaching his hand out to a book to try and move it from the other side of the room, like he had seen in movies. Despite this failure, he was confident that what had happened that day was real and that it was not some elaborate joke Hannah had came up with.

Today, he wanted to see if he could run fast or jump high, luckily it was a bit cooler or he would have loaded up on cold food watching tv. He stepped out into the very small backyard which had a significant overgrowth of plants from the previous owners. Unfortunately, Julian's mum never had time for gardening and he didn't know the first thing about it.

It was times like this that it was a good thing however, if his magic worked no one could see it right?

Julian then spent the next twenty minutes trying and failing to jump more than normal, thinking that if he had magic and wanted to, it would just work. But it wouldn't. His feet would hit the ground and no matter how he did it, nothing happened. It was only when he slipped and fell on his bum that he decided to give it up. He had no idea how to trigger magic.

It was only now that he was realising that he didn't know a thing about magic. Let alone how to use it, if he wanted to know more there was only one place he knew.

The next thing he knew he was knocking on Hannah's front door. He'd only been here once before and he was just as amazed by the houses size. It wasn't a mansion by any means but it definitely had two or maybe three stories. He'd always wondered why Hannah had been going to Ashwell primary school instead of a more expensive one with fancier uniforms than his. Maybe as long as she went to magic school it didn't matter to them, he thought.

A woman who looked like an older version of Hannah opened the door. She wore a business suit that looked spotless. Julian had only seen her a few times, her dad mainly picked her up from school, when they didn't walk back.

'Hi, Mrs Bright…' Julian stammered, the way she looked at him made him feel intimidated. 'I'm Julian, by the way. Um… Hannah's friend. Is she here?'

Her expression changed into a smile very quickly, 'Oh hello, Hannah's told me about you.'

'She has?'

'Yes, she asked me lots of times to check the records at work for your name, but I couldn't get access if I tried'. She laughed. 'I'm very happy she made a friend with magic at that school.'

'Right.' Julian said slowly, a little unsure what to say. 'I wanted to ask her more about magic actually.'

'Oh go ahead.' She turned her head and called, 'Hannah, your friend Julian is here.'

A few minutes later, Hannah came to the door looking slightly alarmed to see Julian talking with her mum. 'Hi Julian!'

'Hey' he replied, 'Let's go for a walk.

'Sure, be back soon, mum.'

As they walked away Julian noticed Mrs Bright's eyes narrow at the sight of Hannah's muggle clothes before saying goodbye to the two of them.

Almost as soon as they were out of earshot of her house she suddenly spoke 'So how are you feeling?'

'About magic?'

'Of course. You thinking I'm asking about the weather?' She rolled her eyes.

They walked in silence. 'I'm not sure, it's just crazy to think about.' He admitted. 'But I have been trying to do some the last few days.'

'Oh?' She raised an eyebrow. 'What have you done?'

'Nothing really. I tried seeing if I could jump the fence or fly or something.'

Hannah smirked. 'That's not how it works you know.'

'I think I found that out earlier.' He told her what happened.

'Didn't you listen to what I was saying a few days ago?' She chuckled.

'To be honest. Not really. It all blurred together.' He felt embarrassed.

She sighed as they arrived at their spot at the local park. Where Julian had been sitting not even a week ago, with no idea how his life would change. The two of them sat in the shade on the fence.

'So how does it work?'

Hannah started explaining, her face becoming more excited the longer she talked. It seemed that magic only really worked when you had a wand, for adults anyway. Kids sometimes would do magic when they were emotional.

'So, it's happened to you then?' He asked her.

'Of course. I never told you this. But remember Jill Oren? I saw a trampoline when I walked past her house once. For about a week I was obsessed with getting one.'

Julian smiled, it seemed she was fond of the memory.

'But my parents, of course, weren't gonna get it for me. So one day, I walked into the backyard and started bouncing off the ground.'

Julian's head tilted. 'I don't get it.'

'I used magic on the ground without even realising it. Made my own trampoline.'

It was a nice story. Julian was about to comment when she continued.

'It didn't last though; underage magic doesn't really stick around.' Her mood switched, suddenly seeming more solemn. 'But I got over it.'

Julian felt awkward suddenly. He couldn't really think of times like that.

'I've never had that happen to me. Nothing sticks out.'

'But you've noticed magic stuff for a while. You'd been saying for the last year you've seen some weird stuff here and there.' Hannah shrugged. 'It's not so bad. You'll get a wand and start like the rest of us.'

As she said it, it felt like getting a wand was suddenly he wanted the most at that moment, it was like he was naked without one. Hopefully he could go soon.

'Let me know when you get your letter. My mum and I can take you to the Guild if you need to.'

'Haven't you already got your wand?' He asked.

Hannah nodded, 'Got it a month ago, my birthday's in December, my parents wanted it when we finished muggle school. My mum acted like I was graduating from it.'

'So do you even need to go?'

Hannah looked away from him across the street. 'Not really. But why not?'

Julian would be ok to go back with her, but he wasn't sure how he felt about it. When he was there last time, something wrong had happened to John.

