Chapter Three: The Sha
"Jon!" Henry gasped and tiptoed to his barred windows. He was able to push the window up as the bars had been installed on the outside. "Jon how in the worlds...what...HOW did you find me?" As he gazed out of the window, Henry's jaw completely fell open when he realized what he was seeing.
Henry's best friend Jon Parsley was on the roof of a rusty, beige Smoogo Minima parked in the middle of the air right outside Henry's second floor window. The only reason Henry knew of the make was because many people had them to carpool to work and Uncle Vincent always looked down on people like that. As for Jon, he was absolutely grinning. The trunk was open and facing the barred window.
"Magus found us," Jon said as lowly as he could. Henry was very glad his friend had the sense to assess that this had to be a quiet operation.
From the driver's seat, Matthew Parsley poked his head out and looked behind to wave and smile at Henry. From the passenger seat, his girlfriend, Jaclyn (known as Jack) did the same except she was talking a mile a minute.
"Henry, okay like, whoa. My parents are quite nutty and not adjusting to wizard life well but...they never locked me in my room with bars like an animal. Man, this is just not right...not right at all…" her normally jolly face was pensive and looked quite angry as she assessed the thick, iron bars.
"I knew it Henry!" Jon said with wide eyes. "I just knew you weren't answering my letters because of those Normies. I even figured out how to use Normie post!" Henry's stomach dropped when he realized Uncle Vincent and Aunt Daisy were very likely to have thrown them away or burned them. "I've asked mom and dad for you to come over like, six times or so and then Dad said you got a big, scary warning for using magic in front of Normies! Henry! You know you can't do that…"
"It wasn't me! Jon! I'm telling you I…" Henry was puzzled. "I don't know who did the magic that day!" Then he thought a bit longer. "How did your dad know about that?"
"He works for the Council," said Jon. "The Council of Casters, that is."
"I know of it," Henry sighed. "So I take it this doesn't count?" He gestured towards the hovering car. Jon looked down at it from where he was sitting, chuckled, and shook his head.
"We didn't enchant it as minors! It's my dad's. We're only borrowing it to jail break you out of here-"
"And there is no time to dilly dally," Jack hissed. "Henry, you can't do magic in front of Normies. Not even ones you live with. But seeing this car will still get us skinned if we don't get a move on."
"Jail break me?" Henry completely ignored Jack's warning.
"Yeah! We're taking you home with us for the rest of the summer!"
Henry's heart did a backflip.
"But...you can't magic me out of this blasted room!" He gave it a thought. "Maybe you can tell the Council it was all a mistake. The magic on my part and now I'm being held prisoner and can't attend school. Jon, they wouldn't even let me do my summer studies!"
"Oh no…" Matt and Jack said at the same time and Henry just knew they were exchanging knowing glances with each other. Harnocks professors were quite tough.
"Also! My trunk, school stuff, robes, wand, even my broom are locked in the closet downstairs. And the door," Henry jabbed a thumb behind him, "is locked of course."
"Aren't you forgetting something?" Jack grinned and pointed to Henry's neck. Sure enough as he leaned to try and talk to the group of friends, the key Matt and Jack had made him dangled from its chain around Henry's neck. The presents Henry had received for his birthday came flooding back...which meant.
"Of course!" Henry rushed as quietly as he could to his bedside table. In Uncle Vincent and Aunt Daisy's rage, they threw out all of his notes, birthday cards, and the box of candy. However they were too angry and not thinking clearly enough to ransack Henry's bedside table drawer and for that Henry was grateful. He took Hagish's cake cutter out of the drawer along with the letter from Harnocks, stuffing the latter into his pajama pocket.
When he returned to the window he took a deep breath.
"I want to try something."
Carefully, he used Hagish's gift and dragged the sharpest side along the bars.
"Whoa! Matt write that down, write that down! Enchanted cake cutter, look!"
As if the cutter had been heated, the iron bars completely melted like candle wax and dripped down the side of the house until they were all disintegrated with a big enough hole for Henry to climb through once he had all of his belongings.
"What kind of cake are you planning on eating, mate?" Matt exclaimed.
"If the Dooflys wake up, I'm a goner," Henry said and tossed the cutter to Jon. He caught it and handed it to Jack which she began to examine with wonderment. "This had got to be quick and quiet. Jon?" Jon perked up. "Can you climb in here? The two of us can get the stuff in one go instead of me clamoring up the stairs three times."
"Right."
"Matt and Jack?" Henry said. "I'd go and park the car on the roof...or at the very least hover it above the roof, I don't...I don't know how much an enchanted car weighs. I don't want to cave in the Dooflys roof but," or did he? "My aunt and uncle's room is seriously two windows over. If they even peak out of their window and see this car I'm dead. Okay?"
