Cadavraball was suddenly David's new obsession. When he wasn't in class, or struggling with the illusion spell, he was out in the field. He was convinced that he was going to make the team, that he already found his niche in that school, even if he never managed to cast a single spell. That was more than Cary could say for herself.

Over the next week, Cary was focused on reading through Arch Angel Michael's version of the bible. Much of the book was familiar, the same words that she had read dozens of times. The same ones that she had discussed hundreds of times. Most of the translations were close enough to the ones that she had read before that she could tell what the words were meant to be. She could tell that they were the same words. That it was still the Word of God. Most of the time, though, she had her own bible open next to it, reading along in both of them and comparing the two.

Despite the changes, some of which were substantial, there was nothing in there that struck a bad chord for Cary. Nothing that seemed out of place in the book. Everything just seemed to fit, much more neatly than the King James version that she had always used. The contradictions that were always hashed out and rehashed during bible study just fell away. There were the same mentions of witches and demons and the corrupting influence of Satan, but they kept with the same teachings that sprung throughout the book.

The biggest changes were in Leviticus, which was almost unrecognizable. Whole portions of the book seemed completely rewritten, or dropped entirely. Cary wasn't sure how she felt about this, if it was a sign that they were trying to trick her with it. But as much of the changes were irrelevant to her life at the time, or that the original passages that were missing were no longer followed by most practicing Christians, she figured that there was no harm in it. There was nothing in there, or not in there, that would lead her astray or draw her towards corruption.

By the time her birthday came around, the Saturday after getting this new version of the bible, Cary was almost to the new portions. It had been a long, hard week, between keeping up with her classes and studying the bible. As the weekend came around again, all Cary wanted was to hide out in her room and read. To finish going through the new bible before classes started again on Monday. She was still hoping to get some great stroke of genius. A message from God Himself that she wasn't in the wrong place. That her finding herself at TPS wasn't some colossal mistake, or would cost her her immortal soul.

But she couldn't stay inside. She had an appointment with Ms. Scott.

"Hey, Cary," Ms. Scott said, as she was passing by the group in the mess hall.

While the table on the balcony was meant for the teachers, not many of them ate in the mess hall. It seemed like a private place where the students could be themselves. Which mostly involved the older kids casting spells all day and the younger ones gawking at them. However, as Ms. Scott came up behind Cary, she was holding the same tray that the students were using. It was unclear if she meant to stay, or if she would eat somewhere else.

"Don't forget we have that appointment in my office later. Care to stop by at the hour?" She nodded towards the clock on the far wall.

Cary looked between Ms. Scott, the clock, and her friends for a moment, as she debated skipping the appointment. She wasn't sure just what Ms. Scott was planning, or how it would help her in her struggle to find her place in the world. But from the tone of her voice, and her standing over her, Cary had an unsettling feeling that it wasn't a choice. That if she didn't show up in her office, Ms. Scott would probably hunt her down. An image of a gingerbread house flashed through Cary's mind at that thought.

"Sure," she said, nodding. Ms. Scott smiled back at her before continuing on, heading out the front doors to the mess hall.

The reminder of her appointment soured her breakfast, and Cary spent much of the next few minutes just picking at her food. David was sitting next to her, but he was turned around, facing the sixth grade table. Reggie and his friends, all of whom were on the Cadavraball team, were sitting right there, and the lot of them were discussing tryouts later that day. Nelgomi, Sam, and Siobhan were all discussing their usual topics of the heart of the forest, and the other artifacts of magic. None of that had any interest for Cary, and none of them seemed to notice her exchange with Ms. Scott. Moreover, none of them said a word about it being her birthday, which was just fine with Cary.

Cary had no doubt that, if she had been back home, her grandparents would have baked her a cake. David would have come over, and they would have had her grandmother's prize winning mac and cheese and played party games till it was time to go to bed. But being stuck there, at that school, so far away from her home and her grandparents, she almost wanted to forget the whole thing. She didn't even want to turn ten. She just wanted to stay nine until she could go home. But she knew that couldn't happen. For so many reasons, that couldn't happen.

Long before the hour was up, Cary got up from the table. As engrossed in their own conversations as they were, none of her friends seemed to notice it as she left. Her mostly empty tray stayed in its place on the table, and it seemed whatever magic usually cleared the trays seemed as oblivious of her as her friends were. The tray didn't disappear as she walked away from it, as if the table itself thought that she would be back.

Outside, there were already students heading out through the main gates of campus, on their way into town. Some were in carriages, but most opted to walk the mile of open road between the school and the city. There was a teacher standing over there, slowly checking that the students heading out were allowed off campus. But even without the teacher to stop her, Cary knew that the strange magic of the gates would keep her inside. There was no escape from the school, no return to home in store for her. Not anytime soon, anyway.

