Ravenna dragged her feet as she walked onto the campus of Morgan le Fay. Nerves fluttered about in her stomach, but she pressed her lips into a thin line and pushed them down as far as they would go.

Morgan le Fay Institute for Magic, read the wooden sign forever floating above the entrance. It was simple, much like the rest of the campus behind it, with a clear, plain font over a background of lilac and royal-blue – the school's colours. It stood out beautifully against the green background of the Welsh Valley.

Still a little dizzy from the Portkey, the magical item that had transported her here, Ravenna hauled her huge backpack higher up her shoulders and walked down the path towards the campus.

Morgan le Fay was small. Even including the campus, it took up barely a quarter of the Welsh valley it was located in. Shaped like a U, the school stood with open arms, welcoming her back inside. The back of the building, the bottom of the U, was built into the hill behind it, which meant that the classrooms on that side were always cloaked in darkness. This was quite useful for subjects like potions, of which the effectiveness often deteriorated when brewed in bright light.

To the left lay the campus; four white blocks of building housing the bedrooms, two for the girls and two for the guys. A lantern-lit pebbled path connected the campus to the school, which lit up the valley at night.

"Hey there, Little Raven."

Ravenna jumped at the sudden voice in her ear and scowled at the grinning boy in front of her. Her heart made a little leap, which she purposefully ignored.

"I'd really hoped to have at least a few minutes alone, Dante," she said, purposely using the given name he hated so much. She continued her trek towards the school, but her pace had slowed to allow him to catch up.

"Don't c-c-call me that," Dan grumbled.

Ravenna threw a victorious grin over her shoulder and watched him grip his old trunk to follow after her. "Then stop with the stupid nicknames."

"Wow," he said, his ocean-blue eyes twinkling. "Someone's mighty moody today."

She groaned loudly. "Again with that. Just let me go to my dorm in peace, please."

Ravenna knew it wasn't fair how she treated him. She knew she should be kinder to this sweet, tender boy who had stuck beside her for years despite her constant bad mood. But she couldn't. Because if she dropped her mask and opened her heart, he would easily find his way in. The consequences would be disastrous. The stunt she'd pulled in Diagon Alley last week proved that. And so she kept him at arm's length, fighting to ignore his adorable, lopsided smile.

"In c-case you're wondering, my summer was shite, too." His voice had lowered, the smile on his face replaced by a frown. "But at least we're back here now, right?"

Her gut twisted at his words. Even without his irregular letters or his refusal to talk about it in Diagon Alley, she would've known full well how shite his summer really was. As the youngest son in a family of almost-purebloods trying to fit in with real purebloods, Dan's weak magic was humiliating for them. And they never passed up an opportunity to let him know just how much of a disappointment he was.

"Yeah," Ravenna muttered eventually. "At least we're back."

"We're gonna ace level five this year." The smile on his face had returned as if it had never been gone. "Both of us. We'll make sure of it."

Dan's enthusiasm was annoyingly infectious. The corners of her lips tugged upwards. "I will," she teased. "I'm not so sure you can keep up, though."

They both had to re-do educational level five this year, but Ravenna didn't mind. She wasn't safe to go out into the real world yet anyway. Staying at Morgan le Fay was the safer option.

Dan barked out a laugh as the path split into four towards the different dorm houses. "It's a good thing I know you love me, otherwise your moodiness might have gotten to me."

Her breath caught at that little, four-letter word, but she carefully kept her face in check. She threw him an uncaring shrug as she made her way into the girl's dorm. "Whatever. Keep telling yourself that."

The long, winding hallway of the girl's dormitory building was empty and quiet. Many students hadn't arrived yet, and those who had were most likely in their rooms unpacking.

She made her way past a dozen doors on either side of the hall until finally, just before the second turn, she found the one she was looking for. B13.

Her room hadn't been touched since the last time she'd been here. She dropped her backpack on the bed, which was haphazardly made just before the summer. The desk by the only window was still littered with pieces of parchment, quills and a pot of ink. Deciding to get it over with, she pulled her clothes out of her backpack and hung them in the double-doored wooden wardrobe in the corner of the little room.

