“Is it really after ten?” she asked Sarah, who hadn’t been up for that long either.
“Yeah,” said Sarah. “But it’s okay.” She pointed at the floor, where a sheet of parchment folded into the shape of an envelope sat seal side up.
Rosemary got out of bed, picked up the envelope, and sat back down. The seal bore the crest of Misty Peaks, except it was all red. She turned it over and saw that it was addressed to “Miss Rosemary Corbin — Hemlock 920”. Rosemary broke the seal, unfolded the sheet, and read the letter printed on the inner side:
Miss Rosemary Corbin,
When I did not see you or Sarah at the Great Hall for breakfast this morning, I assumed that you were exhausted from all that went on early this morning. If you two stop by the kitchen, I gave them instructions to give you something that’ll hold you till lunch. I’ve put below instructions how to find the kitchen.
Best wishes,
Professor Dora Brown, Deputy Headmistress
Rosemary got up and put the letter on her desk.
“So you didn’t have breakfast either?” she asked Sarah.
“Of course not,” said Sarah. “Remember? I’m supposed to stay with you until you have your class with Professor Thorn this afternoon. Besides, I was up a lot of the night too.”
“I suppose,” said Rosemary.
“So if you want to get dressed,” said Sarah, “we can then get something to eat.”
* * *
Rosemary wore the same pink tracksuit and rainbow-themed T-shirt she had worn exactly a week before. Sarah wore jeans and a maroon sweatshirt. Together they went to the main keep. Once there, they went one flight down the staircase to the same level as the underground passageways. Only instead of taking the passageways, they went to the wall, where Sarah pushed on it, and an invisible door opened. The girls walked down a small set of eight stairs into the largest kitchen Rosemary had ever seen. There was not just one refrigerator, one sink, or one stove or oven, but several of each. Rosemary didn’t see any dishwashers, but she assumed that this was for the same reason that she hadn’t seen any laundry machines at Misty Peaks. Certain machines were simply made unnecessary by magic.
However, as large as this kitchen was, there were only two people there, a man and a woman, who were sitting on wooden stools talking to each other. Then, all of a sudden, the woman turned to the two girls.
“Rosemary and Sarah?” she asked.
“How did you know?” asked Rosemary.
“Because you’re the only students the door would let through,” answered the woman. “Professor Brown gave you access till lunchtime today because she figured you might need to swing by. Give me just a sec.”
The woman went to one of the refrigerators and got out two small paper bags, which Rosemary assumed must have been packed meals. She handed one of them to Sarah and one of them to Rosemary, and handed each of them a bottle of fruit juice. The girls then went upstairs to the Great Hall, which was largely empty, to eat their meals.
* * *
A little bit of time remained between the late breakfast and the usual lunchtime. Most of that time, Rosemary and Sarah spent in the Common Room. During that time, all of Rosemary’s friends stopped by to check on her. Even Clara, despite not living in Hemlock Hall, was able to stop by on account of Lilith letting her in.
A little while after lunch, Sarah took Rosemary to Redmond Tower, up to the fifth floor where Professor Thorn’s classroom was. They opened the door, walked in and saw that the wall to their left was covered with padding. In front of the padding stood a large gong. Professor Thorn was seated at his desk. “Looks like you’re here early,” he said, smiling, as he looked up at the two new arrivals.
“We can come back later,” said Sarah.
“Naw,” said the Professor. “No reason we can’t start now.”
“Do you need me?” asked Sarah.
“Only if you’ve got nothing to do with the next hour and a half,” said Professor Thorn.
“See you later,” said Sarah, and left.
“Okay,” said Professor Thorn, as he got up from behind his desk. “Early this morning, I am told, you were under what is called a rag doll immobilization spell.”
“A what?” asked Rosemary.
“A spell that makes your body go limp and light like a rag doll,” explained the Professor, “so that you can’t move, but someone else can move you. And someone nearly did move you — out of your tower and to God-knows-where. And today, we are here to make sure they can’t pull that on you again.”
“Isn’t that what the wards on my room are for?” asked Rosemary.
