Magiana Imperial Academy - Volume 1: Path to Greatness

“You’ve all been celebrating the Week of the Haunt for as long as you can remember,” Said Professor Rowen, Phillip’s history teacher.

She was at the front of the class, which was lined with orange and black decorations. There was a large pumpkin on her desk, with a goofy smile etched into it. A family of bats was sleeping in the corner of the room.

“But how many of you actually know its history?” No one raised their hand, but she smiled. “I had a feeling. Okay, how many of you know have heard about Earth?” This time, all of the classes hands went up. “Good. Now, on the other side, there is a holiday known as Halloween. This holiday, celebrated on October 31st, is celebrated in a number of countries. While it played a different role long ago, in this day and age, people - usually children - put on costumes and go house to house, where their neighbors give them candy.”

The people in the class began talking, all having gone trick-or-treating at least once. The only exception was Phillip, who just had copious amounts of confectionaries brought to him. He couldn’t share trick-or-treating stories, but he did answer questions about what kind of candy he got and how sick he was after the week finally ended.

“Okay, that’s enough talk.” She said after a few minutes. “A Magianan became aware of this holiday on a trip to Earth and, when they came back, informed the royal family, who liked the idea of the holiday. The Gods also caught wind of holiday somehow - no one is really sure how exactly - and they found it interesting as well. It’s said that part of the reason we celebrate the Week of the Haunt is so that we can appease the Gods.”

A hand went up.

“But a lot of the Week of the Haunt is about scaring people. Why is that?”

“That would be Hades. Being the trickster and, quite frankly, prankster that he is, he wanted to scare the people, thinking it was funny. He often went overboard, and the people offered to prank each other in his place. That’s why there’s a lot of, usually scary, practical jokes instead of little pictures of skeletons or spiders.”

That was the lecture all of the first-years heard Monday, October 28th, the first day of the Week of the Haunt. To show spirit, the school was decorated. There was a lot of black and orange, and Jack-o-Lanterns were placed in all of the rooms. Bats were occupying several areas on campus for the week, showing up every now and then.

The lessons were all related to the Week of the Haunt in some way or another, which entertained the students more than the typical numbers and formulas usually taught in classes like math and science.

A large part of the Week of the Haunt were practical jokes meant to scare their victims. This tradition made Magiana Imperial Academy a warzone, with there being only a handful of places where someone was able to sit without fear of having a fake, but realistic, goblin or giant tarantula dropped on their head, see someone suffer a tragic accident which looked authentic thanks to false blood, or something similar.

Phillip was amused by the antics of his classmates, but tried to avoid the pranks whenever possible. It was quite difficult when he was with Miles, one of the many pranksters.

The students were having fun, but so were the teachers. They found some of the pranks funny, but also appeared to be trying to find all sorts of nonsensical reasons of award points to the houses. If a Sloane pranked someone who pranked a fellow, whether it be meant as revenge or not, the house was awarded points. If a Crowlin did as much as asked if someone who was scared was okay in the precense of a teacher, they earned points. If a Bryne played a prank which seemed original and initiative, they earned points. The Lychesters were given points the more extreme their pranks were. ‘The ends justify the means’ one of the ways a person could describe the Lychester, was equated to making pranks as large and elaborate as possible, disregarding any rules if it meant getting a good laugh.

Miraculously, only a few people got detention. The number of points earned during the week was extremely high for all of the houses.

At lunch one day, Phillip sat down, exhausted after cautiously looking out for pranks at every turn he took. Miles sat down, his hair and uniform a mess after an incident with a watermelon. He seemed ecstatic, despite having had that happen to him.

“How can you be smiling?”

“How could I not be smiling?! The entire week is about getting back at people who tick you off without getting in trouble!”

“It’s harder to get in trouble, sure, but not impossible.”

Miles opened his bag and began moving things around. “Say, how should I go and put that Reginald in his place?”

“Please don’t make me an accomplice.” Phillip looked at his dirty friend once more.

“Don’t you want to get back at him too? I mean, he kinda deserves it, don’t you think?” Phillip didn’t answer, but only sigh. “What’s the matter, are you chicken or something?”