Cary hadn't been inside the admin building since that first night that she arrived on campus. She hadn't been avoiding it, but there had been no need to head in there. With her having a few more minutes before she needed to meet with Ms. Scott, Cary took her time, looking around at the large entry room. Just inside the door was a list of all the teachers, over sixty of them, and where their offices were in the building. Just past that was a picture that looked like a map, but if it was, it was of some place that Cary had no idea of. Perhaps of the magical realm itself, but Cary couldn't make out any landmarks on it. Nothing that looked familiar. It didn't help that none of the words on it were in English. The flowing letters seemed to be the same as what she had seen in her file in Ms. Scott's office.

"Ah, Cary, there you are," Ms. Scott said, drawing her attention away from the strange map. Cary looked over at her, then at the clock in the corner, making sure that she still had a few minutes before their appointment. But Ms. Scott was already standing there, peeking out through the door to the headmaster's office. "Want to come back through into my office?"

"Oh," Cary said. "Uh, sure, I guess."

Before Cary could move from where she was, Ms. Scott came over to stand next to Cary, looking at the map on the wall next to her. She pointed at a place somewhere in the middle of it, seemingly at random. There was nothing by where she was pointing, with the closest name marking a dot right below her finger. "This is where we are," she said. "Just north of Norumbega. Did you know that the first explorers of the magical realm were elves? They say we have magic in our blood. And yet, without access to the magical realm, we would lose access to magic just as much as the other races would."

"Would that be such a bad thing?" Cary muttered.

"Ah, I see you're still having trouble adjusting to your new life here at Thorbjorg Prep. Is it not getting any easier? Still homesick?"

Cary just nodded her agreement, but then she started heading over to the door to the headmaster's office. Ms. Scott quickly followed behind her. As the two of them walked through the office, and around to the back hallway, Cary felt it odd that the woman was so short. That this adult was barely half a foot taller than her, despite Cary being small for her age. But Ms. Scott looked on at Cary with an airs of wisdom that told of her age far better than her height did.

"I'm sure you've heard no end of people telling you that it gets better. Gets easier. That you'll soon get used to being here. I figure birthdays are the hardest for it, especially the big ones like turning ten."

"I just wanna go home," Cary said.

"I know. I know," Ms. Scott said, as she led the way into her office. She quickly headed around the desk to her chair, motioning to the one across from her. "But it really is for your own good that you're here. It's harder for those coming from the other realms. For those that have family here, they can at least come visit the school. Or over in Norumbega, for those allowed to head into town."

"What about calling home?" Cary asked. "Or letters."

"Well, we don't have cell service in the magical realm," she said, laughing a little at the comment. "But mail service is available. I'm sorry I didn't think to mention this on the day you arrived, but most students figure it out on their own. I do have to warn you, there's a bit of a delay."

"How much of a delay?" Cary asked. She still carried around the letter that her grandparents had sent her with her things, but she hadn't gotten anything from them since.

"About one to two weeks, depending on how close the regional magical mail exchange is to the source of the mail. Or if your local post office has a sorcerer working there. Not all of them do. I'm sure your grandparents have been writing you all this time. But even if they wrote the day after you arrived, it's still in transit. I can arrange for some envelopes and letter paper for you, if you'd like. If that will help you feel better about all of this."

"I would have thought that with magic, everything would be instant," Cary said, laughing a little at the thought. When she realized she said the word "magic" without shuddering, without thinking of the witches that powered it, she paused for a moment to think about that. She wasn't sure if that was progress or a loss. If the witches were starting to win out, or if she was just getting comfortable with being there. With being surrounded by something that she had always thought of as evil.

"Well, it is around the magical realm, in magic envelopes and letter paper. But, with normal, human envelopes and paper, it has to move around the normal way I'm afraid. That involves letters moving through the normal postal service, then the portals, then the postal service here in the magical realm. Once it’s all sorted, it flies through, quite literally. But until then, it can be a bit slow at times. Anyway, I'm sure you'll feel better once you hear from them again. And vice versa. I think I have some stationary here that you could use." She started poking around at the desk in front of her, dislodging the mishmash of papers and folders that were clustered there. She eventually found a small stack of envelopes, complete with matching letter paper. It seemed to be part of a stationary set, but there was no packaging with it. "Just be careful what you say in your letters. Some of the non-sorcerer humans can be a bit touchy when it comes to magic."

"Some of the sorcerer humans can be as well," Cary muttered.

"Yes, it can be a bit of an adjustment. We can discuss that at length in your next appointment, if you're still struggling with it."

"Next appointment?" Cary asked. She was surprised that she would need another one. That she wasn't done with seeing the weird woman. In the four years that she was at her old school, she never once saw her guidance counselor. She wasn't even sure if she had one back there.

"Did you think that this meeting was special because of your birthday?" Ms. Scott asked. "Or that you were somehow being punished by coming to see me? Cary, all the students here have monthly meetings with their guidance counselors. It's a necessary part of your safety and wellbeing here at this school. In fact, your next meeting with me is in three weeks. I'll see you then. Or, if necessary, sooner."