Alexandra was so quiet that night that her mother actually commented on it, though of course she misunderstood the reason. “It's all right to be nervous about going to a new school,” she said. “You're going to have to adjust to a whole new environment, and I'm sure there will be a lot of rules that you're not used to.” Archie seemed to smirk a little at that.
“It's going to be a wonderful experience,” her mother continued. “This is such a great opportunity. And you can always call us if you need to talk. I'm sure you'll make new friends right away.”
Alexandra looked at her mother, and wondered if she was just saying what she thought she should, or if her mind was still addled by the Confundus Charm. “How would you know it's going to be a great opportunity or if I'm going to make friends?” she thought, and when her mother said she could call, Alexandra wondered what she and Archie would do if an owl started delivering letters to them.
Tomorrow was the trip to the Goblin Market, so Alexandra actually went to bed on time. She placed her gold bracelet and the stubborn locket carefully in the top drawer of her dresser before going to sleep. She didn't want her mother to see them, but she wanted to be sure to take them with her when she went to Chicago.
The next morning, Alexandra's mother stayed home to see her off to Chicago. “Ms. Grimm said a bus from the school would come pick you up,” she said. Alexandra was dressed in her best pair of jeans and a hoodie over a short-sleeved shirt. The hoodie's ample pockets concealed the bracelet and locket. Her mother handed her a paper bag. “Here. I packed a sandwich and fruit roll-ups for you.”
Alexandra took the bagged lunch. “Thanks.”
Her mother then dug into her purse and pulled out her wallet, and handed her a pair of twenties. “You're not supposed to need any money, since your supplies are coming out of your scholarship, but take this just in case you need some cash. I don't expect you to spend this unless you have to! This isn't spending money for you to buy games and junk food with.”
“Okay,” said Alexandra. She wasn't sure they even accepted regular money at the Goblin Market, remembering the gold coins Ms. Grimm had used.
Alexandra was a little embarrassed when her mother insisted on waiting outside with her at the time they'd been told to expect the Charmbridge bus. But she was even more embarrassed when she saw the bus. She'd been expecting a fancy full-sized chartered bus; instead what came around the corner was a little orange schoolbus, like the ones that took handicapped students to and from her elementary school. She watched with dismay as it rolled up to the curb. It said “Charmbridge Academy” in plain black letters on the outside. The front door opened, and she saw a fat woman with frizzy white hair behind the wheel.
“Good morning, dear!” she said cheerfully. “Are you Alexandra?”
“Yes,” Alexandra replied. Her mother waved to the bus driver. “Hi, I'm Alexandra's mother, Claudia Green.”
“It's nice to meet you, Mrs. Green.” The driver looked puzzled for a moment, but then smiled again. “I'm Tabitha Speaks. We'll have Alexandra back home by eight p.m.”
Mrs. Green nodded. She looked at her daughter. “It's going to be a long day for you; three hours each way is an awfully long bus trip. Make sure you behave yourself.”
“All right, mom!” Alexandra said, now eager to get aboard before any of their neighbors saw her getting on a “short bus,” and embarrassed that her mother would keep speaking to her like a child in front of whoever was watching from inside the vehicle.
She was grateful that her mother didn't give her a peck on the cheek this time. She stepped up onto the bus, and Mrs. Speaks closed the door behind her.
Alexandra gasped as she got to the top step and looked down the corridor. Inside the bus was not the cramped seating of a tiny schoolbus, but a long row of comfortable-looking booths, each with a table that couldn't possibly have fit inside. Far down at the other end of the bus, Alexandra saw lavatory signs that said “Witches” and “Wizards.” And there were steps at the far end as well, suggesting that the bus actually had an upper level.
It was quite impossible. The space Alexandra was looking at was many times the size of the bus she had seen when she got on.
“Never been aboard a wizard bus before, dear?” Mrs. Speaks asked as she drove away from Alexandra's house. Alexandra shook her head.
“It's bigger on the inside than on the outside,” said a teenaged girl, unnecessarily, coming up the aisle towards Alexandra. “The Charmbridge buses aren't as luxurious as a Wizardrail car, but they're better than brooms. Hi, I'm Gwendolyn Adams. I'm going to be a senior at Charmbridge this year, and I'll be your student mentor and chaperone.”
