by Chris Colfer
“All magic can be divided into four categories: Improvement, Rehabilitation, Manifestation, and Imagination,” Madame Weatherberry explained. “From now on, each lesson will focus on developing our skills in these four areas. Today’s lesson will be an introduction to magical improvement. Over your careers as fairies, you’ll encounter many people, places, and objects that you’ll improve with magic—the greater the improvement, the more magic it will require. To begin, we’ll start with something very small and simple. I want each of you to transform the twig in front of you into something you believe is an improvement. Skylene, will you please give us a demonstration?”
Skylene nodded eagerly and stepped forward. She held her right hand over the twig, and the students watched in amazement as it slowly morphed into a colorful piece of coral.
“Good work,” Madame Weatherberry said. “By focusing on the twig, and simultaneously visualizing another object in her mind, Skylene has changed it into something she believes is an improvement. Xanthous, would you like to start?”
The boy cautiously removed his Muter Medal and flames immediately returned to his head, shoulders, and golden suit. Xanthous hovered over the twig and tried his best to concentrate on how to improve it. As he concentrated, the twig began to swell and turn bright red. It became a cylinder, and a small string grew out from its top.
“Great job, Xanthous!” Madame Weatherberry said. “You’ve transformed the twig into a firecracker!”
“I did it!” he said. “I actually did it!”
Xanthous was so proud of himself he jumped up and down in celebration, but he stepped too close to the firecracker, and his blazing pant leg accidentally ignited it. The explosion made a piercing whistle that echoed through the property and it shot colorful sparks in all directions.
“Hit the deck!” Lucy yelled.
Madame Weatherberry and her students dived to the ground and covered their ears. Skylene splashed the firecracker with water and it eventually fizzled out. Xanthous blushed and flames appeared on his cheeks.
“Sorry about that!” the boy peeped.
His classmates glared at him with expressions that were far more scorching than his flames. Xanthous swiftly put the Muter Medal back on before he caused any more damage and helped the others to their feet.
“We’re off to a decent start,” Madame Weatherberry said. “Emerelda, you did so well in yesterday’s assignment. Would you like to go next?”
“Oh, this is going to be a piece of cake for me,” Emerelda said.
She reached for the twig but Madame Weatherberry stopped Emerelda before she made contact.
“We all know you can turn objects into jewels with your touch, but today, I’d like you to try improving the twig with your mind,” the fairy said.
“With my mind?” Emerelda asked.
“Yes,” Madame Weatherberry said. “Not everything we want in life will be within our physical reach. Sometimes we must use our imagination to grasp what we seek. Go on.”
Emerelda shrugged and gave it her best try. She reached for the twig and, following Madame Weatherberry’s advice, imagined herself touching it with invisible fingertips. A few moments later, the twig began to twist and curl. It coiled like a snake and grew shiny, and soon the twig had become a beautiful diamond bracelet. Emerelda was thrilled she had managed to pull it off, and slid the bracelet over her wrist.
“Well done, Emerelda,” Madame Weatherberry said. “Lucy, you didn’t get a chance to practice your magic yesterday. Would you like to try now?”
“I think I’ll pass,” Lucy said. “Trust me, if I could transform a stick into something as nice as a diamond necklace, I wouldn’t have so much gambling debt.”
“Miss Goose, your talents may be different from the others’, but you’re here to perfect them just the same,” Madame Weatherberry reminded her. “Now give it your best and we’ll see what you come up with.”
Lucy groaned and reluctantly stepped forward. She placed a hand over the twig and tried to magically enhance it. The twig became limber, it started to wiggle, and was coated in a sticky liquid. When she was finished, the twig had turned into a fat and slimy slug. Lucy was very impressed by her creation—clearly, she had expected something much worse to appear—but her classmates weren’t as enthusiastic.
“You call that an improvement?” Tangerina asked.
Before Lucy could respond, a gryphon suddenly swooped down from the sky and snatched the slug off the ground with its beak.
