‘Mulberry Academy of Magic. The oldest school of magic in the country. Some of our best and brightest found their origins in those walls’

‘We are aware’ Mr. Dee continued, his voice raised slightly as there was an outbreak of murmuring among the children ‘that most of you already have plans. But Mulberry Academy is one of the finest schools in the country. And the wizard is one of the most esteemed roles today.’

One girl raised her hand.

‘Yes?’ Mr. Dee asked.

‘Doesn’t it cost a lot to go?’ she asked

Mr. Dee nodded.

‘Many years ago, it was noticed that all the students came from the city, or were the children of company owners, politicians, lords, and the like. When asked why, it turned out people were paying their children’s weight in gold to attend. What were the poor farmers and factory workers to do?’

He looked around, as if expecting an answer.

‘The Academy needed money to run, but they didn’t want magic to become an upper-class pastime. And so, the King James Scholarship was born to give students with lesser means a fair chance.

Of course, it couldn’t afford to send everyone to the Academy. So, every year, the scholarship finds the best and brightest from every small village, every hamlet, and offers them the chance to walk the road to become wizards.’

‘And that’s what we’re here to talk to you about today. To offer two of you a fully paid ride at the oldest and most magical school in the country. Now, I’ll let Miss Janet from the Ministry of Education take it from here.’

The woman in the suit stepped forward. Unlike Mr. Dee, she launched straight into what was obviously a prepared speech.

‘The King James Scholarship will be offered to two students from this school. In order to determine them, we will be conducting an exam in one week’s time. The top two scoring students will be offered the scholarship’

‘The exam is open to anyone from this town aged 10 or 11. For the two of you who succeed, you will be informed approximately two weeks past the exam date’

She paused.

‘I should mention that this exam should not be taken lightly. Mulberry Academy is not for the faint of heart. For those who succeed, a long, hard road lies before them. Many have sat where you are now only to fail because they underestimated the path to becoming a wizard. If you wish to take part, fill out a form and hand it in to your teacher by the end of the day. But think carefully. If you are not prepared to struggle, you had better off stay where you are’

This sobering speech was met with silence, which was eventually broken by Mrs. Kendall clapped and looking at them expectantly. Awkwardly, a few students followed her lead, and even that stopped quickly.

Janet, however, had apparently said all she had to say, and had hopped off the stage to sit smartly down on one of the benches lining the walls.

Even Mr. Dee seemed slightly put off.

‘Well, there you have it’ he said ‘We’ll be handing out forms as you leave. If you want to participate hand it in to your teacher by 3pm’

He smiled slightly

‘I hope to see some of you in my class next year. Good luck to you all’

*

‘Do all wizards dress like him, do you think?’ Jacob asked.

They were sitting at their usual table in the library. Jacob was doodling on some refill paper. Oliver had a book open, but Deadly Disasters, a look at the past 50 years, didn’t seem as interesting as what had happened earlier.

‘Who knows? It’s not like I’ve seen on before’ Oliver put his book down ‘What do wizards even do?’

‘Cast spells? Pull rabbits out of hats? They keep to themselves apparently. Hoard all information on magic as well, so you won’t find any book on it here’ Jacob glanced up

‘But you already tried that, right?’

It was true. Oliver had already searched the shelves for any information on wizards, magic, or Mulberry Academy. All he could find was 101 Magic Tricks to Wow your friends!

Which didn’t seem promising, but he read it anyway.

They had all been given a form as they had left the hall. Mr. Dee and Janet had handed one to each student as they left through the door.

As Hannah took one from Janet, Oliver had seen her ask something. Janet had looked at her curiously before shaking her head.

It was 1 in the afternoon by then. They had been given the rest of the day to think about it.

Most kids had taken it as a cue to rush off to the rugby field.

Hannah had sat down on the grass with her friends.

And Oliver and Jacob had secluded themselves in the library.

‘So… what are you going to do?’ Oliver asked

‘My parents are set on me going to Whitecliffes’ Jacob rolled his eyes ‘Not much point me entering, is there?’

‘I thought if we both entered, we could both go together’ Oliver suggested hopefully.

‘We’d both have to win’ Jacob reminded him ‘‘Sides, do you really wanna be a wizard when you grow up?’

‘I haven’t really thought about it’ Oliver admitted ‘Emily wants to be a chef one day, but I’ve no idea’

‘Librarian?’ Jacob suggested ‘You practically live in here anyway’

Oliver looked over at the school librarian sitting at her corner desk. Her gnarled hands were grasped around the stamp she was using on a teetering pile of new books. In a too vigorous movement, she stamped her own hand which was holding the page down. With an audible sign, she lifted her now blue fingers to examine them. As she did so, her elbow knocked the pile of books, causing a few to fall to the floor. Muttering, she bent to pick them up.

‘I’ll think about it’ Oliver said

*

The librarian shooed them out an hour later after the Year 1 children came in for silent reading. With nothing else to do, they wandered back to their classroom.

