MysticalShawty

My cat's dying now, and I don't know what to do. We have three possiblities, he either has something that's incurable and he'll end up dying, he'll have something that'll let him live for three more years, or he'll have liver problems in which we'll have to spend $2,000 on which would cancel our plans for Florida in the summer (I don't mind that at all if that's what it took). I feel like I'm cruel, how I'm unable to help him, yet just look at him laying on the floor, not eating, just laying down all day. He hasn't eaten since Thursday, and I feel horrible because of it. I never thought I'd feel this empty over an animal, then again, I kinda did. But it makes you wonder, even though I love my cats, some people would find it absurd to get upset over an "animal" who's not human. We're supposed to take him to the hospital tommorow at eight in the morning. I think I'm calling in sick. They're supposed to put a tube down his throat so he'll be able to eat. I find myself panicing at times. I'll stare at him for a few minutes to see if he's breathing, then I go back to doing whatever it is I'm doing. Any thoughts on this?

Trying to figure out something with a friend, shes saying that theres a 10 month waiting period in order to get your drivers licence, would anyone happen to know if there is a canadian waiting period before you are able to get your drivers licenceand i dont belive it does.

anyone listen to linkin park?? anyone know what the title of this song is she can?t hide no matter how hard she tries her secret disguise behind the lies and at night she cries away her pride with eyes shut tight starin' at her inside all her friends know why she can?t sleep at night all her family askin? if she's alright all she wants to do is get rid of this hell well all shes gotta do is stop kidding herself - linkin park plz if u could help me out id be thankful =)

I make them up frum the top of my head, and then i save them on my computer when i want to save them but most of the poems i write i do not show to anyone.. b.c ive had people steal them before... not the greatest friends i could say...

As I hope and pray That I can begin a new section in life With a new name Pushing away all my hopelessness And the confusion gone now And being Hopelessly Confused is the past My future, is being your Inner//Screams Don't cover your ears when I scream Please understand It is all out of misery And forgive me, if I don't scream at all Leaving it silent Then when a word is spoken It's all shattered again As I cover my pain And look down away from you Realize that I am blinded And that I feel alone And that I seek solace in your angel wings Take me under, and let me fly with you Find my lost wings Mend them, and save me from death again Or I will always be your Inner//Screams Don't let my voice echo in your ears =---------------------------------------------- I do feel that alone You all left me alone I'm sorry for parting Now I am back, yet so invisible Take me under your angel wings Let me fly with you once again Look down upon me And help me here, now I'm sinking without you I am that alone I seek you to save me There is no one else here No one here wanting me any longer And yearn for that affection That I once received Where did you all go? I am forgotten now, aren't I? Shall I leave a trail of blood And follow those drips Till you find me Faint, pasty white, and nearly dead? Will you revive me? Or let me fall And the soft clouds won't cushion my fall What is there left to say? I need you And you aren't here How can this be? I am that alone I walk around in this house Hearing whispers all around And no one can hear me And then I realized... I'm already dead -------------------------------------------------------- I am that fake. I am all that you ever thought All that you ever assumed That book was just a cover And all that narcissism is revealed Staring so close to the mirror Tilting my head Back and forth. What am I now?? What is worth it now? As I ponder that, and smash my face onto the book. The blood dribbles, and flows down the stream. Where leads my death, and that emptiness is something that I adore What am I? Tell me, I am on my knees. In tears, before you I scream And not a sound comes out Everything is the same Nothing at all different I am that dull Black and white I can't paint the walls pretty Even if I tried I am that real And the epitome of my life is this... And if I could be real I'd give it all up And if I was real I promise not to dirty any more white sheets I won't cry, and my tears dirty the tiles I won't lay on the floor And let my blood flow away from me I won't die If I knew I was real And my life is told before me Love is not real When I can not see the real me As I still sit here Pondering, and saying everything that doesn't make since I beg for someone to understand But I know, in my mind no one does For too many questions are asked And the possibility of you trying, is not a possibility. I am that fake And my lies cover me They drown me, and I sink to the bottom What would I be without you? Why do I mumble such words That mean nothing at all to me? When love is just a four letter word Meaning the world to some And now, **** to me. And if love was to be so great Why can't I have it? I detest love, I have lost faith in what people call love. I thought I could define love, I thought I knew, I thought I lived it Now, it was all just a lie If you say I am that good Why is it that I can't feel it? Why do I feel so worthless, and that every single word uttered from these lips Means in all honesty nothing at all? So tired of mumbling, saying so much, and no one cares. But that is the whole purpose isn't it? Wanting someone to care? But if I am not real, would it still exist? ---------------------------------------------------- Stare at the mirror And watch me shatter it That image of mine Isn't someting I want to keep At times I would have thought I knew, But now I really know. That it's away from this place... And to begin life all over again. It was all fake, And in that illusion, you saddened me. When you couldn't be real I wish it was just the past To over look, and to forget. All my memories are in my tears As they fall They are all forgotten And as I try to grasp it harder It's harder and harder to realize That it is over And moving on is the life to live And to live my life With no direction And I get lost in that storm I will shudder As I hide behind a tree And cry tears For I know not of what to do I can not think of a thing to do I sit and stare I gaze, and I overlook things And in the dark forest Where that dark path That I should not follow Yet I do --------------------------------------------------------------------

I fell to the wooden floor with a loud grunt. The net of black and red lightning was still draping loosely around me. I had been flying through blackness ever since I had lost my first life and had suddenly dropped onto the floor of a beach home. "Welcome to my lair." Alex said as he came through the door to a Caribbean beach. "Nice place." I said as I stumbled to my feet, taking in my surroundings. "Yes, too bad you wont be able to enjoy it." Alex replied, he said the words as though they were yesterday's trash. "What do you plan on doing?" I inquired nervously, giving up hope on getting the electrifying net off. "Well, first I'm going to do this." Alex answered, stepping forward. Before I had time to respond, he had yanked my crescent moon necklace right off its chain. He smiled evilly and continued, "You see, Sara, I've been studying the past events in which you got out of seemingly impossible situations. Every time you are about to make your move, your eyes glaze over and you go into a kind of trance. I don't know if you were aware, but when you are in those trances, you instinctively grab your moon charm. I concluded that the charm must be some sort of back-up thing that gives you power when you need it. So, no charm, no escaping me." I blinked. Alex's explanations was closer to the truth than he knew. It took a moment for me to react and try to pull my necklace back to me with magic. Nothing happened. "Ah, I see that you are frustrated. Let me explain why you are unable to do magic, it is a simple yet wonderful device from the magical Black Market." Alex commented. " Hey, listen." I said angrily, "I'm sick and tired of you and your stupid plans and devices. I didn't do anything to you. Why can't you just leave me alone?" I was on the verge of crying. "You stripped my brother of his magic and a couple of his lives. It's your fault that he is in jail right now. Our parents are dead and Daray supported what was left our family." Alex said, sadness filling his voice. "I'm sorry." I said sincerely. "But you have to realize that what I did was all in self-defense." Alex sneered, "It doesn't matter. You did what you did and now I'm going to get revenge for me and him. I just have to decide what to do..." "I had thought that your transformation had been a bit quick. I guess you're still the same old idiot." I retorted. Alex scowled and turned away. I instantly snapped to life, extending my wings. Pain blazed through my body as the lightning shredded the magical wings and I was forced to recall my magic. Alex turned around and laughed evilly. "Maybe I should have warned you against doing that wing trick." Alex said. "Nah. Anyway, I've decided what I'm going to do." "And that is?" I asked wearily. "I'm going to drain your magic and sell it. Then, I'm going to use that money to buy my brother's way out of jail, and we'll live on that for the rest of our lives. You'd be surprised at how much good magic will sell for nowadays." Alex revealed. "And after that, I'm going to kill you." At first, I was stunned. Alex sounded so casual and confident about his decision. I gasped, "You wouldn't really kill me, would you?" "Why shouldn't I" Alex shrugged. A jolt of fear went through my bones. "All of my lives?" I managed to stammer. "Yes." Alex concluded. "Now, any last words?" I began to whisper my voice growing louder with every sentence, "I'm afraid. Some one help me. Please. CHRESTOMANCI!" A tapping of hard leather on wood informed me of Chrestomanci's arrival. Alex looked pleased with himself. "Right on schedule." Alex said, grinning like a fool. "What do you mean?" Chrestomanci asked. "If Sara had not called for you, I would have. You see, with the magic we have nowadays, anything is possible. Even, shall we say, rendering two Chrestomancis powerless." Alex said confidentially. "But I'm not a Chrestomanci!" I protested sulkily. "Ah," Alex stated, "But we all know that you have more than enough magick to be one." "Yeah, yeah, yeah. Whatever. Just get on with it so we can all go home." I urged irritably. "I'm afraid that both of you shall be subject to my lovely plans." Alex replied, his face growing serious. Alex raised his hands and the net of lightning that kept me hostage doubled in size and I was thrown backwards. I hit the wall with a thud, and slid to the ground beside Chrestomanci. "I thought you said Alex was a ninny!" he said irritably as the net of lightning spread over him. "He was!" I replied. "He just took my advice a little too seriously." Alex laughed evilly and conjured a small brown bag. "In a moment, this little brown bag will contain all of both of your magicks. Say bye-bye now." Alex teased, throwing my moon charm to the ground. I was in despair and about to cry. "Take heart, Sara." a voice in my head said and my heartbeat quickened. "Yes, I am the same one who came to you many times before. It was not your crescent moon charm necklace that led me to speak to you, it was only a sign to tell me when you needed me the first time." I thought to myself, The mysterious lady is in my head? Aah! I don't even know who she is! How creepy! "It is not 'creepy'" the voice answered my thoughts, frightening me. "No, you aren't going crazy, I can hear your thoughts as though you were speaking them to me. A mysterious lady am I? Why, I am the closest goddess to you. Haven't you figured out who I am yet? That's right, I'm Artemis. Artemis, Diane, Selene; take your pick. Yes, that's why your fairy friends call you 'Moonlight.' They know and sense my presence in you. You have yet to fulfill the rest of Aesa's prophecy, but the time will come. For now, know and remember this; Your power, your magic, and your lives are yours. No one and nothing can deny you those. You must only will it. They are yours..." The voice faded away. It had, indeed, answered my thoughts as though I had been speaking them aloud. When I been "talking" to the voice, I had been afraid, angry, and in despair. Now, I had hope. I blinked back to reality. Alex was still raising his hands and it was as if time had been slowed to the point of stopping when I had been preoccupied. Barely any time had passed. "They're mine." I said softly. "Pardon?" Chrestomanci asked, bracing for Alex's spell. "They're mine." I said louder. "What is?" he inquired in confusion. "They're mine." I shouted at Alex, creating a vortex of wind behind him. "They are mine and I shall keep them!" The wind in the room picked up and I got to my feet. I clenched my teeth and the lightning net, meant to imprison me, disappeared. The wind was soon so intense that Alex had to hold on to the table ledge to stay on the ground. "That's not possible!" Alex cried as a large gust of wind lifted him into the air and kept him there. Emotion bubbled inside me, ready to burst. "Yes it is!" I answered, extending my had towards him. "My magic is my magic and no snot-nossed, low-lifed, double-dealing, little twit of a monster can take anything away from me." I made the wind twirl Alex around and let my angry fairy friends pinch and poke him. Alex swatted the air around him but to no avail. "Sara." Chrestomanci said softly, "It's okay. I'll handle this. Put down call off your friends." It was a gentle request, not a command, and it was the last straw. I felt warm tears come to my eyes and let my enemy fall. I recalled the past half a year as I sat down in a chair and buried my face in my arms, crying my heart out. By the time I stopped crying and raised my head from the table, I was back at Chrestomanci castle, in the dinning room with Hannah behind me and Brian beside me. I smiled and wiped my face on my sleeve, letting them embrace me. "Welcome home." Hannah said, brushing my blonde bangs out of my eyes. I spent most of Saturday morning organizing and completing my homework and make-up work from the week before. I decided to spend the rest of the day in the magic garden and left shortly after lunch. As I stepped through the Grand Hall's mirror and entered the garden, I found a small group of fairies waiting for me. Tanilla was the head of the fairy party. "Hi, Sara! We were, like, expecting you. So, like, come on! We're going to see the Fairy Queen. What are you waiting for? Don't just stand there, come on!" Tanilla said, in less than a ten seconds. "Lead the way." I said, following the excited fairies. The fairies led me to a part of the garden that I had never seen before and when I stepped into a small clearing surrounded by flowers, the group stopped. In the blink of an eyes, the clearing had transformed into a wondrous, outdoor court. Tiny stones paved the small courtyard and tiny benches, made of tiny wooden planks, were all along the sides of the courtyard. Straight ahead of me, at the end of the courtyard, upon a throne of petals, sat the Fairy Queen, the Fairy Princess at her side. I was in awe. Never before had I seen anything like the fairy court. "Welcome." said the Fairy Queen, her voice sweet and smooth. "Uh, thank you for inviting me to your beautiful.... courtyard." I answered, searching for the right words. Tanilla flew up to the queen and knelt before her. "Ah, Tanilla." the Queen addressed her, "Thank you for loyally caring out your task." "Any time, your majesty." Tanilla said, without her usual quickness. She made another bow and then disappeared into the crowd of people in the courtyard. I felt like a giant intruding on a celebration. "And, Moonlight." the Fairy Queen said and all eyes turned to me. "Thank you for not telling your guardian the secret which Tanilla entrusted in you." "It's nothing. I would never tell anybody anything that I wasn't supposed to." I said, kneeling on the grass at the edge of the stone court. "I suppose that you would like to know why you are here." she continued. "Yes, I would." I replied. "How would you feel about spending the rest of your afternoon being taught by our finest teachers?" the Fairy Queen asked. "That would be so great!" I exclaimed. "I would love it! Well, I don't think that he would approve of it but that's okay, he wont know." The Fairy Queen smiled, "It's good to hear that you are excited. I shall come to check on you every hour and change your teacher, that way you shall have a good variety of knowledge." The rest of the afternoon flew by and I could hardly believe it when the sun began to set. I had learned so much from so many different fairies with so many different styles. The Fairy Princess had even been my last teacher and become my new friend. As I waved good bye to the fairy court and stepped into Chrestomanci Castle, I was greeted by a fearsome glare. Startled, I jumped backwards a step. "And where have you been these past few hours?" Chrestomanci demanded. "I was just in that magic garden that Brian showed me." I answered, confused. "When I said before dark, I meant in this world. Being in a garden where it is always summer, you may have forgotten that it is actually winter at the moment." he replied. "Oops." I said, and turned to ascend the staircase. Then I turned around, "Hey, how come you were standing exactly where I came out. Weren't you looking for me?" "Yes, we were looking for you." Chrestomanci said, rolling his eyes. "When someone or something comes through that mirror, I am alerted magically and I can choose whether or not I wish to be transported there." "Oh." I said, and continued up the stairs. "I'll tell everyone I got back and not to worry." "You do that, I've wasted enough time already. And one more thing, is your homework done yet?" Chrestomanci asked. "Yes. And since when are you interested in my homework?" I inquired, glaring at him. "I can take care of my own schoolwork." "You missed an entire week of school. Being your guardian-" he started. "Yeah, yeah, yeah. It's your responsibility as my guardian. You know, my parents are also my guardians and they don't ask me if I've done my homework." I interrupted. "I was just making sure that you had done your homework because I don't need any guardian/teacher conferences right now. I do have a busy sched-" he started, and then he winked out. I assumed it was to a magical emergency so I just went up to my room without caring. It had been a long and exhausting day so, as soon as I had told Hannah that I was back, I fell into a deep sleep. When I woke up, the moon was out and it was snowing. The moonlight fell gently across the cold stone floor as I got out of bed. Quietly, I went over to the window seat and pulled a blanket around me. I don't know how long I sat there, just looking at the moon, but I do know that I was at peace with the world.

