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Chapter Text

   The wind howled eerily around the members of the Wizard Council. Rain pelted down against the cobblestone ground and thunder flashed dangerously. Only two of them went out on this particular mission. Professor Crumbs, out from retirement for the day, and Morden McFigglehorn. They were the two closest to this mess, and decided they should be the one to finally end it all.

  “This is terrible!” Morden yelled. His wispy voice was drowned out by the storm. “No wizard should be powerful enough to do this.”

  Crumbs’ eyes searched the storm for the source. He knew the girl was here somewhere. “She’s not like any normal wizard.”

  “We have to kill her!”

  “No!” Finality rang out in the bearded man’s tone. “We will not kill that girl.”

  Morden flung a hand out at the scene before him. “Do you see this? She can’t be controlled!”

  “Yes she can.” Rope appeared in Crumbs’ hands, gleaming with power. “She can be taught.”

   “By who?” Morden’s laugh was mirthless. “Who would willingly teach her?”

   Professor Crumbs just smiled

WWWWW

   Sometimes, Justin Russo hated being the Headmaster of WizTech.

  It’s not that he was ungrateful- he fully understood the situation he was in; a full wizard and professor despite not being his family’s wizard- and he was so honored that Professor Crumbs trusted him enough to handover the care of the institute to him. He had made a lot of changes to WizTech in his short tenure. His push and pull relationship with his own family, plus their near destruction and tumultuous make up, inspired many new activities at the institution. The first was a family day- once per semester- with a showcase that allowed each student a chance to portray their progress to the entire school. Initially apprehensive, Justin soon calmed when he saw how well the council reacted
to his idea. His intent was simple; help families build as much camaraderie as possible in an attempt to keep them together after only one ascended to full wizard hood.

   Of course, that wasn’t always possible.

  Justin had now presided over three wizard competitions in total. The first was alright; twins- a boy and a girl- with the girl having fallen for a mortal. She did not care much about becoming a wizard. All she wanted was to marry her girlfriend and move to Paris. Once the competition was over, both siblings embraced and went about their way. The boy was now a friend of Justin’s, and often spoke of the closeness between him and his sister. It was the second that destroyed him.

  A family of three, much like his own. Each sibling two years apart and thirsty for full power. They fought hard, almost to the death, and even before the competition ended Justin could see the kids were fractured. It ended with the middle child winning by a hair’s breadth, and her two sisters stalking off before she could even get her powers.

  Justin would never forget how the girl came to him a few months later. She knocked on his office door at the school with red eyes and a hollow look on her face. She begged him, cried and pleaded with him to take her powers away- to do something to put her family back together, and for the first time in his life he didn’t have the answer. He wrote to the council on behalf of the girl and asked if anything could be done. He received a reply in the negative- ending a wizard family’s line was not something done on a whim. The girl knew what she was in for when she won and now she had to live with it.

  They found her dead at the edge of a cliff two days later. Her wand, tied together with the wands of her sisters’, lay next to her broken body. Justin cried for a week straight when he heard the news. He took a small leave of absence and flashed right into his old living room at the loft. His parents were there, along with Max and his girlfriend. Justin barely got a word out before he fell to his knees in sobs. Arms were around him- his mom and his dad and his little brother. Alex arrived a while after- flashing in from a vacation with Mason. It was the longest he had spent without seeing his family since his ascension to headmaster, reminding him to keep in touch more often.

  That was a year ago. A lot of things had happened since then, but one thing that remained steady was his family’s bond. Through everything that had changed- his outlook on life, Alex’s broken engagement and now Juliet-

  “Headmaster Russo?” It was still so weird hearing that from the now retired Crumbs. Justin looked up from his desk and back at the Abracadoodler plastered on the wall in front of him. The bearded man had one grey brow raised. “Are you paying attention?”

  “Yes”, he was not, "but could you run that by me again?” If Crumbs was annoyed, he didn’t show it. He simply repeated his words with the utmost patience.

  “We found the girl,” he said. “After years of searching, we found her.” Ahh, yes. Now Justin remembered. The daughter of two of the Wizard world’s most notorious traitors- both dying for their cause twenty years ago, but not before leaving behind a baby girl hidden in the mortal world. Her existence was a story of the utmost secrecy, only known by the wizard council and each headmaster- and now his burden to bear.

  Every young wizard growing up was told stories of Aristo and Madeana Lennix. They were used as a forlorn tale of warning to scare them into going to lessons and completing
their training, a 'what could be' if they strayed off the right path. No one wanted that level of infamy.

  “Where is she? What does she know?”

  The screen tilted to just behind Crumbs, showing a sleeping girl not much younger than Justin himself. Dark hair covered her face, but he was able to see brown hands peeking out from a blue jacket, bound in shiny rope that he knew was enchanted.

  “You knocked her out,” he concluded, a bit uncomfortable with the girl being treated like a prisoner.It wasn’t her fault, what her parents did. If Justin was being honest, though, he wasn’t quite sure what they did. All he knew was it was bad enough to brand them as traitors and banish them from the wizard world. “Was that necessary?”

