Mood Swings: Cedric Edition
Summary: Hildegard and Clio are back for another sleepover, and this time, they target a certain sorcerer for the next mood alteration spell. (Requested by MarionetteJ2X and several others)
Disclaimer: I don't own the show!
A/N: So a few people have wanted to see my "Mood Swings" series again, and the most popular request was Cedric…so I'm finally acknowledging the requests. Lol. This will most likely be one of my last stories before I go back to teaching next week, and after that I'll likely be a lot scarcer than I have been this summer. There are a lot of new changes to our curriculum, and it will take quite some time to get used to it. However, I'm not going to be "gone" for good or anything. I'll be around, especially around next Friday. :) It will just take me a bit more time than usual to get a story out. ;) So be patient with me. Anyway, hope you enjoy!
A/N 2: I guess it goes without saying, but this is the third story of the "Mood Swings" series I made. You don't necessarily have to read the others to appreciate this one, but you can if you'd like. Order: "Mood Swings," "Mood Swings: Baileywick Edition," and "Mood Swings: Cedric Edition." :) But just for reference, if you see the word "potassium" in here…it's a direct callback to the first story... Ah, good times. :p Enjoy!
*Story*
"Oh, Amber," Hildegard sang playfully as she reclined against her friend's pillows during one of their now less-frequent sleepovers. It had been a while since the girls were able to get together, but now that they were, she planned to make the most of their evening. "I've been thinking about something all week, and I know you're not going to like it…but I think it needs to be done." She smiled mischievously at the Enchancian princess.
Amber blinked and raised an eyebrow at her. "You're going to go to the school ball with Zandar?" she guessed with a little grin, making Clio giggle hysterically as her best friend blushed.
"N-No! Hush, Clio! This is serious!" The dark-haired girl cleared her throat and folded her arms. "Well, as you and I both know, there's really only so much to do at a slumber party… After you've told all the ghost stories, eaten all the snacks, and shown off all the new clothes and accessories, there's really only one thing left." She smirked when she saw a look of realization dawn on her friend's face.
"No, Hildegard. No more mood alteration spells." Amber folded her arms as she stared pointedly at the Friezenburg princess.
"Aw, come on! It was so much fun the other times!" She grinned before moving to sit directly in front of Amber. "No one got hurt….surprisingly."
"Ugh, Hildy!"
"I'm just kidding! And we won't mess with Sofia any more…or James for that matter. And Baileywick has had his fair share of torture." She snickered.
"And we'll leave your parents alone too," Clio added with a smile. "The last thing you need is to be grounded before the school ball."
"And why would I be grounded? I'm seemingly the only one of the three of us who thinks this whole spell thing is a bad idea." She rolled her eyes. "And besides, if you've ruled all of them out, then who's left-?" She paused when she saw the chipper smile on Hildegard's face. "Cedric?"
The mischievous princess snickered. "You said it—not me."
"How do I put this?" Amber stood from the bed and put her hands on her hips. "First of all, Cedric is our Royal Sorcerer…as in he knows magic."
"Most of the time," Hildegard added sarcastically before waving a dismissive hand as Amber gave her a pointed look. "I digress. Continue."
"Cedric's been under a bit of…stress lately. I mean, there's a lot going on…and his family is supposed to come visit next week, which is going to add more stress." Amber was more than surprised she was now sticking up for someone she had once hardly considered anywhere in the realm of 'friend,' but here she was, doing just that.
"What's the big deal?" Clio wondered with a shrug. "It's not like we're going to hurt him, and I doubt he can get too mad about it."
"He isn't the one I'd worry about getting mad at you guys." Amber had a point. Cedric was one thing; but if Sofia found out that someone had wronged her mentor and closest friend…ooh, she didn't want to be around for that. A glare from Sofia sent chills down anyone's spine, but if she was really mad…you might as well just go ahead and brace yourself. Her anger was far worse than Amber's ever was; perhaps it's because no one anticipated it?
"Oh, relax, Amber," Hildegard intervened with a soothing smile. "Just like the last few times, it'll be a quick little spell, and then we'll leave him alone." She held up one hand. "You have my word."
"Besides, wouldn't it be fun to see Cedric go through multiple emotions at once?" Clio added.
The blonde smirked as she shook her head. These girls really had no idea… Cedric was practically the poster child for 'multiple emotions at once.' Oh, if only they'd been present during that incident. She just shrugged at this point. "Whatever, Hildegard. I'm just giving you a heads up: if you get caught, I am not vouching for you two. I want it known that I've said numerous times that this is a bad idea."
Clio giggled. "We'll take our chances."
With that, Hildegard grabbed her school wand and led the other two out of Amber's room.