Hi Sara It's almost lunch time for me and I'm starved. I wish that I could just magick something into my stomach! Oh well. Your friends said that they're gonna write to you, as a group, at lunch time so expect a letter around then. How do you like the book? Escape looked like something that you'd read, or live. Anyway, I have to go now or I'll miss half of the video we're watching on... I don't even know what it's about! I'm way behind now! Bye, Brian I made a quick response, telling Brian that I loved the book and that I'd be waiting for the letter. Not long after, I was thoroughly engrossed by Escape again. When the clock indicated that it was time for lunch, I marked my page in Escape. I decided to walk to lunch and occasionally stopped to adore the falling snow. As I walked into the main hall, I saw something that startled me. Mandy, my new friend, was being cornered by Draco and a few of his friends. Mandy looked frightened and was trying to back away, even though she had already reached the wall. I turned invisible and crept closer to the group, trying to eavesdrop on the conversation that was taking place. "Do you think you're too good for us or something?" Draco demanded. "No, Draco." Mandy answered weakly, turning her eyes to the ground. "Not at all." "Look at me when I speak to you! I'll teach you to double-cross me!" Draco said evilly. I looked around, nobody was in the hall. Would Draco really do something to Mandy right there and then? Yes, he would. Mandy whimpered as Draco raised his wand. I held my breath, gathering my wits. As Draco began to say something, I made myself visible and stepped forward. Draco let his arm fall a little and looked at me in surprise. "Well, well, well" Draco sneered, whipping the surprise from his face. "If it isn't little miss smarty pants. Hey, Amanda, look who it is coming to save you." "I'm surprised that the head of the retards committee would be bullying someone smaller than him. What's the matter, Draco? Can't you pick on anyone your own size? Or is that concept to much for your scrawny little brain?" I taunted, trying to lure Draco and his friends away from Mandy. "Strong words for someone who hasn't got their wand with them." Draco said, motioning to his followers to move. The group began to surround me. "I was hoping to get you alone so that I could get back at you, but now I can get two brats with one stone. What do you say guys?" Draco said, addressing his followers, "What shall I do to this one? Let's make it something she'll never forget." "Turn her into a frog!" one girl suggested. "Give her warts all over." another boy suggested. "Make it so that she can't talk or eat!" another person called out. "Or..." I said cheerfully, "You could all just leave before I kick your butts." "Yeah right. You and what army?" Draco sneered. "Unlike some, I don't need an army. I'm just not that weak, arrogant, stupid-" I listed. "Why you little.... I think I like the idea about making it so that you can't talk or eat." Draco concluded. He raised his wand and I gave him and unworried smile. He asked, "Any last words, Sara?" "Yeah. In, you, dreams." I said, separating each word. I made a cutting motion with my hand and Draco's wand broke in two. Without hesitating, I began to twirl my finger in the air, sending a whirlwind through the room. The wind picked up Draco and his groupies and carried them to the ceiling. My victims screamed and shouted, but nothing could persuade me not to hang them from the chandelier by their robes. "Enjoy your day." I said as Mandy came over to me, "And remember. I couldn't possibly have done all of that to you because I don't have a wand. See you later, but preferably not." I waved to them and walked into the dinning hall with Mandy. I hadn't been early, I had been late. That was why no one had been in the main hall. Everyone had been eating. "Thanks." Mandy said to me, once we were seated. "Don't mention it. Why were those creeps harassing you anyway?" I asked, helping myself to a burger. "Someone saw me writing a note to you and I never got to send it. They got it gave it to Draco and you saw what happened after that." Mandy informed me. "Yeah. Well, listen, I'll try to look out for you, but you have to be on the lookout. Draco's sure to be steaming mad after this, especially at me so he might try to use you as bait or something. Be careful." I warned her. "I will." she answered. We finished eating and I introduced Mandy to a few kids that were the same age as us. I left them chatting and headed for the girls' chambers. When I got there, I saw the expected letter, waiting for me on my bed Hey Sara, This is Rose but everybody's gathered around me, telling me what to write. We're at lunch right now. How are you and where have you been? We miss you. Brian is going to act as our messenger from now on. We didn't know for sure if he could do magick before this, but we had considered asking him. WHAT? Brian just said that you're in Harry Potter Land! Is that true? Poor you. Well, we'll keep in touch with you, so keep writing. (Preferably before lunch ends!) You better come back soon! Play nice with the other kiddies, Rose, Lanie, Angela, Peachy, and Brian. ************************************************ Hi ya! Play nice with the other kiddies? What are you, psychic? It's too late for that. I just got back from lunch, when I kicked the other kiddies' butts. Don't get me wrong, they totally deserved it, I just have to watch my back now. I'm fine. Yeah, I really am in 'Harry Potter Land.' All thanks to Brian's father. Curse him! (Sorry Brian but he's really getting to me.) It snowed today, over where I am and I think I'm somewhere in England. Has it snowed over there yet? November is supposed to be a cold, cold month. To Brian: Escape is totally awesome. I know I already told you that, but it's true. Serra (said like Sara) is totally cool! Thanks, again, for sending it to me. I'm almost finished reading it so I'll send this now and hope it gets to you during lunch time. See you all later, Sara The mist around me clears and I can see that I am in a stadium. People cheering fills my ears and I hear things flying though the air. I look around for something or someone familiar. I see Tanilla an I push through a crowd of people to reach her but she keeps moving away. She has stopped and I almost reach her but I see someone else. I can now see two more people that I know. I see Alex and Draco. They are talking. I come closer and see a net on the ground. It is the safety net that is supposed to catch people if they fall from their brooms. The two villains are moving now. They are using magic on the net. To my eyes, they have broken the net and have left red lines of magic where it is broken, but to everyone else's eyes, the net is normal. I hear gasps. I see someone falling. A group of people is going to catch the person with the broken net. I shout to them but they can't hear me. I woke with a start. I found my sheets wrapped around me like a cocoon and a sticky, cold sweat covered my body. It had all been a dream. Or had it? I asked myself. The dream had given me the same feeling as the Red Angel girl dream. I shivered and got quietly out of bed. Ariel had visited me the previous night and given me the reason why she couldn't be Chrestomanci with me. She had twins growing inside of her and, at certain times during her pregnancy, her body gave each baby a life. By birth, the twins would have all but one of Ariel's lives, and the magic that went with them. I was a bit disappointed that we couldn't be Chrestomanci together, and share the work. At the same time, I was overjoyed that Ariel was healthy and that she intended to name me godmother for one of her children if not both. I sighed and went about getting ready for breakfast. When I was finished, and had gone down to breakfast, only a few people were there. Soon, more people filed in and there was soon a steady stream of chatter in the dinning hall. When everybody was present, Professor Dumbledore stood and asked for silence. He said, "Thank you." and when all of the noise had died down he announced, "As you all know, testing for this term took place yesterday. We would like to do something different this year and hold the championship Quidditch math today, at noon. After that, you will have the whole day to yourself. Thank you for your attention and I hope to see you at noon." Cheers echoed throughout the hall as everyone celebrated the joyous news. Mandy ran up to me in the excitement and asked, "Are you going to go to the Quidditch match? It's Gryffindor versus Slytherin and I'm playing!" "Well..." I started, but then I remembered my dream. "Sure." "Great! I'll save you a seat before the game begins. I'll point it out to you when you come into the stadium." Mandy said before she ran off. When noon came, and it was time for the game, I dutifully marched down to the Quidditch field. Mandy hovered above the seat that she had saved, and I went up to it. It was a good view, I was in the middle row, height wise, and in the middle of the long side of the stadium. I sat in my seat until the game started, nervously surveying the crowd. It was five minutes before the match was to begin, when I spotted something. Draco was speaking to another boy. The boy, at first glance, appeared to be blonde with soft features, but when I looked straight at him, I saw Alex with a something that looked like a hologram on him. I saw the two walking down towards the Quidditch field, and then to the safety net. No one stopped them. It was like watching a replay of my dream except that there was no Tanilla, and no one was falling. Yet. A whistle blew and the game started. I cheered for both sides and was really into the game. Then it happened. Mandy scored a point and the crowd went wild. I saw two Bludgers hot on her tail as she zoomed back onto the Slytherin side of the field, to what was supposed to be safe for her. It was supposed to be safe because the Beaters were there, the Beaters were the people who were supposed to deflect the Bludgers with their big clubs. Mandy turned her broom around, only to see that the Beaters hadn't moved a muscle to help her. That Bludgers were coming straight at her. Mandy tried to dodge, but the next thing that anybody knew was that she was falling. Gasps were heard from the crowd and most of the people were standing, including me. I was frantic. So that's what Draco's evil plot was, I realized. Draco wanted to get Mandy back for "betraying" him, but what was in it for Alex? There was no time to think, I had to do something. I pushed off of the ground and spread my fairy wings, praying that I would be fast enough. I was far above the ground as I let Mandy fall past me and began to fall with her. I reached out my hand to her and she held tight as I made a gentle arc in the air, bringing us to a stop, only meters from the ground. Slowly, I lowered Mandy to the ground. I landed beside Mandy and asked her, "Are you okay?" "Yeah, but I'm going to have one major bruise." she answered, touching her shoulder lightly. "But I don't understand something. Why didn't the Beaters stop the Bludgers?" "I think that it was Draco's revenge on you." I answered as the school nurse rushed over to make sure that Mandy was okay. "That figures." Mandy agreed, letting the nurse check for broken bones. Numerous teachers were making beelines towards us. Mandy then asked, "But how come you didn't let the people with the safety net catch me?" "That's what I'd like to know." Dumbledore said, before I could answer. He had arrived there before the rest of the crowd. "And I'd like to know about these wings" Chrestomanci said, stepping out of the crowd and touching one of my wings. His hand went through my magic and I called my magic back into myself. I groaned, Why had he been watching the match? Him of all people! "The net is broken. See?" I explained. I called the net to me and held it for them to see, pointing to the section that had been removed and replaced. "The section that you're pointing to is as good as new." Dumbledore answered, "There's not a thread out of place." "It just looks like it's as good as new." I said, frustrated. "Can't you see that the entire middle section of the net has nothing in it except for a fake hologram of red lines?" "I think that you are seeing things." Draco commented, stepping out of the crowd. "Yeah, maybe Sara just wanted attention." Alex said, coming up behind Draco. His disguise was still up and, to my eyes, he was smiling mischievously at me. "You!" I accused, pointing a finger at Alex. "If you think that I'm just going to let you-" "Calm down, Sara." Chrestomanci said, placing a hand on my shoulder. I wriggled away from his touch and scowled. He continued, "Don't blame other people for your mistakes." "Excuse me?" I asked angrily. "My mistakes? I did not make and mistakes. I can't believe that you would listen to Alex and Draco instead of me!" "That's not Alex, Alex looks completely different." Chrestomanci said. "Hey, if you're so sure that the net is broken, why don't you stick your hand in and show us all?" Alex taunted. "Yeah, or are you afraid that you're wrong?" Draco joined in. "Fine!" I declared. "Just watch!" I stuck my hand boldly through the hole in the net and instantly the red lines turned to black and read lightning. The lightning wriggles up my arm like a snake and slithered across my skin until hand made a net of its own. "Hey!" I shouted. "What gives?" Alex laughed evilly and came over to where I was now kneeling on the ground with the net of lightning flaring around me. He turned to face his audience and said, "Thank you so much for playing right into my hands." Alex clapped his hands and disappeared. I felt the lightning lifting me into the air and screamed as something came away from me with a jolt. No one could hear me, no one could see me. All they saw was the white, transparent figure that had come away from me. One of my lives was dead.

