Chapter 11: Magic – Part 2

After Ian's mother leaves, the two go into panic mode.

Ian starts pacing nervously back and forth until he reaches the window. He stops and his mouth falls open. He tells June to get over there, and she rushes to his side.

Outside is the same neighborhood they've called home for years. The houses and yards look almost identical. But there are strange differences. The electric lampposts are replaced with Victorian style gas lamps. The cars are completely different too. They look like elegant carriages from two hundred years ago, but as one races down the street it becomes apparent that they need no horses.

June says, "It's like everything's the same but the addition of magic has altered the development of technology. And speaking of technology, let's see what we can find out on the internet. If it still exists." She goes into her purse to get her phone.

"What the hell is this?" she says, pulling out a strange device. It has a wrought-iron frame with clear glass inside and a little stand behind it holding a glowing clear gem. "Holy Crap!" She points to a logo stamped on the solid metal: ePhone.

"Does it work?" Ian asks, his curiosity easing his stress somewhat.

"I have no idea. There are no buttons or anything." She adjusts her glasses and looks at it from every angle. Finally she says as a joke, "ePhone, ePhone in my hands who's the fairest of them all?"

The image of pert lips appears in the glass. They say in a deep feminine voice, "Enchantment Phone is at your disposal, Master. The fairest is largely agreed to be Beyoncé."

"It works!"

"And it's right!"

"Ask it about witches," Ian says, huddling close.

"Um...Enchantment Phone, how many witches are there in this world?"

"There are currently 8,547 licensed witches. However, 6 countries do not honor the Witchcraft Accord of 1396, and their witches are neither licensed or included in the total."

"Whoa! Cool!" June says, impressed by the implications of not only the amount of witches but also the fact there was a legal document about them going back six-hundred years. "How hard is it to become a witch's apprentice?"

"Master, this is a complicated question especially as you are so vague, but I will endeavor to break it down. 1 in every 1,000 females have the capacity to perform magic. However, not all those who are capable are allowed to become an apprentice. A witch may only have one apprentice at a given time, and due to the training period taking between 5 and 7 years, each witch train on average 3 apprentices in their careers. So, to extrapolate, of the approximately 8.5 million women with magical potential currently alive, only 25,000 will be trained, putting the odds at 1 in every 340. Or 1 in every 340,000 of the entire female population. But that is only the mathematical answer. For someone to become a witch's apprentice there are many hurdles which a person may consider hard to get through. Each applicant-apprentice must pass a physical exam, a psychological review, an aptitude test, a magical assessment, accumulate 300 hours of servitude to the Arch World Counsel on Magic and Witchcraft, complete an oral examination, and interviews with the coven leader and the witch who will train them. Also one must also take into account that not all apprentices reach journeywoman status. According to 2020 statistics, 1 in ever 12 apprentices are excommunicated and issued a magic blocker for failure to meet expectations. Another 1 in—"

"Enchantment Phone, stop," June says. She's convinced it will go on all day if she lets it. And she has a pressing question to ask. "How can a male become a witch's apprentice?"

"There is no formal process for a male to become a witch's apprentice since males are unable to perform magic by definition. However, since the 1924 Trans Non-Exclusion Act, males may ask to be tested for latent magical ability. Less than 5% of the male at birth population request the testing, and only 1 in 10 million to receive the test obtain a positive result. The number of males at birth to be chosen into the apprenticeship program is not maintained, since they are deemed by most governments to be legally female as soon as their magical ability is detected. The gender is then affirmed during the Apprenticeship Ceremony when the enchantment brings the body into alignment with the legal gender."

"So, what does that mean?" Ian asks. "That I'm already considered a girl?"

"Check your I.D."

Ian races to the nightstand and rifles through his wallet. It's changed from the crappy red nylon billfold with a design of a 20 sided die on it to a larger black leather design that's almost as big as a paperback book. "Oh man!" He turns his student I.D. to face her.

The picture is bad but looks similar to the way he does now. Although seeing the blurry photo something occurs to June. In the picture, Ian has the messy long hair she's used to. But in real life his hair (although mussed) has been styled. It's shoulder length with the hair sweeping across his brow from a part on the left. Now that she notices it, it's quite feminine.

He says as though reading off the card, "Ivy Larkin, eighteen, female. Seems like it was issued at the beginning of senior year."

"So you've been a woman since last September?"

"Or earlier. But I mean, I'm not. I can still feel things, you know, down there. I guess society just considers me a woman."

June starts giggling and Ian asks, "What?"

I was just wondering what uniform you were wearing to school. They both attended the same private school. The men had to wear gray pants, white shirt, blue blazer, and a dark blue plaid tie. Girls had a similar outfit but with a plaid skirt.

Ian's eyes goes wide. And he runs over to his closet and flings it open. He pulls out a uniform skirt, and June lets out a peel of laughter. "And that's not all." He takes out a prom dress.

"Oh, my God! You've been presenting all year? What has that been like?"

"How should I know? Don't be such a ditz. I'm as new to this world as you are."

"Oh, right," she says still laughing. But she suddenly grows serious. "Like, it's super impressive that this reality's version of you has been so committed to becoming a witch. Not only have you been presenting as a woman, but you passed all those tests and hours of servitude (whatever the hell that means). But you can't actually go through with it."

"Why not? This other me has already done the work, why would I turn down the chance to perform magic?"

