THE BEAST

A big mistake

Dried herbs with aromatic scents hung from the ceiling. The walls were stacked with old books of spells and potions, their pages faded yellow and tattered. The floors were yet again covered with more books and papers with rough sketches of magical ideas. The desk and chair were hard to distinguish their original shapes because they were covered with smelly clothes and socks. The desk was messy with open books, cut-off herbs, and boiling potions.

And amongst that mess, Brett was sleeping on his desk, his glasses crooked on top of his nose. His silver earrings sparkled in the morning sun.

Asnadel School of Witchcraft and Wizardry is a government-owned school of magic. It is a prestigious dormitory school with a proud history and famous alumni. Most of the magical board leaders of Asnadel have graduated from this very school.

Brett was a student here and even though he was only in his freshman year, he was very famous among his classmates. VERY famous, for a particular reason.

The boiling potion bottle next to him gave up a small poof of smoke.

Brett woke up to the noise, trying to figure out the time. It was...8 AM.

8 AM?!????

Brett shot up from his chair, his hair all messy and tangled. He stumbled upon some of the thick books - ow - and clutched his navy robe and staff at the door. He couldn't be late for his potion class final. He has pulled an all-nighter to get ready for this exam.

"Brett Yang?"

"Present!"

Brett panted, slamming open the door as Professor Gina called the attendance. The other students in the class snickered. Brett sat on the back chair, his face red.

Professor Gina sighed, looking at Brett.

"As you all know, we have a final exam today. Everybody put away your books and papers off the desk."

A student sitting next to Brett whispered -

"You know your grade wouldn't change whether or not you take the final, dumbass."

"Shut up."

Brett whispered back, glaring at the other student.

Professor Gina wrote down on the chalkboard:

Sleeping Beauty.

Everybody in the classroom groaned. The potion was one of the hardest potions to make, requiring multiple dilutions and exact quantification. Brett's head perked up though. He has practiced it last night and almost made one successful. Well, almost.

"Ok, class, start."

Brett carefully cut off jasmine and rosemary. He weighted them on the scale - 2.02 g perfect. He put the cut herbs in whale oil, letting it sink in. Brett almost shouted out in triumph when the potion turned green and then blue. This was exactly how it was supposed to be. Brett just needed to put some heat to the potion with his spell to continue. Brett took out his staff, concentrated on his magical calculation for the exact heat he wanted, and whispered-

"Calardor."

Brett eyed the potion with anticipation. The potion was supposed to change its color to deep purple. It was still blue.

"Hmm, hmm. Calardor."

Brett cleared up his throat and tried again. Still, the potion was bright blue, almost mocking Brett in the face. The student next to him chuckled,

"I told you, cannon head. You could've just slept in."

Brett, frustrated, swung his staff with more power and shouted more defiantly -