The Deceiver | The Magicians

Chapter 3

Three | Magic Is Real

She pushed open a set of heavy doors in order to exit into the hallway. Only a few students hung back, looking at their cards to find out their destination. Lilly scanned the walls for a map only to come up empty. Glancing back at her hands she flipped the card over to reread the note on the back. She was surprised to see that the writing from before had vanished and in its place, sat a blinking arrow pointing left down the hallway. Lilly shifted slightly and faced the opposite direction, watching as the phantom arrow stayed pointed down the hallway even when the paper moved. Lilly shrugged before whispering to herself.

"Might as well embrace the weird, I've gotten this far without dying." On that note she began to follow whatever direction the arrow pointed her in, praying that this wasn't going to turn out like a horror movie. She made her way out of the building she had taken the test in, crossing the lawn once again towards what looked like the main building. It looked very old and very typically collegiate. 

She eventually arrived in front of a heavy looking wooden door complete with a golden knocker in the shape of a lion. Seeing no one else waiting outside she raised her hand to knock, tapping the handle of the knocker three times. There was no verbal response from inside, only a creaking noise from where the door swung in by itself. She was becoming increasingly worried about her odds of surviving this trip without getting murdered by a ghost when the sound of the Dean's voice called her in.

"Ms. Cole, you may enter." Lilly hesitantly moved forwards, still wary of the situation. Before her was a long intricately carved table where the Dean sat, with four other administrators, ready to determine her fate at their establishment. Behind them hung a giant circular plaque with words written in what looked like Latin. Lilly couldn't help but think it resembled a wheel on some game show. "Lilly," Dean began, dropping the formalities, "we would like you to perform a task for us." Lilly nodded for him to go on. He placed a thick stack of blank parchment on the table looking back at her expectantly. "I want you to make some origami. Anything you'd like." Lilly looked at him like he was crazy. This couldn't possibly be part of the examination. The Dean however, gave no signs of this being a joke and continued to sit, waiting for her to begin. 

"Um... not to be rude, but is this a joke?" The dean chuckled at her blunt question.

"No. No Joke." He failed to elaborate which made her even more suspicious that it was a joke and she was about to meet some tv show host that had been putting her through hell for the entertainment of their viewers. Lilly shook her head slightly at the absurdity of the task before walking towards the table and picking up a sheet of paper. She had just begun to fold over the first corner when she was interrupted by the Dean for what seemed like the hundredth time that day.

"No. Not like that." Lilly's brow furrowed in confusion. He wanted her to make origami but when she did it, it was somehow wrong? "I want you to use magic." What was this? Clown college but for magicians?

"I'm sorry sir but I don't know any tricks-"

"Not tricks. Real magic." He said it all with a completely straight face and when Lilly cracked a smile it was not reciprocated. "I'll walk you through it don't worry. Please take a few steps back." Lilly complied with the request, figuring she had nothing to lose if this was indeed some sort of clown college. "Now, close your eyes." She hesitated a moment, before closing her eyes and waiting for her next instruction. 

She heard Dean stand from his chair and walk over to her, circling her a few times before continuing to speak. "I want you to clear your mind of whatever trivial crap is floating around in that little head of yours. Lilly took a breath before doing just what she was told. A state of calm washed over her as she awaited further instruction from the man. "Now picture each piece of paper folding itself into whatever shape you desire." Lilly thought of the pile on the desk a few feet away, sorting through and folding each piece with her mind. 

She could hear the Dean hum in approval from his spot beside her. She had begun to feel a sort of tingling in her fingers, spreading throughout her body and developing into a warm sensation that swept through her in waves. She could hear a shuffling of papers from somewhere in the room. "You may open your eyes now Lilly, we have gotten all that we need from you." a flitting sound brushed past her ear, startling her, because the Dean had moved back to his spot behind the table. 

Her eyes shot open and she couldn't help the loud gasp that left her mouth. All around her were hundreds of origami cranes. Not only were they folded to perfection, but they were flying around the room like little birds. Mesmerized by the sight, Lilly turned in place to take in the scene. They flapped happily about the room, some landing on the rafters above her to look down upon their creator. A few had begun to fly into the window, oblivious to the glass that separated them from the outside. Lilly reached out her hand to touch one, as soon as she made contact with the creature, all of them dropped like rocks to the floor below, landing in a heap. Lilly looked over at the table of the administrators with her eyes and mouth wide with disbelief. The Dean had begun to clap, a huge smile on his face.

