An excerpt from the diary of Julia Blue:

I guess I wasn't expecting Rodney to actually be right.  It all was so sudden - Rodney showing us the picture, us storming Hero's dorm, the moving symbols - and I didn't know what to think.  Then I realized that wasn't my biggest problem.

The whole world was my biggest problem.  At this point in my life - after my first boyfriend turned out to be a werewolf and my cousin subsequently developed the ability shoot lasers out of his eyes - I wasn't really surprised by much.  What did surprise me, though was that everything seemed so much bigger.  I've by now learned not to lose my head in wierd situations, so I quickly figured out that Hero had cast a shrinking spell.

I don't know a lot about magic or the physics of shrinking, but one thing I do know is people.  I'm pretty sure that, if Hero were really some messed-up freak, our lives were practically over no matter what we tried to do.  My only option, then, was to assume, for the time being, that she still had a conscience.

"Hero," I said, "what's going on?  Why are you doing this to us?"

Then I realized I had forgotton what we were doing.  "I'm protecting myself," she replied.  I realized our two big mistakes - assuming that she was initially out to hurt us and cornering her in a position of power.  We had driven an innocent person to drastic measures, and we deserved almost anything she could throw at us.

Almost.

The last thing I remember about that moment was a green gas filling the room at floor level.

Hero had just finished putting the last of her shrunken attackers in the large aquarium at the side of the room.  She was still trying to wrap her head around what happened.  Was she really that careless?  More importantly, did she really strike that level of panic into peoples' hearts?

No, she steadied herself, I'm in the right.  They're in the wrong.

She went through the list one more time:

Rodney Hassle, sophomore.  Journalist with a journalistic eye for trouble and extremism.

Shelbey Taylor, sophomore.  Slightly detached from reality, just enough to get the big picture, just too much to share it.

Brick Rock, freshman.  Star quarterback for the lowest level of football.

Susan Gripe, freshman.  Reasonable and philosophying to a fault.  Nearly always overthinks.

Vance Dubois, sophomore.  Narrow-minded, focus on history but not skilled enough to achieve dream job of professor.

Jane Wellington, sohomore.  Considered the hottest and most popular girl on campus.  Shy and portrays a character.

Patrick O'Reilley, sophomore.  Irish exchange student.  Strange - he had already known that she was a witch.

Julia Blue, freshman.

Eric and Erin Hellsworth, freshmen.  Identical personalities.

Robert Truth and Rachel Dare, sophomores.  Geniuses together, imbeciles apart.

Eileen Finch.  Who exactly is Eileen Finch?

Hero then proceeded to enter her laboratory through an invisible door in the back of the room.  She poured a green liquid into a metal box and threw a piece of steak into the liquid.  She then reviewed a chart of symbols and measurements.  Assured that everything had worked properly, she sat down and began to calculate who knows what.