She thrashed and kicked violently, praying she'd strike something, anything. Her screams were muffled by the bag thrown over her head, but she could hear the grunts of her captor as they struggled to keep a hold on her. Whoever it was had wrapped their arms around her waist, pinning her down- big mistake.

Lilly gripped their arms, pulled herself into them, and rotated her hips to the right. Her movements opened up a clear path to slam her fist repeatedly into her attacker's groin. Groaning, their grip loosened enough for her to pivot and lock her hands behind the figure's neck. Her knee struck full force between their legs.

The attacker cried out, extracting themself from her. Lilly reached up to rip the bag off and scanned the room for any more assailants. Both masked figures were incapacitated. The one she hit over the head hadn't yet recovered and still clutched their skull beside the bed. The other rolled around on the ground, gripping their private parts.

"Dude, what the fuck is wrong with you?" One groaned. They didn't sound like a couple of murderers.

"Damn it, Lilly! Can't you see we're trying to haze you? God, you ruin everything!" The one by the bed shouted and removed the golden mask to reveal Kenna with a sizable bump on her forehead from the smashed bottle. She turned back to the one she beat up, realizing that it was just Thomas and not some minion of The Beast out to kill her.

"Oh my god," she moved to help them both up, "I am so sorry!" They glared at her, Thomas still clutched his crotch in agony.

"Just- come with us," Kenna sighed in resignation and abandoned the kidnapping part of the hazing in favor of not getting hit again. Lilly followed them out of the castle and out onto the student quad where rows of first-year students dressed in their pajamas were seriously pissed off, all encircled by a ring of tiki torches. Thomas guided her to the front, while Kenna split off to whisper with Margo, who wore a magenta version of the cloaks Thomas and Kenna had on. Thomas placed Lilly in the front line between Penny and Alice, giving her a wary look.

"Just stay here and try not to beat anyone else up, okay?" Lilly's cheeks turned red with embarrassment.

"Again, so sorry," she whispered to him.

"You're lucky I like you," he shook his head with a dry chuckle as he hobbled off to where the rest of the upperclassmen stood. Penny looked down at her, an amused smirk playing at the edge of his lips.

"Nice pajamas," he eyed her strawberry printed shorts with one brow raised. Lilly huffed and folded her arms across her chest. She faced front just as an upperclassman in an emerald green cloak climbed atop a makeshift stage. He removed the golden mask with a flourish, revealing Eliot with a Cheshire Cat grin and a condescending look in his eye.

"Hello, children," he greeted gleefully, "at this appointed hour as tradition dictates, it falls upon the upper class to administer what is known simply as..." he dipped into a deep, overdramatic bow, "The Trials." He hopped down from the pedestal, taking the time to walk between each student and savor the power he had over them. "The Trials test your ability to think and act like a Magician. Pass, your journey begins. Fail, you flunk out. This is a test engineered to thin out the herd. Only those who should will survive. Now, due to the mysterious incident involving the third year class last year, the second years' testing was canceled. So, they will undergo The Trials with you instead. It wouldn't be fair if they missed out on the fun." Eliot grinned maniacally, lifting the mask above his head and placing one hand over his heart. He was enjoying this a little too much.

As soon as he finished his speech, the first years found themselves being corralled towards one of the many buildings and into the front hall where they were made to stand in line and check-in. Lilly caught Dani's eye from across the room, sharing a nervous smile of encouragement. Lilly was called forward by an upper-class herbalist, to whom she gave her name and received a notecard with the words, 'The Plastics,' printed on the front.

"Report to the table on your placard, next!" Lilly was shooed into the classroom scattered with small tables, each holding a lit candle and an hourglass. She scanned the room, spotting Quentin and Penny at a table named, 'Horny Chupacabra's,' Alice at, 'Fish Punchers.' Kady and Dani shared a table across the room, too far for Lilly to read their placard, and Alex had his back to her, his red hair the identifying marker. They all looked immensely irritated by their placement, and Lilly was grateful hers was less brutal.

