I looked at the office door in front of me wearily, adjusting my tie. Any kind of job was hard to find for me. I was “too young,” “not enough experience”. I just turned 18, I want to find a good first job. I don’t want to work some kind of fast food job, which seems to be the only thing available for me with how bad the economy’s been getting- at least according to my mom.

This was my last interview today, and I’ve kinda lost hope that it will go well. 

With a deep breath, I open the door into a small office. Two younger men sit talking behind a desk, both of them dressed in casual clothing. A single window is open to the office, letting in the soft summer light along with a nice breeze.

I fiddled with my tie, wondering if I’m a little overdressed. One of the men, the one with dirty blonde hair, turned to me with a smile. The other one, the one with brown hair, simply watched me with quiet interest.

“Hello” I said, walking to the comfy looking chair across from the both of them.

“Hi! You must be Chris?” The blonde one asked, pouring water from a pitcher into the cup in front of me. “I’m Donny, and this is John.”

“It’s nice to meet you.” I responded, shaking their hands. “I have to admit, I’m a little confused about what the job is. Your ad wasn’t very clear.”

“We want you to be our ‘wizard’.” Donny said, chuckling. “John and I like to travel, and we want someone to make sure that everything magically works out wherever we go. You’ll be our wizard.”

“That sounds good! I think I’d be great for the job actually. I have a lot of experience with traveling, as you can see from my resume.” I hated tooting my own horn, but this was an interview. I need to make myself look good.

“We think that you’ll be perfect, but before we start anything, could you do us a favor?” At my nod, Donny continued, “Our friend at PSU is trying to gather some data for a project they’re doing, so we’re going to ask you a few strange questions.”

“Sound fine.”

“What’s your favorite gemstone?” He asked, but before I could respond, John finally spoke up.

“You must ask all the questions Donny.” John’s voice was a deep baritone that surprised me, considering his small build.

“Come on! we both know that the gemstone is the only question that matters....” Donny pleaded.

John gave his coworker an unimpressed look.

“Fine.” Donny eventually said, turning back to me. “Do you like to spend time with your friends or by yourself?”

“With my friends, I guess.”

Donny marked something off on a notepad in front of him, “What natural disaster is the most powerful?”

“Probably a volcanic eruption?” I said questioningly, not sure of my answer.

“What is one of your best qualities?”

“I’m creative when coming up with solutions.” I answered slowly. Goodness, complimenting myself is hard.

“Awesome,” Donny nodded, “what’s your favorite time of the day?”

“Morning, definitely.”

“Do you prefer cooperating, or competing?” Donny smiled as he asked.

“Both? But if I had to choose one, I’d probably go with cooperating.”

“What’s your favorite animal?”

“The snake probably.”

“And finally, the most important question, which one of these is your favorite gemstone?” Donny held up a photo showing a series of gemstones.

I automatically point to one that I don’t recognize, but looks pretty.

“The ruby huh?” Donny said before smiling at me. “Congratulations! You’re hired. Sorry for doing this to you, say hi to Headmaster Ambrose when you get there.”

“What are you…” I frowned as the world slowly went dark around me. 

 

***

 

“Well, hello! If it isn’t our newest student!” An elderly voice says from above me. I open my eyes to stare at the man who spoke.

He was leaning over me, his grey beard shifting as he smiled at me. He had a strange glass monocle over one eye, and leaned lightly on a wooden staff that held a strange blue gem at the top.

“What…?” I ask, completely surprised by the situation.

“My name is Merle Ambrose.” The elderly man responds, running his hand through his beard, “I am the headmaster of the Ravenwood School of Magical Arts.”

“Merle Ambrose? That… that name sounds familiar.” I say, slowly getting up from where I lay on the ground. A large tower stood in front of us, the words Golem Tower portrayed on a sign above the entrance to the tower.

“I am glad to hear that my name has spread so far.” Merle Ambrose said with a twinkle in his eye.

“Hellooo. My name is Gamma.” Someone said from the other side. 

I turn my head to look at the person who spoke, but all I see is an owl wearing a purple hat.

This definitely feels familiar.

“Wait wait wait.” I say, getting my thoughts in order “Why are you guys impersonating the cast from Wizard 101? Did you kidnap me? I mean, the talking owl is a cool effect and all, but shouldn’t kidnappers be, I don’t know, more inventive?”

“Ahhh. You believe that we are impersonating ourselves? Perhaps you do not believe that this is real. Well that is easily remedied.” The headmaster turns toward the tower in front of us. “Follow me.”

I watch as the headmaster enters the tower. He opens the door, turns his head to look at me, winks, then closes the door behind him.

“Don’t worry young wizard.” The voice comes from the owl, and I turn to it surprised. “Headmaster Ambrose is a good man, you need not worry for your safety.”

Dang, whatever they are using to make that owl speak is good. I don’t see any speakers anywhere.