All three of Henry's friends nodded and Henry helped Jon into his bedroom.
"Just call me Mama Winter!" Jack laughed as Matt drove the car up and out of site.
"Hey Jon?" Henry was now able to whisper very quietly since Jon was right in front of him. "Where is Magus?"
"Back at our place," Jon whispered back. "He's safe and sound with our pudgy, lazy owl, Carol. Looks more like a fluff ball than an owl." Henry smiled as he realized that the owl who nearly got him in trouble the night of the dinner party belonged to the Parsleys. Fox-like, the boys snuck through the room and Henry pulled the key taunt on it's chain. Once it was stuck in the lock, the door magically clicked and Henry was able to turn the knob.
"How is this not banned?" Henry wondered.
"Matt and Jack make these types of things at school," Jon explained. "As long as they are enchanted at school, they can be used outside of school without consequence."
"Watch for the bottom stair...it creaks," Henry warned as his best friend nodded and stepped over it with his long legs. Both boys froze when they heard a cough from upstairs. Unmistakably Uncle Vincent's. Nothing happened. Almost panting, they pressed on and reached the landing.
"Which way?" Jon said in a volume just above mouthing the words silently. Henry pointed and they moved like shadows through the small house. As they approached the closet, Henry would see that Jon's demeanor was dark and brooding. He ignored it for a minute as he used his Matt and Jack gift to unlock the closet. When that business was finished, he addressed his friend.
"What?"
"This is where you had to sleep for ten years?" Jon looked livid.
Uncle Vincent coughed again. Henry didn't know what to say so he just nodded.
"Help me pack the loose things that were thrown into the trunk," Henry asked. "My books, wand, robes, and cauldron. I'm sure it will fit. Then I can grab my broom in one hand and the handle of the trunk with the other. You grab the handle of the trunk on the other side and we'll be good to go!" Jon still looked angry, but gave his friend a thumbs up all the same. The boys quickly, carefully, and quietly set to work on their task. Henry knew it was the last thing he should be worrying about, but seeing all of his assignments undone and scattered about made his stomach feel heavy. What happened to students that didn't complete their summer studies?
"This is pretty heavy, mate," Jon tried with all of his might with his two hands and Henry was not able in the slightest to lift his end with only one.
"I'll lay the broom on top so I have both hands free," Henry reasoned. It would have to do. Henry's back was going upward and he was proud of himself that he was able to miss the creaky step even though he was going backwards. Jon was facing forward and sweating with the strength it took to lift his side and support the incline that the trunk was now making as it had to be shifted up the staircase.
"Finally," Jon whisepered once they were back in Henry's quickly cooling room from the open window. "Let's just lower it…" But to Henry's horror, instead, Jon's thin fingers, covered in sweat, lost grip and the trunk tipped. It spilled the broom from over the top and the handle clattered and skittered across Henry's floor. Luckily, it hadn't broken but the noise was enough to wake Uncle Vincent.
"HENRY I'M COMING TO KILL THAT OWL!"
Perhaps Uncle Vincent forgot in his groggy sleep that Magus' had been gone for a couple of days and he had thrown out the owl's cage. The routine of being woken up all summer at around this time was just too ingrained by this point.
Henry was closest to the window and yanked the key on the chain off of his neck and threw it to Jon. His friend did not catch it and scrambled to pick it up.
"Hurry! Use it to lock my door!" Henry rasped and stuck his head out and up. "Come down, guys! Let's go! Let's go!" He could see Jack look down from her place in the car on the roof and could hear her bark out the instructions quickly to Matt. When Henry ducked back into the room, Jon must have done his job because the door was being beaten and knocked on as Vincent fumbled to remove all of the deadbolts. Henry could hear the hum of the Smoogo's engine and Henry grabbed with both hands onto his handle and used the withering last amounts of his boyish strength. Jon did the same.
Henry couldn't see, but Jack had climbed from the passenger window, up onto the car's roof, and into the trunk once Matt popped it open from his driver's seat. It was just the right amount of extra strength to get the large trunk into the Smoogo's extra large trunk space.
"My broom! My broom!" Henry yelled. He did not care about his volume just as his bedroom door flung open to see a wild Mr. Doofly breathing so heavily his whole stomach would double and contract with each breath.
"YOU...MANGY...ABNORMALITIES!" He bellowed and dove just as Jon snatched Henry's broom from the floor and tossed it to him. The quills slapped Henry in the face which hurt quite a bit but he was able to grab it and mount it.
"Daisy!" Uncle Vincent was yelling. "The boy is escaping! HE'S ESCAPING!" Hall lights clicked on and crashing and fumbling sounded as Mrs. Doofly and no doubt Curtis Doofly tried to quickly enter the scene.
Henry hadn't been on his broom in months and boy did it show.
