Not able to put off the inevitable any longer, Alexandra entered her house. Her mother was standing by the door. She'd changed out of her nurse's scrubs, but Archie was sitting in the living room, still in his police uniform. Both of them stared at Alexandra, soaking wet, with algae in her hair, blood welling up from the cuts on her cheek, and as smelly as she had been the night before last. Someone else was sitting in the living room as well.
Their guest was a tall woman with jet black hair, as straight as Alexandra's but much longer. She was wearing a crisp white jacket and knee-length skirt and painfully high heels. Rings glittered on her fingers. There was a silver watchband and several bracelets around her wrists, and a matching silver chain around her neck. Alexandra wouldn't exactly have called her beautiful, but she was very handsome, with perfect chiseled features, high cheekbones, a sharp nose and an angular chin now raised in Alexandra's direction. She was holding a saucer in one hand and a cup of coffee that Archie must have brewed for her in the other.
“You must be Alexandra,” she said.
Alexandra nodded.
“Alex... what... where...?” Her mother was on the verge of sputtering incoherently.
“It looks as if you've had a bit of an adventure,” the woman said, nodding at Alexandra's muddy clothes.
“I guess,” Alexandra said. She wasn't sure what to say, but she wasn't being yelled at, so for the moment she was more than willing to drag out introductions.
“Alex...” Her mother took a deep breath. “This is Ms. Grimm.”
“Nice name,” Alexandra thought. “Hi,” she said. Absently, she realized she was still wearing her bracelet, and thrust her hands behind her back, hoping her mother hadn't noticed.
“It's a pleasure to meet you, Alexandra,” said Ms. Grimm. She smiled, but Alexandra got the impression that smiling was something artificial and decorative Ms. Grimm did, like putting on her jewelry. “Perhaps you'd like to go upstairs and clean up a bit, and then we can all chat?”
“That's a good idea,” said her mother, in a tone that reminded Alexandra of Bonnie's voice when the pond-creature was squeezing her neck.
“Okay,” Alexandra said. She didn't take her eyes off of Ms. Grimm as she headed for the stairs, even though she knew she shouldn't stare. It was easier to look at her than at her mother or her stepfather, though, and Ms. Grimm merely met Alexandra's gaze without blinking, and did not seem to mind being scrutinized.
Alexandra took a long time in the bath. She poured half a bottle of bubble bath into the tub, and lathered up her hair and rinsed it out three times, but after drying off, she still imagined she could detect the faint smell of algae and dead fish. She put on a clean shirt and one of her few pairs of pants that didn't have ragged cuffs or holes, white socks, and a pair of sandals, after placing her wet shoes on her windowsill to air out. Then she headed back downstairs. She took very careful steps, trying to be quiet, so she could overhear whatever the adults were talking about, but almost immediately Ms. Grimm said loudly, in a cheerful tone, “Alexandra, please come join us!”
When Alexandra reentered the living room, Ms. Grimm was still sitting where she had been before. Her mother had now taken a seat next to Archie on the sofa, and no longer looked as if she were about to engage in histrionics, but her expression was still mingled outrage and disbelief as she regarded her daughter. Archie just looked rather blank.
“Well, perhaps now we can be introduced properly,” Ms. Grimm said, and she held out her hand. Alexandra took it. The woman's fingers were long and bony, and she had exquisitely manicured nails. “My name is Lilith Grimm, but you may call me Ms. Grimm, and if your parents agree to accept the scholarship that's been offered to you, you will be calling me Dean Grimm.”
“Scholarship?” Alexandra repeated. So far, everything about today had been unexpected and disorienting. She knew she probably seemed rather stupid just now, giving one-word answers and looking confused, but it felt as if she'd been kicked around as thoroughly as Billy Boggleston's friend Tom. And she hadn't even been yelled at yet.
“That's right.” Ms. Grimm smiled again. “I am the Dean of the Charmbridge Academy. It's a very exclusive school for gifted young men and women such as yourself, and I'm pleased to inform you that you're being offered a full scholarship, to be renewed annually so long as you maintain the required level of academic progress.”
