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More people entered, and the professor handed out more trays. At last, everyone was seated and set up.
“Today we’re talking about sympathetic magic,” Professor Batts said.
Lark looked over at me and winked.
“Does anyone know what sympathetic magic is?” the professor asked.
Lark looked around. When it was clear no one else was going to raise their hand, she stuck hers in the air.
“Lark,” the professor said.
“Sympathetic magic is all about the overwhelming desire of the parts to form the whole,” Lark said.
“Exactly,” Professor Batts said triumphantly. “I couldn’t have explained it better myself. Each of you has a ring of spell-forged mercury. I want you to use thesecarespell to split your ring into two equal bodies. Then you’re going to reform the bodies using thesimulspell I’m going to note on the board. It’s important when using thesimulspell that you focus your energies on the ring itself, and not on other objects in the room. Do I make myself clear?”
There was some giggling, but mostly we all nodded in agreement.
“Very well, have at it,” she invited us sternly.
I bit my lip. I didn’t know thesecarespell, whatever that was.
“Oh, Miss Hawthorne, you don’t know thesecarespell, do you dear?” Professor Batts asked, leaning over my tray.
I shook my head.
“Oh, that’s fine, love,” she said with a warm smile. “There’s really no point to you worrying about this anyway. Just watch your friends and enjoy.”
She began to take my tray.
“No,” I blurted, much louder than I intended.
She blinked at me in shock, and a few of the other students stared.
“I-I’d like to learn anyway,” I said. “As much as I can.”
“Very well,” she said, a spark of what I thought might be respect in her eyes as she placed the tray back down and straightened. “Anya will show you thesecarespell. Just do your best. Primrose wasn’t built in a day.”
In my case, it might have to be. But I hoped not.
I nodded to her and turned back to Anya, who was grinning.
“What?” I asked.
“Nothing,” she said. “I just never thought I’d see you standing up to a professor on your third day of school.”
“I’ve seen a lot of things I didn’t expect to see this week,” I quipped. “Including solid mercury. Want to show this to me once before I try to do it myself?”
I wasn’t feeling too confident, but at least the other students had stopped staring and gone back to their own work.
“We’re both going to watch Lark,” Anya said. “I get the feeling this is right up her alley.”
“Ready, guys?” Lark asked, pushing up her glasses with a wicked grin. “Secare.”
We watched as the bar split evenly in two, as if it had been sliced by an invisible knife. She nudged the pieces further apart and began to murmur to them.
First, the one on the left seemed to shiver. Then the one on the right wobbled and flopped itself over.
She tried again, and we watched as the pieces trembled and flopped like fish, but stayed on opposite sides of the tray.
