Trans Witch: College of Secrets Read online

  "Can I take this off now?" whined Melissa, from within the costume.

  "Not until someone answers me," said Hartman with a sly smile.

  The same guy in the front row asked, "Did you do it by making us focus on you more closely?"

  "Take off that gorilla costume, Melissa! Robert has got it exactly! No magic required, I've been pulling your attention and focus in on me. This is so important in this class; I can't undersell this point. If you want to do this kind of magic, you have to manage the other's attention and focus first!"

  A murmur of assent spread through the class.

  "Now!" said Hartman, clapping his hands once more. "By the same token, how do we defend against enchantments and charms?"

  Silence. No one volunteered an answer this time.

  "Very well. Robert, try to dazzle me with last week's spell and watch what I do."

  Robert stood up, seeming unsure of himself, but he looked Professor Hartman in the eye and snapped his fingers twice and said aloud, "Razzle dazzle!"

  A flash of light exploded from Robert's fingertips as he snapped, but Hartman stood grinning and bobbling at him, unfazed.

  "Well done! You've been practicing, I can tell! So, what did I do to resist your dazzling display?"

  Robert shrugged. "Did you look away?"

  Hartman nodded. "Yes! As soon as you raised your fingers to snap, I looked over your shoulder, rather than in your eyes."

  "But that's not fair," protested Robert. "You knew it was coming."

  "This is true! And we can't always be on the alert for tricks like this. But if you have an idea another wizard is going to use an enchantment against you, you've got to manage your own focus! Avoid direct eye contact. Manage their attention! Control the focus of the moment. This is the simplest defense, though of course there are more advanced means. If you don't get this most basic concept, though, the other defenses won't matter. You'll be lost before you can begin to resist. Got that?"

  Lily had to admit, the man had mastered the art of holding focus. Not one student in the room looked at a phone, all eyes were upon Hartman, and most of them seemed to hang upon his every word.

  She wished she'd had a teacher like him when she was in school; magic aside, this could be applied directly to her own teaching. At the same time, she realized she'd gotten caught up in the lesson, and hadn't even made a plan for looking for clues. What she wanted was to interview Professor Hartman after class.

  The class progressed into more arcane means of defense against enchantments and charms, and Lily lost her ability to focus since she lacked the background in magical studies to keep up. After much of the class time had passed, Hartman pulled out a small metal flask.

  "This should perhaps be called Enchanter's Bane because it contains the very essence of detached disbelief. One sip of this noxious fluid, and you'll dissociate to the point that enchantments slide right off you. You'll see through attempts to bamboozle and dazzle. Make no mistake, an enchanter will know you've got this going on once they try their spells on you since you'll have that thousand-yard stare and utter lack of focus. It can also be difficult to work your own magics while under the influence of the Elixir of Apathy. Your alchemy professor probably won't cover this stuff, but there are texts in the library that cover a couple of different versions of it."

  He set the metal flask down upon the podium.

  "So, wait," asked Robert, "Everything you teach in here can be ruined by that stuff? Why isn't it used more?"

  Hartman grinned. "Well, like I said, if you drink this, you can't focus either, so not only can't you do enchantments of your own, but you probably can't do any phantasms, and you surely can't do any levitation; spells take concentration! As does driving a car or operating a computer. It's an anti-enchantment, but its side effects make it almost useless in practice."

  "Sounds like booze," whispered Lily to Hannah. Hannah giggled but held a finger to her lips.

  "What was that? Did you have something to add, hmm, I don't think I know your name? The young lady next to Hannah Johnson?"

  Lily blushed and wished she could divert the class's sudden focus away from herself. "I'm Claudia, sir. I just wondered if alcohol would have a similar effect?"

  Hartman beamed at Claudia. "What an excellent question! Well, Claudia, I suppose alcohol, in sufficient quantities, might help diffuse your attention such that an enchanter might have trouble working magics on you, but at the same time, you would lose judgment and reasoning that would make you easier to manipulate. So, in summary, I wouldn't recommend it. Do we have other questions?"

  The questions from other students took up the rest of the hour, and it took nearly that long for Lily to get over her embarrassment.

