"If you could attach a generator to her, we could power the whole country." Hannah concluded as she watched Akko complete her 8th lap around the library.

"Lotte just keeps chasing after her," Barbara said, "what a trooper."

"I'm honestly surprised Lotte has that much stamina." Amanda remarked.

"Definitely doesn't look the type." Barbara concurred.

"Yeah, but you see how they run?" Hannah asked. "It's weird."

The other girls—Jasminka and Contanze included—gave her a look.

"It's true!" Hannah said. "When Akko runs, she does this…"

Hannah spread her hands behind her and leaned forward, holding her pose until she felt she had gotten her point across.

"And when Lotte runs," Hannah continued, "she does this…"

Hannah held her hands vertically, tucked her elbows inward, and wiggled side-to-side like a broken wind-up toy.

"You get what I'm saying?"

A full minute of silence indicated they did not.

"Okay. Fine. Jeez." Hannah sighed, crossing her arms in a huff. "Never mind. Whatever."

The overly-large door to the library creaked open, followed by Diana's voice.

"We're back." She announced as she opened the door, her neutral tone all telling those inside exactly what had transpired.

"Diana!" Akko cheered and, finishing her 9th lap, collided straight into Diana's leg.

Diana, not missing a beat, scooped the girl up in her arms. Lotte collapsed into one of the library's many chairs, telepathically thanking Diana for the break.

"Yooo, Cavendish." Amanda waved her hand in a lackluster fake salute. "Didn't find anything?"

Diana glared, then sighed.

"No, we did not." She relented.

"Yup," Amanda smirked, "I figured."

Sucy started to argue something, but Diana waved her down with her free hand.

"Not going to argue with you, O'Neill." She said. "You don't get the satisfaction."

"Diana! Diana Diana!" Akko chirped. "I found something! Lemme show you!"

Diana complied, and as Akko's feet touched the ground she took off like a rocket to the other end of the library. She began tugging at something in between the bookcases, straining a bit before it slid out with a pop and the girl went tumbling onto her back.

Unfazed, she quickly stood up and presented the object to the other girls.

"Wazzat? Amanda craned her neck to get a look. "A box?"

"A box!" Akko nodded.

Indeed, it was a box. A small, unremarkable box a little bit larger than your average library book. It was unadorned, but the lid—as well as being connected by two unpolished metal hinges on the back—had a faint Luna Nova logo seemingly burnt into the top, which had grown faint with age. In its prime, the box may have been quite professional looking, but as of now it merely gave off an aura of neglect and mediocrity.

Hannah and Barbara peeked their heads in from the side.

"Huh," Hannah said, "it is a box. Wonder where it came from."

Barbara, on the other hand, thought for a moment, before clapping a fist into her palm in realization.

"Oh!" She exclaimed. "I know what that is! It's a magic testing kit!"

"Magi-wha?" Amanda scratched a nonexistent itch on her head.

"How do you know what it is?" Sucy asked in rudely skeptical tone.

"What, am I not allowed to know what things are?" Barbara huffed.

Sucy opened her mouth.

"Don't answer that."

Sucy closed her mouth.

"But yeah," Barbara continued, "it's a magic testing kit. They were like, invented as a way to measure magical power."

"That seems foolish," Diana said, "you cannot measure magical ability as if it were some kind of weight or number."

"Well, obviously not," Barbara nodded, "but that didn't stop people from trying to. I even remember reading that, at one point, Luna Nova had a strict entry requirement that you had to have a certain amount of magical power before you were admitted."

The girls collectively grimaced, with even Hannah wrinkling her nose at the idea of being judged in such a…blatant manner.

"Kinda makes me glad we don't do that now," Amanda said, "that's like, the most pretentious thing I've ever heard."

"It very much goes against the most fundamental philosophical principles of magic." Diana said.

"Professor Pisces would blow a gasket if Luna Nova did that now." Sucy remarked.

"I think it's kinda cool!" Akko said.

The girls stared, unsure of how to proceed.

"Like, y'know," Akko said, "your power level! Over 9,000!"