“At least I made him happy,” Lucy said with a shrug.
“That was excellent, Lucy,” Madame Weatherberry said. “A slug is an interesting improvement, but as I always say, beauty is in the eye of the beholder. Now that just leaves you, Brystal.”
Brystal took a step toward the twig and prayed she could find her own magic without Madame Weatherberry’s assistance. She closed her eyes and desperately tried to re-create the joyful sensation she had experienced the day before. After several moments of careful concentration, Brystal felt a hint of magic growing in the pit of her stomach. She focused on the feeling with all her might and willed it to grow stronger, all the while deciding which object she wanted the twig to become. She tried to think of something that would please Madame Weatherberry but also make Lucy feel better about her slug.
Think of a caterpillar… Brystal told herself. Think of a caterpillar.… Think of a caterpillar.… Think of a caterpillar.…
Instead of the twig turning into the adorable and plump caterpillar she was imagining, all the leaves on the maple tree above her suddenly transformed into large butterflies. The insects flew away from the branches, leaving the tree completely bare, and then moved through the property like a big fluttering cloud. Brystal, Madame Weatherberry, the other students, and the apprentices watched the butterflies in complete shock.
“My word,” Madame Weatherberry said. “That was quite the transformation.”
The fairy’s astonished gaze moved to Brystal and stayed there. She couldn’t tell what her teacher was thinking, but Brystal knew Madame Weatherberry was concerned and confused by the magic she had just witnessed.
“Class dismissed,” Madame Weatherberry said.
Brystal had trouble sleeping that night—not just because Lucy was snoring like a grizzly bear next door, but because she felt like a complete failure. Usually, Brystal looked forward to any opportunity to learn something new and productive, but since each lesson turned into another embarrassment, Brystal was starting to dread her time with Madame Weatherberry. If her magical incompetence continued, she worried her days at the academy would be numbered.
The next morning after breakfast, Madame Weatherberry led the children to a small horse stable at the side of the castle. However, instead of horses, the stable’s pens were occupied by magical creatures. In the first pen, there was a shoebox placed on a stool. The students peered into the box and saw a male pixie resting inside. Unfortunately, the pixie’s colorful wings had been torn off and lay in pieces beside him.
The second pen held two injured unicorns. The first unicorn sat on the floor with cracked and chipped hooves. The second unicorn’s horn was bent at the end like a crowbar. Both creatures looked horribly depressed, as if their egos were damaged along with their bodies.
In the third pen, a gryphon the size of a large dog lay on a pile of hay. His front claw was mangled and wrapped in a white bandage. He was hunched over and trembling from the pain the broken limb was causing him. Brystal didn’t know how long gryphons lived, but she assumed he was rather old for his species because most of his feathers had turned gray.
“Poor things,” Brystal said. “What happened to them?”
“The pixie flew too far from his flock and was attacked by an owl,” Madame Weatherberry said. “Pixies stay in large numbers to protect themselves. Without his wings, he’ll never be able to join his family and he’ll be much more susceptible to predators. The unicorns hurt themselves after they slid down a rocky cliff. Thankfully, their injur
ies aren’t critical, but unicorns are a prideful species and quite vain when it comes to their appearance. These two have been too ashamed to rejoin their herds ever since their incident. Sadly, the gryphon is in the third act of his life and his bones aren’t what they used to be. His front claw shattered after a rough landing. Just like birds, gryphon bones are hollow and become fragile as they get older.”
“Is this an animal hospital, then?” Xanthous asked.
“Indeed,” Madame Weatherberry said.
“Then where are the animal doctors?” Emerelda asked.
“We’re the animal doctors,” Madame Weatherberry said with a twinkle in her eye. “Today’s lesson will be your first foray into magical rehabilitation. The most profound ability the magical community possesses is the ability to heal those in pain. So this morning, you’ll each choose a wounded animal and use your magic to help relieve or heal their injuries. Tangerina, would you please give us an example?”