He was hovering up and over the car as the broom bucked and heaved underneath him. In a second, he was in front of the hovering Smoogo Minima and could see everything unfold. Matt had one hand on the passenger seat as he looked out the review windshield. Hair messy and cheeks red, Jack was wide eyed and white as she looked behind her at the hovering Henry Puffer on his Zoomsweeper Pegasus. Jon had two feet still inside Henry's bedroom and Jack turned her back to Henry to help her boyfriend's brother. Henry veered around the driver's side of the car to help out.
"NO!" He screamed when he saw that Jack had both hands around Jon's wrists and Uncle Vincent had a beefy fist around Jon's scrawny ankle. Jon was using his other leg to kick wildly to make the older man let go.
"DAISY! DAISY HELP! I'VE GOT HIS LITTLE FRIEND! THEY'RE BREAKING HIM OUT!" But Henry's Aunt Daisy didn't get a chance to because Henry finally broke his learning curve on his broom and swooped in to help Jack.
"Floor it, Matt!" Screamed Jack and her boyfriend did just that.
"WHOA!" Jon screamed and Uncle Vincent let go as to not be pulled out of the window. Jack had two hands on Jon's right wrist from her spot on the roof of the car. Henry was hovering alongside the car with his knees held tight around the handle as he held Jon's left wrist. Jon's long legs flailed in midair for just a second until he gained purchase on the bumper and he stepped into the open trunk.
"YOU ARE DEAD WHEN YOU RETURN, BOY!" Mr. Doofly screamed as Jack hurriedly climbed from the roof back into the passenger seat after she closed Jon inside the trunk (he was able to get into the backseat from the trunk).
Matt had the car put in hover mode again with the moon as a beautiful backdrop. Henry rose up alongside the car on his broom. The sense of relief and excitement, Henry could not believe he was free! The wind whipped through his hair as Matt banged the top of the car roof and hooted. Jon rolled the backseat window down and made a show of howling at the moon. Uncle Vincent, Aunt Daisy, and Curtis were all angry and dumbstruck as they hung out of Henry's window watching as the car drove off.
"We'll see about that next summer!" Henry yelled and entered the car from his broom once Jon opened the door and scooted to make room. Matt was still hollering and Henry blushed just in time to see Jack lean out the window and give the Dooflys a very rude gesture.
All four exploded into gleeful laughter as Henry settled in with his broom on his lap. His legs ached and he watched his friend Jon rub his own shoulders which probably didn't feel any better. In fact, Henry betted that Jon was feeling even worse.
"You guys are crazy! I'm…" Henry faltered. "Thank you."
"Quit mentioning it, mate," Jon rolled his eyes with a smile. "Matt and Jack had this all planned out twenty minutes after midnight on your birthday. We just knew those numb skull Normies had something to do with it."
"It didn't go exactly as planned," Matt said quietly as he drove towards the moon.
"I can't believe they keep you like that, Henry," Jack said seriously.
"It wasn't always like that," Henry explained. "I got three delivery owls on my birthday that just so happened to be on the same day as my uncle's prestigious dinner party. Some...incidents happened," Henry felt embarrassed as he didn't want to mention that a gesture of kindness was at fault for landing Henry barred and locked in his bedroom.
"We should have just waited to send you gifts when you got here," Jon moaned. "That was our fault. Carol is getting old and has collapsed or hooted at bad times before."
"It wasn't just the owls it was...the fibbingscope too," Henry said and Jon groaned again. He was making his friend feel bad so he quickly explained. "It went off like crazy when I accidentally turned it on! I...I don't know why. I guess…" Henry thought for a beat and it clicked, "I guess it was all the schmoozing and brownnosing the Dooflys were taking part of downstairs."
"Still, we should have used Regal," Jon flung himself dramatically and put his head back.
"Who's that?"
"The owl mom and dad bought Perry when he became a Princep," Jon sighed.
"But Perry wouldn't lend him, remember?" Matt said from the front. "He said he needed him more and his work was more important…" Jack gently hit him in the shoulder.
"You're more important than whatever pesky Perry is up to," Jack assured Henry. Matt blushed when he realized how his words could have been taken and nodded as he met Henry's eyes in the rearview mirror. "Actually...I'm just going to be honest, boys. Perry has been acting even weirder than normal," Jack said with a frown.
"You've got a point there," Matt agreed.
"He's been sending a lot of letters and spending loads of time shut up in his room. He's also obsessed with his Princep badge. You remember how you caught him sleeping with it, Matt? All snuggled in like it was a golden teddy bear?"
"A little more to the east, Matt," Jack pointed towards the compass on the dashboard as she laughed and Matt handled the steering wheel as the car went to the right.
"Does your dad know you've got his car?" Henry already could guess the answer but he felt the need to ask for some reason.
