witch by vocation

Chapter one, in which we meet Irene

“Miss Irene Tylet!”

Nothing. Silence. No one jumped out of the corridor in terrible impatience with a cry: “It's me!” - didn’t even show up.

Sid turned to the waiting admissions office, smiled guiltily, and walked out into the hallway.

“Where did this girl go? Has she gone? It would be foolishness on her part…”

There is no witch behind the column. In the nook near the large window, where hapless adepts usually nest, neither. And not in the lobby.

Sid grimaced in puzzlement and turned back. A suspicious sound, similar to snoring or sniffling, made me freeze and look...