“This room is safe and secure. There are no windows and I’ve also made sure that you cannot be heard in the store above. Meaning that it is safe to talk about and practice witchcraft here,” Ramona explained as she unfolded three chairs.

    “Meaning no-one can hear us scream,” Rose whispered to Miyani, causing them both to giggle nervously.

    When Ramona had finally set up a table as well, she eyed both girls intently. “I don’t believe I have been properly introduced to you yet,” she said, pointing at Rose.

    “R-right! I’m Rose. Rose Hazelton,” Rose answered, feeling quite embarrassed about her earlier comment now.

    “Pleased to meet you, Rose. My name is Ramona. Please, try to relax. Both of you. I did not lure you here to eat you,” Ramona laughed as she shook Rose’s hand.

    Miyani and Rose both sat down but they were still pretty nervous about it all. It was only when Whiskers jumped up on Miyani’s lap that she began to calm down somewhat.

    “Very well, I suppose I’ll just begin then. If you two are ready,” Ramona said.

    Rose and Miyani exchanged glances again. “I’m ready,” Miyani nodded.

    “Yeah… me too,” Rose agreed.

    “Excellent. Now, I imagine you both have a lot of questions for me. First of all though, I would like to ask you a question, Miyani,” Ramona said, sounding rather stern all of a sudden.

    “Okay?” Miyani asked nervously.

    “Usually, a witch starts developing her powers roughly around her puberty. They are then educated in witchcraft by their mother or grandmother should the gift skip a generation. You, however, appear to be a beginner still. On top of that, I do not think you are familiar with any other witch. My question is why that is?” Ramona asked.

    “I…” Miyani started but she found herself unable to really say it. It sounded like she missed out on a lot, and that did hit her pretty hard…

    “She… told me that she grew up in an orphanage,” Rose jumped in.

    “Oh, did she really?” Ramona asked, the stern look fading from her face again.

    Miyani nodded wordlessly.

    “Oh you poor thing,” Ramona said.

    “Are… all witches female?” Rose asked. She must have noticed the way Miyani was looking and she decided to try and change the subject. Miyani was quite thankful for that.

    “Yes. At least, the souls of all witches are female. There have been some cases of witches that are born male but all of them end up transforming themselves permanently into the women they really are,” Ramona shrugged.

    “Neat,” Rose cheered.

    “Now, I wanted to start off tonight with some ground rules. Rule number one. Magic is to be treated with respect. Consequently, magic is not to be feared,” Ramona started.

    “What do you mean?” Miyani asked.

    “Magic can be used for lots of things, both great and terrible. It is up to you to decide how you wish to use your gift. Just always remember that it is a gift. You should not take it lightly. Be thankful for it, for you are rather special. There’s not many who can call themselves a witch in this world after all,” Ramona explained.

    “Huh… I see,” Miyani mused, looking at her hands.

    “This also means that magic itself should not be feared. Not by you as the witch and not by you as the non-magical friend,” Ramona continued, addressing Rose now. “In the end, the witch is the one who decides what she does with her magic.”

    “Right,” Rose nodded, smiling at Miyani. “Uhm, is all magic reversible? I’m not scared of Miyani but, well, I may have been her accidental test subject already. Twice.” She chuckled rather nervously at that and she started rubbing her arms, making Miyani blush.

    “There is one spell that cannot be reversed, but it is not a spell that I will be teaching you here. It is considered evil and forbidden,” Ramona said.

    Both girls gasped and neither of them really knew what to say to that.

    “Rest assured though that you will not be able to accidentally cast it either, for it has very specific requirements,” Ramona said, calming the girls down again somewhat.

    “What spell is it?” Miyani asked.

    “A blood oath. Basically, a promise that is bound by magic. If one does not uphold their end of the bargain, then they will receive the consequences of it. Consequences that are lasting,” Ramona sighed.

    “That sounds terrible,” Rose said.

