What if #9

A storm was brewing. Not a boiling rainstorm or a gorenado. It was a storm of emotions, and it was brewing like a volatile potion within one Luz Noceda. She couldn't help but be a jumbled mess that morning. It was her first day at Hexside and she was feeling excited, anxious and a bit bloated. That last one may have been more to do with the lipidberry pancakes she had eaten for breakfast, but it only added to the problem.

She finished getting her lunch ready for the day. A classic PB&J with some scorn chips on the side and a water bottle. Although she wasn't sure how hungry she would be when lunchtime finally came around. Her appetite hadn't been very strong and she had to force herself to eat that morning. And then she had spent over five minutes brushing her teeth afterwards because she was feeling so anxious that she couldn't focus.

Luz turned around and bumped into someone. She lost her balance and fell back onto her rear end. After letting out a soft grunt as she landed, Luz looked up to find her mentor standing over her. Eda looked annoyed at the moment and reached down to pick up Luz by the cowl of her new uniform, very much like how one would pick up a kitten.

"C'mon kid. Quit dragging your feet already." The Owl Lady snipped. "I told you to be ready to go twenty minutes ago. You'd think with how badly you wanted to go to school, you'd try to be on time."

"That's kinda funny, coming from you." Luz pointed out. "With how much you disliked the idea of me attending a magic school, I wouldn't have thought you'd care if I ran late."

"Not after all the trouble I went through! Heck, even back when I was a student, I always tried to be on time. Of course, that was mostly because of my sister… but anyways, you'd better be ready, because we are leaving. Now."

Eda, still carrying Luz, went out to the front of her house. She called on Owlbert, who took on his staff form. Then Eda seated herself and put Luz down on the staff behind her. They took off, Eda ascending them up over the trees on a direct path to Hexside School of Magic and Demonics.

The closer they got to the school the more restless Luz became. Eda was starting to have trouble maintaining balance with the way Luz was fidgeting. There wasn't a good chance she'd fall off or anything, but it was still annoying when she was trying to fly.

"Mmm, we gotta go back." She finally said, sounding nervous as could be. "This was a mistake! I'm gonna mess things up again and everyone will see, and…"

"Right, you gotta calm down." Eda cut in. "What are you nervous about? You've been to school before."

"That's why I'm nervous! At my human school, I didn't make a good first impression. This is a chance to be seen as something other than a screw-up."

"Hey, don't worry about what those dorks think. If you want my advice, walk into class and punch the first kid you see. To establish dominance."

Luz smiled a little. "Aw, I won't be doing that. But thanks."

They landed at Hexside, Luz not seeming as anxious as before. She dismounted Eda's staff and grabbed her school bag. Eda dug something out of her pocket while Luz pulled her bag onto her back, holding it up for Luz to see.

"Last chance to back out, and earn a new Bad Girl Coven patch. Quitting: It's like trying, but easier."

"Nah, I'll just earn it when I quit showering." Luz replied before starting to run off. "Bye!"

"Hold up!" Eda called, detaching and throwing her hand. It caught Luz's head, turning her around. "Just try not to be too much of a goody-Luz-shoes." She advised, screwing her hand back on after it had crawled back to her. "You got this."

"Thanks, Eda. In fact, I have written a heartfelt sonnet to commemorate this occasion."

Luz pulled-sock puppets of her and Eda out of her pockets. She didn't get the chance to begin her song as she discovered Eda was gone. It was then she noticed that Eda had taken off, heading back in the direction of the Owl House.

"Whoops! A gust of wind just got me. See you after school! Bye!"

She waved to Luz, who simply stood and watched her leave. Not one to be discouraged, Luz opted to skip her song and head off to start her first day. But first, she did have one more use for her puppets…

"You're gonna do great, kid." She told herself, moving the mouth of the puppet on her right hand. "Thanks, Puppet Eda."

Tucking the puppets away, Luz headed for the school. She passed by some of the other students on the way. One was a tall, skinny boy on the Beast-keeping track who was tending to a unicorn. Another was a familiar face from her time as a teenage abomination, the girl who had made an abomination with too many toes in unexpected places. Then Luz spotted another familiar abomination student, a wide smile coming to her face.