"Sara! Where were you last night?" Hermione demanded when I woke up. "Being interrogated by the guest speaker, wandering through unfamiliar halls, and confronting an idiot of an evil stalker." I answered cheerfully. I had dreamt happy dreams and was feeling good. "Seriously, where were you?" "Seriously, exactly where I just said." "Whoa, you have the weirdest life." "If only you knew!" I mumbled as I got ready for breakfast. Breakfast was boring and uneventful. In fact, everything until Potions was too. The only slightly interesting thing that happened before Divination was in Potions. "So, Miss Serenity," Snape said casually, loudly enough for the whole class to hear. "Since you still have that truth spell on you, I think that you should share how you made your 'wonderful' potion for the lovely test we had the other day." "I don't think so." I replied. It was the middle of the class and I returned my gaze to the lab book I was supposed to finish reading by the end of class. "Oh, but I insist. How did you make the potion for the test we had?" he asked. I shrugged and kept my eyes on the page I was reading as I spoke. "Water, flour, and sugar." I answered as if it was some boring fact that I regularly recited. "It worked, didn't it?" I heard snickers and giggles but couldn't tell whether the class was with me or against me. Snape seemed to think that they were against me because he look pleased with himself. I didn't doubt his assumption because I had never been liked by most of the class. At least he left me alone after that. Class ended smoothly and the day progressed. Only Divination brought fun into my day. We were learning to read tarot cards, and I actually predicted some of the fortunes quite accurately. Tanilla only stopped by during my free period, and that was only to thank me for keeping my promise. I sighed. The only part of my day that was going to be interesting would be the question and answer round that was going to be held every day until I answered whatever questions that Chrestomanci had in store for me. I glanced at my watch. Ten minutes until dinner. I sighed again and decided to write Brian a letter. By dinner time, it was written and sent via hand mirror. The finished letter read; Hi Brian, Life's boring, but I did make a few friends. Oh yeah, one of them asked me out, but I turned him down. I'm not sure but I think that maybe, just maybe, you've been flirting with me but, again, I'm not sure. Hey, maybe you want to go see a movie or something when I get back. As long as it's not that new Harry Potter movie. *Cringe* Has your dad ever put a truth spell on you before? He put one on me while parading around the school as our "guest speaker" and pretending not to know me while in public. At little meetings/interogations, on the other hand, he's always the one who's yelling at me. How can you put up with him? Anyway, thanks for keeping me updated on school work. I really appreciate it. It's nice to know that someone still cares. Oh yeah, before I finish this letter, I have to tell you a few things. You are not to tell ANYONE them. #1, I like you, a lot. Do you like me too? #2, That Alex guy is stalking me now but I've decided not to tell your dad that. #3, I didn't have to give this to Dumbledore to give to your dad to give to you because I figured out how to send it myself. That ought to keep my privacy. #4, Your dad doesn't know about this letter or anything, so please don't tell him. Luv ya, Sara I rushed down to dinner, I was right on time. It had taken longer than I had expected to direct Brian's letter to the right place. As soon as the food appeared, I hungrily grabbed a few rolls of bread and put them on my plate. I took a big bite of one of the rolls and chewed on- nothing. Surprised, I glanced at the hand that held the roll, the roll had disappeared. I tried, again, to bite another roll, the same thing happened. "Hey! What keeps happening to my bread?" I exclaimed. "Well," Hermione said thoughtfully, "Did you forget to do something for one of the teachers before you came down here?" "I don't thinks so. Oh shoot!" I exclaimed, standing up and grabbing a few rolls. "I totally forgot about the interrogation!" I stuffed the rolls into a quickly conjured bag and, before anyone could ask questions, raced out of the dinning hall. I climbed the stairs to Dumbledore's office in record time and flung open the door. I was trying to get my breathing back to normal as I entered the room. "Let me guess," Chrestomanci said, "You forgot?" "As a matter of fact, I did. Hey, who's idea was it to make it so that you can't eat if you forgot to do something for a teacher?" I demanded, putting my hands on my hips. "Mine." Dumbledore announced. "It works well." "Yeah, so I noticed." I replied, seating myself in a free chair. "Hey, how come you guys all come, when only Chrestomanci does the questioning?" "Well," Professor McGonagall explained, "Severus and I are here because I'm somewhat responsible for you and he was the person in charge at the time of that incident with flying occurred." "And I'm here because I'm the head of Hogwarts." Dumbledore added. "Oh," I concluded. "Well... Shall we get this over with, I did end up being deprived of food." "That's your own fault but, yes, let's get this over with. Where shall we begin?" Chrestomanci asked. "How about asking how my day was?" I suggested sarcastically. "Actually, let's not. So... How does one word this... What, exactly, happened at gym class when Professor Snape was a substitute?" "Well," I began, "When I entered the courtyard, I saw everyone lined up and ready to fly, so I went over to a free broom and-" "That's not what I meant and you know it." Chrestomanci snapped. "Yeah, I know it, but the spell you put on me requires me to answer everything exactly. So if you're finding it so much trouble, why'd you make it that way?" I shot back, scowling. "But there's no good way to word the question!" Chrestomanci exclaimed. "You should have thought of that before you cast the spell!" I shouted. There was a brief moment of silence and many brief glares exchanged during that moment. "You two argue like you're family." Dumbledore commented. I glared at him and he shrugged. "Hey, how long is this going to take anyway?" "As long as it needs to." Chrestomanci answered. "Well, I think I'll leave now then." Professor McGonagall said as she moved towards the door. "Me too." Snape said, following Professor McGonagall's lead. "I think we should let you two duke this out on your own." Dumbledore agreed, following Snape. "You're going to leave me here with him?" I protested. "I'm sure you'll live, Sara. How else could you have survived he past half of a year?" Dumbledore asked. "With my friends by my side!" I yelled after them, but the door closed before I spoke. I crossed my arms and sat back in the chair, staring angrily at the walls. Silence screamed in my ears and, finally, Chrestomanci broke the silence. "I guess I'll change the subject... So, uhm... Any news about Alexander?" he asked. I rolled my eyes. "Yeah, he's the stupidest evil person I've ever met." I replied. I wasn't in the mood to keep that little secrets, besides, I was starved and would probably be let go if I told Chrestomanci at least one thing. "You've met him?" Chrestomanci asked suspiciously. "Yep. Yesterday evening, in fact. He scared me a little, but he doesn't know anything about being evil." "And I'm sure you told him how he could improve on that." Chrestomanci remarked sarcastically. "Yeah, I told him that, before you do something like kidnapping, you have to plan farther than capturing the victim, bringing them to your hideout and tying them up." "You know that you should have told me." "What's the use? You never do anything that would help the situation and besides, how am I supposed to call you? You modified that stupid spell's affect on this world. Saying 'Chrestomanci" doesn't work." "I resent those remarks." "Then deal with it." "That is extremely rude." "I wasn't trying to be polite." I replied casually as a great rumble of hunger rose in my stomach. Chrestomanci smirked. "Hungry?" "So? It's not like you care." "That's an unfair statement." "Well it's true." "Sara..." "Stop giving my that look! Hey, it you do care, it's not like you show it." "Well, you never give me any reason to!" "My parents and I always work things out and we don't use truth spells or anything on each other." "I only put that on you to teach you a lesson." "And what was that? That telling the truth can embarrass you, put you in danger, and affect your reputation?" "Not exactly... I guess I never thought that it could work out badly." "Now, thanks to that spell, I don't think I'll ever want to tell the truth again!" "Oh brother." "Sometimes, I wish that I was just a normal girl, so that I wouldn't have to put up with anything but what a regular person puts up with. Oh well, I wont bore you any longer. Oh yeah, one last thing." I concluded, opening the door. "And that is?" "Consider this, if someone doesn't want to tell you something, there's likely to be a reason." I said as I closed the door behind me and walked away. I woke up to a wonderful morning. The sun was shinning, the birds were singing, and the snow was falling. Thursday, the week was almost over. It had been a wonderful week, aside from the interrogations. Thinking of which... I thought,what started all of that anyway? Oh yeah, the flying thing. Maybe Chrestomanci will just give in. Hopefully! I put on a heavy jacket and proceeded to breakfast where I ate heartily. There were tests in every subject that day, so Professor McGonagall wrote me an excuse from classes and said I could go anywhere I wanted, as long as I didn't disturb any of the testing. After breakfast, I bounced from bed to bed, and everywhere else in the room too, with Tanilla. I was practicing gliding, when a book fell out of the air and hit Tanilla square in the back. Once I was done making sure that Tanilla was okay, I picked up the book. As I opened the old, leather book, a piece of paper fell out. I called it to my hand. It read; Dear Sara, I got your letter and have to say, I started laughing uncontrollably at that part about my dad. Did he seriously put a truth spell on you? When I was a little kid, I was very 'naughty' and I did all sorts of things. One of the things I did, was to squirt a lot of fruit punch into my dad's wardrobe... You know, with all of those fancy suits and things. I'll bet you're cracking up right now, but my dad was so made! He put a truth spell on everyone in the castle because he didn't know who'd done it. (I was so small that he didn't suspect me, but he put a truth spell on me anyway, just to be fair.) Well, anyway, that certain spell made it so that, if I lied, slowly, my toys would disappear. Needless to say, I was very upset when all of my toys had disappeared. Of course I confessed right away, but overtime there was another truth spell, I made a game of seeing how long I could hold out. There's no moral to my story, but sometime I'll tell you more of the tricks I played. Like when I put fake dog poop on one of the chairs in the dinning hall, and then everyone went searching for a dog. They never found one, but I kept placing fake poops so it was a wild goose chase, you should have seen it. There was a mob going from room to room. A movie? Sounds great. *Laughs* Want to go see the new Harry Potter one? Just kidding. But seriously, do you want to go see Monsters Inc.? I think that one will be funny. Uh, don't worry, I wont tell anyone those secrets. In fact, I snuck this note to you from school. Let's see... What else was I going to say...? Oh yeah, I found that book in the library. It's not as old as it looks, and I think you'll like it. It was written in 6B, I think. Aaaah! Run! Okay, am I scaring you yet? Uh oh, Mrs. Cleo is giving me weird looks, so I'm going to send this now. Keep in Touch, Brian P.S. If looks could kill I'd be a dead man. Rose and Lanie are giving me looks! They say to tell you to write them too and that they're going to write you, and I'll send them. Or else! I laughed, it was a funny letter. Perhaps we could "pass notes" all day. "Tanilla. Read this!" I said, passing the small fairy the letter. She burst into fits of laughter. "Tell me when you get another letter with what Brian did when he was little! Hey, what's the name of the book?" Tanilla asked. I turned to the title page of the book. "Escape." I said. "Hey, I'm going to reply to this letter and start reading the book, but I'll tell you if I get word of anything interesting or funny, okay?" "Sure. Catch you later." Tanilla said, flying up to a nearby window. I replied to the letter immediately. Hey Brian, I'm watching your class on my mirror right now. Are you aware that the person behind you is putting tape rolls all over you and your desk? Haha! There's one in your hair now! Be sure to tell my friends "hi" for me. Oh my gosh, you were such a bad little boy! Tell me more! Monsters Inc. sounds great. I was planning on seeing it anyway so let's go see it together! Does Mrs. Cleo think you're admiring yourself in a mirror or looking at mirror writing or something? Gosh! How can you not feel that there are three tape rolls in your hair???? As soon as you get this letter, turn around, wave to me, and then start yelling at the kid in back of you. Escape looks good, I'll start it right away. I've got free period all day because of winter exams! We can keep this up all day! Tell Rose and Lanie to write me during lunch. Catch You Later, Sara I sent the letter and waited for Brian to read it. Suddenly, he turned around and waved to me. I burst out laughing when the teacher asked him what he was doing. The kid behind didn't know what hit him when all of the tape rolls became attached to him! The whole episode was great. Brian changed classes and I started reading Escape as I waited for another letter. It was really good. I got up to the part where the main character had gotten a letter from her parents when I got another letter from Brian

The remainder of the day was a living nightmare. I was unable to convince anyone that the spell had been removed. As a result, they kept asking me embarrassing questions. I was extremely relieved when my free period came around. Since none had noticed that I hadn't been in the library yesterday, I stayed in the Gryffindor girls' chambers, doing my Algebra 2 homework. I was, at least, three-quarters of the way through my homework, when something whizzed past my ear. I instantly became alert and scoured the room with my gaze until I was sure that there was nothing there with me. I returned to doing my homework until, out of the corner of my eye, I saw a twinkle of light. It was gone when I glanced in that direction. "Hello?" I asked loudly, "Is someone, or something, there?" I heard a fluttering of wings and the pink light from the broom practice, set itself down right in front of me. The light dimmed and I saw the small figure of a fairy. "Hi!" exclaimed the fairy's, quick, high-pitched voice. "I'm Tanilla, are you Moonlight? Well, that's a stupid question, of course you are. Are you going to say anything?" "Yes, my fairy friends call me Moonlight. How and, more importantly, why are you here? Not to be rude or anything, just curious." I asked. Tanilla was one of those people who has a lot to say, says it quickly, and then thinks you're being quiet. "Well, as for how, the Fairy Queen got me here, duh. As for why, to keep you from danger and help you discover new things about yourself. The Fairy Queen seems to like you because she says that when you're Chrestomanci, you're gonna unite the fairies and the humans and all that, but, you know, people are always starting rumors so I don't know if it's true or not. Boy, are you shy or something 'cause you're awfully quiet." "Uhm..." I said. "Do you think I talk fast? My friends think I talk fast and I'll understand if you think so too." she gabbed. "Yeah, I think you talk quickly..." I replied. "So... How did you do that? The wing thing, I mean." "That? That was easy, all I had to do was take a tiny bit of your magic and tell it to do something in particular. Whoever taught you must be really unorganized 'cause we teach your younglings stuff like that in their first year of school." I rolled around on the bed laughing my head off and clutching my sides. Tanilla gave me a queer look and began to hover above my pillow. "Sorry," I said, gasping for breath, "but, it's just that nobody's ever called him unorganized before. At least, to my knowledge." I explained. When I stopped laughing, I asked, "Could you teach me how to do that on my own?" "Sure," she said, "piece of cake. All you have to do is imagine the shape that you want the magic to fill, and what purpose it will serve. Understand? Good, now try it." I stood up on the bed, nearly falling down a few times, and began to jump up and down. As I bounced, I imagined the wings and set my magic to work. I bounced once more, and then flew up into the air. I hit my head on the ceiling a few times, and then began to learn how to control my movements. Soon, I was in total control, and was soaring around the room with Tanilla circling me. "Oh yeah, Moonlight, don't tell any grownups anything I told you. You can only tell one person, and that has to be someone you really trust not to tell anyone else." Tanilla ordered. I was specially careful to get to dinner on time and got there as they were letting people into the dinning hall. We filed in orderly and sat at our usual table. There were only the usual announcements before dinner but, after dinner, I received a note that I was to go to Dumbledore's office. I parted with my friends and ascended the spiral staircase leading to Dumbledore's offices. When I got to the office door, I recalled the promise that I had made to Tanilla, not to tell any grownups about what she had told me. Taking a deep breath, I entered the room. "What took you so long?" Chrestomanci asked, the moment I entered the room. "Nice to see you too, Mr. guest-speaker-who-doesn't-know-my-name." I replied, sitting down in the only chair left open. The only people there were Chrestomanci, Dumbledore, Snape, Professor McGonagall and myself. I sat back in the chair and prepared for an illusive round of question and answer where I would give true answers, just not the ones they wanted to hear, thereby avoiding pain or at least diminishing it. "We all know why we are assembled here, so I'll cut to the chase. What are you hiding from us?" Chrestomanci questioned. "A lot. It depends on how you are going interpret the question." I answered. No pain yet, I was using a loophole in the spell. "Very funny." he said sarcastically. "what, from yesterday, have you not told us?" "Oh, there's so much! Where should I begin? Well, when I woke up-" "Ha ha. What did you leave your story yesterday evening, when we questioned you?" "I left out... I left out seeing a bright flash of light." I answered. Big mistake. There was a glint in Chrestomanci's eye and a flash of pain from the spell, for leaving things out. "Now we're getting somewhere. Do you know what the light was?" he said enthusiastically. I diverted my eyes and bit my lip. "Yes," I said, giving in to the pain. I could feel everyone's eyes on me. I hastily added, "But I'm not going to tell you anything!, even if my head kills me!" "Why not?" Chrestomanci asked simply. I knew that he wanted me to give the assembled group a hint as to what it was. "Because I promised my friend that I wouldn't!" I replied. This wasn't the type of answer they wanted. "Who, or what, is your friend?" Chrestomanci asked. I could see Tanilla hovering behind a light, waiting for my answer. "His name is Max." I lied. I hid the pain and no one seemed to notice. "Happy? I spilled my guts, can I go now?" "Not quite, one last question." "Yeah, What's that?" "Why do you think that you can lie to me when I have a truth spell on you?" Chrestomanci asked. "Why do I need to tell you anything?" I asked back, sharply drawing a breath. "You of all people should know when to stop something." "Well, you aren't making any of our lives any easier." Chrestomanci said, glaring at me. My head hurt badly with a skull splitting migraine. "I believe that you are in pain from two, very large, questions worth of lies. Will you tell us now, and get the truth spell taken off immediately? Or would you rather that I keep it on you until tomorrow, or however long it takes to get the truth out of you? I warn you, I will persist. I am tired of you hiding things from everyone." "I'd rather that you just take the spell off now." I said, not answering either question. "Fine, have it your way. I'll see you tomorrow evening before dinner." "Fine, have it your way, I'll be there, but you'll get nothing from me." I answered as I stood up and exited the room. I stumbled through the hallways, almost blind, wishing that someone would ask me a simple question. I had lost my way, due to lack of sight from crying and pain, and wandered off somewhere unknown to me. After about half an hour. I came to a large room that was very similar to the Gryffindor main room. I collapsed onto one of the armchairs and sobbed into the soft fabric. "Who are you?" a voice asked. I stopped crying. Finally, a simple question. "Sara Sabrina Serenity." I answered and all of the pain that I had been enduring went away. "The new kid for Gryffindor?" the girl asked. She was tall, skinny, and had jet black hair. Her hair was pulled back into a neat bun and her bright green eyes glared at me. "Yeah, that's me." I replied, standing up and extending my hand to her. "Who are you?" "Amanda Sparkson," she answered, folding her arms across her chest, "Slytherin." "Well then, I guess I'm more lost than I thought." "You better believe it. Hey, listen, we are all supposed to watch you and hate you and all, so maybe it's best if you leave." "Huh? Why are you supposed to hate me?" "Draco's orders." she said solemnly, and then laughed, "That was pretty funny, though, seeing him insulted like that, but watch your back, he'll try to get you back, real bad." "Thanks for the warning. Hey, how come you're warning? I appreciate it and all, but aren't all Slytherin people supposed to be mean and evil and stuff?" I asked, confused. She shrugged. "We're not all bad, some of us hate it here. We can't ever make friends because of our rep. and if we do, our friends get tormented by the other Slytherins until they don't want to be friends with us anymore." "well, you seem nice... and I'm already being tormented so it doesn't matter if they try anything else. Do you want to be my friend?" I asked. Amanda looked around nervously. "I don't know... I'm not even supposed to be talking to you..." "Aw, come on. How are you ever going to make friends if you don't break a few rules? Besides, I can let hint to others that not all Slytherin are bad, Amanda." We stood in silence for a few moments. Finally, she extended her hand. "I guess, but if anyone asks, we don't know each other, and I hate you." she cautioned. "And it's Mandy." I smiled and we shook hands. She grinned and I said, "I better be 'getting lost' now. The only problem is, I don't know how to get back to my chambers." "Oh, no problem. Go to the end of the hall, turn left, and take the second hallway on your right. That'll get you back to the main hall, and I assume that you can get back to Gryffindor from there." "I sure can. Thanks, Mandy." "Any time, Sara." I walked off, following Mandy's directions. When I got to the main hall, the first thing I saw was my reflection in the large mirror with which I had first attempted escape from "Harry Potter Land." My face was red from crying, my hair was messed up from me clutching it when I had been in pain and my expression was happy. I stepped loser to the mirror and redid my hair. As I was winding my scrunchy tighter, a shadow ran past me. I froze, petrified with fear. It was bad enough to read about things like this in books, let alone experience it. "This really is not funny. Show yourself immediately, whoever you are!" I commanded, willing the fear out of my voice. When nobody answered, I turned to run for the door that led to Gryffindor and choked on a muffled scream. There, in front of me, was a shadowed figure. The person stepped closer and let the torches in the hall dimly light his face. I opened my mouth to scream but the boy put a finger to his lips to hush me. "Be careful what you ask for. You just might get it." he said. Who are you and what do you want?" I demanded, even though I knew the answers. "Why, don't you recognize me, Sara?" I've always been told how much I look like my brother." Alex teased. "Don't be so hard on yourself. You don't look that ugly." I told him. "It amuses me how you can still be so... lively and fresh, even when you're terrorized." Alex remarked. "I am not terrorized!" I shot at him. "Then how come you look like a deer that's about to be hit by a car and can't get out of the road?" Alex asked casually. I glanced at the mirror. I did look terrified. "Because I've read one too many mystery books." I said and sighed. IT was true, whenever I read a mystery book, like Nancy Drew, I was drawn in to it and couldn't stop reading. I would always end up freaking myself out and jumping at every shadow. "What a shame." Alex said sarcastically as an evil smile spread across his face. "I'll add that to something not to tell evil people." I noted. "Yes, you do that." he said. A few minutes of silence passed before a look of frustration crossed Alex's face. "Well?" "Well, what?" "Aren't you going to ask me how I found you and what I plan to do about you?" "Nope." "You're no fun! Why not?" "Because I already know that your butler, or whatever, told you and I don't really care what you plan on doing because I'm going to leave now. Bye bye." I said, smiling and waving. Alex looked stunned for a moment and then resumed his evil expression. "I'm afraid that you wont be leaving. You will be accompanying me to one of Daray's summer homes." "Uh huh, sure." I said in a disbelieving tone. "And what are you going to do after that, genius?" "Well, uhm..." "That's what I thought. You're a clue less ninny. Run along now like a good little boy and come back when you actually have a plan, okay?" Alex looked dumbfounded as I walked right past him. What and idiot, I thought as I returned to Gryffindor.