I turn to the tower, considering my options. I could turn around and try to run, but considering they created an entire movie set for this, I doubt I’d actually be able to escape. I take one last glance at the owl before continuing into the tower.

A giant pentagon surrounded by a circle sits in the middle of the floor, and bookshelves with all kinds of items are arrayed around the room. Ambrose stands on the other side of the strange pentagon, and motions for me to enter it.

I look at the symbol, a small amount of fear filling me at the sight. They aren’t going to sacrifice me or anything like that, right?

“Don’t worry Chris. It is perfectly safe, I simply wish to prove to you that the magic here is real.”

I gulped, before taking a step into the circle. It flared to life, lighting up around me.

“Now I will create an illusion for you to fight against. Don’t worry, they will not be able to harm you.” Merle Ambrose lifts his staff into the air, before slamming it against the ground. Light flows out of his staff before reaching the other end of the circle. A creature appears there, with red skin and two wings popping out of it’s back. 

It certainly looked like the creatures summoned in the tutorial for the game Wizard101, except I remember those creatures were summoned by Malistaire the evil wizard. They were called Draconians if I remember correctly.

I watch the creature cautiously, as it shuffles around on the other side of the pentagon. Ambrose walks over to me handing a wooden stick, I grab it out of habit. 

“This circle is a powerful magical construct created to save the lives of young wizards like you when they enter a battle. It creates the rules of wizardry and binds each duelist to those rules.” Ambrose says as he watches us. “But do not expect it to always appear when fighting, to do so can easily mean your death.”

“Wh-what do I do?” I ask, watching the creature across from me cautiously. It stares at me with a level gaze. 

“You are a fire mage, summoning a spirit to fight for you should come to you easily.” Ambrose says sitting back, content to watch as a timer I hadn’t noticed runs out. 

The pentagram brightens as magical energy shifts over to the Draconian across from me. 

The creature smiles at me, showing a full row of predatory teeth. Then it creates a complicated spell circle in front of it using its claw, the lines of energy glowing in the air wherever it’s claw touched.

An ice arrow slowly forms in front of it, then the arrow is shot at me. 

I close my eyes, waiting for the impact. When I open them a second later, I see an electric shield and the arrow nowhere to be seen.. A red bar on the floor in front of me goes down.

The energy in the circle shifts as it points at me again. “So I have to cast a spell while the energy is pointing at me, right?” I ask nervously, forcing myself to believe that all of this is real, just in case it is.

“Exactly.”

“And when that red bar runs out, the shield runs out and I die?” I ask breathlessly.

“There are dueling circles that will teleport you out when the red bar runs out, but those are designed specially. Treat the red lines as your life-line.” Ambrose answers. He pauses for a moment before continuing, “The red line’s size is proportionate to your power, since the whole circle is created by feeding off of your power.”

Taking a deep breath, I try to think of how to summon a spirit, like Ambrose told me. I raise the hand with the wooden stick that I now recognize as a wand shakily. I stare at my hand, forcing it to be steady.

Suddenly, the spell circle required for the spell I want to cast fills my mind. My arm starts moving in the complicated pattern needed to summon a spirit. It only takes a moment to finish, but when I do, I feel some kind of power leave me.

The spell circle completes, and a pinprick of fire appears in the middle of the pentagon. The pinprick slowly expands into a small portal of darkness, surrounded on the borders by flames.

A paw leaves the portal, followed by the body of a panther. I watch with fascination as the panther’s fur moves in a manner reminiscent of flames. 

The spirit looks at me, then turns its gaze to the Draconian across from me. Its expression turns fierce as it gazes at the Draconian, and with an angry roar, it pounces on the creature. The shield holds for a moment, before the red line on the Draconian’s side disappears. The fire-panther breaks through the barrier and lands on the Draconian. The Draconian disappears as its body turns to light and returns to Ambrose.

“Do you believe that this is real now, young one?” Ambrose smiles at me, before throwing his arms out wide. “Welcome to the Ravenwood School of Magical Arts. Would you like to enroll as a student here?” 

I pause, my mind finally catching up with everything that had been going on. “This is actually a school for wizards?”

“Yes.”

“And you want me to enroll.” I ask, confused by the whole situation.

“Yes.”

I only stop to think for a moment before nodding. “Then yes, I would very much like to join this school.”

“Wonderful, follow me to my office and we can start the enrollment process.” Ambrose leaves the tower briskly closing the door behind him.

I look around at the room one last time before turning to follow him. A sudden feeling coming from my leg makes me look down. 

At my feet, a much smaller cat-like version of the panther I’d summoned rubs its head against my legs. 

I smile, reaching down to pet the creature.

My hand stops an inch above its fur, as I wonder if the thing is actually on fire. But I feel no heat from where my hand is, so I continue reaching down to pet the kitty. When it offers no resistance, I pick it up and hurry to follow the Headmaster of this school.