Chapter 7: 7. All Hallows Eve

"All right Cass," Brooke said as she looked at me. "Let's review, and see how much of this has stuck. How do you work magic?"

I took a deep breath then recited, "Casting spells and working magic requires three things. The Word, The Way, and The Will."

Paige nodded, "And those are?"

Brooke added, "In your own words please, don't just repeat what we've told you back to us."

"The Word refers to magic words," I responded. "Incantations, chants, or um, activation words. It's words or phrases that we use to focus our minds on the task and the goal. There's different words and chants and stuff for different spells and different effects, and some witches even make up their own words. It's not about reciting a pre-determined spell, the words themselves aren't magic. It's about using the words to focus on the outcome."

I continued, "The Way is the um... It's like the method or the action? Like how we access the natural magic in the world. Magic's everywhere, all around us all the time. But some places have more of it than others, and magic is stronger or weaker at different times. As witches we learn to be more aware of it than normal people. So the Way is like, how we tap into that magic around us."

After another deep breath I finished, "And the Will refers to our intent and focus. We use the magic words to help that focus, and tap into the magic in the world around us, but the Will is how we tie the words and the way together. You need all three of those things to make magic happen."

Kaylee grinned, "Perfect! Well done Cass!"

The club leader wasn't as excited. Brooke responded, "That's pretty good Cass. Not quite perfect, but you've done all right considering it's only your first day, first lessons. It's a pass, anyways."

It was nearly six o'clock and apart from an hour break in the afternoon when we all finally got dressed, I'd been getting introductory magic and witchcraft lessons ever since me and Miss Hawthorne finished talking after breakfast. I hadn't actually learned any spells yet, I hadn't worked any magic myself, but I was learning the foundations and how it all worked.

Now our teacher was out getting dinner, she said it was way quicker to just go pick it up herself rather than try to get delivery out in the country. Not that we were very far from town, but her place was technically in the country and I figured delivery drivers wouldn't like going so far out of the way.

Me and the other girls were sitting in the living-room area by the fire. I was on the same sofa I slept on last night. Kaylee was in the recliner next to me on the left, while Marissa was on the recliner to the right. Brooke and Paige were together on the sofa across from me.

The club leader looked like she was about to say something else when Marissa exclaimed, "May's back! It's pizza time!"

Sure enough our teacher came in a moment later. She had her hands full with pizza boxes and a big paper bag ontop of that.

A few minutes later we were all sitting at the big dining table again. We had plenty to choose from, with pepperoni, vegetarian, deluxe, and a hawaiian pizza. Plus there was a box of chicken fingers, another box of potato wedges, and we all had soda to drink.

Everybody dug in, and soon I was munching on a slice of pepperoni. I also had a couple chicken strips and some wedges on my plate too.

As we were all enjoying dinner Brooke let Miss Hawthorne know, "Just before you got back we were quizzing Cass on the lessons? She did pretty well. She's definitely grasped the Way the Word and the Will."

Marissa added with a grin, "All that's left is to teach her some actual spells and see how she does!"

I felt myself blushing again, but our teacher just smiled slightly and responded "That's good news, but I think we'll save those lessons for another day. After we're done eating it'll be time to start getting ready for tonight's ritual."

That gave me something else to feel anxious about.

"Um, about that?" I asked as I looked towards Miss Hawthorne. "How's it going to work? What's going to happen exactly?"

She replied, "You won't have to do anything at all hon. The other girls will get the circle prepared, and I'll conduct the ritual. All you need to do is sit in the middle of the circle while the magic does its thing."

"As for what's going to happen," she continued, "Tonight is Samhain, or All Hallows Eve. It's also the full moon, and that is a very lucky coincidence. Magic will be at its peak, and we're going to take advantage of that. It'll provide enough of a boost that we can bend reality slightly. Just enough that the world will believe you've always been a girl, always been Cassandra. You won't have to worry about your parents or other people at school not recognizing you. Your ID and everything else will be corrected as well."

"Wow," I said quietly.

I was left with a thoughtful frown on my face as her words continued to slowly sink in, and I kind of forgot about my dinner for the next few minutes.

"Cass?" May asked, her voice finally snapped me out of the stuff I was thinking about. "Is everything all right?"

I frowned, "Actually no. I was thinking about what you just said, and some of the stuff you said last night? Like when we were doing the thing with the ghosts, you said Kaylee and Marissa had to ask the ghosts if it was ok to put them to rest? That if the ghosts could make a decision and they weren't hurting anyone, that it had to be their choice?"

Our teacher nodded, "That's correct. If they're peaceful and sentient, then forcibly laying them to rest would be wrong."

She added, "The ghosts last night weren't a threat, but they weren't sentient either. They were stuck replaying events of their death, so in that case putting them to rest was the right thing to do. It let them move on."

"I understand that part," I replied. "But I guess it's the part about giving them the choice? Doing this ritual you talked about, that'll change how my parents think of me but we're not giving them a choice. And um... I guess I'm not comfortable with that?"

May didn't look surprised or upset, she just nodded slightly "You're right Cassandra. It would alter the memories your family has of you, and we'd be doing it without consulting them. In this case, it's the most expedient way to handle your situation. We can't ask for their consent without explaining what's happened, and if we could explain things well enough that they'd understand and consent to this, then we likely wouldn't need to use magic on them in the first place."

I grimaced, "Yeah... I get that. But I'm not comfortable doing this to them."

Brooke warned, "You'd have to explain to them who you are. You'd have to tell them you're trans, and you'd have to tell them you magically transitioned. You might even have to tell them you're a witch. Do you think you can do all that? Do you think they'd believe you?"

"I don't know," I sighed. "But I think I have to try. I'd rather do it that way than use magic on them without them knowing."