Herbology was rather boring because all we had to do was copy down notes on various herbs. Magical Creatures was quite nice because Hagrid, the teacher and caretaker, had brought in a baby dragon, also known as a dragonet. Upon seeing me, the dragonet tackled me and started licking my face. It turned out that this was one of my friends from the enchanted garden and that it had, somehow, ended up in the world where it was now. I took it that it was not usual for humans and dragons to get along well when, glancing around, I noticed that some of the people who surround me, had dropped their jaws very, very low. I then told the dragonet to act like it usually would towards humans to me, while we were near a lot of people. Magical Creatures was fun, so much fun that time sped by and soon, Hermione, Ron, Harry, and I were rushing back to the main hall, so as not to be late for lunch. The first class after lunch was Divination with Professor Trelawney. As I entered the room, many aromas met my nose. I eventually got used to them, but, for the first five minutes, I had trouble breathing. Professor Trelawney was a scrawny little woman. She offered us all tea before class started, which really made me think that she was crazy. "Today, we will se what you have learned about reading a crystal ball. Sara, you haven't learned any of this yet, but you are welcome to try." Professor Trelawney invited. As class proceeded, everyone, except me, gazed into the orb and described to the class what they saw. Professor Trelawney then called on the rest of the class to interpret the vision. "Okay, Sara." Professor Trelawney said, "It's okay if you don't see anything, but if you do see something, be sure to tell us what, Okay? Even if you only see blobs, still tell us." I sat down in front of the crystal ball and gazed into its depths. I was about to give up all hope, when I saw a flicker of light in the sphere. As I looked harder, two people came into focus. One was a tall man that was dressed as a butler, the other was a boy that looked as though he might be near my age. I told the silent class this and they began to discuss. Two voices drifted to me from the scene and I heard the people talking. "Have you discovered her whereabouts yet?" the boy asked impatiently. "Yes, master Alex." the gentleman replied. "Well, where is she?" the boy demanded. "She is in the world in which the Harry Potter books take place." "How did she end up there?" "Apparently, he was going to send her to a world to hide from you. She got mad at him and asked him, sarcastically, if he was going to send her off to 'Harry Potter land' and he did it." the gentleman informed the boy. The boy laughed softly. "well, I guess I shall have to pay her a visit. It wont be as easy as I had expected, what with all of those witches and wizards around, but, no matter. What shall my method be? Quick and to the point, or slowly and stalking?" "Well, stalking would, probably, give you the most fun..." "Great," said the boy, "then we are agreed. Stalking her it is!" The crystal ball then went blank and my thoughts turned back to the class. Professor Trelawney was still discussing what I had told them, but, obviously, no one besides me had heard the conversation between the butler and the boy. As the realization that the conversation had been real came to me, I began to fidget. Now I was going to have a stalker? That was just my luck. Let's see, I though, I have a stalker, a mysterious light, people who hate me for one little mistake, and I have Potions with Snape next. Oh yeah, I'm having a great time here..... NOT! "Sara." someone said. I snapped out of my daydream. It was Ron. I stopped. "Are you okay, Sara? Ever since Divination, you've been acting like you're in a trance." "I'm fine." I said. I smiled. "It was nice of you to be concerned though." "Oh." he said, blushing a little. I looked down. "Yeah." I stammered. "Hey, I... I... Uhm. You want to go down to the main town some time...." Ron invited. "I... Uhm... really like you." "Uhm." I said, blushing a deep shade of the brightest red. I had to come to a decision now. Did I like Brian or not? "I can't. See... I really like another guy... His name's Brian..." "Oh," Ron said, a little disappointed. "That's okay." "Sorry." I said as I started for Potions, the dreaded class. When I got there, the only free seat was in the very front. Just my luck, I thought. Snape gave me the evil eye as I sat down, I was the last person to come. "Late on your first day, Ms. Serenity?" he asked accusingly. I was shocked. "I am not late! I'm a full minute and a half early!" I argued. "Arguing with the teacher, five points off of Gryffindor!" Snape said, concealing his obvious delight. Oh great, I thought, Now I must be really hated. I was silent for the most part, until the lesson actually began. We had a pop quiz, honor of moi. Now I was miserable, everyone hated me, except for Hermione, Ron, and Harry, and I was going to fail this test. "For a hundred points, you will prepare a potion to turn a fellow classmate's hair green." Snape announced. Only I groaned. That made Snape turn to me. "Is there something wrong Ms. Serenity?" "Nope. Just nervous, that's all." I said, giving the class a big smile. Each person had their own cauldron and I quickly summoned one. I knew that I shouldn't have done that but I was desperate. I opened the book with how to make a potion. I had never heard of many of the ingredients, let alone knew what they looked like. I heard poofs from the cauldrons to either side of me as Snape announced that we had two minutes left. I panicked and waved my wand over the weird soup that I had made to look like the goo in some of the other pots. It was only flour, water, and brown sugar, but it looked good enough to fool people. As Snape came around, he made two people try the potions on each other. He obviously enjoyed causing chaos because, when someone got the potion wrong, the tester got mad at the potion maker. When it was my turn, I got an evil glare. I hoped with, all my heart, that the spell I had cast with my wand would do the trick. The tester raised the potion to their lips and sipped it a little, waiting for the worst. The girl's hair turned a very cool shade of pale green. The girl exclaimed about how good the potion tasted and Snape sneered. He grabbed the potion and took a gulp. His hair turned a bright green and the class began to laugh but Snape paid no attention to them. "What the heck is this made out of?" Snape demanded. "Uhm... the things on the list." I said hopefully. "You aren't fooling anyone, give me your wand and make the potion again." he commanded, extending his hand. I gave the wand to him and my classmates crowded around to examine it. It seemed as though they had never seen a silver wand with patterning before. I shrugged and made the sugary goo. I sent my magic into the potion, making it work the way I wanted it to. "Now we shall see if you cheated or not. Surely this sugar and water could not perform as a true potion would." Snape said, loud enough for all to hear. He did a spell on his hair to turn it to its proper color again. Then, he drank the potion I had made. His hair returned to the bright green it had previously been and the whole class burst out laughing. "Very well, I don't know how you did it, but I will find out." he declared, and that was the end of that. I sighed deeply and let myself fall onto my bed. I had a free period so that I could catch up on any work from 6B. I only had a bit of homework and it couldn't do me any harm to just lie on the bed for a while. The next thing I knew, the bell was ringing for two o'clock, the halfway point of this period. Oh shoot, I thought, They're going to wonder where I am if I don't hurry to the library. I grabbed my work and stuff my beloved hand mirror in my pocket. I decided to try an experiment and use a mirror to get to the library so that I wouldn't be so late. The experiment worked and I was soon standing among shelves stuffed full of books. As I sat down at one of the many tables, I recalled the strange dream I had dreamt in the short amount of time that I was asleep. I had dreamt of a girl that looked just like me except for red hair. Before my eyes, my hands had handed the girl a necklace in which there was an angel holding a black orb. Upon giving it to her, the orb had turned bright red and the girl had sprouted wings. The thought occurred to me that this might be an effect of the strange aromas in Divination class, and that I should try to make the necklace and find the girl. I created a strand of liquid gold in the air, in front of me. The liquid bent to my will and soon I had it in the perfect shape, and, at my command, the liquid became solid. That had been easy, and fun. The orb was a different story. I experimented a lot with stones and finally came to the conclusion that it was not a stone that the orb was made of. I used a small glass sphere to contain a piece of magic. For the finishing touch, I put a lock on the orb so that only someone who exactly matched the girl from my dream would be able to use the necklace. My actions surprised me. Why am I so sure that the dream was a vision or something? I questioned myself. Oh well, it's too late to stop making it, it's already finished. I laid my hand mirror on the table in front of me and place the angel necklace on top of it, admiring my work. As I stretched my arms above me, the surface of my hand mirror rippled. Soon, my creation sank quickly through the surface. I grabbed for the angel, but it was too late, the angel was gone. I stared at the mirror and saw the angel falling, straight into the center of the star on the floor of the main hall, at the bottom of the main steps, in Chrestomanci Castle. The floor embraced the necklace and did not harm it in the least, instead, the necklace sank into it and became a part of the star. I stared in awe. There was the sound of soft footsteps behind me and I turned to see only shadows. "Hello?" I asked the empty row of books. "Is someone there?" My got a sinking feeling in my stomach and I took a step back, towards the table that my things were on. I whirled around at the sudden sound of someone running. I was in time to see a cloak disappear behind a shelf of books. I was terrified, absolutely terrified. "Whoever that is, it's not funny. Show yourself!" I shouted. There was no answer. I raised my hand and a powerful light filled it, banishing the shadows. There was no one in the small part of the library that I was. Only books met my darting glance. I grabbed up all of my things and ran towards the entrance of the library at full speed. The librarian gave me a stern look and I slowed to a walk. I walked as quickly as I could back to the girls' chamber for Gryffindor, jumping at every odd noise. I was surprised that no one came back to the girls' chambers before dinner. The only reason that I had the faintest idea that it even was dinner, was that the bell rang. I leapt a foot in the air when I realized that I was late. I quickly grabbed my wand, my hand mirror, and the book I had been reading for Language Arts class. When I entered the dinning hall, everyone was already eating. I found Hermione and the others and sat down at the seat they had saved me. "Sara," Hermione said excitedly. "They had a fabulous show right before dinner and then there was an announcement. The show was some really interesting magic that some man performed. The announcement was that the same guy was going to be a guest speaker for Transfiguration class, tomorrow." "That sounds cool. Is the person still here?" I asked. The whole idea of a magic show thrilled me. "Yeah, he's eating dinner with us. Of course, they have him next to Dumbledore at the teachers' table." she said matter-o-factly. "They're going to let us shake his hand on the way out." "That is so cool! I can't wait." I replied. I hurried through dinner and started reading my book, waiting for the others to be done so we could leave. My thoughts were so deeply buried in the book, that Hermione had to poke me in the rib cage to get me to respond to anything. "We're ready, bookworm." she teased. I laughed and hit her lightly with the book. We had to wait in a big line to get out. It seemed that the stranger had to have been taking each person aside to make the line go so slowly. Finally, we were only a few people from the front, but I couldn't see the person because one of the tall boys was standing right in front of me. Hermione, who was in front of me the line, stepped forward to get her hand shaken. I was daydreaming when she tugged on my sleeve to tell me to move forward. I snapped out of my daydream, protested that Hermione was stretching my shirt. Then I turned to see who the guest speaker was. "What the heck are you doing here?" I said in surprise. "I'm the guest speaker." Chrestomanci said as if it were obvious. "You know what I mean!" I shouted at him. "May I ask your name?" he asked. "You know perfectly well that my name is Sara!" I said, annoyed. "Nice to meet you, Sara. I look forward to seeing you in Transfiguration class tomorrow." Chrestomanci said, shaking my hand. I stared blankly at him in disbelief. With that, he turned to the next person. I ran to where Hermione, Ron, and Harry were waiting. They asked why I had been so surprised and I answered them that the man was quite famous where I came from. They nodded as though they understood and we walked off. What are you trying to do, Chrestomanci? I asked myself. What are you trying to do....? I woke up a few minutes before the bell rang for wake up time, and hurried to the hall. I was the first person there. I stood at the teachers' table, waiting for someone to come. I waited for a good ten minutes before a teacher came in. It was Professor Sprout, the Herbology teacher. "Excuse me, Professor," said politely. "but, could you tell me where the guest speaker is?" "Uhm, I'm sorry, Ms. Serenity, but he's asked for us not to give away his location until his little... talk... starts." Professor Sprout stuttered. "I see. Well, can you at least tell me what world he's in?" I asked hopefully. "What world? What a silly question." the professor laughed and, with that, he dismissed my presence. I knew that I would not get any information from anyone unless I waited for Transfiguration. Slowly, the day passed so that it was my class's turn for the guest speaker. When we got to Professor McGonagall's room, there was a sign on the door that told us to go to the dinning hall. When the class had assembled and seated itself in the dinning hall, the lights flared and a puff of smoke flared on a nearby table. There were "Oohs," and "Aahs" from the class as the smoke cleared to reveal Chrestomanci in a dove gray suit. "Thank you, thank you." he said, bowing, as applause erupted at this trick. I scowled and Hermione elbowed me. "What?" I asked in a harsh whisper. "Show a little respect." she whispered back. As the class proceeded, Chrestomanci asked for volunteers. The volunteers were used to show a few petty tricks. The tricks were only things like levitating a person, changing the color of someone's robe, and tickling someone, without a wand. It was anything that someone at the Chrestomanci Castle would have learned during their first year of magic. I was appalled. By the time that there was only enough time for one trick left, every one except me had volunteered. "Now, for our last trick, do we have any volunteers that have not been called on yet?" Chrestomanci asked. Many people's hands shot up, even though they'd already volunteered. "Aah, Sara, why don't you come up here?" "Because I don't want to." I shot back at him. "Come now, don't be such a spoil sport." Chrestomanci said, acting slightly hurt. "I don't want to." I repeated. For that, I got Hermione's elbow in my side again. I glared at Chrestomanci, daring him to try to force me to play at his little game. "Okay, If you're afraid..." he teased. I heard some muffled laughs and taunts from the people around me. That did it. I stood up. "Fine." I said, still glaring at him. "Now, what is your name again?" Chrestomanci asked. "Sara." I said, feeling foolish just standing in front of everyone. "Well, Sara. I shall put you in a trance. Not just any trance, but a trance that will make you tell the truth to everyone and anyone who should question you." he announced, loud enough so that everyone could hear, and then, so that only I could hear, "You should have told us yesterday, when we couldn't embarrass you." I stood quite still as Chrestomanci waved his hand in front of my face. There was something foul smelling in his fist. When he opened it, a fistful of brownish-red dust flew at my face. I coughed as I inhaled the dust. Chrestomanci then sent his magic through the powder. The powder acted as a conductor would for electricity and even magnified it. I felt something take a hold of me with a fierce grip. Dragon's Blood, a voice in my head reminded me. That's what it was, it was Dragon's Blood. Chrestomanci couldn't make something last on me unless it was extra powerful, but with Dragon's Blood, the spell would stay. Chrestomanci mumbled some nonsense phrases to the audience and then snapped his fingers. The pressure on my temples vanished and I could breathe easily. "Now... Someone, anyone, ask this young lady a question, but raise your hand so that I can call on you." Chrestomanci requested. "You there!" he shouted, pointing to a girl with a red scarf. "Are you sorry for what you did to the people in Transfiguration, yesterday?" she asked. Chrestomanci raised an eyebrow at me, he obviously hadn't been informed about my little accident. "Yes, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to freeze anyone." I said. That had been easy, I had wanted to say that anyway. "How come your hair's so long?" one boy asked. "Because of an accident." I said. It was only half of the truth and I was fighting the spell. An intense throbbing in my temples made me grab my head. The next time I answered a question truthfully, the pain went away, but whenever I left even the slightest bit of an answer out, the pain returned. Slowly, my classmates began to realize what kind of questions they could ask. They started asking me things like, "What color underwear are you wearing?" and "How often do you take a shower?" I answered these questions, hoping that the end of class wound come soon, anything was better than this. The pain in my head was unbearable when someone asked a simple question that relieved my pain. "Who do you like?" someone asked. I turned red, and tried to delay my answer. "Brian Chant." I said slowly, and the pain in my head went away. At that moment, the class changed. I turned to Chrestomanci and demanded, "Take the spell off!" "Come up to Dumbledore's office after dinner." he replied. "Take it off NOW!" I shouted at him. He folded his arms on his chest and regarded me solemnly. "No. You will go around with that spell on until you tell me exactly what happened in yesterday's incident." he said sternly. "It wasn't that important!" I shouted, trying to hide the pain of the lie. he paused, and I felt him reaching into the spell. "Yes, it was, and you know it. I don't know why you aren't telling me, but I will find out. Only when I do, will you get that taken off of you. Now, better run along before Professor Snape yells at you." Chrestomanci told me. I rolled my eyes. "So are you stalking me too now?" I said. When he didn't respond, I stomped out of the room to Potions.