Alexandra's mind was still whirling. She'd always gone to Larkin Mills Elementary School, and while she was a decent student, she was hardly an academic superstar, and she didn't remember ever applying for any scholarships. Her parents had never discussed private school, ever. Even if they had wanted to send Alexandra to a private school, the cost would have been out of the question.
“I've never heard of Charmbridge Academy,” she said.
“Very few people have. As I said, it's very exclusive. In fact, generally the only people who ever hear of it are those who've qualified for admission.” Her smile remained firmly in place, but Alexandra could tell that Ms. Grimm was studying her closely, as if she might reveal by her reaction that she really wasn't suitable after all.
For the first time since returning home, Alexandra actually looked at her mother and her stepfather. They seemed as stunned as her. She licked her lips, then said, “What kind of a school is it? How am I... gifted?”
“I'm wondering that myself,” Archie said. Claudia elbowed him, but Alexandra didn't even notice, because there was a look that passed between her and Lilith Grimm, and Alexandra suddenly felt certain that Ms. Grimm knew. And it bothered her that Ms. Grimm knew, though she wasn't certain why.
“Well,” the Dean of Charmbridge Academy said, after a short pause during which she never took her eyes off of Alexandra, and then she broke eye contact with the girl and turned to look at her parents. “As you know, children are tested throughout the year, on a variety of subjects. Sometimes the results of those tests show an extraordinary aptitude for certain subjects, and when we find out that a child is gifted in certain areas, we want to make sure he or she is given every opportunity to develop those gifts. Charmbridge Academy is the finest private school of its kind in North America. I can assure you that Alexandra will be receiving an unequaled education.”
This was all grown-up speak, yet Alexandra was able to follow the gist of it, and she could already form the questions in her mind that her parents would ask. Gifted in what areas? Alexandra was very certain she'd never had any tests in school to measure her ability to conjure objects or turn Oreo cookies into worms. Where was Charmbridge Academy? How could it be the “finest private school of its kind” in North America if no one had ever heard of it? How did Ms. Grimm find out about Alexandra, and why would they give her a scholarship? Ms. Grimm had a very convincing spiel, but even Alexandra could see there were holes in her story. There was no way her parents were going to accept this at face value.
“Well, it sounds like a wonderful opportunity,” her mother said.
“Who'd have thought Alex would earn an academic scholarship?” Archie said.
Alexandra looked at them, disconcerted and confused. And, unexpectedly, hurt. Did they want to get rid of her that badly?
“Where is Charmbridge Academy?” she asked. “Is it like a boarding school?”
Ms. Grimm nodded. “Yes, you'll be residing there full-time, though of course you'll come home for summer and winter breaks. It's located out of state. Transportation will be provided, of course.”
Alexandra looked at her mother and stepfather again. Ms. Grimm's answers were implausibly vague. Out of state. Transportation will be provided. Didn't they notice? Didn't they have any questions?
“And everything – tuition, books, room and board – it's all covered by this scholarship?” her mother asked.
Ms. Grimm nodded. “Everything. There's even a discretionary fund for providing Alexandra with the initial school supplies she'll need.”
“This is... this is really quite unexpected,” her mother said. “And wonderful! I mean, an opportunity like this...” She looked at Alexandra. “Assuming Alex wants to go, of course.”
“Oh, you mean I have a choice?” Alexandra said. Resentment was stirring, generating anger that pierced through her confusion.
“Of course you have a choice, Alexandra.” Ms. Grimm wasn't smiling now. “You don't have to attend Charmbridge Academy. You can stay here.” She spoke lightly, but there was disdain in her tone. To Alexandra it looked as if she were on the verge of wrinkling her nose. And she fixed Alexandra with that penetrating, knowing look again. “But you see, your gifts are really quite exceptional and they'll never be properly developed at a... traditional public school. Moreover, they really shouldn't be exercised in an uncontrolled manner. With proper education and training, you will achieve extraordinary things. Without it... well, I'm afraid it's quite frowned upon to allow undisciplined youngsters to run amok in public. They inevitably get into serious trouble.”
