Wild wooly witchery

[labelleizzy]

You've got to be careful with wishes.

I heard of one witch who said, I wish my husband would shut up... And then there were silent, violent, dark days afterwards...

It's why we're in such demand, witches... Wishes have real power.

You've got to be careful with words as well.

It's through words, after all, that we convince the world to be other than it is.
From sickness we can coax health, from discord, harmony.

But it's easy enough to make the world change in the other direction as well, if we're that-away inclined. Like the silent-husband case I've already mentioned, careless words in the world, in this line of work, can have horrific consequences.

The final element is will. Will-forces are the hardest thing to train up in the apprentices! And will-forces are terrifically important!
You can't expect even the most poetically-worded wish to deliver results if you don't have enough OOMPH to back up your desire and make it happen for real.

"With Wishes, Words, and Will, witches work in the world."

*grin* We've got that engraved in a nice signboard and hung up at the entrance of the School. As of this year's enrollment, we've got witch-children from most every religious tradition, and teachers from almost every tradition as well. Our School has a very strong commitment to cross-training and to understanding the philosophical underpinnings of the World-Soul, That Which Moves Us All.

Would you believe, that even now, some of our students come to us thinking that the way they have been taught is the Only True Way, and that all other Paths are invalid? No?

It's the truth. We do have quite the challenge to explain and demonstrate otherwise, but when the children all have to rub elbows with one another in all their classes, it tends to take the rough edges off any sharp belief systems pretty quickly. Added to the impressive experience of our teaching staff, and our Silent Recess policy, the children build tolerance and cooperation faster than in any school system I've experienced before.

I'm sorry, what?

Oh no. The Silent Recess policy is intended to prevent any apprentice-level mistakes out on the playground. Children feel things so intensely, they certainly do not lack for force of will! And a strong force of will is QUITE enough to enact some serious levels of mischief upon one's playmates. All the teachers concur, having all experienced, well, pretty appalling things out on the playgrounds themselves, before the Principles of Magic were studied and understood thoroughly. The voluntary Yard Duty roster is always well staffed, and the children are always well-supervised.

*fondly*
Yes, I know. Our children are lucky. Now that we understand the Principles, we can teach Ethical Magical Behaviors at all levels of school. We can train the children up into the adults we all know they have the capacity to be. They can all be strong, ethical, committed, principled young people that we can be proud to unleash upon the world.

*cough* Oh, unleash? My mistake. I meant, um, well, I meant...

May I offer you some more tea? ah, here we go. *pours*

Yes, well, our graduates find regular and lucrative employment in all walks of life, as a matter of fact one of our recent graduates is now Head Pastry Chef in our kitchen. Oh, yes, the petit-fours are her specialty! Here, DO allow me. And one of the small eclairs? Splendid.

*lengthy pause*

That said, shall I draw up the enrollment documents now? I think you will find the terms most competitive with the other Schools in town.

*sly smile*

Yes, I thought you might.


This has been my entry for therealljidol. This week's was an Open Prompt week.

Comments

[kickthehobbit.livejournal.com]

"Unleash" indeed. This is fab, and I find myself wanting to know more about this school. :D

[labelleizzy.livejournal.com]

I'm not entirely sure where this idea came from, it sort of started as a dream-fragment and then started unfurling itself like a purply-red rosebud as I began writing... but yeah, I really kind of dig it!

Thanks so much!

[daphnep.livejournal.com]

I would like to enroll. Oh, yes.

[labelleizzy.livejournal.com]

*passes teacup and saucer*
*passes plate of Special Enrollment Biccies*

[kehlen-crow.livejournal.com]

This is very nice rambling rant. I especially enjoyed how she kept accidentally saying what she did not quite intend to :-)

[labelleizzy.livejournal.com]

*grin*

[jem0000000.livejournal.com]

Something tells me the pastries are a bit more persuasive than pastries can usually be. :)

[labelleizzy.livejournal.com]

Haven't you seen, or heard stories about cooks that are SO GOOD that they received spontaneous marriage proposals?

I don't mean to brag... (But usually they graduated from our school before they went off to culinary arts school.)

[jem0000000.livejournal.com]

Oh, goodness, I get those just for being female and a cashier. ;)

Now, if you bake in, "Give me a high-paying job petting kitties for a few hours every day," that I could live with.

[halfshellvenus.livejournal.com]

I'll bet that consuming those petit fours makes one susceptible to agreeing with just about anything.

I also liked the slip of the word "unleash." SO much possibility. :D

[labelleizzy.livejournal.com]

My legal counsel advised us not to reply in the affirmative or in denial of your above statement.

That said, our students are FULL of potential. Every. One.

[karmasoup.livejournal.com]

Where do I sign up???!! Oh, dang, no place for 40-yr-olds? *pouts*

[labelleizzy.livejournal.com]

Who said there's no place for 40-year-olds?

Oh, you mean in the classroom? Yes, actually, we do have a special course we offer for adults... We meet on alternate Saturday nights.

Poker chips and cognac may be involved.

[eternal-ot.livejournal.com]

Ha! Loved this idea ..;) you wrote it well...esp the slip ups made me chuckle..:D..Enjoyed reading this..Good work!!

[labelleizzy.livejournal.com]

why, thank you kindly!

[roina-arwen.livejournal.com]

I like the Silent Recess idea. If only!

[labelleizzy.livejournal.com]

I know... (I worked in a junior high school for 8 years and in high schools for another 4 and substitute taught another 3 at all levels)

[xlovebecomesher.livejournal.com]

I liked this a lot!

[labelleizzy.livejournal.com]

Hey, thanks for telling me!

[tara-bella.livejournal.com]

I love it. It's got a Terry Pratchett feel to it. You have a novel here if you ever want to pursue it.

[labelleizzy.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I've never read a school!fic told from the headmaster's perspective,, for instance.

Thanks!

[eska818.livejournal.com]

I like the creative style in which you told this story. :)

[labelleizzy.livejournal.com]

thank you so very much!

[kajel.livejournal.com]

This was so amusing! The slip ups, the *cough* petit-fours, nicely done.

[labelleizzy.livejournal.com]

*grin* sometimes my brain is so strange and sneaky that *I* don't even know what I'm doing until I am done. I kind of dig that.

[mamas-minion.livejournal.com]

Ooh this sounds like a wondeful beginning to a great magic filled story. I hope there are more glimpses into this world to come.

[labelleizzy.livejournal.com]

awww, thank you!
I will put it in my story file to consider sequels!