"Wow," Sofia breathed as she sat at Cedric's table and watched as he performed an experiment. It was Friday night, and while it wasn't too late, she was spending some extra time with him since she hadn't seen him as much throughout the school week. He'd been more than happy to oblige her request to try some new spells, so that's what they'd been doing the last hour or so. "This reminds me of the school project we had a while ago."
Cedric smiled at her as he waved his wand over what looked to be a miniature galaxy replica. It spanned the entirety of the table where they usually worked, and said galaxy had sections swirling, the stars intermingling with each other. Naturally, tiny lookalikes of the planets also floated along. "Well, I know how much you and your sister seem to enjoy space, so I figured this would be a good place to start."
Sofia laughed. "Yeah. Amber's definitely more of the stargazing princess. But this is just so…"
"Ah-mazing?" he suggested, smirking when she blinked before giggling at his own use of her favorite expression. "I'm glad you like it." That said, he used his wand to absorb the galaxy facsimile, his table now back to normal. "I've no idea when or where we could use that, but it's something to keep in mind, I suppose."
"Yeah, probably when we have more visitors, I guess." She gestured excitedly. "How neat would it be for them to literally be able to touch the stars? Or the moon? I mean, come on, Mr. Cedric. It's a great idea!"
Cedric smiled before shrugging. "I suppose so. All right, what would you like to do next?"
The princess grinned before pulling out a checkerboard. "Hmm?"
He raised his eyebrows at her as he sat in front of his side of the board. "Oh, you think you can defeat me this time?"
"I've done it before," she remarked cheekily, an obvious double meaning coming across as both friends shared a look.
"That you have. All right, let's get this game set up." He glanced toward Wormwood, who was fast asleep on his perch. "It amazes me how he can just sleep through these lessons."
Sofia giggled as she finished setting up her side. "Maybe it's because we do it so often. It's just background noise to him now."
Neither of them noticed his door cracking open the slightest bit.
"I can't see anything," Clio complained as Hildegard stood directly in front of the opening. "Hildy!"
"Shh," the other princess ordered as she waved her wand a bit. "Here we go!"
Amber shook her head. These two really had no idea what they were in for…
Hildegard aimed her wand at Cedric and whispered clearly, "Adfecerunt animos." She grinned as the familiar stream of magic encircled the sorcerer, though the two within the workshop didn't seem to notice.
"All right, Mr. Cedric, you can go first," Sofia told her mentor kindly, blinking when he seemed a bit spaced out at first. "Are you okay?"
"Huh?" Cedric shook his head, shrugging. "Am I? I don't know. What are we doing again?"
"We're…playing checkers." She smiled slowly as a look of realization dawned on his face.
"Ah, right! I love checkers!" He grabbed his piece and moved it. "Beat that, Sofia."
She giggled and moved her own piece. A few paces later, she managed to jump one of his pieces and take it for herself. "Sorry, Mr. Cedric."
Cedric paused with his hands placed directly on either side of the board. His lip trembled and his eyes began watering, startling the princess.
"M-Mr. Cedric, are you okay?"
"Why?!" Cedric choked out as a steady stream of tears leaked down his cheeks, spilling onto his side of the board. "I'm such a fool! I should have seen that move coming!" He held his hands to his eyes and continued sobbing.
The visiting princesses were in a fit of silent laughter outside the door, their hands covering their mouths to keep from being discovered. Amber had to admit—Cedric's reaction was unexpectedly entertaining, but she still knew better than to laugh. She did not want them to hear them.
"Oh, my goodness, Mr. Cedric…" Sofia's gaze held a look of worry as she slid from her chair and moved over, placing one hand on his shoulder. "I'm sorry. I didn't know that this game meant so much to you…"
"It doesn't!" he cried harder as he lowered his hands. "I don't even know why I'm crying, for Merlin's sake!" He gasped in realization, his brown eyes widening as he stared ahead. "Am I becoming my mother?"
The princess blinked and made a confused face. "What?"
"Father always said she would become hysterical over nothing every now and again, and I seem to be following in her footsteps… Oh, no…" He raised his hands to his eyes again. "Now that is certainly something to cry about!" he sniffled.
Sofia was lost. She had never seen Cedric cry before, even on that day… She'd seen him look sad, but to actually cry in front of her was something new. What was she supposed to do? "Um…"
"Well, no matter," Cedric stated happily, effectively drying his tears away. "No use crying over spilled potions, eh, Sofia?" He patted her head kindly and offered her a bright smile. "Shall we continue with our game?"
The girl's mouth dropped slightly before she nodded uncertainly. "Um, sure… Are you sure you're okay?"
