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, Maya was sleeping on her desk, her glasses crooked on top of her nose. Her 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 has graduated from this very school. 

Maya was a student here and even though she was only in her freshman year, she was very famous among her classmates. VERY famous, for a particular reason.

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

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

8 AM?!????

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

"Maya Light?"

"Present!" 

Maya panted, slamming open the door as the professor called the attendance. The other students in the class snickered. Maya sat on the back chair, her face red. 

"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 Maya whispered - 

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

"Shut up."

Maya whispered back, glaring at the other student. 

The professor 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. Maya's head perked up though. She has practiced it last night and almost made one successful. Well, almost. 

"Ok, class, start." 

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

"Calardor." 

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

"Hmm, hmm. Calardor." 

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

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

Maya, frustrated, swung her staff with more power and shouted more defiantly -