Friday 2 September 2005, Luna Nova
"Well, after this whole journey my arc before Luna Nova has come to an end, as you can see in the book itwas a very short part, but here you've seen that the story is longer than it seems, I've even relieved myself,since there was no reason to tell you what I went through from city to city, I know that we have a lot of time totalk, but we have to get to the important parts, now that my days in Luna Nova have begun, I'm going toprepare for my first class and for that I was anxious, very excited to finally study.
I've finished getting ready, I've put on my clothes and wow, I look really beautiful in this outfit, I've come this far, who knew, it was a huge surprise, I didn't think all this would happen, but it did, I Chariot in Luna Nova, well I'd better not spend too much time in the bathroom, you'll want to use it to change too.
I come out of the bathroom and notice that my friends have already changed, well I guess I didn't need to go to the bathroom, I just shrug and get my things.
"I didn't realise you were that embarrassed, Chariot, we're all girls" I've always been one to change by myself, I get embarrassed around other girls.
"I just don't like it, but let's go" I say excitedly.
"That's a lesbian thing, you see, I have a cousin who was always like that, every time the women in the family went to change, she went off to some corner to change by herself, then we found out that she's a lesbian" Becca said, that has nothing to do with it, I'm that lesbian thing for other reasons.
"What are you getting at?" I ask her.
"Wow, a lesbian girl in an all-girls school, what can you expect? I'm shocked and scared, is she going to grab me? Ugh, all this panic about it is stupid, there's no reason to think it's bad, the good thing is that I like both things, I win either way" At least Daniella's boring mind is less worse.
"Oh Chariot, do you like that sort of thing too?" I'd rather not answer, I've been bullied all my life not to say that and I'm not going to open my mouth now.
"She doesn't have to answer, I have a few reasons why I don't like her being here, but forcing her to say it is idiotic, it doesn't change anything anyway, now let's go before we're late" She wasn't so annoying now.
And off we go, the three of us walking out of the room, I've made a point of hiding things using a spell that my mum Laura taught me years ago to turn into a keyring, so that no one will think they're technological things, well today I'm finally going to have my first magic lesson, so it's time to get cracking.
Walking through the corridors, seeing the other girls also going the same way as us, wow to think I'm finally here, it's like a dream, this place is all beautiful and enchanting, you can't lie, admiring it like the first time, I arrive right at the door to the classroom and together we enter, what I see the rooms inside and they are exactly like in the brochures, several months organised for the trios, wow, this is very incredible.
"Stop standing there looking at things, let's go to the tables" said Parker, who ended up cutting the moment short.
I came back to my senses a little after that and walked over to the desk, sat down, felt the texture of the wood, it was very different, more polished, it was nice to sit like this, the chair wasn't very comfortable, I picked up my books and put my pens on the desk, getting ready to take notes for the first lesson.
"Get those pens out Chariot, this is Luna Nova, do you want your first scolding of the year?" What do you mean we don't use pens?
"And how am I going to write? I've used a pen almost all my school life, ever since I was 11, they always said it was a grown-up thing to use a pen and I was so happy" I say this and my pens are taken from the table and she puts a quill with an inkwell.
"Chariot traditions, pens are a representation of mordernity, it's not enough what you have in your room and you want to carry it here, lucky I brought a quill and a spare inkwell" How am I going to write in this thing? Look at that, at least a pencil would be better.
"How will I use it? Am I in the stone age?" When I say that, I already see a few glances at me, so much so that Daniella puts her hand over my mouth.
"I hope Professor Badcock didn't hear that, don't say such a sacrilege, do you want to make us have to write on the board over and over again? If you do something the punishment falls on the whole group, you're a Du Nord and you don't know how to use magic items, the fountain pen is like a normal pen, it's simple, look at this" she said and started writing in the notebook and I began to see that it's like a pen.
Well, it's my turn, while the teacher doesn't arrive, I take the quill in my hand, it's too light, more than a pen, I don't know, its grip is weird, I never thought I'd get one of these things, come on Chariot, I managed to wet it with ink, it drips all over the table until it reaches the notebook and I start to write my name and I even succeeded, which made me smile.
"Look, it's so easy" I say excitedly.
"All that's left is for you not to get paint all over the table, next time let the paint drip a little so it doesn't get all over the place, now be quiet because we need to pay attention in class" said Parker.