"Why, certainly. If my previous conversation with Baileywick was any indication, I'm simply low in potassium… I'll eat some oranges after this and be much better."
"If you say so…" She walked back to her chair and sat down, gesturing toward him. "It's your turn, Mr. Cedric."
"I can't see," Clio whispered as she gently pushed Hildegard to the side.
"Too bad," Hildegard answered with a light grumble. "I was here first."
"Girls," Amber attempted before sighing as they kept fighting for space. This wasn't going to end well, or so she felt.
Cedric beamed as he grabbed one of his pieces. He suddenly gasped in fear, quickly clutching the piece to his chest. "I can't."
"Huh?" Sofia tilted her head. Oh, what now? Her mind was racing. What was wrong with her mentor? He was acting so strangely tonight. "Why not?"
"If I move, I'm liable to conquer one of your pieces."
The princess smiled softly. "That is the point of the game, isn't it? Collect as many pieces as you can and then win?"
"But it simply isn't fair," he argued uncertainly. "You've done nothing to deserve this type of treatment, Sofia…"
She frowned. "Mr. Cedric, you're acting really weird. What's going on?" She jumped when he slammed the piece down onto the checkerboard.
"Well, excuse me for caring!" he snapped, frowning at the girl. "I meant only to look out for your wellbeing, but I see it's rather useless now, isn't it?" With that, he knocked the entire game onto the cobblestone floor, the wooden surface of the game making a sickening cracking sound and the pieces rolling and scattering in various sections of the room.
Wormwood stirred suddenly, the unexpected loudness of their actions dragging him out of his sleep. "Would you two keep it down?" he grumbled as he opened his sleepy green eyes. "Some of us are trying to sleep."
Sofia stared wide-eyed at her mentor. "Mr. Cedric, something is seriously wrong," she stated in a no-nonsense manner. "Whatever it is, you can talk to me… We've been through worse, so just tell me what's on your mind, and maybe I can help you."
"The broom," he growled in annoyance as she became even more confused.
"What broom?" She looked to her side as Wormwood flew down and landed on the table next to her.
"The broom you used to chase after me?"
"What is he talking about?" Hildegard asked as she looked toward Amber, who shook her head.
The less these girls knew, the better.
Sofia frowned. "Mr. Cedric, you're not making any sense."
"Did you or did you not borrow a broom from the Conjurors' Conference and chase me back here?"
"Well, yeah, but I don't—"
"Where is it?" he demanded with his arms folded.
"I… It's in my room, in my closet. But I don't understand what the big deal is." To say Cedric was becoming an enigma would be an understatement. These mood swings were one thing, but the way he seemed to be talking in circles was entirely different.
Cedric suddenly switched moods again, becoming a bit shy. He smiled bashfully and traced the patterns on his table. "I just…was curious… I figured, perhaps, we could use it in our lessons…for research purposes?"
Sofia exchanged glances with Wormwood, who shrugged. He seemed as baffled as she did. "Um, sure, Mr. Cedric… Say, do you want me to clean up the game?"
"Oh, no, Sofia… I broke it, so it should be my responsibility to fix it." He used his wand and muttered a spell, restoring the game to its former glory. He retracted his wand, a shy look still on his face. "I, uh… I hope that's better."
She smiled kindly toward him, glad to see whatever had caused him to have his random outburst earlier was apparently under control. "Much better." She looked toward the door as she heard it squeaking ever-so-slightly. "That's weird. I thought I shut the door."
"I thought you did too," Cedric whispered, fear laced in his voice yet again.
Amber waved her hands, trying to get the girls' attention. "Hildy, Clio!" she whispered as the girls both tried to press against the opening to see what was going on. "Oh, no."
"AHH!"
"AHH!"
CAW!
CRASH!
"Merlin's Mushrooms!" Cedric exclaimed in fear as he climbed onto the table beside the game, attempting to stay as far from the intrusion as possible.
"Ow," Hildegard moaned as she sat up, holding a hand to her head. "That hurt."
"Hildegard!" Sofia hissed pointedly before turning her look to Clio. "Clio? What are you two doing in here? Weren't you with Amber?"
"Oh, she's outside," Clio responded airily with a bright smile. "She didn't want to have anything to do with this."
"Clio!" Hildegard threw a hand over her friend's mouth.
"No, explain," the youngest princess demanded, her gaze focused and her arms folded. "Do you two have something to do with Mr. Cedric's behavior?"
"What are you talking about? He seems fine," Hildegard laughed uneasily with a sheepish grin.
Sofia deadpanned at her before gesturing widely toward the sorcerer, who was currently enthusiastically flapping his arms.
