THE HALLS WERE EMPTY.

Victoria felt very scared. She didn't know what the expect from the student body. The day before, Bruce and Mark had gone to turn in Zack. They were made to give an account of the spine-shivering event, telling the truth -- the whole truth. The whole Order of the Moon knew what she was; a vampire who could do magic.

Feeling weird as though her body suddenly weighed tens of tons, Victoria walked clutching her books against her chest beside Jason, who had decided against leaving Victoria alone in school. They are stopped by a prefect and directed towards the Hall of the Ceryneian Stag, where an assembly was being held.

Victoria's heart sank as she walked through a pair of double doors into the hall. The hall was filled to the brim with students, who sat on long benches. At the front of the hall, in front of the huge window, were several chairs where the teachers were sat.

She followed Jason into the hall. The hundreds of faces staring at them looked like the scene in Harry Potter, when Harry, Ron, and Hermione lost a hundred and fifty points for his house. Chiefly to avoid the peering eyes, Victoria stated at the black color of Jason's hoodie as they walked to a bench, sitting beside the rest of the gang. They all had the same worried expression on their face.

Victoria forced herself to look up as the headmistress took her place at the front of the dais. Madam Gwendolyn Cortuş was a tall woman having long blonde hair which she combed back into a tight bun, hazel eyes, and pale skin. She had on her regular professional dress with featured a pencil skirt, flattering blouses, and a jacket.

"Greetings," she said. "Greetings to you all. Before I continue, I would like to us have a moment of silence for our students that have recently passed away."

She paused, her gaze falling on Victoria and the rest of the gang. A panicked whisper drifted through the Ceryneian Hall. Students stared at Gwendolyn in incredulity.

"There isn't much I can say," said Gwendolyn. "but about half a dozen of our students were accidentally killed by a flame spell in the forests yesterday..."

Victoria rested her head on her knees. She had killed six children like her. Sure they wanted to sacrifice her and probably her friends, but they were still children. Victoria swore to herself never to lose control of her powers.

"...It's a horrible thing to happen in our school. But we shall honor them for serving us well."

The benches rasped as everyone in the Hall stood, and bowed their heads, and remained silent. Victoria could hear with her enhanced senses, the sound of someone crying. She stared at her shoes as they all sat down again.

Gwendolyn went on to give the general announcements. She spoke of the new curfew imposed by The Order. She announced the upcoming Kýpellix match coming up against the following. She also announced the need for every student to join a club in the school.

"That will be all for today," said Gwendolyn.

Everyone started to leave the hall until the headmistress stopped them. She spoke.

"Final announcement." She said. "The following students should see me in my office immediately after the end of this assembly."

The whole gang stopped walking as if knowing the students the headmistress would call.

"Mark Briggs, Parker Matthews, Bruce McClain, Jason de Vries, and..."

Wait for it. Victoria thought.

"...Victoria Lawrence."

Once again, cue the dramatic gasp.

Victoria bowed her head, looking down a few heads turned on her direction, before flicking back to mind their businesses. Victoria looked at the rest of the gang. She could tell they were thinking the same thing. Oh, what had Victoria done now?

* * *

The whole gang stood in Gwendolyn's office and waited not uttering a statement to each other. The headmistress's office which was located in one of the towers of the school was a large circular room with few windows, the biggest being behind the desk. There hung behind the desk, a big portrait of Cortuş. The office also played host to bookcases that surrounded a majority of the walls filled with collections of books and scrolls. There was a sitting area comprises by a set of brown settees and at the west of the office, was a fireplace.

Victoria bit her lips, swallowing gratuitously. She could literally smell the fear of the others. Excuses raced through her mind, each one dumber than the last. There was no way she could explain killing over a dozen warriors in the dead of the night, let alone in the darkest parts of the forest where evil himself laid in a tomb. Add the fact that she was a vampire with magic and she might as well be getting comfy for prison.

Victoria thought things couldn't any worse...until they did. When headmistress Cortuş appeared, the whole gang swallowed their vocal cords. She was being followed by a big cat. When a big cat is mentioned, we are talking mountain lion big. The shocking part wasn't its long fangs and claws, or the three pairs of legs it had, neither was it the fact that the cat started walking on its hind legs. It was the fact that it stared straight at Victoria with its bright yellow eyes.

Cortuş caught them staring at her pet.

"Oh, just ignore Lynne. A Wampus doesn't attack people..." said Cortuş. "...usually." She added.