  At the end of class, Professor Hartman gave out assignments from a textbook and wished them a good rest of the day.

  "Go talk to him!" said Hannah, in a low voice. "You need to see what he knows."

  Lily shook her head. "After earlier? I'm not sure—"

  "Do you want Penny back or not?"

  The temperature in the room seemed to rise. Lily knit her eyebrows and said, "What kind of a thing is that to say? Of course, I do!"

  "Then get to sleuthing, lady!" said Hannah, smiling as she gave Lily's shoulder a playful shove.

  Still irritated, Lily waited her turn to speak with Professor Hartman. Hannah wandered around the room, waiting on her.

  "Yes, Claudia! Did you have another question?" Professor Hartman seemed taller than Lily had thought, up close. He also wore too much cologne, but the scent wasn't entirely unpleasant.

  "I wonder if you knew Penny Shelley?" she began, feeling a little foolish.

  He frowned for the first time since she'd first seen him. "Why yes. I rather enjoyed her lectures when I could sit in on them. Is that why you're auditing my class?"

  Lily nodded. "Penny was—is—my aunt," she said. "She's been missing for weeks, and no one in the outside world seems to know what happened to her."

  Hartman's eyes narrowed. "And you happen to have magical ability?"

  She nodded. "I just discovered it recently but haven't gotten officially enrolled yet."

  "I don't remember you. I assume you've had the geas laid upon you?" he asked, raising an eyebrow.

  Lily rubbed her wrist and winced. "Oh yes. It was a blast. But I'm more worried about my aunt than anything else. Is there anything you can tell me?"

  Hannah touched her shoulder and whispered, "I'll be out in the hall, 'kay?"

  She slipped out before Lily could respond.

  Hartman folded his arms and stared at the ceiling. "I can tell you she was researching SOAM history. She seemed quite excited about some things she'd turned up regarding the Facets."

  "You mean the three Houses of SOAM?"

  He nodded. "Yes, though they're not just fraternal organizations, they're centers of magical types. For instance, Enchantment is primarily a Wyvern-centric magical path. She said this wasn't always the case, that things were rather more disorganized. She didn't see it that way, however, she saw it as, ah, what did she say? More holistic, that's it. More interconnected. But without specializing, we all must be generalists, don't we? That makes it difficult to progress unless you're a polymath."

  Lily shrugged. "I'm new to this, so I'll take your word for it."

  "Well, let's take you for example. In what way did your magic manifest?"

  "Me? I don't know that it has yet."

  His frown deepened. "Really. Then how did you discover you were magical, how did you become aware of SOAM?"

  She smiled. "I got lost. Or rather, I followed some people, and when they vanished, I closed my eyes and reached out with my other senses. When they led through a wall, I took a leap of faith and walked through it, with my eyes shut."

  "Splendid! That is a rare gift you have. Untrained talents, especially divination, are so difficult to master without training. Too bad that divination is discouraged by the Admini
stration."

  Lily blinked. "It is?"

  Hartman's eyes twinkled, his smile returning. "Why yes. Wouldn't do to have students knowing all the answers on the test without studying, would it?"

  "But if it's a legitimate form of magic—"

  He held up a finger. "We're out of time, my next class will be arriving in moments. I don't have time to go over why the policies were set. I will tell you this; I don't agree with all of them. Many wizards don't."

  Lily sighed. "I got sidetracked, anyway. Professor Hartman—"

  "Miles," said the professor.

  "Um, yes, Miles. Do you know anything about Penny's disappearance?"

  He looked her straight in the eye and she felt just a little dizzy. His lips moved, but she didn't hear the words he said out loud. But in her head, she heard him say, "Only the Administration knows. Be careful, they are dangerous. Do not cross them."

  Lily squinched her eyes closed and opened them again, and the dizzy feeling passed. Hartman was still nattering on about having seen her last in the dining hall, nothing useful.

  Lily thanked him and excused herself. She found Hannah out in the hallway, bouncing up and down on the balls of her feet. "What's with you?"

  Hannah took her hand again and led her off at a brisk pace. "Come on! Before he notices!"