  “It was,” Crumbs stressed. “Her powers were already out of control- she’s a young girl who thought she was a mortal until her powers came in. She’s spent her whole life suppressing the urges until it blew up – and that’s how we were able to find her. We kept tracking unnatural disasters in the mortal world until we did. The last one was bad- she
would have destroyed the entire island had we not stepped in. The ropes were a necessary precaution, as was the sleeping spell.”

  “Where has she been all this time?” It was hard to believe this girl had evaded them for so long. “A young wizard with no training in the mortal world and no one to guide her should have sent up more alarms.”

  “She was cloaked,” Professor Crumbs explained. “No doubt a measure put in place by her parents. They knew we would never stop looking for her before they died, so they
cloaked her to make sure we couldn’t find her. If her powers weren’t so out of control they
might have succeeded.”

  “What does she know about it? Does she know she’s a wizard?”

  “I cannot be sure. We’ll know more when she awakens.” Justin let his eyes travel to the girl. He could only imagine how scared she must have been. Alone, with no one to guide her as her powers came in. Even with his father and his
extensive knowledge, Justin himself had struggled when his powers began appearing. Though he would not admit this to anyone, he was afraid of them in the beginning. It was one of the reasons he tried to hard with his studies. “And then there is the small matter of the prophecy…”

  Now, Justin wanted to scream. He hated prophecies. Could go the rest of his life without ever hearing the word again, really. But, he was the headmaster, and he was also on the Wizard council, meaning this was his problem. So instead of running away. Instead of shutting off the Abracadoodler and hiding under his covers, he asked, “What prophecy?”

  Crumbs gave a sigh. “Maybe it might be best to talk about this in person.” In person?

  “In person?” Justin got a bad feeling in the pit of his stomach. “You’re bringing her here?”

  “Well, where else would I take her?” The bearded man sounded thoroughly perplexed. “Who else will teach her!”

  “Teach her?”

  “Yes, teach her.” He looked at Justin as though he was slow. “It’s either that or take her powers away forever. I thought you’d jump at the chance to help a young, powerful
wizard gain control of her powers.”

  “It’s not that simple,” Justin protested. “WizTech is for teenagers and kids. There’s never been a twenty year old wizard in attendance before. That’s unheard of!” Crumbs eyes him with amusement.

   “And there’s never been a headmaster as young as you. Some persons thought I was insane for passing the baton to you, and in two short years, you’ve proved them all wrong.”

  Justin brought his thumb nail up to his mouth. He’d never quite gotten over his nervous nail biting habit. “What about someone on the council?” he suggested. “What about you?”

  “I’m retired.” He knew this was a losing fight before the professor even replied. Honestly, the girl did intrigue him. He felt his over achiever persona, borne out of being
the eldest of three, itching to find out more. How did she survive this long? What did she think she was? Exactly how dangerous was she?

  All questions he knew he could get the answer too if he tried hard enough. Except, how may times had trying hard blown right back in his face? He had been so cautious ever since he assumed control of the institution and the council seat that came with it. Though they would not say it, he could feel some of the older members who had been passed over for his position waiting for him to mess up.

  Justin refused to mess up, but “We can discuss this more when you get here,” was all he said before ending the call. Not even a second passed before he was dialing a number he knew by heart. She answered on the first ring.

  “Justin?”

  “Alex.” He had never been so glad to hear his little sister’s voice. “I’m gonna need your help.”

Just an idea that's been floating in my head.

One thing: do you guys prefer original characters or a reader POV?  LmK!

Chapter Text

For Celine’s entire life, she knew two things for sure. The first was that she was adopted. It was made abundantly clear by the way she was passed from foster home to foster home, families becoming faceless as each new door opened and inevitably slammed in her face.

‘Trouble’, they called her. ‘Not worth the cheque’ and, worst of all, ‘Downright possessed.’

That last one stung, probably because it was the closest to the truth, which led to the second thing she knew about herself; she was different. Not in a misunderstood, morally grey with a hidden heart of gold different, but bad different. Something was wrong with her.

Celine first began suspecting this when she was seven years old. At first, she thought it was a fluke- the older foster brother, the flying saucer- and then she realized it wasn’t a fluke after all. She could do things, things that other people couldn’t. Sometimes, she would think of something and it would just appear. Think of what she wanted to happen to a person and it would just happen.

It was fun at first. Turning her tuna sandwich into a cupcake or setting off the faucet on her foster brother. Then, it became something else entirely.

On her thirteenth birthday, she woke up and her entire world felt off. Suddenly, this power that had been surging through her, that allowed her to do everything she wanted, was doing everything she did not want it to do.

For three years, Celine suffered through it. Nothing went her way, so she made a choice at the ripe age of sixteen to suppress it. Suppress the urges, the wants, and let the power within her shrivel up and die. And that started with running away.

No foster family would take her in again. Two years shy of eighteen, and then she’d be on the streets anyway. It didn’t matter that she was smart enough to skip two grades ahead or that her mind was iedetic. No one cared that she was well read or street smart- the same street smarts that kept her alive for three years on her own.

Her powers made it hard to stay in one place for long. It wasn’t for a lack of trying. Every new town Celine got too, she’d find a small place to stay and a job to get by. Mostly academic- a librarian or a keeper or rare books. She used to tutor younger kids back before her life blew up- so that came in handy for extra cash for proper clothes. Just because she lived a nomad life didn’t mean she had to look it. Appearances were important and she understood that.