"Is that a reference to something?" Hannah asked. "That feels like a reference to something. That feels like an overdone reference to something."

"Akko…" Diana bit her lip. "Being a witch…there is a lot more to it than raw magical power."

"But—"

"No, Akko, trust me on this." Barbara knelt down to the child's level. "Being a witch isn't just about how much magic you have, or even how you use it. Being a witch is about what you use your magic for. Why you use your magic."

Barbara glanced to the side a bit.

"I learned this lesson pretty recently," she said, "someone…I know…wasn't good at magic. I made fun of her for it."

"But…" Akko frowned. "You're so nice."

"That's…why I said I learned a lesson." Barbara managed a wincing smile. "This girl…she couldn't use magic, and she wasn't very…er…smart about using magic either. But then some…stuff…happened, and, well…I watched her…we all watched her do incredible things. All because she used her magic—every bit of it—to help others."

Barbara smiled.

"You understand?" She asked. "How much magic you have isn't important, a great witch is someone who uses her magic for the right reasons."

Akko sucked on one of her fingers.

"I…guess I understand…" She said, hesitantly. "But…what if I don't have magic at all? Can't I check that at least?"

"Well…I…ehhh…" Barbara hesitated, looking to Diana for support.

Diana made a face to indicate her displeasure.

"I mean…" Sucy chimed into the conversation. "We don't have to tell her the number, I guess…"

The witches in the room all mumbled and groaned incoherently and awkwardly.

"S-sure…" Barbara relented. "I…I guess that's okay…"

"Yay!" Akko clapped. "If I know I have magic, I know I'll be a great witch someday!"

Barbara took the box and began fiddling with it. Alas, the box was quite old and the lid was stuck tight, leaving the poor girl unable to open the—oh, wait, no, there it went. It just needed a tug.

'Rats.' Barbara thought as she opened the lid to reveal the kit within.

The kit itself was rather plain, packed much like a small art box. On one side was a stack of folded—if decaying—pieces of parchment. On the other side were several slots, some of which were filled with vials of a sparkly black powder. Stacked above them was a small, unremarkable wooden pole; more of a stick, really, but without any of the knobbly bits.

Amanda walked up around the group and stood next to Diana, watching the box for a moment before leaning over and whispering.

"Are you sure this is a good idea?" She asked.

"This is a horrible idea." Diana whispered back.

"Yeah," Sucy chimed in from Diana's other shoulder, "but if it gets her to shut up for a while…"

Constanze had gotten up and gone to inspect the kit as well. Looking it over, she pointed at the interior of the lid.

"Ah," Barbara said, "instructions. Let's see here…"

Barbara squinted at the faded letting printed on the inside of the lid. She cleared her throat.

"'You, who wish to be of the most esteemed, who wish to bear the gift that has been granted to us—'" She skimmed a bit. "Uh…'wherefore, you shall use your gift wisely, with compassion and—'…how long does this even go…ah, here we are."

She read the last bit silently.

"So, I think it's just, you tap the paper with the wand—that's the stick thing here—and cast the spell 'Pàipear Dathte'. Then, you sprinkle the paper with the powder. It's supposed to turn colors and make a pattern, which someone at Luna Nova would then read and match the color to your 'magical power'."

She emphasized the last bits with air quotes, hoping that Akko would stop taking the thing so seriously. It didn't work.

"That's it?" Amanda raised an eyebrow. "When you said they were measuring magical power I kinda assumed something more…"

She waved her hand trying to think of the right word.

"Malicious?" Sucy offered.

"Yeah!" Amanda gave a quick thumbs up. "Something more cruel or whatever, not pretty pictures."

"Well…" Diana hummed. "I have used Pàipear Dathte in projects before…I don't suppose it would cause too much trouble."

Jasminka frowned and made a small noise of disapproval before digging back into her chips.

Barbara handed Akko one of the sheets of paper. She did so gingerly, as the paper felt as if it would crumble to dust if she pinched it too hard. She was a bit less careful with the stick-wand, which had held up surprisingly well for such an old thing.

"Okay, Akko," Barbara said, "ready?"

Akko nodded furiously, gripping her stick tightly.

