Experimental Magic ✔

Finals: Part II

As soon as Meadow walked into her classroom all eyes were on her. The whole room went silent as they all turned to stare. Trying to avoid the attention, Meadow looked down at her feet and let her curls fall in front of her face. She slide into the last row of desks and tried to make herself as small as possible. After a few seconds, the room returned to normal and Meadow let out a sigh of relief. 

She waited nervously for the exam to start. It wasn't long before the thunderous bang of a gong rang through the air. In a puff of glittery dust a thirty page packet and a pencil appeared on her desk. Meadow and the rest of the students quickly grabbed their pencils and got to work. There were two ways for your exam to end. Either you placed your pencil back on your desk, signifying you were finished or in an hour and half, the gong would ring again and your paper would disappear whether you were finished or not. 

Meadow flipped through the seemingly endless exam and glanced at the questions. Her stomach and chest tightened with nerves as she realized how little she knew. With her confidence crushed, Meadow went back to the first page. She took a deep breath as she tried to calm herself down. It's okay, she reassured herself. It's just a test. She slowly and carefully began to go through her exam. She started with what she did know and saved what she didn't know for later. She quickly realized she was skipping way more than she was answering. 

Meadow got about halfway through before the first student, Aurora Zephyr, put her pencil down. Her test disappeared with a poof and she got up with a smug smile. She looked down at all the students who had yet to finish and scoffed. 

Meadow couldn't help but roll her eyes. Aurora was always the first one done and wasn't afraid to let everyone know how superior she was because of it. Meadow shook her head and tried to focus on herself. She flipped back and forth between the pages as she struggled to answer the questions. As time went on more and more students put their pencils down and walked out of the classroom. After awhile, it was just her and a few other students left. But even they finished before her. 

"You better hurry up and finish," one of her classmates whispered as they walked past Meadow's desk. "Time's running out."

Meadow looked at the clock and watched the minute hand tick by. There were only five minutes left and what seemed like two pages worth of questions. Screw it, she thought before quickly circling whatever random answer she felt like circling and slamming her pencil on her desk. Then she grabbed her stuff and walked out without giving it a second thought.

As soon as she stepped out of her classroom, she saw Millie pacing around with her arms crossed. 

"You weren't the last to finish were you?" Millie said when she saw Meadow.

Meadow just shrugged.

"Omg," Millie sighed in exasperation. "You know you're only hurting yourself."

"Can we just go?" Meadow said. 

She wasn't really interested in The Arena exams - to her it just seemed like yet another way for The Assembly to feed their egos - but she welcomed anything that would take the attention off her. 

"Yes please," Millie said.

Millie grabbed Meadow's arm and started pulling her down the hall towards the Arena. As they got closer, the crowd began to thicken. The entrances were clogged with students eager to get in and watch the final years either triumph with extravagance or fail miserably. For many of them, it was the best part of the year. 

"Ugh," Misty groaned when she saw the crowd.

Like most of the other students, she was itching to get to her seat. She took an immense pleasure in watching those who had mocked and ridiculed her for years crumble to dust. It would be especially satisfying this year when they fell to their knees while Misty soared through the sky like a strong and powerful phoenix.

Millie tiptoed towards the entrance impatiently, poking her head up and down and around trying to see if the line was moving at all. It wasn't. After slowly and painfully shuffling along, they finally, finally got close to the entrance. Millie practically jumped up and down with excitement. But then Millie and Meadow were yanked by the arm and pulled away from the crowd by two strong, muscular men.

"You two," they growled. "Come with us."

Meadow and Millie were dragged away and thrown in a small dark room just past the entrance to the Arena. Sitting there waiting for them was a stiff and proper woman with short sandy blonde hair and a velvet, emerald green robe that reached down to the floor. Millie recognized the face immediately. Meadow on the other hand, was too young to remember. 

"Lady Katina would like to speak to you," one of the men said. 

The woman rose from her desk and walked over to the girls. She didn't speak a word until she was inches from their faces.

"I understand your sister will be performing this afternoon. Am I correct in my understanding?" she asked.

"Yes you are correct," Millie said.

"I see," Lady Katina said as she eyed the two sisters. "I'm sure you know how important this test is for our young witches and wizards. It is a test so sacred, it's integrity must not be compromised." 

"Yes, Ma'am, of course," Millie said with a nod of her head.

"Good," Lady Katina nodded. "So, I would hope you understand, given your family history, certain...precautions must be taken."

Lady Katina let out a deep sigh and looked Millie and Meadow each in the eye.

"That is why we must bind your powers, only temporarily of course," she said. 

"Wha-?" Meadow started to say before Millie quickly elbowed her in the ribs. They weren't seriously going to bind their powers were they? What did they think they were going to do?

"We wouldn't want anyone getting an unfair advantage, would we?" Finished Lady Katina.

"Of course not, Ma'am," Millie said.

"I'm glad we're in agreement," she said. "Now give me your hands."

Millie stuck out her hands immediately without question. Lady Katina grabbed them and tilted back her head as she summoned her powers. Millie's hands were quickly bound together by a golden glow. Meadow looked at Millie's restrained wrists with disgust. 

"Meadow," Lady Katina said, holding out her hands. Meadow pulled her hands back and shook her head no.

"This is not the only way my dear," Lady Katina bemused. "I am asking kindly as a courtesy to you."

"Do it," Millie whisper-screamed to her.

Meadow locked eyes with her sister with her brows furrowed. She couldn't believe this was happening. They weren't cheaters. They had no intention of helping Misty. Lady Katina and the rest of The Assembly had no right to assume they would.

"Please," she begged. 

Reluctantly, Meadow stuck out her hands and waited for Lady Katina to bind her wrists. 

"Thank you," Lady Katina said. "Now, find your seats please. The exams are about to start."