Gwendolyn was about seventeen. She had long straggly blonde hair, a slightly protuberant nose with a pimple on it, and she was rather plain-looking. She wore glasses and a pointed black hat, a yellow shawl, and a brown and yellow dress. She looked very “witchy,” and would have blended right in at a Halloween party, except that Alexandra could tell her clothes were not a costume, but her normal everyday wear.
“I'm Alexandra Quick.” She turned to look at Tabitha Speaks. “Are we going to take the Automagicka to Chicago?” she asked.
“Yes, we are,” said Mrs. Speaks. “So it won't be nearly the three hours each way your mother thinks it is. Still, you should go sit down and make yourself comfortable. It will take us a little time to get there.”
“I'll introduce you to the other students riding along on this trip,” Gwendolyn said, smiling and holding out her hand. Alexandra took it, a little reluctantly. Gwendolyn seemed nice enough, if a bit patronizing.
“Do they all have, umm, Muggle parents like me?” Alexandra asked, as Gwendolyn led her down the aisle.
“Some do. Others just live too far away for their families to take them shopping somewhere like the Goblin Market. They arrive at school a few days early, so they can get everything they need before the semester starts.”
They passed several booths with older students, who looked at Alexandra with expressions ranging from disinterest to curiosity to the taunting smirks older kids always gave younger ones. Some were dressed like her, in “normal” clothes, while others wore robes or dresses or thick coarse jackets, breeches, and boots. At one table, she saw several kids playing a card game she didn't recognize. One of the players laid the deck on the table, and it began shuffling itself. They passed by a booth where two younger teens were pointing wands at each other and laughing as they blurted out what sounded like nonsense words. Alexandra made a face when she saw that one of the boys had broken out in bright purple and green zits, while the other boy's eyebrows were now growing down past his chin.
“Stuart, Torvald, stop throwing hexes at each other!” Gwendolyn said, snatching their wands out of their hands. She shook her head. “I ought to tell Mrs. Speaks not to fix your faces when we get to Chicago!” She handed the wands back to them, and they sulkily put them away.
“That's not allowed,” Gwendolyn said, leaning closer to Alexandra to emphasize the point. Alexandra nodded solemnly, thinking that Gwendolyn seemed to like pointing out the obvious.
Almost at the rear now, Gwendolyn guided Alexandra to a booth that held five other girls who looked about her age. “Here, you can sit with the other new sixth-graders. I'm sure you'll all be friends. Everyone, please introduce yourselves to Alexandra. She's Muggle-born, so be considerate and help explain things about wizarding society she might not understand yet.”
Gwendolyn sounded so sincere that Alexandra could almost forgive her for the way she patronized the lot of them. She wasn't thrilled about immediately being introduced as “Muggle-born,” either. She supposed it would probably be obvious anyway, but she would have preferred to try to figure out as much as she could on her own without everyone looking at her like some sort of clueless visitor from another planet.
However, none of the other girls looked unfriendly. They waited until Gwendolyn had left their table and headed up the stairs to the bus's upper level, and then two of the girls burst out giggling. “I'm sure you'll all be friends!” exclaimed one girl, mimicking Gwendolyn with an exaggerated, syrupy voice. She was pretty and had hair as dark as Alexandra's, styled in a wavy perm. She wore a glittery pink top and striped pants with flared cuffs. She would blend in easily at any shopping mall. Her friend, a black girl who was also very pretty, was wearing a dark green blouse, black pants, and a matching green robe. Both girls were adorned with makeup and nail polish and jewelry. Alexandra didn't know many girls her age who wore makeup, and no one at Larkin Mills Elementary School seemed as determinedly fashionable as these two.
The black girl held out her hand to Alexandra, wrist bent downward and nails facing outward. “Don't mind Gwendolyn. I think she wants to be a day-school teacher someday. I'm Angelique Devereaux.”