The other girls looked uneasy but May stated, "Very well Cassandra. We'll proceed with the ritual tonight, but I'll ensure your family is excluded. In the morning, rather than drop you off at home I'll come in with you to meet with your family. I'll be there to help you when you explain things to your parents."

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"Me too," Kaylee added. Then she blushed, "If you want, that is. I could come with you for moral support?"

I blushed slightly as well, "Thanks Kaylee. And thanks Miss Hawthorne. What about everyone else? Like I guess this is going to change everyone else's memories of me?"

Paige replied, "No offence Cass but I don't think anyone else really knows you. I'm in like four of the same classes and I barely knew you existed till yesterday afternoon."

Kaylee agreed, "Sorry Cass, but Paige is right. You really kept to yourself."

Even our teacher agreed as she told me, "The magic won't do much to strangers hon. Mainly it's going to update your name on all your records and ID, and if anyone notices that 'mister Underwood' is now 'miss Underwood' the magic will give them just enough of a nudge that they don't really question it."

"Ok," I nodded slowly. "Thank you."

There wasn't much more to discuss as we all finished our dinner. Left-overs were put away in the fridge, garbage was put out, and dishes were washed. Then the other four girls went out into Miss Hawthorne's big backyard to begin preparing the circle.

I stayed inside with our teacher, she had some last-minute instructions for me.

"When it's time, you'll be sitting in the middle of the circle. You'll have your backpack with you, and your phone and ID. You don't need to bring all your new clothes out there, it's more important to have some of your old belongings. And we'll set out a blanket so you're not sitting directly on the cold ground."

She continued, "Once I begin the ritual, it's very important that nothing interrupts ok? So you'll need to sit still and remain quiet. I'll let you know when it's over, but until that point any interruption could spoil the magic. And finally, while it's happening you may actually see some unusual things? Normally that wouldn't be an issue, but your natural Sight means you may well see things that nobody else can. Whatever you see, just stay calm and quiet ok hon?"

"Yes ma'am," I nodded. "So we're not waiting for midnight or anything like that?"

May smiled, "The full moon reached its peak at seven PM, while Samhain's peak is at midnight. So any time between seven and midnight is fine for our purpose."

The work outside took about fifteen minutes, then me and Miss Hawthorne joined the others outside. I had my backpack with me and she brought a blanket for me to sit on. The circle was marked out with a few dozen of those big patio candles that stuck into the ground on wood poles, and there was a large bonfire burning at one side of the circle.

As the two of us walked between a couple of the candles I felt a chill run down my spine and the little hairs on my arms stood up, and at the same moment half the candles flickered and went out, along with the bonfire. There wasn't even any breeze, just one moment there was a huge roaring fire and the next it was cold dark and quiet.

Everyone stopped and stared at me in surprise. Except Miss Hawthorne, she was staring too but I couldn't quite place the expression on her face.

"I'm sorry," I cringed.

After a couple seconds the teacher recovered, "It's ok Cass, it's not your fault. Brooke, Paige, please redo the circle. Marissa, would you take care of the fire?"

The young blonde grinned and with a muttered word and an extravagant gesture, she threw something at the pile of wood. I saw flickering orange and purple light sail through the air into the wood, and a split second later it exploded into flames. As near as I could tell, Marissa just threw a fireball and now we had our bonfire back.

"Wow," I whispered to myself.

May had me sit on the blanket in the middle of the circle. I was facing towards the bonfire, while Kaylee was going around re-lighting the candles. Brooke and Paige were walking around the perimeter of the circle together, whispering some sort of chant as they prepared it all over again.

Kaylee didn't have a lighter or anything, each time she stopped at a candle I saw her lips move, a flicker of purple light, and the candle ignited on its own. Likewise as Brooke and Paige walked, I could see faint purple light dancing in the air around them.

It took about fifteen minutes for everyone to get ready again. Marissa ended up standing at the edge of the circle behind me, Kaylee was just inside the circle to my left. Brooke and Paige were standing together off to my right, and May was standing just in front of the bonfire.

Our teacher glanced at me and warned, "We're about to begin Cassandra. Just sit quietly and wait till I've given you the all clear please."

I nodded, as I sat cross-legged on the blanket and hugged my backpack to my chest.

It was dark out and the sky was overcast again so I couldn't see the full moon. There was lots of light thanks to the bonfire and all the candles, but it was a cool night. I had my new oversized hoodie on, and my green leggings, new shoes, and another new top. And a bra and panties. Basically everything about me was new, including my body. The only thing I had with me that wasn't new was my backpack and all the stuff inside it. My phone, my wallet and ID, my school books and all that.

The other four girls all began quiet chanting. I thought back through the lessons I'd had today and quickly figured out how it probably going to work. Brooke, Paige, Marissa, and Kaylee were helping draw magic in from the world around us, focusing it inside the circle and feeding it to Miss Hawthorne.

And our teacher would use the magic the others were collecting. She was chanting something different, as she used her Word and Will and all that to shape that magic so it could fix things so nobody would freak out about me suddenly becoming a girl. Except my family of course.

I had no idea how long the ritual would take, and it was way too late to speak up and ask about that now.

As I waited and watched, I realized I could see things happening around the edge of the circle. At first it was really faint, like shimmers of purple in the air between the candles or above them.

The flickers of purple around us seemed to get more solid as the ritual went on. Some were shaped like people, others almost seemed like monsters.

I could feel my heart starting to race and my stomach felt heavy as I remembered being told the circle was there to keep dangerous spirits away. It looked like it was working, but it freaked me out to actually see there were things out there trying to get in. And nobody else noticed, May and the other girls all stayed focused on what they were doing.

The whole thing felt like it was taking forever, but it was probably only ten or fifteen minutes before all the quiet chanting suddenly stopped.

"It is done," Miss Hawthorne announced.