Alexandra's bright green eyes met Ms. Grimm's slate gray ones. She wasn't sure she understood all the implications, but the underlying meaning was clear enough. Ms. Grimm was speaking for her benefit now. But it must have made no sense to Archie and her mother. Their passivity and lack of inquisitiveness concerned her. It was as if they didn't care at all, and were happy to go along with whatever Alexandra and Ms. Grimm said. Alexandra didn't even care anymore that they no longer seemed angry about her leaving the house while grounded, though maybe they were saving their reaction to that until after Ms. Grimm left.
“Some choice,” Alexandra said.
Ms. Grimm smiled, and this time there was actually a glint of humor in her eyes.
“It's really not that bad, Alexandra,” she said gently. “In fact, I truly believe you will excel at Charmbridge Academy.”
Ο Ο Ο Ο Ο Ο Ο Ο Ο Ο
Alexandra sat quietly as her parents asked Ms. Grimm the most inconsequential questions while they signed the forms the Dean gave them. It felt as if they were signing Alexandra's life away. Perhaps she really was just baggage, an inconvenient burden that had to be fed and clothed, but now that this stranger had appeared on their doorstep offering to take her away, at least for eight and a half months out of the year, they were leaping at the chance.
She didn't feel any desire to cry, but there was a hot, hard lump in her throat. She said nothing and was as unlike her usual self as could be, remaining seen but not heard while the adults talked. She gleaned from the conversation that Charmbridge Academy was coed (a fact to which she was indifferent) and that all of the students boarded there throughout the academic year. It offered schooling for grades six through twelve. Larkin Mills Elementary School only went up to sixth grade, and then students went to middle school, and then high school. The idea of being at the same school with middle and high school kids might have made Alexandra intrigued and nervous at another time, but she was quite lost in self pity by the time Ms. Grimm spoke to her again.
“Alexandra? If I might interrupt your meditations for a moment?”
Alexandra looked at her sharply, but the raven-haired woman offered her an ingenuous smile, a rather more convincing one than her earlier smiles.
“I was wondering if you might like to go out for an ice cream? With your parents' permission, of course. Since I don't have to head back to school right away, it could be my little way of welcoming you to the Charmbridge family.”
Nothing seemed more unlikely than that Lilith Grimm was in the habit of taking little girls out for ice cream to celebrate their enrollment at her academy. Alexandra could more easily imagine her luring small children into an oven to bake them. But she was sure that the Dean really wanted to talk about other things. She glanced at her mother, who nodded and said, “I suppose that would be all right,” with a smile that suddenly made Alexandra want to scream at her.
“Have you forgotten I'm grounded?” she wanted to cry out. Never in a million years would she have imagined her mother letting her go out for ice cream after ignoring her grounding and coming home the way she did, yet all that seemed to have been forgotten.
“Sure,” Alexandra said. And she followed Ms. Grimm out the door, to her big silver car. “This must be a curious sight for the neighbors,” she thought, who would surely be wondering about the regal-looking woman in the expensive car who was taking Alexandra for a ride.
The interior was all leather and wood. Alexandra had never been in such a car before. She sat down in the passenger's seat, and folded her arms defiantly as Ms. Grimm started the car.
Ms. Grimm snapped her fingers and the seat and shoulder straps whipped around Alexandra and clicked into place. Alexandra jumped.
“Really, that's mostly for the sake of appearances. This vehicle is fully certified by the Department of Magical Transportation. It has the latest anti-collision charms. But, I don't want you getting in the habit of thinking you can ride in Muggle cars without a seat belt.”
Alexandra just stared at Ms. Grimm as she put the car in gear and pulled away from her house.
“You have questions,” Grimm said. Alexandra was distracted for a moment as they drove past Brian's house.
“Cat got your tongue?” The woman smiled slightly, not entirely pleasantly. “Perhaps you're wondering where to begin. Shall I start?”
