Chapter 3

            The rest of the summer seemed to zoom by as thoughts of a wizarding school filled Rozzys' and Nikos' minds. Niko didn't seem to have a shadow of a doubt about the school being awesome, but Rozzy couldn't help but worry that it was some sick hoax and that their dreams were just that, and that they would soon find themselves doing push-ups and running laps and performing kitchen patrol all day long. The worse thought about this was his hair. He had not had his hair cut for what, six years now, and he refused to let anyone cut it. Not his mother, his step-father and certainly some steam-engine of a man known simply as "Drill Sergeant."

            A package from the school arrived a week after his mother had sent in the "Application for Enlistment at Aikenwood Academy." They looked like normal school books - neither magical nor military - and so Rozzy stacked them on his desk next to his schoolbag and ignored them. That is, until he got a phone call from Niko the week before they would be leaving for the school.

            "Hey Rozzy, have you checked out the books from Aikenwood!?"

            "Of course I did, what's the big deal, they looked like regular books to me."

            "Dude, where are they!?"

            "They're in the study with my other school stuff, why?"

            "DUDE, GO GET THEM! Bring them back into your room and check them out."

Now this seemed a little more than odd to Rozzy. After all, it was another week before they had to go to school, and Richard Oswald Kingsworth was NOT about to do homework during his summer break.

            "Hey man, can't you just tell me what the big deal is?" He said into the receiver, slightly annoyed that his friend wanted him to break the peace of summer with pre-term studying.

            "Just go get them! Bring them in your room and make sure your parents aren't around." Niko said, also slightly annoyed that his best friend on the whole planet wasn't taking him seriously.

            At this, Rozzy jumped off his bed, ran downstairs into the study, and grabbed his books, though he noticed they still looked like regular school books ("Literature and Language, Pre-Algebra Mathematics, "Earth Science", and "History" threw them into his school bag. Dashing back upstairs carrying his bag over his left shoulder, the bag was just beginning to become a pain in his shirt-less shoulder as he flew back into his room, closing his door and tossing the bag onto his bed.

            "Now, what was that all about?" Rozzy panted into the phone, having not exerted that much effort all summer long (unless of course if you count the Family Water Fight).

            "Look at them!" came Nikos' vague response.

            Opening his bag again and swearing that his friend was about nuts, he pulled out the first book which he thought had been entitled "Literature and Language", but as it came out it did not look anything like a literature book. On the contrary, the book was dark and the only thing it had on the cover was "Potions, Level 1".

"That's weird" Rozzy said to himself, or at least he thought he had said to himself, but apparently Niko had heard him, as he was still holding the portable phone between his ear and shoulder.

"What's weird?" Niko asked, acting as if he didn't know.

"The book…the Literature book, it's gone…" emptying his bag, looking at the other books in equal amazement.

"Niko, these AREN'T the books that were downstairs…I didn't have a 'Potions' or 'Charms' book. Nor did I have a 'Herbology' book." Then, looking finally at his history book, he noticed it too had changed.

"And this isn't the History book I had, either. These aren't the same books at all…what happened to them, it's like they…"

"Changed?" said Niko, cutting him off.

"Yes, they've somehow changed…like…"

"Like Magic?" Niko responded, finishing his sentence for him again.

"Yes! I mean...No…I mean, is that POSSIBLE!?"

"You tell me, Rozzy. You yourself put the books into the bag, and when you pulled them out they had changed."

"But you knew…how did you know?"
            "I brought them to my room to see how boring the classes were gonna be, and as soon as I got away from my parents and looked at them again, they had changed."

"No way," Rozzy said, and just as Niko was about to respond, there was knock on Rozzys' door and his mother walked in.

"What was all that about?" his mother asked, slightly perturbed.

"Wh-what was what all about?" Rozzy asked his mother, totally clueless as to why she had busted into his room.

"Running downstairs and then back up like your tail was on fire, that's what!" his mother retorted.

"Oh, that. I was, um…" and looking down at his school bag and books, he noticed that they had changed back to their original forms, reading "Literature and Language", "Earth Science", "Pre-Algebra Mathematics" and the "History" book was lying open in front of him.

