Profs and Prophecy

Source and Sorcery

“We bought you an ice cream,” said Cassia. She decided to start on a neutral topic, to test Priti’s mood. “They had your favourite today, raspberry ripple.”

“Oh that was sweet of you,” said Priti noncommittally. “Where is it?”

“Well, actually, we ate it. Sorry, it was, like, about an hour ago,” apologized Sara.

“It was drippy,” added Cassia. Perhaps this wasn’t the best topic to start with after all.

“That’s okay,” said Priti. “It’s nice that you thought of me, anyway. So how much do I owe you?”

“For the ice cream?” asked Sara. She still didn’t have a good read on Priti’s mood, and was unsure how to answer. “It was 50p, but you know, you don’t have to pay us for it, I mean we ate it…”

Priti laughed. “Sara, I’m teasing you!”

The expected response to this would normally have been for Sara to laugh, and shove Priti back onto the bed. Instead she sat beside Priti and put her arms around her.

“Hey, what’s that for?” asked Priti.

Sara finished squeezing her friend and said, “I’m just so happy to see you in such a good mood.”

“I am in a good mood. In fact, I’m in a great mood.”

“What happened?” asked Cassia as she joined the others sitting cross-legged on the bed. “You didn’t go and solve all the world’s problems without us did you? How is that supposed to make us feel?”

“Don’t worry,” said Priti. “There are lots of problems left in the world that I’ll need help with. What I did manage to do, though, was to get this.” Priti reached up to the shelf over her bed, and pulled down a textbook.

“MAG101, the introductory magic text?” exclaimed Sara. “We had to give these back. Where did you get one?”

“And that’s not all. Take a look in the penguin.”

Priti’s former-backpack-turned-cute-little-rolling-carryall was sitting in the corner. Cassia reached over to unzip it, revealing the wealth of sorcery texts Priti had brought home.

“Priti, where did you get these?” she asked. Then a thought occurred to her, “Oh no, you didn’t steal them, did you?”

“No! Of course not,” said Priti. “Well, not really. Technically, no. I’m not sure, better not to ask.”

“Well that’s a relief,” said Cassia.

“I’ve been reading. Let’s see, where was it? Oh right. Listen to this:

“Magic involves the use of gestures. When thinking of witchcraft or sorcery, it is generally the large gestures we remember. Most practitioners use broad, sweeping motions of the arms, although this is not necessarily required. The student is encouraged to find a gesture that is both bold and original. The large gesture is associated with large releases of magical energies, and can make a significant impression.

“Small gestures generally suffice for everyday requirements, and are indeed a necessity where subtlety is required. A twitch of the nose, or a deliberate blink, every practitioner needs to develop a gesture that suits his personality. The gesture itself is unimportant; it is its repetition that is significant. The point here is for the student to find a large and a small gesture they are comfortable with, and to stick with them.”

“So what does that mean?” asked Cassia.

“It means I can really do magic,” said Priti. “I’ve been practicing what it says, and it really works. Here, let me show you.”