Chapter Thirty Three
Nighttime Departure

Emily was in her little cat yurt, curled up happily on her back, looking up at the felt ceiling. After the kiss there had been one or two more. Several people had cheered as she and Sarah had walked back inside, hand in hand. It hadn’t been long before she’d turned back into a cat, although she wasn’t sure if that had been because the bespoke spell had worn out or out of sheer embarrassment. 

She’d walked on clouds the rest of the night. Time with her friends, of course, was wonderful. Emily had never expected to be on the receiving end of a birthday party, nevermind enjoying one. But she had. Dennis had cocked his head in confusion when Sarah and Emily had kissed once they were animals again, and they’d explained to him that it was okay for girls to like each other. 

Dennis had looked between the two of them, cocked his head the other way, and then nodded sagely. “Because a fox is a kind of a cat,” he’d said, and had then excitedly skipped away when he’d seen cupcakes. 

And now Emily was basking in the leftover warmth of the night, purring gently to herself. With nobody around, there was no need to pretend like she didn’t enjoy the feeling and sound of it, her paws twitching gently. For a brief moment, the world was very soft. That moment, of course, had to come to an end. Emily had expected it to end with sleep and school the next day. Instead, it came with a whisper. 

“Rosewood?” The gentle tones of Lord Mangrove’s voice bounced through her little cat-house, cutting the strings of her thoughts and letting them drift to the floor. Emily sat up straight and looked out of the little door of the igloo, and down. Alastair Mangrove stood in front of the shelves Emily had curled up on top of, holding a small ball of light in his hand. 

“Mister Mangrove?” she asked. “What’s wrong?”

“Kindly come down,” Lord Mangrove said, his voice quiet. “I’d like to avoid whisper-shouting at you. We can speak in the hall.” With that, he turned on his heel and walked soundlessly out of the room. 

Emily blinked the sleep out of her eyes, and decided that it was probably best not to leave the Headmaster waiting. She jumped down, slowing down her fall with her telekinesis, and quickly pattered over to the door.

When she stepped out, it took her a moment to process what she saw. There was some faint light in the hallway, just enough to outline the people standing there. One of them was, of course, Lord Alistair Mangrove, wearing a heavy overcoat and holding a briefcase in one hand. Sarah sat on the ground next to him, giving him the Fox-equivalent of a smile.

Next to them were Benjamin, also wearing his coat, with Simon’s little face sticking out of the pocket, and an older woman Emily didn’t recognize. When she stepped out, Simon excitedly wormed himself out of Benjamin’s Jacket and launched himself at the floor, only catching himself at the last second. 

“Emily!” Simon said excitedly, hurrying over to her and ramming into her at full speed. “I’m so glad you’re awake.”

“Mister Fletcher,” Lord Mangrove said, “demanded that we wake you so he could say bye before we left.”

“Saying bye?!” Emily demanded. “Where are you going?”

“It’s just for a few days,” Alastair said with his hand in his pocket. "After the attack, the entire magical world is on edge. We need to strengthen the defensive barriers around the country, but none of us have that kind of magical reserve anymore. Mister Ben Burrows is going to help me do that, but we obviously can’t do that without Fletcher. Hence…” He waved at Simon, his face still shoved into Emily’s fur. “I’ll get them back to you safe and sound,” Alaistar said. “I promise.”

“Yes sir,” Emily said. “Is… is it that bad?” Lord Mangrove’s grey eyes rested on her for a moment, like he was trying to make a decision. 

“We have a moment before our ride is here. Walk with me.” They all stepped outside, Ben scooping up Simon and putting him back in his pocket. They quietly walked down the little path from the dorms that led to the centre of the School village. The moon was high above, and Emily wondered what time it was. For a minute, the only sound was the soft grinding of feet on gravel. “I won’t lie to you,” Mangrove said, breaking the silence. “It’s a bit grim out there. This… Cunning, he’s travelling the world, looking for the rest of the Heart. And he seems to be able to turn spirits to his will which…” he looked at the faces of the terrified kids. “Which is not something I want you all to worry about. Not yet. Which is why these barriers need to be strengthened.”

“But why…” Emily started, looking up at Benjamin and Simon, realising that there wasn’t really any question she could ask that would have a satisfying answer. The older Warlocks, the teachers, they wouldn’t have the ability. And Benjamin was a very good wizard. It made sense. But why her Simon? Why couldn’t she go instead? It wasn’t fair. 

“I know,” Lord Mangrove said, seeing her internal struggle. “Much as I hate to say it, this is what you’re all being trained for, miss Rosewood. Primaris created the Heart to protect the world, to gift you children with magic.” She saw his jaw tighten up. “This is not a war that should have to be fought by children, but you’re the only ones who can. It isn’t fair.”

“Professor,” Sarah asked, “if the Heart of Primaris is a spell… Why has no-one ever changed it? From the way it works now, I mean.”

“Some have tried, Miss Masters,” the Headmaster said. “They are the reason the Heart was split to begin with. You have to understand that it gives one total control over magic. It is, essentially, absolute power, over something we don’t fully understand yet. The results were… They were bad.”

“What happened?” Simon asked as he looked up at the older man’s face. 

“Some tried to take power for themselves. Others went mad. A few simply disappeared. One nearly killed every magic user in the world trying to take it all for herself. It was decided then that no one person should have that kind of power anymore, and the Heart was divided.”

