Magic At Midnight

• Isabella Kingston, Grade 9
• Short Story
• 2018

The lights lining the street suddenly went out and moonlight flooded into my bedroom. I sat bolt upright in bed and stumbled over to my window. My eyes adjusted to the light and I opened my small, ancient window as far as it would go. I poked my head outside and felt the cold slam of wind hit my face, but I stayed focused on the scene below.
Three people down on the street were walking and laughing on the footpath. They wore strange clothes which appeared to be long robes, and they had odd accents that were far too British for around here. I leaned further out the window and listened as their voices picked up in the wind, but I leaned too far. I lost my balance and fell, hitting the small patch of soft dirt below me with a thud that echoed through the night. I stood up and walked quietly toward the corner of the building, peering onto the street once more.
They were gathered back to back in a triangle now, long stick-like objects in their hands leaving sparks where they waved them. I gasped in awe and they all turned in my direction, slowly walking toward the building I was hiding behind.
“There,” I heard the middle one say, her voice sounding like a female.
“Abigail, you capture. Mason, back her up,” a different voice said, male this time. I shrunk back into the shadows, unsure of what they would do. I heard a shout of a word in a foreign language and I was in the air, the girl’s stick pointing at me. A wand. I opened my mouth to scream but another boy muttered more foreign words and my jaws clamped firmly shut. They sat me back on the ground and I stayed there without the bind of a spell.
“Jacob, may I perform the memory erase spell?” Abigail said to the tallest boy.
“Only if Mason doesn’t wish to,” said the boy called Jacob, both he and Abigail now staring at the brown haired boy who was evidently Mason.
“No. Abigail may have a turn,” Mason muttered under his breath. Abigail smirked and raised her wand, pointing it in my direction.
“Not yet Abigail. You must remove the silencing spell first. You know the law,” Jacob cut in. Abigail frowned and lazily flicked her wand in my direction, whispering more odd words under her breath. I felt my jaw shift inside my mouth, and I finally realised I could speak again.
“W… What are you?” I stammered. The group laughed quietly, even Mason.
“Wizards,” replied Jacob with a single word. Abigail made her move, swiping her wand in a quick downward motion while staring at me.
I sat up in bed. All the lights in my house were out, but so were all the lights in the houses and shops below. I guessed there must have been a power outage, and I fell right back to sleep.