Hunter sat on the couch of the living room, reading a pamphlet called Hexside Facts and Trivia. It had a picture of Principal Bump on the back alone with his quote, "Education is the real magic."

King was laying on his lap, Flapjack on his shoulder. While he read through the pamphlet, he gave King some tummy scratches.

Suddenly, the door kicked open, the result of which being from Eda. "Hey, freeloaders! Guess what today is?" She said.

"Is it your birthday?" Hunter asked, putting the pamphlet away. King sat up.

"Is it my birthday?" King asked.

"It's my birthday!" Hooty said.

"No!" Eda said, closing the door. "It's human treasure day!"

Eda tossed the Portal Door in the air, and it unfolded and opened. Owlbert flew threw, dragging a giant sack. The sack teared when he flipped it onto the floor, revealing a pile of human garbage. The door closed.

"Ahh, fresh garbage." Eda said, hopping onto the pile.

"Ooo, gimme gimme gimme!" King said, getting up and running over, grabbing a teddy bear. "Yes! Another worthy addition to my army of terror!"

"Yo, kid. Your trash pile's getting cold. While mine's getting hot!" Eda said, pulling out a wire clothes hangar. "I have never seen such an extravagant earring."

"It's fine, you can have mine." Hunter said. "Whoa! Did you know that Hexside was built on the bones of its rival school? One it literally conquered!"

He showed her a page of the pamphlet with a grin, depicting a much younger Principal Bump standing on various Glandus students, cheered on by fellow Hexside students as the school burned behind them.

"Yes, I know all about these things, I went there." Eda said, two hangars dangling from her ears now. "It was the most harrowing period of my life."

"Well, I'm glad I'll get to go there anyway, despite being a powerless witch. I'll get to study with Gus, and Willow and... Amity!" Hunter said, getting up from the couch. "She said she wanted to meet up today! I've gotta go, see you!"

Hunter quickly put on one of Eda's cowls and headed out, Flapjack flying next to him.

+.*.+

He walked through the marketplace at a fast pace, and finally saw Amity, Edric and Emira. He headed over.

"Hey Amity, Edric, Emira." Hunter said. "What did you want me for?"

"I wanted to ask about... the wanted posters?" Amity said, gesturing to one across the street.

"Yeah... I'm still pretty confused about them. I don't know why the Emperor's Coven wants me more than Eda." Hunter said.

"Maybe you can tell us how you got that palisman, then?" Edric asked. Hunter hadn't noticed that he'd suddenly come up behind him, and yelped.

"Edric! Stop bothering him." Amity said. "Sorry about them - they insisted on coming for some reason."

"Because we love you baby sister!" Emira said, squishing Amity's face. Amity shoved her off and straightened her messed-up hair.

"They've been extra protective and nice towards me to make up for the library incident." Amity said.

"And we still apologize everyday." Edric said, leaning in. Amity shoved him away too.

"By the way, I'm enrolling at Hexside now." Hunter said.

"What, what?" Amity said. "I thought you needed to master two spells in order to pass the placement exam. I know you have your light thing, but do you know any other spells?"

"Quit giving him a hard time, Mittens." Edric said.

"Yeah, of course he knows two spells. Right, Hunter?" Emira said.

He was originally going to say that he only knew the one spell - he really was. But Edric and Emira saying that made him feel like he had to keep up a reputation.

"Uh... yeah." He said with a nervous chuckle.

"Ooh! What if we all trained together? We could show off what we know!" Emira suggested.

"What do you say?" Edric asked.

Hunter looked around and spotted a coven guard nearby. "Uh, sorry, but I don't think I can. I've gotta head back to the Owl House. Bye!"

And he quickly flew on Flapjack's staff form away from them, sighing in relief.

"I've gotta learn a new spell, and quick." Hunter said determinedly.

+.*.+

Hunter slammed open the door, bursting into the kitchen.

"Eda!" He said, Flapjack chirping. "You need to teach me a new spell today, otherwise I'm going to end up in the baby class!"

Eda looked up from her pot of food. "Well, I have been researching my texts on wild magic, but I'm much too busy right now." She said.

"Eda!" Hunter pleaded. She sighed.

"Fine. This looks like a job for magic boot camp." Eda said.

"Did someone say boot camp?" King said, entering the room. "I agree to run it. We'll rise at dawn! You'll carry me on your back as I yell hateful things about your performance!"

"Nope. You'll have no part in this." Eda said. "Hunter needs to focus, and he can;t with you being adorable and all."

"I am not adorable!" King said stamping his foot.