She slid into her seat, groaning when she realized who else was at her table. Ava Westmore, Lilly's ex-roommate and complete pain in the ass rolled her eyes with disdain. Maisie, a straight-haired blonde, Psychic with bright blue eyes and perfect acrylic nails, introduced herself first. Lilly immediately understood why their table was called, 'The Plastics.' Ava was bitchy enough to fill that quota for all three of them.

"In 18th century England, a secret society, known as, 'The Brethren,' encrypted hundreds of spells to hide them from the church. You may open your blue books," Lilly flipped open her exam. "Each team must decode and cast their spell by 9:00 a.m. Screw up, and it's back to page one. FYI, this test is pretty much impossible, begin!" Lilly sighed at Eliot's not-so encouraging words and looked down at her booklet.

The spell was nothing but nonsense. The words a complex hybrid between Latin, English, and archaic symbols. After two hours of frustration and constant bickering between Ava and Lilly, the women were able to distinguish the first half of the spell.

"Pro atomic radii: atomic radii crescit. A group descendit more industria campester- this is just nonsense, it's not even a complete sentence!" Ava groaned, reading part of the not yet decoded spell aloud. Lilly was trying to stay calm, but with the hourglass draining faster than anticipated, the panic was beginning to set in.

"Well, we know that it has palladium in it, liquid sunlight, and deloridine. That might suggest it's some sort of heating spell," Lilly mused.

"Maybe it's the spell for creating an artificial sun?" Maisie suggested, engrossed in her blue book. Ava shook her head.

"No, that requires UV rays, and I don't see that anywhere, ugh! This is impossible, Eliot said it himself."

"Eliot said it was pretty much impossible, not impossible. There has to be a way to figure this out," Lilly scanned the page once more for anything she might've missed. She'd made it this far at Brakebills, she couldn't fail now. She let out a groan of frustration and looked to see how the rest of the students were fairing. Everyone looked worse for wear, many clutched their hair in irritation or tapped their pencils nervously against the table. The third years were thoroughly enjoying their pain and monitored the students with amusement.

Lilly's eyes met Thomas's from across the room. He lounged against one of the empty tables with Kenna, who'd taken to passing the time by changing the color of her cloak from red, to gold, then blue, and so forth. He smiled when he saw her watching, looked to make sure no other third years were looking then mouthed, 'you got this,' with an encouraging wink. She tried to suppress her smile with little success, and Ava shot her an odd look. Thomas was right, she wasn't about to give up and throw away her life of magic. They each racked their brains for anything that might help. This was such a classic Brakebills move, give them something impossible just to watch them squirm. Lilly stared off into space with furrowed brows, mulling over every possibility, and that's when it clicked.

"What if we aren't actually supposed to solve it? Eliot said that the trials tested our abilities to think and act like a Magician. Guys, I think they want us to cheat. That's what a Magician would do," the others looked up in surprise, varying degrees of confusion written on their faces.

"That's ridiculous!" Maisie protested, "of course we aren't supposed to cheat, right?" She looked between Lilly and Ava for confirmation, but the latter was deep in thought.

"It would make sense, I mean, think about it, Magicians have never been the type to play fair. It's pretty much written in the history books that they do whatever it takes to get what they want, no matter the means. We have magic for fuck's sake! It doesn't make much of a difference anyway, at this rate we're already getting kicked out," Ava looked at Lilly with an expression that could've been mistaken for respect. "Maybe, you aren't completely dimwitted after all," Lilly rolled her eyes at the backhanded compliment.

The more Lilly thought about it, the further she was convinced it was the right path. Part of her was appalled that she was resorting to such measures. The part that had lived in the mortal world, and was trained in her many private schools never to cheat in a million years. But, this wasn't the mortal world and the part of her that was a Magician knew what they had to do. Lilly and Ava shared a look, before turning their attention to Maisie, who still seemed hesitant. The Psychic sighed in defeat.

"Fine," she grumbled, and they began plotting their next course of action.

"Maisie, how strong are the upperclassmen's mental wards? Do you think you can read their minds?" Maisie's brows creased in concentration for a moment then shook her head lightly.

"They're all airtight, I can't break through," Lilly bit her lip thoughtfully.

