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As the morning sun’s intense rays streamed through the window, they shined onto a pair of closed emerald green eyes, which fluttered open almost immediately. As they did, they took in various blurs of green and brown. It was indeed a confusing sight for someone who had just woken up, but after a few moments it was evident that the blurs were actually various plants, trees, and hills speeding by.

Jonathan sat up in his seat with a groan, realizing that this had not all been just a dream like he would have hoped. The slight feeling of discomfort he had on one side of his face from leaning against the cool car window for several hours was just one of the many signs that confirmed it. The only audible sounds were the soft barely crackles of static being emitted from the old car’s radio as well as the sound of the engine as it sped down the road, which appeared to be going through a rather dense evergreen forest. He would have figured that the pavement on a back road like this would have been old, cracked, and littered with an endless sea of car-rattling potholes, but the road was surprisingly smooth.

Jonathan’s eyes were focusing on the scenery outside since his head was still groggy from sleep. For a few moments he actually forgot that he was not the only person present in the car.

“I see you’re awake, how did you sleep?” a woman’s voice asked in a sincere tone, letting out a yawn afterwards.

When the silence was broken, so were the boy’s impossible hopes for solitude. Jonathan glanced over at his mother who was currently sitting in the driver’s seat of the old station wagon concentrating her emerald green eyes on the road. Her pale bony arms, which contrasted greatly with Jonathan’s tan toned ones, were outstretched in front of her as she clutched the steering wheel tightly.

Her shoulder length chestnut-brown hair was a tad messy since she had been driving for so long. Jonathan could also see the rather evident dark circles under her eyes, which had formed due to the fact that she had been driving for many hours straight without any signs of stopping as well as the many sleepless nights that she had been having as of late.

“You know mom, you look pretty tired maybe driving such a long way wasn’t such a good idea. Maybe we could stop and have breakfast or something…” Jonathan suggested, part of him hoping she would say yes, the other part knowing she would say no.

He could tell that that had not been the best thing to say because her eyes narrowed in response although she never took them off of the road.

“Yeah that’s a great idea Jonathan, why didn’t I think of that?” she said to him in a tone that was practically drowning in sarcasm, “Oh wait I did. If we stop somewhere for breakfast the first thing you would do is go to the bathroom, crawl out the window and find someway to get back home even if you had to hitchhike. No wait, you would probably steal someone’s wallet and then make your escape right? Maybe use a payphone to call one of those good-for-nothing friends of yours to come pick you up? Am I right?” his mother sputtered bitterly, her grip on the steering wheel tightening slightly, causing her knuckles to turn even paler than they already were.

Jonathan remained silent after she said that. He knew that his mother was right and that her suspicions were correct even though it pained him to admit it. This was because she knew him pretty well after the sixteen years she had spent raising him. It was when she was angry that her British accent was the most prominent. It was something they shared although hers was a bit more evident in a normal conversation than his.

The two of them had moved to the United States about seven years ago after Jonathan’s father had left them. His father had never told him why he had left but his mother had always told him that it had been to be with another woman. That event stuck in his mind the most and ever since then Jonathan had always been a troublemaker.

He started lying, stealing, and even drinking and smoking on some occasions. When he had gotten to high school last year, he started to sleep around with various girls and even became quite popular since he hung around with a group of popular guys who often threw parties, snuck into concerts, and often got into a lot of trouble.

Deep down Jonathan knew what he was doing was wrong, but he just couldn’t help it. In his mind he had been blessed with his father’s good looks and wits. He was pretty smart but he did not use it to his advantage in school. Instead he failed most of his classes and used his knowledge on the streets where his slender agile body and long legs gave him the advantage and the stealth he needed to escape the authorities and avoid getting caught in a lot of the situations he would find himself in. In spite of this fact, the green-eyed boy had been caught a few times and had even been sent to juvie twice.

After the first time, his mother made him promise that he would turn over a new leaf and start going to therapy in order to help make him a better person. Jonathan on the other hand would skip therapy to hang out with his “friends” instead and after second time he got put in juvie, his mother got fed up with him and announced that this was the last straw before she told him to go pack his bags.

That had happened last night. Jonathan was still not entirely sure where they were headed since they did not have any family that he knew of in the States. She had only instructed him to pack the essentials like spare clothes, socks, underwear, and a toothbrush, stuff like that but didn’t bother to tell him where they were going.

They had been driving since late last night and they still had not reached their destination. He assumed that she was taking him to some remote location in the mountains in an attempt to keep him away from his friends, because ever since he had woken up, all he had seen were dense hilly forests of evergreen trees and the occasional river and mountain. A car or two had passed by them, but other than that the roads were rather empty.

“Well if we’re not gonna stop, at least tell me where we’re going,” Jonathan muttered, crossing his arms over his toned chest.

“I told you, I’ll tell you when we get there and don’t worry Jonathan you won’t have to wait much longer because we’re almost there,” his mother assured in an rather irritated tone.

Jonathan let out a sigh and decided not say anything else. He was still pretty nervous about where they were going since he had no clue and knowing his mother, it couldn’t possibly be good.