'We'll see.' He trailed off. Thinking about John again had thrown him off. Now that he was out of the house. He couldn't find it within himself to ignore what had happened. He had to go check on him.

'Hannah… John got hit weird by that gate. We should really go check on him.'

She sat silently, staring off across the road. Eventually, she nodded, 'You're right. We should go.'

She hopped off the fence.

It was then that, Julian realised that she was thinking the same thing he was. He wasn't sure how John was or what he thought of him, for the last few days he hadn't wanted to go anywhere near John. Every time he had wanted to the guilt was too much, he would keep imagining his face all blank. He knew he would start feeling unsure of his actions in the city. It would only make sense to turn back now. But knowing Hannah was going through the same thing made him feel like maybe he could face John.

By the time they arrived in front of John's house, after ringing the doorbell, the two of them nodded to each other.

When John eventually did arrive at the door, Julian took a moment to examine him. The daze and blank expression were all gone, making Julian relieved for a moment. However, something was wrong. While he looked better than after he had ran into the arch, his trademark grin and jovial nature was nowhere to be seen. In fact, his reaction to the two of them seemed to contain no recognition whatsoever.

'Uh Hi. You're Julian…' He started scratching his head.

'Vital.' Julian finished.

'That's it! You're from my year at school right?' He finished awkwardly.

Julian looked over at Hannah, her own shocked expression he was sure mirrored his own. What on earth were they meant to do now? Julian had to think quickly.

'Yeah. You don't remember me?' He asked.

'Sorry, not too much, I feel like we might have hung out a bunch back in grade four.' John stated in thought, as if it was difficult for him to remember. How come he remembered that? Now that Julian thought about it that was around the time they became friends two years ago.

'What about me? My name's Hannah.' She spoke up looking at John expectantly. To which John replied, 'Not at all, you sure we've met?'

'Um, Maybe not.' She stepped back her expression downcast.

'Right.' John said straight-faced. 'Look, nice meeting you guys but I've got to go. I guess I'll see you both at school in a few weeks.'

'Yeah… We'll see you then.' Julian replied. Hoping how tense he was didn't come out in his voice.

'Bye.' John said closing the door on the two of them.

Julian stared at where John had just been moments ago. After a pause, Hannah said. 'Let's go.'

He snapped out of it, 'Are you sure?'

'We can't stay here can we?' Hannah stated as the two of them walked away from John's house to their spot at the park once again. Only now, the day didn't seem so warm.

'How did this happen?' Julian asked. 'You don't think it's a magic thing?'

'I don't know…' Hannah replied, her trailing off indicated that might not be entirely true. Julian knew he couldn't leave it alone, he had to find out what happened to his friend.

'Hannah, do you know what happened? Why did he forget about us?'

She paused, as if she was too worried about what she was going to say. As if realising she couldn't hide it forever, she divulged. 'I've heard mum say there was a spell that can make people forget things, it gets rid of their memories.'

Julian stared at her open-mouthed, almost forgetting the gravity of the situation, it seemed like magic could do anything. 'You serious?'

'Yes.' She nodded. 'I'm getting the feeling that's what's happened. When John ran into the arch, he got thrown back out. I thought it just hit him hard cause he's a muggle. But maybe it did something worse.' She finished, turning her head away from Julian, it seemed like this was all she wanted to say on the subject. Regardless, it made sense enough to Julian, he didn't know enough about magic to think anything else. But still, this revelation wasn't pleasant to hear about. Because if Hannah was right, then all it meant to him was that this had all happened because of him, because he had decided to up and run from his friends.

But if he hadn't done that who knows if he would have found out he was a wizard? In a way it had led to something good. But why couldn't he not help but feel guilty over the whole situation?

'Look, let's just forget about it.' Hannah said. 'Did you want to hear more about magic? I can tell you some more stuff, if you'd like.'

She'd grown excited once again. It was enough to unnerve him a little. How could she so casual about John? She didn't even look that bent up about it.

'Nah… I'm gonna head home.' He said. He just needed to leave and mull his thoughts in his head. 'I'll see you later.'

She muttered a goodbye to him as he walked off, still sitting on the fence. She was staring into the footpath. Her vibrancy which had only been there moments ago missing. Maybe he was wrong, she may have been affected by the whole ordeal more than he thought.

Julian was feeling like he had had enough crazy for one day. It didn't take long to realise how much of a pipe dream that thought was. As soon as he walked through his front door to see a man he'd never met talking with his mother in the hallway. Julian debated whether he should even be here, he didn't know she had been meeting men recently. He was calculating the hours he could stay out of the house for and started to turn when Julian's mother and the man noticed him.

'Julian, come say hello to Mr Hodge.' His mother called.

Julian knew he couldn't run away now. He walked towards the two of them, not sure what he was getting into. Hodge looked to be in his thirties his hair curling around his head, his face adorned with a friendly smile that made look almost dorky.

'Nice to meet you, Julian.' Hodge extended his hand, to which Julian shook weakly.

'Hello.' Julian greeted, not sure how more awkward he could get. He definitely had no idea what to say to the man.

'Mr Hodge is here to talk to you about a school.' His mother said smiling. 'I think you should listen to what he has to say.'

