Chapter 3: Chapter Three: Of Abominations and Witches

Another day, another opportunity to explore the Boiling Isle. The sun shone brightly over the horizon as Eda had Luz and Booker walking with her down the beach. The two apprentices were excited, believing that they would be learning some magic, especially when Eda said that they would find something special. It's been about a week since the incident with Adegast, and the two friends were eager to learn real magic.

But 10 minutes into their adventure, their excitement was replaced with mixed expressions—mostly disgust. 

"Eda, when you told us that you were going to take us somewhere special," Booker said, pointing at what they had come for, "...this isn't what I was expecting."

Lying on the beach in front of them was the carcass of a dead giant worm with the characteristics of a leech. Its body was cylindrical and tapered towards the tail. Its mouth was a jawless orifice lined with large, pointed teeth and ringed by five stubby feeding tentacles that were used to grasp food and protect the mouth when not feeding. Large eyes were spread across its back and head, and large black spines ran along the back between the eyes located on the head and those on the back. Coloration was dark green across the dorsal surface and light green on its ventral side, divided into segments like annelid worms.

"What? What are you talking about?" Eda looked at him like he was crazy before turning back to the creature. "When have you ever seen something as breathtaking as this?"

"Literally anytime when I'm not looking at a dead rotting body," Booker said, pinching his nose.

"I don't like this," Luz commented. Creeped out and a bit disgusted.

"Yep, it doesn't get much more inspiring than the trash slug," Eda said as she walked over to the large slug, kneeling down and placing a hand on it. "It makes a home, a life from what others have thrown by the wayside." 

She patted the beast before reaching into its mouth and pulling out a rubber chicken. Tossing it aside, she turned back to her apprentices.

"Until BLAM!" Eda hits her fist into her palm. "It gets blasted by a wave one day and croaks from all the salt. And then we get to sell the stuff it ate."

She then pulled out a pickaxe and held it out to Luz. 

"Please don't make me," Luz begged with a croaky voice, terrified of the job.

Eda shrugged her shoulders and turned to Booker. 

"Not happening," he said, pushing the pickaxe away. "As much as I would love to look for treasure, I'm not going to dig through the remains of a slug if I can avoid it."

"Aw, come on, guys," King said, walking to the side and throwing down a towel with a duck on it. "It's not every day you get to go to the dump and pick apart a garbage carcass."

"What the actual fuck? No one looks forward to that!" Booker exclaimed.

"Ah, nuts to you both," said Eda before she began doing the dirty work, swinging her pickaxe into the monster's flesh.

Booker looked at Luz, and she nodded her head to him. It was time to talk with Eda about her teaching method and how she was teaching the two—which was not teaching them anything at all. 

"So, Eda, Luz, and I were talking, and we were wondering when you were going to…you know, start our training," he said to the witch.

"What are you talking about? We've already begun your training," Eda stated, swinging the pickaxe into the trash slug again. The crashing sound it made had Luz cringing.

"Yeah, but if we tried some new lessons for our apprenticeship?" She suggested that while her teacher managed to cut out some of the stuff inside the slug, she started digging through it. "Like...read ancient scrolls or mix together potions, or‐"

"Ugh. That sounds like a bunch of magic school stuff," Eda commented, throwing a phone she pulled out onto a pill of other things.

Booker's eyes widened just as much as Luz's when they both caught onto those keywords at the end of Eda's sentence. 

"Wait, what?" He asked, bewildered. "There are magic schools here?"

"Like winding towers, cute uniforms, dark plots that threaten your life kind of magic school?" Luz asked excitedly, obviously thinking of Hogwarts.

"And why is this the first time we're hearing about this?" Booker asked. "We could have been learning magic there!"

"Why would you want to learn magic in school? It's the worst!" Eda told the two kids. "They force you to learn magic the 'proper' way. But magic isn't proper. It's wild and unpredictable. And that's why it's so beautiful. I didn't finish school, and look at me! Who wouldn't envy where I am right now?" 

She said this while standing in front of a smelly pile of garbage and guts from the monster, with flies buzzing all around her.

Luz looked at her teacher with a slightly downcast expression, while Booker looked at Eda with a deadpan expression. 

"Let me get this straight: You didn't like how school taught you about magic, so you dropped out. Now, you live life on the run and dig through the remains of a dead monster just to find things to sell to make ends meet," he said, his voice dripping with sarcasm. "What a wonderful life!"

"Well...sure, it sounds bad when you say it like that..." Eda said. She looked around for anything that would prove she was a good teacher. "Uh... Hey, here's a lesson." 

Eda dropped the pickaxe and walked over to Booker and Luz. Grabbing both of their hands. 

"All great witches are resourceful, like this," she said, kneeling down and plugging both of the kids' hands into a hole filled with green slime. 

Booker cringed as Eda had them feel around to grab at anything that they could get. After their teacher let go, they pulled out their hands.

Luz looked inside of her hand and was less than impressed. "Oh, hey. Greasy slimeball."

"Use your slime ball wisely, young witch," Eda said, trying to sound wise while holding Luz's hands together.

Booker looked down at his hand and opened it. His frown deepened when he saw it was a rock. "I got a rock," he told the others, feeling like Charlie Brown.

Eda just shrugged and started walking back to the slug. "Back at it! We'll hit the stink nodes first," she said, grabbing her pickaxe.

When Eda turned her back to them, Booker was just about to throw the rock at the back of her head when Luz quickly grabbed his hand. 

"Actually, if it's okay, I think we'll head home and look at pictures of animals that are still alive," she said, pulling Booker back until he gave up and followed her. Before leaving, she went over to King, who was wearing a pair of plastic shades, and started rubbing his belly. "Love you, King. You little beach peach."

Booker walked ahead of her into the forest. Luz quickly caught up, and the two walked together to the Owl House. As the two friends walked together back to the house, Booker glared down at the ground, tempted to throw the rock away as far as he could.

"You know, it's times like this that I wonder why we even put up with Eda," Booker said, glaring down at his rock, bitterly pocketing it in his lizard sweater.

"Come on, Booker," Luz said before Booker stopped and threw up his hands. "It's not that bad."

"Not that bad? We've been here for five days, Luz and neither of us has even learned a single thing about magic!" He exclaimed, pacing around in frustration. "I mean, if magic's all about digging through some slimy monster's inside to grab a rock, then what's the point of even learning anything from her?"

"You can do it! You can!" A random girl's voice said from nearby.

"Mysterious voice of encouragement?" Luz asked before going off into the forest.

"Wait, Luz! Ugh," Booker groaned in frustration before running after her. "Can't we just stay at the house for one fucking day? Why do we always have to get ourselves into trouble?"

After catching up with her, Booker pushed some bushes aside, and the two friends looked at the source of the voice. 

A chubby girl with light skin, pointy ears, and short dark blue hair wears glasses and some kind of uniform. The uniform consists of a gray tunic with a dark gray belt, cowl, and boots. Her sleeves and leggings are greyish-pink. Right next to her are a book, a backpack, and a stone vase on a wooden wheelbarrow.

Luz gasped. "No! Little witch girl."

As for Booker, he watched the girl, who looked like she was having some trouble. He was about to go over and ask if she needed help when the girl stood up from the rock she was sitting on. 

"You can do it," the witch girl said. "Even if you get a bad grade, it's not a reflection of you as a witch. And my parents are right. There are better opportunities on this track. Now, get to school!" 