The continued to drive down the road for another half an hour until suddenly his mother turned on her rather audible left blinker. Jonathan’s eyes drifted to the left side of the road but there was no sign of any road to turn onto, just trees. He could feel the car starting to turn and he looked at the spot that his mother was turning the car towards and still, he only saw trees.

“What is she thinking? Is she about to drive the car into a tree? Did she drive all this way just to kill us both?”

These were all frantic thoughts that were swimming through Jonathan’s mind and without thinking he squeezed his eyes shut.

He expected the car to come to a sudden stop as the metal of the car hood smashed into the nearest tree forcefully due to the way that he could feel the car accelerating. However, the crash never came and the car continued to drive onward.

What made Jonathan open his eyes back up was not the fact that they had not crashed. Instead it was how violently the car was shaking and jerking due to how rough and rigid the road they were driving on was. The road he saw in front of him was nothing more than two long and worn out tire impressions that had been caused by cars driving on it over time. To Jonathan this wasn’t even a hiking trail much less a road and he could have sworn that the trees had not been far enough apart for even their small car to fit through just moments ago. However he shrugged it off, assuming that he was just seeing things.

Jonathan did not dare question his mother any further in fear that she would only grow furious. After several minutes of traveling down the bumpy road, the dense forest of pines soon stopped and made way to a rather large clearing. Jonathan could not believe what he was seeing. He rubbed his eyes several times and each time the massive castle was still there, standing eerily before them in all of its dark-stoned glory.

The trees around the castle seemed unnaturally tall due to the fact that they were still tall enough to surpass the height of the incredibly tall stone structure before them. It was covered with small towers towards its top and littered with even smaller windows. In many of the visible windows an eerie glow was visible and the rest were filled with darkness.

Surrounding the stone castle was black cast iron fence made of tall thin bars, each adorned with a decorative spike and stood at least eight feet tall. His mother stopped the car in front of the beautifully decorated cast iron gate that currently stood closed in front of them. As soon as his mother took the key from the ignition Jonathan’s wide eyes removed themselves from gigantic stone building in front of them and instantly darted to his calm and collected mother.

“Where the hell are we?!” was the first thing that left Jonathan’s lips and broke the silence that had been present in the car until now.

“Jonathan, what have I told you about watching your language and if you really want to know you’ll find out when we get inside now come one,” she said to him, opening her door and stepping out of the car.

“Wait…you mean we’re going in…there? What if we run into Count Dracula or Frankenstein?” he said half joking.

To be honest, he had only thought that places like this existed only in movies so he did not know what to expect to find inside a place like this. After a few moments of his mom shooting him glares and telling him to hurry up, he begrudgingly opened his door and got out of the car. His mother had already removed his suitcase from the trunk and handed it to him the moment he got out of the car.

Jonathan just stared at it, wondering if she was expecting him to stay in a place like this, whatever it was. Looking at it while standing outside made it look even more eerie and sinister than before, especially with the dark gray clouds filling the sky overhead. It had been pretty sunny on the main road, but from here the sky looked as if it would start spilling rain big heavy raindrops at any given moment.

“Come on Jonathan, don’t just stand there...and you better not try to run away,” His mother warned.

He looked up and noticed that she was already standing by the gate. Running away did sound like a good option, but where would he go? He honestly had no idea where he even was or how far he was from the nearest payphone. It wasn’t like he had any other choice right now so he decided to follow his mother to the towering cast iron gate.

It stood about two feet taller than him since Jonathan was exactly six feet tall. The details on the gate were rather impressive and the top of it was decorated in iron that was made to look like intertwining thorn-covered vines along with the occasional iron rose. As he drew closer to the gate he noticed that each individual bar that made up the fence was wrapped in the same thorn covered iron. It was all so intricate and quite beautiful in an eerie and mysterious sort of way.

As soon as he got to the front of the gate where his shorter mother was standing, as if on command it slowly creaked open loudly. This made Jonathan’s green eyes widen and he took a sudden step back. He shook his head refusing to enter the fenced in area, but his mother was already walking down the stone path towards the castle. A cool breeze suddenly hit Jonathan and a sudden shiver traveled down his spine. His eyes widened, suddenly feeling like he was in one of those horror movies that he would take girls to so that they would get scared and wrap their arms around him.

He started following after her at a fast pace down the path, looking around for a moment to see what he had not noticed before. It was a courtyard filled with odd statues, similar to the stone gargoyles that rested at the top of some of the castle’s towers. Oddly shaped shrubs and hedges littered the courtyard as well as what seemed to be bushes that grew roses as black as the iron ones that adorned the gate. What Jonathon failed to notice was the fact that the gate had closed behind them without making a sound.

When he finally reached his mother who was wearing a pair of high wasted pants, a white blouse, and a navy blue cardigan, he looked up in awe at the massive mahogany double doors before him. On them were two rather large black iron knockers made to look like howling wolf heads with a large iron ring handing from each of their jaws. He honestly was not about to touch one of the menacing looking knockers since he wanted nothing more than to get back in the car.