But no matter how hard Celine tried, how hard she worked or kept to herself, it always ended in disaster. Be it an earthquake, a random fire that burned down a building or a tidal wave that took out a nearby coastal town. That last one was scary. Celine was so glad everyone got to safety before the water came.

And that was how she found herself here- in the middle of a random island- with her mind made up to end it all.

It had been three years since Celine last used her powers- curse, ailment- whatever it was. She knew it was there, just waiting to be called on. Perhaps that was why it came out at random times, to punish her for letting it lie latent. Something like that should not have been given to her. Celine didn’t know what to do with it and she sure as hell didn’t deserve it.

Maybe it was supposed to be a gift. Maybe something from her parents, a final goodbye before they let her go. Her hands came up to grasp the pendant around her neck, fingers tracing the LL inscribed it in like they had done a thousand times before. It was the only thing she had left from her parents. That was a gift. Not this other thing that now plagued her life.

So, for the first time in years, Celine stopped fighting. She let her body relax and allowed her instincts to take over. She didn’t have a specific idea in mind of how she wanted to go- but she knew her curse would figure it out anyway. All she had to do was let go, stop resisting, and let it come out.

And come out it did.

The sky turned- fluffy white clouds giving way to pregnant grey- and then the wind picked up. Gentle at first, quickly whipping into a frenzy that had branches peeling off of trees and stop signs bending at the waist. The rain only made it worse. It buffeted around, blurring her vision and drowning out the sound of the thunder. But it couldn’t distract from the lightning.

The storm was sure to take down half the island. It was why she chose one that was uninhabited. Her own life was okay, but she’d never be able to go in peace knowing she took others with her. And it’s not like anyone would miss her. All her foster families ended up the same way: in shock and horror as she inevitably messed up. They-

“That’s her!”

Celine whipped her head around. Two men were standing there- one with a ridiculously long beard and another with graying blond hair. He regarded her with an air of disgust that she barely registered. She probably would have cared more if not for the situation at hand. If anything, their presence just annoyed her . “Who the fuck are you?”

“An old friend,” said the one with the beard, with an amused quirk of his eyebrow. It was then that she saw the gleaming rope in his hands. “I’m here to help”

WWWW

When Celine woke up, she was almost sure what had happened was a dream. The storm, the rain, the two random men- the searing feeling of relief when the ropes bound her wrists. It was like all the power had been lulled to sleep, and when the elderly man placed a glowing stick to her head, so was she.

For a split second, she thought he would kill her. She wasn’t sure how she felt to still be alive.

“Finally!” came a voice from her left. “I was starting to think Professor Crumbs laid it on too thick with the spell.”

A round- faced girl with long, dark hair was laying on the bed next to her. There were rows of it, small wooden beds with white sheets, leading Celine to believe she was in some sort of infirmary. The girl was rocked back with a magazine, eating out a jar with something green in it. “My name is Alex Russo. Nice to meet you.”

She held her hand out- a greeting Celine would have returned if her hands weren’t still bound and head wasn’t still spinning. The best she could manage was a lame, “Uhhh..”

The girl- Alex- eyed her strangely. “Okay…Do you not speak English? Is that it? Okay… Hola!” It was the worst Spanish accent Celine had ever heard. And why did her breath smell like pickles? “That’s about the best I can do. Anything?” She threw her hands up. “I can’t believe he called me here to deal with this!”

Celine’s head was beginning to clear now. Through the fog and flashes, she tried again. “Uhhhh…”. Alex eyed her as though she had an extra chromosome. Great.

“Yeah, I’m getting Justin.” She leaned down to take something out of her boot. Before Celine could decipher what it was, Alex waved it in the air and disappeared.

She sat up. That cleared her mind for sure. Before she could even think, another flash of light lit up the room and Alex materialized. This time, someone was with her.

It was a boy about her own age, same fair skin and dark hair as Alex. Except where she was short and petite, he was tall and muscular. Celine could see the buttons on his Henley straining to be let out.

‘A bigger size’, they would have said if they could talk. ‘Please, master’.

For some reason, the voice in her head sounded a lot like that small elf character from those Harry Potter shows an old foster sister of hers was obsessed with. Despite everything- her near suicide, the storm, being kidnapped and waking up in a strange place- she let out a laugh. A big one, that had the heads of the people Celine presumed were siblings whipping in her direction.

“You see,” the girl stage whispered out of the side of her mouth, “I told you there’s something wrong with her.” She gripped the sleeve of his shirt and tiptoed closer to his ear. “Let’s just flash her back to where she came from and tell Crumbs she ran away.”

“You’re very chatty,” Celine spoke up for the first time. “And yes, I can speak English. My head was still spinning from…” She paused and tilted her head to the side. “Well, I’m not exactly sure what happened. Or where I am. Where am I?”

The older boy shot the girl a superior look, confirming her initial suspicion that they were related. “See, Alex. I told you she was just confused.” He took a step towards the bed and Celine immediately recoiled.

There we go, said her inside voice. She had come to view it as her own version of a sibling over the years. Someone whom she necessarily would not have chosen but begrudgingly came to love anyway. Now you’re acting like someone who’s been taken against her will.

“Hey,” the boy’s voice was gentle, “it’s okay. No one here is going to hurt you.”