I woke up to the sound of girls getting ready for the day. I shook myself awake and tried to recall the basics that I had learned. I had successfully learned the basics of Herbology, Divination, History, and Magical Creatures., the only problem I could think of was the fact that I had only learned the basics. It had been hard work to cram a year's worth of knowledge for four subjects into a day, but we had pulled it off. I scrambled out of bed, dressed, and found my way to the dinning hall for breakfast. When I entered, everyone was staring me. Looking around, I realized that I was the only person not wearing a robe. I sat down in the seat that Hermione had saved for me. All through breakfast, I was terribly conscience of my long, khaki pants and my silver and pink T-shirt. When a flood of owls came soaring through the windows, I was just as alarmed as I had been the day before. Professor McGonagall took this time to come over and tell me my schedule. "You will, basically, have the same schedule as Hermione, except for one thing. When Hermione has Muggle Studies, you will have a study hall in the library to do some schoolwork from your school. All clear?" "Yes, Ma'am." I replied. After retrieving our books, Hermione and I went to History class with Professor Binns. Binns was a ghost because he had fallen asleep one night and had left his body behind when he woke up. Professor Binns droned on and on about a third world explosion that had caused chaos and evil to reign for the entire class. I had learned about that with Elwood so I just sat there and tried to look like I was listening. The next class was Gym with Madam Hooch. When I got there, everyone was standing by a broom, ready to fly. A sinking feeling went through my stomach. Hermione hadn't mentioned flying, she had probably taken for granted that I could manage a broom. Madam Hooch was sick that day so it was free play. I had found a broom stick that wasn't being used and stood by it, waiting for the substitute to come. Worse came to worse, Snape was the substitute teacher. "mount your brooms!" Snape called. "Everyone will fly unless you have an excuse from the nurse." "up!" everyone shouted. I hastily joined them. I almost didn't catch hold of the broom as it shot up off the ground. I followed Hermione's example by straddling the broom and pushing off of the ground with my feet. The broom shot upward and I began to panic. Eventually, I had the broom shakily crossing the field. Within ten minutes, I was a master of flight. I soared over to where Harry, Ron, and Hermione were playing with a red ball. "Hey, guys." I said. "Can I play?" "Sure," Ron replied, grinning. We played a game where the boys tried to get the ball from the Girls. As I became more familiar with catching passes on a broom, out team began to keep the ball away from the boys longer and the boys began to be able to keep the ball for less time. While Harry was passing the ball to Ron, Draco swooped down out of nowhere and intercepted the red ball. "Hey! Bring that back!" Ron yelled at Draco. "Come and get it, Weasley!" Draco yelled back. Before anyone could stop me, I made my broom shoot through the air after Draco. I heard shouts from the ground as I flew through the air. Draco glanced back at me and then changed course, heading for his two friends. One of his friends threw a black ball into the air. Of its own accord, the black ball tried to smash into me and I was forced to stop following Draco. I barely had time to dodge the ball. "It's a Bludger!" someone yelled. A Bludger was a Quidditch ball that tried to get people off of their broomsticks. The Bludger came at me from every direction but I managed to dodge it each time. Draco snickered and threw the red ball at me. I managed to catch the ball but, in the process, I lost sight of the Bludger. That one moment was enough time for the Bludger to sneak up behind me. I saw it too late and it hit the back of my broom when I dodged. The hit sent my broom spinning and when I righted the broom again, the Bludger was upon me. It hit the front of the broom when I dodged this time and I was thrown into the air. We were a good four storied high when I began to fall downward. I screamed. The ground was far away, but rapidly approaching. I crossed my arms in front of me as if that could have slowed me down, it didn't. My body was calm and relaxed, even as terror built up inside of me. All of a sudden, out of nowhere, a bright, pink sparkle of light came flying at me. It didn't stop when it reached me either, it just went straight through my chest, feeling like a feather brushing past me. With the light, I felt my magic come to life, spreading out like fairy wings. Then, I wasn't falling anymore, I was stopped, midair, with a slight breeze coming from above me. I had closed my eyes to prepare for impact, but now I opened them. I was still a story from the ground. People below me were ready to catch me in a net of magic. They were now shouting in amazement. Quickly, I pulled the abandoned broom to me with a rope of unseen magic. As I grasped the broom handle, I forced the fairy tale wings of magic back inside of me. They came back easily, not resisting in the least bit. The red ball that had started it all was nowhere to be seen, and then, it was being held inches from my face by the pink light. I got a grip on the ball and the light sped away as quickly as it had come. Slowly, I made the broom lower me to the ground. Immediately, people fell upon me with numerous questions. I remained silent, I had but one unspoken question. What was that light? Prescisely three minutes later, I was in Dumbledore's office, surrounded by Dumbledore, Snape, McGonagall, and Chrestomanci. I was sitting in a chair, looking down to avoid the glares. "Now, what, exactly, happened out there?" Dumbledore questioned me for the third time. "I told you! I was flying on a broomstick, playing nice with the other kids, when I started to play ball with Hermione, Ron, and Harry. After that, Draco swooped out of nowhere and grabbed our ball. I chased him to ask him to give it back and one of his groupies through a Bludger into the air. It didn't go for anyone else and I was dodging it nicely until Draco through the ball we had been playing with at me. Then I caught the ball, but the Bludger hit my broom, I fell off, and fell. I caught the broom and was fine." I repeated. It was the same story I had told them the first time and the second time too. It was all of the truth, I had just excluded the part with the light. I figured that since I didn't know what it was, I wouldn't tell them, and that they wouldn't have believed me anyway. "You are leaving things out!" Snape accused. "Quiet, Severus." McGonagall warned. "She was hovering in the air for a full minute before she caught the broom again! And besides, Draco did nothing of the sort, he told me himself. He said, 'The ball dropped and I caught it. Sara came at me like a mad woman and I ran from fear. Then the Bludger came out of nowhere and started going at us both. I dropped the ball and then Sara fell.' I, personally, believe him." Snape announced. I was sick and tired of Snape by now and was at the end of my wits. "Well, yes, you would believe him. You would believe anything your little pet said." I remarked. The moment I said it, I knew that it was a mistake. I saw pure hatred in Snape's eyes as his glare became more fierce. "That is quite enough from both of you!" Dumbledore shouted, making me feel like a little kid again. "Sara." Chrestomanci said seriously, sending a bit of magic out to make me look him straight in the eye. "What are you leaving out?" I said nothing. Breaking the piece of magic in half and looking away. I knew that he'd question me about how I'd done that, but I didn't care. I just wanted them to leave me alone. "Please?" he asked. Now I looked up of my own accord. I looked at everyone there. "I didn't come to this world by choice. I don't know what happens here and why. I just want to have normal fun that fits my age. That's all I left out. I left out all of my petty complaints. Now, may I be excused? I do have classes to go to and it is my first day." I said. The people around me were now the ones looking down. Dumbledore made eye contact with me. "Yes, you may go. Go back to Gym adn find Hermione, she'll be waiting for you." he said. "I better go too." Professor McGonagall announced. "I'm the teacher for the next class on her schedule Hermione didn't ask any questions when I found her. She was just happy that I was okay. We made our way to Transfiguration. When we got there, I was given a seat at the table next to Hermione. "Open your books to page 230 and take out your wands." Professor McGonagall told us, starting the class. When everyone had done that, Professor McGonagall had us try the exercise that was on the page. We had to freeze and unfreeze our partner's arm. MY partner was a redheaded girl who had identified herself as Lisa. I let her freeze my arm first and she checked the book for the words to say. "Freezarium!" Lisa declared. My arm felt cold, but I could easily move it. After a few tried, she could freeze and unfreeze my arm perfectly. When Professor McGonagall came around to check on us, she gave Lisa full marks on the exercise. When all of the first people had successfully frozen and unfrozen their partner's arm, we were instructed to switch roles. I took a deep breath and raised my wand. "Freezarium!" I declared, pointing my wand at Lisa's arm. "How does your arm feel?" Lisa didn't respond, she didn't even move. I heard some yelps from the people to my right and turned to see that all of the people, in the row behind where Lisa's arm was, were frozen. Soon, the whole class was crowded around the frozen people, poking them and muttering. I stepped away from the crowd and checked the book for the unfreezing words. "Okay, who is responsible for this?" Professor McGonagall asked curtly. Basically, no one knew. "She did it." Draco said, pointing a finger at me. I looked up from the book to see that everyone was staring at me. "I didn't mean to. It was an accident. I just said the words and pointed my wand at Lisa's arm!" I said, defending myself against the evil glares. "The unfreeze spell is Freezarium Reverso." Professor McGonagall informed me. "Freezarium Reverso!" I said, pointing my wand at the group of frozen people. They instantly became unfrozen. They were all traumatized. "Great," I muttered. " Now I'm public enemy number one." The rest of the class was spent by Hermione teaching me the basics of wand magic while the traumatized students were being comforted. Herbology was rather boring because all we had to do was copy down notes on various herbs. Magical Creatures was quite nice because Hagrid, the teacher and caretaker, had brought in a baby dragon, also known as a dragonet. Upon seeing me, the dragonet tackled me and started licking my face. It turned out that this was one of my friends from the enchanted garden and that it had, somehow, ended up in the world where it was now. I took it that it was not usual for humans and dragons to get along well when, glancing around, I noticed that some of the people who surround me, had dropped their jaws very, very low. I then told the dragonet to act like it usually would towards humans to me, while we were near a lot of people. Magical Creatures was fun, so much fun that time sped by and soon, Hermione, Ron, Harry, and I were rushing back to the main hall, so as not to be late for lunch. The first class after lunch was Divination with Professor Trelawney. As I entered the room, many aromas met my nose. I eventually got used to them, but, for the first five minutes, I had trouble breathing. Professor Trelawney was a scrawny little woman. She offered us all tea before class started, which really made me think that she was crazy. "Today, we will se what you have learned about reading a crystal ball. Sara, you haven't learned any of this yet, but you are welcome to try." Professor Trelawney invited. As class proceeded, everyone, except me, gazed into the orb and described to the class what they saw. Professor Trelawney then called on the rest of the class to interpret the vision. "Okay, Sara." Professor Trelawney said, "It's okay if you don't see anything, but if you do see something, be sure to tell us what, Okay? Even if you only see blobs, still tell us." I sat down in front of the crystal ball and gazed into its depths. I was about to give up all hope, when I saw a flicker of light in the sphere. As I looked harder, two people came into focus. One was a tall man that was dressed as a butler, the other was a boy that looked as though he might be near my age. I told the silent class this and they began to discuss. Two voices drifted to me from the scene and I heard the people talking. "Have you discovered her whereabouts yet?" the boy asked impatiently. "Yes, master Alex." the gentleman replied. "Well, where is she?" the boy demanded. "She is in the world in which the Harry Potter books take place." "How did she end up there?" "Apparently, he was going to send her to a world to hide from you. She got mad at him and asked him, sarcastically, if he was going to send her off to 'Harry Potter land' and he did it." the gentleman informed the boy. The boy laughed softly. "well, I guess I shall have to pay her a visit. It wont be as easy as I had expected, what with all of those witches and wizards around, but, no matter. What shall my method be? Quick and to the point, or slowly and stalking?" "Well, stalking would, probably, give you the most fun..." "Great," said the boy, "then we are agreed. Stalking her it is!" The crystal ball then went blank and my thoughts turned back to the class. Professor Trelawney was still discussing what I had told them, but, obviously, no one besides me had heard the conversation between the butler and the boy. As the realization that the conversation had been real came to me, I began to fidget. Now I was going to have a stalker? That was just my luck. Let's see, I though, I have a stalker, a mysterious light, people who hate me for one little mistake, and I have Potions with Snape next. Oh yeah, I'm having a great time here..... NOT!

