Elsie had never told anyone about her power, and that was probably a good thing. All the other Mystic students had specialized powers. Tara was a levitationeer, a couple students were transfigurists. 4th year Mendel and his twin sister Maude could turn invisible. But Elsie? She had a long list of things she could do. She even noted them down in an unused notebook.
- levitation
- teleportation
- invisibility
- illusionist
- fire
-telekinesis
- hypnosis
Elsie was sure she could also make people hear and see things that weren't really there. She was also certain she could fly. And breathe under water. And change her appearance at will. And probably other things, too.
Tara was the only person aside from herself that knew about this. Elsie was now worrying about what would happen if the Academy found out. She was certain having almost every power possible was not normal. Would they be mad that she didn't tell them? Would they run tests on her and do horrible things to her? But the thing that bothered her most was Fredrika. They had been friends forever and told each other everything. Would she be angry at Elsie for not telling her? Probably. Fredrika was a bit overwhelming when it came to friends. No. Elsie couldn't think about that.
She remembered what Tara had told her the other day. Embrace the magic. But how could she embrace her magic when she couldn't even summon a bit of purple smoke? Maybe I'm not truly believing in myself. She thought. Maybe that time, I didn't really want to do magic. She was probably right about that. If you don't really want to do something, you probably won't be able to.
That evening, Elsie quickly wolfed down her shepherd's pie and rushed back to the dorm half an hour before everyone else. She undid her two thick braids and sat down on her bed. Please work, please work, please work, she thought. She slowly raised one hand and concentrated hard. Her index finger started to glow. Soon, a thick purple fog surrounded her as she beamed. I did it, she thought, I finally did it! Elsie let her hand fall to her side and the smoke slowly dissipated. Elsie decided to see what else she could do. She set a paper ball on the bedside table. She stared at it and pictured a glass bead. The ball slowly shrunk and turned red. Elsie had turned paper into a delicate heart shaped bead. At that moment Tara walked in. "What ya doing?" she asked. Elsie grinned, "Embracing my magic." She pressed the bead into her roommate's hand.