“He’s telling the truth.” Her eyes slid to the girl behind him. The chattiness was now gone, earnest peeking through her carefully curated careless façade. “My brother is a lot of things, but he isn’t a liar. And he won’t hurt you.”

“We’ve been trying to find you,” the boy continued. “My name is Justin, and I’m the Headmaster here at WizTech.” Celine scoffed.

“Aren’t headmasters supposed to be really old? Like that guy with the beard?”

Or Dumbledore? suggested the voice.

Be quiet! She hissed at it.

“That was Professor Crumbs,” Justin explained. “He was the old Headmaster before me.”

“Okay…” Celine lifted her bound hands to him. “What are these?”

Justin eyed it carefully. He folded one arm across his chest and brought the other to his chin. “I think that’s enchanted rope. I’ve only ever read about it.” He moved over to her, and this time she let him. Carefully, he knelt in front of her bed. He had a boyish sort of face- not unattractive- but it definitely belied how young he was. From this distance, she could see that his eyes were a captivating mix of green and blue. “May I?”

“May you what?” she questioned.

Let him, he’s hot.

“Shut the fuck up!”

Justin’s eyes widened. “Excuse me?” He looked thoroughly scandalized.

Behind him, his sister let out a loud laugh. “Oh, I think I like you.” She came over and stood next to her brother. “He was just gonna take the ropes off. They’re keeping your magic at bay.” Magic?

“You disappeared a while ago, and then you came back with him,” Celine pointed at Justin. “What are you? Some kind of witch?” Now it was Alex’s turn to be mortified.

“Hey! I am not a witch!”

“We prefer the term wizards.” Justin reached into his back pocket and pulled out a slender piece of wood. He waved it back and forth in the air, tip glowing green. “That’s what you are, too. You must have known that you were different.”

He used his wand to move a chair next to the bed, very similar to the way Celine herself used to make objects float to her from across the room when she was too lazy to get up. “How old were you, when you realized you could do things other people couldn’t? Eight? Nine?”

“Seven,” Celine breathed out. “I was seven.”

“I was eight. Guess girls do mature faster.” His eyes darted to his sister. “In some cases.” Alex lifted her middle finger. It was an effortless gesture that she did without even thinking, and spoke to the playful nature between the siblings.

“I thought there was something wrong with me,” she admitted. “It’s so strange to be talking about this. The first time it happened, I thought I was going crazy.”

“It’s because you didn’t have anyone to teach you. Alex and I had our dad. Even so, magic can be unpredictable. You can learn the perfect spells and still not-”

“Spells? What are you talking about?”

Alex frowned, eyebrows knitting together. “Spells,” she repeated. Celine’s face screwed up in confusion. “You don’t use spells?”

“No… I didn’t even know I was a wizard, remember? I honestly just thought I was possessed or something.” And although she should have been more freaked out, the fact that her soul was safe soothed her a bit. She wasn’t crazy, and there were more people like her. People that could hopefully help.

“So how did you do it?”

Celine swallowed, unsure of if she had said something wrong. “I dunno… I just thought about what I wanted to happen and it … happened.”

“That’s amazing,” the compliment came from Justin, startling heat into Celine’s cheeks. Never had you thought of your ‘gift’ as something to be revered. He had his hand to his chin again, features schooled into a pensive expression. “Can you show me?”

The hesitation on her face must have showed, because Alex chimed in with a gentle, “You don’t have to show us,” followed by a rushed, “but it would be really cool. We’ve never met anyone who can do magic solely without spells.”

“I can’t,” Celine told her, “it’s dangerous. I don’t wanna hurt anyone.” She didn’t understand. Neither of them did.

“You’re not,” Justin assured you. “You’re not gonna hurt anyone. That’s why you’re here. We want to help you,” he pointed at the rope, “but we can’t do it with that on. And you can’t leave here with it.”

“Why do you want to help me? How do you even know who I am?” The siblings shared a look. “What? What was that?”

“It’s an old story,” Justin began, a note of caution in his smooth voice. “Not a very nice one, and it’s probably gonna upset you.”

You bit the inside of your cheek. “It’s about my parents, isn’t it?” He didn’t need to speak. The look on his face was confirmation enough. “I’m going to take a wild guess, and say that they were the antagonists of whatever story you’re talking about.”

Justin brought his chair closer. This time, Celine didn’t pull away. “I don’t want to lie to you,” he said. “I know you’re scared, and you’re confused and you don’t know what’s going on. I can tell you as much as I know, but what I can’t let you do is leave here without some sort of control over your powers. That part isn’t up for debate.”

Part of her almost told him to fuck off. It was, she knew, her defenses rising from years of being on the run. One didn’t survive on their own by letting their guard down. “I think it needs to be said that I don’t trust you.”

“I don’t expect you too.” Justin’s voice was steady- daring, in an almost intriguing way. “But you said it yourself: you don’t want to hurt anyone. If you leave here without understanding your magic, you will hurt someone.” He held a hand out, hovering near the edge of the bed. A long scar ran through the centre of it. “Let me help you.”

Celine would never know what made her agree. Maybe it was the calm in Justin’s voice, or the confidence in his demeanor. He really believed what he was saying, regardless of if she did or not. And she supposed, that was what made her lift her hands to him.