I sped through dinner quickly and asked the head of the table if I could be excused to go to the bathroom. The girl told me that I didn't have to ask because we could leave at any time. "Do you want me to go with you?" asked Hermione. She was nice, smart, and quickly becoming my friend. "Sure. I'll probably get lost if you don't." I laughed. On the way back to the dinning hall, I spotted a large mirror and plotted a course through the people who were exiting the dinning hall to get to it. Hermione protested but hurried after me. I ran straight into the mirror and fell backwards. In a panic, I tried to put my hand through. The mirror remained solid. I was puzzled, the mirror was only supposed to be solid if I wanted it to be. I put all my weight against the mirror but there was only a slight ripple. "Hey, new girl." said someone behind me. I spun to face the boy. His dark features were almost evil. Neatly cut, black hair, dark eyes, and a tall figure in a snobbish pose. "That's a mirror, not a door, don't you know the difference?" "Leave her alone, Draco." Hermione ordered him. Draco, that's one of the bad kids, I remembered. "Put a sock in it, Mudblood." Draco snorted. Mudblood is an insult. Oh I remember now, I thought, this is one of the people who discriminates against 'muggles,' which are just regular people. Hermione's face became flushed with anger. "Hey, boy." I said mockingly to Draco. "If I'd known they were going to send a representative from the Committee of Retarded Snobs to greet me, I'd have prepared a gift basket. It'd have the usual, fruit.... a card.... a life..." Hermione laughed and so did every other person present, except for Draco. Draco was turning redder each moment. "Watch who you tango with, Serenity." Draco replied and turned to walk away. "Yeah, the stupidity might be contagious!" I called after him. The bystanders became helpless with laughter again. Hermione pulled me away from the crowd and over to where two boys stood apart from the crowd. One was a redhead with freckles and the other had dark brown hair and O-shaped glasses. "I don't think Draco's used to people laughing at him. Nice one, he'll be a laughing stock for days." the boy with the glasses commented. He extended his hand. "I'm Harry and this is Ron." I shook hands with both boys. I could see a scar that looked like lightning on his forehead when his hair parted slightly. Harry Potter and Ron Weasley, I noted silently. "What were you doing?" Hermione asked in an exasperated tone. I was saved from answering by Dumbledore coming up behind me and making a coughing noise in the back of his throat. "I hate to interrupt this friendly little conversation, but there's a... call waiting for you in my office." he informed me. I said good bye to the group and followed Dumbledore up many flights of winding staircase, until we came into an office. A mirror on an empty wall showed me a nervous, but well dressed, man. I stormed over to the mirror. "Do you have enough lives left for me to KILL one?" I asked innocently. "I'm sorry that we had to move you to another world. You may not have thought it necessary, but it was. I'll make sure you don't fall behind in your school work." Chrestomanci said. "Thank you so much!" I said sarcastically, "Now I can be in a totally different world with double school work!" "Look on the bright side, it'll be a good experience for you to learn some wand magic." Chrestomanci said cheerfully. "An experience I can do without!" I declared, trying to pass through the mirror. It was hard like wood and wouldn't change, no matter how hard I hit it. "Oh yes, I had to take precautions so that you'd stay put. You can't use the mirrors to get to any other worlds, you can only get to places inside of that world. You can, however, view things going on in other worlds. I'd appreciate it if you'd stop hitting the mirror because that's like you hitting a wall of my magic and it's a little bit unpleasant." he informed me. "So, when do you get to kiss a life good bye?" I asked sweetly. He smiled. I knew that he knew that I wouldn't really hurt him, physically. I might make his life harder for a while or something, but not anything physical. "As soon as Alex is found and put under surveillance." Chrestomanci said. "In the meantime, enjoy Hogwarts!" "No! You can't do this to me!" I screamed as the image faded. I pounded on the mirror until I sank to the floor with exhaustion. "Would you like to go to your room now?" Dumbledore asked gently. I nodded, holding back a stream of tears. Dumbledore waved his wand, summoning Hermione. Hermione and I chatted as we walked to the Gryffindor chambers. At first I was freaked out by the moving pictures, but Hermione reassured me that it was perfectly natural. I got over that until a picture of a rather large lady in a pink dress asked us what the password was. I jumped a foot into the air. "They talk too?" I asked Hermione. She laughed at the expression on my face. "Yeah, this one guards the door to our bed chambers." she explained. Then she turned to the door and said, "Moonbeam." The picture swung back to reveal a door. As Hermione had said, behind the door was the bed chamber. Hermione showed me to a bed on the far side of the room. On it, was a small bag, my hand mirror, and two notes. Inside of the bag was my entire wardrobe, my toiletries, and my jewelry, all shrunken down to fit perfectly. I let Hermione examine the bag while I read the two notes. The first was from Hannah. Dear Sara, I didn't know what you would want to take with you, so I just threw everything in. (Neatly, of course.) Leave me a message if you need anything. Lots of love, Hannah I smiled. It was just like Hannah to be so motherly. The next note was from Chrestomanci. Sara, I took a good look at that mirror of yours and I must say that I was quite impressed. You work well with spells. I know that you're probably not in the mood to get compliments or even to read anything from me, but please bear in mind that I do have to make hard decisions, and, in the end, it's for the best. Have fun. Sincerely, Chrestomanci P.S. Ariel's pregnant. P.P.S. Brian says that he'll take notes for you in class everyday until you come back and that he hopes you'll bring him something. I smiled even wider. Trust Brian to think about when I get back, when I've only just gotten somewhere. Then my face went blank. I read back over the note. "What the heck?" I shouted. Everybody in the room looked at me and I blushed. I whispered, "Oops." The letter said that Ariel was pregnant. Millions of questions were racing through my mind. With who? Varay? Aah! How could she? I'm never going to get over this! Is it a boy or girl? Wait a second! How many months pregnant is she? I'm never going to get over this! How did everybody react to this? Doesn't pregnancy usually come with some minor sickness? Oh my gosh! I wonder how Ariel's feeling. I'M NEVER GOING TO GET OVER THIS! "Have you ever used a wand before?" Hermione asked, snapping me out of my trance. "Uhm... Well... No." I concluded. "And they're going to put you with the fifth years even though you're only old enough for the fourth years? You'd think that they'd test fourteen year olds before they go and advance them a whole year! What about other things? Do you know anything about Herbology, magical creatures, or potions?" "I know some things about unicorns and dragons..." I said. "Well, at least you've got a start." "Well, can you teach me?" I asked hopefully. Hermione thought for a moment and then smiled. "I just wish they'd have given me more than a day before school starts. Let's get to work!" Hermione and I spent the whole night and most of the day going over things like Herbology, Divination, magical creatures, and some histories. It wasn't half as boring as I'd thought it was going to be! It was nearly midnight by the time we'd finished everything but wands and brooms. "I think we should stop for the night. We've been at it all day and all last night, we need our rest." Hermione said. "Besides, I don't think anyone will mind if you have a little bit of trouble working your wand in Transfiguration class with Mrs. McGonagall." "Thanks." I said in exhaustion. "Thanks for everything, Hermione." "You're welcome," she replied happily as we returned to our bed chamber. I got ready for bed and was just about to curl up and go to sleep, when an envelope hit me in the head. I muffled a gasp of pain and explanation and summoned a light. The envelope had "Sara" written on it. I opened the letter and read. Dear Sara, I trust my father has told you what's happened, and I'm sure you had a million thoughts running through your head. You must be so disappointed in me. Well, I just give you a heads up on what's going on. First off, Varay is the father. I'm about 5 weeks along right now. I'm very excited, I've always wanted children. Chrestomanci is now excited, he smiled after he had the heart attack. LOL. Anyways, there is some bad news that comes with this. I've decided not to become one of the Chrestomanci's. The job is all yours. However, I will need some source of income, and since I will be the second most powerful enchantress in all the known worlds, I was wondering if when you become Chrestomanci, maybe I could have a job at the castle? A magic teacher of some sort. Varay's already decided to be a stay at home daddy. He's going to be such a great father. He was singing to my stomach last night. It was so cute and he has such a wonderful voice. Before we went to sleep, he kissed my belly and told me he loved us both. It was so sweet. I choked down laughter for a few minutes and made a mental note to find out what jobs there were at the castle. Then I read on. Anyways, enough about me, how about you? You must be going crazy where ever you are. I know you are in hiding, but Chrestomanci is the only one that knows where. It's for the best, I'm sure. But I really could use another girl to talk to. And Brian's not much help. All he can talk about is you. He gets all red in the face when he talks about you and gets this glazed over look in his eye. I think he really likes you.......... I blushed heavily and kept on reading. Anyways, when I get my baby's first pictures done in a couple of weeks I'll send you over some copies. Oh, and I need some suggestions for names. Write back! Ariel Chant I made another mental note to write a list of cool baby names in the morning and fell asleep, dreaming of Brian, Ariel, and Babies.

"Yes, I'm not used to apologizing to teenage girls. Okay, I'm sorry that I was so quick to disbelieve you and I promise I'll be more considerate in the future." he said, piecing together the words as though he were being extremely careful of what he said. "Apology accepted." I said reassuringly. "Uhm, could you do me a favor?" "Sure, just as long as I don't get called for before it." he replied. "Could you look into my mirror and tell me the colors you see in the right corner?" I asked, taking the hand mirror out of my pocket. "Sure. What's it supposed to do?" he asked as I handed him the mirror. "Oh, uhm, just an experiment." I replied, trying not to seem too eager to get his answer. "Okay." he said as he examined the mirror. "There are quite a few spells on here," he commented. "Oh, yeah, I use that mirror a lot. Like when I was trapped inside of myself." I replied anxiously. "I'd love to borrow this sometime and examine it a little closer. Do you think I could?" he asked, still examining himself. "Sure, just hurry up." I said irritably. "Because you could be called at any time." I added hastily. "Oh, yes. The little box in the bottom right is... silver and.... purple. Ugh, not exactly my colors." he commented. "Thank you very much, may I have my mirror back now?" I said quickly, reaching for the mirror. "Sure, I'm getting a call anyway." he said, handing me back the mirror a split second before vanishing. I barely had time to get a firm grip on the mirror, but I managed not to drop it. So, I thought, I really am more powerful. How creepy. Now that I had the answer to my questions, I decided to find a logical explanation to the question that Brian had asked me. Why do my eyes glaze over right before I do something, that some would consider, heroic or special? I know it has something to do with the lady talking to me but I don't know who she is or why she talks to me. I had a whole conversation with myself on the subject but was unable to come up with a conclusion so I decided to go back to the library. No one was in the library when I entered even though I saw that someone had been there while I was gone. Luck was against me as I searched the many shelves and I found only a single book that had anything to do with Aesa. The book was old and written by hand. I brought the book over to one of the nearby tables and began to read the decaying volume from beginning to end. The biography was longer than it seemed and noted most of the things that had happened in Aesa's life. I began to skip over the pages when I got to when Aesa had just turned twenty-seven. The middle of the year was when a whole chapter was dedicated to Aesa's prophecy about a powerful, female Chrestomanci. It read; This Goddess of Destiny's last prophecy was her downfall. Even though many of her previous prophecies had been unbelievable, this one was, as some considered it, preposterous. Aesa's exact words were, "One day, I don't know when, but one day a young girl's magical powers will flourish and she will become Chrestomanci. So that the worlds may know when the right girl has come, I will have an amulet of silver made. A crescent moon the shape of this amulet, the goddess closest to this girl her guide through hard times. Only the girl of the prophecy will be able to wear the amulet." As many heard those words, they began to believe that Aesa was all washed up. Though all of her prophecies had come true before, no one believed her. Perhaps it was because people were so set in their ways that they though that only a male from the Chant family could be Chrestomanci, or maybe it was because females had no rites, whatever the reason, Aesa's life went downhill from there. The book then went on to explain how Aesa had been ridiculed, from then on, by all but a few. Her life had, indeed, gone downhill from there and her last prophecy went unbidden until after her death. The book ended a few years after Aesa's death, when a thief had stolen the amulet from the goddess's house of worship, and no one had known where the amulet was after that. Besides that the fact that everything in the book, except for one chapter, had been boring, I found that reading it had been a good idea. I now knew that the woman who spoke to me was the goddess closest to me, I just didn't know who that was. I stretched and returned the book to its place on the shelf . It was time for my lesson with Chrestomanci. He wont mind if I'm a little bit late, I thought as my watch told me that I was five minutes late. Little did I know that I would be adding that thought to my list, titled Famous Last Words and Thoughts I burst through the door panting. I had just run the half a mile from the library, at full speed. "I'm so sorry I'm late, but I was in the library, and I lost track of time." I said, gasping for air. "You'll have to do better than that." Chrestomanci replied coldly. "That wasn't a lie!" I said, recovering my breathe. "I meant your timing." he replied, turning to look out of the window. I became furious. "I was only seven minutes late!" I said in astonishment. "You'll just have to do better." he announced. "What did I ever do to you?" I shouted at him and then hastily added, "Recently." "You're right. I guess all the commotion that's going on is getting to me." he admitted wearily. "What commotion?" I asked sweetly. "Haven't you heard? Daray's little brother has it in for you." "Oh god, can't these people just leave me alone or die or something? Gosh!" "Obviously not. Now, I know that you're not going to like this but you'll have to go into hiding until Alexander can be found and put under surveillance." "Like I'm afraid of him? Yeah right!" "Alex is more powerful than Daray was." "And I'm more powerful than either of them. What's the big deal?" "The big deal is that he's a threat to you and we can't risk him getting his hands on you." "More like you can't risk it. I'm perfectly able to risk it. I'll be perfectly fine." "That's right, you'll be perfectly fine because you'll hide in a world that's, by far, out of the way." "Oh yeah? What are you gonna do? Send me off to Harry Potter land?" I asked sarcastically. "Actually, that's a better idea than where I was going to send you." he said thoughtfully. "And I suppose that you're read enough to be able to get around for at least a week." "Oh no," I said, backing up towards the door, "I'm not going and you can't make me!" He chuckled and raised his hands towards me. I tried to duck the bright flash of light coming towards me but failed. The world turned black and I began to fall. I landed, hard on my butt, on the dirt ground of a stadium. I looked around me and took in the sights and sounds present. There were people on brooms in the sky and people cheering things like, "Get the Snitch, Harry!" and "Way to dodge that Bludger!" "Oh, great." I sulked, "I must be in the middle of a Squid Ditch match!" "That's Quidditch, and may I ask who you are and what you are doing interrupting the match?" a skinny man with short black hair and cold eyes asked. "Uhm, would you believe that I don't know what I'm doing here?" I asked hopefully. The man scowled. "Come on, let's go have a nice little chat with Professor Dumbledore." the man said as he grabbed my arm and pulled me over to where an old man with a long white beard was sitting. I thought furiously to remember back to when I had read the Harry Potter books by J.K. Rowling. Dumbledore was the heard of the school. Oops, I thought, In trouble already and I don't even know what I'm supposed to say! "Here now, Snape. What's this?" Dumbledore asked irritably. He had obviously been enjoying the game. "This girl just landed on the field and she's been being fresh with me." Snape replied. Snape? I asked myself. Oh! Bad guy potions teacher that everybody who's not in the Sytherin house hates! I really gotta be more careful when I'm being sarcastic with Chrestomanci. "I was not being fresh!" I argued. "I just said that I didn't know what I was doing here!" "Silence!" Snape roared. "That's quite enough, Snape. What is your name little girl?" Dumbledore interrupted. "My name is Sara and I'm not a little girl." I replied. "How did you come to land on the Quidditch field?" he asked patiently. Before I could answer, a piece of paper floated into his lap. I remained silent as Dumbledore picked up the paper and read it. "Oh, I understand. Snape, would you have Minerva take care of our visiting student. Tell her that she will need materials for classes on Monday." "Yes, sir." Snape said dejectedly as he pushed me towards a tall, skinny, black haired woman. The two professors whispered together for a minute and then Snape left we with the woman. She smiled warmly at me, as if she understood that it had not been my choice to come here. "Hello, Sara. I am Professor MgGonagall, I teach transfiguration here at Hogwarts. I'll help you around until supper, when the Sorting Hat will tell us which house you belong in. After that, I will only see you in classes, which start tomorrow, Monday. When we find out what house you will be in, we will come up with someone to take you around until you find your feet." "How much longer is this going to take?" I complained. Professor McGonagall had taken me shopping for school supplies. We had everything that couldn't be borrowed, except for a wand. I had already decided not to let people know that I could do magic without a wand. "There are only a few more left to try." she sighed. "Only the cheap ones are left." I had tried almost every wand in the shop and it had been more than and hour already. I randomly picked up one of he wooden ones. Nothing. It wasn't until the very last wand that something happened. The second I touched the limp, badly worn out piece of plywood, pink sparks were flying everywhere. "It figures that when someone is willing to pay for the most expensive wand, the person would get the cheapest wand in the entire store." Professor McGonagall joked as she paid for the wand. "Now, the wand you bought may look terrible, but that's nothing a little polish wont fix." the salesman said. "No thank you," I said before Professor McGonagall could buy some polish. I waved the wand around, watching the pink sparkles streaming from the tip. I was still waving it around when we exited the shop. Now it was safe to make a change. "Professor McGonagall?" I asked. "Yes, Sara?" she replied. "As far as anyone knows, the wand I got is made of silver, and it was just on sale." I informed her. "But it's not." she said, turning to look at me. I held the wand so that she could see it and changed the battered into the finest silver with intricate designs containing crescent moons engraved on it. Professor McGonagall gasped and said no more than she had to before we arrived back at Hogwarts. We got to Hogwarts just as the first people were arriving for dinner. I was told to be seated near the door and that Professor Dumbledore would see that someone took care of me. More and more people began to arrive and the table I was sitting at became crowded. "Hello. Is this seat taken?" asked a girl with bushy, brown hair that reminded me of Rose. She was pointing to the seat across from me. "Nope, feel free to seat yourself." I invited. "Thanks, my name's Hermione, by the way." she said pleasantly. Hermione? I thought, That's one of Harry's friends. "I'm Sara." I replied, just as pleasant. "Hey, do you know when dinner starts? I'm starved." "It'll start as soon as any announcements have been made and Dumbledore tells us we can start." "Oh, thanks." I replied. Dumbledore chose that moment to appear in the dinning hall. "I know you are all impatient to get eating, so I'll make this short." he announced. A few of the people around me groaned. Dumbledore waved his wand and a stool with an old hat on it appeared next to him. The grumbling turned to whispers and private debates. "Uh oh," I whispered. "We will be having a new student with us for a little while due to certain circumstances with a colleague of mine. I hope you will welcome her and please be respectful while the Sorting Hat places her." Dumbledore preached. He motioned me forward and I walked quickly to the stool. The people all around me began to whisper to each other. "Calm down and be courteous. I'm sure you all remember when you were being sorted. Minerva, would you please announce the student?" Professor McGonagall nodded and stepped forward. "Serenity, Sara." she announced. I felt a sinking feeling in my stomach and let the hat slip over my eyes. Nervous, eh? asked a voice in my ear. Don't worry, I'll soon have you properly placed. Let's see, you don't have any preferences even though you'd easily fit in any house. There was a minute or two of utter silence and then an eruption of whispers broke loose. The hat was having a hard time deciding. "Gryffindor." the Sorting Hat announced. The whole room cheered but the hat warned, "If the decision turns out to be unsuitable, any of the houses will do." I just about passed out. The Sorting Hat wasn't supposed to say anything out loud except for the names Slytherin, Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, and Ravenclaw. Ripping the hat off, I rushed back to my seat before anyone could say a word. I thought angrily to myself, Of all the times I've ever hated you, Chrestomanci, right now, I hate you the most for putting me through all of this.