His mother on the other hand took the knocker and knocked once with it and almost immediately, the door swung open to reveal a rather large foyer lit by a black chandelier made in a similar rose and thorn design as the fence, only more intricate. What struck him as odd was the fact that there was no one there to greet them, instead the foyer sat empty and there was nothing on the black and white checkered floor save for a few statues that resembled the ones outside.

Jonathan was both disappointed and relieved by the fact that some creepy hunchbacked man with a weird voice had not been there waiting for them. He reluctantly followed his mother inside and as soon as they reached the middle of the room, the door slammed shut causing him to jump.

Jonathan figured that this was supposed to be some sort of lame attempt to scare him into being a better person. Well it wasn’t going to work, but he decided to play along.

“You’ve got to be kidding me mom. What is this place? Just tell me already! Did you take me here so I can be some subject for a mad scientist or something as a punishment? I really hope that’s not the case,” he said, his voice shaking a bit.

Just before his mother could respond, a voice coming from above them responded instead.

“Don’t worry I can assure you that there are no mad scientists here,” said a rather elegant sounding female voice with a British accent even more prominent than his mother’s.

Jonathan looked up at the top of the grand staircase in front of them to find a rather tall thin woman wearing a long black dress. Her skin was pale like his mother’s but instead of having brown hair, hers was more of an auburn color.

The woman descended the staircase swiftly and within seconds she was standing in front of the two with a kind and sincere look on her face. He would have expected her to look more menacing, but instead she looked rather motherly.

Instead of introducing herself, she made her way over to his mother and the two embraced.

“Oh Angela, its been such a long time! I haven’t seen you since your wedding. I’m really sorry Anthony left you but I guess once a close minded man always a close minded man,” the woman said to his mother with a soft laugh.

For the first time in what seemed like years, Jonathan actually saw what appeared to be a smile on his mother’s face.

“Yes it has been a while Margaret. I am sorry that we don’t see each other more often. I guess I’ve been busy with work and taking care of my son…well trying to anyway…” his mother said with a sigh.

“It’s quite all right,” the woman, whose name was apparently Margaret, said and then turned to Jonathan, “so you must be Jonathan. I hear so much about you from your mother when we speak on the phone. You look quite handsome just like your father, except you have your mother’s eyes.”

The kind look that the woman was giving him almost assured him that he could trust this woman, especially those lavender eyes of hers. They were most unusual, but he did however feel a bit comfortable around her, almost as if her eyes alone were radiating kindness and compassion.

“Um thanks…” Jonathan muttered, not really sure how to respond.

“So have you told him anything?” Margaret asked, her attention back on his mother.

His mother smiled again and let out a soft chuckle.

“Not a thing, I’ll leave that to you,” she said to the Margaret.

Margaret nodded in response, a bright eager smile tugging at her pale lips.

This made Jonathan feel even more confused than he already was.

“Tell me what? Is it what this place is and why I’m here? Why are you entrusting that to her?!” Jonathan sputtered angrily.

“Now now, it’s not polite to raise you’re voice at your mother. We certainly have a lot of work to do,” Margaret said, “Leave it to me, I’ll whip him into shape by the time its time for you to come get him.”

“Wait what do you mean by that?” he asked, worried about what she would say in response.

“She means that I am leaving you here Jonathan and I shall come get you when the time is right. Now behave or your next punishment will be far worse than juvie,” his mother said to him before turning to leave.

“Wait mom…don’t leave me in this damn place!” he yelled but the double doors opened back up again and his mother began walking towards them.

He wanted to run after her, but he found that for some reason his legs did not respond. Before he knew it, his mother was out the doors and they closed behind her causing the room do grow silent and dark save for the dimly lit chandelier above them.

“All right Jonathan now follow me and I’ll tell you all that you’d like to know,” Margaret stated before she started walking away from him, towards the grand staircase from which she had descended earlier.

Suddenly Jonathan found that his legs could move again. He wanted to run out the doors that his mother had just left and to beg his mother to take him back home, but for some reason he found that he could do no such thing. His mind drifted back to the woman and he decided to follow her instead with his suitcase in hand. The two of them ascended the stairs without a word and walked through a dimly lit hallway.

The two of them walked for what seemed like hours, but in reality only a couple of minutes had passed when they finally reached beautifully carved wooden double doors. She pushed them open and he stepped inside nervously to find that that room was what appeared to be an office of some sort, but a rather large one at that. It was at least as big as their living room back home if not bigger. Towards the back of the room sat a rather large wooden desk with a large deep purple fabric chair behind it. Lining all of the walls were various old paintings and bookshelves that seemed to carry all sorts of old looking books, but strangely none of them appeared to be dusty.

One of the walls to his right had a large window that looked out onto the forest, or what seemed to be the forest. Jonathan could not really tell because it was pouring outside rather heavily. To the right of the woman’s desk was a rather grand fireplace that contained a blazing orange fire in spite of the fact that it was only mid autumn.

“So I am assuming that you are wondering why you are here and what this place is, am I correct?” she asked before making her way over to her desk.