“Alexandra Quick,” Alexandra said, taking Angelique's hand, a little awkwardly as she'd never been presented with such a delicate, feminine handshake before.
“Darla Dearborn,” said the white girl sitting next to Angelique. She batted her lashes prettily as she shook Alexandra's hand. “Don't worry about being Muggle-born. Lots of kids at Charmbridge are. My grandmother is a Muggle, so I know what it's like.”
“What it's like?” Alexandra thought. Darla made it sound like being born missing a limb. But she just nodded. She was not very good at making friends with other kids, as she was much too boisterous, impulsive, uncooperative, and most of all, unusual. But she thought she shouldn't be so unusual here, among other witches, and with Brian on her mind, the thought of starting out at a new school friendless bothered her more than it normally would have.
“This is Anna Chu,” Darla continued, gesturing at the small Chinese girl across the table from Alexandra. “She's from San Francisco.”
Anna simply nodded. She wore a red cloak over a red dress, which Alexandra thought made her look like Little Red Riding Hood.
“San Francisco? That's pretty far away. Aren't there any schools for witches in California?” Alexandra asked.
“Sure, there are smaller wizarding schools around the country, but anyone from a good family or who can pass the entrance exams goes to one of the Big Four,” Darla answered for Anna. “Local coven-run schools can't compare in terms of education, and of course, the social opportunities are much better at a place like Charmbridge.” She said this last with an air of worldliness which had Angelique nodding in agreement, but Alexandra caught Anna rolling her eyes, just a little, and the other two girls at the table just looked at each other.
Alexandra saw that these last two were both dressed in the old-fashioned clothing she'd seen some of the witches in Chicago wearing. They had long colorfully stitched dresses on beneath their cloaks, and their blond curls were tucked inside white bonnets. Both of the girls were fair-skinned and blue-eyed, and looked very much alike.
Seeing the question Alexandra was about to ask, Darla continued her role as self-appointed spokesperson for everyone. “These are the Pritchards,” she said.
“I'm Constance,” said one of the girls.
“I'm Forbearance,” said the other.
“They're Ozarkers,” Darla went on.
“Oh,” Alexandra said, as if she knew what that meant, though the only thing that came to mind was a vague memory of the Ozarks being a place with mountains. In Texas, or maybe Ohio. Or was it Virginia? She would look it up later, but she wasn't going to ask in front of Darla, even if Gwendolyn had told everyone to “help explain things” to her.
“So how did you get into Charmbridge?” Angelique asked.
“I got a scholarship.”
“Really!” Anna perked up. “You must have scored really well on the SPAWN”
“Spawn?” Alexandra frowned.
“Standardized Practical Assessment of Wizarding kNowledge,” Darla said with an “everyone-knows-that” tone.
Alexandra frowned some more. “Wouldn't that be SPAWK?”
“Well, yes, I suppose, but it's always been called the SPAWN. I guess someone in the Department of Magical Education back whenever thought that SPAWK sounded dumb. Anyway, are you saying you've never heard of it? How could you get a scholarship or even be admitted if you haven't taken the SPAWN?”
“I dunno. Ms. Grimm never said anything about a 'practical assessment.'”
Everyone looked at her. Even the Ozarker girls' eyes were wide. “You met Dean Grimm?” asked Anna, her voice almost a whisper.
“Yeah, she came to my house to tell me about the scholarship and about my being a witch. She had to explain things to my parents too, except she didn't exactly tell them about the witch part. They think I'm just going to a normal private school.”
“What do you mean 'normal'?” Angelique asked.
“You know, a non-magical one. For Muggles.” Alexandra was starting to dislike that word.
Darla and Angelique looked at each other. Constance and Forbearance looked at each other. Anna was still staring at Alexandra.
“Dean Grimm came to your house?” Darla asked.
“Yes!” Alexandra was becoming annoyed. “She took me to the Goblin Market too, although we only went to Goody Pruett's. She had to explain a bunch of things to me since –”
“Dean Grimm took you to Goody Pruett's,” Angelique repeated, her tone and expression conveying disbelief.
“Yes!” Alexandra glared at Darla and Angelique until they both looked away, and then she stared down Anna and then Constance and Forbearance. “Are you calling me a liar?”
