This room was huge, with a high ceiling. At the center of it hung an ornate copper chandelier, with swirling long arms that held flickering torches. But despite being a large space, the room was cluttered with strange bits and bobs—walls lined with overstuffed bookshelves.
I hadn't taken in much on our walk here and found myself regretful. My mind had been lost in a haze, thoughts focused on the fact I was somewhere—somewhere that shouldn't exist but did. Now, I wished I'd taken a better look while I'd had the chance.
The man behind the desk adjusted his glasses. Beside him stood the woman who had found us outside—her expression was fixed into a heavy scowl. I was delighted to not be the one with the focus of the adults in the room.
"Please, explain one more time how the human came to be here, Miss Harmon?"
Yes, I think we were all curious how I came to be in this place. I let out a heavy sigh, flipping a narrowed look at Willow. She sat beside me, hands folded in her lap, looking more perturbed by the question than my being there.
"As I said the first time, I was trying to summon my familiar..."
"Outside of the classroom, without the guidance or supervision of a professor. Not to mention that casting such a spell is completely against the rules of this academy for any witch under rank five. Last time I checked you were only rank four." The heavyset woman hissed as if we hadn't understood her the first time she had said it.
And she had let into Willow after shooing Rose and the other girls away. Then repeated the reprimand several times while escorting us to this office. My ears were burning with the level of nagging. I thought my mother was bad, but this woman was giving her a run for her money.
She dabbed at the sweat that collected on her brow. Honestly, she might combust at any moment, the vein in her forehead ticking feverishly.
Willow pushed up from her seat, cheeks stained pink. "Me, a rank Four? Rank Four?"
Her voice was shrill. "I passed my proficiency in magic before winter term ended last year. That makes me rank six."
Rank four? Rank six?
I didn't understand any of this and didn't care to. I wanted to go home. My mother was no doubt distraught, having seen me disappear before her eyes.
"Yes, but then there was the incident with Hollis Crabtree."
"I fixed him up."
"After he spent a month as a rat! That incident demoted you to rank five."
The woman's jowls shook as spit flew from her mouth. Willow plopped back down into her seat, crossing her arms over her chest.
"And let's not forget the fact that we lost half of the old library after you exploded it with a dirty spell not even fit for a Hedge Witch. Some of those books were irreplaceable."
This woman was working herself up into a nervous breakdown from the way her body trembled and her breath came in quick and shallow. I wasn't sure which of us was more pitiful at the moment. Willow for being so clearly terrible with magic, or myself for getting dragged into this mess in the first place.
"You should consider yourself lucky that you're even rank four. Although with this stunt I wouldn't be surprised if they revoked your right to a wand entirely!"
My eyes widened as the woman disappeared in a puff of smoke, a black cat taking her place. The cat arched its back and hissed in Willow's direction, barring all its teeth. The old man took off his glasses, rubbing at the bridge of his nose.
"I told you to remain calm, Miss Plum. Now, look at what you've done to yourself."
He rose up from behind his desk, slowly making his way across the room to the door. I glanced back to the cat, who was staring at Willow with bright green eyes.
"Go get yourself fixed up. I can handle things from here."
The oversized cat jumped down from the desk, hissing one last time in Willow's direction before it waddled across the room and out the door. A steady silence overcame the room.
"Are we all going to pretend that woman didn't just turn into a cat, then?"
Willow cast a dirty look in my direction, that told me she wished I'd never spoken.
"Miss Plum is my familiar."
I twisted in my seat. The old man was walking back to his desk, expression calm and steps easy.
"She has a habit of getting herself rather worked up. Something I've been unable to break her of despite all these years. I hope you'll forgive her. Many familiars are creatures of particular temperaments," he said, glancing in my direction with a wry smirk.
I understood he was drawing some kind of comparison between myself and Miss Plum. I pressed my lips together and sank lower in my seat. I was a human from the planet of earth—definitely not a creature or familiar or anything else strange.
"Master Kenji, I would like to request that I be given the chance to cast the summoning spell again. I must have done something wrong—"
Willow looked in my direction with disgust. I arched my brow and crossed my arms over my chest.
"Why do you think that?"
"Isn't it obvious? I summoned a human. Everyone knows humans come from a dead dimension. What use will it be to me?"