“That is so cliche, Miles.”

“Come on, how do you think your family got where they are now? Getting back at the people do them wrong!”

“First of all, that applies to a lot more people than just my family. Second of all, Zeus himself appointed the first king.”

“Sure, but how do you think they’ve stayed in power for so long? Besides, it’ll be a lot of fun, I promise!”

“So, when are you going to deal with that?”

Miles grinned and began eating. “Skipping a bit of math to go and get this cleaned up. Professor Draut shouldn’t mind; can’t go to class all sticky and reeking of watermelon, can I?”

“I guess you can’t.”

Lloyd and Trevor sat across from them while Kylie and some of her friends sat down further down the table. She looked tired as well.

“Professor Black has a pretty good sense of humor!” Lloyd said, beginning to laugh. “She got us all to make a burping potion when we thought we were working on a sleeping potion!”

“Whenever someone tried to talk, they just burped.” Trevor said, chuckling faintly.

“There were a few of us who didn’t drink it, and they couldn’t stop laughing!”

“I’m just glad that the week is almost over…” Kylie said weakly. “I think I’ve had enough. I’m scared to eat now.”

“What, afraid that someone will put worms in your spaghetti?” Miles asked. He began to laugh and Lloyd joined in.

“What?!” His joke only made Kylie more afraid. “Don’t tell me that someone did that and it might happen again! Or did you do it?”

“I didn’t, I didn’t!” He said, waving a hand. “I don’t think it’d be possible, anyway. Seems like it’d too much work.”

Philip and Miles were on their way to science class when they heard a scream followed by loud sobs. The two hurried to the source of the cries. When they turned the corner they saw a girl on the ground, the source of the crying. In front of her were a trio of boys, who all looked like very convincing zombies.

Their uniforms were tattered and covered in blood stains, their hair dirty and disheveled. Their skin was pale and scratched and there were large shadows around their eyes. They had a lifeless look in their eyes, and the one in the center had his right eye dangling out of its socket. The other two had chunks of flesh missing from their faces.

Just by looking at them, the two had no idea who they were, but Phillip and Miles recognized the laugh of the one with the dangling eye as Reginald’s. Walking closer to the girl, they saw that it was Francisca, one of their classmates.

Miles glared at Reginald while Phillip knelt down next to Francisca.

“Hey, are you alright?”

Before she could answer, the sound of footsteps quickly approached, and Dominique appeared in the hall, looking absolutely furious. Her extreme anger became tenderhearted concern as she also knelt next to her sister.

“Is everything alright, Franci? They didn’t hurt you or anything, did they?”

“N-no…” Said the girl between sobs. “I-I was walking by myself, and then they jumped out and screamed at me… it was really scary…”

“It’s okay, it’s okay.”

Dominique was trying to comfort her sister while Reginald and his friends continued to laugh. They had since taken off what had been zombie masks.

“What’s wrong with you?!” Dominique left her sister’s side and grabbed Reginald’s collar, glowering at him. “You make someone cry and all you can do is laugh?!”

“Come on, it was just a prank! And it’s the Week of the Haunt; it’s all about this sort of stuff!”

“I don’t care! You’re going to apologize!”

“Why should I? It’s not my fault that your sister is a wimp.” Dominique raised her fist and Reginald smirked. “You wouldn’t dare.”

“Try me.”

“Oh hello there, Professor Black.” He calmly said.

Dominique pushed him back but continued to scowl at him. Professor Black walked past the group, not stopping.

“Dominique, come with me.”

“Don’t worry, I’ll let you copy my notes later.” Miles offered.

“Phillip, you’ll let me copy you later, right?”

“Sure.”

She left the other two, leaving an offended Miles.

“Enjoy your detention!” Reginald called, waving after her and Professor Black.

“You too, Mr. Ultire.” He gaped at the Potions Professor, who didn’t look back at him. “Now.”

Grumbling, he tramped after her as Phillip and Miles sniggered.

“Come on, Professor Black, why am I in trouble?”