She stopped when she stepped on a flower. Lifting up to see what she stepped on, she gasped in horror and kneeled to it. 

"Oh, no! Oh, little friend! I'm sorry!"

Calming herself, the girl drew a magic circle of green light above the plant. The circle rained down droplets of energy onto the flower, revitalizing it.

As the Seventh Son and his crush watched the girl, they heard something else coming in their direction. Another wheelbarrow, glowing in green energy, came rolling up in front of the young witch, its owner sitting on top of the cauldron. Booker looked up, and for some reason, he gained a small blush.

The person was another witch. A girl with pale skin, two-toned, chin-length aquamarine hair that was brown at the roots and had a ponytail pulling the front hair out of her face, and eyes that were golden colored. Like most witches, she had pointy ears. Like the first girl, she wore a uniform in the same colors. The rest of her attire includes wearing triangle-shaped black earrings, dark gray, heeled boots, a light gray top, and black nail polish. On her cowl, she had a star pin.

The green-haired girl looked down at the other girl and smirked. "Willow!" she said, closing her book and jumping down from the cauldron. "Wow. You're so unnoticeable I almost rolled into you." She chuckled lightly as the flower died again.

"Hi, Amity," the first girl, now known as Willow, said with a bitter tone. She stood up and gave Amity a bland expression.

"Uh, shouldn't you get to class early to prep your…" 

A rattling noise came from the cauldron on Willow's wheelbarrow. It suddenly tipped over and oozed purple sludge with a single eyeball all over the ground. The sludge washed up next to Willow's foot and blinked.

"That's disgusting," Booker said in a low tone.

"Oh, Willow. You don't have anything to show, do you?" Amity asked, gesturing to the mud puddle. 

Willow blushed in embarrassment and raised up her hood to cover it. Amity sighed and walked up to her. 

"This is why people call you 'Half‐a‐Witch Willow.'"

"Witch drama!" Luz whispered before Booker shushed her as they watched. The Seventh Son glared at Amity with anger. Sure, she was attractive, but the way she teased and demeaned Willow without considering her feelings proved she was a total bitch! 

Something was moving inside Amity's cauldron, making it rattle. "Oh, it looks like someone wants to say something to you," said Amity, moving to her cauldron and off the top. She smirked smugly and crossed her arms before snapping her finger. "Abomination, rise."

Rising out of the cauldron was a crudely shaped humanoid golem made of a purple ooze-like substance. It had three eyes and a mouth, which it gasped and groaned from. It leaned down and groaned, drawing a star on Will's forehead.

"You're a... star," said the Abomination.

"Aw. It's like mine," Amity bragged, tapping the star badge on her cloak. On it were the words 'Top Student'—but much smaller and meaningless. "As the top student, it's my duty to tell you to keep at it. Even you could get a passing grade someday."

As he watched, Booker's empathy for Willow grew, and he knew exactly what she was going through. He was never the best student, mainly because he struggled to keep up with the other kids in his grade. This made him all the more furious with Amity. Having dealt with bullies of all genders, he saw Amity as a queen bee bully. It almost made him disgusted that he found her attractive.

"I can't watch this," Booker said, standing and walking towards the two girls. 

"Wait, Booker, no—" It was useless for Luz to try to stop him. She kept hidden. 

"Hey!" Booker yelled, getting both girl's attention as he walked out of the bushes. "Leave her alone." 

Amity scoffed at him and placed a hand on her hip. "And you're supposed to be?" 

"The guy telling you to back the fuck off," Booker growled. 

"Oh, looks like we've got a hero," Amity said, crossing her arms and stepping towards him. "How about you run along before you get hurt?" 

"Yeah?" Booker reached back and grabbed the dragon-tooth handle of Dragon's Bite. "You first."

For a long, tense moment, the two of them glared at one another. Luz and Willow watched nervously, waiting to see who would make the first move or if they would back down. 

As it turned out, the mint-haired girl was the one to end the stand-off with a scoff. "Whatever. Abomination, cower," Amity commanded her project, and the sludge monster melted back into the cauldron. Amity placed the lid back on top. "See you in class, superstar."

As she left, both Booker and Luz were glaring at her. "Bitch…" he said bitterly while, in the bushes, Luz stuck her tongue, feeling the same way. 

Booker then turned to Willow. 

"Hey, you okay?"

"'Oh, see you in class, superstar!'" Will mimicked Amity mockingly before furiously wiping off the goop from her forehead. She got angrier and angrier as she ranted while the winds started to pick up the leaves around her. "I hate it when she does that. I hate making abominations!" 

"Whoa, take it easy," Booker said, cautiously approaching her. 

"I hate getting bad grades. Ugh! I CAN'T STAND IT ANYMORE!"

Having shot her eyes tightly, she snapped them open when she shouted in rage. Now, they were glowing green, much to the shock of Luz and Booker. The ground started to shake before the flower she was tending to erupt into a mass of large thorn vines that sprouted from the ground. They swung wildly around Willow.

"Willow, right?" Booker exclaimed when one of the vines went straight for him. Booker drew Dragon's Bite and cut it down. "Willow! Settle down!"

However, he didn't see a lower vine lashing out. Booker yelled in pain as the vines wrapped around his leg, the thorns piercing through his pants, drawing blood before he was pulled towards Willow.

"Booker!" Luz screamed, bursting out of the bushes.

Both of their screams got Willow's attention, who turned to glare at them. Her eyes were still holding fury in them and glowing with power. As he was pulled ever closer, Booker quickly cut the vine around his leg. He was in awe and frightened a bit by the power Willow was displaying, but he got over it and got up into a fighting stance with Dragon's Bite. 

"Stop!" he yelled at Willow, flinching when he felt the thorns still on his legs like barbed wire. He didn't want to hurt her, but he would defend himself if he had to.

Fighting was about to start when Willow suddenly stopped. Her anger was replaced with concern after seeing the vine still around Booker's leg. 

"Oh, no, no, no, no, no! I'm so sorry!" she said after the glow in her eyes faded. The vines around her stopped moving.

She was about to rush over to him when Booker pointed the blade of the sword at her. 

"Stay right there," he yelled, his leg bleeding from the piercing thorns. "Augh!"

"Booker, it's okay," Luz said, walking over and placing a hand on his arms. "She's not going to hurt you. She just wants to help." 

Willow nodded. "Please, let me make it right."

Booker glanced between Luz and Willow before sighing. "Fine," he muttered, stabbing Dragon's Bite into the ground.

Bending down, Willow used her magic to unwrap the vine from his leg. The half-witch flinched when the thorns were removed but was thankful to have the vines off his leg. 

"Are you okay?" Luz asked worriedly.

Booker looked at his leg and saw bits of blood coming out of the marks the vines made. "It's okay. The thorns only went through a few layers of skin," he said, rubbing his right leg a bit. But then he noticed Willow getting close to his and Luz's faces—a bit too close. "Uh...hi?"

"Your ears. They're shorter, and so... circly," she said, gazing at Luz and Booker's ears. In a panic, Luz covered them up and pulled Booker's lizard hood up to hide his.

But it was too let, as Willow gasped in realization. "You're humans!" she exclaimed, pulling off Booker's hood. "This is astounding!" 

Willow grew more excited as she circled around the human and half-human. 

"Real humans on the Boiling Isles! How'd you get here? What are you doing here?"

"How did you know we were humans?" Booker asked, while also relieved to know that Willow didn't hate them for being humans. 