I told my friends to stay close to me, because I could protect them even though I really didn't think I could. We went through the door and emerged in a grand hall. The walls were made of black stone and there were pillars emerging from the ceiling. Torches burned and gave the place the appearance of a dungeon except for three chairs lined up against the far wall. One chair was made of the same black stone as the walls, it was the biggest, and it was the center of the three. The second was to the right of the stone chair and was made from silver. The third was the same size as the second and was made of bronze. "Brian!" I shouted when I saw a boy tied to the bronze chair. He looked up and I could see that he was gagged. He started struggling and I approached him without caution. My friends weren't far behind. "Don't worry, we're coming!" We were five steps from the chairs when a large, black, metal cage dropped on us. It completely blocked all exits and separated me from my friends and Brian. My friends started to back up and another cage dropped on them. I turned to look at Brian and saw a man standing there with him. "Daray? What are you doing here?" I asked in a fury. "Daray? Uhm no, I am Naray. Daray knew that, if you defeated him, he would be weak, so he called for me. I am not weak like Varay, and so there was no need for him to put a spell on me." Naray said evilly. "Okay, Naray." I sneered, "Why did you kidnap my friends and what do you intend to do with us?" "Telling you wouldn't be very sporting, now would it?" Naray laughed. "Stupidity must be common among worldly counterparts." I remarked in a semi-amused fashion. He laughed. "Daray had told me much about your flare. Let us test your strength, if you can get to Brian, I will tell you why I brought you and your friends here." He challenged. "And if I refuse to play your little game?" I challenged back. "Then, you see your friends? Then you should take one last look at them. And if you still refuse, you should take on last look at Brian." he replied. There was hate in my eyes and my friends were panicking. "No tricks?" I questioned. "No tricks." he replied. I lunged at the bars, hoping to break them but instead, my arm felt as though it might fall off. I screamed in pain and clutched my arm. "Oh yes, I forgot to tell you. The bars have been charged with the latest magick technology and it will put you in pain if you touch them." "That's cheap!" I scowled at him. "No, that's life." he replied and stepped back to take a seat in the black, stone chair. I sat there in thought for a few moments, my mind racing over the possibilities. I hit the bars with fire but the bars only absorbed the magic I had put into the fire. I tried bearing the pain of touching the bars. My finger felt like it was frozen and then had caught fire. The only thing that didn't end up in me feeling pain or having my magic absorbed, was if I covered my finger in scales and then touched the bars or if I put my finger in the space between the bars.. This gave me an idea. I took the miniature flute from its place on the chain and held it to my lips, recalling what the fairies had taught me. I played the melody that they had told me was called the Dragon Song of Calling. The notes echoed through the large chamber and soon a new noise took its place. It sounded as though something were flying through the air at a high speed. Within seconds, a medium sized dragon had materialized in front of the cage. Naray looked stunned but soon settled back into his chair. "You called, Moonlight?" asked the dragon through a mental connection. "You have called, the male dragon, Blitz to you." The dragon was a fresh green color with black ridges on its back and tail. His eyes sparkled blue with flecks of gold in them. I could have told Blitz what I needed to mentally, but I decided to try and frighten Naray. "Blitz, would you do me the favor of making a door for me in these bars?" I asked as one might ask their friend. "Of course." Blitz replied mentally. He took one bar in each claw and tore it easily from the cage. When he had made a gap that I could easily get through without touching the bars, he asked me, "Will that be all?" "Yes, thank you." I said as I curtsied to Blitz. He bowed back and once again the room was filled with a rushing sound as he left. I stepped easily through the opening and walked over to Brian. I rested my hand lightly on the bronze chair and looked straight into Naray's eyes. He did not appear to be scared at all. Now, tell me why you brought us here." I demanded. He stood up and clapped his hands together. "Bravo, bravo, I applaud you." he said without notice of my demand. I scowled at him again. "Now that you have shown me your strength, I shall tell you why you and your friends are here. Daray did not like it when you took away his magic the first time, he also did not like it when you foiled his plans for you and Ariel. Daray and I came up with a plan to get you through your friends. Now, Daray can get his revenge even more than before." Daray stepped out of the darkness and stood beside "So that means that you can let them go now. All nice like, okay?" I said with a fake smile. "Not so fast. I said I'd tell you why I brought you all here." Naray replied. "Not that we'd let your friends go." Daray finished "Well isn't that just dandy." I said in a disgusted tone. "So, let me guess, another of your little games to free them?" "You were right when you said she was smart, Daray." Naray said. I was going to slap him if he made one more of those kind of remarks. "Just tell me what the game is this time!" I yelled at Naray. "Endurance." Naray answered. "Excuse me?" I asked. "For every time you touch a bar for ten seconds, one of your friends can go free." Daray answered. "So, if I touch the bars for a minute and twenty second, you'll let all of my friends free and you'll let them go the second I've touched the bar for long enough?" "Precisely." Naray and Daray said in unison. "Sara! Don't do it!" Brian shouted, he had gotten his gag off. "The bars, they take your magic!" "Shut up, twerp." Naray ordered as he clapped his hands, sending Brian flying across the room. "Sara, if it's going to hurt you that much, don't do it." Rose exclaimed. "Yeah, he'll get bored of us eventually." Lanie chimed in. "Yeah." agreed the rest of my friends. "It's okay guys." I assured them. "It'll take more than two mindless dolts and a bit of a shock to get to me." Some of my friends, Peachy at least, were whimpering as I reached out my hand to touch the bars from which I had just escaped. I let the pain seize me and forced it to spread throughout my whole body so that it was a little bit less painful. I gritted my teeth for the first ten seconds and then pulled my hand back. Peachy was gone. I repeated this five more times so that only I should have been left and then collapsed on the floor. When I checked the cage that had held my friends, Rose was still there and she looked confused and Brian was still on the bronze chair. "Daray, Naray, what gives? I thought you said that they'd go home the second that I had done enough time for them." I said weakly. "We lied," replied Daray and Naray in unison with an identical evil smile on each of their faces. "But that's not fair!" I shouted at them. "Honey, life never is." Daray announced. I had figured out a way to tell them apart, Naray had a small scar on his chin. It was small, but not small enough for me not to have noticed it. I wondered how he had gotten it but said nothing. I brought the miniature flute, once again, to my lips and played, what the fairies had said was, the Unicorn Song of Calling. The air filled with the sound of rushing water and then went silent. A unicorn stood majestically by my side. I heard Rose gasp in the background and I saw Brian's eyes laughing. The unicorn, I knew, was Lana. She was the girl of our friend unicorns. She offered to heal me and I accepted. Her horn glowed faintly, like light on the snow, and I felt warmth flow through me. I tried my legs and found that I could stand. I let Lana nuzzle against my hand and then she returned as she had come, with the sound of rushing water. I surveyed the scene again. Rose was standing against the cage that had held both her and the rest of my friends. Daray and Naray obviously hadn't known that Rose had magic because the bars weren't the material that my cage had been made of. Brian had been struggling to change position the last time I had seen him but now was sitting upright. He no longer had a gag on but he had chosen to remain silent. Daray and Naray were discussing among themselves. I chose that opportunity to try and free Rose. Dashing to her cage noiselessly, I sent a surge of magic through the bars and melted them thoroughly. I motioned to Rose to step through and make a run for it. She wasn't going to make it to the door. I thought quickly and hurled a fireball at the far wall. Naray and Daray shouted and ran to put out the fire and seal up the hole I had created. I thrust Rose into the next room and pointed to the mirror I had spotted as we had entered that room. She understood and made a mad dash across the room and through the mirror. A strong grip pulled me back into the room and Naray closed the door. "Don't try anything like that or you better hope that your lover boy, over there, has more than one life." sneered Daray as he let his grip loosen. "Shut up, Daray." I sneered back. He forced me to sit in the silver chair. I ripped my arm free and rubbed where he had held me. "Don't be saying 'his' name either. He can't do anything if we have his kid." Naray warned. "Don't worry, it's not like he'd believe me anyway." I said disgustedly. "Oh, why's that?" Daray asked sympathetically. "I tried to tell him about Brian being missing and he said he'd just seen a message from Brian who had asked if he could stay over at his friend's house. He said he'd know his own son so he told me to stop playing games." I told them. "I wouldn't be surprised. The magic technology we get on the Black Market is pretty good. See, we made a hologram of Brian so that his dad wouldn't come looking for him." explained Naray. It was awkward having a conversation with an evil wizard, that didn't involve yelling. "Why not? Then you could have gotten his magic, or at least some of it." I asked, a little confused. "Why would we want that. Didn't you know that you are more powerful than he is? I'd like to see you when you take over that job." Daray laughed. "Hey, I did a pretty darn good job of that when he went missing to teach me a lesson." I defend myself. "Well, you are still weak at heart. You rely on others, that makes you weak. You also let yourself be taken advantage of if it'll help someone. That also makes you weak. See, you have to take care of yourself if you want to be strong." Naray preached. "You are so wrong. You are strong if you rely on others, it takes strength to ask for help. If you had relied on a stronger wizard to help you, you might actually win this little game. But for now, I'm in the lead, and I'm going to stay there." I announced. "We're the ones who've got your little friend." Daray reminded me. "Not for long." I said, the voice from my head had spoken to me through my little conversation with Daray and Naray, and had told me I could defeat them. It had also said that Brian wouldn't get hurt, if only I would use my magic. "Use it or loose it," the voice had said. I pulled my stolen magic out of the black, cage bars and forced it back into my veins. I could feel it flowing through me. I lifted my arms and Daray and Naray floated into the air. I created an iron chain and magically wrapped it around them. When Naray tried to use his magic, I ripped it from his grasp and spooled it for Elwood to collect later. "As, my friend, Ariel, who you tried to do a spiel on, once said to another of your inter-world counterparts, 'You are going to go to jail for a long time.'" I quoted. Elwood and some of the 'magic cops' from Naray's world came to collect the two villains after I called home via my hand mirror. Cat had been right, I did have a thing for mirrors. I grinned at this realization because I always used mirrors. There was no doubt about it, I had earned my nickname for some worlds, Mirror Girl. "Sara, would you mind taking Brian home? As you can see, I've got my hands full." Elwood said, motioning to Daray. "Sure, but why didn't 'he' come? Brian is his son, after all." I asked. "Something came up..." Elwood replied hastily. I knew that was a rehearsed line, I had heard it so many times. Chrestomanci never came to the scenes of my 'adventures.' I made another mental note to ask him why. "Hey, Sara?" Brian asked tiredly. "Yeah?" I asked back. "How come, right before you do something really heroic or special, your eyes glaze over and it seems like you're in a trance?" "I didn't know that I seemed like I was in a trance... A lady talks to me... But she never introduces herself." I replied after a few moments of thought. "I wont tell anyone, but you should tell my dad." Brian promised. "I might. He probably wont believe me, though." I replied sardonically. Brian and I made our way through the fair grounds to a place where there was an unaltered mirror. We slipped through the mirror without a word, and into the grand hallway below the main stairwell. Brian and I parted at Chrestomanci's office, I wasn't in the mood to argue about what I should and shouldn't have done. I decided, instead, to go to the library and research a little about what Daray and Naray had said about the magic technology in the Black Market and about the power of my magic. When I got there, I was alone in the library. Just how I like it, I thought, now nobody can question the books I look at. I picked out a book called The Black Market; Magic and Technology and another book called The Power of Magic. I read the first book quickly, it was easy reading and quite interesting. I learned that the Black Market, for evil wizards, was how the evil economy of magic persons exchanged technology, illegal items, spells, and potions without the interference from the government. I made myself memorize some of the illegal items, like Dragon's Blood. I cringed when I thought about what they would have to do to a poor little dragon to get its blood. The other book was full of ways to calculate the amount of power a spell had and how much power the user had in general. I looked through the many equations and formulas until I found one that I could figure out how to use. Again, I was the Mirror Girl. The book said to spell any mirror, it didn't matter what other spells were already on it, as long as it was a mirror. I pulled out my frequently used hand mirror and placed it on the table in front of me. I quickly checked the halls with it, to make sure that I wouldn't be interrupted. I took a deep breath and read the spell from the book. "Mirror I have, mirror I see, reveal levels of power to me. Only when I do command, with magic or with my word's hand, reveal the power as it really be." I read. Quickly, my eyes moved to the mirror. It was shakings as though there was an earthquake. I jumped up and, in doing so, knocked my chair over. The shaking became a small tremble and, without warning, the mirror leaped into the air. I grabbed the handle of the mirror quickly but it left me dangling in the air above the table. "Go down!" I commanded it and it obeyed. I waited, for what seemed a very long time, before I looked at my reflection in the mirror. It had been so long since I had last actually taken the time to look at myself that I barely recognized myself. Light blonde hair, almost golden in its shimmer, fell around my face, framing it. Bangs covered my forehead until my eyebrows, whose dark brown coloring went well with my olive green eyes. A yellow tint glowed in the depth of my eyes. I could have stared in wonder at my reflection for hours, but instead, I closed my eyes and felt inside myself for the command to ask the mirror to show me the power level of my magic. When I opened my eyes again, I saw myself, exactly the same, the only thing that was different was a small box in the bottom right side of the screen. The box was silver and pink, just like in the aura mirror, and was glowing faintly. I was confused for a few moments and then I checked the book for more information about the spell. The book gave a small key; Green; witch and warlock level. Purple; sorcerer and sorceress level. Blue; wizard level. Silver; enchanter and enchantress level. I frowned, that didn't help. Ah, here we go, I thought as I turned the page and read on about the spell. It said the second half of the box was a scale inside of the first. Green was the lowest, which faded into blue, which faded into purple, which faded into red, which faded into pink. It was a large scale, but it substantially measure each bit of power to account for something. Pink was the highest power, and it made me stare in wonder at the box. Surely there was something wrong with the spell. Surely the box was more red or purple than pink. It was a useless argument with myself. I sighed and picked up the fallen chair, replacing it as though I had never been there. I wrapped a ribbon around the books and magicked it so that the ribbon would act as a handle and secure the books nicely. I brought these and my hand mirror back to my room and sat, thinking, on my bed. Was Daray right about power levels? Was I more powerful, magically, than Chrestomanci? I cringed at this thought. Then it came to me. Why was I afraid of having powerful magic? It had never really occurred to me that I would be scared for no reason. That made me smile in a puzzled manner and make up my mind to go and see Chrestomanci if he was around. I grabbed my hand mirror from the bed and concealed it in the pocket of my heavy, pink sweater. Silently, I made my way through the halls, too Chrestomanci's study. There was nobody in it when I entered, so I decided to sit down for a little while. I needed a change of scenery for a while, after being in the library and my room for so long. I was peering out over the garden, when I heard some noises behind me. "Sara? What are you doing here?" asked Chrestomanci. I whirled around and saw a tired Chrestomanci standing, outlined by the large mirror that had recently been put in his study. "Oh! Hi, I came up to see you but you weren't here so I was just looking out of the window and... I didn't mean to intrude or anything. I'll leave if you want." I stuttered. "It's fine but why did you want to see me?" he asked, checking his watch. "There's still a good hour before our lesson." "Uhm." I sputtered. "Uhm, I just wanted to, uhm, uhm. I forgot" "It's okay. I believe that I owe you an apology anyway and this saves me the wait." he said. "Okay, here goes... You know I'm not used to apologizing to... well, to..." "Teenage girls?" I suggested.