Victoria swallowed loudly. She had forgotten was she was there for, in shock of seeing the Wampus Cat. It all came back to her as Cortuş settled in the lordly chair behind the colossal desk and fixed her severe-looking stare on the five students.

Before Cortuş could utter another word, even so, Parker stepped in front of them.

"We are sorry!" He cried. "It wasn't our fault. We were ambushed —"

Gwendolyn tried to say something, but Parker went on raving.

"—Anika, Eliza Siller's sister was ambushed. We had to save—"

"Mr. Matthews, N—"

"Please, we didn't mean to kill anyone. Please don't send us to The Order or to Kokkalaz—"

"Mr. Matthews!" Cortuş said sonorously. "I believe you and will not be sending anyone to The Order or to any prison."

"Oh," uttered Parker and bowed his head. "Right, just forget what I said."

And he stepped back in line.

"You believe us, Madam Cortuş?" Victoria asked, her fear subsiding.

Cortuş' stern expression had returned. "Yes, Victoria, I do." She said. "However I still wish to speak with you."

At least I'm not going to Kolkata or whatever. Victoria thought.

"I must inform you all, not to speak of what happened to anyone in the school," She spoke lightly. "including the teachers."

Mark spoke. "Headmistress, may I ask why?"

"The Order has decided to pardon you all including Miss Lawrence, though they know of her newfound abilities," explained Cortuş. "They are, however, going to keep a close watch on you and they fear that there are other Nikonians in the city, the school Included."

Victoria was once again frightened. The Order already knew of her powers. They probably thought she was the Osama of Blood City.

"You four have also been appointed to protect Miss Lawrence," Cortuş added. "The news of a vampire who can do magic will certainly cause a lot of trouble."

Victoria didn't feel any safer. She was currently on the top ten of The Most Undesirable.

"Would you all return to your classes?" Cortuş said to the four boys. "I would like to speak with Victoria."

Jason gave Victoria an inquisitive glance as he made his way out The door with his friends.

Cortuş moved to one of the settees with the Wampus resting its head on her laps.

"Have a sit, Victoria." She said. Victoria nervously sat down on the chair opposite the headmistress.

"I heard Bruce's testimony. He said you lost control of your powers in the forest."

"I can expla-" Victoria defended.

"I'm not judging you," assured Cortuş. "I just want you to learn how to control your powers."

"Headmistress, I assure you that I'm learning and I will continue to practice."

"Oh," Cortuş said, her eyes twinkling. "You will learn magic."

She chuckled at the bewildered look on Victoria's face.

"You like other students who can do magic will also study magic related subjects in addition to your normal subjects."

"What!" Victoria said loudly. "I'm sorry madam, but not only is that a terrible idea, but it also sounds like a lot of work."

Cortuş became somber.

"I'm sorry but my decision is final." She said.

With that, Victoria stood up to leave the office. As She was about to close the door, Cortuş spoke.

"Victoria," She uttered. "Please try not to get into any trouble. It would be displeasing to have to expel you."

And Victoria closed the door.

* * *

The teacher had not arrived when she entered the Transfiguration classroom. The classroom was very big. It was rectangular-shaped surrounded by windows with desks arranged on the three sides of the walls, leaving the middle of the class open.

Victoria sat at the far back of the class, resting on the wall of the classroom. She intentionally hid, so that none would notice her presence. For the first time in her life, Victoria didn't mind being unnoticed. She hoped she would be to the end of the semester, but as it was high school, that was improbable.

Mr. Wilkinson frowned as he entered the class, placing his briefcase on his desk. He had sleek white hair, a long nose, and pallid skin. His eyes were dark and emotionless.

"Good morning," he said. "Today we will be having a practical class. We shall be transforming items into dragons."

Victoria felt like she was destined to be embarrassed. Her first day in Transfiguration class and she had to turn things to dragons. How bad could the day get?

When everyone was ready, they followed the teacher out of the classroom with Victoria staying far behind. Suddenly she was yanked back. She turned to see Parker staring furiously at her.

"Are you trying to get yourself killed?" He asked. "What are you doing in this class?"

Victoria explained everything to him. The part having to take up magic classes, normal classes, human classes, and be on the Kýpellix team.

"We can't let Wilkinson pick you," said Parker. "You can't conjure a dragon! You can't even do normal enchantments without blowing stuff up."

"I killed over a dozen people alive!" Victoria argued.

"You weren't in control."

Wilkinson led them through several corridors until they got to the stone bridge. He took them across the bridge until they arrived at the Training Field. The field was a flat, short-cut grassy area which had a good view of the forest.