Before the witch girl could answer, a sudden bell toll could be heard pealing in the distance. Willow's smile was gone when she heard it, and she looked down at the ground. 

"Uh, I'm sorry. I can't stay. I have to go disappoint my teacher. It was nice to meet you both," Willow said, waving goodbye to the friends.

Walking over to the tipped-over wheelbarrow, Willow picked up her books when Luz stopped her. 

"Wait! I'm Luz, and this is my BBF, Booker!" She said, giving Booker a tight hug that made him blush before letting go. "And you're Willow, right? What you did with that flower and those plants, it was... wow."

"Thanks, but... I'm not even supposed to be doing plant magic," Willow said, depressingly looking down at the failed abomination.

"Why?" Booker asked, sheathing Dragon's Bite on his back. "You were awesome with that plant magic."

"Well, my parents put me on the abomination track at school," she replied. 

Just as Booker was about to ask her why, Luz rushed up to her and grabbed her shoulders, squealing with excitement. "Like magic school?" she asked, to which Willow nodded her head. 

Booker grabbed Luz by her cat hood and pulled her back from the witch. "Take it easy, Luz. You're going to scare the poor thing," he said to his friend.

"I'm sorry, but that's so cool! I'm so jealous," Luz said after Booker let her go. "I have a teacher, but her lessons are a bit untraditional."

"Not to mention unethical and the fact that she hasn't even bothered to teach us anything about magic," Booker said, crossing his arms and kicking a rock. "Compared to her, I'm sure your school could actually teach us something. I'd like to see it for just one day."

"I wish I could get a passing grade for once," Willow said with a depressed tone. "Then people would stop calling me 'Half‐a‐Witch Willow.'" She kicked some of her abomination goop.

"Hey, wait. I know how we can both get what we want," Luz said suddenly, picking up some of the goop.

"Luz, what are you doing?" Booker asked warily, but he had an idea of what she was going to do. 

He was proven right when the girl splashed the sludge on her body. "Make me your abomination," she said, pointing to herself. "I'll get you a good grade, and you can get us into magic school. It's fiendishly clever."

"What?" Willow asked in disbelief.

"Yeah, Luz, there's no way that will work," Booker said, walking over to stand next to Willow. He then crossed his arms.

"Oh, come on, Booker. We saw that girl's thing. It's just chunks of stuff that talk weird. I'm chunks of stuff, and I talk weird!" Luz said with much enthusiasm.

"That's true," Willow said before giggling with a blush. "Okay! It's a deal-"

"Hold it! Hold it! Hold it!" Booker quickly stepped in, glaring at Luz. "You're not going to that school!"

"What!? But why? Luz asked in surprise.

"As much as I would love to sneak into the school to actually learn what Eda is practically incapable of teaching us, there are too many things that can go wrong!" Booker said, understandably protective of Luz.

"But nothing bad will happen! I promise!"

"Do I need to remind you about what happened last time?! You went off on a quest that was a trap, and you were the bait!"

"I know, but...Please, Booker. Just for today? I wouldn't get caught this time. Please?" Luz begged, clasping her hands together.

"Not! Happening!" Booker exclaimed, getting into her face. Close enough that their noses were touching.

"Pleeeaaasseee?" Luz tried again, this time using her secret weapon against Booker: The Puppy Eyes. She put all the adorableness she had into these pitiful eyes.

Booker tried to continue glaring into her eyes. Trying not to be tempted and give in to her cuteness. But he couldn't resist. Her puppy eyes were twice as strong as anyone else with its adorableness. He groaned in annoyance while grabbing his face.

He then threw his arms down and yelled. "Goddamn you, Luz Noceda! Fine!" 

Luz and Willow both had happy faces as they squealed. That was before Booker pointed at them. 

"But I'm coming with you!"

This caused Willow to freak out. "But you can't! You're not a student or a witch!" Willow exclaimed worriedly.

"Uh, excuse me. I'm a half-witch ," he told her, placing his fingers on the round tips of his ears. He was more than certain that witches were a species, and that's why male witches were still called witches. "All I have to do is find a disguise to make me look like a student."

The three of them looked at each other for a moment before Willow's eyes widened, and she smiled. 

"Actually, I think I know a guy. But you'll still need to do something about your ears."

The lizard eyes on his hood jiggled a little as Booker walked alongside Willow, who was hauling the pot that had Luz inside of it. The human girl was peeking out of the lid. To hide his ears, the Seventh Son had pulled up his lizard hood. Covering them and making himself look like a monster. 

After a couple of minutes of walking, they reached the school. Booker and Luz stared at it in amazement. The school was a large stone building that looked like a castle with a bell tower in the middle. It was like looking at a different version of Hogwarts School of Wizardry. 

"Welcome to Hexside School of Magic and Demonics," Willow said, following the other students walking into the front door. 

"We're really going to do this," Booker said while Luz was squealing and giggling with excitement. "Luz, stand down." Booker placed the lid onto the cauldron and covered up Luz. 

As they entered the building, Booker felt uneasy about this place, like something was very wrong with it. But he shook his head and followed Willow inside.

Inside the school were hundreds of hallways where someone could get lost, but Booker remained behind Willow as they made their way to the second floor. Looking around, Booker was nervous about people looking at him and seeing that he was without a uniform, carrying a big sword on his back. But it didn't seem like that at all. From what he saw, there were other weird-looking students, making his hoodie look normal.

He stopped when Willow halted in front of her locker, which was alive. It had a single eye and a mouth with sharp teeth. The little witch tickled the locker, and its mouth opened, its tongue rolling out to present her textbooks.

Watching her as she grabbed one of the books, Booker was bumped into by someone behind him. He turned around to see another witch. 

This witch was a young boy, more than Luz and Booker by his looks. He had brown skin and dark brown hair with lighter shades. Like all the witches and demons on the Boiling Isles, he had pointy ears. Like the other students, he was wearing a grey tunic with a dark gray belt, cowl, and boots. But unlike Willow or Amity, the color of his sleeves and leggings are light blue.

The sight of seeing someone shorter than he almost brought out a smile from Booker. Finally! He wasn't the shortest person in school!

"Willow, you would not believe humans…" the boy said, keeping his attention on the magazine he had. He didn't seem to know he wasn't talking to Willow.

"Humans? Psh. I haven't seen any. What?" Willow rambled nervously as she looked towards the cauldron and Booker. He gave her a frown with his eyes, saying 'really' to her.

"Did you know that humans nail barbed wire to their kids' teeth?" The witch said, turning the magazine to show Willow an ad with a girl showing off her braces and the tagline 'Em-Brace yourself!' under it. "But why? Maybe to make them magnetic."

Booker chuckled and leaned to Willow and whispered. "Actually, braces are for straightening teeth."

"And for storing treats," Luz said from inside the cauldron. But unfortunately, the young witch heard her voice echoing from within. He looked up at Willow and Booker, raising an eyebrow in confusion.

"Can he be trusted," Booker asked, knowing that their cover was blown.

"Yeah, and he's the guy I was talking about," Willow said before turning to the boy. This was the person who was going to help him with his disguise? Booker looked around to see if anyone was around before grabbing his hood. He then stepped back and waited as Willow talked to Augustus. "Okay, Augustus. Booker and I are going to show you something. But you have to be cool."

