“But…but I’m the one who helped you stop laughing,” Megan exclaimed, finding her voice at last.
Mrs. Hornsby looked down her nose at my Coven-mate, her nostrils flaring.
“That’s what you say anyway, but why should I believe you? How do I know you didn’t put that spell on me just so you could ‘rescue me’ from it and try to get a better grade? Well, it won’t work!” she exclaimed, before Megan could even answer. “You’re getting an F on your final project, Miss Latimer! And your little friend is too,” she added, sneering at me.
“Mrs. Hornsby, that is really unfair!” Megan cried. “Especially to Kaitlyn who just came into your class today. Surely you can’t give her and F—she’s not even a Sister or any other kind of Other—she’s a Norm! There’s no way she could have had anything to do with the spell that was put on that cake.”
“I don’t care what she is, the both of you are getting Fs for this entire unit,” the Home Ec teacher snarled. “And before you ask, no, I will not let you out of my class, Miss Latimer,” she went on, glaring at Megan. “You will be staying to learn how to sew. Though unless you can make a dress fit for a princess, don’t expect to pass the next unit either!”
Turning in a huff, she stomped out of the Headmistress’s office before Megan or I could protest, shooting us one last venomous glance over her shoulder as she went.
12
Kaitlyn
“Headmistress Nightworthy, this is completely unfair!” Megan exclaimed, appealing to the tall Nocturne as soon as Mrs. Hornsby was gone.
“Yes, Miss Latimer, I am aware,” the Headmistress said dryly. She frowned at Ms. Yasmeen, who was looking thoughtful. “I sense there is something else behind this—something other than the ‘cheer up’ spell you detected.”
“You could be right,” Ms. Yasmeen murmured. “I believe I did sense another spell on her—I think it might have been a ‘feel good’.”
“A feel good?” I asked, completely confused. I was taking a History of Magic class but it didn’t go into the minutia of all the millions of different spells the Sisters could perform.
“It’s a spell that makes someone have warm and affectionate feelings towards the person who casts it,” Ms. Yasmeen explained. “It’s not technically classed as black or bad magic because it does no direct harm, but it is extremely manipulative. It’s often used by politicians, for instance, to get a certain segment of the people they are trying to influence to vote for them.”
“It is?” Megan’s eyes widened. “I didn’t know some politicians were Others!”
“Oh my, yes.” Ms. Yasmeen nodded. “Just because the humans outnumber us Others is no reason for us not to mix among them. Sisters and Warlocks gravitate towards politics and Hollywood is filled with Faes—they’re so beautiful, you know—humans are very susceptible to beauty.”
“What about Drakes?” I asked, before I could stop myself. “Are some of them in the human world too?”
Ms. Yasmeen nodded. “Yes, certainly—they gravitate mostly towards the armed forces. Many of the greatest generals were Drakes. Napoleon was one and so, we believe, was Julius Caesar.”
“Nocturnes, of course, prefer to manipulate things from behind the scenes,” Headmistress Nightworthy said. “There are many of us in the world of high finance.” She frowned. “But speaking of manipulation, this spell—this ‘feel good’—as you pointed out, Ms. Yasmeen, is extremely manipulative. Do you think it is possible that Miss Rattcliff and her friends laid it on Mrs. Hornsby in order to insulate themselves in case their other spell was traced back to them?”
“That’s an extremely devious plan but yes, I wouldn’t put it past Nancy.” Ms. Yasmeen shook her head. “I know you want to rehabilitate her, Headmistress, but I’m afraid there is hardly anything good in that girl worth rehabilitating in the first place.”
“Ms. Yasmeen, please.” The Headmistress nodded to Megan and me. “You know it is never my policy to discuss one student in front of another.”
“Forgive me.” Ms. Yasmeen bowed her head briefly in apology.
“Forgiven.” The Headmistress nodded back.
“Excuse me, Headmistress, but do you want me to take that spell off Mrs. Hornsby too?” Megan asked. “I mean, so she can realize that Nancy put that cheer up spell on her and that Kaitlyn and I are not to blame?”
“Unfortunately, even magic as strong as yours cannot completely remove a deeply entrenched feel good,” Ms. Yasmeen said, before the Headmistress could answer. “A properly placed feel good spell will actually become part of an individual’s personality. It is almost like a kind of brainwashing—to the point that even if the person who cast the spell on them did something horrible or stupid or evil right in front of them, they would still love that person and ignore their misdeeds.”
Megan’s eyes widened. “I can see why it’s such a useful spell for politicians. If your constituents will forgive anything you do and vote for you no matter what, you could be the most corrupt, incompetent person on the planet and still stay in office. I mean…you could shoot somebody in the middle of a busy street and your voters wouldn’t even care!”
“That is exactly right, Miss. Latimer.” Ms. Yasmeen smiled at her. “You may have an F from Mrs. Hornsby, but please be assured you will be getting an A in my class this semester to balance it out.”
“But an F is terrible for your GPA!” Megan looked crestfallen. I knew that though she was no longer quite certain she wanted to go to graduate school and get a PhD in Fourteenth Century Literature, she liked to keep her possibilities open. Also, she was one of those people who are extremely concerned about their grades.
I was pretty worried about mine myself.
“I would rather not have an F either,” I said quietly but firmly, looking up at the Headmistress. “Especially when neither Megan nor I have done anything wrong to deserve it.”
Headmistress Nightworthy sighed.
“I’m well