    Ramona simply nodded. “Now, secondly. Miyani, I expect you to practice every single day. You are very much behind on schedule when compared to your peers, and to make up for this, you need to put in the work.”

    Miyani thought about that. Usually, she was quite tired after work, and so she only really practiced her magic during the weekends. Having to practice her magic daily was certainly going to be quite challenging and a radical change from her usual habits. That said, she did really want to get better with her magic. “I’ll do it,” she finally said.

    “Excellent. Rose, if you can, be supportive of her and encourage her to stick to her schedule. I know it can be hard to adjust to something new after all,” Ramona smiled.

    “I can keep her on track,” Rose grinned.

    “Fantastic. Now, let’s move on to the last and most important rule. One that should be obvious to you already. The existence of witches must remain a secret. Do not tell anybody about any of this. Do not even talk about witches when you suspect the other person is a witch herself. It is precisely this reason why I did not approach you sooner, Miyani. I had to make absolutely sure. It’s a rule that was established ages ago to prevent ordeals such as the infamous witch trials,” Ramona explained.

    “But I’m non-magical. Doesn’t that mean that I shouldn’t be told any of this either?” Rose asked.

    “Indeed you are, and you would be right about that if it weren’t for one small factor. You see, us witches are actually very good at breaking our own number one rule.”

    “Wha-... we are?” Miyani asked, frowning. If this rule was so important, then it should be kept, right? Then again, she did tell Rose… 

    “If you are a growing young woman and you are starting to develop magical powers that you do not understand, you are going to want to talk about it with someone. Usually, they turn to a good friend that they can trust at this point. At first, witches who did this were punished, but we soon realized that, well, almost everybody did it. And so now, each witch is allowed one non-magical ally who is in the know. A confidant of sorts,” Ramona smiled.

    “Whoah… I’m a confidant?” Rose asked, flexing her arms.

    “I have a confidant?” Miyani asked, raising an eyebrow.

    “Oh yes, but not quite yet. There’s something that you both must do to make Rose’s confidantship official,” Ramona said, turning all serious again.

    “W-what?” Rose stammered.

    “This… this isn’t one of those ‘blood pact’ things, right?” Miyani asked.

    “Oh no. This is something far worse. Far more sinister…” Ramona threatened.

    Miyani and Rose looked at each-other and grabbed each-other’s hands then. What in the world was going to happen now?

    Ramona simply stood up then, went over to the side room and then re-entered the room holding a piece of paper. “You have to read and sign this contract,” she chuckled.

    “Wha-... are you serious?!” Rose and Miyani hissed simultaneously.

    “Yes,” Ramona laughed. “There’s nothing magical about this. This is just so that the local witch council knows that you are Miyani’s confidant.”

    “Witch council?” Miyani asked.

    “Oh, yes. We found that it was necessary for us to have some form of leadership to govern us witches and to keep us safe,” Ramona explained.

    “Do we have to sign that contract now?” Rose asked, picking up the contract.

    “Oh, no. Read it over to make sure there’s nothing funny in there. When you’ve signed it, I will make sure it arrives at the council,” Ramona said before turning to Miyani again. “As for you, there’s something extra that needs to be done. The local council does not yet know about your existence. I want you to come with me and properly introduce yourself.”

    “A-ah… uhm… right…” Miyani stammered. Meeting Ramona for witch lessons was already quite scary. Meeting an entire council of witches on the other hand?

    “There’s nothing to worry about, Miyani. You won’t be judged or anything. After all, it is not your fault for being so late to the party,” Ramona reassured.

    “I guess so…” Miyani said, but she wasn’t quite certain about it yet.

    “We will do so next monday. If you can sign the contract before then, we can hand it in right away,” Ramona smiled.

    “Do… I have to come as well?” Rose asked.

    “Unfortunately, no. Not yet. Miyani trusts you and that is enough for me, but the council is a little bit more bureaucratic. Fret not, you will be invited in due time,” Ramona said.

    “Right…” Rose said. She did not seem too certain about this either.

    “Are you both in agreement to these rules?” Ramona asked.

