Oh Hex No

Serena wasn’t sure what to do about the rat. She had successfully turned Arthur into a normal-looking, regular sized rat, and had thought maybe he’d simply fade out of existence since he hadn’t existed until she conjured him. But he was still very much present, as evidenced by the way Montague had tried to chase him all around the room that morning. Serena had only narrowly saved the little rodent, and now he was sorting marbles by color in the little rat house Serena had created for him.

“Heightened intelligence,” she mused. “Interesting. I wonder what else you’re going to be capable of, since apparently you’re here to stay.”

She leaned back at her desk, thinking about the night before. She felt bad that her little experiment with Arthur had made a mess in the lab and the boy with the vials had gotten in trouble for it. Serena had had Professor Jorgenson for several classes, and he was notorious for his gruffness. Serena didn’t know the guy she’d gotten in trouble, and he hadn’t seemed very keen on having her stick around after Professor Jorgensen left. But she felt like she should track him down and apologize for getting him yelled at. He must have been a twelfth year like her; she was surprised that she didn’t recognize him. They should’ve had a class together by now.

Serena pulled her crystal ball off the nightstand and plopped it on her bed, tapping it lightly with her wand and casting a tracking spell. She didn’t know his name, but she focused on the memory of what he looked like and used that to guide the spell. The tip of her wand glowed slightly as images swirled around in the crystal ball. It took a little while since all she had to go on was his image, but finally a neighborhood that she knew wasn’t far from the school appeared in the ball, then it wavered and was replaced with a single apartment building, and then it zoomed in to reveal a door with D32 printed on it.

Satisfied, Serena put her crystal ball away and sat tapping her wand thoughtfully against her hand. Her wand almsot looked more like a fashion accessory than a powerful magical tool; it was made of rosewood, inlaid with a swirling strip of pearl and the handle was topped with a piece of rose quartz. The couple who provided wands to Mondhaven students and staff made each wand individually, customizing it as they saw fit for each student. Serena was amused that they had made hers so glamorous and girly, but she and her mother had both cooed over how pretty it was when Serena received it.

Knowing where the mysterious boy lived, Serena decided she’d pay him a visit and properly say she was sorry. She stood, tucking her wand into her bag. She chose a powder blue hat to go with the ivory and pale blue outfit she was wearing today, and then grabbed her broom. She had successfully learned how to execute a teleportation spell, but students weren’t allowed to use it outside of monitored practice until they passed their final exams.

“You’re coming too, Arthur,” she said, scooping up the rat. “You technically made the mess, after all. Plus if you stay here alone I’m worried Montague will invite you to lunch.”

Montague watched the rat from where he was perched in his elaborate cat tower, tail twitching. Arthur scurried into Serena’s bag as she pushed open her large window and sat sideways on her broom and lifted into the air. The broom zipped out the window and the window closed automatically once she was on her way. It wasn’t at all unusual to see people zooming around on brooms in this part of town, because of Mondhaven and all the magical businesses here where students bought supplies and did summer internships.

Arthur poked his nose out and squeaked excitedly as they whizzed along, Serena occasionally nodding to another busy witch or wizard who passed her. She found the apartment building she was looking for and swooped down to the front door. At first she thought she’d have to use magic to get in but the front door apparently didn’t lock properly so she was able to walk right in and make her way up to the fourth floor.

She was walking slowly down the hall and scanning the doors for apartment D32 when she was intercepted by a little girl with curly red hair, who looked up at Serena in curious fascination.

“Who are you?” she asked bluntly. “I’ve never seen you here before.”

“I’m looking for the man who lives in D32,” Serena explained.

“You mean Erik?”

“If that’s who lives there.”

“Why are you looking for Erik?”

“I need to talk to him.”

“He’s not home yet. I’m Bea.”

“Serena. It’s nice to meet you.”

Bea studied her for a moment, twisting and untwisting a curl around her finger.

“You’re a witch, aren’t you?” she asked finally.

“I am,” Serena nodded.

“Your clothes are really pretty.”

“Thank you. I love your hair.”

That made the girl straighten up a little and beam proudly.

“I can let you into Erik’s apartment to wait for him,” she said. “But I can’t do it for free, even if you seem nice. My fee is candy.”

Serena felt her lips twitch up in amusement.

“Candy, huh? I think I can arrange that. Give me ten minutes.”

Serena knew of a gourmet candy store that she’d been frequenting since she was a kid; her mother’s ultimate weakness was chocolate. She bought some chewy caramels and some enchanted hard candies that would taste like your favorite dessert and a small box of fancy chocolates. They were enchanted to never melt. She got a second box for herself since she was here. Then she returned to the apartment building, finding Bea sitting cross legged in front of Erik’s apartment. Her eyes almost popped out of her skull when Serena handed her the stash of magic-made candy.

“Consider this payment plus some interest,” Serena said. Bea continued to gawk at the candy for a moment before she scurried into her own apartment and returned with a key. It was a little crooked and she had to use a bit of force to get it into the lock but then the door swung open.

“Thanks, Bea,” Serena said, stepping inside. Bea continued to stand in the doorway for a bit, still watching Serena with interest as she munched on her caramels. Serena leaned her broom against the wall and hung her hat off the handle before settling primly on the narrow bed to wait. Bea peppered her with some more questions for a while, before shuffling off to go enjoy the rest of her candy.

Arthur scampered out of her bag and looked around. Serena talked to him while they waited. He couldn’t talk, but she got a feeling he understood her anyway. She was flipping through a book about the history of magical medicine when the door opened again and Erik let out a choked sound of shock to find her sitting on the edge of his bed.

“What-why-how did you-“ he spluttered, gaping at her.

“It’s Erik, right? That’s what your neighbor said your name is.”

“I-yeah. But what are you doing here?”

“I wanted to apologize for yesterday,” she explained, snapping her book closed and tucking it back into her bag. “And Arthur wanted to apologize too.”

The rat squeaked and rummaged in her bag, pulling out a pen and one of her journals. He found a blank page and gripped the pen in two rat paws.

“How did you find me? Or even get in here?” Erik asked.

“A tracking spell, and Bea.”

“Bea?”

“She let me in.”

“How?!”

“She had a key.”

“She what?”

Arthur finished writing and Serena picked up the journal to read the message.

“He says, ‘I apologize sincerely for attacking you and making a mess of the lab. It was most uncivilized and I am not proud of my behavior.’ The handwriting is a little wobbly but I’m impressed at your vocabulary, Arthur.” She glanced back up at Erik, who was still staring at her.

“The rat can write?” he asked.

“So it would seem.”

“So he was that…thing that was in the lab?”

“I made him,” Serena admitted. “I mean I conjured him. I didn’t expect anyone to come into the lab, or that it would startle Arthur and make him attack. I really am sorry. I didn’t mean to get you in trouble, and I hope Arthur didn’t hurt you.”

“Uh. No, I’m fine. You really didn’t have to come over here, um…Miss Bellwood, was it?”

“Serena.”

“Right. Serena.”

“I’m surprised I’ve never seen you around before,” she remarked. “I’ve had at least one class with every other student in my year, but I’m sure we’ve never had one together. You have a wand, so you must be a student, right? Or did you already graduate? Are you a teaching aid?”

His face turned a little red. “No, I haven’t graduated yet.”

“And here I almost got you kicked out,” Serena said, wincing a little. “I was just trying to get in extra practice, for final exams.” She glanced down at Arthur, who was now practicing cursive in her journal. Then she looked back up at Erik with a rueful smile.

“You should’ve just ratted me out to Jorgensen,” she said. “Pun fully intended.”