She motioned for him to follow her and to have a seat on one of the two smaller purple chairs in front of her desk. He did just that just as she took a seat on her own chair.

“Yeah, I’ve been wondering that ever since I got here to be honest. My mom just told me to pack my things and took me on some road trip without even telling me where we were going. She probably didn’t tell me because I wouldn’t have believed her if she told me she was taking me to Count Dracula’s castle,” he said with a laugh.

“I see. Well, this castle actually belongs to me, Margaret Nightshade and you will address me as Madame Nightshade,” she said to him with a slight smile.

“Um okay…uh Madame Nightshade,” he said, trying hard not to laugh.

“What is so funny?” she asked, her tone becoming stern.

“Uh nothing, its just that I’ve never addressed anyone as Madame before.”

“I see…so your mother has told me that you have been getting into trouble recently,” she said to him.

“Trouble? What trouble? I’m an angel,” he said to her with a laugh, drawing a halo around his head with one of his thin fingers.

“So you like to lie I take it? Do you think lying is “cool”? Who are you trying to impress Jonathan? I am pretty sure that outfit may impress some of those girls that you mess around with, but to me you just look like another punk off the street,” she said, her kind gaze suddenly turning into an icy glare as they narrowed at him.

Jonathan honestly didn’t see anything wrong with what he was wearing. His faded denim jeans were ripped at the knees and his unzipped leather jacket hung loosely on his thin frame exposing his gray band t-shirt that had ripped sleeves. In his jacket pocket hung a pair of reflective sunglasses and in one of the pockets of his jeans was a pack of cigarettes and a lighter. His hair was also past his shoulders and was pretty messy and choppy. It was how the rest of the guys he hung out with dressed and the girls went nuts over it.

He narrowed his eyes at the woman, feeling anger starting to build up inside him.

“Hey, take that back,” he muttered through clenched teeth.

“I am not one to take things back young man. You wanted to know where you are, am I correct? Well you are at Nightshade Reform School, a high school where we specialize in helping bad eggs such as yourself rid themselves of bad habits and become better people altogether,” she explained.

“Oh great, so my mom drove me all the way out here to send me to some reform school? How is this any different from juvie?” he said, knowing that reform schools were places that kids were sent to get straightened out and just like juvie they come out even worse than before.

“The way this place is different from juvie is that we specialize in doing things that they cannot. We employ punishments that actually work. Forcing you to pick up trash by the interstate certainly will not help you become a better person…”

“What are you going to do then? Hit me with a paddle? Lock me in a cell? Been there done that,” he muttered.

“Yes and you still have not improved. You see the punishments that my school uses are far more effective because they affect you for a long period of time both emotionally and physically,” Madame Nightshade explained.

“I see, so what are you going to do? Force me to walk on Legos? Take away my Walkman? Go for it because nothing you can possibly do will break me.”

At this she laughed, but her expression instantly became bitter once again.

“No, something far worse than that, Jonathan. You rely a lot on your looks to get girls and your thin and agile body to help you sneak around and avoid the authorities am I right?”

“Y-Yeah…what about it?”

As soon as those words left his lips, hers curled into a rather wide and sinister smile. When Jonathan saw it he raised an eyebrow, not really sure what she was smiling about, but it was really starting to creep him out.

Suddenly he felt a strange sensation enter his body. It started in his stomach and he assumed that he was just hungry since he hadn’t eaten anything since last night, but that didn’t explain the sudden warmth that was entering his body. He could feel the waistband of his jeans starting to feel tighter and he was not sure exactly why. The feeling felt strangely pleasant however, and he would’ve been too lost in pleasure to notice what was going on had he not looked down. His emerald eyes widened as soon as he saw his stomach. It seemed to be swelling outwards, causing his band t-shirt to ride up. He placed his hands on his stomach expecting it to be hard, but instead it felt soft and flabby. He wasn’t sure why the feeling felt so good, but he had no idea how this was even happening. There was no way he could randomly start growing fatter.

“What the hell is going on? What’s happening to me?!” he asked frantically, but she did not answer.

“Watch your language,” she said to him and just then he felt the strange feeling migrate to the rest of his body.

His once toned chest was starting to turn rather flabby and round as well. The green-eyed boy’s arms and thighs started to expand, causing his sleeves and pants to feel like tight sausage casings against his skin. He could feel the arm rests of the chairs starting to press painfully against his sides as his butt started growing rounder and wider. He quickly stood up so he wouldn’t get stuck in the chair. He stumbled a bit since he wasn’t used to this added weight.

“This can’t be happening to me! How are you doing this?! Please tell me what’s going on!” he pleaded, feeling his face start to swell as well.

“Well since you said please, I’ll tell you something. You see I, like your mother, am a witch and this is the reason why this reform school is much different than most…”

It took him a moment to register what she had said and he couldn’t believe it.

“What are you talking about? Magic isn’t real…I-I must be dreaming….and there is no way my mom is a witch!”