"I can be spool. I-I mean, coooollaaaaahhh…" Augustus' sentence ended up trailing off as Booker took off his hood. Revealing his slightly long, slightly round ears to the witch boy. Booker then grabbed the lid of the cauldron and pulled it off.

"Okay. Abomination, rise," Willow commanded, giving the signal for Luz to emerge.

Standing on the flat bottom of the pot, Luz raised her arms. "Ta‐da! I'm an abomination!"

"Luz, that's not how abominations act," Willow said to the human girl.

Augustus stared at both the human girl and the half-witch human as he dropped his magazine on the ground, shocked beyond belief as he gazed at their ears. 

"No. No, it, it couldn't be," the witch boy said, feeling his own ears as he compared the three of them.

"I think we broke him," Booker said, raising an eyebrow.

"No, he's the president of the Human Appreciation Society," Willow explained. "Most witches wouldn't be able to recognize a human right away, but Augustus is an expert."

"Where are your gills?" Augustus asked, looking Booker and Luz up and down. "And why are you shorter than her?" 

"You're one to talk, shorty!" Booker yelled.

"Oh, hey, we knew an Augustus back in the human world," she said with her arms crossed. She was quick to change the subject before her friends could blow their cover around all the other students. 

Booker stopped growling as he returned to normal. "Wait, are you talking about Gus?" He asked his Luz, pulling his hood over his head again.

"Gus? Nickname? Human nickname? Gus?" Gus exclaimed with excitement and happiness as he threw his arms out to the sides. "Call me it. Wow. Gus. This is the best day of my life."

Booker flinched when he heard the sudden mixture of screaming and bell ringing. Looking up and found the source to be the school's bell, which had a fanged mouth and a ringer with an eye. He had to ask how anyone could think that a bell such as that would be suitable for a school.

"I've gotta get to spelling class," Gus said, picking up his magazine and pulling out a wand. "See you guys at lunch!"

"Wait, Augustus!" Willow quickly stopped the short witch boy before he could walk away. She then placed a hand on Booker's shoulder. "We need you to create an illusion for Booker. Can't you make him have a uniform?"

"Actually, I've got an extra cowl you can use," Gus said, reaching into his bag and then pulling out his extra cowl. He handed it to Booker, who smiled with gratitude.

"Wow, this is awesome! Thank's Gus," he said, smiling at the short witch.

 Gus smiled giddily, ecstatic to have a human thank him. He then turned and ran off to his next class.

"All right. Into the darkness you go," Willow said to Luz, who playfully hissed and got back into the cauldron. After Booker put on the cowl and Willow placed the lid back on, they went on their way to her class.

"You know, maybe I was wrong," Booker said as they entered the Abomination 101 class. The other students were there with their cauldrons and were at their desks. "Maybe this wouldn't be so bad after all."

"Hold it! Who are you?" demanded a very stern voice, making Booker and Willow freeze up after being startled. They looked, and to Willow's terror, it was her teacher.

The Abomination teacher was a stubby and short humanoid creature with pointed ears, a round beak-like mouth with two fangs on the top row of his teeth, two claws on each foot, and narrow eyes. He had green, chin-length hair with a large bald spot on the top of his head, inward-facing eyebrows, and a small green beard. He wore orange-tinted circular glasses with no temples and defined cheekbones as well. His outfit consisted of a black shirt and pants with an oversized purple coat with a red lining. He wore a light silver bow tie around his neck.

He was carried over to Booker by a mauve-colored abomination that had a sad and drooping face.

"Huh?" Booker asked nervously as the teacher looked at him suspiciously. Willow stood on the side, more nervous than him. Luz peeked out of the cauldron, worried for her friend.

"You're not one of my students," said the teacher. "And is that a sword?! What track are you in?"

Booker was now sweating bullets as the other students were staring at him. He didn't think of this! He thought that the teachers wouldn't care about how many students he had. And how could he forget about Dragon's Bite on his back?! Booker had to think of something and think of it fast. As the other students in the room watched, Amity was the only one not paying attention. 

But then she looked at the conversation. Her shock at seeing the same boy from the woods turned to anger. How dare he show himself again after thinking he could stand up to her. 

"Yes...I'm part of the...the…" Booker looked to Willow, and the witch shrugged her shoulder. He turned his eyes back to the teacher. "...the up-and-coming…weapon's class!"

The class students murmured to one another. Some were a little surprised, while others were confused. Amity raised an eyebrow, having heard nothing about this. The teacher himself was also skeptical.

"The weapons class?" He asked.

"Yes. I think that's what it's going to be called. And the principal wanted me to...get used to the Hexside way of teaching?" Booker said and sucked in his lips. Staring nervously at the teacher.

"..."

"..."

"..."

"Oh, I see the administration is finally opening a Magical Arms track. It's about time, I said."

' My luck is never this good!' Booker sighed in relief.

"Well, I'll place you in the seat next to Amity," the teacher said, having his Abomination turn around and take him back to the front of the classroom. 

Booker's eyes widened when he heard that. He turned to Willow, who shrugged. With no other option, Booker sighed and walked over to the seat next to Amity's at the front of the class. Each table had two seats, so he sat to the left of her. 

Taking Dragon's Bite off his back, he placed it on the table and sat down. He felt a pair of eyes on him and saw it was Amity.

"What?" He asked.

"So, you're going to be in this class, huh?" she said, looking at him with disdain. "You've got a lot of nerves showing yourself around, especially sitting next to me."

"If I could have it any other way, I would," he said. 

"How come I never heard of this 'Magical Arms' track before?" She asked in a rather rude tone.

"It's a new track. No one would have known about it," Booker said with a frown.

"Whatever," Amity turned away with a huff. "Just do me a favor and stay out of my way."

Booker's frown deepened again. He'd dealt with girls like her before—those who think they're all high and might just because they have a higher score and are smarter than everyone else.

For the next hour, he watched as the students took turns coming up to the front of the classroom to present their projects to the teacher. Sitting through, the teacher basically ripped into every one of them, grading them poorly and bluntly. This reminded Booker of some of his teachers back on earth.

Currently, he was sitting through a student's presentation of her abomination. However, it has many feet that are wiggling their toes. 

"Hmm. Too many toenails in unexpected places. Fail. Pathetic!" This just made the girl sad, and her abomination shrank back into its cauldron. "The biggest abominations are all of you! If the next abomination is a failure, everyone gets extra homework for a month!"

The students in the room groaned and complained about the thought of extra homework for a mouth, and Booker winced at it, too—and he wasn't even a real student. However, he looked to his left to see Amity smirking a satisfied look.

The teacher cleared his throat. "And the next one to come up is…"

Amity stood up and raised her hand. "Excuse me, sir, but I am ready to present my abomination. Rise!" 

Her creature emerged from the cauldron, posing like a ballerina.

The teacher chuckled with amusement. "I've always saved the best for last, Amity. You'll have to wait your turn."

"Kiss-ass," Booker muttered, low enough that Amity didn't hear him.

"How about... Willow." The teacher pointed to the witch.

Booker looked back at Willow and saw her expression turned to shock. That was before she heard the other students around her groaning and complaining around her. Throwing around the word "Half‐a‐Witch" her way and how she would cause them to have more homework for the mouth. It was enough to make her pull her cowl over her head.

Luz poked the cover to peek out and whispered at Willow, "Don't listen to them, Willow. We can do this." 

Booker nodded and gave her a thumbs-up.

This reassurance gave Willow the confidence she needed to stand up and roll her cauldron to the front of the class. "Uh... Abomination, rise."