"Very good. We will be meeting with you tomorrow to explain everything, answer any questions you may have and discuss your enrollment. Your student guide should be waiting outside to take you on a tour and to the dorms for the night. We apologize that you have to stay here but we can't let you out into the world knowing what you do. Please send the next person in when you leave."

"I'm sorry but did that really just happen?"

"Yes, it did. Now get moving, we have 32 more people to examine today and I would rather not be here all night." The Dean told her swiftly and authoritatively, like he had not just witnessed the miracle that had occurred moments before. 

"Um, there wasn't anyone else waiting when I got here and I was one of the last to leave the test room." Lilly stated confused.

"Oh. That's just something the cards do, they take everyone on a different route to get here so they arrive just in time for their appointment. The last person will be wandering around campus all day looking for this room." The Dean chuckled to himself, amused by the trick. Lilly looked at him like he was crazy and he most likely was. She thanked the administrators for their time, still a bit dazed by the events that had just occurred, before leaving out the door.

As Promised, Margo was waiting outside for her when she left. Just as the door shut behind her, an exhausted boy with glasses rounded the corner, a card clutched in his hand. Lilly gestured for him to enter the room and he nervously pushed the door open. She approached Margo, who had a huge grin on her face.

"I knew you were one of us!" Margo linked arms with Lilly dragging her down the hall and towards the exit. "I could tell we were going to be friends from the moment I saw you."

"What exactly are you?" Margo laughed at her ignorance, tilting her head back in amusement.

"A Magician of course! Didn't Dean Fogg tell you?" Lilly shook her head, "That's just like him to keep everything vague and mysterious even after you got in. God forbid you actually know what's going on! When I first got here I was so freaked out that I practically fainted when I did magic. I only found out the truth the next day during my meeting. Lucky for you blondie, I am here to enlighten you." Lilly inwardly sighed in relief that she would finally be filled in on what was going on. "Well if you haven't noticed, Magic is real."

"No shit." Lilly said, simultaneously eye rolling. The two girls continued down the long hallways arms linked. Lilly managed to take a peek into some of the classrooms, spotting odd contraptions resembling ancient alchemy equipment and many different types of crystals covering almost every surface in one room. 

"I knew I liked you." Margo smirked, "I'm assuming you've read Harry Potter."

"Of course, I have."

"Just checking. You'd be surprised how many weirdos there are who haven't." Margo continued, Lilly silently begging her to spill out any bit of information she could give. "We are like Wizards, but we don't use wands and this place isn't as whimsical as Hogwarts... Though we do have a good amount of magical s**t that goes down on campus. We haven't had a basilisk living in our basement yet, but there is still plenty of time for that" Lilly's eyes widened but Margo stayed completely serious, continuing on with her explanation.

"So how do you do magic then? If you don't use wands?"

"We use some pretty f****d up looking hand gestures." she paused her stride, untangling her arm from Lilly's. Margo's fingers clasped together, fingers twisting in awkward looking patterns. It took a moment but when she unclasped her hands, a small burning flame, sat in her palm. Lilly gasped, moving in closer to inspect the small miracle Margo had just created. Somehow the flame sat in her hand without burning her skin in the slightest. Margo closed her fist around the flame twisting her wrist. When she opened her palm again, the flame had vanished with no evidence of its existence left behind. 

"How did you do that?" Margo laughed at the girl's awe. 

"I can't reveal all my secrets at once. Patience young grasshopper."

"Will I be learning how to do that if I go here?" Margo relinked their arms, continuing to guide Lilly towards her dorm. 

"That and so much more."

It took the girls less than ten minutes to reach the dorm, passing the empty courtyards and old buildings. They arrived in front of a large building with ornate stained-glass windows bordering the massive oak doors. Only a few others lingered around the building, Lilly recognizing some from the exam room. Margo ignored them all, pulling the door open and shepherding her in. Margo had a way of holding herself that gave the impression that she was the queen and everyone else was her subjects, there for the sole purpose of serving her every need.

"These are the first-year dorms." A grand winding staircase was front and center when you first walked in. A large panel of stained glass on display above the landing. The ceilings in the entrance were two stories high and painted in vibrant blues, purples, and golds. On either side of the staircase were common rooms for students to relax in. one being filled with mismatched couches and chairs and the other lined with tables, assumingly for studying. The architecture was beautiful. "You will be staying here for the first month of the semester, until you are placed in your discipline group. Each discipline has its own house so where you are placed will determine where you live. In my opinion the physicals are the best, but I might be a bit bias."

