Spells and Sorcery

Chapter Seven

The rest of my day was similarly terrible. Thanks to Gram and questions and my birthday, I hadn't completed any of my assignments, earning another glare from Ms. Benoit and a talking-to by my English teacher. For a student who was consistently in the top ten of her class, my behavior had changed enough for my teachers to notice.

Then, as if she knew I was already having a rough day, Marie left me at school. The sun broiled the back of my neck and I was a sweaty, miserable mess. I powered through my homework, the voice in the back of my head reminding me that colleges didn't consider "magical prowess" in admissions or scholarship criteria. But every time I went to start my history homework, the sight of my blank notebook just reminded me how much I'd royally screwed up.

By the time Jeanie got home, I was desperate. "Jeanie, I need your help."

She put down her purse slowly. "Is everything all right?"

"No, I accidentally erased my history notebook," I said, showing it to her. "Can you help me reverse it?"

"How'd you do that?"

"I was..." Technically, I'd broken her rule about using magic at school unsupervised, and I didn't want another lecture about it. Jeanie was still waiting for my answer, so I said, "I don't know. It just happened."

She flipped through the blank pages and shrugged. "I don't know how to reverse it. Guess you'll have to copy from a friend."

"Jeanie, I'm the only one who takes notes in history," I said. "And we're talking about eight weeks' worth of notes here!"

She shrugged. "Get to copying then."

I glared at her retreating back and slammed my notebook shut. "I'm going for a walk."

I was hoping, perhaps, Gavon might show up for a third time. I stormed the entire way to the park, clutching the primer to my chest. I was tired of everything blowing up in my face and Jeanie simply shrugging and telling me to figure it out. "Figure it out" was sound advice when I struggled through chemistry formulas, but not with this. I wasn't smart enough to figure out magic on my own.

I plopped down at the picnic table and opened the primer to where I'd left off the day before. Stuck between the pages was the list of questions I'd written about Gram from Jeanie. After unfolding the questions and re-reading them, I balled the paper up and threw it in a nearby trashcan.

Screw them and their non-answers. I didn't want to know anyway.

I huffed as I sat back down and began to read spitefully.

TO SUMMON

One of the Magical's most oft used spells is to SUMMON, that is, to use Magic to retrieve an Object. This does not extend to Persons, whether Magical or Non-magical, that is known as TRANSPORT.

It is often the case with Young Magicals that they can summon items without considering a full Summon spell. True, often babies will Summon their favorite toy, even and especially when in trouble. But just as a talented artist improves with classical training, a Magical with training over their gift will be much more successful.

A SUMMON spell consists of three specific acts;

ONE, to identify the object to summon;

TWO, to use one's Magic to locate said object;

THREE, to use one's Magic to retrieve said object.

It is imperative that a Young Magical without training perform each step as a separate thought, else the Magic might retrieve the incorrect object, or more than anticipated. A Master might recommend to Summon an object within the Young Magical's view.