“Those only protect you when you’re in your room,” explained Professor Thorn. “They’re for when you’re asleep and completely unable to defend yourself. But even when you’re awake, you can only defend yourself if you know how. And by the end of our time here today, my plan is that you will have some knowledge on how to do so. At least enough that you can leave your room with a little confidence. And after I’m done with you, nobody’ll be able to pull that stunt on you anywhere.”
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“When you’re done with me?” asked Rosemary.
“Yes,” said Professor Thorn. “Today’ll just be your first lesson.”
“I have to keep coming back?” asked Rosemary.
“Oh yeah,” said Professor Thorn. “It’s for your own safety. But on the bright side, I’ve arranged that for each of our two-hour sessions, you’ll work off one hour of your detention.”
“Okay,” said Rosemary.
“Anyway,” said Professor Thorn, “when someone casts a rag doll immobilization spell, one does it in two phases. First one casts the basic capture spell that slightly disorients the target and establishes the basic connection needed for the next phase. That next phase is when they’re gonna cast the main spell, the one that actually leaves you limp. By the time they do that, it’s too late to do anything about it. Your window is when they cast the basic capture. You got that?”
“I don’t understand,” said Rosemary.
“Let me see how I can make this clear,” he said. He lifted his right wrist, where Rosemary saw a bracelet which, aside from being a bracelet, was as different from hers as could possibly be. Rosemary’s own bracelet was a thin and dainty silver bracelet with gold accents and a gemstone in the center that usually was red, but was white when she had her wand drawn. Professor Thorn’s bracelet, on the other hand, was a thick and manly dark bracelet with silver edges and a silver coin-like disc instead of a gemstone.
However, as different as Professor Thorn’s bracelet was in appearance from Rosemary’s, it quickly became apparent that their function was exactly the same — as Professor Thorn with his left hand withdrew a wand from the disc and then in the same swift move transferred it from his left hand to his right. “Pupam pannosam fac,” said the Professor, and then, pointing his wand at Rosemary, chanted: “meus esto.”
Rosemary didn’t see anything special happen, but she felt a glittery swarm slowly grab ahold of her, making her feel somewhat unsure where she was. Unsure she could stand, she leaned on the nearest desk.
“Liber esse,” chanted Professor Thorn, and whatever it was that had grabbed ahold of Rosemary suddenly vanished, and she felt she could safely stop leaning on the table.
Rosemary looked up and saw Professor Thorn returning his wand to the disc on his bracelet.
“I said ‘Liber esse’ to release you from my grip,” explained Professor Thorn. “But I think you’ve already heard what I’d have said if I actually wanted to immobilize you.”
“‘Tacite esto’?” asked Rosemary.
“Close,” said Professor Thorn. “It’s actually, ‘Tace — tacete — leve esto’. But anyway — now that that’s out of the way, it’s time to start talking about what to do when someone tries to pull this on you. You felt that tingling sensation didn’t you?”
“Yes,” said Rosemary.
“Well,” he said, “this time, I want you to concentrate on gathering all of that into a little energy ball in your right hand. Got it?”
“Yes,” said Rosemary.
“Okay,” said the Professor, retrieving his wand again. Then, again he chanted: “Pupam pannosam fac — meos esto”. As the invisible field grabbed hold of her, Rosemary concentrated on trying to do as the Professor instructed, but wasn’t having much success. She leaned on the desk with her left hand, but her right hand barely felt anything beyond what the rest of her body felt.
“Liber esse,” the Professor finally chanted, and the field gripping her dissipated. Only the slightest of sensations in the palm of her right hand remained.
“That’s a great start,” said the Professor. “Now hurl it at the gong.”
“But I’ll miss,” said Rosemary.
“Just do it!” demanded Professor Thorn.
“Okay,” said Rosemary. She threw the invisible nothing in her hand at the gong. She couldn’t even see it. The gong didn’t make any sound that she could notice, but began to sway back and forth ever so slightly.