“Take off the ropes.”

Chapter Text

Chapter 3

At first, nothing happened. Justin took the ropes off Celine’s wrists and she rubbed them together. There was a slight rawness from the chaffing of the rope, but no bruising. The power- no, magic- came back in slowly. It started as a slight tingle that began in her fingertips and toes, slowly spreading through her body and meeting in the centre of her belly button.

Celine closed her eyes. She waited for something to happen. A floating chair? A small fire? Maybe just the lights going out. When nothing happened, she opened her eyes. Justin and Alex were staring at her expectantly. “Does that rope have lasting effects?”

“I’m not sure,” replied Alex. “What usually sends your magic on the fritz?”

“I don’t know exactly. Honestly, I haven’t used it intentionally in years. I try to suppress it but-”

“You’re not supposed to suppress magic,” Justin cut in, which grated her nerves a bit.

“It’s probably your emotions-”

“Because I’m a girl?” Celine had one brow raised in challenge. “Is that it?” Justin clenched his jaw at the interruption.

“Because when wizards start puberty, their powers start coming in in full swing. Families use different methods to regulate it. You wouldn’t have had that, so your magic never regulated. That, and the combination of you suppressing it, is what made it so you can’t control it anymore.”

Celine took that in stride. “I didn’t know.”

“You wouldn’t have,” Justin’s voice was gentler than before. “It’s not your fault.”

“Not at all,” Alex backed him up. “Although, you do seem to be doing a really good job of controlling it right now.

As soon as Alex said that, the door opened. It was as though the universe itself was outto disprove her statement. In strolled the two men that Celine saw during her storm. She narrowed her eyes at the blonde one. Something about him struck a strange chord in her.

“Professor Crumbs,Professor McFigglehorn.” Celine had to bite her lip against laughter as Justin greeted the two men. What kind of a name was ‘McFigglehorn’?

The one with the beard spoke first. “Headmaster Russo, Miss Russo,” his eyes then landed on you, with a hint of an emotion you could not decipher, “Miss Lennix.”

Lennix?

“Who, me?” Celine pointed to herself. “That’s… my last name isn’t… my name is Celine.” Or at least, that was the name the foster system gave her. It suited her well enough that she never sought to change it. “Is Lennix supposed to be my real name?”

“It was the last name of your father,” Professor Crumbs explained. “He and your mother were students here. They attended at the same time as Professor McFigglehorn.” He gestured to the man next to him, who was staring at Celine with an unreadable expression.

“You knew my parents?” Celine asked. “What were they like?”

In lieu of answering her, McFigglehorn turned to Justin. “You took off her ropes? Didn’t we tell you how we found her? She’s dangerous!”

Justin was quick to defend her. “Celine hasn’t done anything wrong since she’s been here. She doesn’t seem dangerous.” She found she quite liked the way her name rolled off his tongue.

“Neither did her mother,” muttered McFigglehorn, “and look how that turned out.” Fury bloomed in Celine’s chest for the woman she came from but did not know. Not a person had told her anything about her parents, just references to them not being good people. She was hungry, and tired and just wanted to sleep.

“She is not her mother,” Professor Crumbs said, “but she also is not in control of her powers. The girl needs to be taught, not treated as an outcast.”

McFigglehorn scoffed. “I disagree.” Surprise, surprise. “I think she should be put in the dungeons.”

“The dungeon-”

“Pfft! This place doesn’t have a dungeon.” Alex looked at her brother. “Does it?”

“It doesn’t,” he confirmed, “and even if it did, she wouldn’t belong there.”

Celine tried again, “Um, guys –”,

“She belongs locked up somewhere.” Celine huffed. She was beginning to resent being ignored. “She almost took down an island!”

“But she didn’t, and now we can help her.”

“Guys, I really don’t-”

“Some people are beyond help! And then we have to think of the prophecy!”

“GUYS!” All heads snapped in Celine’s direction. Next to her, the bedside table shook a bit. She saw Justin’s eyes dart in the direction of the movement, but he said nothing. “Stop talking about me like I’m not here! And what prophecy?” She was well read enough to know it would not be a good thing. “Justin? Alex”

Alex put her hands up. “Don’t look at me, my knowledge of this ends at you. Justin?”

“Professor Crumbs mentioned a prophecy but he said we’d talk more when he got here. I guess that’s now.”

The bearded man’s eyes darted to Celine. “Maybe it might be best to discuss this in the morning.”

“I want to discuss this now.” Celine’s voice left no room for disagreement. Professor Crumbs met her eyes with something akin to hesitance. “I’m serious.”

“If there’s a prophecy that concerns her, I think she deserves to know,” Alex spoke up.“Also, it might be nice to hear one that doesn’t involve me for a change.” She leaned closer to Celine, “I cannot even begin to tell you how many times I’ve had to save the world now. I’m ready to tag someone else in, I have a wedding to help plan.”

McFigglehorn rolled his eyes. “The prophecy doesn’t say she’ll save the world, it says she’ll destroy it!”

“What!” Celine jumped to her feet. A roll of gauze from across the room went flying in McFigglehorn’s direction. Justin caught it before it could smack him in the face. “I’m sorry!”

“She almost killed me!” Alex rolled her eyes.

“That’s a bit dramatic.”

