School Time

“If I’m late for potions class again, I’m going to fail the term.”

I tapped my feet impatiently, waiting for my shoes to cooperate with me. They grumbled in protest, laces frayed long ago .

“Look, if all this fuss is about using you during my gym class, I’m sorry. How was I supposed to know we were running in mud? I totally forgot. It was completely by accident, and if I had known, I would have used my normal shoes instead. But please, I cannot fail again. Not after Headmistress Cook warned me for the third time.” I reasoned, hoping the foolish pair of shoes would for once understand me. And surprisingly, they did. It jumped off the roof and flew down into my welcoming arms. Still caked with mud from yesterday, I made up my mind to finally polish them after two months of surviving with severely scuffed shoes. Actually, that can wait for later I thought as I examined my watch, the short hand dangerously close to curfew.

I tied up the laces and sprinkled some activation powder over the canvas soles, making sure they wouldn’t malfunction today. I slung my large school bag over my shoulder and stepped out- into the rain. Great, I thought to myself. I could already feel my shoes shivering, compressing the leather material against my toes.
“Oh, stop it already! It’s not like I have much space for my feet, anyway, let alone your childish fear of water.” I grumbled, reaching into my bag for my wand.
Twirling the wooden stick in the air, I mumbled some incantations and pointed it at my shoes with a swish. Immediately, a burst of clear liquid shot out and sprayed my feet with waterproof film. Invisible to the eye, but a shoe’s best friend.
Slowly, my shoes started to loosen up and slink back into position. I lifted my feet off the ground and picked up my umbrella. I opened it up and knocked on the metal casing three times. As usual, the metal melted and revealed three blue buttons arranged in a horizontal row. Today, I decided I wanted some air, so I pressed the button in the middle.

With a sharp whoosh, the engine of the umbrella started up. However, today it was coughing and shaking. “You’re kidding, right?” I said as I inspected the enchantment level of the umbrella.
LOW ENCHANTMENT LEVEL, PLEASE RE-FILL AS SOON AS POSSIBLE
How conveniently timed. I rushed back into my house, ignoring the confused stares of my brother, and ran into my room. I pulled open all the drawers, looking for a small pot of blue liquid and a tub of red powder. Going into a slight state of panic, I began to pace back and forth, wondering where it had gone.
“It’s right here Elise.” my mum sighed, tired of putting up with my nonsense. She pointed to my bedside table, and lo, there it was. How could I have missed it; it was right there! But I had no time to consider getting my eyes checked, instead, I scooped the containers up, bid my mother farewell and ran out the door with the enchantments in my hand.
Kneeling over the stuttering umbrella, I opened the metal compartment once again and hastily tipped the contents of the container into the small vial inside. Almost instantly, the umbrella came back to life, and a grin leaped onto my face as I tossed the containers into my bag.
Well finally, I thought as I pressed the middle blue button once again and stood up. I walked forward and gave the umbrella a gentle swirl. That was all it needed to spread its canopy and lift me off the ground. The uneasy feeling of levitating to the clouds was always a stranger to me, no matter how much I travelled it would always re­emerge from the bottom of my stomach. But the reward was always the euphoria I received when rippling through a cloud and finally seeing the other side of the sky. From the top of the sky, everything looked like small toys, and the huge skyscrapers lining the city showed up as tiny ants in a world of cars, people and trees.
I checked my watch. The hands were pointing to 7: 55. I let out a loud roar of frustration, once again I was going to be late, once again I was going to lose my good standing and get my wand taken away from me. But then, as if the umbrella could comprehend what I was saying, a large gust of wind propelled me forward and I began to ripple through the air as the umbrella sped up. Through the misty gleam of the clouds, I could see the faint outline of the school towers.

“Thanks!” I shouted to my umbrella, which vigorously vibrated in response. I was slowly descending, and I bit my lip. I was not good at this part, never had been. I muttered a quick prayer, then grabbed a strong-smelling powder from my pocket. Sprinkling it all over my shoes, I sighed and whispered an enchantment. Slowly, I let go of the umbrella, awaiting the imminent pain of my body hitting the concrete.
But to my surprise, the spell worked. YES! I thought to myself. For once, I didn’t mess up a spell. Now I could freely float in the air without having to hold the umbrella.
“Elise! Look who actually made it to the academy in a decent time?” shouted an unidentified speck in the distance. As I got closer to the ground, the speck cleared to reveal Anera, one of the girls in my form, waving frantically at me. A group of students from my form began to gather, looking at me in surprise as I prepared for landing.
As I hopped onto the pavement, a smug smile crept onto my face. I wrapped up my umbrella and placed it into my bag. Looking ahead, I faced the bright green garden welcoming me to the entrance of the school. Just as I began walking to classes, the bell rang.
Guess I wasn’t going to be late after all.