A school? Was this the one Hannah mentioned? Here to tell him about magic? Despite what had happened earlier today he couldn't help but be interested in it.

'Sure. We can go to another room.' It seemed his mother felt this was more for him and walked to the end of the hallway to the kitchen was. He led Hodge through a door off the hallway into the living room, the two of them remained standing.

'This may be difficult to explain to you Julian.' The man started. 'You may have noticed things you can't really explain, like people vanishing suddenly or other things that may seem strange to you.'

'I have actually.' Julian casually let slip before mentally hitting himself, he noticed Hodge raising an eyebrow. He was sure that Hodge must have noticed. Should he admit that he already knew about magic? It felt like either Hannah or himself would get into trouble if he did.

'Oh' Hodge paused, 'So this might go a little easier for you then. I come on behalf of Mornington, the school I work at. You'll find it's a bit different than your average school.' He reached into his coat pulling out a letter. 'I think you'll get all the information you need in this.' He finished handing it to Julian. He read the letter quickly after tearing the open the envelope.

Dear Mr Vital,

I am delighted to invite you to take your place at Mornington School of Sorcery. You can find your list of school supplies attached to this envelope. We look forward to seeing you take your place at our school.

Sincerely,
Colin Hall,
First Year Coordinator.

Julian didn't know how he should react, Hannah had already told him about this. But he couldn't show that he already knew about this, besides Hodge was most likely already suspicious. He opened his mouth in a gasp that was almost comical. 'Magic?'

'Yes, Julian. Magic really does exist.' Hodge looked like he was enjoying Julian's phoney reaction. If this was his job Julian guessed that he must really enjoy kids' reactions to learning that magic really did was in fact real. 'I can show it if you would like.'

Julian thought maybe it was more authentic if he asked, though he didn't need any proof. Besides, it's not as if he didn't think it was interesting to watch.

Hodge nodded and stepped back. He drew a short stick out of his suit Julian assumed this must be the man's wand. He took the wand and waved it in a dramatic motion finishing the movement aimed at an empty space in the room, after which a chair materialised out of thin air right in front of Julian.

'Wow.' Strangely enough Julian found it easier to fake it. Despite having seen some magic in Guild Street, he hadn't seen anyone perform it before. He went over to the chair and touched it. It felt as real as any other chair. 'I'll learn to do that?'

'Of course.' He paused, putting his wand away 'well, it'll be a while before you can do that, but one day I'm sure you will.'

Julian he felt like he needed to pretend to be more amazed, he needed to sell it. 'Can you do more Mr Hodge? How about…' He looked around the room and pointed at the couch set opposite the tv. 'Can you make one of those?'

Hodge raised an eyebrow but took his wand out again 'Sure, Julian.'

He repeated the same elaborate motions, Julian thought that he might be playing it up to impress the visits. Hodge then created another couch set adjacent to the first. Julian smiled, he thought his mum would like getting a new couch. Not that he knew how expensive they were, but figured they weren't cheap.

'That's amazing.' Julian gasped out loud, exaggerating his reaction about as much as Hodge was exaggerating his 'performance'.

'So what do I do now?'

'Ah, I'm going to take you and your mother somewhere. We'll be able to buy everything you'll need before school starts up. We can leave right now if you'd like.'

Julian knew what this meant. He could go to Guild Street again, and this time he was supposed to be there. He made to walk to the kitchen to tell his mother before pausing. 'Mr Hodge? Does my mum know about magic?'

'I didn't mention it, I felt it is best you tell her yourself. If you're worried about money she won't need to come today. The school will be covering your expenses for supplies this year. Seeing as you are muggle-born and all.'

That word again, but it applied to him now. But he didn't have time to think about it.

Julian felt he should still tell his mother about magic, he probably couldn't hide it from her if he tried. But, for now he felt like he wanted to focus all on the trip ahead, if his mum came along she would probably be in the way.

'How about we tell her when we get back? I might need you to make another chair to prove it.' He finished with a smile as he walked back into the hallway.

'I understand.' Hodge followed. 'That will work well, anyway. We can sort out all the enrolment details with her, when we get back.'

After explaining to Julian's mother that they were looking at school supplies, being as vague about it as they possibly could. They walked back into the living room.

'So how are we getting there?' Julian asked. He wasn't sure how wizards travelled 'Do you have a car?'

He took his wand out and waved it, which had no effect as far as Julian knew. 'It blocks sound' Hodge explained after noticing Julian tilting his head.

'A car? No, never been in one actually.' Hodge admitted. 'Us wizards do this instead.'

He gripped Julian's shoulder tight, after a brief pause Julian felt Hodge whip his whole body in a quick spin before everything went dark and he felt as if he was being stuffed through a rubber tube feeling like his whole body was tumbling and twisting-

He saw a familiar brightly lit room with tables set up around him, he paused to catch his breath feeling queasy after Hodge did… whatever he just did. Eventually it hit him exactly where he and Hodge were, the café next to Guild Street.

Hodge stood in front of Julian gesturing to follow him towards the back door. As the two of them stepped through, Julian gazed at the sight of Guild Street stretching out in front of him, this time it was not just the afternoon sun that lit up Julian's face. He was back.