Luz's fist punched the lid up into the air, and then she came jumping out. She did a twirl before she landed and posed with her eyes staring in different directions. "Ta‐da!"

All the students in the classroom gasped in surprise at Luz. Believing her to be an actual abomination. This shocked everyone, especially Amity.

"Abomination, bow," Willow commanded, pointing at the ground. Luz followed the command.

"Very impressive. But does it speak?" The teacher asked the witch.

"Uh, I may be your abomination, but you're my a‐mom‐ination," Luz said, improvising as she cuddled up with Willow. Booker looked around and saw that everyone found Luz to be adorable. The only one who wasn't sharing their sentiment was Amity, who was still shocked by what she was watching. The last time she saw Willow, her abomination was nothing more than a pile of goo. She was supposed to be a weakling. How was this possible?

The teacher laughed aesthetically over Luz's performance. "'A‐mom‐ination!' Splendid wordplay. A plus!" He made his way to Luz and painted a red A+ on her forehead.

"Woo!" Booker cheered, throwing his arms in the air. Then, the other students started clapping and cheering for Willow. 

Amity's shock turned to anger and suspicion.

Meanwhile, back at the Owl House, Eda kicked open the first door, causing it to slam against the wall and causing Hooty to yell in pain. 

"Yo, Hooty, you seen Booker and Luz," Eda asked. 

"I heard her tiny mouse feet walking close by. Or that might've been some mice. Anyway, someone started moving in that direction. Hoo, hoo–hoo, hoo," Hooty said, slightly gesturing with his head. 

The Owl Lady, confused by the head, nodded and asked, "Are you trying to point, or…?"

"Look at the weather vane!" Hooty said in an irritated manner. 

She did just that. The weather vane was pointing northeast. 

"But nothing's that way other than…" Eda's eyes widened. "Oh, no." She ran off in the direction the vane pointed, running to a specific place that had haunted her nightmares. "No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no!

When she reached Hexside, Eda quickly and urgently started looking into the first window she saw. 

"Okay, everyone. Recite your runes," said the kindergarten teacher to the children she was teaching, either witches or demons, who nodded and began reciting the rune's incantations.

"No! Blind obedience," Eda said, watching in terror. 

She ran to the next window and peered through the glass. There, she saw a classroom filled with several older students writing at their desks while a snake-like teacher instructed them. 

"No! Pointless busywork!" Ed yelled in dismay, and she looked like she was about to throw up. 

However, her horror grew, and she gasped overdramatically, running to another window. Her eyes widened in pure horror at the sight of her apprentices, Booker and Luz, who were still covered in Abomination goo. Booker was sitting next to her, participating in their new friend's class. 

"NOOOOOOOO!" Eda screamed into the sky, dropping onto her knees with tears running down her eyes. "What has the school done to you?" she sobbed, hanging her head in comical sorrow. 

Both Booker and Luz perked up and looked at the same window. Eda sank below before they could see her. They looked at one another, confused, before shrugging and continuing their activity. They couldn't even hear Eda crying out in anguish and dismay in the background.

The class period ended when the bell screamed again before coughing. Willow rolled her wheelbarrow out of the classroom, and Booker followed behind her. He had a startled expression as he panted exasperatedly when the bell screamed out of nowhere. 

"I can never get used to that."

"Wonderful work today, Willow," said the teacher, stopping the two kids. "Looks like we have a new top student."

He said this just as Amity was walking out of the class. Hearing this made her stop abruptly and drop her books while gasping in shock. The green-haired girl growled in anger before her teacher took her badge off her cowl. 

"But—" Amity tried to protest, but he had already started to place it on Willow's cowl.

"Uh—Thank you, sir," Willow said.

As the teacher walked away, Willow turned to Booker, who grinned and gave her two thumbs up. But then Booker's expression turned to a scowl as he saw Amity marching over to them with a furious glare. 

"Don't look now," he muttered to his witch friend.

"Hey," Amity said, crossing her arms as she glared at the chubby witch. "Last time I saw you, your abomination was mush. What did you do?"

Willow looked nervously at the green-haired girl. As she wiggled where she stood, she tried to find her words. But then she was surprised when Booker stepped in front of her and glared at Amity. 

"What's your problem with her," he asked. "Willow did nothing to you."

"Why don't you stay out of this?" Amity snapped, glaring at the Seventh Son.

"I will," Booker growled, leaning closer to Amity and staring into her golden eyes. "When you quit picking on my friend here."

The two teenagers growled angrily at one another before Willow quickly intervened and pushed herself between them. "I, uh, took your pep talk to heart, Amity," Willow said.

Amity wasn't buying it and glared at her with her arms crossed. "I bet you did. I've got my eyes on you, Half‐a‐Witch. Especially you ," she said, pointing at Booker. The young man glared back at her. "You better watch who you talk to. That badge is mine."

She then started walking away from them. Pushing past some students before disappearing around a corner. This made Willow more worried. "Uh‐oh. I think Amity is onto us."

"Don't worry, Willow. We just need to make it to the day of the end, and we're home free," Booker said, trying to calm her nerves.

Willow gulped and started rolling the wheelbarrow to their next class. "I sure hope you're right, Booker."

It was now lunchtime. Booker was sitting at a table with Willow and Gus. Luz was sitting in the cauldron with her head sticking out. Booker was sitting next to the pot when Gus asked them, "Hey. Do humans eat PB&Js?"

"Oh, my gosh. I haven't eaten real food in so long. Please give me some," Luz asked. Gus ripped his sandwich in half and handed it to Luz. She then her half in two and handed one of them to Booker. As the girl sunk back into the cauldron, the Seventh Son quickly ate his quarter of the sandwich, realizing that he hadn't had any breakfast that morning.

"I don't know, Gus," Willow said worriedly. "If Amity saw that…"

And it just so happened that she did. Suddenly, the green-haired girl jumped onto the table with a furious look. 

"I saw that!" she yelled before getting up in Willow's face, causing her to flinch back. "Abominations don't eat!"

"Hey, we're trying to eat. So, do you mind getting off the table?" Booker said, trying to get Amity away from Willow and Luz. While also having had enough of her attitude.

"Shut it!" Amity yelled at Booker, getting in his face just like she did with Willow. 

"Why don't you back off and leave us alone," Booker said, standing up. "Seriously, what is your problem with Willow?"

"B-Booker, don't do this," Willow said, trying to get him to calm down.

"Nah, no, I don't think so," Booker said, glaring at Amity. "It's time someone put this mint chocolate-haired bitch in her place."

"Excuse me?!" Amity yelled, getting the attention of everyone around them. "Who do you think you are?!"

"I'm the only one willing to tell you to back off," Booker said, pointing at her. "You think you can just bully Willow because you're a prodigy? That no one, not even Willow, can find the catch-up to you?"

"She isn't catching up to me! She's nothing but a failure, and I'll prove it!" She then turned to the cauldron and peered down into it. "I know you're in there! You can't hide from me." 

Students from all over the cafeteria turned their heads to look at the former top student of Hexside, acting way out of character than she normally was, believing that she had lost her mind. 

Amity grabbed Luz out by her hoodie and started shaking her around. "What are you?" she yelled in her face while Luz pretended to play dead. "Who are you? I want an—!"

Amity was cut off when Booker pushed her away. "Back off!" he exclaimed, making Amity turn her anger towards him. 