Brian and I visited our new found friends every day after that and came back to the castle precisely on the dot. What little instructions I gave Rose, I gave her at school. My friends grew suspicious that something was happening because I declined all invitations to go and hang out with them. I had decided not to tell them about the garden because I doubted that they would believe me without proof. "Hey, Brian!" I shouted as I walked swiftly down the school corridor towards his locker. "Ready to go?" "Almost, I just have to get all of my homework into my backpack." He replied eagerly. We had developed a routine. Go to our respective bathrooms, send our bags to our rooms, and meet in the center of the garden. I came out of the trees and into a small clearing to wait for Brian. I had walked with him as far as was appropriate and he with me. I waited for him, now, while I made a small daisy chain for my fairy friends. Time passed and still Brian did now come. Brian was the one with the small flute, he was the one who could call the fairies, dragons, and unicorns. I could not, so I waited until an hour had passed and then I started looking for him. I searched through the whole garden, every millimeter of it, but no one else was there. I heard a rustling in the bushes and jumped to face the noise. It was only my unicorn friends. On the second day, the first little unicorn we had met had brought his older brother and older sister. Rose had a thing for unicorns so I was going to take a picture of them, but every time I pushed the button, they were in another place so I just gave up after a while. "Have you seen Brian?" I asked them sadly. The bucked and waved their heads in response. "Well, have you seen our fairy or dragon friends?" This they had, and they whinnied a call for them. The dragons came running and pounced on me as if I had been away for weeks instead of a day. The fairies came more reluctantly, but in the end did come. "Why did you not call us?" asked one of the green fairies in a high and squeaky voice. "Brian calls you, and I do not know how." I answered. The fairies huddled together and whispered amongst themselves for a few minutes before a small group of them disappeared into the bushes. The group came back, dragging a small, silver object. They pulled it to a stop in front of me. "There." said one of the purples. "Now you can call us too." "Thank you very much." I said. "But how do I work it?" "Silly Moonlight." answered one of the blues for, this was their nickname for me. "We will teach you how to play the tune properly." While they taught, I almost forgot about Brian. Almost, but not quite. When they had taught me, I had to leave or else I would be late. I jumped into the pool without fear and came out at the base of the grand steps in the castle. I searched the castle for Brian but did not find him. Not even his school bag was there. "Hannah, have you seen Brian?" I asked in despair. "Not since this morning. His father told me that he had left a message to say that he was going to sleep over at one of his new friend's house." she replied as she continued reading her book. "Thank you." I said and trotted off to my room. In my room, I turned the small silver whistle over in my hands, observing every detail of it. I noticed something etched on the front of it. There was a small crescent moon engraved above the first air hole. Below the moon was the word "Moonlight." I feel loved, I thought happily. It was Thursday morning, the day after Brian had supposedly gone over to his friend's house. I was up early by habit, due to the early wake-up calls when I had been subbing for Chrestomanci. Since I had extra time, I decided to put a chain on the miniature flute so that I could wear it around my neck. I magicked it so that a thing silver chain was attached to the flute by a clasp made of air. I was thoroughly proud of my work and put the necklace on right away. It was not awkward having the flute next to the crescent moon, in fact, I hardly even felt a difference. It began to bother me that I was thinking about Brian so much, and I realized that as I boarded the school bus. I convinced myself that it was not unusual as I seated myself. Rose was not on the bus that morning. That disturbed me as well. I was anxious to see who else was missing when I got to school and went from locker to locker to hunt out my friends. None of them were there. The bell rang and I hurried to Home Room, hoping to see them there. They weren't in Home Room. I hoped to see my friends in our normal classes. They weren't there. By the time lunch came around I had a sinking feeling that none of my friends, including Brian, would be at lunch. I was right, no one. I decided to delay my daily visit to the garden and went straight home. The moment I got back into my room, I called, "Chrestomanci." He appeared in his usually flowing robe. "You called?" he asked casually. "I think something's wrong." I said hurriedly. "You're going to have to be a tad more specific." he said irritably. "None of my friends were at school today, Brian wasn't there either." I announced. "You must be mistaken, Brian was at school today and he just left me a message and told me that he'd like to stay over at another of his friend's house tonight. As for your friends, did you ever think that they might have reasons for not being at school? The flu perhaps?" he said as if I were playing a childish game. "I know what I saw, Brian wasn't there! As for my friends, I just know that they didn't have a valid excuse to be away from school. Well, I suppose that being kidnapped would be a valid excuse, but still." I replied. "Sara, I don't have time for this. I think I'd know if my child was at school or not. Besides, in his message, he said that he had a great day at school today." he said, annoyed. "I swear that I'm not making it up. Please just check on them." I pleaded. "I will do no such thing. You, of all people, should know how busy I am already. I don't need a childish game to further add to my schedule. I don't know why you insist." he replied. With that, he left. "Fine! I'll find out myself!" I shouted to him, even though I knew that he couldn't hear me. In a rage, I packed enough money to last me a few days if I had the need, my hand mirror, and a few sandwiches. I first paid a visit to Rose's house. "She's at a friend's house." answered her mother when I asked her if Rose was there. "Well, did she say which friend?" I asked. "No. I'll tell her you came by if she calls, though." her mother offered. I thanked her and proceeded to Lanie's house. The same thing. Then to Angela's. It was the same with her, Diva, and Peachy as well. They were all at some unknown friend's house. I called the castle, by means of my hand mirror, and asked Hannah which friend's house Brian was at. No one in the castle knew. I took refuge in the garden and called for my friends. They came and comforted me. The fairies even offered to send a search party for the missing people. I declined but thanked them anyway. When I had given each of my friends, what they considered, their fair share of attention, I returned to my room. On the bed was a piece of paper. On it was written the following; 5 Flags Saturday 10 AM Alone 9 Lived Enchantress The note was not signed and it was typed. I understood what the first part of the note meant, come to Five Flags on Saturday at ten in the morning, alone. It was the part about a nine lived enchantress that had me thinking. Was the note talking about me? I turned all of the possibilities around in my head, looking for a reasonable solution, until a maid was sent to tell me to come to my lesson with Chrestomanci. I had forgotten, now he would be mad. I trudged up to my lesson. The lesson went normally with only a brief lecture about timing. He mentioned nothing about Brian or anything that I had told him when I had called him. I tried not to act out of the ordinary, and if I did Chrestomanci ignored it, for the lesson and all through Friday. The next day was a repeat of the first, minus the mysterious note. I checked my watch, it was eight o'clock in the morning on Saturday. I was standing at the entrance and had just paid for my ticket. I decided to consult a map for any idea of what I was looking for. There was a notice on the map, it said "New." Next to that was I small dot. I used the key to figure out what the dot meant. The key said: "Nine Lived Enchantress; (Ages 10+) a thrilling adventure for all people. On this ride, you navigate yourself through the lives of a nine lived enchanter or enchantress and race against time to complete your ultimate goal. You have the simulated power of one on this ride." That looked interesting. The park had only been open for an hour, but already a long line had formed for the ride. The magically operated rides were supposed to be more efficient than ordinary, people operated, ones. I got in line and, unfortunately, got stuck behind a ten year-old kid who talked nonstop. When I finally got on the ride, I found that you entered a small room in groups of five. Just my luck, I got in at the same time as the annoying brat I had been standing behind. We were each instructed to get into a booth and put on the emulator gear. We were all facing each other and I observed my fellow riders as I waited for the ride to start. The brat, his mother and father, and a teenage girl. I had barely observed this when the simulator began. You started out in a room that looked like something out of Alice In Wonderland. You had to navigate yourself around to a castle that looked strangely like Chrestomanci Castle and defeat a few bad guys on the way. The ending of the game was when you made fun of a man in a strange dressing gown. Every one who came out, except me, thought that the ride was a blast and got in line for it again. This infuriated me. Not only had I spent half an hour in a line for the most boring game I'd ever played in my life, but they had made fun of Chrestomanci. How dare they! I thought to myself. Sure, I'm not all that crazy about the guy, but that's no reason to make fun of him. After all, he does do a job that, I'm betting, no one else in this world would like to take over. I know I hated it. "Excuse me, Sir." I asked the man at the help desk. "Who is in charge of Nine Lived Enchantress?" "Sorry, lady, you ain't gonna get to cut line. If you want to ride, get back in the line." the man replied rudely. "Oh believe me, I do not want to cut the line or get back in it. I would like to make a complaint." I assured him. "One second I'll get the manager, this ain't my headache." the man said as he picked up a phone. He punched in a few numbers and mumbled into the phone. Shortly, a tall and overly skinny man came out of no where. "Yeah? What do you want?" the man asked even more rudely than the first man. "I have a complaint about the Nine Lived Enchantress." I explained. "You're the only one." replied the manager. "I don't suppose that any real nine lived enchanters or enchantresses reviewed the ride then." I said. "What would you know about stuff like that, kid? And what would it matter anyhow? It's not like one would come out here and ride it. Besides, the only two that I know wouldn't waste their time out here, it isn't what they do. Them sort is to stuck in their own business." the manager snickered. "Okay, number one, there are three nine lived people right now. Seconds, we don't appreciate it when you single us off into a separate category. Third, I'm sure that your boss would just love to hear how you talk about your customers to their faces." I said angrily. "Listen up lady, I don't like to go making trouble for people, don't you go making trouble for me." he said as he turned to leave. "Oh, I'll be making more than trouble. You can't just go and publicly make fun of people you know absolutely nothing about." "Sue me for all I care!" "Fine, I will, and with all nine of my lives too!" "Now, don't be going about saying things like that, we all know that you're not the real thing. Do me a favor and give it a rest." I left him in peace and made a mental note to make a large complaint to the owner of the park and to Chrestomanci. I had told Hannah that I would be at another of my friend's house and she had let me go without question. I wasted the rest of my time sitting at the arcade and watching people play their games. As it approached ten, I made my way to Nine Lived Enchantress again. As I arrived, the man I had first complained to was asking people if they were a girl called 'Sara." Curious, I went up to him and told him that was my name. He grunted and handed me a piece of paper. The note read; Cobra Alone The Cobra was one of the main roller coasters at the park and I knew how to get there. When I got there, a strange woman told me to get on, and I did so. While on the Cobra, at the highest point, another piece of paper landed in my hand. I grabbed it quickly but didn't get to read it until the ride ended. House of Ultimate Horror Alone I hated the any ride that involved horror but conquered my fear and, reluctantly, made my way there. When I arrived, I saw no one but knew that I had to enter. I was terrified to my wit's end even when I entered but forced myself through it. In, what looked like, Dracula's bedroom, a skeleton popped out of a coffin with a piece of paper attached to his forehead. I screamed, grabbed the paper, and ran for my life. Outside and safe once again, I opened the note. Fun House Alone That didn't seem too bad, but I was already tired from going all over the park in search of more hints. I saw no one in the park anymore and it was seriously scaring me. I was usually ecstatic about going into the Fun House, but not when it was deserted. I made my way through spinning wheels, illusion ramps, moving stairs, and fake bridges to get to the second floor. As I stepped firmly on the ground from the moving stairs, I looked around. It took my breath away to see a replica from a medieval castle. It was like I had stepped into a real throne room. I made my way to the door near the throne, over a spinning detachment in the long, red rug, over a vibrating piece of carpet, and through two of the small nozzles that spray air at you, making a loud noise in the process. The door slammed shut as I got there, and a piece of paper was attached to the door. Sit On The Throne Wait For A Surprise I cautiously seated myself upon the throne and waited. It took all of ten seconds for the chair to flip me over and through the wall. I landed with a thud on my side and, rubbing the spot, stood up slowly. I heard shuffling in the shadows, like a person moving. "Whoever that is, this isn't funny! Show yourself!" I demanded. "Sara?" a small voice asked. "Yeah, now who are you?" I retorted. "Sara! Oh my gosh, I was so scared!" said Peachy as she stepped away from the wall and into the circle of light I had conjured. She had dirt smeared across her face and a cobweb in her hair. "How did you get here? Where are the others? Are you hurt?" I asked quickly. "I'm fine. What do you mean, where are the others? I didn't know that any one else was here. I don't even know how I got here, I was just sitting in my room when all the lights flickered and I was here." she explained. "Are you hungry? I've got some sandwiches with me if you are." "No, food's been appearing when I'm hungry, in fact, I just finished my breakfast." Peachy recalled. "Good to hear that whoever pulled this has been taking care of you. Come on, let's find the others." I said, making the light bright enough to see the whole room. There was a trap door on the floor and we climbed through that. We landed on a pile of hay and took some time to clean it out of our hair and off of our clothing. We heard a noise like someone was moving something. "Hello?" I called. "Is anybody there?" It turned out to be Angela. After Peachy and I had explained that the others were missing as well, we looked around for an exit. Dang it, I thought, How big is this place? The only exit was in the floor. After that, we found Diva. The exit to the room that she was in was hidden on the far wall and we followed it to another room. We found Lanie next and after that, Rose. By this time, I was unafraid when I heard movement in the corners. My friends were with me, all that remained was to find Brian and whoever had done this. The last room was well lit and , as we entered, the door behind us locked shut. We were trapped and there was no one in this room. "Welcome, little ones." a voice boomed throughout the room. "Welcome to my lair." "Who are you?" I shouted. "And why did you take my friends?" "Come through the door marked with an 'X' and see..." the voice trailed off. I looked at the walls of the room and, where there hadn't been before, a door was standing.