It's Back-to-School season, so I chose this month to post a school story.

I wrote this story for the NYC Midnight 2013 Flash Fiction Challenge . It's actually the story that knocked me out of the competition. (Well, the original version did. What's posted here is a revised version.)

My prompt for this particular challenge was to write a 1,000-word fantasy that included a classroom and a cigarette. As with every other NYC Midnight Flash Fiction Challenge, I had one weekend to complete the story.

The idea of a young witch in a potions class came to me very quickly, as did her lack of talent in the kitchen. To be honest, I'm not sure where the idea came from. It's entirely possible I was mainlining Harry Potter movies that weekend. But Belva Emerson is no Hermione Granger. If anything, she's got more in common with Ron Weasley.

The story came quickly. It's not ground-breaking or particularly deep, but it's cute and it's fun. That wasn't enough for the NYC Midnight judges, but it was enough for me.

Enjoy the read!

To read "Potions 101," click here.