"Amity Blight!"

"Huh?" Amity and Booker turned their heads to see the Abomination Track teacher standing a few feet away from the table. Booker quickly sheathed his sword, but the teacher was only forced on Amity as he gave her a disapproving look.

"I suspected a twinge of jealousy, but this...this is just sad," the teacher said with pity after walking over to the table.

With her hair slightly disheveled, Amity tried to explain herself.

"But I—No! Look at it!" she pointed at Luz, but the girl kept up the act, groaning as she slid back into the cauldron. When the teacher didn't budge, Amity pointed to Booker. "And what about him? He threatened me!"

"You were trying to ruin Willow's project! I was stopping you!" Booker exclaimed.

"Report to Principal Bump's office! Now!" the teacher told Amity sternly, slamming his fist on his abomination. 

The green-haired witch stammered for a moment before running off in a huff, the teacher following behind.

There was an awkward moment of silence between the four of them. Luz slowly peeked out of the cauldron with a complex expression that Booker shared. They and Willow exchanged looks of concern, realizing just how close they were to getting caught.

A few minutes after the incident with Amity in the cafeteria, Booker ran out of the bathroom in a panic, screaming for his life as he grabbed the door and slammed it shut. But before it could close properly, three tentacles reached out and tried to push the door open. Shrugging to push with all his might, Booker managed to shut the door on the slimy appendages, forcing them to pull back into the bathroom.

Leaning on the door with his arms, the Seventh Son took a moment to catch his breath. "Why was that even in the bathroom?!" He exclaimed.

Booker started walking back to the classroom, where the others were waiting for him. Despite the hiccup that was Amity, today was relatively going smoothly. Booker and Luz were actually about to learn some magic, and Willow was getting a passing grade. He was actually learning amazing things that Eda probably wouldn't have taught them at all.

It made him wonder what the Owl Lady was up to back home. But as he thought about her, he wondered how she'd react if she knew that he and Luz were sneaking into Hexside to learn magic. It also made him wonder if he should feel guilty about ditching Eda to come here just for the day.

Booker shook his head to clear his head of those thoughts. The old woman hadn't even attempted to teach them anything about magic, despite her saying that his magic was dangerous if not fully in control.

"I've seen when Mal lost control of his magic," she'd said to him, "and it wasn't a pretty sight. If you're supposed to be more powerful, I can't begin to imagine what you would do."

If learning magic meant going behind Eda's back, then so be it. Besides, it's not like she didn't do dirty tricks. She's a fugitive, after all.

"Excuse me?"

Booker turned around and was approached by an odd-looking older man. His skin was light beige, and his teal eyes had light-yellow scleras. The strangest thing about him was the red demon on his head covering the upper half of his face, giving him the appearance of being consumed by the demon. He wore a traditional academic dress consisting of a long black gown with a gold yoke and a black cape, with gold trim at the sleeves and cape hem, plus a blue stole draped over his shoulders.

"Good afternoon, young man," the man greeted the half-witch in disguise. "Do you mind if I have a word with you?"

"Uh, sure. How kind I help you," Booker said, a little worried. He wasn't used to adults approaching him unless he was in trouble or they were looking to blame him for something he didn't do.

The man stopped in front of him and stared down at Booker.

"Well, you see, it has come to my attention that there's a new track at school. And I was also told that you're one of the new students that will be attending it," he said, with a look that Booker assumed was amusement.

"Uh, yeah. Pretty cool, right?" Booker shrugged his shoulders with a nervous smile.

"Indeed. But it's strange, really. I was never told of this new 'Magic Arms' track." 

The man was now starting to creep Booker out when he leaned down to his level. "Well, I'm more than certain the principal will announce it soon," Booker said, walking back slowly. Wanting to keep the distance between him and the man.

"Oh, but my dear child…"

The man suddenly drew a magic circle, and a green aura surrounded his hand. When it did, so too did Booker's entire body. Before Booker could do anything, his body was suddenly levitated off the ground. Booker growled and grunted to break free of the magical grasp on him. But he couldn't. The man then pulled his arm and index finger to his body. The spell pulled his captured prey over to him. Booker looked at the man as he smiled amusingly.

"I am the principal."

Booker's eyes widened as his pupils shrunk. His face contorted a look of terror.

The principal used his magic to rip off the cowl Gus gave the Seventh Son. "Is this the one, Ms. Blight?"

Stepping out from behind, the principal was none other than Amity, who held a smug and knowing look on her face. "Yes, Principal Bump. This is the student I was talking to you about," she said, smirking smugly at Booker.

"You really are a kiss-ass, aren't you—Wait, your name is Bump? " Booker chuckled shortly.

His body was forced to come close to Bump as he examined Booker's face. He grabbed his face and moved it to the left and right as Booker growled and tried to pull away from his grasp, especially with the long nails he had.

"Dude, have you ever heard of a manicure?" Bump ignored the comment and looked at his right ear.

"Interesting," said the principal. It wasn't pointy like a witch's ear, and it wasn't round like a human's. "Hmm...You do have a rather... familiar-looking face." 

He then turned his head back and looked into Booker's eyes. They weren't like the eyes of the Blight family; the colors were brighter than theirs. It only took him a few seconds to figure out just what he was holding in his spell.

"Tell me, Seventh Son. You wouldn't happen to be related to a former student at this school," he asked. "One named Malcolm Bridges?"

Booker's eyes widened in horror as he sweated profusely. He was not only figured out as a Seventh Son but also Malcolm's son. Did his father really go to this school? How did the principal know him on a first-name basis? While many questions were popping up in the back of his head, Booker tried to remain calm. 

"More importantly, why are you here?" Principal Bump asked with a smirk. 

Booker, however, didn't answer and just scowled. 

"Not talking now, are we? Well, you see, Bridges, Miss Blight has brought to my attention…"

"Kiss-ass," Booker said.

"Stop calling me that!" Amity yelled, her face turning a light shade of red. Bump held up his hand to stop her before continuing.

"I was told that Miss Willow Park has a particular abomination that she brought to class and that she wasn't able to make one before coming to school. You wouldn't happen to know anything about that, would you?"

Booker didn't answer again.

"Then, perhaps we should go talk with Miss Park herself to resolve this matter," said Principal Bump, and Booker's face turned to a look of terror again.

Meanwhile, after Willow and Gus arrived back in the Abomination classroom, Luz was finally able to emerge from the cauldron. "Whoo! I'm a sweaty little abomination. But now we don't have to worry about Amity. High five!" Luz exclaimed with excitement, holding out her hand to the witches.

Both Willow and Gus looked confused.

"Slap my hand. It's a human thing."

Gus stepped towards her, turned away, and closed his eyes. Cautiously, he slapped his hand on Luz's. Once he did, Gus opened his eyes and looked at her before slapping her hand again. 

"Oh, my. Oh, man, what a rush!" he said after hive-fiving Luz multiple times.

Willow chuckled at them before she said, "All we have to do is wait for Booker to…" She was interrupted when the door to the classroom opened.

The trio turned their heads to see it was none other than Amity. But they all gasped when they saw Booker levitating behind her with his disguise off. Amity stepped aside with a smug look as Booker was carried into the room by Bump, who was the last to enter. While his right hand was still controlling the levitation spell, Dragon's Bite was tucked under his armpit.

"Good afternoon, students," he said to the witches in the room.