“It’s against the rules for students to harm one another.” He was about to argue, but she spoke before he did. “You didn’t physically harm Francisca, but you left her very scared. She’s the first to be scared to tears.”

“Our punishment?” Dominique asked, taking it much better than Reginald.

“Detention for disrupting the school. I saw some students trying to look outside to see what was going on; we can’t have that. You both are to report to my classroom at seven tonight. You are dismissed.”

“I don’t think that’s fair at all!” Victoria cried after hearing of Dominique’s punishment. “You didn’t actually hurt him, and you were just standing up for your sister!”

“I know, but with how close my fist was to his face and how angry I was, I’d say a detention is appropriate.” She closed Phillip’s science notebook after copying down the notes she missed at the beginning of class.

“I hope this doesn’t affect you in any bad way…”

“A detention in the second month of my first-year shouldn’t mean much.” She handed him his notebook and bade farewell to the others before leaving the house.

The sun had fallen and the moon rose, showering the campus in its bright white light. Lights planted in the ground illuminated the walkways, giving Dominique a path to follow to the main building. She noticed a shape leaving another one of the houses; more than likely Reginald.

Even though the two left at about the same time, Dominique arrived several minutes earlier than him. Professor Black was in her room, which was lit only by a few Jack-o-Lanterns. Cait Sith was sleeping on the desk, purring gently.

“Good, you’re here.” She gestured towards the cauldrons, which were usually put away when class was done. “You two are to clean all of these. They’re to be sparkling clean before you leave.” She walked over to the door. “I’ll be back in an hour to track your progress.”

“You’re just leaving us all alone?” Reginald asked, resting his feet on a table.

Professor Black threateningly pointed at the ground and he lowered his feet. She then gestured towards the sleeping kitten.

“You’re leaving a cat to watch us?” He asked, rather disappointed.

“Don’t underestimate Cait Sith. He may be a kitten, but he’s very capable.”

“He’s asleep.”

“Don’t judge a book by it’s cover.”

“So he’s pretending to sleep?”

Without another word, she walked out and closed the door. There were cleaning supplies and a pair of yellow rubber gloves on the tables. Dominique took off her blazer and put it next to Cait Sith, one of the few surfaces that didn’t have something on it. Reluctantly, Reginald did the same.

“This is all you fault.” He muttered as they worked.

“She would’ve come across the scene eventually. If my yelling attracted attention, Francisca’s crying definitely did.”

“This is just so tiring,” Reginald had finished with three of the cauldrons, but there were still a dozen more to go before he was done with his half. “How do you people deal with this?”

“We don’t spend eleven years getting everything handed to us on a silver platter.” She glanced at him for a moment, seeing him give her a sour look.

It took some time for them to clean each cauldron, which only got longer the more tired they got. The two worked in silence, but Reginald would sometimes complain. Unlike the first time, Dominique didn’t respond. While she was cleaning, she noticed something out of the window. She saw what looked like a large silver wolf sneaking about below.

“What’s that?”

Reginald abandoned his cauldron and looked out the window as well. He only gave it a moment of his attention before leaving.

“It’s nothing to worry about. Probably just another prank.”

“Excuse me?”

“Someone probably just summoned a wolf to walk around and scare people; it won’t do anything.”

“You don’t know that! It could be real!”

“And if it is?” He asked. “There’s a ranch full of magical creatures on campus. The older ones are really well trained and might as well be the school’s guard dogs.”

“They’re all asleep by now. And pretty heavy sleepers, from what I’ve heard.”

“Don’t have any nocturnal ones?” Dominique shook her head. “Don’t worry about it.”

“We can’t just let it roam!” She began towards the door. “I’m going to do something about it!”

“Skipping out on detention? Tsk, tsk.”

“If it’s real and someone gets hurt, we’ll be in worse trouble if it gets out we knew about it!”

Reginald stood, pondering her words. After a few moments, he sighed.

“Fine, I’m coming with you.”

Dominique put her hand on the door, but was caught off guard by a loud hiss. Cait Sith bound off of the desk and the tables until he landed in front of the door, adamant to keep the two inside.

