| |
★
––––––––
JJ and Bobby stand toe to toe at the foot of the dueling strip. Their muscles are tense. If I’m not mistaken, it looks like they’re about to fight—not with wands like the duel, but with fists.
“Go on, get up there,” Owen urges, knocking his shoulder aggressively against JJ’s.
Or maybe they’ll duel too.
“Yeah, not so tough off the field are you?” another one of Bobby’s friends says.
JJ subtly stiffens.
“Come on, show me what you’re made of, Thorne,” Bobby prods.
The others goad them onto the elevated staging set up for magical dueling. It seemed more playful when the vamps were up there, firing relatively harmless and goofy spells. Nonetheless, Bobby climbs the steps and JJ follows. He looks mad, miserable, and downright mean. He’s also noticeably brighter than he’s been lately—more like a social media filter and less like a photo taken a hundred years ago. I wonder if he draws energy from all the magic concentrated under the Jubilee tent.
JJ steps to his side of the staging and then trips. He extends his hands as though to catch himself, but doesn’t hit the ground. Without touching the stage and defying gravity he pushes himself away from the floor and back to standing.
He draws his wand and spins to face Bobby, ready to retaliate.
“Slip on a banana peel, JJ?” Bobby asks, chuckling.
JJ scowls, unamused. “Let’s get this over with,” he says.
A woman in a purple and silver shirt confers with the two of them, likely reviewing the rules before each boy retreats to one end of the stage. They face away from each other and then the woman gives the whistle.
Bobby turns and fires first, casting a dull golden spell toward JJ. He blocks and advances a few paces. Bobby strides forward shooting spell after spell. JJ avoids each one. They continue in this way until the woman blows the whistle again.
“Round one,” she says. A shimmering scoreboard appears over her head showing they both have zero points.
I hear a pop, pop, crunch, crunch and find Dewey by my side. “It was only a matter of time,” he says, indicating the two on the stage.
The duel resumes after the whistle blows again. JJ quickly scores three points to Bobby’s zero.
“If Bobby can’t be the top man on the rumpus field, he’ll find a way to take his biggest rival down. To be honest, JJ looks bored,” Dewey says between mouthfuls.
I’ve seen JJ spellcast and Dewey is right; he’s not even trying. Either that or he’s weakened. However, his movements to block Bobby’s spells are quick so I imagine he’s holding back.
Midway through the third round, JJ flinches, but Bobby didn’t cast a spell. Then he hops from foot to foot as if he’s standing on hot sand. He belches and looks greenish like he’s ill.
People all around chuckle except for the pair in front of me—Chilton and Tucker, two of Bobby’s friends and Marauders.
Dewey must notice too because he nudges me and juts his chin in their direction.
I slide my wand out of my pocket, whisper a spell as I twist it just so, and then the two of them reach for their backsides and start squealing. They race from the crowd.
“Was that you? Dewey asks. “Pigs? You gave them each a piggy tail?”
“Serves them right.”
“That was classic. I owe you a lemonade,” he says.
“You can thank Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone,” I say, inspired by a scene from the movie.
With one round remaining, JJ wins, nine to two. While I wait to press through the crowd to reach JJ, Dewey hands me a large cup with a curly straw and filled with something purple. Or silver. Or yellow. Maybe it’s pink, no it’s blue.
“Color-changing galaxy lemonade,” Dewey says. “The best stuff there is.”
JJ presses through the crush of the crowd and silently slips his hand in mine. Dewey congratulates him. “You’ll have to show me your moves.” Dewey turns to me. “Do you see this guy? He’s not winded or sweating. He doesn’t look like he was just in a duel.” He shakes his head in awe of his new hero.
“I don’t have time for that nonsense.” JJ’s English accent is clipped.
“You put on a good show. So did Maija. She gave those two that were jinxing you corkscrew pig’s tails. They ran off squealing.” Dewey laughs.
JJ smirks and squeezes my hand.
Dewey notices and his eyebrows lift. Then he clinks his cup of lemonade against mine and says, “Well, cheers. I’m off to win a game of thundersnow.”
I turn to look for the others when the nearby crowd swells as if being pushed forward. Screams abruptly follow. Everyone stampedes toward the shimmering exit. We’re pressed body to body. I don’t let go of JJ’s hand. An elbow jabs into my ribs. Someone steps on my toe and everyone yells in panic. Then all of a sudden, I’m sucked forward, floating for a moment, and then sailing through what feels like Jell-O.
I land hard on the grassy lawn at Riptivik under the night sky. JJ stands beside me and extends his hand to help me to my feet.
“Sorry about the landing.”
“What happened? How’d we get here? Is everyone trapped at the Jubilee?”
JJ gazes at the sky and exhales a deep breath. “I don’t know what happened, but whatever caused that stampede wasn’t good. I transportated us out.”
“You can do that?” I recall Yassi mentioning dusk and dawn are the only times the door is passable.
