Horror Short Story: The Upgrade

 

THE UPGRADE

Plot: A wizard has trouble adapting to modern technology

Acor set the wand down, his lips curling into a grimace.

His new wand was electronic, and he didn't like it one bit. But the Council of Worldly Wizards had decided that wands made from wood were too old-fashioned, and in order to entice the young wizards to accept their magical heritage, it was important to get on with the times.

Acor frowned again. "Ugh!" The youth. These young wizards who were joining school were chaotic, insolent, and troublesome.

The School for Magical Beings could do without the new generation running amok in the halls, using their wands to change their looks so they would look picture ready on social media.

"Ugh!" Acor grumbled again.

Yesterday, one of the students in his, Valis, Enchantment class, had bullied his classmates by turning them into frogs and collecting them in a large jar conjured by his wand.

Acor tried to reverse the magic only for Valis to interfere and turn the frogs into tadpoles.

Acor wasn't able to get the water on time, and Valis laughed when the tadpoles shriveled up.

A trip to the headmaster resulted in Acor being blamed for the incident.  He had an outdated wand. If only he had updated WandMaster 4000, would he have been able to deflect Valis' magic.

And so here he was, sitting at his desk, looking at his new wand with distaste because it wouldn't fit in his cloak pockets.  

The bell chimed. It was time for his Enchantment class again.

He got up and groaned. No amount of magic was stopping his ageing process. His beard and hair have gotten white over time. Of course, no one would could guess he was 180 years old. He liked to think he looked younger than that.

His knees, though, they reminded him of his age every time he stood.

He took the wand and stuffed it into his pocket, hating that it stuck out awkwardly.

He trudged along the hallowed hallways to his classroom.

The classroom could seat 140 students.

Today, there was only one.

Valis sat on the front bench, his rounded face shiny. He was grinning, showing more teeth than he was supposed to have. He looked thinner since yesterday.

Acor rolled his eyes. No doubt Valis had resorted to using the glamour feature in his wand.

Acor turned around and removed his wand from his pocket. He turned it on, and blue light emitted, signifying that his wand was fully charged.

"Today, we will learn how to control magic."

"I know how to do that." Valis kept his wand on the desk beside him. "Should I give you a demo?" He snickered.

Before Acor could stop him, Valis used his wand that emitted green light.

Acor yelped when his long beard curled up and tied into a neat little bow under his chin. Then came the glitter.

"Much better," Valis said. He kept the wand down and clapped for himself.

Acor felt his rage bloom, but he was a teacher, and the school had zero tolerance towards teachers who hit students.

Valis kept laughing, and Acor felt his rage increasing.

"Do you remember what happened yesterday?"

"Yeah, my classmates turned into reptiles."

"Amphibians."

Valis snickered.

"Funny, is it?"

"Hilarious." Valis stopped chuckling when he saw Acor's expression. "Relax, those ugly frogs got an update."

"You turned them into tadpoles."

Valis shrugged. "Still an upgrade."

Acor pointed his new wand at Valis. "Do you know what my new wand can do?"

"You can't use magic on me," Valis pointed out.

"Unless it is for their benefit." Acor looked thoughtful. "I can't think of  better use of my new wand, with unlimited features, than to help your classmates."

"Aren't they dead?"

Acor activated his wands new feature.

"My new wand comes with a Reanimator app. It's still in the beta stage, though. It comes with an unfortunate side effect."

"What are you doing?" Valis' mouth formed an O as Acor placed the jar with dead tadpoles on the desk.

"Bringing them to life." Acor muttered the magical words, and the wand spluttered bright sparks on the jar.

The jar levitated before it burst open. The tadpoles lengthened and stretched in the air.

In the next instant, they turned into frogs. They landed on the desks and hopped towards Valis.

Valis got up and picked up his wand. "Hey! Get them away from me!"

Acor stood back as the frogs revealed unnatural pointed teeth and a sharp, unusually long tongue.

Their tongues shot out and wrapped around Valis' neck. He tried to pull it away, but the frogs were numerous, and they scrambled towards him, their teeth lodging into his skin.

Valis yelled.

Acor smiled. The unfortunate side effect of using the Reanimator was

that those who were brought back to life were evil and demented.

Acor chuckled as the frogs feasted on Valis.

As soon as they were done, the let go of the corpse.

Valis turned his wand back on. It was time to take care of the frogs now.

He uttered the magic words and pointed the wand at them only for the wand to flicker and the light to die out.

The frogs, looking for their next meal, turned to Acor.

Acor, horrified at the strange turn of events, backed against the wall. He kept hitting the wand to make it work again, but a message ran over the wand.

He had forgotten to update the wand to the new software which was why his wand had lost its power.

Acor screamed as the frogs hopped towards him, their eyes hungry and menacing.

The End

Written by Palvi Sharma. 

Please do not use content without author's consent.