  "Notices? Notices what?"

  Hannah laughed. "All that talk about manipulating focus, and I managed to snag this right out from under his nose!"

  In her hand, Hannah showed Lily a little potion flask, the Elixir of Apathy, that Professor Hartman had shown the class.

  Chapter Twelve

  "I can't believe you stole that from him! He seems so nice! Why would you do that, Hannah?" Lily might look like a twenty-year-old college student, but her mid-forties body struggled to keep up as Hannah more or less dragged her by the hand down the hallway at a dash.

  Hannah laughed. "Well, I figured you might need it later. You're defenseless since you don't know how to use magic."

  "I mean, you're not wrong, but stealing?"

  "Oh, he can charm another one out of Professor Stout. She doesn't know better than to use her own potions to keep him from getting his way."

  Hannah slipped the little flask into Lily's purse. "And if you don't end up needing it, I'll just reverse-steal it back!"

  Lily found that Hannah had led them to the atrium of portals where she had first entered SOAM. From there, her friend's pace slowed to a more normal speed, much to Lily's relief.

  "When we go in Basilisk, please try to be cool," said Hannah, stopping next to a bright gold portal.

  "What? I'm cool!" protested Lily.

  Hannah grinned. "Yeah, sure, I think you're cool. The rest of the QQ thinks you're cool. But if you go around gawping at everything, they're going to ask questions. Just follow my lead."

  "Wait, wait. So, if I have to be quiet, how am I going to look for clues there?"

  Hannah shrugged. "IDK. I don't honestly think there's going to be anything to find out there. Penny's never been in Basilisk. I'm not even sure she's been in any of the Facet dorms. I know she never pledged to any of them."

  "So, how's that work, pledging? Or not?"

  "Well, if you get drawn to a school of magic, you often want to join the Facet related to it. It's not required or anything, and lots of students aren't joiners. Like Jesse. I tried to get her to join Basilisk, and I know Aiden nags her to pledge to Drake. She just likes going it alone. Like Penny. But I think that's maybe because of you."

  "Me?"

  Hannah nodded. "Yeah. She used to seem aloof to me, but I realized it's because she has more of a life outside of SOAM. Always telling people she can't make this social event, or eat with them in the dining hall, because she wanted to go home to spend time with you."

  Lily blushed, and tears threatened once more.

  Hannah hugged her. "Hey, hey now. I'm sorry."

  "N-no, you don't get it. I love hearing that, even if it just makes me miss her all the more."

  Hannah held Lily at arms' length and looked her in the eyes. "I promise, we'll find her."

  Lily nodded and wiped at her eyes. "Okay. Let's go."

  Hannah led Lily through the portal, which opened up into a hot, humid, unfinished tunnel lined with insulated pipes and metal conduits.

  "Don't worry, it's not far through here," said Hannah.

  "It must be a hundred degrees in here!" said Lily, sniffing at the dusty air with disapproval.

  "A hundred and twenty," said Hannah with a wink. "It'll get down to a hundred in the middle of winter."

  While the tunnel continued ahead, lit by bare lightbulbs, Hannah led her down a dark side tunnel. Ten feet in, the darkness lifted as though they'd parted a heavy blackout curtain. The temperature dropped by at least forty degrees all at once. Lily looked behind her to see the darkness still intact, but ahead, she saw a massive metal door with a triangle spray-painted in gold on it.

  "This is it?" asked a rather dubious Lily.

  Hannah laughed. "It's just camouflage. Welcome to Basilisk!"

  With that, Hannah opened the door and led Lily inside.

  "Why hello! What have you brought me today, hmm?" The young man who greeted them wore a silk bathrobe, slippers, and a sloppy grin on his dusky, moon-like face. His wavy hair, colored green, flopped over to reveal a stubbly undercut, and his ears held so many dangly earrings, Lily couldn't count them all.

  "What? Um, hello?" stammered Lily.

  "Rene!" scolded Hannah.

  The young man waggled his eyebrows and offered a hand to Lily. "Rene Abbas, at your service, delicious!"