“I’ve been around a while and learned an exception spell or two.” He winks.
“Were you even trying when you were dueling with Bobby?”
“Not even a little.” His lips quirk in what I assume is his version of a self-satisfied smile.
“So does that also mean you can leave Riptivik whenever you want.”
He nods like this is obvious.
“Then what are we doing here?”
“You’re safest here.”
“Safe?!” I exclaim. “Four words. Bobby, Storch, Marauders, demons.”
“Yes, but what’s out there,” he gestures vaguely, “is much worse.” Before I can protest, he says, “What was your other question? Oh yeah, is everyone trapped at the Jubilee? Yes, I think so.”
“Are they stuck there until dawn?”
“That depends on where West is. As far as I know, he’s the only one who has the authority to override the portal.”
“But you did.”
He nods. “That’s not exactly high school level magic or authorized for that matter. Nor can I magic them all out of there.”
“Wait. Can I make a—?” Only I can answer that question. The night is silent, but the screams from moments before echo in my mind. “We have to do something.” I close my eyes and focus my energy on the ground beneath my feet, the vault of stars above, and the energy surrounding me. I tap into the flame within. I reach deep, believing, trusting, and focusing on my power. Then I make a wish.
Students fall through the portal and then those behind them pour through in a mass of chaos. I didn’t exactly think through providing a stable reentry.
“You could have wished for an orderly queue,” JJ says as we both help those who’ve fallen to their feet.
Then he adds, “I recommend you keep your wand at the ready. Who knows what caused this.”
“Probably not what, but who,” I mutter, thinking about Bobby. He’s not only a sore loser but also a Marauder. Everyone stampedes across the lawn toward the dorms.
Eventually, the flow of students slows. A few more limp out, like the last kernels of popcorn popping in a bag—or mouth as is the case with Dewey’s exploding corn.
JJ and I look at each other before transportating back into the tent. Instead of lively magical activity, the tent is wrecked and quiet except for a whimpering sound. We creep toward it, careful not to step on the decorations torn from the booths and stalls or the food wrappers strewn on the ground. A ribbon waves from behind an overturned table.
“It’s a Snodgrass,” JJ whispers.
We exchange a nod and we quietly each approach from opposite ends. When I peek around the corner, a girl from my creation class cowers under the hulking mass of a scaly beast. Its breath gusts the debris on the floor. She shields her face. I raise my wand, not quite sure what spell to use. The creature scrapes the ground with its clawed foot.
“Nice, beasty,” I say gently. “We’re just leaving.”
From somewhere nearby comes low laughter.
Nothing nice about this thing as froth fills its mouth. He scratches the ground again and snorts. I’m reminded of a certain dragon shifter.
The creature steps closer. If I extend my arm, I could touch its horns. I swallow hard and am about to give it a pig snout (it’s the first thing that came to mind—probably to go along with the pig’s tails) in place of its snout filled with sharp teeth.
Before I can make a move, a stark blue light fills the tent and is met with a golden flare. JJ and Bobby resume their duel. It distracts the Snodgrass who roars and then charges at me.
My frame is just narrow enough that it scoops me up between its horns. Its hot breath is on my stomach as it pins me against an everblooming flower stand with a jerk. My shoulder and head instantly ache from the hard slam. I wiggle and writhe, kicking out, gripping its horns and trying to shake free.
I panic and start screaming when I remember my magic. I don’t even need my wand. I close my eyes, summoning the fire-like energy that dwells deep inside. It swells within, ready to fire. However, when I blink open, a lasso of blue light encircles the beast. JJ must’ve broken loose from Bobby. He gently tames the beast backward, dropping me onto the ground.
The creature stiffens as though frozen. Then a half-dozen people dressed in the purple and silver of the Jubilee emerge from behind a door. They rush to the creature, taking over for JJ.
With the situation in hand, JJ hurries over to me, his expression streaked with concern.
“I’m okay,” I assure him as he helps me to my feet. “Shaken, but mostly fine. Mostly glad one of those horns didn’t impale me. That was close.”
“I’m sorry that I let Bobby distract me. It won’t happen again.” His tone is flat as though he’s angry at himself more than anything. It’s kind of sweet.
“Next time, I’d like a go dueling against him. Bobby and I got beef,” I say in my toughest voice.
JJ laughs a slow laugh.
We pass back through the portal to the lawn at Riptivik—where we belong. Several figures, cloaked in black, dash across campus, filling the night with their wicked laughter.
“What happened to Bobby anyway?” I ask as we hurry across the moor.
“I let him win so I could deal with the Snodgrass.”
“You what?” My voice echoes in the darkness as I turn to him, stopping in my tracks. A long list of all the spells I would’ve been happy to use against him roll through my mind.
“Just this once.” JJ’s voice is low, dangerous. “It won’t happen again either.”
His hands slips into mine and I realize, he’s the real winner as we walk away together.
