Witchcraft Academy

We start our story with our main character, a lovely young woman and a talented witch. She sits by the living room window, impatiently waiting for the moment that may just change her life forever. Today was the day the letter would arrive, the letter of either approval or denial into the school of her dreams. Witchcraft Academy, one of those most prestigious magic schools on the continent, every student dreamed of becoming a student there and walking its hallowed halls.

To attend this school is the highest honor for a mage or witch, but not just anyone can attend, this honor is reserved for the most talented students, the highest in their field. Thousands of students submit applications but only a couple hundred are accepted each year into the ranks of students. Applications are judged on a variety of different abilities in the main elements, earth, fire, water, air, as well light and dark magic, defensive magic, potions, and black magic. The area the student specializes in the best is assigned to them as their main area of study, and classes are fitted around their specialty. The school is designed for and specializes in helping its students reach their best potential. But do not be mistaken dear reader, the school also discreetly helps students reach their worst potential. Dark and black magic are two very different things, and black magic is very illegal and has been for centuries, so the school has been teaching students black magic in secret for a long time.

Luna was a nervous wreck waiting for the letter to arrive, all her hopes and dreams were riding on this one moment, and this tiny letter could either make or break her. There, she could see something on the horizon, a shape moving closer towards the house, and it was just one of the neighbors walking her dog. She let out a frustrated sigh, she had always been a patient child but waiting for this was killing her, and the longer she waited, the more the knot in her chest grew tighter and tighter. She couldn't go home, not yet, not until she had made something of herself, proved that she could be more than a tool to be used by her family. But if she failed and didn't make it, she couldn't stand the look on her Nana's face once she returned, she might just go home if she didn't make it in. It's not like there weren't other schools, but this was the school, the best there was, and if she couldn't make it in then she'd feel like a failure to everything her Nana had taught her.

Suddenly another shape appeared, but this one strangely seemed to float above the ground, and as it drew closer she could it see, what she had been waiting for, a woman floating on a broom stick as she glided effortlessly down the street and right through her neighbor, the human unable to sense the magic that cloaked her and her dog going crazy at the sight of a witch flying down the street on a broomstick. Luna could feel the excitement growing in her chest as she pressed herself against the window, eyes locked on the mailman as she flew closer and closer to the house, four houses, three houses, one more to go, and she was here. Gently she landed on the ground in front of the mailbox, slowly she reached into her bag and drew out two envelopes, one gold and one black. Luna felt her heart drop at the sight of the black one, worried that she had received a rejection letter. The woman inspected them, staring closely at the addresses before placing the black one back into her bag and sliding the golden one into the mailbox, closing it shut before taking off on her broomstick to her next stop.

Blood rushed through her veins as the excitement and adrenaline over took her body, and before she knew it she was up off the couch and sprinting towards the front door and out to the mailbox. She stood there, her hands shaky as she slowly pulled open the door, ignoring the stares she was getting from her neighbors. There sitting inside the mailbox was what she dreamed about, the shiny golden envelope that made her toss and turn at night while she awaited its arrival. Gently she picked it up, clutching it to her chest before she slammed the mailbox shut and rushed back into the house and up to her room.

Quickly she shut the door to her room and pulled the drapes shut, casting her into darkness before she lit the candles around her room with a quick wave of her hand. She sat on the floor, her fingers trembling as she carefully pried open the envelope, the red waxen seal of the school crest snapping in half as she opened it. Her hands were shaking so badly that she could barely pull the papers out, but she managed to calm her excitement long enough to unfold them and read their contents.

Dear Miss Celestia Winchester,

We would like to formally congratulate you on your acceptance into Witchcraft Academy. We welcome you to our illustrious school and hope you will enjoy your future stay with us. Our introduction ceremony will take place in two days, this gives you time to settle into your dorm and a chance to make friends before classes start. A schedule and uniform will be provided to you upon arrival, along with a key to your assigned dorm room. When you are ready to travel to campus use the provided magic circle and follow the instructions on the back. You have the rest of today to prepare for travel, but you must arrive by six pm tomorrow otherwise your acceptance will be forfeit and your place in our enrollment for this year will be given to another applicant.

