Magic Child

Back in Buisness

"Do you want to play Exploding Snap?" I inquired, searching for something to do on this dreary Saturday.

"Not with you, Ray. You always win. Why don't we play Gobstones?" Blaire replied.

"Fine." I said. We would have played Wizard's Chess, but Peter was there too, so it seemed wrong to not include him, even though he was quiet and seemed to daydream more than actually play.

It was finally Saturday, but it was raining heavily outside. Thick drops of perspiration rolled on and off of the window in droves, so thick that the window looked merely gray. It was a dreary day, a day spent in the warmth of buildings.

The entire school was in the castle, and the Ravenclaw common room was bustling. Amber was off exploring with her Hufflepuff friends, Atticus Longbottom and Isabella Tintwistle. They seemed to be good friends. They spent all of their free time together. Taline had gone to study up in the dormitory, away from the volume of the common room. Blaire, Peter, and I were all sitting around, waiting for the day to pass.

We started setting up Gobstones as the common room door swung open for the millionth time that day, letting in a gust of cold air. We were close to the door, since our favorite table was occupied by some seventh years. I shivered, wishing that people would just keep the door closed.

"Sloane!" Blaire shouted, seeing Sloane first, as I was turned away from the door.

I turned around and saw my best friend standing in the doorway. I ran to her and squeezed her in a tight hug. We hadn't been friends for that long, but the week without her was dreadfully boring.

"Ray, I'm glad to be back." She said happily for everyone to hear. Then she whispered in my ear, "I have a plan. We need to talk."

I nodded into her shoulder and talked normally for the Blaire and Peter's sake. "You're perfectly fine, Sloane? No damage at all?"

"Well, actually..." She pulled up the sleeve of her robe. A thin white scar ran up almost the entire length of her arm. "I have a scar, but otherwise I'm all good."

"Oh." I was speechless. Here was a tangible symbol of my inability to be brave enough to protect my friend. And there it would stay there, on her arm, forever.

"Don't worry about it, Ray. It'll be fine. It makes me look cool, like I got in a fight or something." She winked over exaggeratedly.

I couldn't help but laugh. "Blaire, Peter, and I were just about to play Gobstones. Do you want to play?"

"Of course. You know that I love Gobstones." She smiled as she pulled up a chair and helped us set up the board.

***

"So, what did you want to tell me?" I asked later that night. The common room had emptied slowly as the windows grew darker. It was late, and there were only a few scattered Ravenclaws littering the common room.

"Well, in the hospital wing, I spent a lot of time thinking," Sloane started. "I thought of the scavenger hunt, and of you. I was thinking about how we were going to get the other chips, and I realized that you can change your appearance. Well, you could look like a Slytherin at will if you wanted to! You can steal their chips from their common room and no one will ever know!"

I stared at her. "That's the worst idea that I've ever heard. There are so many things wrong with that plan: I don't know their password, I don't know how they act, and I'll be completely alone!"

"Well that's the great part. You don't have to be alone. We can become Animagus, so I can come with you!"

"You're crazy. And I thought that your other idea was bad. This one' seven worse."

"No. Just listen to me. We will be able to go anywhere in the castle. We can be animals! Once we achieve that, we will win the house cup."

"Do you know how hard becoming an animagus is? Let's look it up." I said.

We then walked over to the large bookshelf. "Split up and find a book on animagi."

I looked high and low, but the school apparently didn't want students to become unregistered animagi. I wonder why. I finally found a small book that looked new, titled The Fears of Becoming an Animagi. This looked promising.

"Sloane, come on! I found one!" I whisper-yelled as I went to sit at our favorite table. I started reading. "Sloane, this is extremely hard, advanced magic. 'To become an Animagus is a long, arduous process, the shortest span being three years. Steps: One must hold a leaf of a mandrake in their mouth for a month. One must take the powdered root of Asphodel and sleep with it under their pillow for a month. They must then learn how to cast a patronus charm to find their inner spirit animal, and then must visualize becoming that animal, which may take up to a year or more. More specifics and details are included in the next chapters."

"Well, that's why we need to get started now." She seemed less sure of her plan now, but still determined to go through with it.

I saw a look of determination mixed with stubbornness on her face. She was going to go through with this whether I did or not. And I knew what it was like to be alone, without your best friend. I wouldn't make her go through with this alone. We were in this together, whether that was a bad thing or a good thing.

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Yay! Sloane is back! But how is becoming an animagus going to go? Will they succeed or face dangerous results?

A big thank goes out to all you to all readers of Magic Child, for traveling with Ray and Sloane this far! Thank you to all of you.