The morning after yesterday's excitement was not off to a good start for Luz and Esper. They had been forced to do "cleaning duty" outside, and were now staring at a revolting sight that could only be described as disgusting. "Well, Luz, Esper," said Eda, elbowing Luz. "Did you ever think you'd witness something as breathtaking as this?" She gestured to a towering trash slug corpse, surrounded by muck and garbage. The buzzing of flies was audible all around them. Luz shook her head and plugged her nose, stuttering, "I really don't like this." The stench of rotting flesh from the trash slug was overwhelming, causing Esper to cover her mouth to prevent herself from gagging. She joked weakly, "Ugh, I think I'm gonna be sick."

"Yes, nothing is more inspiring than the trash slug," Eda said, laughing. "It makes a home, a life from what others have thrown by the wayside, Until, blam, it gets blasted by a wave one day and croaks from all the salt. And then we get to sell what it's eaten." She pulled a rubber chicken and a pickaxe out of the slug's gaping wound, chuckling. Luz and Esper exchanged a long look, and Luz pleaded, "Please, don't make us do this." But King laughed and said, "Oh, come on, guys. It's not every day you get to pick apart a garbage carcass at the dump." Eda shrugged off their protests, saying, "Ah, nuts to both of you."

As Eda swung her pick at the trash slug, Luz decided to ask a question that had been on her mind. "Eda, what if we tried some new lessons for our apprenticeships? Like reading ancient scrolls or mixing potions or—" But before Luz could finish her sentence, Eda interrupted her. "Ugh, that sounds like a bunch of magic school stuff." Both Luz and Esper perked up at this. "Wait, you're telling us there's been a magic school all this time?" Esper exclaimed with excitement. Luz continued, "Like with winding towers, cute uniforms, and dark plots that threaten your life kind of magic school?"

"Mm-hmm. What's worse, they force you to learn magic the 'proper' way. But magic isn't proper. It's wild and unpredictable. And that's why it's so beautiful. I didn't finish school, look at me! Who wouldn't envy where I am right now?" Eda croaked with obvious annoyance, but Esper had stopped listening. Her mind was filled with wonders and mysteries, and you could see the stars and sparkles practically begin to flutter around her as she stammered about anything that came to mind. Meanwhile, Eda continued, "Hey, here's a lesson." She dropped her pick and stuck Luz's hand in a puddle of trash slug bile, saying, "A great witch is resourceful, like this!"

Luz pulled out a greasy slimeball and looked at it with disgust, her face scrunching up. "Actually, if it's okay, I think I'll head home and look at pictures of animals that are still... alive. Love you, King," she nervously laughed as she backed up into the woods, grabbing Esper's hand and pulling her along. Esper snapped out of her dreamlike trance, exclaiming, "Huh? Oh! Are we already going? Well, bye Eda! Bye King!"

Luz and Esper found themselves in the forest on the outskirts of where Eda and King were exploring inside the trash slug. Luz stammered, "Ugh! If magic's all about digging for slime balls, maybe I don't have the stomach for it." Esper jumped into her monologue, saying, "Same here. I hope we don't have to do that ever again." But before Luz could respond, they both heard a girl's voice echoing from deeper within the woods, "You can do it! You can do it!"

Both Luz and Esper peeked through the trees and saw a girl with large circular glasses who seemed to be struggling. She paced back and forth, muttering to herself, "You can do it. Even if you get a bad grade, it's not a reflection of you as a witch. And my parents are right. There are better opportunities on this track. Now, get to school!" As she took a step forward, she accidentally crushed a small flower. "Oh, no! Oh, little friend! I'm sorry!" she exclaimed, feeling guilty.

She kneels down and repeatedly traces a spell circle. The flower perks back up and fully blooms. Luz gasps. The girl's ear wiggles as something rumbles off screen. She turns as a wagon, being moved by magic, rolls to a stop in front of her, carrying a pot and a girl reading a book.

The girl one the wagon had looked down on the girl was healing the flower she had crushed as scoffed as she spoke "Willow! Wow, You're so unnoticeable I almost rolled into ya" The girl who's name they had found out was Willow had looked down seemingly embarrassed as she said "Hi, Amity" but before she could continue Amity had cut her off "Uh, shouldn't you get to class early to prep your..." the cauldron next to Willow had rattled than spilled all over the floor pouring out a purple substance and an eyeball that blinks and groans. Amity had than chuckled and laughed "Oh, Willow. You don't have anything to show, do you?"

