The air in the castle was thick with magic.
The feeling that Aster was used to, living in a magical home. The walls and corridors hummed with resonance, as it the stones they were made of were breathing.
Aster walks through the winding staircase as it shifts beneath their feet. They were quick on their feet before the stairs twisted to a new path and stepped into the landing.
Around Aster, students barely reacted. A pair, who they thought were second years, stepped neatly over the stairs without missing a beat, laughing between themselves. A few older students lingered along the landings, leaning against stone pillars or balancing stacks of books in their arms.
Aster, however, was lost.
They were supposed to take the west staircase to the third floor, but in between the winding corridors and a star that had decided to rotate itself to east, they ended up in a narrow passage lined with dusty suits of armor and crooked portraits.
Aster stopped in the middle of the corridor and sighed, adjusting the strap of their bag.
"Brilliant," they muttered. "First day, and I’m already lost."
"Well, standing there looking tragic certainly won’t help." A dry voice beside them clicked its tongue.
Aster turned and faced the speaker, and found them in a portrait hanging in an ornate golden frame. It was a woman dressed in a dark dress with red drapes, wearing a white headscarf. She sat in her portrait peering down at them.
"You’ve been pacing this corridor for at least seven minutes," she said. "Honestly, I’ve seen first-years with better sense."
He glanced up and down the hall. "Do you know how to get to the third floor?"
"Charms, I presume?" she asked, and Aster nodded.
The lady in the portrait gave him a long, appraising look before pointing one painted finger down the corridor.
"Take that passage until you see a tapestry of the moonlit forest. There’s a staircase tucked behind that you can take." She said. "It only reveals itself if you’re in a hurry, so for your sake, I suggest you look mildly panicked."
Aster let out a short breath of relief. "Thank you."
“Try not to get lost again,” she called after him.
Aster hurried off, following her direction. Sure enough, the hidden staircase appeared the moment he started worrying about being late.
By the time he reached the Charms classroom, he was slightly out of breath.
The door stood ajar, and the moment Aster stepped inside, they felt it.
The magic in the air was thicker here. Alive, in a way that made their skin tingle. The room itself seemed to shimmer.
A thrill ran through them before he could stop it.
Aster had grown up surrounded by magic, but there was something about a room built for learning it that made their chest feel tight.
Excitement fluttered in his stomach, he smiled.
Maybe getting lost had been worth it after all.