Alexandra remained silent, so she continued. “You are wondering why your parents acquiesced so readily to sending you to an out-of-state boarding school they've never heard of, paid for by a scholarship from sources unknown, for 'gifts' they have no knowledge of.” She glanced at Alexandra, who was looking startled in spite of herself at the Dean's uncanny intuition. “Oh, don't look so surprised, dear. You've been sulking for the past half hour with the air of one feeling immensely sorry for oneself. Poor Alexandra, whose parents don't love her anymore and want to get rid of her, is that what you've been thinking?”
It wasn't exactly what Alexandra had been thinking, but it was very close, and she didn't like Grimm's dry, unsympathetic tone, so she said nothing.
“I'm going to have insist that you get in the habit of responding appropriately when a teacher or other member of the staff addresses you,” Grimm said pleasantly. “I'm sure you've picked up many bad habits during your Muggle upbringing which we'll have to break, but let's start with basic courtesies. So, you may say 'Yes, Ms. Grimm,' or 'No, Ms. Grimm,' or whatever other answer pops into your head, so long as it's followed by 'Ms. Grimm.' Do you understand?”
Alexandra bristled inwardly, but all that came out was “Yes, Ms. Grimm,” in a small voice.
“Good. Now, your parents aren't quite as dull or negligent as they appear. There are times when it's appropriate to explain the true nature of Charmbridge Academy, even to Muggle parents, but we make those decisions on a case-by-case basis. In the case of your mother and stepfather, it was clear to me that they are not ready to be fully enlightened about the world which you are about to enter. So, I used a bit of magic to... ease their concerns. Never fear, I did not force any decision upon them. That would be considered entirely inappropriate. Illegal, actually. But we are allowed the judicious use of Confundus Charms, when it's in the best interests of Muggles and wizards alike.”
They seemed to be heading towards the Interstate, and not towards any ice cream shops in town, yet this concerned Alexandra less than it probably should have. Instead, she said, “I don't understand half those words you just used.”
“You're exaggerating, surely.”
Alexandra looked straight ahead, and then said, “You can do magic.”
“Of course. As can you. You are a witch.”
Alexandra gave her a sharp look. She'd never been insulted so directly by an adult before. “I am not!”
Grimm laughed. “It's not an insult, dear. In our world, men are wizards, women are witches. I'm a witch too.”
“I'll bet you are,” Alexandra thought. “Like Sabrina,” she said aloud.
“I'm not familiar. You know another witch?” Grimm turned towards her, raising an eyebrow. Alexandra thought perhaps she was putting her on, but the woman seemed serious.
“She's a TV character,” Alexandra said. “A witch.”
“Ah. Muggle entertainment. You're going to have to unlearn a lot of what you've picked up among Muggles.”
“What are Muggles?”
“Non-wizards. People who neither know nor practice magic. Such as your parents.”
“So what is 'our world'?”
“The wizarding world, of course.”
And as they pulled onto the Interstate, Alexandra saw a sign she had never seen on the Interstate before when riding in a car with her mother or stepfather:
Automagicka
Tollbooth Ahead
She stared. “What's an Automagicka?”
“A network of magical roadways, overlaid atop the Muggle highway system, or parts of it. It's not nearly complete yet; they only started working on it a few years ago, and most people still prefer Portkeys or the Wizardrail for long distance travel. Private Automagicka-approved vehicles like this one are still relatively rare.”
Alexandra looked at the scenery passing by outside the window, which still looked like what she'd see while riding on the Interstate. “You're using lots of words I don't know again.”
“I know I am, Alexandra. And you're going to have to start learning them. You have a great deal to learn, and you're at a severe disadvantage compared to children who've grown up in the wizarding world. But you seem quite bright and I'm sure you'll adjust.”