"Hahahahaha, this is too comical, I can't believe that the little cookie witch is such a poser, she only pretends to be a witch at the sales, but when it comes to being one she can't write properly on a quill hahahaha, you really are a figure" Becca said what everyone could have heard and that made me all embarrassed, what the hell, now everyone will know about these things, ahhhh.
"Becca, please, nobody needs to know" I whisper to her, and then I hear Daniella shushing us, and we fall silent as Professor Badcock enters.
She's the one with the blue hair and glasses, I remembered it just by looking at her from afar, what the hell, she had to be our teacher for the first lesson, I even avoid eye contact with her a little as she slowly starts to arrive at the desk, starts scribbling on the board and off we go to the first magic lesson of the day.
"Good morning students, this is our first magic class here at Luna Nova for you first-years, those of you who came before will be revising a good part of what we learnt in previous years, the freshmen will be learning, here begins the magical numerology class, what I can see are new faces around here, some of them not very inviting from people I didn't expect to be here, but I'm not going to complain, Luna Nova needs funds somehow to keep it going, that's why learning numerology is important, so that we can keep this place in one piece until today, now take your notebooks that we're going to write down here and I'll briefly explain the history of magical numerology" I even roll my eyes a bit, that's kind of a magical way of talking maths, I hope I'm not sure about that.
[...]
That's literally maths, only with a little something or other mixed in for magic, I really need to study this again, I left school with my head boiling because of Bhaskara, trigonometry, Pythagoras' theorem, algebra, now what's going to be third, fourth, fifth, eighteenth degree equations? Ahhhhh, I swear I don't know why I ended up here.
It's making me sleepy, but I'm not going to sleep, I have to pay attention, unfortunately I have to write these things down, it seems that the teacher wants to test us with
"Any students willing to answer? Oh Miss Du Nord, new student, why don't you come to the front" me, my brain is going to melt at this.
"Why me? I've barely arrived at the lady's class" I say confused.
"Come on, this is a request from the teacher, it's better for your group, it'll serve as an example for the whole class, I'll propose a problem and you'll have to solve it, let's see if you can answer it" I'm forced to stand up.
I walk over to where the board is, the teacher has erased everything with magic, then she starts to write down the whole problem and I start to see it all in a complicated way, the numbers are being put in and it seems to be a real mess, she's telling me to calculate the range of the spell and she's given the numbers of the contact area, that I'll have to work out the level of magical power used myself, this is too boring, I'm starting to roll my eyes.
"Well, this isn't difficult at all, it's a very basic equation, as we've just learnt the formulas, you just have to do the calculation to find out the values, then I want to see the conclusion of the exercise and all the maths done, no ready-made answers, I'll give you five minutes to think and then solve the exercise for the whole class" She even stared at me and I was feeling the pressure, but it sucked to pay attention, it feels like my head exploded, but I'll try to remember a bit of normal school here.
I start to break out in a cold sweat, it seems like the text is huge in front of me and nothing helps, I have to calculate based on a 1.60m witch, without knowing her power level, how am I going to know something like that, I could barely feel how much magic power it is, but I think I can try something, I'm deep in thought, remembering maths, that's it, she gave me the formulas to get the number.
Three minutes and that's enough, I start writing on the board, that's what I need to do, I go without looking at anyone, just with what I know from school, maybe it can help, if I'm wrong at least I tried, the teacher who made me pay for this ridicule.
I finish and arrive at the result, which I show to the whole class, even scribbling a couple of times, which I expected to get some applause, but I see a huge silence.
"OK, Professor Badcock, that's the result you wanted" I say, a little tired in the head.
"The result is right, but the maths is wrong, you haven't used anything I've explained, you've mixed up the formula with mundane maths, I'm not silly to notice that coming from you, but the result is right, now go back to your desk and I'll explain" What? But I got it right, why did I still fail? It doesn't make sense.
"But the result is right, I racked my brains for almost 10 minutes working it out, I had to work hard to get the knowledge, why is it wrong?" I ask her.
"All right class, you've heard what Miss Du Nord said, what's wrong with it, it's very good that the example is given here, it's not because the result is right that the method is too and you should know that using mundane maths in exams will get you a fail, that's a zero, we're witches, we have to do things on our own terms, without the help of mundane things, and now I'm going to explain here how the right way to solve things is" She says this as I go up the stairs to sit down.