Margo smiled at the blonde, watching as she took in her surroundings. "Follow me," she said, making her way up the staircase, not waiting for Lilly. "I'll show you to your room." Lilly quickly followed, not wanting to be left behind. At the top of the stairs were two hallways on either side, lined with medieval looking dark wood doors with brass knobs. Margo took a left stopping halfway down the hall in front on one of the doors. "You are in room 28, I don't know who your roommate is yet but you'll find out soon enough." 

Each door had a different scene carved into the wood. Hers depicted a large oak tree that took up almost the entire door, the branches curving to fit into the space. A group of what looked like three children stood around it, gazing off into the distance. It reminded Lilly of the famous tree from Fillory that first brought the Chatwins to the magical world. Lilly reached down to grasp the knob and pushed the door open. The hinges let out a slight groan when used, but the door opened smoothly, allowing her access. Inside sat two twin beds, one side of the room completely bare, and the other filled with boxes of what looked like Lilly's things from her apartment. 

"Are those my things?" Lilly asked in disbelief.

"Yes, when you passed your exam all your things were brought over."

"Let me guess. Magic?" Lilly smiled raising her eyebrows at the girl behind her.

"Hmm... you're catching on quick." Margo strolled the rest of the way into Lilly's room, sitting down on the bare mattress like it was a throne fit for an Egyptian goddess. "You can decorate any way you'd like but I wouldn't do anything too over the top, you won't be staying here for very long."

"Do you know who my roommate is?" Lilly eyed the second twin bed, pushed against the blue painted walls. The only boxes in the room were filled with her things, nothing to give away the personality of her future roommate. The only other furniture in the room were two small bookcases which definitely wouldn't be enough to store Lilly's extensive literature collection. Each side of the room had a desk pushed against the wall for studying. Lilly doubted she would be using it though, she had always preferred to study in the library. 

"I don't know, you'll just have to wait and see... Now that you have seen where you will be staying, lets show you around campus." She hopped up from the bed, Grabbing Lilly's arm and pulling her out the door.

"So, are you a... Muggle born?" 

"Born and raised." Margo said shortly, not bothering to go into details about her life before Brakebills. Lilly was about to ask her to elaborate but Margo's voice broke through her thoughts.

"Elliot!" The two had just begun to descend the grand staircase they had taken to get up to her room when Margo spotted the tall, thin, and well-dressed young man in the middle of the entryway. 

"Ah, Margo, Perfect timing." Elliot said, his voice sounding extremely posh. His voice perfectly matched his choice of dress. A white collared shirt and expensive looking tie showed from beneath the beige vest he wore. His whole look screamed expensive, with a dash of 'I'm better than you." He reminded Lilly of a rich estate owner from the 1920's. "My newbie fainted on us after his exam, so I have nothing to do until sleeping beauty wakes up."

"Well, we were just about to go on a tour of campus if you would like to join us?" Elliot's gaze flicked to Lilly, examining her with a judgmental look. "And what is the little one's name?" 

"Lilly... Lilly Cole." He stayed silent still watching her closely. "Nice vest by the way, it's very... slimming." Lilly said awkwardly, hoping to fill the awkward silence, only succeeding in making it even more uncomfortable. Margo giggled from beside her before Elliot spoke up again.

"Hmm... Well she has good taste, I think we should keep her." he still didn't smile at the new girl and Lilly was left to stand awkwardly.

"Glad you agree." Margo told him with a smirk, "Now let's show our new protege around campus, shall we?" The two began walking out the door, assuming Lilly would follow along. Lilly couldn't help but think how odd the pair was, but she found herself liking Margo more and more by the second. Her two tour guides led her down the path, past different buildings, naming them for Lilly. "This is the student quad," They turned the corner to find a large open grassy space, filled with Brakebills Magicians. 

"How did I not see this earlier, we walked right past this building on the way to the exam room." Lilly's eyes were wide as she watched a group of students creating glowing orbs of energy from thin air.

"Dean Fogg puts up wards on testing day so that none of the newbie's see any of the more magical parts of the school until they actually get in." Elliot spoke up, continuing to lead her towards the practicing Magicians. "The semester doesn't officially start for another two days, but lots of students like to get a head start on their studies."