Luz let out an exclamation of surprise, "Witch drama!" However, Esper's expression turned to one of disgust, irritated by Amity's condescending behavior. Despite her urge to intervene, Esper managed to control herself and observe the situation. As Amity uttered the words, "This is why people call you 'Half-a-Witch Willow'," Esper's anger flared up. But before she could react, Amity had already left, sneering and adding, "See you in class, superstar."

As willow wiped her forehead her composure started to shatter and she began to vent, "Oh, see you in class, superstar! I hate when she does that!" Her outburst made Luz and Esper flinch, the sudden change in Willow's demeanor alarming them. "I hate making abominations. I hate getting bad grades. Ugh! I can't stand this anymore," Willow continued, her frustration escalating. Luz gasped as Esper covered her face, not wanting to witness what was happening next.

As if in response to Willow's emotions, the small flower from earlier was consumed by enormous, thorny roots that sprouted up around it. The roots encircled Willow, glowing and writhing with anger. One of them snaked out and wrapped around Luz's ankle, causing her to scream in pain. The root lifted her up briefly before dropping her a few feet behind Willow, Willow turned around, her eyes still glowing with an intense energy that frightened Luz and Esper.

As the thorny root narrowly missed Esper and grabbed Luz, Esper froze. She didn't know what to do - she didn't want to get hurt, but she couldn't just stand there and watch Luz get hurt either. In a split second decision, Esper resolved to run to Luz's aid.

However, as she hurried out of the forest, Esper witnessed something unexpected. Instead of a vicious battle between Luz and Willow, she saw Willow rushing to Luz's aid after she had been thrown by the root. Willow worked quickly, unraveling the roots from Luz's foot as she stammered, "Oh, no, no, no, no, no! I'm so sorry!"

Luz quickly responded with a joke to lighten the mood, "It's okay. The thorns only went through a few layers of skin" Esper had walked over to the two of them as Willow looked at Luz's ears but then over to Esper. Willow had pondered for a moment "So... circly" before suddenly gasping and then stammering "You're human! This is astounding!" Willow had grabbed Luz's face then helped her stand and walked around her. "A human on the Boiling Isles! How'd you get here? What are you doing here?" She had questioned Luz before turning to Esper and pointing at her "Do you know her?"

Esper stood proudly, "Why yes I do! You are talking to Esper the recently discovered witch and her longtime best friend, Luz Noceda! Nice to meet cha!" The redheaded witch then stuck out her hand, which Willow took. Though she seemed confused, "Recently discovered? Did you not know you were a witch before or...?"

Luz intervened this time, "Oh you know, somehow she ended up in the human realm as a baby and she was raised as a human for her whole life. She's only known that she's a witch for a week but she's already kicking butt!" The teen rubs a hand on Esper's head to mess up her hair, looking proud of her as she does so and it causes Esper to giggle, "Aw come on Luz, no affection in front of someone else! Haha!"

Willow raised an eyebrow, "Really? Do you know how you ended up in the human realm?" Esper shrugged, "Well, no. I had to be a baby when it happened since all I can remember is living with my parents. I would like to find out what happened though, if I can."

Willow seemed to remember something, "Oh! Maybe my friend Augustus can help, he's an expert on humans. Maybe he can help you figure out how you got to the human realm. I go to class with him at Hexside-OH NO! That's right, I'm sorry. I can't stay. I have to go disappoint my teacher. It was nice to meet you, human and human witch." She then waved to the pair before walking away to head to school.

Esper started to wave back until Luz ran in front of Willow before she could walk too far away, "Wait! I'm Luz. And you're Willow, right? What you did with that flower and those plants, it was... wow."

Willow sighs, "Thanks, but... I'm not even supposed to be doing plant magic. My parents put me in the abomination track at school."

Esper raises an eyebrow as Luz squeals, grabbing Willow, "Like, magic school?" Willow nods in response.

Luz exclaims, "That's so cool! I'm so jealous. We have a teacher, but her lessons are a bit... untraditional. I bet she wouldn't even let us enroll. But I wish I could spend one day there."

Willow sighs, "I wish I could get a passing grade for once. Then people would stop calling me "Half-a-Witch Willow."

Esper tried to think of an idea for them but Luz chimed in with an idea first, "I know how we can get what we all want!How about I be your abomination? I can help you get a good grade and you can show me around the school. With Esper's ears, she can sneak in and talk to your friend no problem. It's fiendishly clever!" Esper gasps, "Oh yeah! I can just pretend that I'm on a tour of the school! So you'll be hiding in muck the whole time?" Luz shrugged, "Might as well, we can help Willow out and see more of this magic school. And see if we can learn more about how you got to the human realm!" Willow looked at the two, unsure of what to do, "What?"

