Morgan le Fay Institute for Magic

Chapter 21 - Horrible Halloween

Drowsiness overcame Ravenna as the group stood around the portkey. She blinked to get the sleep out of her eyes.

"Three minutes."

There were nine of them, each with a mask in their hand. Ravenna had counted them as they made their way across the school premises, to distract herself from what was to come. Nine young adults now stood in a messy circle around a filthy bucket. That meant three had dared not to come. They could only hope Alois wouldn't notice this.

She stumbled, only catching her balance because Dan held out a hand to steady her.

"Are you okay?"

"Yeah," she responded. "Just a bit tired. Didn't sleep much last night."

But she knew that wasn't it. She often didn't sleep well, but it never resulted in this kind of sleepiness. She could barely keep her eyes open. Almost as if she'd taken her potion – or ten of them – but that wasn't until tomorrow.

"Two minutes."

It was the eldest of them who spoke up, her eyes on her watch; twenty-four-year-old Shyla Ansari, a seventh-level. The rest took it in with quiet resignation, as they gathered up the courage to pick up the bucket. One girl was visibly shaking. Willem kept biting his fingernails, of which he had none left. Dan had been shooting glances at her ever since they left the school, but Ravenna couldn't bring herself to return them. She felt sick to her stomach as she glared at the iron bucket.

"One minute."

"We shouldn't have come," a fourth-level girl squeaked. "We shouldn't be here. We shouldn't have come."

"We can still turn around," said Dan, his eyes on Ravenna.

"If we do that, Morgan le Fay will be next." It was a level six who responded. Matthew. Melvin, maybe. Ravenna couldn't remember. Something with an M.

"Thirty seconds."

"Why do they want us there in the first place?"

"Honestly, I think it's just to b-boost their numbers," Dan answered miserably. "The bigger the group, the more of an impression they'll make."

"Or maybe we're the scapegoats, in case they get caught," Ravenna muttered.

"We can still go back, Ravenna," Dan said again.

She shook her head to try and clear it, but she'd made up her mind days ago. "We don't have a choice."

"Merlin's saggy balls, let's just bloody get this over with," Matthew, or whatever his name was, exclaimed, before reaching out, grabbing the bucket and holding it up for the others. A few immediately followed his example. Ravenna shared a glance with Dan, and they both took hold of the grimy thing. Beside her, Willem squealed, but he reached out as well, clutching the bucket with both hands.

"3... 2... 1..."

For a moment, nothing happened. For one, blissful second, Ravenna considered the possibility that the portkey malfunctioned. If they couldn't get to Ravengrove, Alois couldn't blame them.

But then she felt a tug behind her navel and the world warped around her. Her stomach flipped. She closed her eyes in an attempt to alleviate the nausea.

When it was over, Ravenna's feet hit the ground so suddenly she lost her balance and tumbled forward, the grimy bucket slipping from her grasp. The skin on her palms scraped on the stone of the pavement, as she landed on hands and knees. A pained gasp escaped her.

"You okay?"

Beside her, Dan wiped the grime from his trousers and held his hand out to help her up, while Willem scrambled to his feet not far away.