I entered the room, where my flock stood in a semicircle around an old fart with a funny hat. He eyed them all suspiciously from under his half moon spectacles. I saw my flock, standing tall and defiant, and Angel and Gazzy clenching their fists. I prayed that soon the little elf would come; the one who had greeted us at the door with eyes like tennis balls. He had seemed nice enough. I hovered in the doorway uncertainly, appraising the old man. Nudge looked up, eyes shining,
"Max! This man says we have to go to a magic school! In Europe! With all the tiny little shops! Oh, Max, please!" I silently groaned at Nudge. Now was not the time for fashion.
Well? are you going to follow her lead?
"I haven't decided yet, Mr. Pushy" I said, and everyone turned to stare at me. Crap, did I say that out loud? So awkward…
"Um-" I stammered, before pointing at my head. The flock nodded, but Dumbwindow just looked confused. "I have a voice." I explained.
"In her head." Fang said, and Iggy twirled his finger around his ear. I scowled, before muttering,
"I'm scowling Ig." He chuckles and Mr. D grimaced as if he was having second thoughts. Good for him. All those thoughts needed were a little nudge-
"Mr. Dumbledore," Nudge broke in, and I couldn't keep back a grin. "We can't do magic." He looked momentarily stunned, before saying mildly,
"Of course you can, Monique. You all can." When I got over being shocked that he knew Nudge's real name, Angel broke in,
"But Albus, we've never done magic in our life." That's my girl! He eyed us and replied, "You are not going to be there to perform magic. In fact you won't be doing any magic at all." He got up, circled around a blue pot that seemed to be filled with gray hair. "We want you here to study and see if we can use magic to create more of your kind." He left the option out there, hanging in the air. Finally Fang broke the silence by saying incredulously,
"You want us to be studied? At a school?" Gazzy's eyes widened, and Iggy's fists clenched. I narrowed my eyes.
"I'm afraid we don't like your conditions. You can't create us with magic, Avian Americans can only be created with science. You know, DNA splicing and…. stuff." He smiled at me.
"Why, Maximum, magic is science." I snorted at his comment.
"Yeah, and unicorns are real." He raised his eyebrows.
"But of course they're real." I laughed harshly.
"Yeah right!" He turned to pull out something large and bowl-shaped into the center of the room. Something that, until recently, had been floating behind him.
"But, Maximum, I can show you. All you must do look into the Pensieve."
"The Pen-what?" Iggy asks, and Angel's get that evil, mastermind, take over the world glare, and she says softly.
"Go on, Max." With that vote of enthusiasm, I stepped forward, towards the mysterious bowl. As I looked inside, swirls of silver forming up into one, white shape. A galloping unicorn, in a white meadow. Leaning closer, my nose touching the cool liquid, strands of hair floating in the silver stuff, I suddenly tumble in, down, down, down through inky blackness.