"That would be a negative," said Jon. "He had to work tonight. Matt and Jack assured me that we'd be able to get it safe and sound back into the garage without mom evening noticing we flew it away in the first place."
"That's a late time to be working." Henry didn't know if that was a polite thing to point out but was glad when three other heads nodded in agreement.
"The Council of Casters has a lot of jobs," Jack began.
"But dad works in the most boring department, I think," Jon said. "The deals with the Negligence of Normie Knick-Knacks Office."
"Um…?"
"It's why he's so good at bewitching and un-enchanting Normie things that were made by Normies. Like this car, for instance. Casters old and new have been using Normie made things for centuries. Some things you come up with are kind of cool," Jon addressed Jack and Henry who, only mere years ago, had thought they had both been Normies.
"So what's boring about that?" Henry wondered aloud.
"Well, it's the fact he has to disable the cool additions casters add." Jon had to think of an example for a beat. "Like...let's say for instance this...car! Yeah! Cars are cool! They may not be the fastest way to travel but it's good for large families like ours. So, a caster would enchant a car to fly, you know. But then that caster dies and the family doesn't want the car so it has to...you know, go back into the Normie world."
"Before dad's department was brought into commission, Normies were scared nearly half to death from caster tampered Normie inventions that they ended up buying in antique shops or consignment shops," Matt supplied.
"And things still fall through the crack even though the department has been up and running since even Carl was a baby!" Jon groaned. "Remember that time a elder Normie lady bought a machine that ground and brewed coffee, Matt?"
"A coffee maker?" Jack said.
"Yeah that! And when she poured the coffee to her friends it sang show tunes!"
"Dad had to work overtime for like, six weeks," Matt shook his head.
"Showtunes turned into hot water being sprayed like a fountain all over the woman's kitchen. Six Normies were admitted into the hospital. At that time, it was just dad and another old warlock that barely thought the department was necessary. The amount of mind erasing charms dad had to do those first couple of days to cover something like that up!"
Matt laughed in spite of himself.
"Dad is totally nuts about Normies, Normie inventions, and Normie culture," Matt rubbed the dashboard of the Smoogo as he spoke. "We have a house and garage full of Normie stuff. He loves to tinker with it. He'll take it apart, put spells on it, put them together. All in his free time, mind you. I think that's where I learned it, honestly." Jack rubbed his shoulder affectionately.
"Only thing is...it's against his department!" Jon laughed. "If any of his co-workers raided our house our dad would have to arrest...himself. Mom positively hates it!"
"She'd rather us have a couple of house-gnomes to help her out a bit."
"Nope...we've got some sprites though," Jon deadpanned.
"The goblin in the attic that one winter?" Matt began to chuckle.
"Found it! The main road!" Jack said and pointed. "I see it!"
"Are we there yet?" Jon said. Henry raised his eyebrows. Was he serious with that?
"Ten minutes, tops," Matt said.
"Good thing, too. It's getting light out for Normies to see," Jack yawned, "plus I'm beat. That was quite a prison break we pulled and the adrenaline is all but gone."
Henry realized he too was feeling the draw of sleep. He focused out the window to see the beginnings of a lovely sunrise. Matt was bringing the car down lower and Henry began to see dark fields and patches of trees.
"We're approaching the village," Jon said. "Brook Bridge Borough."
The sun was now gleaming bright, brilliant and red though the trees.
"We've made touchdown!" Matt said as the car jolted gently once they hit the ground. A sunken, shabby garage was in front of them and Jack got out to lift the cord up to open the door. Matt easily drove the car the rest of the way in and just as the Parsley boys explained, it was cluttered and packed to the brim with all sorts of objects Henry recognized. Toasters, TVs, telephones, vacuum cleaners, and even a refrigerator from the 1950's if Henry had to guess.
The garage was not connected to the house and instead was in the back of a small, fenced in yard. Henry took in for the first time Jon's house from its backside.
It looked like at one time it had been a small but quaint pagoda. That is until, Henry could only guess, more children were added to the mix. Room after room was added here, there and everywhere. Some even looked like they defied gravity! It made the home look several stories high, crooked, and copied and pasted together. There were multiple support beams, bridges, and sharply inclined roofs in all different patterns that did not match. Maybe it was all held up by magic? Henry realized that was not out of the realm of possibility.
To keep warm, there had to be at least five chimneys perched at many different apexes of the many different, mismatched roofs. Chickens lazily pecked at the ground and somewhere Henry heard a goat bleat. A tiny, stone pond had shimmering figures dancing and giggling near its surface. Henry surmised those were sprites. At the backdoor, seven pairs of shoes in all sorts of shapes, styles, and colors laid strewn about. The garden needed a weeding and the grass could have surely used a trim but it was positively delightful. Compared to Oak Alcove, this place looked lived in. It looked warm and inviting and he couldn't wait to see inside.