Luz splattered Abomination goop on herself, "I saw that girl's thing. It's just chunks of stuff that talks weird. I'm chunks of stuff, and I talk weird!" Willow giggles at her, "That's true. It's a deal, Luz." They then shake hands as Luz says, "This is a great plan." They try to pull their hands apart, but the abomination goo on Luz's hand has them stuck together. The plant loving girl tries to pull her hand free from Luz, "Oops. Abomination goo." Luz tries to use her foot to free them, but the force sends her splashing in the goo on the ground, "Great plan." Esper laughed at her in response and Willow let Luz climb into her Abomination pot and rest. She and Esper then walk side-by-side to the school while Willow pushed the wheelbarrow.

The trio eventually made it to the school and Willow exclaimed, "Welcome to Hexside School of Magic and Demonics. Remember to stay hidden, okay?" Luz squeals and giggles from inside the pot. Esper is amazed by the size of the school, "Woah mama, this is going to be a long walk." Once inside, Willow stops at a locker, tickling it to make it open its mouth and give her the books needed for class. A boy witch shorter than Esper bumps into Willow as he was busy reading a magazine. Willow looks down at the boy, "Hmm?"

The boy was still reading the magazine, not noticing the new witch next to his friend, "Willow, you would not believe humans!"

Willow started rubbing her neck awkwardly as Esper gestured for her to calm down, "Humans? Psh. I haven't seen any. What?" Esper face palms at what Willow says.

The boy witch shows Willow the magazine, "Did you know that humans nail barbed wire to their kids' teeth?! But why? Maybe to make them magnetic."

Luz giggles from inside the pot, "Actually, it's for storing treats." Esper had to restrain herself from shushing her as the boy witch finally looked up from his magazine to notice her.

He raised an eyebrow, "Oh! I'm sorry, I didn't notice you there. Was that you?" Esper looks nervously at Willow before caughing nervously, "Oh yeah, uh, that was me." He noticed her clothes as well, she was wearing her usual yellow hoodie and black pants, "Um, are you new here? You're not wearing a uniform and I've never seen you around here before." Esper chuckles nervously, " Hi, I'm Esper and, uh, I'm touring the school to see if I want to attend Hexside. And you are?"

The smaller boy smiled at her, "I'm Augustus Porter! I'm happy to meet a witch who seems to appreciate human culture!" He meant her clothes, as they seemed pretty human-like to him. The redheaded witch then smiled smugly, "Well it's funny you say that. I'm actually a witch who was raised in the human realm!" Augustus gasped, grabbing her hand, "What! No way! Oh, uh sorry! But still, are you serious? That is so cool! A witch raised in the human realm! How did you even get there! What humans did you meet? What is your favorite human food!" He blushed as he let go of her hand.

The recently discovered witch smiled smugly as the smaller boy kept asking her questions that she couldn't answer all at once, liking the attention he was giving her. Until Luz gave an, "Ahem!" from the pot, wanting to be introduced to the new witch. Esper chuckled, "Okay, okay, fine, Luz. Uh, Willow?"

Willow then looked to her friend, "Okay, Augustus. I'm gonna tell you something. But you have to be cool."

Augustus looks at Esper before quickly looking away to smile at Willow, "I can be spool. I mean! Cool."

Willow points at her Abomination pot, "Okay. Abomination, rise!"

Luz then stands out of the pot, "Ta-da! I'm an abomination."

Willow sighed, "Luz, that's not how abominations act."

Augustus drops his magazine and starts to play with his ears as he continues to stare at Luz, "No. No, it—it couldn't be!"

Willow patted Gus on the shoulder, "Augustus is the president of the Human Appreciation Society. Most witches wouldn't be able to recognize a human right away. But Augustus is an expert."

Augustus ran up to Luz to get a closer look at her, "Where are your gills?" This made Esper giggle and Gus then blushes when he heard her.

Luz then remembered something, "I knew an Augustus back in the human world. We called him Gus, remember him, Esper?" Esper chimes in, "Oh yeaaaaah! Good ol' Gus, kinda sucks that he had to move away though." Luz shrugged as Augustus seemed to get excited, "Gus? Nickname? Human nickname? Gus? Call me it. Wow. Gus! This is the best day of my life!" Esper smiled at him as the bell rang.