Luz rushed over to Amity, passing under a banner reading "Welcome to the New Semester". Amity raised her hand in greeting, her abomination mirroring her movements.

"Hey, Luz! Congrats on getting in." She said, then lowering her voice to a whisper and cupping her hand to the side of her mouth. "And not being in the baby class."

"Thanks, Amity!" Luz replied, raising up her hand, palm out. "Up top!"

Amity, having become familiar with the human gesture, high-fived Luz. Then her abomination went to do the same, but slapped its hand onto Luz's face instead. When it pulled its hand back, it left abomination mud behind.

"Oops! Sorry about that." Amity sheepishly said.

"It's okay." Luz replied lightheartedly, wiping the goo from her face. "It wouldn't be the first time I've had to clean abomination off myself. Pretty sure I've got the best methods figured out. Took a few tries the first time though. I kept finding abomination goo in my hair for a week!"

Amity giggled. "It can be tricky to get it all without being able to control it with magic. Emira once got caught up in a prank that Edric tried to pull on me. He stuck fireworks into my abomination to try and scare me while I was practicing. But he went overboard and my abomination literally exploded into a thousand little globs flying in every direction. I was able to protect myself. But Emira, who was just coming home, got completely covered in goo. And she had a date that day."

Luz winced. "Ooh. Talk about bad timing. Something tells me that you became her favorite younger sibling after that, right?"

"Temporarily, yes. But she and Edric never stay mad at each other for long. They were working together to prank me again in no time." Amity replied, drawing a magic circle and removing a few tiny globs from Luz's hair. "There, that should be all of it. You want to look your best for your first day at Hexside after all."

"Thanks, Amity. Say, since we have a little time before classes start, how about showing me around for a bit? I kinda got a tour the last time I was here, but it wasn't really official. And it was also kinda all over the place…"

"I-I could do that! I'd love to spend time with you… that is, show you around. Um, is there anything you would like to see first?"

"You're the top student, I'll trust your judgement." Luz told her. "But I am supposed to go to Principal Bump's office so we can pick out my classes before school starts. So we'll unfortunately need to keep it short."

"Oh… okay, that's fine." Amity replied, a trace of disappointment in her voice. Then her eyes brightened as she got an idea. "But if you don't have any plans after classes today, I could give you the full tour then. A-and maybe we can go get a snack or something afterwards? I know a nice bakery in town."

"That sounds great! Count me in!"

Luz strolled past Amity, headed for the front doors of the school. Amity watched her go, feeling an incredibly warm and fuzzy feeling spreading throughout her body. Unable to contain herself, she smiled brightly and pumped her fist in excitement.

"Yes!" She quietly cheered to herself, then going to catch up with Luz. "Um, hold on. Would you like to have my abomination carry your things for you?"

"Okay! Thanks again, Amity." Luz answered, taking her bag off. "Wow, my first day at Hexside. A chance to discover my true magical potential. And maybe meet a hot yet vulnerable upperclassman."

"Dream on!" Called a familiar voice.

Suddenly, King popped out of Luz's backpack. Amity recoiled a bit in surprise, her abomination mirroring her once again. Luz was also surprised, pulling King out of her bag as he gave her a playful poke on the cheek.

"Boop!" He happily spouted, jumping down to the ground.

"Why were you in my bag?"

"You're a free ride to the best buffet in town!" King explained, hopping into a nearby trash can and grabbing a partially eaten doughnut. "The trash cans here are filled with half-eaten gold!"

"Okay, but if anyone asks, you don't know me." Luz told him, turning to walk away with Amity.

"Have a wonderful school day, person-I-don't-know!" King called, waving as they left.

The teens left the little demon to his scrounging, stepping into the halls of Hexside. Amity began leading Luz down one of the halls, showing her to the school's Healer's Room. She already knew that Luz had seen the cafeteria, some of the classrooms and the Grudgby field. But that only scratched the surface of what the school had to offer. Aside of the different tracks, there were many options for electives as well as the history of the school itself.