King squealed and left, slamming the door behind him. It reopened. He shut it again. It opened once more. Finally, he closed it and it stayed shut.

"Now, no time to waste. You'll have to follow my teaching exactly. We gotta go somewhere special." Eda said. "A place where magic energy just flows. A place like, the Knee!"

+.*.+

Hunter and Eda, dressed in winter clothes, were standing in a snowy forest.

"The earliest witches came to the Knee to develop their magic, drawn to its natural power." Eda said, as they came across some ruins covered in snow. "Though, it's not without its dangers."

Hunter yelped - a slithering beast was gnawing at a tree trunk.

"The Slitherbeast! Don't worry, if you don't mess with him, he won't mess with you." Eda said. As they walked past Hunter made sure to keep far away from it anyway.

"Here's where we'll set up shop." Eda said.

"Wow. This is place is great for learning my second spell! It has a lot of space!" Hunter said. "And, we're alone, so we won't be getting any distractions-"

Pink light illuminated him and he stopped mid-sentence. Flapjack chirped.

"Watch out!" Eda said, tackling him just before a pink fireball hit the spot Hunter had been standing in. Flapjack flew over, having dodged the fireball. Eda popped up over the rocks they'd fallen behind with her staff drawn. Hunter popped up too, and gasped.

"Sorry, whoever's over there!" Amity yelled.

Hunter ducked back down. "How the heck did I end up in the same place they were practicing their spells?!" He muttered to himself.

"Hey Hunter!" Edric called.

"Hunter!" Emira's voice yelled.

"Hey, it's us!"

Hunter took a deep breath, before standing up from the rocks. "Hey, guys!"

"Who are they?" Eda asked.

"Some future classmates. If you teach me that spell." Hunter said. "But I already kind of told them I knew more than one spell, so... please just pretend that I know a second spell."

"What's that about a second spell?" Amity asked, walking towards them.

"Only that Hunter very clearly knows a second spell, so he should be able to pass the exam." Eda said. "Nailed it."

Hunter glared at her, before turning to Amity. "So... what are you doing here?"

"I'm here to train. I'm trying to beat Ed and Em's highest score on the exam." Amity answered.

"Aw, Mittens. That's impossible!" Emira said, popping up from behind her.

"She still needs to use a training wand to practice new spells." Edric said, also popping out. "So, what are you working on? Something powerful?"

"Uh-huh. Yup." Hunter said. "Eda's a pretty great teacher."

"Hunter! I shall now teach you how to identify different types of snow - by taste!" Eda was holding a basket of snowballs, and held one out to him. "Go on, eat the snow."

"Is this some kind of... special magic?" Emira asked.

"Ahem. I don't think the Owl Lady wants to show us any of her powerful spells." Amity said, before walking away.

"See you around. Good luck with your, uh, training." Emira said, before the twins followed Amity. Once they were out of sight, Hunter turned back to Eda.

"Eda, can you please take this seriously?!" He said.

"You need to take me seriously. Go taste snow without my guidance, see where it gets you." Eda said. She looked at him and noticed him looking downcast. "Oh. Don't worry, kid. If you listen to me, soon you'll be doing stuff like that." She ruffled his hair. Flapjack nuzzled his cheek to comfort him.

"And it won't be with some wack training wand, it'll be the real deal. But you have to trust me, okay?" Eda said. Hunter nodded.

"We've covered snow, so now it's on to smelling moss." Eda said, pulling moss out of her pocket. "Now the trick is, you really got to get it up in there."

+.*.+

Later, Eda was sitting at a fire drinking out of her mug, Hunter walking out from the forest.

"Okay, I've identified the smells of three different rocks, sorted all the twigs from big to small, and found your glove, and your hand." Hunter said, lifting the glove off of Eda's detached hand.

"Ah, I was wondering where that thing went." Eda said, screwing her hand back on.

"So what now?" Hunter asked. He noticed Amity, Edric and Emira training together, and slumped a little bit.

"Hey. I know my lessons seem weird, but this is what wild magic is all about!" Eda said, noticing. "Making a connection with nature. The earliest witches understood that. Powerless witches have gotta understand it too. You wanna learn a second spell?"

"Definitely." Hunter said, determined.

"Then you have to learn from the island." Eda said, guiding him to a rock and making him sit on it, as Flapjack followed. "Now look."

The rock overlooked the gigantic titan carcass that the Boiling Isles was made up of, its ribs nearly the same height as the Knee, its skull towering even from the opposite end of the Isles. Hunter stared in awe.