Tangerina approached the first pen with a cocky bounce in her step. She stood in a meditative pose with open palms, and closed her eyes to concentrate. A dozen bumblebees flew out of her hair and zoomed toward the injured pixie. The oncoming swarm terrified the pixie and he frantically tried to climb out of the shoebox. The bumblebees landed on top of the pixie and held him down as they used their stingers and honey to stitch and seal his wings back together.
In a matter of minutes, the pixie’s wings were as good as new and he blissfully fluttered into the air. The pixie hugged Tangerina’s face and expressed his gratitude in a high-pitched pixie language that sounded like gibberish to the students. Even more surprising, Tangerina apparently understood what the pixie was saying and replied, “You’re welcome,” in the strange tongue. The pixie flew out of the barn to reunite with his family, as the other students stared at Tangerina dumbfounded.
“What are you looking at?” she asked defensively.
“How did you know what to say to him?” Emerelda asked.
“Pixien is very close to Beenglish,” Tangerina said. “Everyone knows that.”
“Thank you, Tangerina,” Madame Weatherberry said. “Would anyone like to go next?”
“Umm, Madame Weatherberry? May I have a word?” Lucy said, and pulled the fairy aside. “Look, I really appreciate your intentions to teach me—you’re a swan among swine—but I don’t think I should participate in this lesson given my track record. These animals have been through enough already.”
“That’s a wise choice, Lucy,” Madame Weatherberry said. “I must confess, I had the same concern. That’s why there are only four creatures in the stable. You can be an observer for today’s lesson. Now that that’s settled, why don’t we have Emerelda go next?”
“Can I use my hands this time?” Emerelda asked.
“Absolutely,” Madame Weatherberry said. “There is no wrong way to heal.”
Emerelda inspected the animals and chose the unicorn with broken hooves. Leg by leg, she placed a hand on the steed’s damaged hooves and filled the cracks and chips with ruby. Once the hooves were fixed, Emerelda gave the creature diamond horseshoes to prevent the injuries from happening again. The unicorn happily trotted in circles around the stable and gave Emerelda a thankful neigh. He then raced outside to show off his glittery new feet to his herd.
“Outstanding, Emerelda!” Madame Weatherberry said. “And very clever!”
“I don’t get it,” Skylene said. “Why would you give a unicorn diamond shoes?”
“Because diamonds are one of the hardest materials in the world,” Emerelda said. “They’ll protect his feet if he slides down another cliff.”
“They’re tough and beautiful, just like you,” Madame Weatherberry said with a smile. “Xanthous, would you like to go next?”
Xanthous removed his Muter Medal with a little more confidence than he had in the previous days. He looked back and forth between the second unicorn and the gryphon as he decided which creature to help. Eventually, he selected the unicorn, who became alarmed by the fiery boy approaching her.
“It’s okay,” he whispered. “I think I know how to help you.”
By soothing the unicorn, Xanthous also soothed himself, and the flames covering his body diminished on their own. Once he gained the unicorn’s trust, Xanthous rubbed his hands together until they glowed with heat. He gently touched the unicorn’s horn and it softened in his warm grip. As if it was clay, Xanthous shaped the horn back into its natural position and then blew on it until it cooled down. The unicorn licked the side of Xanthous’s face and then she galloped out of the stable and rejoined the herd nearby.
“That was marvelous, Xanthous!” Madame Weatherberry exclaimed.
Xanthous was so proud he almost forgot to put his Muter Medal back on. Now that he was finished, all the attention was on Brystal. Her whole body went tense as she worried about how her magic might betray her during the assignment.
“Brystal, you’re always last but never least,” Madame Weatherberry said. “Can you assist the gryphon with his broken claw?”
“I’ll try my best,” Brystal said through a nervous smile.
