Should you choose not to attend, you will be presumed guilty and your magical powers revoked permanently.
Well, if that letter was intended to scare the bejeezus out of me, it certainly worked. My face paled as I read the letter over and over. My appointment was that very day! I looked at the clock; it was already three o’clock. I had just over four hours. I called the one person I knew would be better than anyone else in this situation.
“Hello?” Charlotte answered the phone.
“Listen, I know this is going to sound brusque, but I need you to not ask questions. Jake, the roommate, killed Matt Smith, I confronted him and he almost killed Jason. I had to use magic to stop him, Jason knows, and now the Witches’ Council has set up a trial for me. It’s at seven, and I’m not allowed any witnesses.”
“I’ll be there in forty minutes,” Charlotte said, hanging up the phone without another word. Charlotte was a know-it-all, and she often scolded me for getting into situations she thought were ridiculous, but she was still the best sister ever. I knew she’d have my back on this.
“Wait, how do you know that stuff?” Jason asked, picking up the letter and flipping it over. “This is totally empty.”
“Can’t you read it?” I asked him, and he shook his head.
“Weird,” I said. “It must be enchanted. I bet the only person who can read it is the person its addressed to.”
For the next forty minutes I tried not to panic too much. I sent Sophie a quick text, telling her I wasn’t going to be coming back to the clinic this afternoon. I went out to the back looked out over the yard.
Jason came out and wrapped his arms around me.
“Do you need some time away from me?” I asked. Jason looked at me, surprised.
“Why would I need that?”
“You know, to like, process this. After all, it’s a pretty big thing, finding out magic is real and your girlfriend is a witch.”
Jason wrapped his arms around me. “I don’t need any time. As far as I’m concerned, I know everything that I need to know about you. I know you love animals. I know you love your friends and family and would do anything for them. I saw the perfect example of that today. I know what lengths you go to in order to stop injustices. I know how funny you are. And I know how good you are in bed,” he finished, and I punched him lightly on the arm as he laughed. “Those are the things that are important about a person. So you can talk to animals. So what? What I see is someone who took something she does better than anyone, and used it for good. You became a vet. You’re still the same person I fell in love with. You always have been. The only thing that’s different is now I know you can kick my butt if we ever get into a fight.”
I laughed and leaned against him. “Thanks. I appreciate it. Though it might all be moot, since it sounds like the Witches’ Council wants to take away my magical powers as punishment for telling you about my magic. The letter said if I don’t show up I automatically get found guilty, and that’s the punishment. And really, there’s no way that I won’t be found guilty. The rule says no telling or showing humans without magical powers about your magic. And I did exactly that.”
“But you did it in defense of me! I would have died if you hadn’t!” Jason argued.
“I know, but I don’t think that matters. They’re super strict about this sort of thing.”
“That’s completely ridiculous,” Jason said, shaking his head. “I want to go in there and testify.”
“You can’t,” I said. “The letter says no witnesses will be allowed in my favor, and that the upper floor of the library will be magically barricaded so no one else can come up while the meeting is happening.”
“That’s insane,” Jason muttered as I heard Charlotte’s car pull up the driveway.
“It is. But Charlotte’s here, and if anyone will be able to figure out how to get out of this, it’s her.”
The fact was, I was ready to take whatever punishment I was given. I knew when I was casting the spell that I was in trouble. I knew that I would likely lose my powers. And the thing was, I was ok with that. Because Jason was here, next to me, breathing. That was the most important thing to me.
Charlotte rushed in. “I’m here,” she said. “Tell me everything that happened.”
I explained the events of that morning, and showed her the letter. Sure enough, Charlotte only saw a blank page as well, so I read the contents out to her.
“That’s not good,” Charlotte said. “I’ll be right back.”
She came back with a large, leather-bound volume. “What’s that?” I asked, staring at it. It had to have at least three thousand pages. Charlotte gave me an exasperated look in reply.
“It’s only the guide to all magical law,” she said. “Along with every spell known to man. How are you a grown witch without your own copy?”
I shrugged. “I don’t know. I learned all the spells I needed as a kid, I guess.”
“You are unbelievable,” Charlotte said as she looked at an index and started flipping through the pages. “You have a gift, and you choose not to learn your skills to their fullest potential.”
“Wait, all of this book is full of spells?” Jason asked. “That’s awesome!”
“Yes,” Charlotte said. “Well, most of it. The last three hundred pages or so involve magical law.”
I groaned. “Don’t tell me we need to read all of it.”
“Oh no, don’t worry. I already know most of it, I just need to check on something.”
“You really are Hermione,” Jason said, and Charlotte blushed.
“Well, thank you,” she said, and I laughed at how much of a compliment she found that to be. “Unfortunately for Angela, I’m not sure there’s really anything in here that will help.”
“Shouldn’t there be some sort of exception, like in defense of a third party?” I whined.
“What there should be, and what the law supplies, are two very different things,” Charlotte said. “There is no such provision in the books. You are absolutely guilty of this magical crime. I’m simply looking up the punishments for it. Your best bet is to beg for leniency.”
I groaned. “Great.”
“Here it is,” Charlotte said. “For a person found guilty of a crime found in the 5th directive, the punishment is to be determined by the courts. The maximum punishment is the complete removal of the guilty party’s magical powers. The minimum punishment is the removal of the guilty party’s magical powers for one month.”
There. I honestly think your best bet is to plead guilty. Admit to what you’ve done, and tell them that it was to save the life of your long-term boyfriend. It’s not like you did it just for kicks. Make sure they know that.”
“Are you sure?” I asked, and Charlotte nodded.
“Yes, I’m sure. That’s your best bet.”
“Ok,” I replied.
“I’ll wait for you downstairs in the library,” Jason said, squeezing my hand. “No matter what happens, I’ll be there for you. After all, you did save my life today. I’m pretty stoked about that.”
I smiled at him. “Me too. Thanks.”
Chapter 22
The speed at which all of this felt like it was going was dizzying. It felt like absolutely no time at all passed before six-thirty came around and it was time to go to the library. Jason, Charlotte, Sophie and I all piled into Jason’s car–mine was still in Portland, as Jason and I decided to drive home together–and made our way down to the library.
“Oh, hello, dears,” Rose, the long-time librarian said as we walked in. “It’s been a while since I’ve seen all of you. Well, except for Charlotte of course. She was here two days ago.”
“Hermione,” I heard Jason whisper, but I was too stressed to giggle at the joke. My entire magical future was at stake here. As if sensing my anxiety, Jason wrapped his arms around my shoulder as we exchanged pleasantries with Rose and headed deep into the library toward the stairs leading up to the second level.