Apprentice witch brews up tall tale

RAIN pelted down on the car windows. Everything I have ever known was in the miserable wreck that was Christchurch.

As I again look out of the window all I can see is a crimson and tangerine sunset splodged with the wishy-washy drops of rain falling from the cloudy sky. There were no silhouettes of big buildings, no cars or people. Just more and more fields.

My name is Evangeline, and this is my story of how I became a witch.

My dad pulled up into the driveway of our new house. I looked up. The house was big and very old. It was an off-white colour with peeling paint.

I stalked off into the house to see if it was as bad inside as it looked from the outside. But that's another story; let's just say there were a lot of cobwebs.

As I clambered aboard the old school bus at an ungodly hour in the morning, I stifled a yawn and looked around. I saw a boy picking his nose and a girl who liked pink way too much.

Then I saw a girl at the back of the bus who looked 14, like me, wearing skinny jeans and a faded violet jumper. "Hi, my name is Evangeline. I'm new at the school and was wondering if I could sit next to you."

As I waited for an answer the girl who liked pink piped up. "You don't want to sit next to her, she's weird. Come and sit next to me, my name's Amber." She really did have the worst squeaky voice.

"You can sit wherever you want. My name's Fern." So, the girl in the pink track suit, or the girl in the skinny jeans - tough decision.

"I have to tell you something," Fern said. We were sitting in my room after I invited her over at lunch time.

"Okay, fire away," I said.

"I'm a witch and I think you could be too. I come from a long line of powerful witches, the good kind."

I stared at her for a long time, taking in the serious look on her face, the long black wavy hair and her deep aquamarine eyes. And all I could do was laugh.

"What are you laughing at?" she said.

"Well, clearly, you're joking!"

She shook her head. "No, why would I joke about such a serious thing?"

"You mean, you're actually a witch?"

"I think I just clarified that."

That's how I found out Fern was a witch.

"Which will it be? Are you going to ship me off to Hogwarts or give me some emerald potion that will keep me in agony for two days, but will turn me into the most powerful witch in the world?"

I grinned at Fern, but she just frowned back. "No Hogwarts or potions then," I mumbled.

"There isn't. Becoming a witch takes years of practice. Lucky for me, though, I was born with witch's blood. That means I only have to learn a few spells and I'll be on my way. You, however, have to earn your witch's blood. In order to get that, you have to master magic."

"When can we start?"

That was the start of a brand-new chapter for me. It took Fern four years to help me master magic and to help me earn my witch's blood. And we are still learning more magic each day. We are on an endless journey together. Who knows how it will end?

Rhiannon Ellis, Year 9, Raglan Area School