by Chris Colfer
“Look at all the unicorns in the field!” she said. “And up there! Have you ever seen such big birds and butterflies before?”
“I’ve seen some pretty nasty bugs and bats in the mine, but nothing like those!” Emerelda said.
Madame Weatherberry chuckled. “Actually, those aren’t butterflies or birds,” she said. “You might want to take a closer look.”
Brystal, Emerelda, and Xanthous pressed their faces against the window for a better view. After a thorough inspection, the children realized the butterflies had tiny humanlike bodies and they wore clothing made from leaves and flower petals. The tiny creatures flew in and out of miniature mushroom homes along the path. The birds in question had heads and wings like eagles, front claws like reptiles, and hind legs and tails like lions. They soared through the sky like hawks and brought squirrels, mice, fish, and other prey to the hungry hatchlings waiting in their nests.
“What the heck are those things?” Xanthous asked.
“They’re pixies and gryphons,” Madame Weatherberry said. “And they’re both easily offended, so make sure you never call them bugs and birds to their faces.”
“So they still exist?” Brystal asked. “In The Truth About Magic you wrote that humankind had hunted all the magical animals into extinction.”
“And they nearly did,” Madame Weatherberry said. “Fortunately, I was able to find survivors and save a few species before they were lost forever. It was safer to let humanity go on believing they had all been annihilated. Sadly, I wasn’t able to rescue all the magical animals that used to roam the earth. This property is as much a sanctuary for the pixies, the gryphons, and the unicorns as it is for us.”
Emerelda gasped and pointed out the window.
“Is that what I think it is?” she asked.
Brystal and Xanthous looked in the direction Emerelda was referring to and had the same reaction.
In the distance, perched on the edge of the cliff overlooking the ocean, was a golden castle. The castle had tall pointed towers and hundreds of wide windows, and the entire structure sparkled in the sunlight. The carriage continued on the path through the property and stopped at the castle’s front steps. Madame Weatherberry escorted the children outside and gestured excitedly to the castle before them.
“Welcome to Madame Weatherberry’s Academy of Magic!” the fairy said. “What do you think of the new name? I decided less was more.”
Brystal, Xanthous, and Emerelda didn’t respond because they were completely overwhelmed by the dazzling structure in front of them. Madame Weatherberry was right—some things in life were better seen than described. Even after all the incredible books she had read in the library, Brystal doubted words could ever explain the castle’s magnificent appearance or the exhilarating feeling it gave her. It was difficult to believe something so beautiful existed in the world, but the castle never faded from her view.
Madame Weatherberry clapped her hands and the unicorns were released from their reins. The steeds galloped into the nearby field and joined their grazing herd. She snapped her fingers to shrink the golden carriage to a brooch again, and pinned it to her gown. The castle’s giant front doors opened and two little girls and an old woman came outside to greet the new arrivals.
The first little girl was about ten years old and wore a dress made from dripping patches of honeycomb. Her bright orange hair was styled into a beehive and it was home to a live swarm of bumblebees. The second little girl also looked ten years old, and she wore a navy robe over a sapphire bathing suit. Instead of hair, a continuous stream of water flowed down her body and evaporated as it reached her feet, like she was a walking waterfall. The old woman was dressed much more simply than the girls and wore a plum dress with a matching apron. She had grayish-violet hair in a messy bun, but other than the unusual hair color, her appearance wasn’t as magical as the others’.
“Children, I’d like you to meet Miss Tangerina Turkin, Miss Skylene Lavenders, and the academy’s housekeeper, Mrs. Vee,” Madame Weatherberry said. “Girls, these are our new students Brystal Evergreen, Emerelda Stone, and Xanthous Hayfield.”
Mrs. Vee was ecstatic to see the newcomers. She hurried down the front steps and gave each of them a huge bear hug, rocking them back and forth.
“I don’t mean to invade your personal space—but I’m just so happy I could burst!” Mrs. Vee said with tearful eyes. “Madame Weatherberry has been dreaming of opening an academy for so long and the day is finally here! I hope you’ve all brought an appetite because I am cooking up a feast in the kitchen! Does anyone have any allergies or dietary restrictions I should know about?”