Willow then talked to Gus, "Okay so this is very important, Gus. Esper here actually wants to find out how she was left in the human realm in the first place." Esper waved to him as Willow continued, "Can you do that?" Gus quickly nodded, "Of course! Let me just leave a double of me in class and we can go!" He forms a circle with his finger, making another him appear in a puff of smoke. The double walked off with his bag and wand to take his place in class, "Off to spelling class I go!"

Willow turns to Luz, "Okay and back to the darkness you go!" Luz playfully hisses at Willow as she sinks back down into the pot.

This left Gus and Esper alone, the girl turned to the smaller boy, "So! Where are we heading?" Gus pondered for a second, "Well, I imagine you don't remember what happened hmm... Let's get to the Illusionist Room, there should be something to help us there. No one should be in there right now, we have some time before that class starts."

The two looked at the various objects around the room. An hourglass that showed someone's different forms dependingo n the time on the hourglass, which Esper played around with. Though it did not help. There was a looking glass that didn't seem to do much either. Next was a mirror that showed them how to change their appearances to their ideal selves but once again, not much help. The numerous projects left by the students didn't help either. All of the items the duo tried failed, though they weren't willing to give up hope. There had to be something they can try to look into Esper's memories or help her in some way.

Gus thought to himself, remembering a spell his teacheer mentioned the previous class, "Well, there is this one spell I can try."

Esper beamed at him, "Oh, a spell? What kind of spell?"

Gus's eyes narrowed, "Wellllll..... It's kind of complicated..."

But then a student walked into the class, making Gus and Esper cease their talking. As they want to keep this a secret.

Eventually, class was to start soon. When students started filling the room, Gus took his seat and offered the one next to him to Esper. Esper sat with him and the teacher noticed her, "Oh, hello young witchlet. Are you sure you're supposed to be here in this classroom?"

Esper smiled nervously, "Oh yeah! My name is Esper. I'm supposed to be here, I'm on a tour of the school to see if I would like to attend. Gus here is my guide."

The teacher was satisified with this answer, "Oh that's lovely. Thank you for being helpful, Augustus. As I expected from my top student."

The redheaded witch looked to her friend, impressed, "Woah, top student?"

Gus whispered back to her as the teacher resumed her lesson, "Oh yeah, I'm the top student in the illusionist course. It's kinda easy for me." Esper smiled, impressed by her new friend.

The class droned on but the two made through it. The teacher's lesson had mentioned a spell that could look into someone's memories, even if they could not remember them themselves. This interested Esper, as it may have been the key to figuring out her past in the Boiling Isles. As the class filed out, they left Esper and Gus alone in the room.

Esper looked at Gus excited, "So! What do we have to do to peer into my baby memories? Glass ball? Weird lizard juice? You don't have to take out my eyes, do you?"

Gus shrugged awkwardly, "Uh wait no. None of that! The thing is, I don't know if I can look into your memories or not. It's a very delicate thing to look at and we both need to be fully concentrated when trying to look for the spell to work." Esper nods in understanding, "Oh, okay I get that. Hey, don't sweat it. I'm sure I can find a different way of finding out how I got placed in the human realm. Thank you very much for trying to help, Gus."

Gus blushed as she held out her hand for him to high-five her, "I-it's no problem! I like helping you! And I promise, I'll help you find out what happened." Esper smiled as he high-fived her, "Thanks, Gus."

The bell then rang, signifying that lunch has started and now they must go to the cafeteria. They left to sit with Willow and Luz. Gus asked Luz if humans ate peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. Which Luz appreciated and ate half of what Gus had. Esper got to try Hexside food for the first time after eating Eda's cooking for weeks.

However, Willow seemed worried, "I don't know, Gus... If Amity saw that-"

Then suddenly the girl known as Amity jumped onto the lunch table in front of Luz's Abomination pot, she yells at Willow, "I SAW THAT! ABOMINATIONS. DON'T. EAT." She then turned to the pot, yelling into it, "I know you're in there! You can't hide from me! What are you! Who are you! I want answers!"

Esper balled up her fist, standing up, "Hey, why don't you chill out? You're kinda scaring everyone."

Amity turned to Esper, "And what do you have to do with this, Freckles?!"

The green haired girl only calmed down when a teacher stepped in, telling Amity to report to the principal as Luz continued to play as an Abomination. Esper remained silent, letting the teacher do his job. Amity complied, looking sad to do so. Luz and Willow looked worried about her while Esper and Gus remained shocked at the outburst.

Later the quartet went to the Abomination classroom, having to complete their tasks for the day. Esper helped Luz out of the Abomination pot. Luz stretched, "Oh I am a sweaty lil Abomination! But now we don't have to worry about Amity. High five, Esper!" Her longtime friend does so as they celebrate.