    Miyani looked from Rose to Whiskers and back to Rose again. She wanted to learn magic and she was going to do this. “I am,” she said.

    “Same here!” Rose said.

    “Excellent. Now, with that out of the way, let’s get started on your first proper spell, shall we?” Ramona smiled, rubbing her hands together.

    Miyani was actually quite surprised by this. She had assumed that there would still be quite some time to ask questions, but it appeared Ramona had other plans. “If I’m not mistaken, you have been using chalk to practice magic, right?” Ramona asked.

    Miyani simply nodded. There were other ways to use magic after all?

    “Chalk is often used by young witches who are just starting out learning about their gift. It is a very versatile material and easy to work with for simple spells,” Ramona explained.

    “Is… turning someone into a flower a simple spell?” Rose asked curiously. Miyani had to agree. If chalk really was used for simple spells, then that did certainly explain the various side effects that she had caused like simple changes of colour. The various transformations and modifications that she had managed to pull of on the other hand...    Ramona remained silent for a moment, eyeing Rose. 

    “I believe that says something about Miyani. If you have indeed managed to pull that off using only chalk, you may have a lot more potential than you realize,” Ramona winked.

    Miyani frowned. “I don’t feel gifted at all…” she muttered. After her many, many failures since she started practicing by herself, it was pretty absurd to think that she could actually have the potential to be good at all of this.

    “Not yet, but with enough proper training and practice,” Ramona smiled.

    “You can do it, Miyani!” Rose cheered.

    Even Whiskers seemed to eye her with motivation behind her eyes. Well, with all of this back-up, she certainly wasn’t going to back down of course!

    “Back to the point, chalk is just one way of practicing magic. There’s a few more but the most commonly used one is the help of familiars,” Ramona continued.

    Miyani and Rose both stared at Whiskers then, who had begun to lick her own bum right at that moment. “She… can help me use magic?” Miyani asked.

    “Yes, of course she can. Why do you think witches have familiars in the first place?” Ramona chuckled.

    Miyani looked down to Whiskers who had finished her bath and was now trying to fall asleep. “Uhm… do you have a familiar as well then?”

    “Naturally! All witches have one,” Ramona said.

    “Huh, I don’t see another cat anywhere,” Rose pondered aloud.

    “Familiars don’t have to be cats. They can be any animal. Does make you feel bad for the witch who gets an elephant for a familiar,” Ramona chuckled.

    “So… what’s yours then?” Miyani asked.

    A devious smile appeared on Ramona’s face, making both girls pretty worried. She then placed her right hand on the table. “Come on out then, Ferdinand,” she whispered. At first nothing seemed to happen until suddenly, Miyani could hear a soft hissing sound. Soon enough, something emerged from Ramona’s sleeve. Something that had been coiled around her arm unseen all this time.

    “A SNAKE!!!” Rose screamed. She quickly jumped to her feet and almost dove behind Miyani.

    The ruckus caused Whiskers to shoot up again. At first she just yawned and stretched her legs but when she spotted the snake, she jumped up and hissed a lot louder than the snake ever did before bolting off Miyani’s lap and hiding behind Rose.

    “Whoah, you two. It’s okay, it’s just a snake,” Miyani chuckled. She knew Whiskers didn’t exactly like snakes based on feline instincts but Rose? This was new information.

    “How can you be so calm about this?!” Rose cried out.

    Miyani stood up. “Uhm, okay. Do you need to leave the room for a moment till the snake is gone again?”

    “I… yes please,” Rose yammered.

    “Alright. I’ll call when he’s gone,” Miyani said. In a way, she thought this was pretty adorable. Then again, she knew how jumpy she gets herself when around wasps…

    “I can’t believe I shook that hand…” Rose muttered to herself as she left the room, trying to calm herself down.

    With Rose gone, that just left one scaredy cat. “Come on, Whisk. That snake is a familiar, just like you,” Miyani said.

    Whiskers, however, stayed put with her back still arched and all of her fur standing upright.