"And think about what the island is trying to tell you." Eda said, before leaving Hunter alone with Flapjack. Said cardinal flew down from its perch on Hunter's shoulder and onto his lap, chirping. Hunter chuckled and pet the palisman, before taking a deep breath and concentrating.

"Alright, focus." He muttered to himself, staring at the titan's decaying skeleton with a determined gaze. After a few minutes of struggling, he finally exhaled and voiced his worries.

"What if I never learn a spell in time? The placement exam is tomorrow, and I'm no closer to learning another glyph!" Hunter said to himself. Flapjack chirped. Hunter looked at the red bird.

"Yeah, but I don't know if a palisman's magic counts as a second spell I could use. I need to learn another glyph just in case." Hunter replied with a sigh. "But... I could try it out."

Flapjack chirped, turning into staff form and landing in Hunter's hands. He stood up taking a deep breath.

"Uh, I guess I use the staff to draw a spell circle?" He asked out loud, doing so. His eyes widened when a spell circle was drawn in the air, but yelped when he lost his balance after casting a fireball into the distance. A roar was heard from where he'd shot the fireball, and he gulped as he got up from the ground.

"Hunter! What did you do?" Eda asked, running over to him.

"Well, I wanted to try out using Flapjack to draw a spell circle, but I accidentally shot a fireball in the distance, and..." He said, as another roar was heard. The Slitherbeast growled and jumped over the trees, a large patch of fur burnt off near its mouth.

"You've angered the Slitherbeast." Eda said, as the two of them started slowly backing away.

The Slitherbeast spotted Hunter and Flapjack in staff form, and growled, charging towards him. Hunter screamed as Eda shoved him out of the way.

"Watch out!" She yelled. The Slitherbeast grabbed Eda, who grunted as she tried to wriggle free.

"Eda!" Hunter yelled.

"Hunter!"

Hunter turned to see Amity, Edric and Emira come over, shocked and confused.

"What did we miss?" Edric asked.

"Yeah, what happened here?" Amity asked.

"No time for that! Let's restrain this cutie!" Emira said, casting a lasso with Edric at the Slitherbeast's claws. It growled, pulling at the bonds, the twins struggling to keep hold.

"You got it! Now finish it off!" Eda yelled, still clamped in its claw.

"I'm on it!" Amity said, running forward and trying to cast a spell with the wand, but the Slitherbeast roared, making the training wand slip from Amity's fingers and roll down a hill. "Agh! No!"

"It's fine! You can use those powerful spells you learned, Hunter!" Edric said, still struggling with the lasso.

"Yeah, cast one of them!" Emira said.

"I... I don't actually know any!" Hunter admitted, and the Slitherbeast roared, freeing itself from the lasso, sending Edric and Emira into the snow.

"Edric! Emira!" Amity yelled. The Slitherbeast growled and grabbed the twins in its claw with Eda. "No!"

The captured witches yelled as the Slitherbeast carried them away, Hunter and Amity running after them but stopped and panted.

"What do we do?" Hunter asked after a bit, catching his breath.

"I am going after them. You are staying here." Amity said.

"Bu the beast has Eda!" Hunter protested. Amity advanced on him.

"And because of you, it also has my brother and sister! I saw you holding that palisman." Amity said. "Now stay put."

Amity drew a circle in the air, and a matching circle appeared on the ground, Hunter inside it. With a flick of Amity's hand, a cage rose from the circle on the ground. She ran.

"Amity! Wait!" Hunter yelled, banging against the barrier but getting shocked. Flapjack returned back to its animal form.

"Flapjack, can you turn back to staff form so I can fly after her?" Hunter asked. In response, Flapjack perched on his shoulder with a chirp. He sighed, sitting down on a rock. "You're right. I should've been more careful."

Flapjack flew off his shoulder and up in the sky, chirping, turning to make sure Hunter was looking.

"What is it, Flap?" Hunter asked, looking up. He gasped when he looked at the stars, noticing something. "Hey, that looks like the light glyph!"

The clouds had parted to reveal glimmering stars, forming a constellation of the light glyph. Snow began falling from the sky. A snowflake landed on his glove, and he gasped when he noticed a pattern on it before it melted.

"Flapjack, is this what you were trying to show me?" Hunter asked, as the bird returned to his shoulder. Flapjack chirped in response.

He looked around a noticed a stick, taking it in his hands to draw the pattern in the snow from what he'd seen on the snowflake. He tapped the glyph, watching as a spike of ice shot up from it.