"It's...it's not much," Jon said uneasily, misreading Henry's gawking.
"It's everything!" Henry said happily. Matt, Jon, and Henry exited the car.
"Okay," Jack said as she caught up with them after closing the garage door. "So! We'll all go upstairs really quietly, just like you and Jon did back at your aunt and uncles. Get as much shut eye as you can...my guess is like, thirty minutes," Jack frowned a bit. "Mrs. Parsley will call us all down for breakfast and you can be all like 'oh, hey mom! Look who turned up here in the middle of the night!'" Jack was speaking to Jon of course. "And then Mrs. Parsley will be all like, 'oh muh gosh that's so cool! Henry is awesome! Yay! Let's enjoy summer!'"
"You're delirious from being tired, babe," Matt shook his head and put a large arm around her. "Your plans are always better than that. But still...she can't know that we flew the car."
"Right…" Jon said and turned to Henry. "I sleep at the top tower, let's go…"
Henry had just barely turned towards the house with Jon when he saw all the color drain from his friend's face and get replaced by a sickly green color. Henry finished turning and soon realized why. Matt and Jack met the younger boys' gaze.
Mrs. Parsley was marching across the yard and garden. Chickens and sprites buzzed, clucked, and scattered in her wake. It was crazy to see such a plump, kind-faced lady move with such purpose almost like a lioness approaching four, terrified gazelles.
"Welp," was all Matt could say.
"Shhhhhoot," Jack sighed.
Dust from the dry earth below her circled the hem of Mrs. Parsley's skirt as she halted in front of the group with her arms crossed. Her dark eyes scanned each guilty face one after the other. Over her dress was a floral printed apron. Her wand was sticking out of the pocket.
"Well?" Was all she said.
"Morning, Mrs. Parsley," Jack began in what she probably thought was a bubbling, cheerfully, totally natural voice for the situation at hand. She was wrong.
Henry braced for a brandishing of a lifetime. He was utterly surprised when it didn't come. The anger in Mrs. Parsley's face melted into furrowed eyebrows and a jutted lower lip that began to tremble.
"Have you crazy lot any IDEA how worried I've been?" She whimpered.
"We're...sorry, mom...you see we had to…" Matt stammered which fixed Mrs. Parsley's demeanor back to anger. Even though each boy with Jack included stood taller than the older woman, her rage breaking over was enough to make them feel as if they were all two feet shorter.
"What did I find this morning when I woke up? I saw an empty bed, no note, and the car was gone. Your father's car was gone! What if you would have crashed it? I was almost out of my head with worry! Did any of you think of that? Do any of you care? This is going above and beyond! Wait until your father hears about this! Nothing like this has ever come about from Ben, Carl, or Perry…"
"Psht, ole' Perfect Princep Perry," Jon rolled his eyes.
"AND YOU COULD DO WITH TAKING A PAGE OUT OF PERRY'S PLAYBOOK, YOUNG MAN!" Mrs. Parsley finally exploded and even though Henry had heard plenty of adults yell in his lifetime. This felt very different. This felt very...deserved. Maybe he just never had anyone worry about him before. With a stubby finger, the woman poked the breastbone of Jon, Matt, and Jack. "You all could have died! You could have been seen! Your father would have very well lost his job and then how would we get by?"
All Henry could think was that she made good points as the lecture continued for what seemed like hours. Poor Mrs. Parsley barely had a voice by the time she was through. When she finally fixed her gaze on Henry he had the sense to take a step back and her face fell in anguish. The young boy was completely caught off guard when she pulled his scrawny frame into a huge, warm hug and kept her hands on his shoulders even when they parted.
"It is so good to see you, Henry, dear," she said and a tear fell from her eye. "I can't imagine what your sort have done or how they've treated you. You're wanted here just…" she turned an angry eye towards her sons and Jack. "It could have been done better." Henry could only nod. "Come in and have some breakfast, would you please?" Henry looked at Jon out of the corner of his eye and Jon nodded with encouragement. So when Mrs. Parsley released him, he followed her and could hear the footsteps of Jon, Matt, and Jack behind him.
The kitchen was just like the whole house in terms of being cramped, small, and lived in. A cast iron stove was on one wall with a sink, counters, and cabinets that looked to be added and readded for more cupboard space. Much like the roofs of the house, the woods were mismatched. A large, wooden table and chairs were in the middle which told Henry that there was no dining room. It also occurred to Henry that this was the first wizard house he had ever seen before.
Home grown vegetables were on the counter, brown eggs, and it looked like at one point a Parsley was making homemade cheese. Books were stacked in random nooks and crannies as well as on top of what Henry assumed was either a fridge or an ice chest. Henry couldn't help but cock his head to read some titles. They were wizarding cookbooks! Charms and Baking, One Second Feasts at a Flick of the Wrist. Henry's ears picked up that a radio was playing and the announcer was talking about a singer Henry had never heard of before which told him she must be a caster.
