On the third day at the Robichaud Academy for Gifted Girls, Emma's butt finally healed completely, and she could get out of bed and move around normally.
This morning, Emma got up and went to the dining hall for breakfast, just like the other witches.
The dining hall at the witch school was the largest room in the entire building. It had an exceptionally long table that could seat forty or fifty people at once.
But at this moment, only a dozen or so people were sitting at this long table. Twelve of them were teenage girls, and the rest were middle-aged or older women.
Cardilia and Fiona, whom Emma had met before, were among them.
The dining hall was very quiet. Everyone sat up straight, and no one spoke.
In this atmosphere, Emma, who had originally wanted to chat with Zoe, gave up on the idea.
"Is everyone here? Then let's begin breakfast."
Supreme Witch Fiona was the most important person present. She tapped a bell with a spoon to announce the start of breakfast.
Immediately, servants brought food to the table.
Today's breakfast was milk, cereal, pancakes, and some ham – quite a spread.
While eating breakfast, Emma observed the environment at the table. She noticed that the other young witches seemed just as curious as she was, while the adult witches all looked distracted.
There were a few people who stood out.
One was Maria, who seemed indifferent to everything. She ate her breakfast elegantly, with the manners of a noble.
Another was Carrie. This girl was staring blankly with a fork and knife in her hands, looking lost in thought and not eating anything.
Finally, there was Fiona. She ate the food on her plate slowly and deliberately, cutting the ham into tiny pieces before eating them. It was hard to tell if she was even hungry.
About half an hour later, even Carrie, the slowest eater, had finished breakfast. But no one left the table. They all watched Fiona.
As if just snapping out of a daze, Fiona suddenly put down her knife and fork.
"Has everyone finished eating? Then I have an announcement to make. Because there have been quite a few incidents at the witch academy recently, I've decided to return to the academy and personally guide you for a while."
Fiona's sharp gaze swept across the young witches at the table.
Emma noticed that many of the young witches showed expressions of fear, but some of them, like Madison, were bolder.
That girl even rolled her eyes. She seemed like a rebellious teenager.
"I hope that during my time back at the academy, everyone can behave themselves a little better. Alright, that's all I have to say. You can go to your classes now."
The young witches at the table got up from their seats one after another, and Emma followed them out.
Once in the hallway, Emma pulled Zoe's hand and asked, "What did that woman mean just now?"
Zoe whispered to Emma, "I don't know either! I've only been here a month longer than you. I haven't even seen that woman before!"
At this moment, Nan, the chubby white girl who had pranked Emma before, came over to explain.
"She's the Supreme Witch, the highest leader of the Witch Federation!"
Emma looked at Nan in surprise. "How did you eavesdrop on us?"
Nan shrugged. "Sorry, I wasn't eavesdropping. I can just hear people's thoughts. It's a passive ability, and I can't help it."
Emma was shocked. She hadn't expected such mind-reading abilities. No wonder Nan knew beforehand that she was going to attack the other day.
"So, can you know what everyone is thinking?"
"It's not that simple. Nan's ability isn't strong enough. She can only hear the thoughts of ordinary people. Witches can block her out with a little concentration."
Madison approached Emma at some point, carefully sizing up the little girl.
"Hi, Madison. My name is Emma."
Emma took the initiative to greet Madison, which seemed to please her.
Madison seemed to really enjoy the feeling of being the big sister. This might have something to do with her Hollywood experience, where she always had a bunch of followers around her.
"Since you called me Madison, I'll explain things to you. The Supreme Witch is the most powerful witch in the Witch Federation. She rarely appears at the witch school. Her daughter, Cardilia, usually manages things here. But whenever she shows up at the witch school, it's never anything good!"
It was clear that Madison didn't like Fiona very much, maybe even disliked her.
Zoe looked at Madison curiously. "What will happen?"