The car slowed down as Alexandra saw they were approaching a large purple tollbooth which definitely didn't exist on any of the highways around Larkin Mills. There was a large iron chain stretched across the road, rather than the white and red barriers that Alexandra has seen rising and lowering at other tollbooths. As they pulled up to the window, she gasped. The tollbooth operator was a large, ugly humanoid with green skin, a warty nose, and huge yellowish teeth.
Grimm rolled down her window. “Chicago,” she said.
“One Eagle,” the toll-troll grunted.
Grimm handed it a gold coin, and it stuck the coin in its mouth, bit down hard on it, examined it, then tossed it into a basket with a clink and actually got out of its booth to unhook the end of the heavy iron chain and drag it out of the way of Ms. Grimm's car. She moved forward, leaving the tollbooth behind.
“We can't go to Chicago, that's like three hours away!” Alexandra exclaimed.
“Not via the Automagicka.” Grimm smiled.
“Was that a troll?”
“Yes. You see, you are learning quickly.”
Alexandra covered her mouth, feeling an urge to laugh in spite of herself. “You have... trollbooths!”
Grimm made a face that might have resembled a grin on a more pleasant person. “Yes, very clever indeed, Alexandra, though hardly original. Manning a tollbooth is dull and monotonous, especially when there is so little traffic. You wouldn't expect a wizard to do it? Properly trained, trolls do it quite well, and they also solve the problem of the occasional Muggle who wanders off the highway proper.”
Alexandra stared at Ms. Grimm again. Was that a joke? She wasn't sure she wanted to know, so she changed the subject. “Why are we going to Chicago?”
“For ice cream, of course.”
Alexandra was getting tired of Grimm's droll, uninformative answers, and her face showed it. “Why are we going to Chicago for ice cream? There's a Frosty Freeze in town.”
“I thought I'd show you the Automagicka, and give you your first look at a troll. Seeing such things firsthand will, I hope, get us past a great deal of skepticism and denial so we can start talking about more important matters.”
They didn't seem to be driving any faster than one normally drove on the Interstate, but Alexandra did notice that the scenery that whizzed past seemed blurry and unusually colorful, and she also didn't see any of the normal highway signs she was used to.
“We'll be home past my bedtime. I guess your Confunding Charm will take care of that too?”
“Confundus Charm. Yes, quite so. Don't think for a second that you're routinely going to get out of trouble by Confounding your parents, but under the circumstances, I think it's safe to say you've gotten yourself a free pass for the evening.”
Grimm was silent for a while, and Alexandra sensed she was waiting for her to make the next move. Rather than saying anything, Alexandra continued looking out the window for a while, but her curiosity finally got the best of her.
“How did you find out about me?”
“In the Registrar's Office at school, there is a scroll that records the names of all school-age children.”
“You mean someone else enrolled me?”
“No, the scroll recorded your eligibility for enrollment. Of course we didn't recognize your name immediately, as you weren't part of a wizarding household. It took a little work, but we eventually tracked you down.”
Alexandra toyed with her bracelet, trying to make sense of this. “How could this scroll know I'm going to be enrolled when you'd never heard of me and I didn't know anything about your school?”
“Some things you're going to have to take on faith, Alexandra, at least until you know more about magic. Suffice it to say that you must have some connection to the wizarding world, despite your upbringing.”
That made Alexandra think for several long minutes, and Ms. Grimm seemed content to let her ponder this, until Alexandra said, “Archie isn't my real father.”
Grimm nodded. “I know. He's your stepfather. Your parents told me.” She waited expectantly.
Alexandra looked straight ahead again, her fingers still pushing the bracelet in a circle around her wrist.
“If I'm a witch, does that mean my father was a wizard?”
“It's very possible. Probable, in fact. It can happen that a witch or wizard is born to Muggle parents, though inevitably there is a wizard somewhere in the family tree.” Ms. Grimm actually took her eyes off the road, and gave Alexandra an appraising look. “What do you know about your father, Alexandra?”
“Hardly anything!” she blurted out, more forcefully than she meant to, and blushed. Looking away, she shrugged. “My mother left him when I was a baby. She won't tell me anything about him.”