“No... of course not,” Darla said, clearing her throat. “It's just... well, Dean Grimm never visits students' homes or, or takes them out for... ice cream.” She looked at Alexandra quizzically. “Usually the only time you ever see her is at school assemblies, or if you get sent to her office, and trust me, you don't ever want to get sent to her office.”
“How do you know so much about her if you're just starting at Charmbridge yourself?” Alexandra demanded.
“My sister is in the twelfth grade. She's told me all about the Dean. And anyway, Dean Grimm is kind of... legendary.”
“Notorious,” Angelique said.
“But how could you get into Charmbridge without taking the SPAWN?” Anna repeated.
“I don't know!” Alexandra said, almost gritting her teeth.
“Well, are you all getting along all right?” asked Gwendolyn sweetly. She had come down the stairs and moved to their booth while they were all talking. She smiled down at the younger girls, while she pushed her glasses up on the bridge of her nose.
Everyone nodded and murmured in the affirmative.
“Oh, good!” The older girl seemed genuinely delighted. “Well, we're about to make our last stop, in Detroit, to pick up another student who's a new sixth grader. Then we'll be off to Chicago. You all just keep making friends!” With that, she continued down the aisle toward the front of the bus.
After a brief, awkward silence, Darla whispered, “You all just keep making friends!” doing her impression of Gwendolyn again. Angelique tittered, Anna covered her mouth, and even Alexandra started laughing. Constance and Forbearance smiled and looked down.
The mood was a little lighter after that. Darla and Angelique explained that the SPAWN was administered annually, usually starting when a wizard or witch was ready to enter the sixth grade. There were Junior Spawns for those children who went to wizarding day-schools, but they were considered optional, although some parents had their children tested as young as six.
“My parents started testing me when I was seven,” Anna said. “And every year since then. They're obsessed with how well I rank compared to my peers. But the only SPAWN that really matters is the final one you have to take to get your Magical Diploma.”
Then they lapsed into silence, as the bus came to a halt. Gwendolyn came back up the aisle, this time leading a dark-skinned boy who was not much taller than the diminutive Anna. He had dark curly hair trimmed in a tight afro, and wore a sports jersey and jeans and sneakers. He was eying Gwendolyn suspiciously, and Alexandra noticed he had declined to let the teenager hold his hand. Instead, he was clutching a backpack slung over his shoulder.
“Girls, this is David Washington. Won't you make room for him? The seven of you will probably be starting most of your classes together.”
Alexandra, who was sharing her seat with Forbearance Pritchard, had remained at the far end of it, across from Anna Chu. She scooted over closer to Forbearance, allowing David to sit at the end with Alexandra between them.
“So this is a Wizard bus,” David said, looking around.
“It's bigger on the inside than on the outside,” Alexandra said seriously.
“Duh!” David snorted, squinting at her. Alexandra shared a look with Darla and Angelique and their shoulders all shook with suppressed laughter, as Gwendolyn looked at them, a little confused. “Well, enjoy the rest of the trip. We should be in Chicago in less than an hour.” She gave them all a little wave, which Alexandra, Darla, and Angelique returned, all plastering cheery smiles on their faces, until Gwendolyn had disappeared up the steps again.
“She talk to everyone like they're in preschool?” David asked.
“Pretty much,” said Darla.
Introductions were made again around the table. David seemed a little uneasy about being the only boy at a table full of girls, but he was obviously curious about the bus, Charmbridge, and his fellow students.
“You're Muggle-born too?” Alexandra asked.
David nodded. “Yeah. My parents thought someone was putting us on for a TV show when they got the letter by owl, but they actually handled it pretty well. My mom says she always thought Great Aunt Ems was kind of bizarre, and this explains a lot.”
“What's a teevee show?” asked Darla. David blinked at her.
“It's sort of like the Wizard Wireless, but with pictures,” Anna said.
David looked at Alexandra. “Are they for real?”
Alexandra nodded. “I think kids who grow up in wizard houses don't know much about the rest of the world,” she said deliberately. She felt a little bit of satisfaction when Darla frowned.