Luz offered the witch kids a high-five, only to see that they don't know what that is even after Esper and Luz had already performed the human custom. Gus gives her a high five and is excited. However their celebration is shortlived when Amity walks into the room... With Principal Bump. When he walks closer to Luz, Willow and Gus push Esper out of his way, as they have to show their principal the utmost respect. He looks Luz over and tells her to lay on the table. He then calls Willow over, wanting her to cut Luz open so they can study this "advanced looking abomination."

Strangely, the knife Principal Bump pulls out of his sleeve to hand to Willow seems to trigger something in Esper's brain. A memory of sorts. She has the feeling that she has seen the knife before. She takes a sudden breath but shakes her head, she walks forward to stop Willow from cutting Luz open. Gus then catches Bump's attention, high fiving the pots of Abomination goop to knock them over and send the Abominations to distract Bump. This gives Luz and Willow time to run away.

"They're getting away!" Amity exclaims, ready to give chase as well.

The principal then started to use magic on the wall, "No, the intruder won't get far!"

Principal Bump then turns to look at Esper, noticing that she isn't wearing a uniform, "You there, you are not supposed to be out of your uniform unless it is for theater or you haven't recieved it yet. What is the meaning of you being out of uniform?"

Esper sweated as Gus started to hide behind her, "Uhhhh, I'm here on a tour of the school to see if I want to attend Hexside?" She gave him a very awkward smile, unsure if her lie would work on him.

it did not work on him as he exclaims, "Oh well alright-Wait a minute! Tours are scheduled for next week! Who are you!"

The redheaded witch swallowed a lump in her throat as she then grabs Gus's hand, "Uh oh, we're leaving!" Gus has to sprint in order to make sure he isn't being dragged by her. Principal Bump barely missed Gus's hood on his uniform, as he was being pulled forward by Esper, "The redheaded witch is an intruder as well! She might be a Glandus student trying to steal our grudgby techniques!"

The two run down the corridor, Gus blushing at the fact that Esper is tightly gripping his hand. He questions, "What is your plan?!" Her breath is ragged as she keeps running, "Just to get away from that guy!" She is determined to not let him fall behind. They skid to a stop when the school's security system goes off and wild vines start appearing everywhere. Seeing as there isn't much of a way to go, Gus spots one of his entrances to his hidden tunnels. As the vines continue to grow, Gus makes multiples of himself. One of them takes Esper's hand as the other points to the hidden tunnels.

"Esper, quick go in there!"

"Wait, but what about you? I can't just leave you here."

"Don't worry about me, I'll be fine! I am the top Illusionist in the school after all. You just get out of here."

Esper nods, "Okay, I will. Thanks, Gus you've helped me today more than you realize." She then lets the multiple Gus clones lead her in and out of the tunnel. Their faint glow provide her some light in the dark tunnel. The tunnel rumbles as the fight outside goes on. The last Gus throws Esper out of the tunnel and onto the ground, she falls flat on her face.

Moments later, Luz also joined her on the ground. The two then ran off to get Eda in order to save Willow and Gus. Eda and King were dealing with their own problems, as they have been making bets on a trash slug the whole day.

Both Esper and Luz hug Eda, wanting her to help Willow and Gus but the hug only confuses Eda, as she never knows what it is. Luz admits that her trahs findings did save her life today as well. But then Gus and Willow appear to them, pulling Esper and Luz into a hug. Eda continues to question the existance of hugs. The kids tell the girls that there is good news. That Willow is now allowed into the plant track at school and that Amity won't be bothering them for the rest of the day. As well as bad news as both Luz and Esper are banned from Hexside's school grounds. Esper's banned poster potrays her as someone running away, looking like she is hissing at whoever is taking the photo.

While the two offer to teach Luz and Esper what they learned at school, Luz does admit that she does have a good teacher already. Esper agrees with her, which makes Eda doubly proud.

Eda suddenly smiles at this, "Yeah, that's right! Luz and Esper are my students! Back off Academy twerps! Aw... Babys' first wanted posters..." She looks at their wanted posters fondly. She then pats Luz on the head, telling both Luz and Esper that she is proud of them and maybe she had taught them something after all. Gus then suddenly appears between Eda and Luz, jokingly telling them, "You high five with your hand, not your head."

...

Later in the night as she's getting ready for bed, Esper thinks back on the memory she thought when she saw the knife, it just looks so familar to her for some reason... Though the adventure ends with Luz and Esper being banned from the school, it doesn't shake their determination to one day be accepted into the school. One day!