"Is that why you two are back early?" Lilly asked and Elliot dramatically gasped, stopping in his tracks to look at her.

"How dare you think we are the kind of people to sacrifice our vacation time to Study." Elliot let out a horrified shiver at the thought. "No, we came back for the parties." Lilly would have been worried about having offended them, but the smirk on Margo's face told her he was only feigning insult. 

"So," Margo interrupted, "as I said earlier, you will be sorted into the house of your emphasis. There are six possibilities for where you may be placed. Physical, which is mine and Elliot's discipline," they pointed to a girl who had a deck of cards spread out in front of her. The three watched as each one of the cards lifted by themselves and started to shuffle in midair. "We specialize in telekinesis mostly, lifting things, moving things, the usual." 

"We throw some pretty unforgettable parties though, so definitely don't come to our house if you have anything to do the next morning." Elliot smiled skipping along the path. 

"There is also Knowledge, Illusion, Nature, Healing, and of course Psychics. Pretty self-explanatory I think. Just don't think about anything too embarrassing when you're around a psychic." Margo told her in warning.

"They're always listening." Elliot said, pointing to his head. Across the lawn from where they stood, sat a young man and woman, both cross legged facing each other. Their hands were linked but their fingers traced out an invisible pattern in the air. Both their foreheads creased with concentration as they clasped hands. They paused in their movements, opening their hands to release a pure white dove that immediately took off in flight, flitting happily around the two. Noticing her gaze, Elliot explained, "Illusionist, it's not a real bird just looks like one. It doesn't think for itself, only does what they tell it too. Pretty cool...if you're into that sort of thing." 

The three continued their tour, Margo showing her the many fountains and their magical properties. The most interesting one being the fountain of love. It featured three cupids who would shoot their love arrows at anyone who stepped to close to the sparkling pink water. Lilly made a mental note to never go near that one in the future. They passed by another fountain, which Margo explained was completely bottomless. It was nicknamed the suicide fountain, for obvious reasons. They were coming to the end of their campus tour and soon enough they were back inside the first-year dorms.

"I'm gonna go check on sleeping beauty," Elliot told the two, already heading up the stairs. "He's lucky he's cute, for all the trouble he's put me through. Bye Bambi!" He called to Margo then gentlemanly tipped his head to Lilly, "Blondie." He disappeared up the stairs.

"Well you should be okay from now on" Margo told her turning around to leave. "See ya!"

"Wait!" Lilly called to her newfound friend, "My friends Quentin Coldwater and Julia Wicker. They took the exam too; did they get in?" Margo let out a loud laugh,

"You know sleeping beauty?" She continued to laugh like this was the funniest thing she's ever heard. "Yes, Quentin got in. Room 48, but I wouldn't go see him till the morning, he's probably still knocked out. As for your other friend... I've never heard of her." With that she turned and left the building. Lilly wondered if Margo just hadn't heard of Julia or if she hadn't gotten in at all. 

Lilly found her way upstairs to her room, seeing a few students milling about in the hallways and through open dorm room doors. Pushing her door open, she was surprised to see a girl standing in the middle of the room. Hearing her enter, the girl spun to face her. Lilly could see that she had long, wavy, brown hair that cascaded across her shoulders to her mid back. Her eyes were a shocking shade of grey that seemed to pierce through all Lilly's defenses. There was something about the way the girl was looking at her that unnerved Lilly. It was as if she was analyzing every detail of her determining her worth before she even spoke. Lilly smiled at the girl anyway,

"Hi, you must be my roommate, I'm Lilly." she said happily, holding out her hand in greeting. The other girl hesitated a moment before returning the gesture.

"Ava Westmore," she said shortly leaving much to be desired.

"So where are you from?" Ava turned away, beginning to unpack the boxes that now filled the other half of the room. Lilly decided to do the same, turning towards a box of books and unloading them onto the bookshelf next to her bed. 

"Washington D.C. You?" She asked but her tone suggested she didn't really care what Lilly's answer was.

"Originally England actually, but my mom moved us to New York when I was really young, so I didn't have a chance to develop the accent. It's a shame really, having a British accent probably would have made me a lot cooler in school." Lilly laughed a bit but Ava stayed silent, continuing to unload her things. "Do you have any Magicians in the family? I just found out magic existed a couple hours ago. Bit of a shock." Lilly finished filling her tiny bookshelf, leaving a pile of books on the floor that wouldn't fit.