I think that now I've embarrassed myself even more, but at least with mundane maths the exercise has become less difficult, I've been able to remember a few things, she erases the whole way of working it out, I take the quill and write everything down, which she explains at the same time, now I'll understand the witch's way of working it out.
This is unnecessarily long and complicated, how can they be opposed to worldly advances if it helps the witches too, look at the type of account that appears here, this is complicated even for a huge exaggeration, it doesn't make sense something like this, I'm scrambling just to write it down.
[...]
The bell has rung and I'm already leaving with my head feeling like steam is coming out of it, I've never been so worried since the first time I saw the letter x appear in maths, apparently I'm going to have to learn this, wow, magic lessons are much worse than mundane ones, they're more boring, immensely, I thought there was going to be something interesting.
"Congratulations Chariot, we've become the shame of the class, you had to show us the mundane way of solving numerology, now we're going to be seen as dumb or even worse, as mugs, have you ever thought about that, our purity as witches ruined by a girl who can't think straight, tell me what made you so dumb?" I'm not stupid, I even clench my fist a bit.
"Chariot, you didn't have a magic lesson before coming here, we've even heard that the Du Nord are historically skilful, intelligent, legendary witches in magic, but what about you? Never had any of that?" It's hard when your mother dies in childbirth, your father is an alcoholic and when you finally have a supportive family to help you through it, you're ripped away to live as a mundane, but I don't want to tell you any of that.
"If you knew at least some of what I've been through to get here, you wouldn't be so debauched" I say to both of them, who shrug.
"Well, let's leave it at that, come with me, we'll have lunch and I'll introduce you to Luna Nova in time for the afternoon classes" said Becca.
I walk with the blonde to the cafeteria and wow, it's huge, full of students, I get in line and grab a tray, which I take the food, cartons of milk and simply mashed potatoes, with roast potatoes, and some peas, there's no meat here, but that's okay, it should be enough for lunch, we soon get to a table, sitting together, which I go to look at the rest of the class there too. Daniella, on the other hand, has gone to mingle with the girls in another class, so at least she's not here pestering me.
"That's our menu, get used to it, that's it, we eat potatoes and potatoes and more potatoes, basically every week we eat something made with potatoes and that's it, maybe with something extra like peas, but never a full plate, there's no meat here, but we can eat better, just go out and eat out, But we can't use magic outside
of Luna Nova, only broom flying, and we're out of reach of the sorcerer's stone over time, so we have to avoid causing too much outside or we'll be restricted, so to go out we have to ask permission and it's a hassle, if you ask me" explains the blonde.
"So that's every day? Ugh, I ate better when I lived with my dad and I had to make the food counting the money, I thought a place like this would have more food, look at the luxury here" I say looking around.
"Ahhh I wish that were the case, but that's not how the band plays girl, Luna Nova is in financial trouble with the decline of magic, so much so that you yourself are here little cookie witch" said one of the girls.
I'd rather not have the luxury of answering, I'll just eat, then I'll think about going outside, I have a huge reserve to buy decent food at least and I can use that money to feed myself, work has helped a lot with that, so at least I'll have a fuller stomach than just that, it'll be better.
There's not much left and I finish eating, I'm not full, but it should keep me going, the same with Leyland, she finishes eating and then signals for us to get up, I leave the table and take the tray to the rubbish bin, throwing things away and leaving them on top to wash up.
"Well, the food here isn't the best, you can complain about that, everyone thinks it's bad, while the teachers eat what they want, they have better food here, by the way, I forgot to mention, don't take any salt from outside to here, it could destabilise the flight along the Ley lines and that could get you thrown if you don't control the broom and you fall over there, in the forest of Arcturus" Becca said pointing to the forest.
"What's in that place, it looks a bit scary" I say as I look round.
"Few witches come back alive to tell the tale, many trees even seem to have the silhouette of people, as far as we know they really are people, when a witch dies she becomes a tree, since nature comes into contact with her, in Arcturus, the dangers are of all kinds, creatures, plants, everything wants to kill you, so don't touch it, it's cursed, there will be no one who can rescue them" I get it, it just seems more interesting for an adventure.
"Good to know for the salt, that's why the food here is so bland" I say to her, who nods in agreement.
"There's even salt, but only the teachers can have it, if the students want it they have to pay, and it's not cheap, it's about ten times what they pay on the other side, but back here, the table where we sit is the first year's room, they're our classmates, most of them have come since the previous years when Luna Nova was in the middle school, there we learn more mundane things than magic, it's very basic, by the way, far away is the table of these people, they're not divided into years so much, they're in a whole mixed sector, they're the children, they enter at 13 and graduate at 15" I really wanted to be part of this when I was younger.