"Lilly, your Discipline is Opinokinesis, right? Have you learned the vertigo charm yet?" Ava inquired, to which Lilly nodded, wondering where she was going with this, "and you can shift?" She nodded again, bringing a smile to Ava's lips that promised mischief. "Then I know what to do," Careful not to let others overhear, Ava laid out the plan. Lilly had to admit, it was clever. The hourglass was dwindling, and they prayed they'd be able to pull this off. None of them were prepared to go back to their lives before magic.

Lilly waited until she saw the third year Healing student walk into the hallway before she and Ava followed, claiming to be taking a bathroom break. They pushed through the doors just as the woman turned into the restroom. They hurried after her and stood in front of the mirror pretending to fix their hair and splash water on their faces. It took a few moments for the woman to emerge from one of the stalls and move between them to wash her hands. Lilly watched from the corner of her eye, pretending to be absorbed in her own reflection. The woman straightened, reaching for a paper towel.

"Excuse me?" Lilly smiled sweetly, gaining her attention, "sorry, I don't mean to bother you. I just- you have something stuck in your hair," the Healer turned to look in the mirror, twisting every which way to find what Lilly was talking about.

"Where?" She asked, trying to pull the back of her hair around to the front, so she could see.

"It's in the back, do you mind if I-" Lilly gestured to her hair, requesting permission.

"Please," the woman smiled gratefully. Lilly stepped up behind her, moving her hands behind the Healer's head, pretending to pick something out. Unbeknownst to the woman, Lilly was casting a quick charm. Lilly messed around with her hair, just to make it believable. She flung an invisible piece of paper across the room, "what was it?"

"Oh, just a piece of paper, you're good," Lilly's smile was fake, but no one would ever be able to tell. She felt a little guilty for what was about to happen.

"Thank you! Good luck on your exam," she turned to leave but stumbled sideways into the wall. "Woah, I don't feel so-" she slid down, her face paling. Ava rushed over, gripped her under the arms, and dragged her into the largest stall. Lilly followed, closing the door behind them. As soon as they were concealed, she pulled a folded piece of paper from her pocket and knelt before the dazed woman. She pressed the thin edge against the woman's finger, slicing it open, and letting the spot of blood drip onto her open palm.

She breathed deeply, trying to recall what she'd learned during her lessons with Eliza. The tingling took over, and Lilly pushed her own DNA out, replacing it with the woman's. She knew it worked by Ava's expression. The way her eyes widened just a fraction, told Lilly all she needed to know. Lilly took her cloak and clothes to complete the disguise.

"Don't mess this up," Ava deadpanned.

"Right back at you."

The partners nodded to each other and Lilly turned on her heel, barely glancing at her new face as she passed the mirror. She kept her head high as she entered the testing room. No one spared her a glace, too occupied with their spells. Everyone except for Maisie, who watched slyly from their table, knowing that this particular student was not who she appeared to be. Lilly glided between the other teams, occasionally glancing down the tip of her nose to see how far everyone else had gotten. Most seemed to be stuck right around where her team was, some hadn't even gotten that far. Penny and Quentin were both gone from their table and Lilly wondered if they'd figured out what she had. Knowing Penny, he probably resorted to cheating long before she had.

A few upperclassmen circulated through the room, peeking over shoulders to see their progress. Eliot stood behind the desk at the front of the room, surveying his subjects like a king. Lilly's eyes fell to the binder in front of him, she needed to see inside it but had no idea how she would get there without raising suspicion. Lilly moved to stand beside the desk, an amused smile worn like a mask.

"How are our little first years doing?" Eliot drawled, glancing at her from behind the desk.

"They're like baby deer trying to stand," Lilly laughed at the misfortune of her classmates, just like the upperclassmen would. To her relief, Eliot didn't bat an eye at her behavior.

"Oh, how I love to watch them struggle," the door swung open and Penny and Quentin returned to their table, whispering conspiratorially. Eliot grinned mischievously, grabbing the edge of his cloak. "If you'll excuse me, I have some children to torment. Watch over The Book of Wisdom, will you?" Lilly couldn't have asked for a better opportunity. She waited till he was a few feet away before she took his spot. Lilly scanned the room for any prying eyes, only finding Maisie. Flipping the binder open, she skipped over the first few pages to find what she was looking for.

