The Gathering: The New Order of Merlin Book 1

48. Revolution in plans

       Jack woke up smiling. Thanks to Merlin, he wasn't getting kicked out of Hogwarts. Jack wanted to hug him again, but last night, his savior got awkward after the hug. What could he do? A hug was his instinctual reaction to feeling happy. Since he had to ease up on hugs, he had all this pent-up joy inside him that wanted to spill out. He got ready quickly, told his friends he'd see them downstairs, and ran out to the back of the castle where the greenhouses were.

He kicked off his shoes, and his steps crunched on the frost-covered grass. Today was probably the coldest day of the season so far. He wondered if there was a difference between the frost he created and the natural frost on the ground right now, so he plopped down to sit cross-legged and experimented. It looked the same, its magic felt the same. It was fun to compare them, but it wasn't enough. He wanted to do something bigger.

He looked up at the cloudy sky and got an idea. It was definitely cold enough today. He dug his hands into the cold ground and focused on the Earth's power. He willed the clouds to listen to him, and soon, they became a different shade of gray and a light flurry fell around him. He waited until it intensified and let go. Now that he started it, the snow would continue on its own.

"I did it!"

He ran in circles with his arms spread out, watching the snow follow him around. As an experiment, he put his hand palm up and tried to make the snowflakes swirl in a small circle. Soon, it looked like a tiny tornado contained within his hand.

Fascinated with the idea, he let it grow until it enveloped his whole person. Now it was a human-sized tornado with Jack at the center. He lost control over it and it dispersed.

"Cool!" he exclaimed. Maybe one day he could grow it larger.

Snow started sticking to the ground and all surfaces received a white dusting. He ran up to a stone balustrade and scooped up some powder. He couldn't make a snowball out of it though, it was too dry and fell through his fingers. It didn't matter. He hopped on top of the balustrade and kicked the white dusting off to the rhythm of a made-up tune he whistled.

He stopped when he felt a familiar pull. His sister sent him a signal asking where he was. He responded with his location. Yes! They could play in the snow together.

After a minute, she showed up at the door and ran up to him.

"Elsa, it's cold enough. It worked. It's real snow!"

"You did it?" She put her hand out to catch a few snowflakes.

"Yeah!" He grabbed her hands and pulled her along. "Let's play!"

She smiled and looked like she wanted to join him but then pulled him back. "Jack, Transfiguration is about to start. We have to go. We'll come back later."

His smile fell. Classes? He had to attend classes?

"But it's snowing," he tried to appeal to the Winter Spirit inside her.

"I know," she looked just as bummed as he felt. "You can do it again later, right? Come on. We don't want to be late."

She pulled him indoors and he reluctantly gave in. He hung his head and shuffled after her. They walked inside the classroom just as McGonagall got there. They sat down and she stared intently at them. Her infurated eyes lingered on him a lot more than on Elsa. What was her problem? He wasn't late.

She leaned down and whispered in his ear intensely, "Where are your shoes!"

Jack gasped and looked down. Yup. His toes were happily free. "Oops. Can I go get them?"