I glowered in her direction. I didn't know what she meant by dead dimension but I didn't think it was meant to be a compliment. In fact, it was pretty clear that these people or whatever they were, did not have a high opinion of earth or humans. And as the only human around, I found myself offended on the behalf of all of them.
"Says the rank four..." I muttered out the side of my mouth.
Willow's head snapped in my direction. "Say that again."
A shiver rushed down my spine. I turned to meet her dark glare head on. Maybe It wasn't a good idea to antagonize someone capable of using magic. I pressed my tongue to the roof of my mouth to keep from saying anything more.
"Miss Harmon, control yourself."
Willow flinched at the sudden reprimand. "Sorry, Master."
The ominous pressure in the room eased and I took in a deep breath. I hadn't realized how suffocated I was until after the moment passed.
"What's a dead dimension?" I asked, hoping to shift the energy in the room.
Kenji situated his glasses back on his face, looking me over in a curious manner. "A place without magic, dear."
He turned his attention back to Willow, lacing his fingers together.
"The summoning spell can only be cast once. Plus, your seal is on her forehead. Your fates are forever linked now."
The bottom fell out of my world at his final words.
"Did you say, forever?"
"I can't be linked to a human, forever. It would shame my family..."
I didn't care to take offense to Willow's words at this point; everything she said was meant as an offense.
I pushed up out of my seat. There was no way I was staying in this place forever. Magic, summonings, and familiar's be damned. They couldn't keep me here against my will.
"Yeah, I need you to fix whatever she did to me—" I thumbed in Willow's direction. "I can't stay here."
"I don't see why you would want to go back to your dimension when Lore is clearly superior," Willow mumbled under her breath.
"because I like my dead dimension!"
I squeezed my eyes shut and breathed in deep, trying to calm myself down. I opened them again, focusing my attention on the man in charge. There was nothing more important than convincing him to understand how unreasonable it was to kidnap a girl from her world and force her to stay here to become a servant or whatever.
"Look, I can't stay here. I have a life back on earth; family, and friends who will be worried about me suddenly disappearing. I have to go back."
"I understand the severity of the situation, dear. This is definitely a matter I plan to look into, believe me, but for now, you will remain here as Miss Harmon's familiar."
"Maybe if you give me a map or something I can figure out the way back to earth for myself."
Master Kenji chuckled.
"It will be safer for you to remain under supervision. Lore is a beautiful place but it isn't without its dangers. It would be unwise of me to let you wander around without the proper tools and protection."
"He means because you have no magic."
"Yeah, I got that." I tossed a heavy glare in Willow's direction.
I wanted to snatch her silly pointed hat off her head and stomp it into the ground. She was a walking cliche but I doubt she thought so.
I turned back to Master Kenji. "Why can't you just send me home the way I came?"
"Because it isn't as simple as sending you home. The magic that brought you here is quite particular. But I can assure you that you will be well taken care of here until we can resolve the matter."
It was obvious that this conversation was over. He wasn't mean about telling me I wasn't going anywhere but still the answer was the same. I wouldn't be returning home—not anytime soon. My shoulders slumped in defeat, and I rubbed my arms.
"Miss Harmon, why don't you take–" Master Kenji looked at me with a questioning look.
"Charlotte."
He gave me a friendly smile. I'm sure it was an attempt to make me more comfortable but it only made me want to cry. The reality of my situation was only now becoming real to me. With the shock and surprise gone—all the aches and pains in my body began to make themselves known. Being ripped through one dimension into another was no joke.
As if also coming to the same thought, Master Kenji said, "Willow, please take Charlotte to the nurse to make sure her little trip didn't cause any permanent damage."
Willow rose up from her seat with a defeated sigh of her own.
"Also before you go..." He held out his hand toward her. "Your wand."
She handed it over to him begrudgingly.
"Master Kenji..."
He held up his other hand, silencing her.
"You broke the rules, Miss Harmon. You could have done considerably worse than summoning a human. A month of restriction for you will allow you to reflect on this."
He waved his hand over her wand, muttering words under his breath. The stick glowed black for a moment. He handed it back to her. "I don't want to see you in my office again, Willow Harmon."