Amity guided Luz through the school, managing to show her the homerooms for each track and a few other classrooms as well. She even included some details about the teachers of the classes too, at least to the best of her knowledge. To her elation, Luz hung onto her every word, focused on her the entire time. There was a look of wonder on the human's face, a sparkle in her eyes throughout the entire tour. And Amity could feel her heart racing for every second she held Luz's attention.

However, all good things do not last, as Amity was so sadly reminded when they arrived at their last destination. They stopped outside of Bump's office, with just barely a minute to spare before Luz needed to meet with the principal. A part of Amity wanted to ask Luz if she would join her on the abomination track, but she held back. Luz had a right to choose her track for herself. And there was something else Amity wanted to ask.

"Would you like me to wait for you?" Amity meekly inquired. "I can walk you to your first class. Whatever it will be."

"Sure! That'll be great! I'll be just a few minutes…"

She stepped into the office, leaving Amity out in the hall. The wait was just as short as expected and Luz emerged again shortly after. Amity was surprised to see the new color for Luz's school uniform when she exited Bump's office. After allowing herself a moment to take in the sight, she also took note of the disappointed look on Luz's face. It wasn't difficult for her to guess as to the reason why.

"You didn't get onto the track you wanted?"

Luz nodded. "I mean, kinda. Potions was on my list. It's a classic magic school thing. But I really wanted to try and learn from all the tracks."

"Oh Luz, I'm sorry. But they don't allow that."

"Yeah, I noticed." Luz mumbled, looking sadly down at her yellow sleeves and leggings. "I just don't get why. Doesn't the Emperor's Coven let you use all the kinds of magic? How does that work out when they only have you learn one track while in school? It doesn't make any sense!"

"Those are just the rules." Amity replied with a small shrug. "I imagine that since they always hold the coven try outs for students our age, they must start teaching other magic classes only to those selected. Although… there is one exception…"

"Who?" Luz asked, her eyes brightening up with interest, a small gasp of excitement escaping her. "Is this some kind of magic school urban legend?!"

Amity stepped closer, leaning over a bit and cupping one hand to the side of her mouth. Luz leaned in as well, picking up on what Amity was putting down. She felt her excitement growing as she realized she was about to get her first bit of juicy magic school gossip.

"There is technically a student here at Hexside who is allowed to study on all the tracks. But he doesn't show up for classes very often. In fact, most of his studies take place in the Emperor's Castle, because he's already in the coven."

"Oooh. So, who is he?"

"The emperor's nephew." Amity answered, her nose wrinkling a little. "He's a teen prodigy that apparently doesn't need to attend school, but he's allowed to for the sake of making connections with his peers. There's a rumor that he is scouting his classmates for coven try outs later this year."

"So, it's more like he comes here to do work?" Luz surmised.

"That's a good way of putting it. But again, he isn't here very often since he's needed for coven related matters. Today is probably the only day he'll be here for certain. He always appears on the first day of the new semester."

A ruckus started up down the hall, catching the attention of the girls. Luz started to migrate over to see what was going on, far too curious to resist. Amity tagged along, already having a good idea of what to expect. They saw a group of their classmates all gathered around someone. A light scoff escaped Amity's lips and she placed on hand on her hip.

"And that would be him now." She softly deadpanned. "Almost as if on cue."

Luz giggled. "Speak of the devil and he shall appear, am I right?"

"Please. This guy wishes he was as cool as a devil." Amity replied with mild snark. "In my opinion, he's only a student here because Principal Bump won't punish the nephew of the emperor for having the most absences in the history of Hexside. If Bump's predecessor were here, it would be totally different."

"If I didn't know any better, I would think you were jealous of him."

Amity blushed and went silent for a moment, hugging her books close to her chest. "Well… he may be the one and only student here who could take away my position as top student. So, I guess I am a little wary of him…"

"Then what does that make Willow?" Luz asked with a giggle. "She actually did take away your 'Top Student' badge for a day."

"We both know that didn't count." Amity replied. "But it's funny that you should bring up Willow. It just so happens that she has a bit of a crush on him."