    Miyani rolled her eyes and bent over. “Come on. He’s not going to hurt you, so please try to calm down.”

    Wiskers just yowled some more but Miyani knew her cat. She knew that with persistence, she could calm her down.

    “It’s okay, we’ll take it slowly,” Miyani whispered.

    Whiskers… actually fell quiet then. It was a slow process, but she eventually managed to calm herself down somewhat. Slowly, her hair flattened again and she lowered herself to the ground as well. Soon, she actually started softly licking Miyani’s hand. The witch now knew that it was alright again.

    “Alright. Wanna meet a new friend, Whisk?” she asked.

    Whiskers still had pretty big eyes, but she did not protest when Miyani picked her up. When she was placed on the table though, she started softly growling again.

    “It’s okay, Whisk. I’m right here with you. Take it slow,” Miyani whispered.

    Finally, Whiskers slowly inched forwards. Ferdinand was still just sitting there on the table, watching the events unfold. Now that Whiskers was sitting on the table though, he began approaching her carefully. This caused Whiskers to back down a little bit again, but only for a moment for she then resolutely started approaching the snake as well, sniffing out what Ferdinand was all about. It took the two animals a few moments but eventually, Whiskers sat up and mewled softly. Something she usually did when she was at ease.

    “You two share a strong bond of friendship. That is very good to see,” Ramona said.

    “Well, of course. I’ve known Whiskers for as long as I can remember. Don’t… all witches have that with their familiar?” Miyani asked.

    “There is certainly a bond between witch and familiar. Unfortunately, not all witches see their familiars as friends or pets but rather as tools,” Ramona said as she toyed around a bit with Ferdinand’s tail.

    “A tool…” Miyani repeated. If familiars were indeed used for the purposes of casting magic, then she could understand how some could view their familiars as tools. That did not make it okay though. How could anyone view their familiar as a tool?!

    “We’ll carry on when Rose returns,” Ramona said.

    “Rose…” Miyani mused, looking towards the door. She managed to calm Whiskers down but she hadn’t really done that with her friend… “Whisk? I’ll be right back,” she said.

    Whiskers just mewled cutely as she tried to inspect Ferdinand some more, who did the same thing with Whiskers in return.

When Miyani left the room, she found Rose standing there with her arms folded, facing the wall. She looked quite downtrodden. Miyani guessed this must have been the effect of panic. “Rose… are you okay?” she asked.

    “O-oh! Miyani, it’s you,” Rose said, turning around again. She looked quite pale, but she still tried to put up a smile. “I’m fine, yes. I’m sorry about that. I’m just madly afraid of snakes…”

    “Well, that’s okay,” Miyani shrugged. “Everybody is afraid of something. I for one am claustrophobic.”

    “Really?” Rose asked. 

    Miyani nodded and started blushing. “It’s kinda embarrassing to admit… but one of my biggest fears growing up was trying to make the bed, getting myself all tangled up in the sheets and then suffocating…”

    Rose snorted, trying not to laugh, but that only worked for a short moment as she started giggling uncontrollably.

    “Yeah yeah yeah, laugh all you want…” Miyani muttered.

    As Rose wiped a tear of laughter out of her eyes, she eventually calmed down enough to talk again. “Thanks, Miyani.”

    Miyani smiled. She was doing quite alright at this whole ‘friend’ business.

    “Is the snake gone?” Rose asked.

    “Not yet. Whiskers is currently befriending Ferdinand,” Miyani said. “Don’t worry though. Ramona isn’t going to continue the lesson without you.”

    Rose looked to the side then, a little bit uneasy.

    “Are you sure you’re okay?” Miyani asked.

    “Yeah, I really am,” Rose said, smiling again. “I just… it feels like it’s forbidden for me to be here. I mean, I am literally learning about a secret that I’m not supposed to know about.”

    “Well… true… but Ramona did invite you over. She wouldn’t have done so if it was forbidden for you,” Miyani said.