“Did you take the SPAWN?” Anna asked.
David shook his head. “How could I take a test for something I didn't know anything about before this summer? They said I'd have to take it when I get to Charmbridge. They gave me a study booklet, though.”
“Ms. Grimm didn't give me a study booklet. She didn't even tell me about the SPAWN,” Alexandra said, disgruntled.
David turned and stared at her. “You've met Dean Grimm?”
“Yes!” He leaned away from her at her sharp tone. Alexandra decided to change the subject by asking Darla what else her sister had told her about Charmbridge, and Darla was more than happy to spend most of the rest of the journey to Chicago talking about the teachers, the subjects, and the amenities at the academy. The other girls didn't say much (not that Darla gave them much opportunity to), but Anna occasionally piped up to talk about the classes they would be taking at Charmbridge, like Charms, Transfigurations, Magical Principles, Basic Alchemy, and Wizard World Studies. Apparently she was one of those children who'd been sent to Wizard day-school to begin her studies before her formal schooling began, so she had more book-learning than the rest of them. “I've never had a wand, though, so I'm really looking forward to actually being able to do magic,” she said.
“I can do magic,” Alexandra said, eager to prove herself as much a witch as any of them. “Transformations and charms and I've even made fireballs.”
While David looked interested, the other girls just looked at each other, and Alexandra felt as if she'd said something unintentionally foolish.
“We can all 'do magic' like that,” said Angelique, not unkindly. “Even little children can cast spells accidentally. But it's not the same as when you have a wand and you know what you're doing. That's why we're going to Charmbridge. You'll see. Once you've learned how to cast real spells, you'll laugh at what you used to think of as magic.”
Alexandra was tempted to ask if any of them had ever fought redcaps or kappas, but was afraid they'd tell her that only children considered those things dangerous. Maybe there was a spell that “proper” witches could use that would just make redcaps disappear.
“We have wands,” said Constance. She pulled a long, polished hardwood stick out of her cloak. It looked as if it had been worn smooth by many years of handling.
“We've had them since we were eight,” Forbearance said, showing her own wand.
“Ooh!” Angelique breathed, and Darla and Anna both looked a little jealous.
“The Department of Magical Education doesn't allow minors to have wands unless they're either enrolled in a formal wizarding school or have passed the twelfth-grade equivalent SPAWN,” Darla said, almost accusingly.
“That's Confederation law,” said Anna. “Individual Territories can grant exceptions. Like for Ozarkers.”
Constance and Forbearance nodded. They had said little the entire trip, but they seemed to be enjoying the fact that for once, they were the center of attention. Or rather, their wands were.
“Ozarkers usually get home-taught,” said Constance.
“Our brothers educated like that,” said Forbearance.
“But our parents decided to wizard-school us,” Constance went on.
“The first in our family!” Forbearance added, a little proudly.
“But we begun learning folk magic when we was little,” Constance continued.
“We know basic conjures,” said Forbearance.
“And we can even wish a few hexes,” Constance finished, dropping her voice to a whisper.
“Shame on you for boasting about it!” declared an older boy who'd come up the aisle to stand at their table. He was dressed in a home-spun tunic and jacket and thick, heavy trousers, and he had a bit of an accent similar to that of Constance and Forbearance. The two Ozarker girls flushed and hung their heads.
“Put those away! You're not a day from home and already a' blaggardin' like a pair of sorceresses!”
That made Constance and Forbearance flush an even deeper shade of red, simultaneously, and they hastily tucked their wands back into their cloaks and looked down. Alexandra noticed that the bossy older boy had been staring at Darla and Angelique when he said “sorceresses.”
Alexandra glowered at him, but he just muttered, “Better for girls to stay home,” and walked back to his own booth.
“What a jerk!” David exclaimed.
“The heck with him,” Alexandra said. “And girls rule!”
David rolled his eyes, but Constance and Forbearance both smiled a little, as Mrs. Speaks yelled out to the passengers, “Here we are, dears! Pick up your things and get ready to get off the bus!” They had arrived in Chicago.