‘I’m gonna miss that place’ Jacob said fondly ‘No other students actually in reading, so we get the place to ourselves’

He groaned ‘I’ll probably have to fight for a metre of space next year’

‘At least Whitecliffes actually has a library’ Oliver sighed ‘Emily says the library at her school was shut down because students lit a fire in there. Twice.’

‘What do they do when they need a book?’

‘Fill out a form’

Oliver paused. The application form in his bag was still blank. Surely Mulberry, a school for wizards, would have a library…

Jacob, whose thoughts were obviously running along the same lines, said ‘The wizards must keep a ton of magic books at Mulberry library’

They were crossing the playground in front of their classroom. Underneath a tree, some metres off, Hannah’s gang sat chattering in the shade. A couple watched the boys’ progress.

‘You know what?’ Jacob said as they reached the classroom steps.

‘What?’ Oliver asked

‘You should enter that scholarship’

Oliver nearly missed a step. He stared at Jacob.

‘You’ve got to be kidding me’ he said

Jacob shrugged ‘You’re just as likely to get it than any of the other idiots at this school’

He looked at Oliver

‘What? Do you want to go to the high school?’

‘Of course not’ Oliver sat down on the top step ‘But a wizard?’

‘They never said you had to become one’ Jacob pointed out

‘Surely they’d expect you to. Why else spend all that money?’

‘Check the form then’ Jacob sat down next to him

Oliver hefted his book bag up onto his knees, unzipping it. He rummaged inside for a few moments before pulling out the now slightly crumpled application form.

Jacob peered over his shoulder as he scanned the sheet of paper.

‘Five fully paid for years at the Mulberry Academy of Magic’ Oliver read out ‘The successful candidate will learn the arts of magic alongside an advanced high school education. The secrets of wizards will be secrets to them no more’

‘See?’ Jacob said triumphantly

‘See what?’ Oliver asked with raised eyebrows

‘No mention of actually having to become a wizard’

‘The secrets of wizards?’ Oliver tapped the form ‘I don’t know, it seems unlikely they’d want them known by any sheep shearer or bus driver’

The bell rang right above them, making them both jump. It was afternoon break. Children started to spill out from the other classrooms.

Oliver stood up, hoisting his bag as he did so.

‘I’m going back to the library; it should be empty by- ‘

But he was interrupted by a tearing sound at his waist.

He looked down to see his book coming apart at one of the seams. Pencils, books, his lunch, were all spilling down the steps.

‘Damn’ he muttered, quickly swooping down to scoop up his unfinished maths homework. He hoped fervently, as Jacob bent down to help, that none of the other kids saw.

‘What are they doing !?’

Of course they did.

Oliver knew who the shrill voice belonged to before he even looked up.

Sophie was standing over them, hands on her hips, and her usual sneer.

Behind her, the rest of the gang clustered.

‘He’s eating off the ground’ one of them snorted, pointing at the remains of his lunch.

‘Bet he’s used to it’ Sophie cackled ‘His father probably had to sell the table for food. What do you do? Huddle on the floor over plain bread and chips?’

It occurred to Oliver that once upon a time, he might’ve gotten angry at this point. But now the insults just washed over him, with the dead acceptance of repetition.

‘What’s this?’

Sophie bent down and picked up something glossy from underneath his library book.

It was the copy of Belle.

The girls stared at it for a moment before they all burst out into shrieking laughter.

‘Looks like Oliver’s got a secret side!’ one squealed.

‘Makeup tips?’ Sophie flicked through it ‘or the winter selection?’

‘Give that back’ Jacob angrily made a grab for the magazine.

Sophie ducked away, still skimming through.

‘He’s marked ‘Dating Advice’’ she laughed ‘Trying to put the moves on Jacob?’

Oliver suddenly felt the application form snatched out of his hands.

Hannah was running her eye down it with a raised eyebrow.

‘You don’t need to fill one of these out’ she said ‘Just send them a picture of your house. They’ll be so sorry for you, they’ll let you in’

She made a sudden movement, and for a moment Oliver thought she was going to rip it in half.

But then Miss Wilson’s voice rang out from the classroom.

‘No hanging around the stairs during break, please’

Hannah glanced in the direction of the door, then screwed the paper up into a ball and tossed it at Oliver before running off.

Sophie dropped the magazine, as she and the rest of the girls quickly made after her.

Slowly, Oliver picked it up and tucked it, rolled up, into a side pocket of his bag along with everything else.

‘Can your dad fix it?’ Jacob asked, examining the split.

Oliver shrugged ‘Probably’

Jacob looked sideways at him. ‘So, the magazine…’

‘It’s Emily’s’ Oliver said quickly

‘Yeah, that makes sense’ Jacob was visibly relieved. He bent and picked up the balled-up application form.

‘At least nothing else is broken’

Oliver nodded, but he wasn’t really listening. He was looking at the piece of paper in Jacob’s hand.

One thing was clear to him now.

He was not going to go to the same school as Hannah. He’d had enough. He wasn’t going to let her make his high school life miserable as well.

And if that meant becoming a wizard, then so be it.