“Please let us out, Cait Sith,” Dominique pleaded. “There’s something out there!”

The cat looked up at her, her eyes full of genuine concern, and moved aside.

“Thank you! I’ll pay you back somehow!” She called, running out of the classroom.

“Pay him back? What’re you going to do, give him some catnip or something?”

“Probably!”

“So now what?”

“We have to get somebody! One of the teachers; even one of the more experienced students might be able to help!”

The two made their way down to the bottom floor. Before opening the door, Dominique looked back at Reginald. He stopped abruptly and gave her a dirty look.

“What’s the hold up?”

“We’re going to have to split up.” She said. “One of us is going to have to draw its attention so the other can get help.”

Reginald glowered at her. “What, are you saying that you want to be bait or something?”

“If you’re not up to it, I will.” Reginald looked angry, but appeared to be thinking. Before he could answer, Dominique opened the door. “I’m probably more used to moving around anyway. I’ll be better at getting out of its way.”

“Hold on a second!”

She bolted off in the direction of the wolf they saw. Wanting to chase after her, Reginald stopped himself and ran towards House Lychester.

Dominique found the wolf creeping around the huge crystalline lake, minding its own business. Getting a closer look at it, there were wisps of gray-blue fire emanating from its shoulders and ankles. It was much larger than a normal wolf; it must’ve been over five feet tall.

She slowly approached it and watched to see if it would make any moves. It stayed still, looking into the lake.

“What is it doing?” She asked herself.

“I can hear you, human.”

Dominique looked around to see if Reginald or someone else was around, but it was only her and the wolf around. She looked at it, her eyes wide.

“W-was that you?”

The wolf turned around and looked at her with his bright blue eyes.

“Indeed it was. Why were you standing there, human?” She was too stunned to reply. She just goggled at it. “Aren’t you going to answer?”

“I-I’m sorry. I just haven’t heard of… talking wolves.”

“I would imagine. My kind is rare. Was that the only reason you followed me out here; curiousity?”

“No!” She remembered why she had come out in the first place. “I thought you were something dangerous!”

“I am, but I have no reasons to hurt the humans here. Is my presence an issue?”

“If the entire school found out that something like you showed up, there might be a little problem. But with the ranch, you just might fit in.”

“Ranch?”

“Uh, yeah. We have a Magical Animal Husbandry class; the animals are kept on a ranch here.”

She felt rather odd, having a conversation with a large wolf when it was nearly nine at night.

“So this is a school?” He looked at the campus. “It’s quite beautiful.” He quickly turned back to Dominique. “I’m sorry. I should be going before I start a scene, correct?”

“W-well… why did you come here?”

“Just wandering. The forest near this school is quite magnificent. I just might have to take up residence there.” He began trudging towards the forest. “I apologize for startling you, human. May we meet again in the future.”

By the time Reginald arrived with Makarov, Dominique was staring at the forest.

“What happened to it?”

She explained the situation to the two of them. Makarov was amused while Reginald was anything but.

“You had me thinking that thing was going to tear someone in half!”

“Well, I thought it was a wild animal!”

“That’s enough, you two. All that matters is that everything is fine. I’ll bring you back into the school so you can get back to work. And if Professor Black is already back, she’d be more likely to believe the story if I’m there.”

Once the situation was explained to Professor Black she sat, Cait Sith in her lap, thinking about the wolf. She didn’t care about the fact that Dominique and Reginald left.

“I haven’t heard of such a creature myself. I’ll have to talk to the headmaster about it. Maybe it needed help and came here since there were so many humans around? But it just stared out at the lake, so it couldn’t be that…”

“Well, whatever he was doing there, I hope he plays nice with Azure.” Makarov said. “Wouldn’t want the only Unicorn for miles to die.”

“The two of you can go back to your houses.” Professor Black said. “And forty points to both of your houses for that. It was brave of you, going out even though you thought it’d be dangerous. Escort Dominique back for me, will you, Makarov?”

“Yes, professor.”