    “I know… maybe I’m just a worrywart,” Rose chuckled.

    Miyani narrowed her eyes. “Do… you want to back out?”

    Rose looked a bit shocked at this suggestion. “I didn’t say that! I just have to get used to this new reality. I mean, if I back out now, then Ramona’s going to wipe my memory and I don’t want to forget about you. I think I already said it before but how many people can claim that their best friend is a witch,” she laughed.

    Miyani smiled. “Yeah… I wouldn’t want you to forget about me either,” she mused when she suddenly realized something. “Wait… did you say best friend?”

    Rose gasped. “I did say that, didn’t I…” she said.

    Miyani nodded. The two girls had only met two weeks earlier, and already Miyani had made it to best friend status with Rose?

    Rose sighed. “I guess it’s time that I tell you a little secret of my own…” she admitted, placing her index fingers together nervously. “I don’t… think I’ve ever really had a ‘best friend’. I’ve had friends. People that I know and like a lot. But I don’t think I’ve ever really been very close to someone else. They’re always either overly nice and friendly to me like Gary, or they stay away from me as if I’m out of their league or something… Truth be told, you’ve been the first person I could have a normal conversation with.”

    Miyani looked at Rose. She had no idea. Had she really meant that much to Rose? Just by being herself? “I… can relate, but for me it’s different. They’re either really mean to me like Gary, or they ignore me because I guess they don’t want to be seen with me. You are also the first one not running away from me.”

    Rose gave Miyani a meek smile. “Two different worlds, same results, huh,” she said.

    Miyani nodded. “Yeah. And it’s kinda funny in a way how Gary is somehow the example we both pointed towards,” she chuckled.

    “So… best friends?” Rose asked, almost nervously.

    Miyani smiled, but she wasn’t quite certain yet. “I don’t really know what it means to be a ‘best friend’,” she admitted.

    “Well, me neither,” Rose laughed. “So let’s find out.”

    Miyani couldn’t really stop grinning at that. “Yeah… let’s do that,” she said. The two girls then hugged it out but Miyani still found it so hard to believe what had just happened. She had so much more in common with Rose than she had realized. Now, she didn’t just have a friend. She had a best friend.

It took about 5 more minutes before the two girls returned. Whiskers seemed calm as ever and was actually licking Ramona’s hand while Ferdinand was nowhere to be seen. Miyani figured that he must have returned to Ramona’s arm again as before.

    “Sorry,” Rose pouted.

    “It is okay,” Ramona chuckled. “It is precisely because of people like you that I hide Ferdinand from view most of the time.”

    This seemed to satisfy Rose, but she still appeared on edge. Probably because she now knew that there was a snake right in this very room.

    “Now, where was I… ah yes! I was going to teach you your first spell,” Ramona smiled.

    “Here we go. This is where I’m turned into a toad,” Rose chuckled nervously.

    “Oh no, not at all. A roach is much more interesting,” Ramona laughed, causing Rose to go just a little bit paler, even if she knew that Ramona was only joking. “No, but I will be teaching you something similar. You see, every witch is capable of casting any spell, but each witch also has a certain affinity. A genre of spells that come to you more naturally. With you, I think it is safe to assume that your affinity lies with metamorphosis.”

    “How can you be so sure about that?” Miyani asked but that only got her stares from Ramona, Rose, and even from Whiskers. “Right…” she muttered, thinking back to all of her successful spells so far.

    “What’s your affinity?” Rose asked curiously.

    “Potion brewing,” Ramona answered frankly. Both Miyani and Rose kinda wanted to know more about that but she, once again, had other plans. “The spell I am about to teach you is a rather simple one. This is more of an exercise for you and Whiskers to work together as witch and familiar than anything else,” Ramona said.

    “I really am going to be the test dummy again, aren’t I,” Rose muttered.

    “You can if you wish to be,” Ramona grinned. “But I was actually thinking of something smaller. I want you to turn this into a shape of your choosing.” With that, she placed a small, nondescript pebble on the table and shoved it in Miyani’s direction.