"Principal Bump," Willow said in surprise, making Luz go limp on instinct. "Wha-What's going on?" The chubby witch asked nervously while the principal walked past her and Gus towards Luz.

"I had just caught this intruder who seems to know you, Miss Park," Bump said, looking at Willow. She looked scared at that moment. "But I'm more interested in the abomination that you have."

He kneeled down in front of Luz and grabbed her face. Turning her head from side to side, making a slight cracking noise. Booker looked nervously at the Principal as the others watched.

"Hmm. Abomination, rise," he said, standing back up. Luz followed the command. "Abomination, lie."

Luz was quick to lie. "Uh, viral fame is a worthy pursuit. Your cat would never eat you if it got the chance. Chemtrails are real‐‐."

Principal Bump chuckled and interrupted Luz. Making Booker even more nervous than before. 

"Oh, no, abomination. How strange it is to get the command wrong. I mean...lie down." He pointed to a nearby table. 

Now, Luz and her friends were beyond worried. Booker growled tensely as he watched his crush walk over to the table and lay down on her back. 

"So very lifelike. When Miss Blight told me about your abomination, I had to come by and see what she's made of."

"Oh, I have her list of ingredients right here," Willow stuttered, reaching into her pocket for the list. Principal Bump, however, stopped her.

"No. We were hoping…" Bump reached into his robe sleeve and pulled out a jagged dagger. "...for a closer look."

Terror and horror filled Booker's widening eyes when he heard Principal Bump say that. He was actually going to have Luz cut open like a pig in science class. He looked at Amity and saw her watching with a smile, looking happy to watch. The boy knew he had to do something to break free.

"Willow, I'll allow you the first cut," Bump said, handing the dagger to her.

The young witch took the dagger. Smiling to hide her shock, she walked over to Luz. Willow leaned down to Luz and asked, "Uh, you can't just cut open a human, can you?" Luz shook her head.

"Wait!" 

Everyone turned to Booker, who sighed in defeat. 

"Alright, look. I met Willow in the woods after little Miss Wicked Bitch over there bullied her," he said, making Amity furious at the name. "I felt bad, so I decided to help her out. In exchange, she helped me seek in for a day so that I can learn magic." 

It was a lie. Luz wanted to come here; it was her plan. However, Booker didn't care. 

"Look, I'm sorry about it. Okay? I really am. Just punish me! No one else should have to take the fall for my actions. Not Willow or anyone else."

Luz looked at him with a touched expression when she realized he was taking the fall for her actions.

"Oh, there will be punishment coming your way, Bridges," Principal Bump said, turning back and placing a hand on Willow's shoulder. "But first, Willow, go ahead and make the first incision."

Again, Booker looked shocked, but then he noticed Dragon's Bite still in Bump's possession. Remembering what had happened after he killed Adegast, he held out his hand to call back the sword.

Incredibly, the sheathed sword responded. Before Bump could react, the sword pushed his body sharply to the left as its handle pointed at Booker. At the same time, it pulled itself out of the principal's armpit. Making Bump fall over.

Booker's fingers curled around the dragon's tooth handle when it returned to his hand. The levitation spell was broken, and he landed on the ground.

"Booker!" Booker turned his head to see Gus standing next to three other cauldrons from other students. "Grab Luz and Willow and run!" he yelled before slapping the other cauldrons over. The abominations within them spilled out before coming to life and marching towards Principal Bump, who was getting up.

Booker quickly ran over and grabbed Luz's hand, and with Willow, they ran out of the room.

"They're getting away!" Amity shouted, pointing at the door.

"No, the intruders won't get far," Principal Bump said. He walked to the wall next to the door and drew a large light green spell circle on it.

He slammed his hands on it, activating it. The circle erupted with magical energy, spreading as a spiderweb of red lines and symbols throughout the walls of the room.

Meanwhile, Booker, Luz, and Willow were still running through the school before stopping at a corner to catch their breath. Booker placed his sword's scabbard back on as Willow looked around the corner. 

"Willow, Booker, I'm so sorry for dragging us into this mess. This is all my fault," Luz said, looking down at the ground. "I just wanted to see what a real magic school was like."

"Well, how do you like it?" Willow asked.

"It's lovely, actually," Luz said with a smile.

"Definitely, but I hate the bathrooms," Booker said. The girls looked at him in confusion. "Don't ask." The three friends laughed together, relieving some of the tension from their situation.

Willow said, "Okay, we should get out of here before—" 

Willow was cut off when Bump's magic runes and lines spread all over the school's walls. At every doorway and archway, the runes created a red barrier that blocked every exit. 

"...Bump seals us in."

Booker looked around to find another way out. Lucky for them, there was a hallway that wasn't sealed off. "Come on!"

With him taking the lead, the trio took off running through the hallways of Hexside to escape the school. Just as they were about to go down another hallway, another barrier was put up to stop them at every corner.

As another barrier blocked them, Booker slammed his fist on it in frustration. And then things went from bad to worse as they turned around to see Bump and Amity had caught up to them. Using the Abominations that Gus knocked over, the principal took control of them, ordering them to capture the students and intruders.

"Stay behind me!" Booker said, pulling out Dragon's Bite.

"Booker, wait!" Luz tried to stop him, but Booker was already springing into action.

With a yell, he jumped down towards the first Abomination and cut it down the middle. The anti-magic blade made the golem crumble back into a puddle. Another one attacked him, reaching out to grab his head. Causing Booker to jump back. When it tried again to grab him, he cut off the arm and then cut off its head. As its body fell to liquid, Booker turned and saw another running at him. He ducked under its punch, which hit the last Abomination in the head, knocking off its head. As the fourth one tried looking for its head, Booker stabbed the third one in the chest, destroying it. Just as the last one picked up its head, Booker swung Dragon's Bite and hit the head like a baseball. Sending it flying into Bump's face.

Seeing that his foes were defeated, Booker struck a grand pose for a moment, his right hand on his hip and Dragon's Bite resting on his shoulder. He turned to Luz and Willow, both staring at him with looks of amazement.

"Abominations," he joked to the girls. 

But his smile fell when the Abominations started reforming. 

"You've got to be kidding me," he said. 

The three started running again before hiding behind a pillar. "Oh, this is awful," Willow said, placing her hands on her cheeks and sliding down to the ground, panicking a bit. "I don't know what to do. Amity's right. I'm just Half‐a‐Witch Willow."

"You're Full‐Witch Willow," Luz exclaimed, placing a hand on her shoulder. "And you're great. Someone once told me great witches are resourceful." 

She reached into her pocket and pulled out everything she had in it. Booker did the same, pulling out his rock.

"That's it!" Willow said, grabbing the slime ball Eda hade Luz dig out of the slug.

"Uh, no offense, Willow, but how is a greasy slime ball going to get us out of here?" Booker asked, seeing the Abominations getting closer.

"No, it's a seed! Thank goodness you had it on you."

Luz and Booker looked at one another, smiling in realization. "Yeah. Thank goodness someone told me to hold on to it," Luz said, looking to the side. Sure, she wasn't the best teacher, and they would have liked it if Eda had actually started teaching them to do spells, but they both began to realize that she was still their teacher, and she did teach them something that would save their lives.

Book looked down at his rock and put it back into his sweater pocket.

Willow placed the seed on her lap before drawing a spell circle above it and sprinkling the seed with her magic. "Please grow!" Willow commanded, throwing her hands in the air.