"What about that other partition?" I ask when I see there's another one.
"They're sectors, each one is organised into several tables, here's ours, for the first year students, over there is the second year and the most privileged in the school, where there are even windows close by is the third year, they can even have a greater variety of meals, the first year people just get screwed" said my friend and it's interesting to know.
"Wow, but that's not fair, everyone should be able to eat the same" I say confused.
"Trust me, the difference is minimal, it's just a pinch of salt in the food and that's all, that's why even the third year tables are emptier, most of them go out to eat, it's much more inviting and there's a greater variety of food, that's why there are so many restaurants in Glastonbury, anyway, now it's time to get to know the people and know who to mess with, come with me, let's go for a walk" I nod.
We walk to the outside courtyard, where I see a very large space, some students are running around, especially the younger ones, playing, I'm even a little tempted to do that, but I know I'll be embarrassed, then she points things out to me, like the sports area, the stage, the Luna Nova tower, but mostly we walk to where there's a gardening greenhouse.
Wow, look at that tree, it's so beautiful, I never thought I'd see something as majestic as that, it's really impressive, a beautiful garden.
"This is the memorial tree to Jennifer, the great witch, I don't know much about it, since I was barely paying attention in history class, I just wanted to get some distance to talk about the groups at this school, what you have to watch out for and what you should stay close to, especially if you want to do well at this place, I know you're very different from me, you want to fulfil your dream of being great at this place while I don't give a
damn about all that - I want to do well and make friends, but I don't want fame, I just want to be able to be happy.
"So what's so different and shocking about this place that it could change everything? Just knowing, it seems like a normal place, what do you mean group?" I ask her.
"Well come on, here in Luna Nova there are several groups of witches, they are usually separated by some leading and influential witch, there is for example the group of rich girls, they are the rich students who stay in the upper rooms, where there is all the luxury in the world, where Daniella wanted to go and never managed to mix with anyone because she is a simpleton, This group you can be sure will be impossible to get close to, they don't like us, they think they're the last biscuit in the packet, but nowadays they don't have a student to represent them and be the greatest, they always hold on to some prodigy, but since last year a student from the lilac team has been strongly refusing to join this group, she doesn't want to assimilate in any way. Continuing here, there's the group of nerds, the CDF's, if you want to get on well with the teachers, they're the ones to ask, they know everything, for a good price they can even help you with your homework, they also make good friends, even if they're quieter and today the prodigy is part of them, Finally continuing here, there's the group of rebellious witches, the troublemakers, I'm still one of them, they're the ones who get scolded and punished a lot, we're always causing trouble, that's the idea, to fight the current system and change everything for the better, but sometimes things don't help much, I don't recommend mixing with us too much, but we get anything that breaks the rules of Luna Nova, mobile phones? Electronics? Magic generators? You can leave it to us, we do all the smuggling here, just give us the money, but apparently you already know about the schemes, finally there's the athletic group, they're the ones who do well in every sporting competition here and they're witches who usually stay in the courtyard training or running, last year they even won the broom relay by a long shot, If you want to form a team for a sporting competition, they're the ones to ask, although the broom relay can only be their own team and the rest are the neutral crowd, they're not in any group, they usually mix with their own trio, or they're freshmen like you" I think I understand everything, these gangs and groups are very interesting.
"What about prodigy? Do you know her? Do you know who she is?" I ask her.
"Croix Meridies, tall, lilac hair that seems to be messy all the time, green eyes, wears glasses, she's all sloppy, but she's incredibly good at everything, they didn't give her anything, until we realised that she had dethroned everyone, she simply came first in every competition, even against the third years, with the exception of the broom relay, What she herself says is that she doesn't really like flying on a broomstick, she's such a dork, if she didn't have that sloppy way about her she'd be cute, she must be a great man scout, there's even a rumour going around about her, I don't know if it's true, but they said she was born differently" I know that and it doesn't make any difference.
"Ah, so she sounds interesting" I say with my hand on my chin.
"She must be in the library, which will be the next step on the tour of Luna Nova" said Becca, holding my hand.