"I'm a bird!" he laughed happily as he pretended to fly.
Wormwood gave his master a hard stare. "Not even close."
"Oh, that?" the Friezenburg princess asked with a small laugh. "Oh, we just put a spell on him."
Clio managed to push her friend's hand away. "No, Hildegard put a spell on him. I just didn't stop her."
"Why would you guys do that?" the auburn-haired girl asked, the fire inside of her now stirring. She was getting really upset. "You're messing with Mr. Cedric's emotions, and I don't think it's funny at all."
"Oh, we beg to differ," Hildegard snickered. "The hysterical crying when you took his checker piece? Classic!"
"Hildegard!"
"Sofia," Amber's voice cut through as she walked inside and directly toward her sister. She frowned when she noticed that Cedric was now lying upside down in his chair. …She wasn't even going to venture a guess as to what 'mood' he was currently in.
"Amber, did you know about this?"
"I told them not to do it," the blonde responded seriously. "They just don't listen."
"Fix Mr. Cedric, now," she ordered as she glared at Hildegard. "He's been through enough lately, and it's not right to put a spell on others without their knowledge or consent."
"Why not?" Clio asked cluelessly. "We've done it to you before."
"Clio!" Hildegard shushed.
"What?!" Sofia's eyes widened in surprise before she frowned. "Hildegard!"
"Oh, fine," the Friezenburg princess mumbled as she pointed her wand at Cedric and said the counter spell. She rolled her eyes as he righted himself and appeared to go back to normal. "There. Happy?"
Sofia looked at each of the girls and then back toward her mentor. She slowly smiled before gazing back at Hildegard and Clio. "Not quite."
Cedric, Sofia, and Amber sat on his staircase at the side of the tower, sharing some candies as they watched their own form of entertainment.
Hildegard and Clio, now changed into commoner clothing for the time being, were utilizing the previously-mentioned broom as well as other products to clean the messes Cedric had accidentally made in his workshop earlier. As far as Sofia could tell, it appeared to be the first time the girls had actually done this much cleaning in their lives.
"What is this?" Hildegard asked, holding up something small and rectangular.
"A sponge," Sofia responded with an amused grin. "Dip it in the soapy water and scrub the table."
"Ew, wouldn't that stir up dirt?"
"You should have thought of that before you put a spell on Mr. Cedric. And me."
"And Baileywick," Amber added, noticing the looks of both surprise and realization pass across the sorcerer's and other princess's faces. "Oh, you didn't know about him?"
"That explains his behavior that time too." Sofia shook her head. "Keep going, girls. You're doing great!"
Clio giggled as she used the enchanted broom to sweep. "I kind of like cleaning. It's therapeutic!"
"It's stupid," Hildegard argued as she half-heartedly scrubbed the table. "And disgusting."
"I'll tell you what," Cedric reasoned with them both. "If you clean the rest of the workshop well, I'll give you a spell to clean up any mess with one flick of the wand."
Surprisingly enough, both princesses seemed encouraged by that and continued cleaning. When all was said and done, and after they were finished, Cedric did give the girls a simple cleaning spell (which they seemed to be really grateful for, for whatever reason). Amber apologized to Sofia for allowing the girls to carry on with their plan, and her sister seemed to accept it. As the trio of girls went back to their sleepover, Sofia turned her attention back to her mentor.
"So…was that what I was like when I was under the spell?" she asked curiously. "Unpredictable? Hysterical?"
"Frightening?" he added, making her laugh. "Yes. And I must say, Sofia, you're rather scary on your own…"
She grinned. "Why do you say that?"
"I'm not sure if you've always been that way or if it was something you developed after becoming a princesses and dealing with so many different scenarios, but you appear to become rather angry if someone messes with your friends…"
She nodded. "I'll admit it… I can get a little bit protective and upset if that happens."
"A little? You looked ready to take on Princess Hildegard." He chuckled. "I'd hardly think it was worth it, just for my benefit."
Sofia shook her head and smiled kindly. "No, Mr. Cedric. You're definitely worth it."
The sorcerer smiled gently at her choice of words. "Thank you, Sofia… So. Shall we return to our game?"
She nodded. "Okay! But I have one question…"
"What's that?"
"What is the deal with 'potassium' anyway?"
Cedric shrugged. "I have no idea. You'll have to ask Baileywick. He seems to think strange behavior is linked to lack of potassium for whatever reason."
"Huh, weird."
"I know." He grinned and returned to the checkerboard once more. "Ready when you are, Sofia."
She returned his grin as Wormwood flew back to his perch. "Bring it on, Mr. Cedric."
The raven rolled his eyes. "Humans."
The end