Suddenly, large briar vines from before launched out of the seed rapidly and grew on the ceiling. The vines spread throughout the school, taking out the abominations as they pierced their bodies. Principal Bump gasped, seeing the rush of plant magic coming towards him. They quickly rammed and ensnared him before flinging him to the ceiling.

Bump grunted in pain from the impact before opening his eyes. Gasping in surprise, he watched the entire area covered in plants and vines. 

"Remarkable," he said in awe. He'd seen plant magic before, but nothing this powerful.

Luckily for Booker and the girls, this allowed the runes to power down and lift the barrier to the exit.

"There's the exit!" Luz exclaimed and made a run for it with Booker. Willow placed the seed down and followed after them.

Just as they were home free, Amity appeared in front of them with a vine wrapped around her and glared at them with a look of rage. The trio stopped, with Booker getting in a fighting stance.

"Not so fast, faker! I'm not letting you get away so easily," she said, throwing the vine off.

"What the fuck is wrong with you?!" Booker yelled, completely baffled by Amity. He pointed at Luz. "You were going to have Bump cut open Luz all because of a stupid badge!?

"I don't care if she was gutted! Not after the two of you humiliated me!" She screamed. "I want my badge!"

Having just about had enough of Amity, Booker was ready to take her down a few notches. Side-glancing to his left at Willow, Booker spotted the star badge on her cowl and pulled it off. "That's it! You want your precious badge?" he asked Amity, holding it up for her to see.

He then crushed the badge in his hand. Crushing it into a worthless ball.

"Then you're going to have to pry it from my cold dead hands, Wicked Bitch of the West!" Booker yelled out his challenge. With one hand still clutching onto the badge, he pointed Dragon's Bite at her. "Come and get me!"

Amity's shocked expression turned back into a look of rage. "ABOMINATION'S, SEIZE!" 

An abomination from behind them, and another one formed in front of them. Luz punched the one behind them in the chest. Making it fall apart while Booker cut the other one in half.

Booker grabbed Luz's hand, and the trio of friends ran for the exit.

But just as they were about to make it, another abomination formed in front of them. "I'm about had enough of this crap!" Booker sliced the gooey golem's head off.

Suddenly, he and Luz heard a scream coming from behind them. They stopped and turned to see Willow inside the body of yet another abomination.

"Willow!" The two humans yelled. They were about to help when Willow stopped them.

"No! Both of you, get outta here!" She yelled at them.

"No! We're not leaving you!" Luz said.

I may get detention, but you'll get dissected!" She said. Willow then turned to Booker. "Booker, please, get her out of the school!"

Booker looked ready to argue when he heard more Abominations coming towards them. He didn't want to leave her, but they did have an option. They had to leave their friend. However, they didn't mean it was the end. He grabbed Luz's hand.

"We'll get help! We promise!" Booker told Willow before pulling Luz along with him. Right as they ran out of the school, the doors shut close.

"Willow!" Luz looked back at the school as Booker, and she ran down the stairs. "Booker, we've got to go back!"

"We will, but we need Eda's help to save her!" the Seventh Son replied, continuing to run while still holding Luz's hand. Realizing this, he quickly let go with a blush. "Come on!" 

The two best friends ran all the way back to the Owl House. When they arrived, they saw Eda and King out in front with the little demon in the witch's arms. Eda was still depressed that her kids picked school over her.

"Eda!" Luz screamed as she ran to the Owl Lady and hugged her and King. Booker slowly came to a stop in front of them, bending over with his hands on his knees and panting heavily.

"Hey, hey, hey, hey! What is this? Ugh! I never understand when you do this. What's going on?" Eda asked them after Luz let her go.

"We'll explain later…" Booker said, sitting down on his knees. "...Oh god, I'm out of shape."

"Your lesson worked! Keeping junk in my pocket saved my life!" Luz quickly explained.

"We need your help!" Booker said, standing back up. "I know that you didn't want us to go, but we went to Hexside, and now our new friends are in danger."

"Luz! Booker!" called a familiar voice. When the two best friends turned around, Willow and Gus ran over to them and hugged the human and half-witch.

"Seriously, what is that?" Eda questioned.

"You won't believe it, guys. Everything is perfect now!" Willow exclaimed excitedly.

"It's true. I don't believe it." Luz said with a smile.

"I don't understand. After everything that's happened, how can it all be okay?" Booker asked, confused.

"Principal Bump was so impressed by my plant work he's switching me to the plant magic track! Look!" Willow stepped back, snapped her fingers, and twirled around. Her sleeves and leggings were magically turned from pink to green.

"Yes!" Luz cheered happily for her new friend, and Booker crossed his arms and nodded with a grin.

"So what happened to Amity?" Booker asked, looking at the crushed badge he still had. "Guessing she's still mad about losing her precious."

"Last we saw, she was asking Bump if today could count as extra credit," Gus told him.

Booker chuckled and shook his head. "Figures," he said, turning and throwing the badge into the ocean. "Well, it looks like everything turned out okay. Maybe we can see you in action next time we sneak in."

Gus and Willow winced at this.

"What?"

"Yeeeeaaahh, about that. You two got kinda, sorta…" Gus trailed off as he and Willow pulled out two rolled-up pieces of paper. "...banned."

They showed them their "BANNED" posters. Luz's had her smiling and waving her hand, while Booker's had him grinning with Dragon's Bite on his shoulder.

"You two got banned from magic school," Eda asked. And then she sniffed and held back a tear. "I'm so proud of you two."

Booker gave her a deadpan look. Luz was more than a little shocked that she was banned. She's supposed to be the good one of the two! "But we could come here and teach you what we learned," Willow said, placing a hand on the human girl's shoulder.

"Aw. That would be nice." Luz said before she and Booker looked at Eda.

Booker decided to take over. "But...you don't need to," he said, turning his body to face Eda, looking a little ashamed. "We have a pretty great teacher."

"You do?" Eda asked. Her eyes widened as he looked up at her, his golden eyes shimmering in the afternoon light. 

"Eda, we're sorry for going to Hexside behind your back. We just wanted to learn something useful, and we ended up getting in more trouble. But it turned out your teachings saved us." He looked at Luz, and she nodded to him with a smile."You're a pretty great teacher. And Luz and I would never trade you for anything," Booker said sincerely with a smile.

Eda looked at the son of her friend with a shocked expression. His statement touched her.

Her shock quickly changed to a smug look on her face. "Yeah, that's right! Luz and Booker are my students!" she said, snatching the banned posters from Gus and Willow, who started laughing at how silly she was. "Back off, academy twerps!"

She then looked at the two posters and sighed fondly. 

"Ah, my babies' first wanted posters. Good job, kids," said Eda, walking over to her students and placing her hands on their shoulders. It looks like I taught you something after all."

"Who knows, Booker, you might actually find a use for that rock," Luz teased her friend. 

Booker smirked and pulled out the rock. Who knows? Maybe this rock will save him one day like Luz's seed.

"Why are you still carrying around that rock?" Eda asked. She grabbed the rock and threw it over her shoulder into the sea. 

There was an awkward moment of silence as Luz and Booker stared at where the rock plunged into the sea. They then turned back to Eda, with Booker frowning.

"I don't know why I put up with you two," he grumbled.

"Because we own you," Eda said jokingly.

"Because you love us," Luz said, going over and hugging Booker. Making him blush as she rubbed her cheek on his affectionately.

Booker smiled and rolled his eyes. "Yeah, yeah…"