“How many people have a piece?” Emily asked. “If you have one, and Miss Lalonde has one…” 

“It’s best I don’t tell you, Miss Rosewood. If you both keep advancing at the rate that you do, I’m both… proud and saddened to tell you that you and Miss Towers may find out soon enough regardless.” The implications of what he’d just said started to make their way down Emily’s spine, landing in her stomach with a wet thud. “For now, we’ll do what we can to make this as much of a learning experience as possible. We want you all to be able to be… well… kids.”

“But we’re not, are we?” Emily said. “We’ve been drafted.” Lord Mangrove looked down at her, his cold grey eyes suddenly very, very sad, and he didn’t say anything for a good long while. “Why not me, then?”

“Miss Towers needs practice,” Alastair said. Emily stared at him. She knew there was more to it than that. He’d just gone out of his way to compliment them both, after all. After a few seconds of her glaring, he relented with a sigh. “If something were to happen, I would also like the two of you to be here. From what I’ve been told, you acted with bravery, cunning and determination on more than one occasion.”

“I… I see,” Emily said, and she made eye contact with Sarah.

“Then why not me?” Sarah said. “Leah and I are the fastest out of everyone, even the older kids.” Lord Mangrove looked at her with a slight frown, which quickly relaxed.

“I… I’m afraid I can’t tell you everything. You’ll have to believe me when I tell you that I have your — and the School’s — best interests at heart, and that every decision we make is made after much deliberation. I am sorry.” He bowed his head. “Now, I’m afraid, it’ll be time for us to leave.” As he said that, a nondescript white van came to a quiet stop just a little ways away, flickering its headlights. Lord Mangrove raised a hand to greet it. 

“Stay safe, Simon,” Emily said. He scrunched up his face, but nodded solemnly.

“You’re one to talk,” he said. “Don’t get into any more life-or-death fights without me here, okay?”

“Promise,” Emily said. “And you don’t fall off anything, alright?”

“I will make no such promise,” Simon said haughtily, and then he held still for a second, Benjamin cocking his head. After whatever they’d talked about was over, the Wizard put Simon down in front of Emily. “I’ll be back soon,” he said, looking up at her, his little masked face outlined by the moonlight. “Be safe. Please.”

“We’ll be safer here,” Emily said, “than you out there.” She wanted to say more but Sarah trotted up and shoved her nose in the Ferret’s face. 

“You had better come back,” she said with a playful growl, and pushed him over. “If you don’t, I’ll… I’ll… I’ll have Leah turn you into kibble!”

“She would!” Simon said as he danced around her in little bounces, but he relaxed as he got a bit more serious again. “Keep her safe?” he said, just loud enough for Emily to hear, although she got the distinct feeling that hadn’t been the intention.

“Promise.”

“Alright,” Lord Mangrove said, “we should be going. Burrows, Fletcher, with me.” 

“See you guys,” Ben said as he kneeled down next to them and picked Simon up. “I’ll get him back in one piece. He’s a tough noodle.” Simon responded by gently biting him in the thumb. Benjamin and the little Ferret waved behind them as they walked to the car. Then, with the sound of a revving engine, Sarah and Emily were alone in the middle of the village.

“This is weird,” Sarah said. “It doesn’t feel right.”

“It doesn’t.”

“Well,” the Fox said, nudging Emily, “I’m not going to fall back asleep any time soon, but I’m not exactly in a very romantic mood. Want to go to the common room and curl up on the couch together?”

“God yes,” Emily said, and the two of them walked side by side in the moonlight. The common room wasn’t far, and it was a nice walk, short as it was, and Emily liked the fact that she could walk it with Sarah.

The common room was quiet, the clock on the wall ticking gently and letting them know it was just past two in the morning. Quiet aside from some sound and a faint light coming from the kitchen. Sticking their heads around the corner, Sarah and Emily saw Jacob making a sandwich. He waved at them as he took a bite, looking tired more than anything.

“Uh, hi,” Emily said. “Still up?”

“No.” Jacob chewed for a moment, then swallowed. “The Headmaster woke me up. Said he needed me and Dennis for a ‘top secret midnight mission’.”

“Yeah,” Sarah said as she walked into the room. “He ended up going with Ben and Simon. So you said no?” Emily hopped up on the counter and looked at him curiously. Now that she was a bit closer, there was a stiffness to his movements.

“Something like that,” Jacob said. “I told him that, if he thought it was a sensible idea to take a kid like Dennis out on a mission, I’d break his nose.” 

The silence in the room was deafening. Sarah cocked her head. “Don’t you think that’s… a bit much? He’s got our best interests at heart, you know? He clearly doesn’t want—” 

“I don’t care,” Jacob said. “I care about you guys. And I’m going to take care of Dennis, no matter what the teachers say.”

“Thank you,” Emily said sheepishly.

“I know Ben and Simon can take care of each other,” Jacob continued. “I mean, I’m still frustrated, but I get it.” He pushed himself away from the counter and made his way to the door. “I’m going to try to get some sleep. Have a good night you two.”

As Emily jumped back down from the counter, she meowed appreciatively. “We will, thank you.” Sarah agreed, and the two of them made their way to the sofa. Hopping up, Emily snuggled up against Sarah. “That was something.”

“Yeah,” Sarah said. “I think I get what Jenna sees in him though. He’s protective.”

“Yeah.” Emily yawned. “I’m— I’m glad you’re my friends.” Sarah put a large paw over Emily, and it wasn’t long before they were both fast asleep.

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