Signed,

The Student Council

"Ugh, they used my real name instead of the one I requested to be used, but…" She let out a squeal of delight, dancing around her room in excitement, the letter still clutched between her fingers. She danced until she eventually grew tired and fell back onto her bed, staring up at the star embroidered canopy.

"I'm in, I actually got in… if only Nana was here so I could say goodbye properly." She said quietly to herself, her happy smile faltering for a second.

She sits there quietly for a while, letting the feeling set in that she was officially now a student at witchcraft academy. She holds a hand in the air, fingers dancing as she traces the constellations on the drape of her canopy bed, the stars glowing as her fingers skip past them, leaving a trailing of sparkling stars. She liked to do this at night, to help calm her thoughts when she was far too stressed or excited for sleep. She just couldn't believe that she gotten in, she wasn't sure when her Nana had had her apply, she had yet to even come close to beating her Nana at anything she taught her. But she had done it, and tomorrow she would get to see the school of her dreams in person.

She had always wanted to attend witchcraft academy, it had always been a dream of hers since she was young. And when she came across her master, Nana, and she offered to take her in and teach her, she jumped at the chance to learn magic that could help her achieve her dream. She never wanted to be a great witch, just to learn magic, and open her own little magic shop one day. Her dreams always seemed to be extravagant on the outside, but simple on the inside. Some might say that it's rather ridiculous to want to attend such a school for such a simple dream, but she was always taught to aim high but keep her dreams simple, and it seemed to stick with her even after she left home. She just wanted to own her own cozy little magic shop, and have a cat familiar like her Nana, and be free to do what she liked.

When she finally sat up and opened the curtains the sun had already set in the sky, casting low darkened shadows across her neighborhood. The sky was a deep shade of purples, oranges, and blues, the light reflecting in fractures across her room from the stained glass parts of her window. She changed into her night clothes as she watched the set below the skyline of her tiny town, and the moon of the human world rise in the distance. She climbed into bed, snuggling under her covers, the full moon warped through her window, the glass turning it into shades of blue pink and purple with just a splash of red. She curled up further under her covers, excited for her new adventure to start tomorrow, and with a swish of her hand the candles flickered out, and she drifted into sleep, ready for a new dawn to rise.

It had been six years since Nana had found her standing alone out in the rain, a scared little fourteen year old, drenched in rain and caked in mud, her hair short and messy after being crudely cut with a knife. Being the kind older woman she was, she rushed the girl home, giving her a bath before wrapping her in the softest blanket and plopping her in front of the fire with a nice steaming cup of chamomile tea.

"Now care to tell me why a young spry thing such as yourself was out in the cold rain all by herself, where are your parents?" The older woman said, sitting down in a creaky old rocking chair next to the girl.

"I ran away from home." The girl says quietly, taking a sip of her tea.

"Ah I see, then what might your name be, I have to know what to call you."

"I have no name." She says, clutching the tea cup tightly in her tiny hands, her fingers trembling.

"Alright then nameless one, if you wont tell me what your name is or where your home is, would you care to tell me why a pretty little young lady like you would run away from home, it seems like you had quite the cushy upbringing."

"Because I hate it there, please don't send me back!" She cried, tears filling her eyes, her fingers trembling so much that the shout caused her to spill some tea onto herself.

"Now now dear, it's alright, I'm not going to send you back to wherever you came from." She says, gently cleaning the tea off the girl and healing her burns. But if you're going to stay here, then you're going to need a name, and since you won't give me your birth name then I'll have to come up with something. Hmm how about Luna, what do you think of that, and you can take on my family name Moon as your own, since I have no one else to pass it to."

"R-really?" The small girl said, staring up at her with big eyes.

"Of course, you remind me of younger me, so you can stay here as long as you want, and I'll teach you magic and how to use the power that's in you my little apprentice. So what do you think of your new name?"

"Luna Moon… I think I like it." She said with a big smile.