I'm being taken away and I leave that beautiful memorial to Jennifer, there we walk round the place, we see the corridors, we enter Luna Nova and there we arrive at the library, I see that there are lots of girls with glasses and smart, I wonder which one is Croix, lilac hair, a bit messy, where is she, I walked and saw her in a corner of the upper floor, she was alone, reading books.
"This is Croix Meridies, but let's not talk about it, I told you she's sloppy" I see her from a distance and she doesn't look sloppy, she's really quite pretty, her hair's a bit messy, her face is serious, I imagine that's why she's such a prodigy.
Soon I'm interrupted by her staring at me and I hide behind the shelves, which I'm led out of with Becca's help. When I get outside the library I'm relieved, I think she must have seen me, how embarrassing, I even look back and she's giving me a little cornered look.
I was embarrassed to see this girl, what a weird thing to do, act normal Chariot, now is the time to just be normal, even my friend is laughing.
"Seriously, you look like you've seen a celebrity, or that you're interested in them... Go ahead, Chariot, you're a lesbian, aren't you? Shall I keep it a secret?" I'd rather not answer.
"When you talked about her I didn't realise she was so cute, she's not that sloppy" Those eyes of hers look like emeralds, when she turned her eyes towards me I even got a little palpitation, what a strange thing.
"Hahahah, you're a comedy girl, let's go to the classroom, there's still the flying lesson today" said Becca.
[...]
The flying lesson was really interesting, the teacher started testing us straight away, I started to get on the broomstick and stand up like on a skateboard, so I was flying around in front of everyone who was staring at me, a bit unresponsive, it looked like I was flying without any skill and then I came down braking with style, sliding my feet on the ground and that's how I was seen by the teacher.
"Miss Du Nord, what is this? What kind of dangerous flight is that? That's not something a class witch should do, even more so the great-great-granddaughter of the legendary Louise Du Nord, you should have more respect for your ancestors" said Professor Nelson.
"But teacher, flying like that takes a lot of technique, I've been perfecting it since childhood, it's the best way to fly, are you going to say I didn't do well?" I ask her.
"Witchcraft is not a circus! Fly like a normal witch, I want to see you show control of the broom again, but no manoeuvres, this is normal broom flying, how do you intend to take part in the broom relay like this? For the love of a witch who thinks she's in the circus, you haven't learnt anything from the little cookie witch, have you?" Wow, everyone against me on this one.
Now she's going to see something too, I may be bad at everything, but I'm not at broomsticks, the years I spent as a child flying with Mum Laura have cut me like a diamond, I get to the other side and I start flying, very focused on the route, which brings the bristles of the broom against the ground, braking with an impressive lightness and speed, which when the stopwatch is tapped, everyone is amazed.
"Normal flying, like that?" I say to her.
"Holy shit, Chariot, you're a fucking girl! We need you in the broom relay" said a shocked Becca.
"Not bad, for someone I didn't give anything to, you may have been a disgrace in numerology class, but on a broom it's a different story" said Parker.
"Woah, that's good, you see how flying like a normal person has made you go very fast, you did as well as Louise Du Nord when you came in here, you're no Laura McLaren, but you're incredible, at this level you'll have someone to challenge Croix Meridies, you were better than her in the last class before the summer, my congratulations we seem to have a prodigy on the broomsticks, but there's still a lack of discipline, I know a potential witch when I see one" I learnt from the best, well it looks like Croix is going to have someone to go head-to-head with by the looks of it.
I'm even getting some applause, the people who were making fun of me are starting to be impressed, but that's it, I can fly a broomstick well, there's no way, I'll manage to be the best at least at that, for the rest I think it's better that I try to be better, I even see that I have a bit of respect, the class is even continuing normally with more things, which I'm taking advantage of to show that I'm not just good at going straight, I can also go well round bends.
"It was to be expected that I arrived in Luna Nova very controversially, yes I used mundane formulas innumerology class the first time and that left me far behind the others since I had to learn everything fromscratch and it was idiotic and complicated, I never understood the reason for it all until I knew exactly whatthe reason was. Anyway, it was the first time I saw Croix, we haven't spoken yet, but I'm going to tell youabout a big dispute that happened, our first rivalry, something that isn't told in the book, you didn't even knowCroix existed until she showed up in Luna Nova, well she was a big part of my life as you'll find out later, theworst thing is remembering all this, how much simpler everything was, less full of things, I don't know... Let'sget back to the interesting part of the story."
See you, school witches...