The moment she saw the answer, she could've broken out in song. She periodically made sure no one had seen and took in every detail of what they needed to do. When she finished, Lilly discreetly shut the book and made sure it was just the way she found it. She gave no indication to Maisie that she'd succeeded, not wanting anyone to put the pieces together. The hourglass on the desk had less than a quarter left of sand, and Lilly tried to move as swiftly and calmly as possible towards the hallway without raising any alarms. She heard Margo call out a name from behind her. Eliot was moving back to the desk, ignorant of her deceit. Margo called out again. No one responded. Lilly didn't turn around to see what was going on. She had to get back to Ava.

"Olivia," Margo called again, "Olivia!" Her voice grew more irritated and Lilly spared a glance over her shoulder to find Margo staring right at her. Lilly's heart dropped, the woman she'd body-snatched must be named Olivia, "Olivia!" Margo said once more, catching up to her, "what's wrong with you? I called your name like ten times!" Despite her shaken state, Lilly lied as smoothly as ever.

"Sorry, I must've zoned out, what's up?" Margo gave her an odd look but shook it off.

"Can you put this on the table in the front?" Lilly nodded, taking the folder from Margo's hands and turning back to go through the doors. She let out a sigh of relief as soon as she was out of sight, she thought for sure she'd been caught. She scurried over to the front table, dropping the folder onto it and returning to the bathroom where she called out Ava's name in a harsh whisper. The large stall swung open, and Lilly entered, stripping off the red robe and grabbing her clothes from Ava's hands. Olivia was puking into the toilet, and Ava held back her hair with as few fingers as possible, body angled away in disgust.

"Please, tell me you got it?"

"Of course," Lilly confirmed, pulling her hair out from between her tank top and back. She returned to her own body as she changed, knowing that if they stayed away for much longer, the upperclassmen would grow suspicious. They gave Olivia a look, and Lilly went up behind her, casting the counter charm for vertigo. She would've been way too disoriented to realize what happened to her. She'd likely think she had food poisoning, it didn't really matter. By the time she came back to her senses, they'd both be back in the testing room.

"Let's go ace this exam," as soon as they returned to their seats, they set off grinding ingredients and casting the necessary enchantments. "It's an eternal flame spell. We just have to make sure that when they drop in a match, this stuff keeps burning." For the spell to work, they needed three Magicians to cast a binding spell on the ingredients, hence the groups of three. They all joined hands and finished up the last step. With only a small sliver of sand left in the hourglass, their spell was complete. Eliot had stopped at Quentin and Penny's table to inspect their work. The bowl lit up exactly as it should have. Unfortunately, the third member of their group didn't make the cut.

"Well, well, well," Margo hovered over Lilly's table, peering into the bowl to assess their work, "why don't you kids show me what you've done here." Margo handed Ava a box of matches, and she willingly obliged, swiping the match across the side of the box and dropping it into their bowl. The flame shot up in shades of green and red. Margo nodded in approval and clapped her hands slowly. "Very good, little ones. I must say, I'm impressed. The use of Lilly's powers to sneak a look at the answer sheet, pure genius." Maisie's smile fell, though Lilly and Ava kept their faces void of any reaction. They were each expecting a one-way ticket out of there. "Congratulations, ladies, on to the second trial," they let out a collective sigh, they'd all passed.

"We did it!" Maisie screeched, hopping up from her chair and squeezing the life out of both Lilly and Ava.

"Well, not you," Margo frowned at Maisie, waving her hand in the girl's direction. The third member of their group disappeared into thin air, "all she did was sit on her ass." Margo chuckled and moved along to the next table. Lilly and Ava were both equally startled.

"At least she stopped hugging me," Ava grumbled.

Together they'd completed the first trial, now they had to do it all again. They weren't out of the woods yet. They had to endure two more trials before they were safe. She couldn't go back to her life before, so Lilly would not allow herself the luxury of failure.