    “A… stone figure?” Miyani pondered.

    “It can be anything?” Rose asked.

    “Yes. As I said before, the spell itself isn’t what’s important here. It is the cooperation with your familiar that you need to learn here,” Ramona said.

    “Right…” Miyani said, looking back to Whiskers who had decided that now was the perfect time to start licking her butt. Again. She smirked. “Okay, how do I do this?”

    Ramona grinned. “I’ll show you,” she said. She placed her left hand over her right arm where Ferdinand was hidden and her right hand over the pebble. She closed her eyes and concentrated. Before long, a violet glow started emanating from her hand and it quickly surrounded the pebble. Before long, the small pebble was starting to change shape. First it appeared to stretch out before coiling up. When the glow dissipated again, Miyani could see that the pebble had been turned into a small snake figurine! It looked very lifelike too. The stone snake had scales, teeth and even a split tongue. Next to her, Rose was backing down a little bit again. It appeared that her phobia of snakes went really deep alright.

    “That’s amazing… and you didn’t have to say a word,” Miyani said.

    “Using words in a spell can help get a clearer picture in your head. Rhymes are especially effective in that regard but they are not necessary if you are good at visualizing what you want,” Ramona explained.

    “Visualise, got it… and how do I then work together with Whiskers?” Miyani asked.

    “That is something you and Whiskers will have to achieve together. You already have the trust between you two down, so all you need to do is to work together.

    Miyani eyed the pebble. How was she to even compare to the incredibly detailed snake? Of course, it didn’t have to be something detailed. She could just try and turn it into a cube. All she had to do was to have Whiskers help her do so. “Let’s do this, Whisk,” she said as she stroked the cat’s back.

    Ramona smiled and turned the snake figure back into the pebble it had been before. “Good luck,” she said.

Miyani practically crashed onto Rose’s couch, causing a few plushies to fall down on top of her.

    Rose laughed while placing an exhausted Whiskers on her bed. “Are you okay?” she asked.

    Miyani groaned in return. “tired…” she muttered.

    “I can imagine. You worked really hard tonight,” Rose said. “You and Whiskers.”

    “Hmmm…” Miyani sighed. She was kind of already nodding off a little. On the way home, Rose had agreed to a sleepover at her place since they were going to meet up again the next day anyway for Miyani’s end of the bargain they had made.

    “Ramona was right. You really do have the potential to be a great witch,” Rose said with a smile as she went over to the kitchen where she put the kettle on.

    Miyani finally sat back up again to start taking off her shoes. “All of that effort the entire night, only to slightly alter the shape of that stupid pebble…” she muttered.

    “It was your first time using Whiskers instead of chalk. Of course you’d be rough at it at first,” Rose said reassuringly.

    “I know… I know,” Miyani said. Still, she hadn’t expected it to be this difficult. After having been able to transform Rose and Jennifer using chalk, she had thought that a simple pebble would be a breeze. However, using Whiskers for her magic was so different. She could only guess that it was just as difficult for her cat.

    Rose eventually returned from the kitchen with two cups of tea. “I’m gonna be cheering you on while you practice on that pebble this week,” she said.

    Miyani smiled and started blowing on her tea. “Thanks.”

    “So… a witch council, huh?” Rose asked.

    Miyani gasped. She had almost forgotten about that. “Right… gotta go there on monday…”

    “I’m sure you’ll be fine! Whiskers and Ramona will be there,” Rose said.

    Miyani nodded. “I just have no idea what to expect from a council of witches… I keep thinking I’m going to be entering an old wooden shack in the woods where some old witches with warts on their warts are ready to judge me and mince me into soup,” she said.

    Rose burst out into laughter. “I think you’d make a delicious soup,” she joked.

    “Shut up!” Miyani complained.

    “You and Ramona aren’t like that, so I think it’s safe to assume that the witch council won’t be like that either,” Rose said.

    Miyani sighed. “I guess we’ll see on monday,” she said.