  Hannah interposed herself between Lily and Rene. "Her name's Claudia, Rene. She's Professor Shelley's niece. She's mine. Paws off."

  Rene cackled. "Ah, but I know you share," he said, still staring at Lily, who decided she wanted a shower after meeting this oily person.

  "I share with people I like, doofus."

  Rene held a hand to his chest. "You wound me! I thought we were besties!"

  Hannah smiled, "You're okay. Just leave Claudia alone. She's only just gotten here."

  "I'm not pledging here or anything," added Lily.

  Rene sighed and got out of their way. "Alas. The best ones always go to Drake."

  Hannah warned him with a finger. "Now Aiden, you might have a chance with."

  "Really?"

  Hannah laughed. "Well, you'd have to convince Cam and Jesse to share with you."

  Rene's face fell. "Jesse hates me."

  "Hate is such a strong word. She just wants you to lay off hitting on her. She doesn't swing that way."

  "I don't think she swings any way," said Rene.

  "Exactly. Or at least, not in a way you'd understand. She's subtler and deeper than that."

  "You have my interest," said Rene.

  "Anyone with a pulse would have your interest."

  "Hey!"

  Lily held up a hand. "Can we just come in?"

  Rene swept an arm to take in the room. "Be my guest!"

  Slipping past Rene, Lily recognized the architecture as being quite old, and subterranean. They stood in a large open area, punctuated by support pillars at intervals. Ancient leather couches and armchairs littered the room, accompanied by dark wooden tables. Students lounged, poring over books, or just sleeping. "Are we in the basement of the Union building?"

  Hannah nodded, smiling. "Good eye! Sub-basement, actually."

  "But there is no sub-basement."

  "Well, none that mundanes can ever find," said Hannah, with a wink.

  "So, you just live below the Union?"

  "Yup. Think of it as an underground dorm floor."

  In the middle of the enormous room, a golden inlay five feet across depicted a triangle containing what Lily thought must be a Basilisk, its dragon's head and snake eyes peering at Lily with suspicion. Hannah steered her around the great seal. "It's considered bad luck to
step on the Basilisk. And believe me, in SOAM, we take bad luck very seriously!"

  Lily stared at the seal and would swear the eyes of the gold inlaid creature followed her. "I get the feeling it doesn't want me here."

  "Really? That's strange. You're a guest, and we're all about hospitality here."

  "I can tell," said Lily.

  "Don't mind Rene. He's all bark and no bite. Well, unless you're into that kind of thing, then I'm sure he'd be happy to oblige."

  "Hasn't anyone ever pointed out how obnoxious it is to hit on women like that?"

  "Oh, it's not just women. But yeah, He doesn't take the hint. You have to push harder."

  "He'd better be careful, or in the real world, he'll get a sexual harassment suit slapped on him."

  Hannah nodded. "Definitely. I mean, this is the real world, too, you know."

  "I meant outside of academia, not just SOAM."

  Hannah grinned. "He's a slimy jerk, but he's harmless. And he's ours. Basilisk keeps him in line. He's just a lot bolder here in the living room. It's... hmm, it's a bit more open than you're used to. No definitely means no, even Rene knows that. But this is the social area. We Basilisks... mingle."

  "Jeez, I hope you have birth control spells and all that."

  Hannah laughed. "That's an old-fashioned thing to say. We use medical contraception like anyone else. Magical means aren't as reliable or safe. But if you're interested, there are magical enhancements—"

  Lily held up a hand. "I don't want to know."

  Hannah pulled Lily down into the embrace of a plush leather couch.

  "Now you've done it. I'm going to need help getting back up off this couch," said Lily.

  "Good. We'll rest here a bit, and then you can figure out what you want to do next."

  Lily peered at Hannah. "So, what's up with divination being forbidden?"

  "I mean, they're not going to take away your tarot cards if that's what you're into. Just, deeper study into it is strongly discouraged. It's not taught here."

  "Not anymore," said Rene, who had appeared by the side of the sofa. He planted his bottom on the arm next to Lily. The silk of his robe made him slide off, so he settled for leaning.

  "Rene—" Hannah started to scold him.