Big blue eyes peered back from the mirror strapped to the wall.
Taylor didn’t like mirrors. Every time she looked into one, there was a sense she wasn’t who she was supposed to be. She kept expecting to see a wide, thin mouth, luxurious curly raven hair and expressive brown eyes. Instead, what always greeted her was the same old baby-blues and blonde curls.
Maybe the issues were the nightmares. Taylor had, since she could remember, these strange dreams where the brunette with the same bug powers as her did unspeakable things in the name of doing good.
But mirrors! A last check to make sure she hadn’t smudged anything and she was ready, dressed in the silly black robes without the silly pointy hat.
“Taylor, sweetie, we’re going to be late if we don’t leave now.”
Right, it was finally time for magic school! A month flew by in a blink of many eyes.
Much like her dreams of being some long lost secret daughter of magical emperor king, her dreams of mastering all the magic before school even started were thwarted by complications.
Complication one: Taylor’s pronunciation was horrible. After suffering with the Wingardium Leviosa spell for a whole day, pronouncing the incantation wrong, mum took pity on her and helped with the words. It was one of those spells that were so commonplace that even she knew the words from hearing it from dad swishing the wand at home to move things without leaving the couch, the lazy bones.
Even with the correct words, Taylor got waylaid by another spell: Lumos. This one was simple and easy. Took about a day to master so she could keep trying her other spells under covers and pretend she was sleeping when mum told her to go to bed.
After Lumos, she finally managed a twitch of the feather with the levitation charm and having spent so long with those two (a whole two full days!), Taylor decided to take a break from spell-casting and check the other material.
She devoured the other course books, reading and re-reading things. When that wasn’t enough, Taylor cheated. Her visit to the magic market presented her with an opportunity that she couldn’t pass up. There were strange bugs and bug-like creatures that had sight and hearing almost as good as humans. So, of course Taylor nixed a few of them, hiding them under her clothes, among her hair and even inside the school trunk.
The rule about not bringing bugs into the house didn’t apply in this case. She wasn’t even sure these were bugs.
So, now, with the help of her helpers, a few books scattered open and tiny hands flipping pages, Taylor read, and read, and read. By reading, she finally found what her new pets were. Doxies and Pixies.
Doxies were the meanest of the bunch. Even under her absolute control, Taylor could feel their desire to bite and to eat and to tear. Their bites were nasty and the venom nastier still. Eight limbs into a tiny murder package was enough to spook Taylor into keeping just a single of the things. It was best not to risk it, after all. She named it Bity.
The other ones, her new favorite were the pixies or Cornish Pixies to be exact. They were a pretty shade of electric blue with pointed faces and shrill voices. They were bigger than the doxies. About eight inches which had made smuggling them from the alley hard. She managed only two. Dee and Dum. Contrary to the doxie, the pixies seemed to bask in her control. After a few days, Taylor released Dee from her control and instead of going rabid like she was expecting, Dee just flew and sat on Taylor’s shoulder, looking at everything like it was seeing it for the first time.
With her new helpers, Taylor could read books all day long. Even when watching the telly with mom, or cooking, or talking or using the loo.
Bity, Dee and Dum were more than happy to eat bugs which made them easy to keep around fed and content, or less murderous, in Bity’s case.
Complication two: Taylor read each book at least thrice, expending more time than was actually helpful on Lockhart’s books. Those were amazing fantasies, but they weren’t instruction books, just pure fantasy. That left her confused on why a magic school required fantasy literature, but maybe she was missing something cultural here.
Regarding spells, she mastered four of the charms in her book. Lumos and Nox. Wingardium and Reparo. Reparo hadn’t been something Taylor was planning to learn so soon, but going around the house fixing small things and making mum smile was more than worth the whole week of practice it took to fully master it.
Clad in school robes sans pointy hat (that one was a bit too much), Taylor skipped down the stairs, illegal friends hiding under the folds of her robes.
Mum was waiting by the door, Nap napping in her cage, trunk packed and ready.
“Do you remember the rules?” Mum asked before they could leave the house.
Taylor rolled her eyes. “Yes, mum.” If her voice came out whiny, it wasn’t her fault.
Mum shook her head, kneeling in front of Taylor.
“I won’t be there if anything happens, little owl.”
“But mum!”