Luz gasped excitedly, her eyes sparkling in excitement. It got to the point where she couldn't contain herself and she started to head down the hall. She turned and flashed Amity a smile, making the witch's face pinken a bit again.

"You don't mind if I just go try and get a peek of this guy, do you?" She asked, walking backwards a few steps. "If he's got Willow's attention, then I gotta see what he looks like!"

"If you must. Just don't be surprised if he isn't what you're expecting." Amity told her. "Personally, I don't see what everyone finds so amazing about him. But go ahead, I'll be waiting here for you when you're ready to go to class."

"Kay! Be back in a sec!"

With a quick wave, Luz left Amity behind and continued down the hall. She slowed down when she got to where the throng of students were congregating. To her annoyance, she found she couldn't see the person at the center of all the attention. Even after trying to hop up and down or move around the crowd, all she could see was the back of many other students' heads.

After trying a little longer to peek over or around her peers, Luz came up with another idea. Taking out an ice glyph, she crouched and activated it on the floor. A pillar of ice, just wide enough for her to sit on, slowly rose up, allowing Luz the view she wanted.

Beyond the many other students crowding the hall, two stood at the center, both in Potions track uniforms. One was Boscha, and the other was a boy with the physical characteristics of an average witch. He had a fair complexion, a slightly hooked nose, dark magenta eyes with heavy bags under them, and thick black eyebrows. His hair was ash-blond and was shaved below the top and with a long, jagged forelock. Luz noticed a gap between his front teeth while he spoke, as well as a notch on his left ear and scars on his right cheek.

He said something to Boscha. It was hard for Luz to make out what it was, she was too far to be able to hear either of them. She could see Boscha was twirling some kind of ball on one of her fingers, so it could have been some kind of magic sport. The idea made her curiosity grow and she tried to lean closer for a better chance to listen in on their conversation.

Boscha caught sight of her and turned her head. Luz saw a nasty scowl come to the witch's face and she got a bad feeling. The emperor's nephew also turned his head, his eyebrows raising in surprise when he saw her. Suddenly feeling a little self-conscious about her position, Luz offered a sheepish smile and small wave. It was met with a fire spell from Boscha.

In a move that would normally leave Luz gawking in awe, Boscha cast a spell which ignited her ball. The other students all turned to run out of the way, many crying out in fear as Boscha lobbed her flaming ball in Luz's direction. It struck the pillar dead in the center, much to Luz's relief. However, it was a short-lived feeling as the pillar had been damaged enough to break.

For a moment, Luz felt weightless as she found the pillar was no longer beneath her. It took a second for her to realize she was falling and she let out a cry, flailing her limbs. She closed her eyes, expecting to hit the floor and was surprised to find her landing was not as painful as she expected. When she opened her eyes again, she found herself in a pair of strong arms.

"Are you okay?"

Luz saw a pair of magenta eyes looking down at her in concern. She blushed and nodded, at a loss for words. He set her down and she stepped back, feeling a little bashful. Boscha strolled past them, acting as if nothing had happened, and retrieved her ball.

"Serves you right for watching us like a weirdo." She said icily.

"There was a bunch of others who were all watching you too!" Luz pointed out irately. "I didn't see any of them get fireballed!"

"That was a total overreaction, Boscha." The emperor's nephew added. "You can't just attack your classmates like that!"

Boscha scoffed. "Whatever. I'm out of here. See you in class."

She left, passing by Amity who was rushing over to check on Luz. Amity threw a dirty look at Boscha, which was ignored as the other witch had pulled out her Penstagram. Despite how infuriating it was to be ignored, Amity kept Luz as her priority and kept hurrying to her side.

"Luz, are you alright? I saw what Boscha did, and I'll see to it that Principal Bump hears about it!"

"Don't worry, Amity. I'm fine thanks to… um, sorry, I don't know your name yet."

"My name is Hunter. And you're the new human exchange student I've heard about." He said, holding out his hand for Luz. She took it and he placed his other hand on top of hers, making her blush again. "It seems we're on the same track. Guess we'll be seeing each other a lot. I look forward to getting to know you, miss human."

What if Hunter was a student at Hexside?