Corrie

Monday, November 24

Corrie was delighted at first to have another day of trance in magic class. It wasn’t that she thought she needed the practice—there was no way she could overdo trance like she had with elemental magic, and she was pretty much confident with any type of magic now. But she was glad that she was able to make up for the problems she’d had in Friday’s class, when she had been unable to achieve trance at all.

Corrie shoved her hands in her coat pockets as they left the magic building, heading back toward Gilkey. It was getting really cold. “Dammit, I don’t want to do my homework.”

“Well, I don’t think you have to quite yet,” said Dawn. “We should really tell everyone else about this.”

Corrie glanced at her and nodded. “You’re right. Our friends need to know.”

“I should probably let Leila know,” said Edie with a frown. “I mean, it’s her sister trying to mess with us still. They really don’t seem to get along at all.”

Sunday, November 23

Corrie, Dawn, and Edie had agreed that they would all go see Professor Lal. They’d all used the book, and Edie, after hearing about how the book had failed to give Dawn the instructions that would have helped her, and the fact that Professor Lal was worried about it, feared there might have been some malevolent magic on it that affected them. Corrie thought she was being over-cautious, but was certainly willing to indulge her; it was certainly safer to be too cautious than not cautious enough.

Corrie’s mom lit one candle and placed it above her head. Corrie could just see the glow of the flame, though it was faint in the light from the windows. Another candle was lit and placed below her feet. She hoped neither of them fell—they were in precarious positions if they did—but she couldn’t help smiling at the thought that if they did, she could quickly extinguish the flames by creating water.

Saturday, November 22

Corrie had called her mom as soon as she had a chance the day before. She was surprised to hear about Corrie’s difficulty with magic, but when Corrie had explained how she’d talked to her father and discovered that her magical abilities were nearly the opposite of a werewolf’s, she sounded nervous. “Are you sure it’s safe to do this trance stuff?”

“If you’re doing it right. And I’m not going to do it without Professor Lal around.” Corrie hadn’t told her about the problems Dawn had had with trance. “But stop changing the subject?”

“Now,” continued Professor Lal, putting her hands on Corrie’s desk, “I really must investigate why it is you have been unable to achieve trance. Are you still grounded?”

“Yes,” said Corrie.

“Good. This should only take a moment.” Professor Lal closed her eyes and took a deep breath. Corrie waited nervously until she opened them again. She was frowning. “That is very strange.”

“What is it?”

“I was able to find your connection to the earth’s magic—I thought perhaps you would be missing a connection, as some people or other beings are, but it is there. It is simply blocked.”

Corrie had hoped that the combination of calming music and the dulcet tones of Professor Angew’s coaching would help her actually achieve trance. Trying the same thing over and over might not be helpful, but trying it in different contexts couldn’t hurt. So she really had tried. Alas, it was all for naught. She didn’t have any more success than she ever had.

Near the end of class, Professor Lal switched off the recording and asked the class, “Has anyone not succeeded in achieving the trance state yet?”

“Really?” Corrie glanced between the two of them. She still couldn’t see anything, of course. “How is it different?”

“Well, everyone else’s magic is in a particular spot in their bodies,” said Dawn. “Mine is in my head, and yours is in your stomach, and I’ve seen a few other people’s magic, and it’s in different places. All the natural stuff, the earth and the plants and everything, have magic all through them, but I haven’t seen anyone else… wait.” She frowned, her eyebrows scrunching together.

“What is it?” Edie asked.

Corrie returned to her dorm room that afternoon, tired from a day of work and from slogging through the slush that was all that was left of Friday’s snow, to find Edie sitting on her bed and reading. “What have you got there?” she asked as she pulled off her coat, though she thought she knew the answer. It was an old leather book and the title was too faded and covered up by Edie’s hands to read. There couldn’t be too many books that fit that description.

“The Practical Use of Magic,” Edie said. “Dawn gave it to me the other day.”

Corrie lifted the little bean with its tiny sprout, admiring her creation. At the same time, she released her magic. The plant began to droop almost immediately. Its little leaves shriveled, and the whole thing turned brown. Disappointed, she put it back down on her desk and looked around for Professor Lal. Unfortunately, the professor was helping someone else at the moment, so Corrie turned her attention back to her seed.