“Of course magic is real and you are most certainly not dreaming. Also, your mother is a witch. She just never told you because she thought you would hate her since that is the real reason your father left…”

Jonathan shook his head frantically.

“N-No…it can’t be true…it just can’t…and if it is…please stop this, the last thing I want is to be fat!”

“I know, that is why this punishment is perfect for you. Oh and let’s not forget the rest…” She said to him.

Jonathan wanted to run but once again he found that he couldn’t as his body kept expanding. Soon the strange feeling inside of his body stopped and so did the expanding. He watched as the woman stood up from her chair. She was shorter than him by a couple of inches but something wasn’t right. For a moment it looked like she appeared to be getting taller, but soon it looked like everything appeared to be getting taller. It wasn’t long before he noticed that it was he that had been growing shorter instead of everything around him growing. He was now about a foot shorter than he had been before and it didn’t feel right at all. He had gotten so used to being this height ever since his growth spurt three years ago, and now he was back to being short.

Even though he was shorter, Jonathan could feel his clothes starting to burst at the seams and the last thing he wanted was to be naked in front of this woman. The decrease in his height had made him look even fatter than he had before he had shrunk.

Suddenly he could feel his clothes starting to change. His tight leather jacket evaporated and his band t-shirt was suddenly replaced by a white button down shirt that fit his larger form and hugged the outline of his big belly. Instead of his leather jacket, he now had on a brown blazer with a crest containing a black rose on his right breast pocket. The jacket also fit him just as nicely as the shirt. His tight jeans transformed into plaid pants also in his new size, not that he could see them over his large dome of a belly, which was hanging a few inches over the waistband of his pants. He also couldn’t see that his sneakers had turned into brown dress shoes because of the fact that he could no longer see his feet. He moved his plump hands in front of his face to find that instead of tan, they were now paler than his mothers.

Jonathan could also feel his hair growing shorter but he could not tell much else since he couldn’t see himself. He looked back at the woman to shoot her a glare but instead he found that she looked much blurrier than before. As a matter of fact, everything in the room looked rather blurry to him as he looked around the room frantically. He rubbed his eyes but that did nothing. It was as if he was opening his eyes underwater, everything was blurry and out of focus.

“Try checking your pocket,” he heard Madame Nightshade say.

He had not idea what she was talking about but he decided to comply. He wasn’t sure what pocket she meant so he tried his pants pockets and found nothing. He cursed under his breath when he realized his lighter and cigarettes were gone. He then patted his right breast pocket, surprised at how soft his chest felt…almost like a woman’s breast. He cringed at the thought that he had gotten so fat but he decided to check his other pocket as well.

Jonathan found what felt like his sunglasses. He was glad that at least they remained. He took them out of his pocket and glanced at them to reveal that they weren’t his sunglasses at all. Instead they were normal glasses with clear lenses and thick black frames with tape on the ridge between the lenses. He had vowed to himself that he would never be caught dead wearing lame nerdy classes like those dorks that he and his friends often threw in trashcans. He knew he probably had to though, so with a cringe Jonathan decided to put them on and when he did, he found that everything was once again as clear as it had been before.

He looked over at Madame Nightshade to find that she was standing there, her expression as serious as ever.

“What the hell did you do to me? Why the hell did you do this to me? This can’t be happening! I must be dreaming…this can’t actually be happening!” he said, his frantic tone laced with panic.

“This is for your own good Jonathan. You need to learn your lesson once and for all and if there’s anything that will make sure you will, it’s this,” she said before reaching onto her desk and handing him a beautiful golden hand mirror.

Nervously, Jonathan took it and eyes widened when he found an unfamiliar face looking back at him. It was really hard to believe that this face belonged to him with its round puffy reddish cheeks and the prominent double chin as well as a thicker neck and a rounder nose. His once long choppy brown hair was now short and black and combed to one side. His thick-framed black glasses were rather large and very prominent. His eyebrows were also black now just like his hair. The only thing that remained unchanged was the color of his emerald green eyes.

Jonathan shook his head and set the mirror down. He knew if any one of the guys he hung out with would laugh at him on sight just like he knew the girls he messed around with wouldn’t even think twice about even talking to him now.

This was just great. He wanted to believe that this was all just some dream and soon he would wake up, but it felt all too real. He still couldn’t believe his mother was actually a witch like the woman before him, and that she had never told him. He also still found it hard to believe that magic existed even though almost his entire body had been altered by it. He wondered if this was the reason that his father left, he couldn’t blame him if it was. He too would freak out if he found out the woman he married had weird powers like this.

“All right Jonathan, everything you’ll need for the semester is now in your suitcase along with your schedule and here is your room key. You’ll be in room 517 and unfortunately for you, there are no elevators in this building so you you’ll have to walk everywhere on foot,” she admitted to him, handing him a small silver key, “Well at least until you learn a teleportation spell, which can’t be used to leave the school by the way. There is a special barrier around the school and as long as you’re a student here, you cannot leave unless I grant you permission.”

Jonathan gave her a confused look.

“What do mean by learn a teleportation spell? I can’t do magic…magic isn’t real…” he muttered.

