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I raised ht up the nastiest spell I possibly could--one involving pus and bad breath and severe genital dysfunctions

And nothing happened

There was no sensation of water rushing up toon end

I was just standing there like an idiot, pointing all ofa spell before

And then I heard a voice that sounded like a h, my dear"

I turned toward the front porch, where an older woman in a navy suit stood between the scary ferns She was s, but it was one of those creepy doll ser at ium here, no matter how provoked we may be," she said, her voice soft, smoky, musical In fact, if the house could have talked, I'd have expected it to sound exactly like this wo to the dark-haired boy, "that while this young lady is new to Hecate, you know better than to attack another student"

He snorted "So I should have let hi," she replied

"Archer?" I asked, raising ical powers, but the power of sarcasm was still at my disposal "Is your last name Newport or Vanderbilt? Maybe followed by so my eyes, "or s or, at the very least,at me "Actually, it's Archer Cross, and I'm the first one

Nohat about you?" He squinted "Let's seebrown hair, freckles, whole girl-next-door vibe going onAllie? Lacie? Definitely so in ie"

You know those times when your mouth moves but no sound actually comes out? Yeah, that's pretty much what happened And then, of course, my mom took that opportunity to end her conversation with Justin's parents and call out, "Sophie! Wait up"

"I knew it" Archer laughed "See you, Soph ie," he called over his shoulder as he disappeared into the house

I turned my attention back to the woman She was around fifty, with dark blond hair that had been twisted, teased, and probably threatened into a co and her suit in Hecate Hall's signature royal blue, I assumed she was the school's headmistress, Mrs Anastasia Casnoff I didn't have to look at the brochure to remember that A name like AnastasiaCasnoff tends to stick with you

The blond woman was in fact the awesomely named leader of Hecate Hall My mom shook her hand "Grace Mercer And this is Sophia"

" Soh-fee-yuh," Mrs Casnoff said in her Southern lilt, turningthat sounded like an exotic appetizer at a Chinese restaurant

"I go by Sophie," I said quickly, hoping to avoid being known forever as Sohfeeyuh

"Now, y'all are not originally from this area, am I correct?" Mrs

Casnoff continued as alked toward the school

"No," Mo to her other shoulder, the trunk still between us "My ia is one of the few states we haven't lived in We'veof an understatement

Nineteen states over the course of est we've ever stayed anywhere was Indiana, when I was eight That was four years

The shortest we ever lived anywhere was Montana three years ago That eeks

"I see," Mrs Casnoff said "And what do you do, Mrs Mercer?"

"Ms" Mom said automatically, and just a little too loudly She bit her lower lip and tucked an iious studies Mostly y and folklore"

I trailed behind the front steps and entered Hecate Hall

It was blessedly cool,spell going on It also smelled like all old houses, that weird scent that's a combination of furniture polish, old wood, and the ed paper, like in a library

I'd wondered if the sether houses would be as obvious on the inside as they had been on the outside, but all the walls were covered in the sa it ian

Just inside the front door, the any spiral staircase that twisted up three stories, see Behind the staircase was a stained-glassthat started at the second-floor landing and soared all the way up to the ceiling The late-afternoon sun shone through it, filling the foyer with geoht

"Impressive, isn't it?" Mrs Casnoff said with a siu just inside golden gates In one hand the angel held a black sword The other hand was pointing, clearly indicating that the three figures in front of the gates should get the heck out Only, you know, angelically

The three figures were also angels They all looked pretty bu red hair, even had her face buried in her hands Around her neck was a heavy golden chain that I realized was actually a series of s a crown of leaves and looking over his shoulder And in the ht in front of hi," I said at last