Brystal, Emerelda, and Xanthous all shrugged and shook their heads.
“Well, that’s a big relief,” Mrs. Vee said. “Tonight I’m serving one of my specialties; gryphon potpie. HA-HA! I’m just kidding! Oh, you should have seen the looks on your faces! I would never cook something like that. Besides, gryphons are way too fast to catch. HA-HA! Got you again! But in all seriousness, I couldn’t be more thrilled to have you. Now if you’ll excuse me, I better get back to the kitchen before dinner grows legs and runs away. HA-HA! Actually, that one is based on a true story. I’ll see you inside!”
Mrs. Vee hurried back up the front steps and dashed into the castle. Brystal, Xanthous, and Emerelda were slightly terrified after meeting the animated housekeeper and looked to Madame Weatherberry for reassurance.
“Don’t worry, Mrs. Vee’s cooking is much better than her comedy,” she said.
Although the housekeeper seemed eccentric and goofy, Brystal, Xanthous, and Emerelda appreciated her attempt to welcome them to the academy. Tangerina and Skylene, however, stayed on the castle’s front steps and eyed the newcomers like they were competition of some kind. Brystal sensed the tension and tried to break the ice.
“I love what you both are wearing,” she said. “Are you students, too?”
Tangerina and Skylene both grunted, insulted by Brystal’s comment.
“We’re apprentices,” Tangerina said in a condescending tone.
“What’s the difference?” Brystal asked.
“We apprentice things,” Skylene said, like it was obvious.
Brystal, Xanthous, and Emerelda looked to one another to see if Skylene made sense to anyone else, but no one knew what the girl was talking about. Tangerina was embarrassed by her friend’s remark and quickly pulled her aside.
“Skylene, I told you to let me do all the talking when the newbies showed up,” she whispered.
“Oh, I thought you said new bees,” Skylene whispered back. “I thought you were finally doing something different with your hair.”
“You never listen!” Tangerina said. “You’ve got too much water in your ears!”
Skylene tilted her head to the left and the right, and sure enough, over a gallon of water poured out from both ears. Tangerina rolled her eyes at her friend and turned back to the newcomers.
“As I was saying, apprentices are much more advanced than students,” she explained. “We’re going to assist Madame Weatherberry as she teaches the three of you to use your magic. And now that you’re here, I can see she’s going to need all the help she can get.”
“Tangerina, be nice to the new students,” Madame Weatherberry said. “We’ll all be learning and growing together, no matter how advanced some of us might be. But we can discuss all of that during our first lesson tomorrow. In the meantime, let’s give our new recruits a tour of the castle while Mrs. Vee finishes preparing dinner.”
The fairy escorted her students and apprentices up the front steps and through the castle’s front doors. Brystal’s mouth dropped open at her first glimpse of the castle’s interior because it was just as breathtaking as the exterior. The entrance hall had shimmering white walls, sparkling silver floors, and golden pillars that stretched into a towering ceiling above them. In the center of the hall was a gigantic tree that grew crystal leaves and blossoms. An elegant staircase curled around the tree and the s
teps floated in midair as the stairs spiraled toward the upper levels of the castle.
“This castle is one of the last magical residences left,” Madame Weatherberry said. “The majority of them were destroyed when King Champion I declared that magic was a crime. I inherited the estate from my family and I’ve kept it hidden and protected ever since. It’s very important that none of you leave the property without me. As you know, the In-Between is full of people and creatures who would like to harm us.”
Something about Madame Weatherberry’s warning didn’t sit well with Brystal.
“Madame Weatherberry?” she asked. “I thought you said your family was human?”
The fairy was pleasantly surprised by Brystal’s attention to detail.
“Oh, I forgot I mentioned that,” Madame Weatherberry said. “While my birth family were human, I was referring to the fairies who adopted me and taught me to develop my magic. You see, the magical community is lucky because we get to create new families if our relatives forsake us. The six of us may not be related by blood, but with time, I hope we’ll regard each other as a chosen family.”