Madison scoffed. "When she comes, the school gets super serious. Just like you saw just now, no one dares to talk during meals, and we definitely can't sneak out at night!"
Emma looked at Madison in surprise. Judging by her tone, it sounded like she often sneaked out.
Suddenly, a shadow loomed over Emma's head. Then, Madison grabbed her own neck as if something was stuck in her throat.
"Talking about people behind their backs isn't a good habit, Madison."
It turned out that Fiona had just walked by and overheard Madison's comments, so she took action to teach her a lesson.
Madison's two followers, Queenie and Nan, quickly patted Madison's back, and then Madison lowered her head and vomited up a live frog the size of a fist.
This was clearly some kind of witchcraft Fiona had used.
"Next time you speak, remember to take a good look around."
Fiona continued walking forward without even glancing at Madison. This made the rebellious teenager very angry.
Someone like Madison, who had been a child star and was used to being the center of attention, had a warped sense of values and couldn't stand this kind of treatment.
However, Madison wasn't stupid enough to confront Fiona directly. She waited until Fiona was far away before spitting angrily.
"Ptooey, old hag!"
The first class in the morning was cultural studies. The witch academy hired some regular teachers to teach the young witches some general education courses. This was to prevent these young witches from being unable to integrate into normal society after graduating from the witch academy and ending up turning to crime.
This was one of the important reasons why the federal government tolerated the existence of the Witch Federation. Since the witch academy was established, the number of supernatural events related to witches in the federation had decreased significantly.
Emma paid close attention in class. She had always been a top student. Some of the young witches from less privileged backgrounds also listened attentively.
Only Madison showed no interest in the class and spent the whole time chatting quietly with her two followers in the corner.
The teacher giving the lecture completely ignored this and just continued teaching.
The morning classes ended quickly, and Emma felt a little disappointed.
This morning had been all cultural studies – one history class and one math class, both very basic. Even Emma, with her elementary school level, could keep up.
However, Emma borrowed the class schedule from Zoe during lunch and learned that the first class in the afternoon was Cardilia's potions class.
Fiona didn't appear in the dining hall during lunch, and the atmosphere was noticeably different.
The girls chatted with each other about gossip and interesting things that had happened to them, their silver bell-like laughter ringing out from time to time.
This felt more like a normal school lunch. It was nothing like the serious atmosphere during breakfast, which had felt like a prison.
Emma began to understand why Madison disliked Fiona.
Not many kids would like someone so strict and focused on discipline.
After lunch, Emma was strolling through the academy's hallway when she inadvertently saw Madison pull Zoe into a corner to talk.
Curiosity drove Emma to secretly follow them.
"Zoe, I heard there's a party at a nearby nightclub tonight. There will be a lot of handsome college guys there. Do you want to go with me?"
Hearing this, Zoe's eyes lit up. This girl only looked like a goody-two-shoes; deep down, she craved some excitement.
However, Zoe was still a little worried about getting in trouble. "Wouldn't that be bad? What about Ms. Fiona...?"
"Don't worry. That old woman never stays overnight at the academy. She has no idea what we do at night. Cardilia never cares about these things either. I've already calculated it. That nightclub is just within the range of witchcraft tracking! We'll go late at night and come back before dawn. No one will ever know!"
Clearly, this wasn't the first time Madison had done this. She was very experienced.
Thinking about it, how could a child star who was used to the extravagant lifestyle of Hollywood stay obediently in a boarding school?
Even a relatively quiet kid like Emma found it very boring here. There were no entertainment activities at all, maybe just watching TV at most.
You could probably convince someone it was a religious school.
Suddenly, Emma's shoulder was grabbed. It was Maria.
It turned out that Maria had also seen Emma eavesdropping in the corner and had followed her. However, this girl was much bigger than Emma and was instantly spotted by Madison.
Well, after being taught a lesson by Fiona, Madison was indeed paying attention to her surroundings when she spoke.
"Who's there!"