Madame Nightshade rolled her lavender eyes at the boy.

“Of course magic is real and of course you can do magic. Just because your mother never told you she could use magic or that you could use magic doesn’t mean you cannot use magic. You see your morning and day classes will be your average math, English and other basic classes. After dinner you will have a class that will teach you everything you need to know about magic. Believe it or not Jonathan, you’re not the only one in a situation like yours, there are plenty of others like you here. You will meet many others who will be starting here as well. You see tomorrow is the first day of school, that is why your mother decided to bring you here today,” she explained.

Jonathan couldn’t believe his ears. He couldn’t possibly have magic could he? And even if he did why had he not discovered it sooner. He decided not to question and go along with it for now.

“So if I do learn to use my magic or whatever doesn’t that just mean I could make myself got back to normal?” he asked, hoping the answer would be yes.

“I’m afraid not Jonathan. You see, what I cast on you is a special kind of curse and a curse can only be reversed by the one that casted it. At the end of the school year if I think you are worthy, I will call you to my office and I tell you that this punishment has been a success, if you do improve that is. You will have the choice to either have me undo the curse I have on you or to keep it and then you will go home. If you have not learned your lesson by then however, you will stay for another school year,” she said to him.

“Yeah, okay…like hell I’m gonna stay like this. I feel like a disgusting pig,” he muttered.

“We’ll see about that Jonathan,” Madame Nightshade said, “anyway, I’ve kept you here long enough. I think its time for you to go to your dorm and meet your roommate. When you leave my office you will find that my son will be waiting to show you to your room. I will be calling you into my office to check on you every now and then. For now I will see you tomorrow night for our first lesson in magic.”

Jonathan still couldn’t believe any of this was really happening. He decided to grab his suitcase and make his way to the door anyway. He didn’t want to be in her office any longer. As he walked however, he found that his walk was more of a waddle now since his tree trunk thick thighs rubbed together considerably as he walked. It all felt so foreign to him since he still wasn’t used to being this size. He kept stumbling as he kept trying to find his center of gravity.

He pulled open the double doors and made his way into the hallway, but found no one. She had said that her son would be waiting for him outside her door. Maybe he was invisible? Jonathan honestly didn’t doubt it with all of the weird things he had already experienced and he hadn’t even been here for a full hour.

Jonathan decided to walk down the long hallway. He wished he could call his mother and ask her about this. Maybe there was a landline somewhere in this place but he heavily doubted it since it was so old fashioned.

As he turned the corner he nearly ran into someone also turning the corner walking towards him.

“Hey, watch where you’re…” Jonathan started to say but looking straight ahead his eyes met the same brown blazer with the same black rose embroidered crest that he was wearing.

Jonathan backed up a bit and looked up to find that standing before him was a boy who was slightly shorter than Jonathan bad been before he had been cursed. The boy was rather slender and pale but not as pale as Jonathan was currently. His long brown hair was tied back in a ponytail and his face thin and angular. What stood out the most to Jonathan was the fact that the boy had the same lavender eyes as Madame Nightshade.

“Oh, you must be the newest addition to our school,” the boy said, his tone laced with a hint of bitterness and a British accent about as thick as Madame Nightshade’s, “let me guess, you were tall and thin and probably didn’t have glasses before coming here?”

“How’d you guess?” Jonathan said with a hint of sarcasm as well as irritation.

“Let’s say that I’ve been here long enough to know what kind of physical alterations my mother gives to her students,’’ he said, his lavender eyes narrowing at Jonathan slightly.

“Your mother? Oh you must be the guy that she said would take me to my room or whatever?”

“Yes that’s me, Argos Nightshade son of the headmistress of this school and you must be Jonathan,” he said to him, “now follow me please. What’s your room number?”

“Uh…517,” Jonathan said.

“I see, well try to keep up please, I’ve had to do this plenty of times today and I’m pretty sure you’re our last student to arrive so after this I’m free to go back to my own room,” Argos muttered.

Jonathan tried to keep up with the boy but he found it rather difficult since his long thin legs gave him the advantage, while Jonathan was struggling to waddle after him, suitcase in hand.

After they walked down the dimly lit halls across the black and white checkered floor for a few minutes in silence, Jonathan heard footsteps behind them but when he turned, he saw no one. He really hoped that the castle wasn’t haunted. He would never admit it but he was terrified of stuff like that.

When he turned back face the direction they were walking there was a thin pale girl around his age standing in front of him with a wide grin spread across her face. She was wearing a similar brown blazer with the school crest as well as a plaid skirt what stopped at her knees. Her auburn hair, like most girls’, was very curly. She was ever so slightly taller than him and had the same striking lavender eyes as Madame Nightshade and Argos, making her look rather pretty.

“Well hello there, aren’t you a cutie?” she said, her voice also laced with a British accent as she was still grinning widely at him, her eyes looking at him hungrily, “I’m Isabelle.”

Her tone was eager just like the expression on her face.

“And I’m not interested, so could you get out of my way so I can follow the guy I’m supposed to be following?”