“I’m sorry,” Celine repeated, “it was an accident. I didn’t mean too!” Next to her, the medical tray on the table shook. Justin stopped it with a flick of his wrist.

His eyes met hers. “It’s okay. Just calm down.” The tray jumped, spilling instruments on the floor. Alex looked on in surprise. “Celine-”

“See!” McFigglehorn flung a hand out in her direction. “Even something as simple as this makes her act up.”

Alex threw her hands in the air. “You literally just told her she’s destined to destroy the world! Who would be okay with that?”

“Professor Crumbs, is this true?” Celine noticed that Justin had positioned himself closer to her, strategically between her and McFigglehorn. “Prophecies are rarely what they seem and they’re never that straight forward.”

“Headmaster Russo is correct. The prophecy didn’t explicitly say that Miss Lennix will destroy the world. It simply spoke of a young, powerful wizard born to outcasted parents who would open the doors to shaping the world. It doesn’t say in which way.”

“Considering that she can’t control her powers, and who her parents were, I can only assume this will end badly.” McFigglehorn leveled his wand at her. The tip glowed an angry red. “She needs to be put down.”

“Hold on!” Alex shouted. The bed Celine was sitting on began to shake.

“Put it down!” Justin brandished his own wand at the man. “I’m serious. There will be none of this in my institute!”

Celine could feel her magic sparking, slipping out of her and wrapping around random objects. Behind McFigglehorn, a sharp looking pair of scissors rose into the air. Celine attempted to breathe so it would fall back down, which was hard to do with some random man looking at her like he was two seconds away from removing her from the mortal plane.

“You’re a child! You’ve no idea how to run this place!”

“And yet, he’s the headmaster.” Even through her attempts to quell the panic rising within her, she could hear Alex’s unspoken ‘motherfucker’ silently attached to the end of her sentence.

McFigglehorn bared his teeth. “You of all people should understand, Miss Russo. You’ve nearly destroyed the world a number of times. We all know about your little stunt in Italy.” Alex flushed scarlet. “Everyone knows you winning the competition was a fluke.”

“Don’t talk to my sister like that.” An edge of danger entered Justin’s tone. “I don’t care if you respect me personally or not, but you will respect my decisions and my position here.”

“A position you don’t deserve-”

“Stop.” The simple command came from Professor Crumbs. With a wave of his hand, all three wands appeared in his and the ropes were back on Celine’s wrists. The scissors clattered to the floor. “I am the one who made Mr Russo headmaster. Had I seen it fit to make it anyone else, they would have been chosen instead. And as for Alex Russo, she might have been childish, lazy, careless-”

Alex made a noise of discontent. “Will you be listing any of my positive qualities anytime soon?”

“-but she has made up for that ten times over. She is an excellent wizard and may one day well join the Tribunal. And as for you,” he looked at Celine, “your parentage is not your fault, neither are their actions a reflection of you. It is unfair, but this is the hand you have been dealt. You can choose to stay here, under the tutelage of Headmaster Russo, or you can return home.”

“That one. I pick that one. Send me home.”

McFigglehorn let out a groan. Crumbs fixed him with a look that shut him up.

“You may return to the mortal world if you wish.” Celine smiled. “Be warned, however; if you decide to leave, it cannot be with your magic.”

wwww

Celine sank deeply into the bed with a sigh, relaxing for the first time that day. It was a stark difference from the cheap, thin mattresses she had grown used too. After Crumbs had dropped that final piece of information, Justin offered her an empty dorm room for the night so she could make her decision. He even had someone send her some warm food. She wasstarving, so she ate the entire thing.

What are you gonna do? asked the voice in her head.

“I have no idea.” With no one else around , Celine felt free to respond to the voice aloud without the fear of looking psychotic.

Yes you do, replied the voice. It was odd, she thought, how much the voice sounded like another person entirely. As long as she remembered, it was there. Always in the back of her mind, like a-

“Hey, Celine!” The voice of Alex Russo floated through her door. “It’s Alex. Can I come in?”

“Sure,” she yelled back. Alex flashed in before she could even rise off the bed. “Hey, Alex. Is something wrong?”

Alex slid her wand into her boot. “I came to talk to you. I know you’re thinking about letting them take your magic.” Celine opened her mouth to protest. Alex just held up a hand. “Save it. I saw your face when Crumbs gave you the option. You want to leavey.”

“So what if I do? Magic’s brought me nothing but trouble. I just want to be normal.”

“Hate to break it to you, but you’ll never be normal. It’s an unfortunate consequence of being born a wizard. I should know.” Alex shook her head, as though she was trying to rid it of a bad memory. “You’re gonna regret giving up your magic.”

Celine gave a mirthless laugh. “Oh yeah? How would you know?” Alex shrugged.

“Because I tried too, once. McFigglehorn is an ass but he’s right; I was the family screw up. I was really careless with magic- still am, because let’s face it, it’s fun- and I hated my lessons. I only won the family wizard competition-”

“The what?”

“The family wizard competition”. Alex took a seat on the edge of the bed. “Every wizard family does. You see, if a wizard family has more than one kid, they can’t all be wizards forever. There’s a competition between all the siblings where only one gets to keep their powers. The rest become mortal.”