“I see,” Ms. Grimm said softly.
Lights appeared on the road from the opposite direction, which Alexandra noticed because they had been traveling for quite a while on the Automagicka without seeing any other vehicles. The car that went past was a rattling old jalopy that looked like something out of a black and white TV show, and the driver was a woman (a witch, Alexandra supposed) wearing a broad floppy hat that didn't look like it should have stayed on her head at the speed she was going. But Alexandra could see other cars now, and the bright lights of a big city ahead, though as she had told Ms. Grimm, she knew Chicago was over a hundred miles from Larkin Mills.
“Are there lots of wizards in Chicago?” she asked.
“Quite a few.” Ms. Grimm swerved around a bright green and purple minivan that hurtled and bumped along on elephantine tires, looking as if it might flip over at any second. She shook her head. “The DMT is going to have to start cracking down on private vehicle licenses soon, I'm afraid.” As they drove into the city, Alexandra could see offramps and onramps here and there, and most of the cars sharing the Automagicka with them were similarly odd contraptions that would draw stares on any normal Muggle roadway. She saw something that resembled a double-decker Formula One racecar, and a huge black sedan with a sinister grill that actually snarled at cars in front of it, and as Ms. Grimm finally left the magical highway, they passed a bus that looked almost normal except that it had seven wheels.
“How come no one knows about wizards? How do wizards drive cars like... that and not get noticed? Why don't Muggles see the Automagicka if it goes right through Chicago?”
“You're asking good questions, Alexandra.” Grimm nodded approvingly, but Alexandra thought just a bit patronizingly as well. “The short answer to your question is 'magic'. The longer answer is the reason you need to attend Charmbridge, to learn how magic works and how we coexist with Muggles without upsetting them. There are spells, like the Confundus Charm, that help, but there are things we can't do, not without leaving a terrible mess and a lot of Muggles with unanswerable questions. That's why we have laws, Alexandra. Wizarding laws. And you're going to have to start following them.”
Ms. Grimm parked in front of a laundromat that was at the end of a dingy-looking strip mall. Alexandra got out of the car, and looked around a little suspiciously.
She'd only been to Chicago twice, once when her mother had had a job interview at a hospital there, and once when her parents took her to the circus. She didn't know the city well at all, but this didn't look like a nice part of town. However, if Ms. Grimm wasn't afraid, Alexandra wasn't going to be either. She assumed witches could protect themselves, and hadn't she protected herself against the pond-creature, without even knowing she was a witch? She did wonder a little that Grimm was going to leave such an expensive-looking bright silver car sitting there next to old beaters covered with dents and taped-up windshields.
“Aren't you worried about someone stealing your car?” she asked.
“No,” Ms. Grimm said, with a small smile. She looked around, as if to make sure no one was watching, and then withdraw a wooden stick from inside her jacket, and waved it at the car.
“Repello furtificus,” she said. Her beautiful car seemed to deteriorate before Alexandra's eyes. Its gleaming silver body became dull and rust-eaten, its sleek lines were warped and deformed by dents and gouges, and it shrank in place. One tire deflated and the others frayed and unraveled, cracks spread like a spiderweb across the windshield, and the license plates personalized with Ms. Grimm's first name became so caked with dirt that they were almost unreadable.
Alexandra realized she was gaping at the transformation, and shut her mouth quickly.
“Come along, dear. I promised you ice cream.” Ms. Grimm tucked her wand back into her jacket and beckoned to the girl. Alexandra followed her, but wondered how they were going to get ice cream in a laundromat.
She didn't say anything as they walked past the people who were putting coins into machines or folding their laundry (Muggles, Alexandra thought, the new word playing over and over in her mind). Ms. Grimm led her to a door in the back that said “Employees Only” and opened it. She gestured for Alexandra to precede her through the door.
Alexandra stepped through the doorway, and saw that rather than a storage room or office, the door opened directly onto another street. Glancing at Ms. Grimm, she stepped through. Ms. Grimm followed her, and closed the door behind her.