Seeing the forest and Victoria feel like puking. She remembered the screams, howls, and tipping she had heard during the weekend. Parker had led Victoria to stand at the front of the class.

"Listen here," said Mr. Wilkinson, motioning the class over to where he stood. Behind him, arranged in a circle, were several cats that were glued to the ground with magic.

"So, we want to transform a cat into a dragon," said Wilkinson. "The first question we ask is, what is the incantation for dragon transfiguration?"

Parker's hand had shot into the air.

"No one?" He said, ignoring Parker's hand. "The answer is Drakos Morfon."

Wilkinson's eyes were twinkling, and a nasty another formed on his lips.

"Let's try again. What is the etymology for this incantation?"

Parker's hand shot further into the air. Victoria was confused. She didn't even know the etymology of her own name. The class looked at each other, stumped.

"It is gotten from the Greek word drakōn, meaning dragon and from the Greek word morfi, meaning form," Parker said loudly.

Mr. Wilkinson pressed his lips into a thin line.

"Mr. Matthews, though you enjoy being an intolerable encyclopedia, try to wait for your like everyone else."

A few people laughed, some sneered, but Wilkinson, however, was not pleased.

"Now, who wants to go first?" said Mr. Wilkinson.

Nearly everyone raised their hand. Victoria bent her knees slightly in order to hide.

"You, girl!" He said. "You redhead girl at the back."

Victoria's eyes widened. He was calling her. The whole class turned to look at her. A few gaped at her presence.

"Are you talking to me, Sir?" Victoria questioned.

"Yes, you." He answered. "I haven't seen you in my class before. Aren't you that new vampire girl?"

Victoria wished the ground would open up and swallow her. She caught Parker staring angrily at her.

"Yes, I'm the vampire," announced Victoria. "Victoria Lawrence."

"Then what are you doing here?" said Wilkinson. "You do know this is a magic class, meant for wizards and witches. You know people who can do magic or can you do magic?"

"Yes, I can," whispered Victoria, but no sound came out.

"Didn't catch that, Lawrence, sorry," said Wilkinson, clearly enjoying the show.

Victoria looked around frantically, then said, barely audible.

"Yes, I can do magic."

Victoria had gotten to the point where she wasn't surprised when half of the class gasped loudly.

"Oh, that's exciting," uttered Wilkinson. " A vampire that can do magic. I'd love to see that. Come on up then!"

Victoria pushed through the class until she caught to where Mr. Wilkinson stood, staring at a ginger cat beside her.

"Okay, then," said Wilkinson. " I want you to picture a dragon in your mind. It doesn't have to be realistic; a novel picture, whatever. Can you see it in your mind's eye?"

"I think so, yes," Victoria answered hesitantly.

"I'm my command, Victoria, you will face the ginger cat," said Wilkinson. "And you'll wave your hand - like this - and tell 'Drakos Morfon' - and focus on the picture of the dragon. If you're successful, which is unlikely, the cat will transform into a dragon."

Victoria could hear a few of the students laughing at her. She had to do it. She had to show them.

She took a deep breath and spoke.

"Drakos Morfon!" She heard a whooshing, but nothing happened.

Nearly the whole class started laughing.

Victoria stared at the cat, more determined and furious than before.

"DRAKOS MORFON!" Victoria growled. "DRAKOS MORFON! DRAKOS MORFON!"

A big bang sounded around them, a white light escaping Victoria's palm. A grey mist surrounded the ginger cat, growing bigger and bigger, until eventually, a small, baby dragon stood, in front of the class. It had copper-red scales, yellow eyes, and horns protruding from its head and tail.

"Impossible!" Someone from the class yelled.

Victoria turned to the class. She had expected them to be scared and angry- but certainly not amazed.

"Gattorfi!" yelled Mr. Wilkinson, making the dragon to be engulfed by a mist, until it became a regular ginger cat.

Victoria returned to stand beside Parker. He didn't speak to her again. Out of the whole class, he and a few others were either scared or angry. Other students lined up to have a taste of dragon.

As they walked over the stone bridge thirty minutes later, Victoria was born relieved and scared. She was happy that she didn't have to keep the secret anymore, but in a matter of hours, The whole school would know of what she was. Would they be angry, disgusted, okay with it? Could they actually try to kill her? Victoria's mind raced back and forth.

"Cheer up," said Bruce when she saw him later in the day. "At least now they have a reason to kill you."

Son of a nutcracker!

* * *

Author's Note

I finally updated. So tell me, are you enjoying the book? Thank you all for 1.5K reads! Y'all are the best!❤

#Joaquin