Celine pondered Alex’s words for a few seconds. She brought her hands together on her lap and came to only one conclusion. “That’s fucking insane.”

“Tell me about it.” Alex flopped back on the bed. She was quite familiar despite just meeting Celine for the first time a few hours ago. “Sometimes, I think the wizard competition is the real villain here. It turns siblings against each other.” She turned her head to Celine. “We have another brother named Max. He didn’t win either, so our parents gave him the subshop we own.”

Celine eyed her with confusion. “Wait a minute. If you won, how come Justin has his powers?”

“Because he got made headmaster. Professor Crumbs let him keep his powers. As you can see, some people aren’t so happy about that.” She was referring, Celine knew, to McFigglehorn.

“What’s even that guys’ problem?”

Alex scoffed. “He was next in line for the headmaster position before Crumbs gave it to Justin. He almost won, you know? The competition. Justin crossed the finish line first and was about to win when he gave it all up for me. His foot got caught in a branch and I went back to help him. We all raced to the finish line at the same time, but Justin was the fastest. He got there first.”

Celine was a bit taken aback by her admission. While she hadn’t pegged the young headmaster as particularly antagonistic, she did notice his arrogance. “I… It’s actually really commendable that he did that. I would think he would have just taken it for himself.”

“Maybe when he was younger, but we’ve been through too much together. Justin can be really self important but he’s always been there for me. It’s why I know he can help you.” Alex sat up and folded her legs beneath her, facing Celine head on. “I don’t blame you for not trusting us, but Justin is a good person. He’s also a good teacher, and he can help you control your magic.”

Celine clenched her fists, wrists still bearing the magical rope. “Have you ever thought that maybe I don’t want to learn how to control it? Maybe, I’m sick of this and just want it to go away?” She couldn’t even tell the depth of truth in her own words.

“You’re lying,” Alex told her. “I don’t think you hate your magic, I think you’re scared of it. You’re scared of what you’ve been given and now you’re scared of the prophecy.”

“I-”

“I’m not gonna force you to to stay, but I really think you should. Even if not for anyone else, do it for yourself.” Alex placed her hands on your shoulders. “You owe it to you to see what you can be.”

wwww

Justin dragged a dreary hand over his face. It had been a long day, and all he wanted was to crawl into bed and sleep. Tomorrow was Monday, the first day of a new school term, and he could already sense that it would be a long day. Luckily for him, preparedness was second nature. He already had his robes pressed and clothes laid out, welcome speech committed to memory and alarm set to give him exactly eight hours of sleep.

It was now down to six and a half, thanks to the arrival of Celine. Maybe even six since he stayed up to work on this project. A last minute idea, really, one he wasn’t sure was necessary but he needed to have just in case. He really was the master of preparedness.

A soft knock on his office door brought him out of his musings. He used his wand to take the door see-through (Alex’s penchant for using magic to make her life easier rubbed off on him more than he thought) and found Celine standing there. Justin waved his wand again and let the door swing open. “Celine. Is everything okay?”

The girl walked in, eyes darting warily to the door. “Do you and your sister have a thing against opening doors like normal people?”

Justin gave a wry grin, watching as she tugged on one of her dark, shoulder length curls. “We’re not exactly normal people.”

“Yeah, no shit.”

“You curse a lot,” he mused.

Celine blinked big brown eyes at him. “Yes, it’s what adults do.”

And there she went again with that attitude. He didn’t know what to expect when Crumbs first contacted him. Maybe someone timid? Less bold? Definitely not someone so pretty. She was thin for sure- underfed from years of being on the run. Despite that, she looked as put together as one could be. Justin knew her mental health had to have been in shambles

“Can I help you with something?”

“Yeah.” Celine dragged her eyes away from the picture frame on his desk. It held an old photograph of him and Juliet. “I want you to tell me about my parents. You said you would.”

“I don’t know much.” Justin invited her inside, leaving the door open as he did with all his other female students. He directed her to sit on the plush blue couch Harper picked out when she and Alex decorated his office. His intention was to make it as homely and as comfortable for the students, since he knew being close in age to the senior class would have been off putting to some of them.

“Anything you can tell me will be helpful. Please. I just want to know who they were.”

And now, he felt sorry for her. Justin had been around his family his whole life- sometimes even wished they would leave him alone. He couldn’t imagine growing up without his mom’s hugs or his dad’s lessons. Even his siblings, who taunted and teased him, were lights in his life. He couldn’t imagine not knowing them. He couldn’t imagine not having a home.

“Their names were Aristo and Madeana Lennix. From what I knew, they were top of their respective years, with your father- Aristo- being two years older than your mom. They got married not long after she graduated and disappeared for a bit.”

“To where?” Celine interrupted. “Where did they go?”

Justin shrugged. “No idea. Most of the wizard world doesn’t even know about you. The only reason I do is because I’m a part of the Wizard Council. People have been looking for you for a long time, Celine.”

“Why?” That hard edge was back in her voice, borne out of years of being alone. The defenses she would have built up would not be easily brought down. Seeing this, Justin chose his next few words with caution.

“Because we wanted to make sure you were okay,” Justin sat back against his desk.

“You need to understand that no one blames you for what your parents did, but we were worried about you.”

Celine snorted- a harsh juxtaposition to her elegant face. “Yes. That McFiggle man was just beside himself with fear.”