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"Did you hear what your mom and the magic phone said? They're going to physically turn you into a woman. That's serious. Being in the body of the wrong gender gives people dysphoria. You can't go through with that just because you think it might be fun to cast spells."

Ian goes to the window and stares out silently for several long minutes. Finally, with his back still turned to her, he says, "Is it strange that the thought of it doesn't bother me? I mean, I've always considered myself a man (or at least growing into one), but who's kidding who, it's not like I've ever been the most masculine of men. And I haven't exactly put the part of me that makes me biologically a man to any use. It just sort of gets in the way." He faces her. "I think it's worth the sacrifice. I can cope with being the wrong gender if it means living out the rest of my dreams."

"But—"

He cuts her off. "Find out more about this ceremony. See if it says exactly what will happen to me."

She frowns at him obviously not pleased leaving the discussion unfinished but says, "Enchantment Phone, what does the Apprenticeship Ceremony involve."

"Master, the spells and exact details of the ritual are secret, but it is known that a tridecal of the coven is convened to perform the enchantment. This group will include a senior member and the member to whom the apprentice will serve. The applicant-apprentice is stripped and bound to a sanctified altar of copper as is often the case when calling upon spiritual forces to transform a human subject. Although the full extent of the transformation is unknown, observable changes include the release of the subject's magical abilities and the merging of some physical features belonging to their new masters. There has also been some reports of the subject communing with the spirit plane as part of the unlocking of their magical abilities."

Ian rubs his forehead, "I have like a hundred questions."

But June jumps ahead and asks, "And how is the ceremony different those who were gendered male at birth and were accepted as apprentices?"

"Much is unknown of this process, Master. But it has been theorized that the passing of features between the witch and their new apprentice is intensified to include nearly all physical features. This is based on a few rare witch/apprentice pairs that appear to be nearly identical. However, this may only be coincidental."

Ian asks, "What the hell is a tridecal?"

"A tridecal is a formal group of 13 coven members."

June says, "Seriously, of all the information dumped on us, that's your question?"

"I wanted to know." Ian's attention however is caught up with the posters on his wall. "It seems I either wasn't into Fantasy in this reality or they don't produce much of it through the media."

June doesn't know what he's talking about. The subject matter of the posters have changed, but they all look as though they belong to the Fantasy genre to her. But then she sees what he's talking about. They are all posters of witches. Some are artists renderings like the one for Morgan Le Fey, but others are photographs of living witches. "I guess in this world, you didn't need to dream of realms with magic, so you threw your fan-boy energy at the actual thing. I wonder who we're supposed to be studying with?"

"Ask?"

"Do you think it will be public knowledge?"

"Even if it isn't, what doesn't your phone know about you?"

"Good point. Enchantment Phone, who will I be apprenticing for?"

"Master, you, June Baron, have been selected to be the second apprentice for the Thaumaturge Prior Margot Quintana of the Marigny Coven, New Orleans, Louisiana."

"Cool!" Ian says. "That's her there." He points to a poster of a dignified mix-raced woman wearing a black dress made of a material so thin it's almost see-through. Her wiry hair has streaks of scarlet red in it. She stands, her arms crossed, with an above ground cemetery behind her. He fetches his own phone from the mess on his dresser and asks the same question of it.

"Master, you, Ivy Larkin, have been chosen to be the first apprentice for Sub-Enchantress Claire Wilmott of the Salem Willows Coven, Salem, Massachusetts."

"Hmmm. I don't seem to have a poster for her. That seems strange. I would think I'd go out of my way to get the one for the witch who would train me. Enchantment Phone, can you tell me more about Claire Wilmott and maybe show me what she looks like?"

"Born October 22, 1988, Sub-Enchantress Claire Wilmott comes from a long lineage of witches. She apprenticed under Grand Oblate Hester Grimm and received her witch's license on June 2, 2016. Despite her pedigree, she has yet to garner any accomplishments worthy of the Exalted Book of Deeds and Exploits, leaving her a minor figure in the coven with only the title of Sub-Enchantress. She is reputed to specialize in transformation magic utilizing both incantations and potions. This official coven photo of her was taken the day her witch's license was issued. I am unable to locate any other public image of her."

The gem in the ePhone shoots out a beam of light and a life-size image of the witch appears in the bedroom.  She's a small woman with a round face and short dark purple hair wearing a heavy black cloak. Whereas the New Orleans witch was regal and beautiful, she seems shy and cute.

"Ah," June says. "I get it. She's a bit of a failure, so she picked you as her apprentice." Ian shoots her a glare. "What I mean is people expected great things from her because of her family and the witch that trained her, and she hasn't lived up to them yet. Nothing wrong with that. It's probably hard living with that pressure. And she's still really young, so she has plenty of time to do great things. But I'm guessing, and this is just a guess, a more accomplished witch wouldn't be interested in taking on someone gendered male at birth. This whole system seems deeply rooted in tradition and even if they've been accepting people in your situation as apprentices for a hundred years, there's still probably some prejudices around it, especially since it's so rare."

Ian gazes at the woman. If the phone is to be believed, he'll end up looking a lot like her. A warm giddiness fills him. It must be from the thought that once he's been transformed he'll get to use magic.

"Enchant phone?" He asks. "When do I start my apprenticeship?"

"Master, you are to present yourself to the Salem Willows Coven on August, 29th at 8 a.m."

That was in four days, just after the weekend. How was he going to make it that long? He already knew he was going to be too excited to sleep.

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