"Repeat after me: Pàipear Dathte."

Akko breathed slowly for a bit, then repeated.

"Pàipear Dathte!"

She lightly tapped the stick to the paper. Nothing interesting happened.

"Okay, so now we sprinkle the…what was it…onyx wood dust?"

"Onyx wood?" Sucy perked up. "That stuff's onyx wood?"

"I think?" Barbara squinted at the box. "Kinda hard to read, but I think it says 'onyx wood'."

"That stuff won't work, then." Sucy said. "Onyx wood has a shelf life of about three years, max."

"Aw," Akko frowned, "so I won't see my picture?"

"Nah," Sucy waved her off, "you just need fresh powder. Pretty sure we keep some in stock with the potion ingredients."

"Should be easy to get, then." Amanda said. "Heeey, Lotte! You wanna—"

Lotte cut her off with an exhausted, uncharacteristic glare. The air around her seemed to vibrate and darken with rage.

"…you wanna sit right there and rest?" Amanda finished awkwardly. "Y-yeah…that…that sounds like a good idea…er, Jasminka? Would you…?"

"Of course." The girl smiled as she stood up. "Come along, Akko."

"Yaay!" Akko cheered. "Can I have more cookies too?"

"Of course you can." Jasminka said as the pair left the library, the door clicking shut behind them.

There was a brief moment of silence, as every girl in the room considered what to say next.

"This is all going to end in tears." Hannah finally remarked.

"It's not that bad…" Barbara ventured.

"As long as we make her aware that it's not really a useful metric for measuring ability." Diana concurred.

"I'm just surprised Akko even found that box," Sucy said, "why would something like that even be in the library?"

"I mean, why is there a secret passageway to the Horologium Room in the library?" Amanda shrugged. "Who knows?"

"Secret what to the where now?" Hannah blinked.

"Regardless," Diana said, "I doubt Akko will focus too much energy on this. She moved off of brooms fairly quickly, as I recall?"

"Pretty much." Amanda relaxed her hands on the back of her head. "She's a kid. She's Akko as a kid. 'Short attention span' would be putting it mildly."

"And we're stuck looking after her," Sucy huffed, "such a pain."

"It's not so bad," Barbara said, "we haven't had much trouble."

"Who's 'we'?!" Lotte shouted from her table.

"Whatever," Sucy grumbled, "she's just way too hyper for my tastes. Too happy. Too…"

She shuddered.

"Cute." She gagged. "Who wants something that diabetes-inducing around all the time?"

There was a soft knock at the library door.

"Surely you're exaggerating." Diana said, before turning towards the door. "And to whomever is there, this is a public library. You do not need to knock."

The door remained silent for a moment, as if hesitating and thinking something over, before it creaked open—just a smidge, enough to let one girl through. A not unremarkable girl with neck-length brown hair, her bangs tied up with a small pink ribbon sloping forward on her head.

"U-um…hello?" She asked.

Amanda glanced over the girl a few times.

"Hi." Amanda finally said back.

"You are... Erika, correct?" Diana asked. "Bice's and Bridget's roommate?"

"Er, yes!" She waved. "That's me! Um…can we come in?"

Diana blinked.

"Of course," she said, "as I mentioned, this library is free for any Luna Nova student to use."

Erika nodded rapidly, then ducked her head out the door, whispering hurriedly.

She then walked further into the room, not quite at the tables but enough to be out of the doorframe. The door itself opened a little further, and a small group of students bumbled out into a small huddle, gathering next to Erika and…simply standing there.

For a brief moment, no one moved, no one said anything. Constanze coughed lightly.

"So…" Hannah glanced around awkwardly. "Did you need to study or something?"

"Nope!" Erika said, a bit too cheerfully.

Hannah processed this information for a second.

"No…?" She ventured.

"Nope!" Erika replied, again a bit too cheerfully.

There was another awkward pause.

"So…" Sucy leaned back a bit in sheer confusion. "What did you want?"

"Right! Yes!" Erika pumped her fists and looked pointedly at the other group of witches. "Please! We want to see Akko!"