When she closed it again a few minutes later, she spotted the two dusty, unmoving pictures standing on top of the wardrobe. One showed a young Ravenna with both her parents, while the other displayed her with Dan. They'd been purposely stashed out of the way, because she didn't want Dan to ever see them. Not that she'd ever let him into her room.

With a sigh, she opened her backpack and rummaged through it. She took out the small vial and held it up. The light reflected off the amber-coloured glass, creating a brown shadow on the wall behind her. Though she couldn't smell it yet, her nose already wrinkled at the sight of the potion.

Gathering her courage, she stood up and took a few steps through the small room, inevitably ending up in front of the washbasin. Almost mechanically, she pulled a lock of hair closer to her face, straightening it in such a way that it almost hid the ugly scar on her cheek. It was the worst one she had, because it was the most visible. Every day it reminded her of what a lack of control could do.

Ravenna pulled the stopper off the vial. She took a deep breath and downed the contents in one big gulp. The taste of rotten meat and bitter herbs made her gag. She coughed and threw her head under the tap to drink the vile taste away. Then she gripped the edges of the sink and heaved, trying to keep the potion in.

When the gagging finally subsided, she sat back down on her bed with her head in her hands. Damn potions. If the vile taste was the only downside, she could live with that, but they also made her feel incredibly tired and listless all throughout the day. Perhaps this year she could work on reducing how often she took them. As long as she could maintain control of her magic.

It was something to look forward to. Something to work towards. A strange sense of relief washed over her as she leaned against the wall. Dan was right. At least she was home now.

The dining hall was bustling when Ravenna and Dan arrived. Three long tables filled up the space, each with enough room for twenty people. The tables were filled up with dozens of silver platters and bowls, all of them covered with lids.

The ten teachers sat randomly divided over the tables, making small talk with some of the students. The headmistress, an older woman with short, grey hair and piercing eyes of the same colour, was in animated conversation with a 29-year-old woman named Patty, the oldest student in the school.

"There's space over there," Dan muttered, nudging her to follow him.

They sat down at the corner of the far table, near two happily chattering girls of around Ravenna's own age, and Professor Fauns, the magical creatures teacher and deputy headmaster. His wrinkled face lit up when they sat down.

"Ah, Dante Mulberry and Ravenna Inkwood. Welcome back!"

Dan cringed at the mention of his given name, making Ravenna chuckle beside him, but he hurriedly pulled his face into a smile. "Evening, Professor Fauns. How was your summer?"

Professor Fauns was short and stout, but with a huge moustache, making him look much fiercer than the kind man he actually was. Ravenna liked him a lot, and not just because his subject was her favourite. He always let her go to the forest, where all the amazing creatures lived, whenever she felt herself lose control of her magic.

"Wonderful, thank you, Mr Mulberry. I've spent a lot of time with my creatures. The bowtruckles are getting a little skittish, though. I think they've missed your company, Miss Inkwood."

Ravenna chuckled at the glint in the old man's eyes. "I guess I'd better go visit them soon."

Professor Fauns was about to respond, when the headmistress stood up, clearing her throat to demand the attention of the staff and students. Everyone slowly fell silent.

"Welcome, everyone," said the headmistress, smiling as she took in the faces in front of her. She was a short, pudgy woman, but there was something in her eyes that made her look like she took in everything that went on around her; every single one of the fifty-odd students looking up at her. "And a special welcome to our new students."

Looking around, Ravenna spotted a few new faces around the tables. Most were young, no older than 12 or 13. But two of them were at least Ravenna's age.

Late bloomers; those whose magic didn't emerge until long after passing age 11, the age of acceptance of Hogwarts. The one that the wizarding world often viewed as the only school for magic in the UK.

It wasn't fair that Hogwarts wouldn't let them in. Ravenna understood them deeming her too dangerous for such a big school as Hogwarts, but they didn't have a reason to deny these kids a chance. It wasn't fair at all.

"My name is Professor Slughorn and I am the headmistress of this school. For the sake of the new students, let me give a quick introduction of how Morgan le Fay works. Rather than year groups, we work with educational levels. Once you have reached the requirements of the first level, you move on to the second level, and so on until you've finished off educational level seven, after which you graduate.