She stepped into the third pen and knelt beside the injured gryphon. Brystal closed her eyes and willed the magical sensation to return to her core. Just like before, she summoned the feeling to grow stronger, but this time, she carefully kept it from getting too strong. Once her magic was bubbling at what she considered a steady level, she took the gryphon’s claw into her hand. Brystal imagined his bones healing, his pain fading, and his energy returning. She pictured the gryphon in the first act of his life, freely flying and landing wherever he wanted without the consequences of old age.
Just then, the gryphon stopped trembling and sat up much taller than before. He confidently puffed out his chest, looked around the stable with wide, vibrant eyes, and his feathers returned to their original auburn color. The gryphon chewed off his bandages and revealed a claw that was just as straight and strong as his other limbs. For the first time in a long while, the creature triumphantly stood on all fours.
“Oh my gosh,” Brystal said in amazement. “I healed him! My magic did what I wanted it to for once!”
“Congratulations, Brystal!” Madame Weatherberry said, and led her students into a round of applause. “I knew you had it in you. All you needed was a little practice, a little patience, a little perseverance, and everything would—”
Everyone went silent, because Brystal’s magic wasn’t over yet! After his claw was healed, the gryphon’s whole body started to shrink. The creature squawked in horror and tried to run and fly out of the stable, but its legs and wings became too small to carry him. The gryphon shrank to the size of an apple, and then an orange eggshell with black spots appeared around him. For a few seconds, the egg stayed perfectly still on the ground, but then it started to shake. The gryphon hatched from the egg and emerged as a featherless, gooey, and very confused newborn.
“You reversed his aging process?” Tangerina asked in astonishment.
“Can we even do that?” Skylene whispered to her friend.
Brystal’s classmates watched her like she was a magical creature herself, but one they were discovering for the very first time. She looked to Madame Weatherberry for reassurance, but only found the same troubled expression her teacher had worn the last time she conjured magic.
“That’s all for today, children,” Madame Weatherberry said. “Tangerina? Skylene? Please find the baby gryphon a safe home somewhere on the property. Brystal? Will you please join me in my office? I’d like to have a private word with you.”
Madame Weatherberry hurried out of the stable and Brystal followed. She couldn’t tell if she was in trouble or not, and as Brystal glanced back at her classmates’ long faces, she knew they couldn’t tell, either. Madame Weatherberry didn’t say a word to Brystal until they arrived in her office. She had a seat behind her glass desk and gestured for Brystal to sit across from her. Brystal was in the chair for less than five seconds when she abrupt
ly burst into tears.
“I’m so sorry, Madame Weatherberry!” she cried. “I’m trying so hard to follow your directions, but my magic doesn’t work like everyone else’s! Please don’t expel me from your academy!”
Madame Weatherberry did a double take at Brystal’s emotional display.
“Expel you?” she asked. “Good heavens! Why would I want to expel you?”
“Because my magic is obviously broken!” Brystal said. “I don’t have a specialty, I never complete your assignments correctly, and my magic always results in something I didn’t intend! If you’re going to change the world’s perspective on magic, you’re going to need students you can depend on, and you can’t depend on me!”
According to Madame Weatherberry’s puzzled expression, there was a lot she wanted to discuss with Brystal, but expulsion was not on the agenda.
“Brystal, it’s only your third day at the academy,” Madame Weatherberry said with a laugh. “No one is expecting you to be perfect except yourself. And seeking perfection is a side effect of the oppression you’ve endured. So let’s start our conversation by addressing that.”
“I don’t understand,” she said. “Are you saying the Southern Kingdom turned me into a perfectionist?”
“Just like many members of the magical community, at some point, society made you believe that your flaws were worse than anyone else’s flaws,” the fairy explained. “And now, consequently, you’ve convinced yourself that being flawless is the only way to gain approval. Having such impossible standards is no way to live life, and it’s certainly not the way to get an education. On the contrary, if you’re going to be successful at this academy, you need to embrace your flaws and learn from your mistakes, or you’ll never know what challenges you’re here to overcome.”
Brystal dried her tears. “So you haven’t called me into your office to expel me?”