The Magic School for the Utterly Hopeless (Completed/First Draft)

Chapter Eight

At least a thousand goblins are guarding the gate to the city. A thousand ugly and menacing little beings wearing helmets and wielding swords and axes.

And they're chanting something. What? I can't tell.

I'm shaking all over. Really, my feet are quivering in their boots.

How can a creature so tiny be so terrifying? Am I right or am I right?

This is my first time seeing a goblin. I actually made a wish this year on my twelfth birthday, hoping to see one. I'm regretting that now. I should've wished for my magic to improve like every other year.

'Look at them all,' I say, peeking out from behind a tree. 'They must've been what we saw coming out of the blue cloud face thingy.'

The blue cloud face thingy is now the official name for what we saw.

'Let's hope they're the only creatures that came out,' says Mr Nos. 'But I have a feeling they weren't. We're talking about the Great Destroyer here. He doesn't deal with just goblins.'

I didn't need to hear that. Seriously, I really didn't. Thanks a lot, Mr Nos. Now I'm imagining whole armies of different horrible beasts waiting for us. This is not good. Not good at all.

'So how are we going to get into the city?' squirms Peni. 'Just with the gate closed without the goblins it'd be impossible. There are so many built-in charms on the thing. There's the Unseal Buster charm, the Climbing Buster charm, not to mention the Anti-flying Charm. My dad told me. The lord told him.'

'I don't even think the Knight could get passed,' says Hank.

Wow, that must've been hard for him to admit.

'You do know wizarding wrestling is fake, right?' Rachel says to him.

Um, excuse me. No, it's not. She must have a screw loose or something?

Hank looks at her blankly before bursting out a laugh.

I join in, chuckling myself. It's more of a nervous chuckle.

'Good one,' Hank eventually says. 'That's made me feel kinda better. Thank you. Wizarding wrestling fake? What a weird and funny thing to say.'

Rachel rolls her eyes.

'Have you ever seen a match?' continues Hank. 'How can you fake those moves? Those powerful spells? You can't. You. Just. Can't.'

'Can we do this some other time?' grumbles Eddy.

He does have a point. There are more pressing issues right now. But we should definitely continue this talk when the world isn't crumbling around us.

'How are we going to get into the city if we don't go through the gate?' Eddy asks.

'I know a way,' Emily speaks up. 'I found it while running away from a girl who wanted to test her wand on me. It's not going to be pleasant so be prepared. The entrance is around here.'

Wow. That's the most I've heard Emily speak.

And if anyone guessed she was talking about the sewers, a hundred points to them.

'Crap, this place stinks,' Eddy says several minutes later.

We're walking down a pathway next to a river of you-know-what.

You-know-what means poo, by the way.

'Yeah, I'm not impressed,' says Rachel, pinching her nose.

Oh, it more than stinks. It's putrid. The stench is stinging my eyes and burning my nose. With all the wizards and witches in the city, you'd think someone could make this place smell better. Surely, there's a spell to do it.