"I see, you were hitting the books early this year, well, I suppose there's nothing wrong with that, if you think you could do it a little quieter perhaps?" His mother said, seeming not so upset now.

"Oh, of course. Sorry mom."

"No problem dear, now don't forget we'll be going to the mall later to get you some new shoes for school."

"Ok mom, but just shoes?"

"Oh yes, they said in the letter they sent me that all you will be needing is shoes, socks and underwear. They will be providing the rest of the uniforms themselves."

"Uniforms!?" he replied, thoroughly disgusted with the idea.

"Oh yes, uniforms, and I think its' a wonderful idea as well. Now don't you go complaining either, this school was your idea." His mother retorted, and before he could decide whether or not to admit that the school WASN'T his idea, his mother walked out of his room and shut his door. He looked down and the books on his bed had changed once again to "Potions", "Herbology", "Charms" and his "History of Magic" book was the one lying open.   

"You still there man?" came Nikos' voice from the phone that was about to fall from between his shoulder and his ear.

"Y-yeah, I'm still here."

"What was that all about…did your mom say uniforms?"

"Yeah, she says we will be wearing uniforms at Aikenwood."

"Ah, you've GOT to be kidding me. Did she say what type of uniforms?"

"No, just said the school would furnish them."

"Well, that sucks, now doesn't it?"

"Yeah, sure does. Mom said we'll be going shopping for some new shoes later, wanna come?"

"Sure thing man, I'll ask my mom for some money and be over there in a bit, ok?"

"Ok man; see I'll see ya…"

"Later man."

And with that, he hung up the phone and lay on his bed examining his bewitched school books and had just fallen into a nap when there was a knocking on his bedroom door.

The mall was crowded with people beginning their back to school shopping, and every time he saw a sign with the words "back to school" Richard Oswald winced. He just hated the fact that he would soon be going back to school, and what's more, he'll be going to an academy that he has no idea about, accept that according to the letter the owl had brought to him in what he thought was a dream, it was suppose to be a wizarding school. But then again, he still wasn't sure about that letter, and the weird books weren't all that convincing, either.

He, his mother and Nikolas had gone to two shoe stores already and he had seen nothing he had really liked. There was only one shoe store left, and he had been looking forward to browsing through it, when he heard an unmistakable pair of high-pitched giggles and he and Nikolas swore under their breathes as they turned to walk into the store and saw Miranda and Amanda Lancaster. These two blonde-haired, blue eyed twins hated boys with a passion and another reason that Richard liked the summer came back to him: because he didn't have to put up with them. These two were the twin terrors of the neighborhood, and of the school he, Niko and all their other friends had been going to for what seemed like an eternity. As far back as the third grade, when the girls had gain height on them somehow, Miranda and Amanda had been bullying the boys in every way they could, and leading other girls into thinking boys were "icky" and had cooties. Trying not to look at either of them and sneak past, his mother stopped him and Niko with a sudden out burst of "Oh look Rozzy, it's your little girlfriends from school, Miranda and Amanda!"

Coming to a quick halt and thinking of his mother "traitor, you shall pay for this," he turned and as he saw Niko sneak off, forced a smile onto his face as his mother pushed him closer to the two females who had murderous looks in their eyes, totally setting lie to their otherwise innocent-looking faces. They were both wearing knee-length black denim skirts and short sleeved button-up collared shirts that would almost made the pair attractive, had they not been known for trying to rid the planet of its' male "infestation" as they called it. As his mother conversed with their parents and walked off, Richard felt his need to escape and made for the nearest aisle, and just as he was beginning to wonder if they had followed him or strayed off to look at girl shoes, he felt two hands grab the back of his denim jacket, wheel him around and slam him against the shelf of shoe boxes.

"So, little Rozzy is going to Aikenwood Academy as well then?" Miranda said.

"Oh, hello Miranda, Amanda, nice to, er, run into you here." He said, trying not to seem afraid of them, though his back was literally against the wall and they were holding him against it.

"You seriously don't think we are that stupid, do you?" Amanda said.