"You will have classes with others of your educational level, but everything else, such as the dinner hall, the common room and the library, is shared with everyone. You will meet your class tutor tomorrow morning. In the meantime, if you have any issues, please don't hesitate to talk to any of your teachers. We will be happy to help you. If there are no pressing matters..."

She waited a moment to see if anyone would speak up. Nobody ever did. New students always simply sat back and waited for things to start making sense. So when a hand shot up in the air, Ravenna sat up straight and furrowed her eyebrows. It was one of the new girls, the one sitting at the table across from Ravenna.

"What's up with the educational levels?" she said. "Why not just go with year groups?"

"Because we're not fucking Hogwarts!" someone shouted across the room, earning him some appreciative laughter from the student body. Dan shot her an amused smile, which she returned.

"Language, Mr Santos." The headmistress' nostrils flared. "To answer your question, Miss Parilla, we have chosen to work with educational levels, because this system seems to work best for our students. Our students often struggle to reach the necessary requirements to complete the year. By working with levels, we gain a better understanding of which subjects the student lacks in. In some cases, this makes it possible to let a student skip the subjects they've completed and allow them to focus on the ones they struggle with."

Headmistress Slughorn peered at the girl who had asked the question, awaiting an answer. When no response came, she clapped her hands together and said, "Feel free to ask more questions in your tutor class tomorrow. For now, I have one final announcement to share with you."

Ravenna sat up straight when Slughorn hesitated. The headmistress was a very steadfast woman. The hesitation, and the reluctant look with which she now regarded her students, was very much unlike her.

"In the coming weeks," she said, choosing her words carefully, "Morgan le Fay will welcome a visitor. As every year, our school has applied for funding from the Ministry of Magic. This year, the Ministry has decided to send an official to... evaluate the effectiveness of our teaching."

A surprised murmuring buzzed through the dinner hall. Ravenna shared a disconcerted glance with Dan.

"What this means, in practice, is that..." Headmistress Slughorn let out a deep sigh. "They determine the effectiveness of teaching by inspecting the performance of the students."

"What?" someone shouted. Santos - the same boy that had spoken up before. "They can't do that! They'll be totally biased!"

"That's ridiculous!" came another voice, quickly backed up by others all around the hall.

"They wouldn't do that to Hogwarts, would they?"

Slughorn held up her hand and waited for her students to calm down. With a grave look on her face, she said, "I'm afraid that's not all. Not only will this visit determine whether we get funding, it will also determine whether a Ministry official will come by this year to conduct the fifth-level O.W.L. and the seventh-level N.E.W.T. final exams."

A shocked silence fell over the hall like a suffocating blanket. Every student in magical learning academies around Great Britain knew just how important the O.W.L.'s – Ordinary Wizarding Levels – were. The standardised tests dictated what job you could get after graduation.

Slowly, as if her brain resisted the very idea, it dawned on Ravenna what this meant. No exams meant no graduation. No graduation meant not being able to get a job. They'd be forced out of the wizarding community and into the muggle - non-magical - world.

And if they decided there wouldn't be any exams this year, how big were the chances they'd come back and let them try again next year?

A sob reverberated through the hall, followed by an enraged outcry from a seventh level student. "What the bloody hell is that about? No exams? What, we're not even getting the chance to be part of the wizarding world anymore?" His voice broke by the end of the sentence, but it didn't matter because several others were already loudly exclaiming their agreement.

Ravenna turned to her best friend. His eyes had gone as wide as her own. "No exams?" she croaked. "We can never get a job without O.W.L.'s and N.E.W.T.'s."

"I kn-kn-know. Surely they c...c... Surely they won't take away our only chance, would they?"

"Students of Morgan le Fay! Please, calm yourselves!" the headmistress shouted over the ruckus.

Once the student body finally quieted down, she continued, "I know this is a lot to take in. I completely agree with you that this isn't fair. However, it is something we will have to deal with. Together. We will fight this, and we will get through it. I promise you. Don't hesitate to talk through all your concerns with your class tutor tomorrow. In the meantime..." She shook her head and sighed. "Try to enjoy our start-of-year feast and let this be a worry for another day. Exams or no exams, you will always have a place here. Never forget that. Welcome, students, and welcome back, to Morgan le Fay."