The most interesting thing about the kitchen was a large grandfather clock in the corner of the door frame that melded the kitchen into the sitting room. It had no numbers on it but instead it had phrases or chores. Tea time, feed the chickens, breakfast, errands, chores, tea, lunch, you're late, chores, settling time, supper, easy time, you're late, snack, showers, and bed.
Mrs. Parsley was banging and moving around at hyper speed. She was obviously cooking breakfast but looked very unhinged and haphazard. Every once in a while, she'd stop for a breath to throw a dirty look at Matt, Jon, or Jack. She also was muttering and scoffing. "What were they thinking?" Henry could hear her mumble. "Never would have believed it. Not for a second."
"I can't say I blame you, though, dear," her voice rose to a normal volume which startled Henry. The latter's eyes went huge as she piled on three fried eggs, five sausages, three pieces of buttered toast, and some beans. "Sean and I have been worried sick about you, you know. The other night, we both agreed that we would come and get you ourselves. Jon told us about his letter and how if you didn't respond by your birthday we would know the Normies were afoot. But in all reality (at this point she was adding strips of bacon to the pile of food on his plate. Henry had to reach and use his other hand to support it), flying an illegal car halfway across the world...if someone would have seen you…" she couldn't finish and just shook her head with a sigh. Henry took his cue and set his plate down. As he ate politely, he watched Mrs. Parsley remove her wand from her apron pocket and flicked her wand towards the dishes. They began to hop up and wash themselves in the sink.
"It actually was quite cloudy," reasoned Matt.
"Don't talk with your mouth full, keep quiet," Mrs. Parsley snapped. She was still very angry.
"Mrs. Parsley, listen, they were starving him back there!" Jack cried.
"And you!" Mrs. Parsley said but her features softened when Jack's words reached her mind. She made quick work buttering three more pieces of toast for Henry. If the young boy ate anymore he'd probably burst but he had to say this definitely was the most food he has eaten all summer.
A clatter in the sitting room made everyone sit upright. In a nightgown, a small figure had entered the kitchen, stopped, and darted towards the sitting room as she tripped over everything in her wake.
"That was Whinnie," Jon said out of the side of his mouth towards Henry. "My sister, you saw her last year. She hasn't shut up about you since Platform Three and One Half last year."
"I think she wants your autograph, mate," Matt chuckled. One look at Mrs. Parsley's face made him think better of grinning and he fixed his face over his plate without another word. In fact no more words were exchanged by the four of them with the watchful eye of Mrs. Parsley.
"I am positively pooped," Jack yawned and stretched. She wiped her mouth very unlady like with her napkin and set her fork and knife down. "Looks like it's time to hit the sack and…"
"Oh no you don't," Mrs. Parsley snapped. "It's your own fault you've been up this long. I think de-spriting the pond is just what you need to do for me. They're completely out of hand again.
"Oh mom, come on she doesn't deserve...she's a guest…" Matt whined.
"Under this roof she's family and I'd bet my boot she was 93% the brains of your whole operation which isn't a compliment," Mrs. Parsley squinted at Jack who blushed. "Henry, dear you can go up to bed," she looked lovingly at the boy who still was trying to stuff himself with more beans to not offend his hostess. "You never asked them to fly that car to come to your aid."
"I can help them," Henry said, not feeling the slightest bit tired. "I've never seen anyone de-sprite a pond before."
"You're a peach, dear! That's not needed. It's rather tedious work," she gave the stink eye to her two boys and Jack. "In fact, let me see what Lothario has got to say on the subject at hand…" as she trailed off, she waddled over to a stack of books on the mantelpiece. Matt groaned.
"Mom...I know how to de-sprite a pond. You've made me do it countless times."
Don Lothario's Tricks and Steps to Eliminating Common Homely Pests
Henry squinted to read the large covered book with golden script. Along with the title, there was a large photograph of a very handsome wizard. He had dark, wavy hair and green eyes shadowed in a grayish haze. Like all pictures in the Realm of Magic, the picture was moving. The wizard, Henry could guess was Lothario, kept winking and cheekily blowing kisses to whomever was holding his book. Mrs. Parsley was beaming down at the pages with a pink tint to her cheeks.
"What a guy...oh how wonderful," Mrs. Parsley was muttering. "He surely knows the common household pests, he does. It's a marvelous book," she said in her normal tone and looked up at the younger children around her kitchen table.
"Mom's got the hots for him," Jon whispered nearly inaudibly.