Since they had all just met, it was hard for Brystal to picture becoming that close with the other students. Still, it was nice to imagine someone could fill the void created by leaving her mother and brothers behind.
“Now, if you’ll follow me, I’ll show you to the sitting room,” Madame Weatherberry said.
The fairy led them down a corridor to the right of the entrance hall and they entered a spacious room with silk sofas and tufted lounge chairs. The walls were covered in floral wallpaper and decorated with the heads of horned animals. Once they stepped inside the sitting room, the flowers and vines in the wallpaper became three-dimensional and a flowery aroma filled the air. The deer and elk heads mounted on the walls also came to life and snacked on the plants growing around them.
“Be careful around the decorative heads—they like to bite,” Madame Weatherberry warned. “Moving on, the dining room is just around the corner.”
Down the hall from the sitting room was another large room with a table made from a wide, flat rock. The dining room was illuminated by a cluster of glowing moonstones that hovered over the table like a chandelier. The walls were dark and decorated with twinkling lights so the room looked like a starry night sky. As Brystal examined the lights, she screamed when a shooting star suddenly shot across the ceiling.
“Breakfast is served every morning at seven o’clock sharp, lunch starts at noon, and dinner begins at six o’clock,” Madame Weatherberry informed them. “Please be on time for meals—Mrs. Vee is a perfectionist when it comes to her food and she hates serving her dishes cold. The kitchen is through the swinging door at the end of the dining room, and Mrs. Vee’s chambers are just beyond that. Well, that’s everything on the first floor. Now, if you’ll please follow me back to the entrance hall, I’ll show you to my office on the second floor.”
“But, Madame Weatherberry?” Xanthous asked. “You said this was a school. So where are all the classrooms?”
“There aren’t any classrooms in the castle,” the fairy said. “I’ll be teaching the majority of my lessons outside on the academy grounds. I’ve always thought fresh ideas are easier to retain with fresh air.”
The tour returned to the entrance hall and they carefully climbed the floating staircase to the second level of the castle. Madame Weatherberry’s office was through a pair of wooden doors. Just like the cover of The Truth About Magic, they were engraved with the images of a unicorn and a gryphon.
The office was a circular chamber with incredible views of the ocean and the academy property. All the furniture was made of glass, including a bulky desk that sat at the far end of the room. The chamber was lined with shelves of spell books and cabinets of potions and elixirs. The high ceiling was filled with white fluffy clouds that changed into the shapes of different animals as they bobbed up and down. Instead of fire, a stream of bubbles emitted from a grand fireplace and floated through the air. The entire wall above the fireplace was covered in a massive replica of the Map of Magic. To the students’ amusement, a rack of elaborate fascinators was placed by Madame Weatherberry’s desk, and the fairy owned a hat in every color.
“If you ever need something, please don’t hesitate to find me in here,” Madame Weatherberry said. “However, on the rare occasion I’m called away from the academy, my office is off-limits to students. Well, if there aren’t any questions, I’ll show you to your bedrooms on the third floor.”
“We have our own rooms?” Xanthous asked.
“Oh yes,” Madame Weatherberry said. “The castle has seven bedrooms and counting.”
“What do you mean and counting?” Emerelda asked.
“It’s one of the many perks of living in a magical residence,” Madame Weatherberry explained. “The castle grows extra bedrooms based on the number of residents, and it usually designs the chambers around the occupants’ specific needs. There were only bedrooms for Tangerina and Skylene on the third floor when I left the castle to recruit you, but there should be one for each of you now. Shall we take a look?”
The students eagerly followed Madame Weatherberry up the stairs to a long corridor on the third floor. Just as she predicted, the corridor had five doors, and the latter three looked much newer than the first two, like the corridor had recently been renovated.