“That’s great!” said Professor Thorn. “Perfect hit! Now let’s try again. Pupam pannosam fac — meos esto!” Rosemary tried again, and for the most part the same thing happened, only this time, the invisible energy ball in her right hand was just a tiny bit stronger. This time, when the Professor told her to hurl it at the gong, she complied without any argument. After the fifth round, she could hear the slightest sound from the gong after she hurled the energy ball at it.
Finally, after several rounds, Rosemary was able to get the full energy from the capture spell into the energy ball, and didn’t feel destabilized at all. By now, the gong was making a faint yet unmistakable ring every time she threw the energy ball at it. Professor Thorn didn’t even have to chant “Liber esse” to release the grip on Rosemary because there was no grip to release.
“Why can’t I see the energy?” asked Rosemary after a while.
“’Coz it’s colorless,” said Professor Thorn, stashing away his wand. “But don’t worry, after enough practice you’ll be able to see it anyway. If your inability to see it were stopping you, I’d let you borrow special specs during these sessions. But since you seem to be doing just fine without them it’s best that you keep at it as you are. But it’s time for a little break. So sit down.”
Rosemary sat down at the nearest desk and relaxed. “I have a question,” she said after a minute or so.
“Ask away,” invited Professor Thorn.
“Did the man who tried to take me away do it because I changed from a boy to a girl?” asked Rosemary.
“We don’t know why he did it,” said Professor Thorn. “We’re just focusing now on making sure they can’t do it again.”
“It’s just that the lady who came over to interview me about it,” said Rosemary, “she said that they might have done it because of that. And I wonder, am I putting myself in danger by making this change?”
“Well let’s see,” said Professor Thorn, “why are you changing yourself from a boy to a girl?”
“Because,” said Rosemary, “that’s who I am inside. And I hate having to be a boy. It makes me feel terrible. I can’t stand it.”
“Let me fill you in on something, Rosemary,” said the Professor. “One of the most basic texts on warding wasn’t written by a wizard, but by a mundie long, long ago in China. A guy named Sun Tzu. And one thing he wrote is — know yourself and know your enemy.”
“Okay?” said Rosemary.
“Now,” continued the Professor, “you say a girl is who you are inside? That having to live as a boy makes you feel terrible and you can’t stand it?”
“Yes,” nodded Rosemary.
“Well,” he said, “that doesn’t sound like the kind of stuff you’d say if changing back were an option. But you’re the one who needs to know yourself. And you’re the only one who can really know if you are someone who can keep going on if you change back. You got to know yourself.”
“And what about knowing my enemy?” asked Rosemary.
“Well, that part’s a bit tricky,” said Professor Thorn. “We don’t know who it is, or why they decided to pick on you. But let’s say it really is because of the change you made. We don’t know that, but let’s assume so just for a moment. What does that tell you about him?”
“That he hates people like me,” said Rosemary, “people who change from boy to girl.”
“That’s definitely one possibility,” said Professor Thorn. “But could it be something else?”
“Like what?” asked Rosemary.
“Maybe they think there’s something they can gain by picking on someone like you,” he suggested. “I mean, when Hemlock Tower went into lockdown and he couldn’t go where he wanted with you, did he just throw you down?”
“No,” said Rosemary. “He put me down gently.”
“Just throwing you down would have been faster,” pointed out the Professor.
“So you say he didn’t want to hurt me?”
“I wouldn’t necessarily go that far,” admitted the Professor. “But at very least, he didn’t want to hurt you there and then. He might have had terrible plans for you once he got you to wherever he was going — but wherever it was, he needed you to get there in one piece.”
“I see,” said Rosemary.
“But what we don’t know,” reminded Professor Thorn, “is if them targeting you has anything to do with the change you’re making in the first place. That’s just one possibility. What you can know is about yourself and whether or not changing back is even something you can live with. Got it?”
“Yes,” said Rosemary.
A few minutes later, practice resumed. Rosemary had been able to do the exercise before. Now, however, she was able to focus on it even better, as a matter of uncertainty that had previously been hanging over her head was now firmly resolved.