Required Reading (SDB!)

[Eckhart_Von_Musel]

"...And that's why I think genocide is the best strategy for world domination."

Maggie Fen-Breath stared at the horned teenager in front of her, a tenative smile on her face. "Oh dear..." the hag thought nervously, gripping her staff tightly. "I need to be supportive! That's my job as a teacher! But at the time I can endorse what she's saying, it's wrong..."

Finally, the crone beamed. "That's great! It good to have ambition!" The student smiled, turning around with a spring in her step. Maggie let out a sigh of relief as student strode out of sight, relaxing her grip on her stave. "Alright! I nailed it!"

With a chuckle, the Magistrix began to walk towards the library. It was Friday, which meant Maggie needed reading material for the weekend. She had finished "Djinxes: Black Magic of Essyrn" last week, and now she was itching to learn more about the finer points of exotic curses. "I wonder what kinds of hexes they cast in Hyoite..."

Arriving at the library, the elderly looking woman perused through the lower shelves. The normally quiet room was a bit louder today, as exited students discussed weekend plans in plainly audible "whispers". Maggie herself didn't mind the noise, though she could practically feel Glinda seething with rage. A yelp of pain and a few stray sparkles came from the next shelf over, confirming her suspicions.

"Oh! There we are!" Maggie mumbled as the book "Permafrost: The Dark Magic of the Sionad Tundra" caught her eye. She outstretched an oversized hand to pluck it off the shelf...

...Only for another hand to snatch it before her! "Excuse me?" Maggie said, turning to look at the book thief. "I had wanted to check that out..."

[Celegwen]

Why won't Ms. Fare tell them to shut their mouths? The girl thought to herself, sitting sideways on a chair with one leg tucked underneath her. Aurora Phillips loved going to the library, but the wastes of space, a.k.a. other students, who currently breathed her air were preventing her from being able to focus with their obnoxious voices.

She huffed to herself, closing the book and getting to her feet. She started back towards the section of the library where they keep books on curses and hexes and all of that fun stuff. Aurora had read bits and pieces of almost every hex book the library had, but she was finally able to check out the book on the tundra's dark magic. What she would do with it wasn't something she could answer, but surely there would be some fun information!

The girl saw the hag who worked at the school perusing the shelves that she was about to, and a sudden defensive reflex sprung up. Aurora floated over, reaching out and snatching the book she wanted, just as the elderly-looking woman was about to. She turned on her heel and started to quickly leave, but the hag called her out.

Aurora's left eye twitched slightly, and she turned to face the woman with her normal, charming smile. "Hi, Magistrix," she said cheerily. Looking at the book in her hand, Aurora gave the older woman a slightly guilty look. "I'm sorry, Magistrix Fen-Breath... I was looking forward to this book for so long, and I-"

"Miss Phillips," a direct voice said from a few feet behind. The girl turned with a scrunched face to see a blonde woman in a crimson coat standing, her feet shoulder-width apart and a lace fan tapping expectantly against her left gloved palm. "I do hope I'm mistaken, but I believe you're about to deny your elder something after so rudely taking it from beneath her."

"No, Magistrix Sanel," Aurora said quietly. The girl walked over to Kimberly Sanel and handed the book to her, then walked away with a quickened pace.

Kim lifted her brow, not turning her head or saying anything in acknowledgement of the girl's submission. She approached the hag, a natural sway to her hips as she walked, and extended the book to her. "They have to learn somehow," Kim said. "You're the new Magistrix, correct?"

[Eckhart_Von_Musel]

Maggie's eyes softened when she saw one of her favorite students holding the book. "Such eagerness to learn new things!" she thought, a smile growing on her face. "Why, she deserves to have the-

A voice from behind the girl cause Maggie to look up. Her eyes widened- the Magistrix of Blood Magic had arrived to scold poor Aurora. The girl handed the book to the woman and scurried away, leaving the two Magistrixes alone.

Maggie frowned. "Yes. It's Maggie." she said slowly. "And they learn by reading. I would have let her keep the book, you didn't have to do that for me."

[Celegwen]

Kim lifted her right brow to a point and looked down her nose at the taller woman. "Maggie," she repeated, a slightly condescending tone to her voice, "how, pray tell, would Miss Phillips have learned respect from a book about tundra curses?"

It was meant as a rhetorical question, so Kim didn't wait to see if Maggie would attempt to actually answer it. She took a breath, looking over her shoulder briefly and turning back to the hag in front of her.

"Besides, allowing the girl to keep the book would be enforcing disrespectful behavior." She flicked open her fan and waved it softly, her blonde locks flowing ever-so-slightly around her face. "The children's respect for you falters if you are without a firm hand."

[Eckhart_Von_Musel]

Maggie's oversized nose wrinkled, and she tilted her head slightly. "Magistrix, with all due respect..." she began huskily. "...I think our priorities are a bit different."

The hag clasped her large hands together, staff resting on her elbow joint. "I'd like to win my student's respect through their admiration, rather than by being strict with them. I'm..." Maggie paused, looking for the right words to use. "Visually upsetting to some of the children. 'Firmness' could be mistaken for... something else." She smiled, hoping the human woman would understand. "I'm sure you see how our, ah, dissimilar our circumstances are."

[Celegwen]

"If it were any other place, I could see you having a point," Kim said flatly. "We have all kinds at Wyrdwood, my dear. The animal magister has a dragon he uses for lessons regularly, but you're too concerned about a misunderstanding to teach a child proper manners?" She took a breath, raising her brows judgmentally for a moment. "No matter. Up to you what you'd like to do with the book now."

So much potential, the woman thought, looking the hag up and down. Wasted because of society's judgments.

"Play with your power, Maggie," Kim said, a hint of a smirk at the corner of her lips. "Both magic and status. Trust me, it'll be much more fun."