"Whoops," Ivy giggled. "Slippery fingers!"
"Seize her!" the lead Enforcer shouted, shuffling forward with his pants around his ankles.
"I think not," Rook said, dropping down from the tree branch next to me.
The Fae professor landed lightly on the pavement. He dusted off his tweed jacket.
"Phase Two?" he asked.
"Phase Two," I confirmed.
Rook waved his hand. He didn't cast a hex. He cast anillusion.
Suddenly, the Enforcers weren't men anymore. To everyone watching (and a crowd of students had gathered), they looked like Mallard Ducks. Giant, angry, pants-less ducks.
"Quack?" one Enforcer asked, looking at his hands (which looked like wings).
"Quack! Quack!" the leader yelled, trying to issue orders.
The students lost it. Phones came out. The hashtag #DuckPatrol instantly started trending on the local mesh network Ivy had set up.
"Retreat!" the leader quacked.
The squad of ducks waddled away in shame.
"One point to Gryffindor," I muttered.
We moved to the Library next.
The Library was sacred ground. It was usually silent, smelling of old paper and silence spells. But Marrow had posted "Quiet Zone" signs everywhere, enforced by a nasty little hex that sealed your mouth shut if you spoke above a whisper.
"Oppressive," Arthur commented, looking at the signs with professional disdain. "Libraries should be quiet out of respect, not coercion."
"Fix it," I told Kai.
Kai touched the sign on the main door. He didn't break the spell. Heinvertedit.
The sign shimmered. The text changed fromQuiet ZonetoMandatory Yodeling Area.
Arthur blinked. "Yodeling?"
"It seemed festive," Kai shrugged.
We hid behind the reference desk and watched.
A freshman walked in. He looked stressed. He was carrying a stack of books.
"I need to return these," he tried to say.
But what came out of his mouth was: "Yodel-ay-hee-hoo!"
He clamped a hand over his mouth, eyes wide.
The librarian, Mrs. Pince (a stern woman who looked like she ate lemons for fun), looked up. "Excuse me?"
"I...YODEL-ODEL-AY-HEE-HOO!" the freshman bellowed, his voice amplified by the spell.
Mrs. Pince stood up, furious. "Young man! There is no yodeling in the?—"