Upon seeing Maria and Emma, Madison frowned.
Emma quickly explained, "I was just passing by!"
Madison didn't care about Emma at all. What could an eight-year-old girl do? Her attention was mainly focused on Maria.
Emma: An eight-year-old girl can be very mischievous!
"What do you mean?"
Maria smiled for the first time ever, as far as Emma had seen in her three days at the witch academy.
"Nothing much. I'm just interested in your activities tonight. Can I join you?"
Hearing this, Madison's eyes brightened, but she still put on a very reluctant expression.
"You want to join too? Fine, considering we're classmates, I can take you, but you have to listen to me!"
Madison was indeed very eager to be the boss and was recruiting followers everywhere.
"Okay."
"Come with me. Let's go somewhere else and discuss the plan properly!"
Madison ignored Emma and pulled Zoe and Maria to another place to continue their discussion.
Emma was a bit speechless. At her young age, she couldn't understand Madison and the others' enthusiasm for parties.
The lunch break ended, and Emma excitedly arrived at the classroom, but it wasn't Cardilia, as Zoe had said, who came in to teach. It was the Supreme Witch Fiona.
"Cardilia isn't feeling well, so I'll be substituting for her in this class. Everyone, please follow me outside. This afternoon's class will be held outdoors."
The young witches' eyes lit up. Taking classes outdoors was much more interesting than in the classroom. Only Madison rolled her eyes.
Emma took the opportunity to walk over to Madison while Fiona was walking out and asked, "Madison, you don't seem to want to leave the classroom for class?"
Madison carefully looked around before answering Emma. "Duh! That old woman does this every year at the beginning of the year. She's actually just going to the neighboring town of Salem to learn about the history of the witch trials back then. I've already been through this three times!"
Looking at it this way, Madison had been here for three years. Emma suddenly felt a little sorry for her.
Sure enough, after leaving the classroom, Emma saw a small bus parked at the door. After all the young witches got on, the small bus drove north of Boston.
Salem Town is located about 30 kilometers northeast of Boston. The Robichaud Academy for Gifted Girls is actually in the suburbs of Boston, so Emma and the others arrived at the old site of the Salem witch trials in about half an hour.
This place had clearly become a cultural tourist attraction, with a large number of tourists coming every year.
The official town of Salem also widely publicized the suffering of the witches and built many related cultural tourism projects.
"Do you see this? These are the things that once happened to us witches. Three hundred years ago, the witches united together to fight against the power of the church, and that's why you have the happy lives you have now."
In front of the gravestones of the victims of the Salem witch trials, Fiona gave a long speech about remembering the hardships of the past and appreciating the present.
There was actually nothing wrong with this content. After all, this was the reason why the Witch Federation continued to exist.
The young witches who were hearing this story for the first time were quite serious, but Madison, who had heard it several times, was a bit disdainful.
However, Madison didn't dare to contradict Fiona and just kept rolling her eyes.
"Alright, you can now move freely in this area and learn about the details of the witch trials back then. Tomorrow, I want to see your reflections, with no fewer than 1000 words."
There's even homework? Emma was taken aback.
Neither of the two cultural studies classes in the morning had assigned homework. Emma had thought that the witch school had no homework, but she didn't expect Fiona to assign homework in the afternoon.
However, just writing reflections wasn't difficult for Emma, but someone's eyes almost rolled out of their head.
That's right, I'm talking about you, Madison.
During free time, Nan suddenly tugged on Madison's sleeve. "Madison, I think I heard a strange sound coming from this grave!"
"Don't talk nonsense, Nan! The witches in the grave have been dead for who knows how many years. How could there be a sound? Let's go take a look over there."
"Is that so?"
The speaker didn't mean much by it, but the listener took it to heart.
Nan quickly forgot about it, but Fiona, who happened to be passing by, looked at the grave with a thoughtful expression.
Carrie (Chloe Grace Moretz)