Raven Grove Boarding School

Leaves fell from the large oak tree, sticking themselves to Natalie’s long, blonde hair. She stared blankly at her new place of residence, “Raven Grove Boarding School” she muttered to herself with an eye roll she had perfected by the age of 13. Every step toward the main entrance, crunched under her feet and the chilled breeze whipped her hair into her face. She opened the heavy door and stepped into the empty corridor where every sound echoed. To her right, the main office. A petite, silver haired lady sat too low behind the desk, she could barely see over it. She looked at Natalie over the top of her tiny glasses “Name?” the lady asked expectantly. 

“Natalie Rivera” she responded. 

I can’t believe my father sent me away, mom never would have wanted this for me. She thought. An ache filled her heart, memories of her mother had this effect. 

The woman interrupted her thoughts “This way Dear.”

Natalie tried to keep up with the woman but she moved rapidly for someone with such tiny legs. Finally, she stepped into her very own dorm room, “Meal schedule is pinned to your board, your class schedule is on the desk and if you have any questions just call 0 for the main office. And welcome to Raven Grove Boarding School”. The lady spun and was off just as quickly the way they came. Once again alone with her thoughts. Natalie was surrounded by people, hundreds of people, in the courtyard, in the dorms on either side of her, the cafeteria, the gymnasium, the entire campus bustling with people and yet, her heart hollow and her body and mind exhausted and weak. She was alone. She was abandoned. 

She spent the next two months purposely not studying, not participating and not doing any homework intending on being sent home or at least getting a visit or even a phone call from her dad. The idea of him sending her away even after losing his wife, nearly broke her. 

Why wouldn’t he want me around anymore?  

  When she turned in tests with no answers, they came back to her A’s. If she didn’t turn anything in at all, she would still get a paper back with an “A” marked in red ink. 

What is happening?

  When Natalie wasn’t in class, she was exploring the enormous campus which seemed to have something new around every corner each time she looked. One day, Natalie discovered a different part of the campus, a hidden room at the end of a dark corridor. A door that was different from the rest, arched solid wood with no little window unlike the classrooms. She tiptoed toward the door and gently twisted the knob but the door didn’t budge, locked. She released the knob staring at the door, thinking. 

A few seconds later as she began to turn and walk away, the door slowly creaked open a crack. She helped it the rest of the way and took in the inside of the room. The ceilings were higher in this octangular room than any other room in the school, and filled from floor to ceiling with shelves of books. There were empty tables spread across the front of the library for students to sit. A giant desk sat in the center of the octagon with the woman from the office. The woman looked at her above her tiny glasses and smiled. “Hello Dear, I wondered when you might visit. Welcome to the hidden library”. She whispered. Natalie had to remind herself to breathe, she looked around to see books flying at the tops of the shelves holding little feathery like objects. The books were dusting each other. A quiet vacuum oscillated at the back of the room on it’s own. Bouquets of dried flowers hovered upside down in the air, attached to nothing.

  The woman still stared at her taking in her baffled reaction. “Please, take a look around and let me know if you need anything dear.” the woman sat back down to read her book titled Teaching Potion Magic to Young Witches. Natalie, slowly made her way to the left of the library, she had never experienced something so…. enchanted. She wasn’t even sure this was real, she half believed this could be a dream or someone messing with her. She weaved in and out of each aisle, she read the genre labels, Herbology; Potions; Levitating; Protection spells; Divination. As she moved in and out of each passage, the scent of dust, paper and lavender filled her nose. A flying book dusting the lower shelves just missing her as she dodged it and bumped into a shelf behind her. She turned to put the books she knocked down, back in place but she was distracted by a light in the empty space. She peaked inside only to see a tiny fairy peering out at her with a sour face and her arms crossed. The fairy jabbed her finger pointing to the book and then back to the space it had been, silently gesturing to put it back where it was. Natalie did so right away. Wide eyed and heart racing, Natalie continued walking, perhaps a little faster now. She made her way back to the center to the desk. The librarian still sitting and reading looked up smiling again. “Well, what do you think?” She asked. 

“It’s absolutely fascinating. How do you make the books do that?” Natalie asked still convinced it wasn’t real. 

“Well magic of course!” the librarian replied. 

Skeptical. “And the fairy?” she whispered.

“Oh those… The fairies are not supposed to reside in the shelves but they sneak in from time to time.” she started slightly irritated. “I shall start charging them for rent! I am Mrs. Motts, by the way”. She giggled at her own joke and gestured for a hand shake.

“Nice to meet you Mrs. Motts. Why is the library the only place there is…. Magic?” 

“How about I make some tea and we sit and chat? Then, I can answer any questions you might have. Have a seat.” She gestured to a table at the front of the library. A few moments later Natalie saw two tea cups and saucers float to Mrs. Motts from what seemed like out of nowhere, followed by a teapot which then tilted and filled the cups with a steamy brown liquid. Mrs. Motts took the tea cups and brought them to the table where Natalie was already sitting. The librarian set the tea cups down and sat across from her. “Now. The library is not the only room in the school that has magic. In fact, it isn’t a room that has magic at all. It is the people within that carry the magic.” She explained. 

“What gives a person magic?” Natalie was intrigued, she wished she had magic all her childhood. She envied stories and movies where the characters found they had magic powers.

“Well, we all have it Dear.” Mrs. Motts said knowingly. 

“I don’t have it.” Natalie was sure she didn’t have powers or magic of any sort. She tried moving feathers with her mind or making her hands glow with light as a young child, it never worked. 

“Of course you do. You just need a teacher to teach you. It being your first year you are to focus on academics and if you get good grades, next year you start the magic classes. Your parents didn’t tell you about that before sending you here?” she asked.

This can’t be. A school for learning magic? Before today Natalie didn’t even know magic existed nevermind there would be a school which taught it and her father knowing this and sending her here? Impossible. “I doubt my father knew.”.

“Your father? Well no dear. Your mother is who enrolled you. She was a witch too, with impressive skills. She was a student here as well.” Mrs. Motts filled Natalie in with her mother's history. Dizzy with confusion and shock Natalie took a sip of tea. Warm, nutty flavors lingered on her tongue. The tea tasted almost familiar, comforting her like nothing else. Natalie and Mrs. Mott's stayed in the library talking well into the night until the bell rang for lights out. “Goodnight Mrs. Motts, and thank you for this.” her heart was full of gratitude for Mrs. Motts. This conversation changed her whole world and now she didn’t hate school or living here. 

“Thank you Natalie, for keeping an old woman company and good conversation.” Mrs. Motts replied. 

The very next day, Natalie attended her classes with a whole new perspective. Her eyes opened to the magic and mystery stuffed inside of every tiny nook and cranny of her new home. Things she couldn’t believe she’d missed at first, things that filled her heart and soul with excitement. She listened to her professors, she took notes, she participated and she studied….hard. Harder than she ever had. 

Out of the corner of her eye, a fairy was shoving herself inside of a vending machine, struggling to remove the chips ahoy package from the unit. “Hey! Come sit with us!” A girl from her Chem class called to her from a lunch table across the cafeteria. Natalie smiled, her heart fluttered, almost full enough to feel whole again. For a split second her chest filled with sorrow and loneliness, she wished she could write to her mother and thank her for this adventure. The sadness drifted as quickly as it took her to sit down at the table with her new friends. Friends. Happiness. Something she hadn’t had in an eternity.