Changeling Witch

Blight On Humanity

Magic school was just as amazing as Hunter had thought it'd be.

The outside looked like a ginormous castle, all grand and polished to perfection. Lining the path up to it were nine, multicolored banners, all featuring the silhouette of a witch doing some kind of magic. Gus gave the light blue one a little salute as they passed it.

The inside was almost too big for Hunter's brain to process---all gold railings, carved stone, and red lockers that seemed to actually be alive. Students milled the halls, wearing the same uniforms as Gus---though, the colors of the sleeves and pants varied.

"Welcome to Hexside School of Magic and Demonics," Gus said proudly.

Hunter looked around, only just getting his breath back. "How come not everyone is wearing the same colors as you?"

"The color of your uniform corresponds with the track you're following," Gus explained. "Brown means Construction, red means Bard, orange means Beast-Keeping, yellow means Potions, green means Plant, light blue means Illusion---like me---dark blue means Healing, purple means Oracle, and magenta means Abomination. It's part of the coven system."

"Coven syste---" Hunter shook his head. "I'll ask Eda about it later."

Gus tugged his arm. "Hey, you wanna meet my friends?"

"Um---"

"Great! Come on!" He dragged him over to two girls standing by the lockers.

One of the girls had short, curly, dark green hair, round glasses, and a chubby figure, and she was dressed in the green uniform of the Plant track. The other had messy lavender hair half pulled up into a bun, black nail polish, and on-point eyeliner, and she had the magenta Abomination uniform on.

"Augustus, help me out here," the green girl said as soon as she spotted him. "Amity still isn't telling me anything about her mystery girlfriend."

"I told you, we're keeping things on the down-low!" the purple girl protested. "And that's none of your business, anyway!"

Gus vibrated with excitement. "Okay, girls, I'm going to show you something awesome."

"What, more proof that humans nail barbed wire to their kids's teeth?" Purple Girl said dryly.

"Better!" Gus elbowed Hunter. "Take off the hood!"

Hunter lowered the hood of the cowl, waving. "Heya."

Green Girl's eyes widened. "Oh my gosh, those ears are so tiny!"

"Willow, Amity, I'd like you to meet Hunter, the human," Gus said. "Well, part human, anyway, but good enough. Hunter, these are my friends Willow---she's the one in green---and Amity." He leaned in. "Amity is Edric's younger sister, but don't let that fool you. She's awesome."

Amity stared at Hunter, then let out a laugh. "Only you could find the only human on the Boiling Isles, Gus."

"I know, right?"

Willow cleared her throat. "So, are you bringing him in for the Human Appreciation Society, or..."

"Oh, he's going to stand in as my tangible human illusion!" Gus said, patting Hunter on the shoulder. "And I can finally beat Edric."

"Woah, woah, hold on," Amity interrupted. "I'm all for publicly embarrassing my brother, but are you sure about this? If you get caught cheating---"

"I won't," Gus assured her. "Besides, what's more believable---that I finally got good enough to make a tangible illusion of someone other than myself, or that I randomly stumbled on a human in the forest who agreed to help me out in exchange for scoping out a magic school?"