Isabelle’s eyes widened and she looked rather hurt as her grin turned to a frown.

“There you are Jonathan, I was wondering why you were no longer following me,” Argos said as he walked over to them.

Argos then glanced at Isabelle and sighed.

“Didn’t I tell you to say in your room Isabelle so you won’t give people a hard time and what are you doing?” Argos said sounding even more irritated with her than he had with Jonathan.

Isabelle rolled her eyes and groaned.

“Why do you always have to be such a kill joy Argos? I just wanted to say hello to this cute new kid,” she said.

Both guys rolled their eyes at her.

“Oh come on new kid, I’m sure you find me as hot as I find you,” she said to Jonathan, moving closer to him.

“First off, the name’s Jonathan, second, I only date blondes, and third, I’m not interested,” Jonathan said coldly, backing away from her.

Isabelle frowned once again but then the smile returned to her face.

“You mean like this?” she asked, running a hand through her hair.

Almost instantly, it turned from a deep auburn to golden blonde and Jonathan’s eyes widened.

“Uh…” Jonathan said.

“Isabelle, we don’t have time for this now go to your room, its almost curfew. You know how mother feels when you’re out of your room past curfew because she knows you’re out and about somewhere causing trouble.”

Isabelle shot a glare at Argos.

“Yeah I have to go to my room before curfew but you don’t. That’s completely fair. Whatever,” she muttered.

She then turned to Jonathan.

“Don’t worry cutie, you haven’t seen the last of me,” she said, blowing him a kiss sending him a playful wink before walking away, her hips swaying.

Jonathan had never met such a persistent girl. He liked when girls were shy and passive but when girls were assertive like she was, he wasn’t interested.

“Um, who was that?” Jonathan asked.

“My sister Isabelle. She’s a year younger than I am but she’s a pain in the ass and yes, before you ask, she’s always like this,” Argos said, “now come on, I have to get you to your room before curfew.”

“Um okay,” Jonathan said nervously, hoping he wouldn’t run into that girl anytime soon.

Jonathan proceeded to follow Argos down the long portrait-lined halls and up several flights of spiral staircases until they reached the fifth floor. By then Jonathan was panting heavily, feeling the same as he would if he had just finished running a marathon. Now he understood why the fat kids at his school always looked so out of breath when they got to class. It was all the weight they had to carry around. His suitcase wasn’t exactly light either.

He looked over at Argos, his expression serious when he turned to look at him for a moment with those lavender eyes of his, but he said nothing and kept walking. Jonathan followed him, wondering why he was so distant and cold. Maybe it was because his mother was so strict and he didn’t want to be like his sister. Jonathan wouldn’t know since he didn’t have any siblings.

They passed by several rooms, all with numbers on them in the five hundreds. Towards the end of the hall Argos stopped at number 517 and Jonathan couldn’t help but notice that the door appeared to be a bit wider and taller than the rest of them and he wasn’t sure exactly why.

“Alright, well this is your room. Your roommate is already here so you don’t have to use your key,” Argos said before he started to walk away.

Jonathan was confused as to why he was acting like this. He figured that Argos thought he was better than him since he was the son of the headmistress or something. Jonathan didn’t care about that crap. He turned to look in the direction that he had gone, but he was gone.

Jonathan shook his head wondering if he would ever get used to this whole magic thing. He took a deep breath wondering what his roommate would be like. He had never had one before so this would definitely be a new experience for him. He kind of hoped that he was like the guys he hung out with back home.

With one of his plump hands, Jonathan turned the doorknob and made his way into the room. It was a pretty simple room with two beds beside each other, two dressers, two desks, two chairs, a door that presumably led to a bathroom, and a window overlooking the endless forest surrounding the school.

On the bed near the window sat a boy taking out some clothes from a suitcase. When he heard the door open, he stood up and turned to face Jonathan. The boy was very tall, even taller than Jonathan had been, standing at about 6’5. He was a very thin boy with short messy blonde hair and pale blue eyes. He had a thin face, but it wasn’t as angular as Argos’. He had on the same school uniform as the rest of them but his blazer was unbuttoned.

As soon as he saw Jonathan, he tried hard not to laugh. Jonathan rolled his eyes at him and set his suitcase onto the bed.

“Aw come one don’t be like that. I’m sorry all right. I just didn’t know why everything on this side of the room was so big, but now I know,” he said to him, sounding like a typical American probably from the Mid-west.

Jonathan had no idea what he was talking about until he looked over at the boy’s bed. It was a bit narrower than Jonathan’s but a lot longer. Jonathan’s bed looked very close to being queen sized and the chair at his desk was at least twice as wide as the other boy’s. Now Jonathan knew why the door was wide and tall and he shook his head and let out a sigh.

“I’m Eric Morris and I’ll be your roommate this semester,” the tall boy said before making his way over to Jonathan.

Without warning, Eric grabbed a bit of the bottom of Jonathan’s belly and shook it and then patted it.

“You sure like eating don’t you?”

This caused Jonathan to jerk away and blush furiously.

