Mr Fithyn crossed his arms and studied the three boys. “Listen boyos, if I’m going to show you my true For it’s only common courtesy you show me yours.”
The three looked at one another and reluctantly reached for their glamour accessories to dispel their illusions. Jon swallowed and asked “What are you going to do with us sir?”
“By all rights I should turn you over to the Council,” replied Fithyn “But fortunately for you, my mistress has been given control of this district and she has given me a lot of leeway in dealing with younger familiars like yourselves.” He shook his head “If she was more of a traditionalist, she’d curse you three, but she has a more...modern and liberal outlook on things.”
“I’m lost,” grimaced Jon “What’s all this about Councils and districts?”
“You’ll have to excuse him sir,” cut in Trevor.
“Yes sir,” nodded Damian “He only found out he was a familiar this morning.”
“And your mistress didn’t prep you?” Fithyn raised an eyebrow “Hmm, I’ll have to inform Ingrid of that...”
“Ingrid?” asked Trevor, “Wait, as in Ms Fletcher the IT teacher?”
“Aye,” smirked Fithyn “My step-sister, if you must know.” He sighed and turned to Jon. “The Council is the regulating body for witches worldwide. They have branches in almost every country in the world usually with a subcouncil presiding over each country; and each of those having its own subcouncils to manage each state, county and so forth. Ms Fletcher was appointed to manage this district and keep an eye on the witches attending this school and make sure they keep in line and arbitrate disputes between the various factions.”
Jon nodded, trying to take it all in. “Is that how you found out about us sir? Did she have some sort of magical-keep-tabs-on-familiars thing going on?”
The teacher chuckled and shook his head. “I keep an eye on you boys as part of my duties; you’re all logged with the Council so word got handed down.”
“Magic works fast if you knew about me so quickly,” commented Jon.
Fithyn pinched the bridge of his nose. “Jon, I’m sorry to be the one to break this to you, but you were born a familiar.” Seeing Jon’s stunned look he continued “All witches are female and all familiars are male. Want to know why? Because familiars are male witches. At birth the abilities of both are sealed away until some predetermined time. When you were changed by your sister, she didn’t change you, she broke the seal locking your true form away.”
Jon staggered and grabbed a desk for support.
“Sorry,” shrugged the raven man “That’s just how it is.”
“What are you going to do about the clubhouse?” asked Trevor.
“Nothing,” replied Fithyn “At least nothing to stop it. In fact I plan on aiding you and spreading the word to the other familiars here. I have one condition though.”
“What would that be?” asked Jon, still half-processing the bombshell that’s just been dropped on him.
“You leave the bell rooms at the top for me and not as part of the clubhouse ‘public’ areas.” Seeing their confusion he elaborated “I have a sort of private study there, a private rookery if you will; in fact that’s how I came to overhear your wishes - I was there for personal time when I saw Jon enter and came down to see what was going on.”
Jon nodded and said “So you heard about the wishing stone?”
“Yes, but I have no desire to take it from you. Artefacts like that end up in the possession of people for a reason. I don’t know what that is for you, but there is one. And my mistress probably won’t be interested in it anyway; she’s a ‘Reality Hacker’ as she likes to put it, so can probably do everything that stone can anyway.”
Jon breathed a sigh of relief. As he calmed s thought came to him. “Umm sir? If you don’t mind me asking, how do you manage to hide your wings? Unless my sister lied to me or just halfassed my glamour, I thought a glamour only made extra body parts invisible. So shouldn’t people bang into your wings all the time?”
The teacher cocked an eyebrow then closed his eyes. His form rippled, his wings tucking in to become an open, sleeveless long coat and his feathers receding to leave him bare chested. “Your right about glamours,” he said, opening his eyes, “But you don’t know that our bodies change over time. We gain more powerful forms as we get older, more experienced and start to harness the crude magic we’re capable of casting. For example, look at Trevor; notice his eyes are catlike while yours and Damian’s are human, and he has little fangs starting to come in. That’s because he’s been revealed for longer. We can shift between our forms with practice. This is my default form and the one I use most of the time for day to day; the big wings are another form I have, and I was using it for show. If you must know I can also become a flock of ravens, but that gets kinda confusing and I can only hold it for a few minutes. In time you three will find new forms of your own that are increasingly feline.” He glanced at the clock over the door. “You boys can go now, you should still get some break time in before third period.”
