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Victoria woke up that morning rather early, not having been able to sleep much the night before. She had her first elementalism class today, and it was safe to say she was terrified. She didn't know what being an elementalist entailed, having no idea what her powers were. Heaven, it was Nicholas who was so sure about her having them; she had never even noticed them.
She stretched her back and got out of bed lazily, doing her usual morning routine. Having put on a black long sleeved turtleneck dress, she walked over to her mirror to try and arrange her hair. She had left her straightener at home, so the curls had appeared after she had washed her hair yesterday. She decided on trying to tie it up, but when that attempt revealed to be futile, as she looked awful, she gave up with a huff and let her shoulder length wavy brown hair hang naturally.
She then proceeded to apply some makeup, feeling the need to impress her witch and warlock classmates; she was still the new girl, and all she was known as was Nicholas Scratch's younger sister. They could at least throw pretty into that mix, if they didn't know her for her brains and talents yet.
She exited the room, running straight into something, and cursing herself for somehow always running into someone like this; leave it to Victoria Murphy-Scratch-Whatever to be clumsy.
She steadied herself, grabbing onto the shoulders of the person in front of her, only to realise she knew the girl in front of her. "Sabrina?" Victoria furrowed her eyebrows upon noticing the dark circles under her friend's eyes, and her disheveled state. "Are you alright?"
Sabrina sighed deeply, glancing at Victoria glumly. "Well, I'd like to say yes, but in truth I am not. I just went through night one of the harrowing. How in the heaven did you survive that?"
Victoria blinked in confusion, "the harrowing?"
Sabrina nodded, "Yes, it's this barbaric ceremony of the Academy to welcome new witches. Basically they just torture them for three nights straight." Her brows furrowed in confusion. "Did you not go through it?"
Victoria mirrored her facial expression. "No, I just started school straight away. " She let out a breath. "That's weird."
Sabrina nodded. "Anyways, I'm on my way to take a shower and freshen up. See you at breakfast?"
Victoria nodded, smiling gently at her friend before moving along. She made her way to the breakfast hall and quickly grabbed a tray, collecting her breakfast. She glanced around, noticing her brother was already sitting at a table. She made her way towards him, sitting down and smiling at him in greeting before digging into her food.
"Do you by any chance know why I didn't get harrowed?"
Nick's eyebrows shot up. "Why are you asking me this?"
"Because for some reason I did not get harrowed, yet Sabrina is."
Nick cleared his throat. "I forbade them from doing it."
"Oh." Victoria glanced at him surprised, before smiling at him. "Thank you Nicky."
"You're welcome Vicky." He paused, sighing. "I just got you back. I won't allow anyone to touch you." He cleared his throat. "So," Nicholas drawled, "you know Sabrina?"
Victoria laughed, the interest in his eyes clear as daylight. "Yes," she said after having swallowed a spoonful of her porridge, "she's a close friend I made at my human school. She's really sweet and peppy."
Nicholas nodded. "Yeah, she gave me a good first impression."
Victoria snorted. "Not to be a bummer, dear Nicky, but she has a boyfriend."
Nick's eyes gleamed with mischief. "To us witches and warlocks, dear Vicky, that means nothing; we are prone to sharing."
Victoria's nose scrunched up in distaste, "yuck, too much information." She sighed pushing her tray away from her, having lost her appetite. The food wasn't all that amazing. She had to admit, she expected better from real life Hogwarts. She turned towards her brother. "What time is it? Sabrina said she'd meet me down here, but I have class soon."
Nick glanced at his watch. "It's nearly 10." His eyebrows furrowed in confusion at the panic on his sister's face. "What kind of fool has classes on a Saturday?"
Victoria stood up, "well, this is thanks to you, as you had proclaimed me to be an elementalist, whatever that means." She sighed, grabbing her tray. "Tell Sabrina I'm sorry, as I know you most probably will find her soon. Just Sister Ophelia is going to kill me."
Nick snorted. "Vicky, you are so dead if you are even a second late. She is a ruthless woman."
Victoria gulped, glancing at her brother before spinning on her heels and rushing to put away her tray.
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Victoria sighed, having finally reached the gardens.
"Do you have a hair tie?"
She spun around to spot Sister Ophelia with her hands behind her back, her hair tied up and in athletic clothing. She glanced disapprovingly at Victoria's dress, the girl tugging at it subconsciously under Sister Ophelia's scrutinising stare.
"Uh, I don't Sister, I'm sorry." She gulped.
Sister Ophelia tsked before throwing one at her, Victoria catching it clumsily. She quickly tied her hair up, deciding now would not be the time to argue about how she looked.
Sister Ophelia glanced once again at her dress. "Next time please wear appropriate attire. Elementalism, or plant manipulation is a serious power only a handful of witches possess, and it is not something to be taken lightly. It requires a purification of the mind and achievement of a calm, composed and balanced state of mind."
Victoria nodded, gulping slightly. "Yes Sister." She paused momentarily, her eyebrows furrowing in confusion. " What exactly does elementalism, or plant bending entail though, if I may ask? My brother didn't quite divulge on the details."
Sister Ophelia sighed, pinching the bridge of her nose. She glanced at Victoria. "An elementalist is someone who speaks the language of the plants; someone who can ask them to do their bidding. The Dark Lord only gave this ability to three families, including one of my ancestors and one of yours."
Victoria nodded, and seeing this Sister Ophelia continued. "One can create, shape and manipulate , wood, vines, plants, moss, and parts of the plants, such as leaves, seeds, roots, fruits and flowers. You can cause plants to grow, move,attack or even rise from the soil and walk, mutate plants by rearranging DNA structure and revive withered or dead plants."
"Witches can accomplish this by speaking to the plants, coaxing them into helping them. All of this is done in latin of course. If one treats plants as friends and not foe, this is easier. An advanced elementalist can even do this without having to speak, since their mind is in such a calm state."
Victoria nodded, eager to start. "So, how do we begin?" She asked, the giddiness evident in her voice.
Sister Ophelia smirked. "by meditating and praying to our Dark Lord."
I am SO SORRY my loves that I have not updated for the last two weekends, just this whole situation has really bitten me in the ass so to speak and I have not been in the best head space. But, I'm better now, and as to say sorry, I'm giving you guys a double update tonight!
As always, feedback is appreciated.
h xx