"You…two…stupid? Come now, Amanda, Miranda, I would NEVER call…er…think that of you." He said, looking from both of them and just as he had decided he was about to take a double fist to the groin from his female assassins, shoe boxes from either side of his head shot out at them, and hitting them square in the faces, loosened their grip on him. Just as they sprang back from the unexpected attack, Richard made for it down the aisle and just as he turned back looking at them and laughing thinking "that was magic" to himself, he rounded the next aisle and saw Nikolas running at him smiling.

"I got them!"

"You!?"

"Yeah, you didn't see me? I took off around the store when I knew your mom was gonna stop you. I watched you from back in the back and when I saw them round on you I stepped in and saved your tail."

"Thanks bud, but let's go before they quit crying and figure out what happened."

"Right."

They looked and they looked, but neither Nikolas nor Richard found shoes they really liked, and so they left the mall empty-handed though warm-hearted ("did you see their faces when the shoe boxes flew at them, I was laughing so hard my sides were hurting!"). Dinner that night was great, as Richards' mother ordered pizza and allowed Nikolas to spend the night. They stayed up until around 11 playing video games and then finally went to bed after discussing what they thought the new school would be like (though Richard still didn't mention his fears of boot camp with Sergeant Slaughter).

 They fell asleep, but not before trying to figure out what type of uniforms they would be wearing as well. As he slept, Richard saw himself wearing skirts and shirts just like the Lancaster sisters had been wearing. And, as if the thought of wearing girl uniforms to school wasn't bad enough, he walked into what looked like a huge military building. As he was walking into a classroom, he heard the class laughing and he was no longer wearing the horrible skirt and button-up, but he noticed he was wearing nothing but his underwear and socks…and as if THAT wasn't bad enough, he was having his second erection. Running out of the class screaming, only to find himself falling, he woke up sweating. As he sat up panting, he realized he felt warm and wet, and upon pulling back his covers and standing up, he realized he had wet his bed.

"How embarrassing" he thought, and as he checked to make sure Nikolas was still asleep on the other side of his bed, he noticed that the stain on his underwear and bed sheets wasn't yellow, but quite clear. Then, thinking back to all the tea he had drank while playing video games and then his first erection coming back to him, he realized he had not wet the bed, but rather had a wet dream; another sign of puberty arriving. Richard stood for a few minutes trying to figure out how he was going to get Niko off the sheets and change them without drawing too much attention to the wet spot, when it hit him. He grabbed the cup of water on his bed stand, tip-toed down the hall to the bathroom, went to the sink on his side of the bathroom, emptied the glass and filled it with warm water. Then, tip-toeing back down the hall to his room, he walked over to the side of the bed where Nikolas was laying, and slipped his arm from around his teddy bear and inserted two of his fingers into the warm cup of water. After watching him for a minute and drawing his conclusion that, since Niko had smiled and squiggled a bit, his plan had worked, he replaced his friends arm, put the cup back on his bed stand and waited curled up on his half of the bed, trying to avoid the now cold wet spot. Within minutes, though it seemed like an eternity scrunched and curled around the wet spot, his friend Niko sprang to life, looked down at Richard, who was playing opossum in that impossible position and sprinted to the bathroom. Upon returning, he "woke" Rozzy and explained very embarrassingly that he had had an accident. Seeming way to understanding, Rozzy told him to go get a fresh batch of sheets from the closet while he took these off and down to the laundry room. While listening to apologies pouring from Nikos' mouth and changing the sheets, Rozzy almost felt sorry for pulling such an awful joke on him, though he knew his friend would have done the same thing.

The rest of the morning was pretty uneventful really, as they sat up and finally defeated the video game they had been playing for weeks now (neither of them felt tired after changing the sheets and starting the laundry). Upon everyone else waking up and coming downstairs they turned their video game off and joined the family in the kitchen for breakfast. Eggs, bacon, toast and grits had never tasted so guilty, so Richard promised himself he would tell Nikolas what had really happened that night…some day. He couldn't help how mad his best friend would be when he found out, after all, he had saved his life earlier that day, and he had the balls to go behind his back and blame him for wetting the bed! Not that Nikolas hadn't wet his bed before, but that had been ages ago, before kindergarten. He himself had even wet Nikolas' bed a few times back then. No, he would tell him. He finally made up his mind around noon when the mail came, and with it news from Aikenwood Academy.