Lacy woke up the next morning to sunlight slipping in
through the curtains to illuminate the dorm room. The orange and red curtains
on the window seemed to shimmer, as though they were also part of the sunrise.  From downstairs in the common room, Lacy could
hear the excited chatter of students who were earlier risers than she was.

This was it, her first day of taking classes about magic. It
still all seemed so surreal. Suppressing a yawn, Lacy swung her legs off of her
bed and wiggled her toes as she arched her back into a stretch.  She strolled over to her dresser and began
inching into her uniform and robes. Then, tucking her wand into the folds, she
descended the staircase to face the day.

Mason and Kylie were standing by the dormant fireplace,
talking animatedly. They held their wands next to each other, and Mason ran his
hand along his, then hers, then his again, as though trying to gather a
sufficient knowledge of each wand just by touching them. Lacy’s hand rested
protectively on her own wand as she walked over to join them

“Good morning!” Kylie chimed, her cheeks flushed with cheer.
She leaned over, clutching both wands in her hands now. Kylie then took Lacy’s
hand and ran it over Mason’s wand, her eyebrow raised inquisitively, awaiting
Lacy’s reaction to the wand. Lacy shuddered when her hand touched the cold
wood. This wasn’t her wand…and it wasn’t right to her touch. Lacy pulled back, her
lips twitching into a slight grimace, as if to as what in the world she had
been thinking.

Mason laughed and retrieved his wand from Kylie’s hand.

“We were comparing the feel of our wands,” explained. Lacy
tried to smile, still discomforted by the feeling of touching another person’s
wand. It was just so...invasive.

“Are you ready for your first class,” she asked, in an
effort to change the subject. Mason immediately began to beam, rising on to the
tips of his toes in excitement.

“Absolutely,” he replied, “What about you?”

“As ready as I’ll ever be,” Lacy answered, her heart
fluttering in her chest. Lacy’s mind began to race. Her parents weren’t
magical, what if she wasn’t cut out to go to school here? The only other girl
she knew besides Kylie was Rana, and it was clear that that was not intended to
turn into any kind of friendship. Mason linked arms with her and grinned.

“Then let’s go! We’ve got Charms first!”

The Charms classroom was almost devoid of free seats by the
time they finally arrived. Mason and Kylie found two seats next to each other,
leaving Lacy to fend for herself. She scanned the room, hoping for an empty
seat at least somewhat close to someone she knew…oh no, anyone but her. The only remaining empty seat was
next to Rana, who was beckoning at lacy with a smirk.

Lacy sighed, and made her way over to take the seat. She
supposed she can handle being classmates with Rana. There was no reason they
couldn’t get along for the purpose of doing well in their studies.

Rana leaned over, her eyes moving up and down along Lacy’s
body. Her eyes gleamed with anticipation.

“Do you think you’ll be good at this class?” she asked. Lacy
stared at her, taken aback by the abrupt question.

“Excuse me?” she countered, clutching her textbook so
tightly that her knuckles began turning a pale white. She had been the resident
know-it-all at her school back home, but she didn’t want to carry that
reputation anymore. Not now, not here. Rana raise her hands in an “I’m waiting”
gesture. Just as Lacy was about to speak again, the door flew open and in
strode a professor who looked like he was no more than three feet tall.

“Welcome, welcome!” he gushed, his grey eyebrows rising as
he smiled. “I’m Professor Flitwick! I trust you have all brought your wands
with you?” There was a general murmur of agreement, and some students pulled
out their wands and set them on the desks in front of them.

Lacy did the same, though she kept one hand gently on the
spiraled handle of her wand, sliding it as far from Rana as she possibly could.
Professor Flitwick was walking around the room, handing out what appeared to be
pheasant feathers and stopping to chat with students along the way. In fact, he
had only made it through two rows of desks because he kept pausing.

Lacy settled back into her seat. Some things weren’t so
different from home, after all.