“No buts.” Mum said in a mock stern voice. “Now, recite them to me.”
Taylor huffed, but did as asked.
“Never let anyone know about my superpower, not even best friends.”
Mum was already nodding, but Taylor didn’t agree with this one, not anymore. It made sense when she was the only one with magic out there, but now there was a whole new community of magicals, there was no need for secrets anymore.
“But mum, we don’t need to hide anymore. There’s magic out there!”
Mum’s look was complicated. She shook her head.
“You are special, little owl, and the things you can do. No one likes to have their secrets spied on. Letting people know what you can do will only cause trouble.”
“But mum!”
“No buts.” Mum said. “What is the next rule?”
Taylor stomped her feet but complied. “No spying on friends and family.”
Mum smiled and kissed the top of Taylor’s head. Taylor, of course, pretended she didn’t like it, squirming (not too hard) under her grasp.
“What’s the next one?”
“No setting my bugs on bullies, even if they deserve it.”
“And why is that?” mum asked, eyes piercing.
Taylor squirmed for real now. She looked at anything but her mum. “We don’t want another ant incident,” she mumbled.
Gentle arms wrapped around Taylor. “I’ll miss you, sweetie.”
Taylor buried her face on her mother’s clothes and mumbled. “I can stay if you want.”
Even with her eyes hidden, Taylor could hear the smile on mum’s voice. “None of that. You go and make friends and have fun. If you miss me, you can always have Nap deliver letters.”
Taylor nodded. They stayed like that for a few more moments, before mum broke the hug.
“Off we go, or we’ll miss the train.”
Platform 9 ¾ had been a mystery mum refused to spill. Taylor had never heard of a platform number in fraction, so magic shenanigans were certain.
Mum, that traitor, watched bemused while Taylor gawked. It hadn’t been hard to figure out the secret. A fly in each person around, and when groups of people started disappearing for no reason, she led mum toward the spot in question.
What Taylor hadn’t expected was to see madmen running toward a wall and just… vanishing. Like magic.
“That's it?” Taylor asked, still not believing it.
All around, normal people busied by with their normal lives, no one even glancing at the people-swallowing-wall.
“How?” She blurted out.
Mum’s voice was deep and full of mirth. “Magic!”
“Mum!”
Annette laughed. A few passersby looked in their direction, but soon lost interest.
“Well, what are we waiting for? It is just a wall.”
Mum was having far too much fun with this, but Taylor wasn’t going to back down because of a wall. She girded her loins, prepared for battle, made sure her stowaways were secure, and pushed the trolley forward. She kept her eyes wide open, certain something bad would happen.
It didn’t.
Taylor passed through the wall and on the other side was a whole new station. A marvelous red train sat on the tracks. Gentle white smoke poured out. The platform was abuzz with kids and parents and official looking people walking about. There were children inside the train, waving to their parents from the windows, there were children crying in their parents' robes: some because they were leaving for school, others because they weren’t.
“It’s magical, isn’t it?”
Mum looked as awed as Taylor felt.
“Let’s go find you a seat. I doubt you’ll be able to manage your trunk alone.”
Taylor nodded absentmindedly, following her mum into the train and to the first free compartment they found. She noticed that not everyone had come dressed in school robes. The ones that did, Taylor guessed, were children of magicals. They had the look and attitude. Those dressed in casual clothes were most likely those like her, who lived away from Magical Britain.
Inside the train compartment, trunk safely stowed away, and Nap napping on her favorite spot, Taylor felt hands holding her into another gentle hug.
“You have fun and make friends, alright?”
Taylor nodded. She couldn’t speak even if she wanted to. Her throat felt full and her eyes stung. It was only when the door opened that Taylor managed to regain her balance. “Love you, mum.” She whispered, wiping her eyes. There was some dust here and it kept entering her eyes. So unfair.
Mum kissed her forehead again, gave her one last hug and then left, after nodding toward the newcomer.
The interloper was a blonde girl with protuberant silvery eyes that followed Taylor’s mum until she was out of sight.
“I like your mum,” the girl said in a dreamy voice, eyes like she was looking into faraway distance. “She's nice.”
Taylor smiled. She didn’t even notice she was doing it. “She’s the nicest.”
Blondie turned back to Taylor, smiling dreamily. “Hullo. I’m Luna.”