As they passed the first door, the students peered inside Tangerina’s bedroom and instantly understood what Madame Weatherberry meant about the rooms being designed for the resident’s needs. All the walls and furniture in Tangerina’s bedroom were made of honeycomb and everything was drenched in honey. Just like her hair, the chamber was the home of a thousand buzzing bumblebees and the floor was covered with live daisies to provide the swarm with nectar.
The room across the corridor from Tangerina’s bedroom belonged to Skylene. The chamber had no floor, and instead dropped straight into an indoor pool. Every inch of the room was tiled with blue porcelain, and the only piece of furniture was a gondola-bed floating on the pool’s surface.
The third room in the corridor had a heavy steel door and Madame Weatherberry grunted as she heaved it open.
“Xanthous, I’m assuming this one belongs to you,” she said.
Inside, the entire room was made out of the same industrial steel as the door. There were no windows in the chamber and absolutely nothing was flammable—even Xanthous’s metal bed had foil sheets. Instead of carpet or tile, the floor was finished with metal grates, and instead of a ceiling, a brick chimney was built over the room.
“It’s like a giant oven!” Xanthous said enthusiastically. “Even if I took off my medal, I wouldn’t hurt anyone in here!”
“It’s the perfect place to blow off some steam,” Madame Weatherberry said. “Now, Emerelda, I believe your room is next.”
Behind the fourth door in the corridor was a dark room with dirt walls. There was a four-poster bed made from stalagmites, a wardrobe constructed out of a mine cart, and a workbench that held stacks of coal. Emerelda stepped inside her room and had a dizzying moment of déjà vu.
“It’s just like my cave at the mine,” she said. “It even smells like dwarfs in here.”
“Hopefully it’ll keep you from getting too homesick,” Madame Weatherberry said. “Last but not least, we have Brystal’s room.”
The fifth and final door in the corridor led to the base of a tower. There was a bed identical to the bed she had had in the Evergreen house and a big comfy armchair exactly like the ones she enjoyed at the Chariot Hills Library. But most amazing of all, the walls were covered with shelves of books from the floor to the ceiling. A display case in the corner of the room held over two dozen pairs of reading glasses, and like Madame Weatherberry’s collection of fascinators, there was a pair in every color.
As Brystal looked around her new bedroom, her eyes filled with happy tears, and her heart fluttered in her chest. She scanned the titles on the shelves and caressed
the books’ spines like she was saying hello to long-lost friends.
“The Tales of Tidbit Twitch, volumes two through ten!” She was shocked to find them. “I didn’t even know there was one sequel, let alone nine!”
“Oh, and look at this,” Madame Weatherberry said, and pointed to another book on one of the shelves. “You even have a copy of The Truth About Magic. Perhaps you’ll be inspired to finish it one of these days—no pressure, of course. Well, children, that completes our tour of the castle. You’re more than welcome to inspect the other rooms and towers, but I’m afraid you’ll only find a century’s worth of storage and cobwebs.”
Suddenly, a chime rang through the castle to announce the start of dinner. Unlike the gong at the Bootstrap Correctional Facility, the chimes were pleasant and inviting, like they were announcing the start of a grand performance.
“Sounds like Mrs. Vee is finally ready for us,” Madame Weatherberry said. “Let’s not keep her waiting.”
The students followed Madame Weatherberry down the corridor, but Brystal stayed in her room for a few moments before joining them. Of all the astonishing things she had seen today, nothing was more beautiful than the sight of her very own library.
At dinner, the students were served a three-course meal of tomato soup, grilled chicken with roasted carrots, and blueberry pie. Other than the colorful berries and muffin Brystal ate in the golden carriage, it was the most delicious food she had ever tasted. She couldn’t believe she would be treated to three meals like this every day—it was quite a contrast to the food at the Bootstrap Correctional Facility.
Over the meal, Madame Weatherberry told the new students stories about the obstacles she faced while starting their academy. She recalled how she met with the sovereigns of all four kingdoms, and despite her persuasive requests, was only granted permission by King Champion XIV, to recruit students in the Southern Kingdom. Brystal, Xanthous, and Emerelda were on the edge of their seats as they listened to her exciting tales.