"Magic really is everywhere." Hunter said in awe. He quickly set about to draw it, but bigger. He jumped off the rock and landed on the ice glyph, a pillar of ice rocketing him upwards. While in mid-air, Flapjack turned into its staff form and he mounted, floating in mid-air.

"Yes! Thanks, Flap." Hunter said, patting the staff. "Now let's go help Amity."

+.*.+

Hunter flew above the trees on Flapjack, heading inside a cave obscured by fog. He hopped off Flapjack, who turned back into animal form and perched on his shoulder, treading quietly through the cave. Hunter hid behind a rock when he saw the Slitherbeast. Said beast slammed Eda, Edric and Emira to the wall, spitting purple goo that closed around their torsos and trapped them. The beast hopped away.

"Don't worry. We'll be fine!" Emira said. Skeletons immediately fell from the ceiling.

"No, we're gonna die." Edric said.

"No, you're not." Hunter said, coming out from behind the rock.

"Kid, get outta here! I'm just gonna sneak away when the thing starts eating the twins." Eda said.

"Wait, what?" Emira said, as Edric let out an offended gasp.

"Don't worry Eda, I get it now. I was so worried about learning my second spell, I didn't listen to you." Hunter said. "But now I'm gonna save you!"

He ran away, ready to help Amity with the Slitherbeast.

"Well, at least I got to see his misplaced confidence one last time." Eda said.

+.*.+

Amity peeked around a boulder, a serious expression laid on her face. Hunter came up next to her, just as serious. She noticed him and her eyes widened.

"Hunter!" She said, shocked.

"Hi." Hunter said. The two of them ducked behind the boulder.

"How did you get past the barrier?" Amity asked. She looked at Flapjack. "Oh. Right."

"Actually, Flapjack helped me find a new glyph." Hunter said. "Well, anyway, you and I are gonna have to work together if we want to save everyone."

Amity nodded. "Do you have a plan?"

"Actually, I do." He said, and whispered in her ear.

+.*.+

"Hey! You big idiot!" Hunter yelled, waving his arms. "Over here!"

The Slitherbeast turned and growled, jumping towards him, who runs.

Amity climbed up to the twins and Eda.

"Amity!" Edric said.

"Use that fire spell we taught you!" Emira said.

"But I can't do it without the wand!" Amity said.

"Yes, you can. Just focus." Emira said. Amity sighed.

"Okay."

She slowly traced a spell circle in front of her, wavering as she concentrated, but a ball of pink fire appeared after a moment and she smiled proudly.

"Cool. I didn't think you could actually do it." Emira said. Amity rolled her eyes, but melted the three of them free. Suddenly, they heard a scream from Hunter.

"Hunter." Eda said.

+.*.+

Hunter managed to fly out of the cave on Flapjack in staff form, making sure the Slitherbeast was following him. He got to a tree and stopped, getting off Flapjack. The beast growled loudly.

He stepped on a huge ice glyph drawn in the snow, before ducking away from the rising pillar of ice. The ice launched the Slitherbeast into the air, and it landed hard on its back. Everyone else ran out of the cave as the Slitherbeast righted itself, charging after them.

"You want me to teach you kids something cool?" Eda asked.

"Yes!" Amity, Emira and Edric said in unison.

Eda ran forward, drawing a complicated spell circle. "Sleep spell!"

The spell circle passed over the beast, and it immediately fell asleep, snoring. Hunter ran up to Eda.

"Hey, Eda... sorry about not listening to you before. But I found another glyph thanks to your guidance." Hunter said.

"Yeah, I saw. Nick work, kiddo." Eda said, ruffling his hair. "And don't worry - as long as you listen to me from now on, I don't care."

Emira sighed. "You showed some real bravery there, sis." She said to Amity.

"Yeah, nice work, kiddo." Edric said, ruffling Amity's hair.

Amity grunted. "Stop!" She said, fixing her hair.

"Anyway, let's head home." Eda said.

"See you, Amity!" Hunter said, as the two of them got on their staffs and flew away.

+.*.+

Hunter and Eda opened the front door, to see a living room full of scattered toy stuffing.

"Ahem! What the heck did you two get into?" Eda asked.

Hooty and King looked at them.

"Um, excuse me? We're having a moment here!" King said.

"You'll never understand what we've been through together! Never! Never!" Hooty said, and King sighed, walking away.

"Moment ruined." He said.

"I will be haunted by my actions forever. Hoot hoot!"

+.*.+

Hunter snuggled into his sleeping bag, as Flapjack chirped and nestled itself next to him. He smiled.

"Good night, Flap." He said, gave the bird a little pat before turning and closing his eyes.