“Hey hand’s off pal. Its called personal space, and no I don’t like to eat. I’m not the fat pig you think I am. I didn’t want to look like this,” Jonathan muttered.

“Relax dude, I was just messing with you. I didn’t want to be like this either. I hate being freakishly tall,” Eric said with a sigh, “I stand out too much. I used to be as short as you are if not a little shorter. I’m pretty sure she made you shorter and fatter didn’t she? I’m also assuming your glasses are her doing too?”

Jonathan remained silent as he realized that Eric, too, was in a similar situation to his.

“Yeah it was her doing,” Jonathan muttered before opening his suitcase.

His bright green eyes widened when he saw what was inside. Instead of his cassettes he found several textbooks, he also found several pencils, notebooks, erasers, his schedule, and even a beginner’s spell book. He picked up his clothes, well what used to be his clothes to find an extra school uniform in his current size. Some huge jeans and button down plaid t-shirts in his current size, some white knee high socks, some sneakers that were plain compared to his old ones, an extra pair of glasses, a pair of red plaid pajamas, and underwear also in his current size. His extra cigarettes, Walkman, extra lighter, and other possessions were nowhere to be seen.

“Was your stuff messed with too?” Jonathan asked as he started removing the stuff from his suitcase and putting it away into dresser drawers and drawers in his desk.

There wasn’t much he could do about it now anyway.

“Yeah, she took my cigarettes and gave me clothes that fit my new height,” Eric muttered.

Eric made his way over to his side of the room and plopped down on his long bed. Jonathan continued to unpack his clothes, glad that he wasn’t the only one going through this.

“So uh what do you think about this whole magic thing?” Eric asked.

Jonathan stopped what he was doing and turned to Eric who was looking over at him.

“I didn’t even know it existed until today. I honestly still can’t believe it exists and that my mom never told me she was a witch,” he muttered.

“Yeah same here. I was just sent here by my foster parents because they got some brochure in the mail and once they saw that the tuition was free, they shipped me off. I’m not even sure if either of my parents had magic since I’ve never met them, but its kind of neat to think about, well besides having our bodies and belongings altered as a punishment,” Eric said.

“Yeah…I guess…” he muttered.

Jonathan was quiet as he unpacked his things. When he finished he sat down onto his bed and felt his stomach spill onto his wide lap.

“So, how does it feel to be that big?” Eric asked from across the room.

The sudden break in the silence startled Jonathan and he turned around to find that Eric was lying on his side with his head propped up facing him.

Jonathan looked away and didn’t say anything for a while.

“I hate it. I feel like I have a bunch of sandbags attached to me,” he muttered, “its disgusting.”

He turned to look at Eric and saw that he opened his mouth to say something but the sound of a loud bell suddenly interrupted him.

“That means its dinner time. I got here kind of early since my parents wanted to get rid of me as soon as possible and I found out that the bells signal mealtimes. Lunch was actually pretty good. Want to join me for dinner?” Eric asked, getting off of his bed.

“No I think I’ll just stay here…” Jonathan muttered.

“All right well suit yourself tubby but I’m sure that belly of yours will probably wake you up with growling in the middle of the night or something,” Eric said with a laugh.

“I’ll take my chances,” Jonathan responded.

Eric shrugged and left the room, leaving Jonathan alone. Jonathan lay back on the bed, still hoping that this was all just a dream. However, he knew deep down that it wasn’t one.

While Eric was gone, Jonathan just laid there thinking about his mother and father. He was so lost in thought that when the door opened, Jonathan jumped, causing his belly to jiggle violently. Jonathan turned bright red and Eric laughed.

“Sorry if I scared you. Dinner was pretty good. You missed out,” Eric said.

“I think I’ll live,” he muttered.

“Your call dude,” Eric said.

Eric made his way to the bathroom and Jonathan heard the shower running. Eric came back a few minutes later dressed in some green plaid pajamas, similar to the red ones Jonathan found in his suitcase.

Jonathan got up made his way to the bathroom and took off his school uniform. In the bathroom mirror he was surprised to find how fat he really looked. With one of his hands he cupped one of his moobs. It really did feel almost like a woman’s breast. The thought of that made him shudder. He then grabbed a handful of his belly fat. It was so squishy under his doughy hands and even felt almost…pleasant.

Jonathan shook the thought out of his head and took a quick shower. He then brushed his teeth after drying off with the untouched towel in the bathroom. He emerged in his red plaid pajamas and got into the bed. He lifted up the plush white covers and sat his glasses onto the dresser beside his bed. He glanced over at Eric and found him looking over at him again.

Jonathan turned off his lamp.

“Well good night,” Jonathan said, turning so that his back was facing Eric.

“Wait, I never did get your name,” Eric said.

Jonathan let out an irritated sigh.

“It’s Jonathan. Jonathan Carlton,” he said.

“Well, t’s nice to meet you Johnny, good night,” Eric said.

“Goodnight,” Jonathan muttered, closing his eyes.

As he lay there, he couldn’t help but think what was in store for him tomorrow. With how things were going so far, he knew it couldn’t possibly be anything good.