13-year-old Nory Boxwood Horace discovers she can flux into animals, and her best friend Reina Carvajal can manipulate flames. Together, they enter the Sage Academy for Magical Studies. Reina’s expert ability to harness the power of fire lands her at the top of her class of “Flares,” but Nory’s wonky magic and proclivity for turning into a “Dritten”—a half-kitten, half-dragon—lands her in a class for those with upside-down magic, otherwise known as UDM. While Headmaster Knightslinger believes the UDM’s unconventional powers leave them vulnerable to dangerous and evil “shadow magic,” Nory and her fellow UDM classmates set out to prove that upside-down magic beats right-side up.