serendipity ✙ harvey kinkle

VII

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For most of the inhabitants of Greendale, it was just another Monday morning that they were dreading for the usual reasons. However, for Victoria, this Monday seemed even more dreadful than any other Monday before, being that she was starting at a new school. Again.

She had already undergone the horror that was her dark baptism as of seven hours ago, and if this school was even remotely as creepy as that, then she wasn't sure she could do this.

Nick had (ironically) been an angel through it; holding her hand, smiling at her encouragingly when Father Blackwood started the ancient ritual. He had been the one to reassure her afterwards, the one who told her he found the ritual quite barabric and creepy too, but that was how the world of magic was sometimes. This was her world now; she had to accept it.

Victoria stood in front of the Academy of Unseen Arts, though she was beginning to doubt she was in the right place. She was in front of what seemed like a train station that had long been abandoned by humans, decaying away. She was about to turn around, when suddenly a young boy, no older than 11, appeared in front of her.

Victoria screamed in fright, grabbing at her heart. "Oh my Satan!" She had been training all weekend long to substitute her usual heavenly vocabulary.

The young boy blinked at her, seeming bashful. "I'm sorry my lady, I didn't mean to frighten you." Victoria lowered her hands, looking curiously at the boy. "My name is Quentin, and I was instructed by Father Blackwood to show you to his office."

Victoria nodded lightly, happy that she was indeed at the right place. The boy then nodded towards the door, beckoning her to follow him. She grabbed on tightly to her suitcase and did so.

Once she stepped through the doors, the interior looked nothing like the exterior; it was spacious and lavish, the walls decorated in a rich red tapestry. Victoria tried not to trip over her own two feet as she followed Quentin, whilst admiring the space.

Finally arriving to a black door, Quentin knocked lightly for her, before opening the door, holding it out for her. Victoria stepped inside, and when she glanced back to see if Quentin was following, she saw that he had vanished.

Father Blackwood glanced up from his desk, before smiling at her, or at least Victoria decided to interpret it as that. "Victoria Scratch, welcome to our Academy. Please, take a seat."

Once Victoria did so, Father Blackwood continued, handing her a piece of parchment. "This is your schedule. As you can see, you have demonology and conjuring; two subjects usually not given to young witches like yourself. However, Nicholas had informed me that you are fluent in latin. And, as you have already managed to summon a demon, we thought it would be appropriate to teach you to control it before anyone else got hurt."

Victoria's cheeks flushed a light pink in shame, but she cleared her throat and nodded. She glanced down at her schedule, once again finding the peculiar word that intrigued her. "Elemental? What class is that, if I may ask Father?"

Blackwood drew in  a breath seemingly irked by something, but by what, Victoria was unsure. "We usually do not have that class; very few witches possess the abilities that Nicholas states you possess. However, you are in luck, since Sister Ophelia from the Church of Night also possesses such abilities, and has agreed to come in and teach you."

Victoria continued looking, her eyebrows raising at the next class on her ancient looking schedule. "Cartology? What would that entail? Forgive me Father, but I have already learned how to play most card games."

"How dare you!" Victoria cowered slightly back, staring up at a now composed Father Blackwood. "Cartology is not a mere game, child. It is the magic of predicting a version of the future by the help of ancient tarot cards." He sighed, looking down. "We have once again taken Nicholas' word for it, as he had stated that you received your mother's gift of the undivine."

Victoria nodded lightly, absolutely uncertain in herself, and not quite sure why Nick was presenting her so highly. But, she trusted his judgement, and she was ready to test the true extent to her powers.

She had never known she was a witch, but now that she did, she was going to do everything in her power to reach her full potential.  She owed it to her mother and father to get there, to live up to her family name, and she owed to Cindy to learn control.

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Nicholas laughed at Victoria's dumbfounded expression whilst staring at the interior of the Academy, having found her shortly after she exited Father Blackwood's office. She found herself laughing along with him, enjoying his company.

"So," Nick started, " welcome to the Academy. Fun fact, The Academy was built according to the principles of sacred geometry. Each room is a perfectly proportioned pentagon that locks with the one next to it."

Victoria's eyes widened, a sense of deja vu washing over her. She let out a breathy chuckle, "Nick, I had dreamt this exact moment."

Nicholas smirked, "I know, you told me about it."

Victoria's eyebrows furrowed, "When?"

Nicholas' smirk only widened, "When you were drunk beyond repair on Halloween."

Victoria scowled and smacked his arm, muttering a faint are you ever going to stop mentioning that? to him.

Having finally arrived to their destination, Nick turned to her with a smile, "And here is your room! I'll let you get settled in. Your roommate, Prudence, will probably be in there."

Victoria nodded, smiling at Nick before entering. She sucked in a breath when she did, not expecting it to be so lavish; after all, normal boarding schools don't spend a lot on interior design. But then again, this wasn't a normal boarding school.

She glanced around the room, not being surprised that it was a pentagon. Seeing two double beds about five meters apart, in front of each other, she was trying to figure out which one to pick. One of them had already obviously been claimed, thanks to the sheets being a deep purple and the nightstand holding what seemed to be personal items. So, she made her way to the other bed, placing her suitcase down by her closet, an identical one being five meters in front of it. She sighed gently, deciding she would unpack later, and flopped onto her new bed.

"Home sweet home." She muttered under her breath.

an: just a reminder to everyone, this is a slow burn harvey fic! don't worry, minkle will happen loves, but first we are going to be exploring victoria a bit. all in due time haha.

h xx