"Don't be crazy, Jon!" His mother flushed still somehow being able to hear him. "Okay...alright...if that's how you want to be I say go out and do it yourself! If you think you know better than Mister Lothario, that is. But believe you me if there is a single sprite in those waters by the time I go out there to inspect you will be fit to be tied. Understood?"
Nodding heads, grumbles, and yawns were the mother's answer as the Parsley boys slouched and exited their chairs with Jack and Henry in tow. They had to traverse through the garden which was overgrown with weeds but the gnarly trees gave it protection and there looked to be a good crop. The Dooflys would have hated it. Henry thought it was amazing. The most interesting were the plants Henry had never seen before. Maybe this year in Plantology he'd have a better clue.
At last they were at the pond and it was full of things Henry recognized like jumping bass and plump, green frogs. But also ducking, diving, splashing, and hovering just above the surface were shimmering blue figures with wings. Featureless and genderless, they giggled and laughed at the approaching party towards their pond's bank.
"You mentioned house-gnomes?" Henry said as he watched Jack hike up her pant legs and already wade in. "Normies have gnomes in their gardens too."
"Hollow, plastic, and lifeless, right?" Jon said and Henry nodded.
"No...not Realm of Magic house-gnomes they're…" he paused to think. Jack squealed in the distance and there was a splash. Some sprites began to cackle. "They're gross, nasty little guys. Total suck ups. They are servants to ultra rich casters. They're even known to hurt themselves if they make mistakes. They can either live inside or be banned outside a rich wizard or witch's estate."
"That's more pathetic than nasty," Henry formed an opinion.
"Well they've got powerful magic of their own. But they can't use it without their master's permission. In fact they don't want to. They like being enslaved. I know the Slymer family has one." Henry's plasma went cold. Of course they did. "Old wizarding families always do."
Kimmi always had the best of everything and Henry could picture her strutting around with her nose held high in a large mansion. She'd clap and a fat garden gnome would be at her heels to do her bidding. Jon must have seen Henry's frown.
"We better get to work," he said.
"Unhand me!" Henry saw Jack completely drenched with a sprite in one hand. Matt had one too. Henry was shocked to see that both of them raised the sprite above their heads and started to swing it in giant circles like a cowboy lasso.
"It doesn't hurt them, really," Jon assured Henry. "It just makes them dizzy enough that they can't sense the water of the pond anymore."
With a screech, Jack let hers go at the same time Matt let his go as well. Both exiled sprites flew twenty feet or so into the air and landed with dull thuds over the hedge and into the surrounding field.
"Great toss, babe!" Matt said to Jack.
"I bet I can get my next one beyond that tree that looks like a nose!" She retorted.
With time, Henry learned not to feel too sorry for the sprites. On his first go, he decided to play it kindly and when he was finally able to snag one from the air, it used it's other leg to kick Henry right in the jaw. With that, Henry sent the creature almost thirty feet beyond the fence as he rubbed his sore chin.
"Awe shucks Henry, you beat my best!" Jack laughed.
Soon, with the four of them on the job, the air was heavy with flying sprites.
"You soon learn that they're not very smart," Matt told Henry. He had about six in his large hand at once. "The moment they know you are de-spriting they all come out to have a look. It'd be easier for them if they'd just stay under water but...here they all come," he flung his bouquet of sprites over the hedge.
After an hour or so, the last remaining sprites hovered and flew like defeated hummingbirds. They looked completely put out and angry.
"They'll be back in about a week or two," sighed Jon. "Dad's got a soft spot for them. He thinks they're pretty."
As if on cue, the front door slammed.
"Hey! That's dad I bet," Jon said. "I can't wait for you to meet him!"
The four of them hurried through the garden and back into the house.
Mr. Parsley was in a kitchen chair as Mrs. Parsley poured him coffee. At the sight of the children, she tsked and offered them towels instructing them not to set foot off of the rug until they were dry. Mr. Parsley was a thin man with thick, black hair that was graying handsomely. His long, blue robes were worn and well traveled. He also had on a formal, Normie neck tie for some reason.
"Oh," he said in a soft voice as he saw the children. "Good morning, children." He then took off his glasses and rubbed the corners of his eyes. When he finished, Henry could see how tired he looked. Mr. Parsley addressed his wife. "What a night," he mumbled. His wife pushed his cup closer to him and he drank and drank. "We had nine raids...nine of them! I was nearly hexed when my back was turned even…" he had to pause for another gulp of coffee. He then exhaled.
"Found anything at all, dad?" Matt had to ask him eagerly.
"Normie Hazing was the most of it," Mr. Parsley sighed and Henry didn't have to ask because with a small smile he began to explain. "Casters will enchant a key, for instance, and sell it to a Normie. It will have the charm to shrink and shrink. Normies, off course, won't admit that their key is shrinking. Bless their little hearts. Magic is all around them and they will still think it absurd and their fault for the happenings. Sweethearts, they are. Luckily," he said with more seriousness, "those types of caster folk are punished. Sometimes it's even out of my division and has to be taken up with the law sector of the Council," he sighed again and sipped some more coffee. "Casters can get egregious...enchanting many things to haze poor Normies…"
"WHAT ABOUT CARS, AS AN EXAMPLE?"
