Magic Child

Was It Worth It?

"Mostly it is loss which teaches us about the worth of things."
-Arthur Schopenhauer

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I didn't know what to do.

I tried to pick up Sloane, but she was too heavy. I grunted and set her down as softly as I could. This wasn't going to work.

I had to use magic. That was the fastest way.

I didn't know how to conjure a stretcher, so I looked around for materials. I grab a sheet that Professor Longbottom used for sheet mulching and some larger branches that had fallen off of trees. I tied it all together as best as I could. I lifted Sloane onto it and whispered, "Locomotor stretcher."

This was a bit dangerous, but it was the most effective spell that I could think of off of the top of my head.

Before we left, I made sure to grab the chip that we had risked so much for. Was the chip worth this?

We left the greenhouse, and thankfully the sun had not set completely. We were still allowed to be out, but not for long. I speed-walked as fast as I dared to the castle. I wanted to be fast, but I didn't want her to fall off the cot.

Sloane's arm had started bleeding profusely, still retaining its green tint.

We made it into the castle, and everyone seemed to be in bed. I rushed her to the hospital wing and tried not to yell, "Madam Smith, Sloane needs medical assistance."

She sees my set-up and says, "Put her on that bed." She rushes over, and I stand next to the cot. She looked at the wound with absurd calmness.

"Will she be okay?" I ask, my brow furrowing.

"Is this a Venomous Tentacula bite?" She asked. She was good at her job.

I had come up with a cover story on the way here to distract myself. "I'm not sure. I think so. We were on a walk and a plant attacked her."

She raced to the back, muttering something about "dangerous plants, lurking around the school." At least she wasn't blaming us.

"So? Will she be okay?" I asked again, getting more worried the longer she avoided my question.

"Oh, yeah. She'll be fine. She might have a scar, though." Madam Smith replied.

I breathed a sigh of release. Sloane would be okay.

"You had better get to bed," Madam Smith says, "Sloane is going to stay overnight, possibly tomorrow, but she will be fine, definitely by the day after tomorrow."

"Okay," I say, nodding my head and walking back to the common room.

                                ***

"We've been waiting for you!"

"Where have you been?"

"Where is Sloane?"

I'm bombarded with questions as soon as Amber, Blaire, and Taline realized that I had just walked in. I was supposed to be back ages ago. Nobody ever wandered around late at night.

"Let's sit at a table and we can talk." We all sat around the table that we had played Exploding Snap at earlier. Exploding Snap seemed like ages ago.

I filled them in on everything that had happened from me spotting to the chip to walking into the common room. I left the part about how badly injured Sloane was, and exactly how difficult getting past the Tentacula was. I also left out the part about how worried I was about Sloane. I left out all the parts that I thought would scare them.

"Can we see it?" Amber asked. I was confused. "The chip?" She explained.

"Oh, yeah," I said as I pulled out the chip. It was a white chip that seemed like plastic, with the Hogwarts crest drawn onto both sides. I handed it around the table.

"Wow," Blaire said. Her hair had been tied up into a ponytail. It was so long, that even in a high ponytail, it still reached her waist.

"I think that we might have gotten the first one," Taline said, her multi-color eyes shining.

I pondered that thought, and replied, "Maybe not. A lot of people would want to keep the chip, and wait until it multiplies."

"How does that work, exactly?" Asked Amber curiously.

I took a shot at it, "I'm not exactly sure, but I think that if you keep the chip, it multiplies. One more chip appears every week you keep it, and those chips can be turned in for house points. But the thing is, the longer you keep it, the more likely it is to get stolen. The longer you keep it, it starts making a small buzzing noise, not loud enough to be annoying, but if you know what to look for, you can steal them. Even from common rooms and dormitories."

An ominous silence filled the room.

"Well, we have to keep it, don't we? It would be stupid not to, at least not for a little bit," Taline said, breaking the silence.

I nodded my head. We were going to keep this chip, at least for a little while. Sloane should have  a say in it, since she risked her life for it. Once she came back, we would confer.

"I'm going to bed," I said, pocketing the chip.

A chorus of "goodnights" followed me. No one questioned my choice to go to  bed so early. They could all tell that I was distressed.

In bed, I couldn't fall asleep. I knew that Sloane would be alright, but I knew that it was my fault that she was hurt at all.

I knew that she was badly hurt, and I knew that it was selfish to want her to come back right away. I was really dreading a day without her tomorrow, nevertheless.

I eventually fell asleep from sheer exhaustion after a long day, hoping that Sloane would get better as soon as possible while dreading a day alone tomorrow.

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Will Sloane be better by tomorrow? Or will Ray have to face a school day alone?

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