“Don’t even worry about Morden. His problem is with me. He can’t do anything to you.”

“I’m not afraid of him.” Justin believed her. It was evident in the stern set of her chin and the fierceness that entered her eyes. This was a girl, he knew, who wasn’t afraid of much. Except herself. “What did my parents do that was so bad?”

“I honestly don’t know.” Celine narrowed her eyes at him. “I’m telling the truth. I’m still new here. They don’t tell me everything. All I know is what other wizards know- that whatever your parents did was bad enough to get them branded as traitors and banished from the wizard world.”

Celine bit her lip. “Do you know what they looked like?”

“No, but I can look into it for you.” The corner of Celine’s lip lifted.

“If I stay, that is.”

“Regardless, I’ll do it. I think everyone has the right to know where they came from. Plus, Alex likes you. She’s gonna be your friend whether you want her too or not. But…” He trailed off, briefly wondering if he should even give the little push at all. “One merit of staying here is that you’ll have unlimited access to finding out more about them.”

“Oh?” She looked up at him from beneath curled lashes. “And what are the other merits, if I do decide to stay?”

Justin knew she was humoring him, and decided to pitch her anyway. “You’ll be enrolled in the senior class. A new school year starts tomorrow, so no one will question it-”

“I’ll be desperately behind,” she protested. “I don’t know anything about magic.”

“I’ll teach you,” Justin promised. “You’re scared of your magic and you don’t trust yourself because you’ve never had anyone to show you how to direct it. Once you get the hang of that, you’ll be okay. Alex also suggested we give you a fake last name so no one makes the connection. She came up with an entire backstory for you- it’s quite impressive, actually. She’s already talking about taking you shopping for new clothes and school supplies.”

Celine made a face. “Why? I haven’t even decided yet?”

“My sister tends to get overexcited. She wants you to stay so she just assumes you will.”

“And you?” Celine wanted to know. “Do you want me to stay?”

“I-” Justin swallowed against the sudden dryness in his throat. The questioned seemed layered with innuendo- or maybe it was just in his head. “I think you’ll regret not taking the chance to see where this could go. I’ve seen what you can do, and with some training, you’ll be able to do so much more.”

He reached behind him to the project he was working on, completing it only a few seconds before Celine came in. “Here,” he handed it to her. It’s for you.”

Celine turned the object over in her hand. “It’s a bracelet.” Indeed it was. Skinny and gold and simple enough for everyday use. “Why are you giving me a bracelet.”

“Those ropes gave me an idea. I enchanted it with the same magic we use on objects for little kids to keep their powers under control when they’re coming in. It’ll help keep your magic from reacting to your emotions until you can control them on your own. Here,” he waved a hand over her wrists. The ropes disappeared. “Try it on. Tell me how it feels.”

Justin watched her slide the bracelet onto her hand. The yellow of the gold contrasted beautifully with the brown of her skin. “Fits like a glove. Now what?”

“Here,” he pushed a lamp towards the end of the table. “Try something for me. Look at the lamp, and say ‘Levitatus Lampatus’.”

“Levi- what?”

“Levitatus Lampatus,” Justin repeated. “It’s a levitation spell. We usually teach with wands in the beginning, but I have a feeling you don’t necessarily need one.”

“I don’t think this is gonna work,” Celine told him. “What if I levitate the entire desk and drop it on your toe?”

“That can’t happen because of the bracelet. I should know. I made it myself.” He saw her roll her eyes a bit at that, but he could tell her heart wasn’t in it. “Just try it. Trust me.”

“I don’t,” she reminded him, “but here goes.” He watched her focus on the lamp, eyebrows knitting in concentration. Levitatus … Lampatus.” Her voice rose at the end in question, but it managed to do the trick.

Slowly- albeit, somewhat haphazardly- the lamp rose into the air. Justin hid a smile as he saw the disbelief in Celine’s eyes. The lamp hovered for a few seconds over the edge of the table, and then promptly fell, shattering all over his laminate flooring. “Shit! I’m so sorry!”

“Don’t worry about it.” He waved his hand and the lamp reformed itself. Celine looked at it with wide eyes. “That was really good.”

“We both saw the lamp break, right?” She looked at him as though he were slow. Justin scrunched his nose a bit. This girl was going to test his patience for sure. “That was horrible.”

“That was a start. You can’t learn everything in one day- I’ve tried. Doesn’t take.” He

elicited a huff of amusement from her at that. “I’ll work with you outside of your regular classes. It’ll be a lot, and it won’t be easy-”

“I’m not adversed to hard work.” Justin only just refrained from pumping his fist in the air. His pitch was working. A small press again should do the trick. “And I know what you’re trying to do. I hate that it’s working.”

He crossed his arms. “Does that mean you’ll stay?”

“Why’d you make this?” She held up the bracelet. “Did you know I would decide to stay?” Ah. The age old deflection of answering a question with more questions. Justin decided, for her sake, that I was easier to play along.

“Hoped was more like it.” Celine quirked a brow. “You’re talented, and I’d hate to see that go to waste- especially from a wizard who won’t have to worry about a competition. Your power has literally been handed to you.” Celine looked up at him, softness entering her eyes for the first time since he’d met her. “The question is, are you going to run away from this too?”