Mr. Parsley jumped at his wife's outburst and nearly spilled coffee on himself.
"W-what about cars, my dear?"
"Oh yes...casters you say. Taking Normie made things. Like," she stared hotly at him, "like an old rusty car for instance." Mr. Parsley was catching on and looking mighty guilty. "That same caster might have told his wife that he just wanted to buy it to look at it. Maayyybe tinker with it for a bit to see how it worked. While really...HE WAS CHARMING IT TO MAKE IT FLY!"
Mr. Parsley frowned and blinked.
"I...I mean...that wizard would be in the legal rights, dear. He could...have told his wife the truth I suppose but...the loophole that makes this wizard in the right of course...it wouldn't be illegal unless the caster had intention of flying it. Just because it can fly doesn't mean the caster will fly it, you see."
"Sean Parsley I bet my boot you made that loophole when you wrote the law!" Shouted Mrs. Parsley. "Cut the malarky! That was all so you could carry on and tinker more and more with all of the Normie garbage you bring to this house! That 'car you had no intention of flying?' Hm? WELL! That was the very same car our dear Henry arrived this morning in."
Mr. Parsley's eyes fell on Henry.
"By Watcher! That IS Henry Puffer! Very...VERY pleased to meet you, boy. Jon's told us so much about you!"
"Your sons and Jack FLEW that car to Henry's house and back last night, Sean!" Mrs. Parsley was shouting again. "What have you got to say abou that, Sean, eh?" Again, Henry was sure Mr. Parsley could deal a good amount of yelling or swinging. He braced himself.
"Did you really? It really flew?" Mr. Parsley said eagerly which again, for the second time, surprised Henry. "And everything ran smooth? Engine okay? Steering up to par? I...I...mean…" Mr. Parsley pulled his shirt collar from his neck. Sparks seemed to be flowing out of Mrs. Parsley's eyes. "That...that was very naughty boys...very wrong indeed…" Mrs. Parsley rolled her eyes and threw her hands up.
"Let's leave them to that, eh?" Jon whispered and noticed he was dry. The Parsley adults were starting to bicker. "I want to show you my bedroom!"
Henry followed Jon as they slipped out of the kitchen and down a narrow hallway to a dangerously rickety and uneven looking staircase. It zig zagged up, then down, then up again at odd angles. A door opened just a crack until dark brown eyes met Henry's. Then it closed with a snap.
"That was Whinnie again," said Jon. "She's never this shy...normally she never shuts up. That's why her and Jack get along so well…"
It seemed like three more sets of stairs is what it took for the boys to reach a door with peeled and chipped paint. A small sign hanging from the knob read JONATHAN'S ROOM. With Jon's gesture, Henry stepped in and his head was almost able to touch the sloping ceiling. Heat slapped Henry in the face and he had to blink it away.
"It faces the sun in the morning," Jon guessed correctly. He began to sweat too. "You get used to it." Henry also guessed the heat of the room was because every square inch of the walls were covered in Grilled Cheese Dueling posters of the same team over and over again.
"This the one you root for?" Henry said.
"The Moonlight Falls Mavericks," said Jon as he puffed out his chest. He pointed to his orange bedspread which was embroidered with two huge, silver M's and a silhouette of a bucking horse. "Tenth in the league. But this season is looking good."
Henry looked around and saw Jon's school spellbooks were thrown untidily in a corner next to a pile of comic books that seemed to feature a bunch of caster and alien-like protagonists. Henry immediately hoped to borrow one. Even Jon's wand was unkempt and loosely hanging off of a desk with a fish tank filled with tadpoles on the windowsill. Jon's fat rat was snoozing near it in a sunbeam. Henry moved carefully to look out the window.
The Sha.
That's what a crooked sign said out in the front yard. He looked back at his friend who was absentmindedly playing with a stack of playing cards that can shuffle themselves. Back outside, Henry nearly laughed as a line of glimmering sprites were making their way back to the Parsley pond. When Henry looked back, Jon was trying not to meet Henry's eyes.
"It's...a bit small, I know," Jon said quickly and shyly. "Your room with the Normies is like, twice the size, I understand. What's worse is...the attic's right above our heads so...sometimes, you know you can...hear the goblin in the attic banging and laughing and...groaning...and…" Jon trailed off and flushed crimson. Henry began to laugh and couldn't stop grinning.
"This is a fantastic room! Your family is great! This whole HOUSE is amazing!"
Jon's ears became just as red as his face.