"Both my parents went here, Knowledge students." 

"You must be pretty good at magic already then, got a head start on the rest of us." Ava sighed turning to face Lilly. 

"Look. I'm not trying to make friends. I just want to learn, so don't waste your time trying to get to know me and tell me all your little secrets like we're best friends. It's not going to happen." Lilly was taken aback by Ava's outburst, not used to people being so rude.

"Sorry, I was just being friendly."

"It's better if we just stick to our own worlds and sides of the room. If this roommate thing is going to work then don't touch my stuff and try to refrain from talking to me. Okay?" Lilly nodded still shocked by the girl's attitude. She turned back to what she was doing and Lilly did the same, not daring to speak again. She pulled her leather-bound diary from the top of one of the boxes, placing it safely inside the bedside table. The sheets and comforter for the bed were provided, given Lilly didn't have anything that would fit a twin bed. 

By the time she was done unpacking and setting everything up it was around nine O'clock. As predicted her books did not fit in the small shelf provided and three giant stacks sat on the floor with no place to go. She had hung pictures of herself with family and friends on the walls, giving the small room a homey feel that was lacking on Ava's side. The sun had finally set in the perpetual bubble of summer that Brakebills sat in. Not wanting to stick around in her room much longer Lilly decided to venture out of her room to meet the rest of the new students who had passed the test. She made her way down the stairs to the common room to find a group of others gathered on the couches and standing throughout the room, all in conversation. Lilly was just about to approach the nerdy looking guy who had gone in after her to the second part of the exam when a voice called her name.

"Lilly!" She wiped her head towards the voice, Spotting the pink haired beauty she had met earlier before the exam. 

"Dani! I see you passed." Lilly said moving towards the girl who sat perched on the arm of a large armchair next to a pale red headed boy. Lilly didn't have to fake the grin that came to her, glad to see a familiar face after the encounter with her roommate. The boy looked up from where he sat, looking at Lilly and smiling. 

"Yeah, that's a first, Lilly this is Alex," Dani gestured to the redhead, "Alex, this is Lilly." The two shook hands exchanging greetings. Due to the lack of available seating, Lilly took a seat on the other arm of Alex's chair. 

"I think we're neighbors," Alex said, smiling up at her, "I saw you walking by earlier." 

"You'll have to come visit sometime, but be warned, my roommate is a piece of work." Lilly told him. "How about you guys? Get a good roommate." Alex pointed across the room to a curly haired muscular guy who looked like professional football player. 

"His name is Dawson, he's nice enough but I get the feeling he doesn't want to be friends." Alex raised his eyebrows in a suggestive manner. Lilly laughed at his antics, she could tell already that they were going to be fast friends. Dani spoke up from the other arm of the chair.

"Mine is some sort of crazy bookworm, she would barely even talk to me, she had her head too far up the ass of some textbook to hear me." The three new friends talked until the early hours of the night, staying in their spots even after the rest of the newcomers had gone to bed. Lilly learned almost everything there was to know about the two. 

Dani's mother was a Magician herself, a world-renowned Alchemist to be exact. She grew up in the middle of nowhere Arizona and had already had a good amount of magical training from her mom. Lilly learned the origin of the girl's unique pink hair. Growing up, Dani had always loved to change her hair color, something her mother always hated. Dani had gotten sick of having the color fade so quickly and tried to mix a potion to make it last. Long story short it did more than Make it last longer. It made the color permanent, so now the hot pink hair actually grows out of her skull that color. The three laughed until it hurt when she had recounted the story to them.

Alex was a Muggle born like Lilly, having only just discovered the existence of magic that morning. He had been studying to be a Marine Biologist and was looking to continue in grad school when Brakebills found him. He had three sisters all younger than him that he adored to no end. Apparently, he was quite the artist as well, showing the girls some of his artwork that had made the trip to his dorm room. 

Lilly told them of her love of books and literature, to which Dani complained of her being a secret nerd. She told them about how her mother raised her alone, but was always on business trips so she was usually with a nanny. She told them of her friends back home in New York and about how she found a dead body with Quentin and Julia that morning. Both Dani and Alex were extremely intrigued by that one and by the time Lilly had crawled beneath the covers of her bed, all three of them had spilled their guts to each other, forming a bond that would not soon be broken.