What We Do Best

Summary: Cedric and Sofia decide to team up for a sorcery competition at her school called 'Spell It Out.'

Disclaimer: I don't own Sofia the First!

A/N: Hope you all enjoyed the first chapter. This time you'll get to see just who the mysterious guy was at the end of the last chapter. All I can say is, it's not who you probably think it is. Lol. Anyway, I'm going to attempt to honor a few requests/suggestions in this chapter, so keep an eye out for those. ;) Enjoy!

*Story*

Chapter 2: Spell It Out

Thursday morning proved to be quite stormy. Lightning had already struck a few trees, frying them from the roots and causing them to collapse. Luckily, none had been near the castle. However, the gloomy atmosphere didn't hinder the two friends from their quest.

"You've eaten already?" Cedric asked Sofia as she entered his workshop.

"Oh, uh… Not yet." She smiled sheepishly before blinking as he handed her a small tray of goldenberry pancakes, a strawberry muffin, and a glass of boysenberry juice. She looked up at her mentor with a look of surprise before smiling appreciatively. "Thanks, Mr. Cedric."

He nodded before gesturing toward a small table with two chairs he'd evidently set up, a flickering candle perched in the middle due to the darkness the current storm had provided. In fact, he had quite a few candles burning in the workshop right now.

They sat together and began eating their breakfast while listening to the crashing thunder and pouring rain outside.

"What lovely weather," Cedric remarked sardonically as he broke his muffin in half.

Sofia laughed. "I'm sure the frogs are enjoying it anyway." She glanced toward the other side of the workshop and caught Wormwood's attention. "Have you eaten yet, Wormwood?"

"I'm not fond of muffins, Princess, though I do appreciate the thought," the raven replied with a yawn. "I ate a few berries earlier. Cedric, if you don't mind, I think I'm going to sleep off this bad weather in your room." With that, he flew off toward the sorcerer's bedroom.

"Is he not feeling well?"

Cedric shrugged. "Stormy weather makes him sleepy, and being cooped up in this tower during said weather makes him a bit irritable."

"More than usual?" the princess joked with a giggle, making him chuckle in response.

"Unbelievably so. Therefore, I believe it's best if we just leave him to his rest."

After breakfast had been cleared away, the friends returned to their previous work. Sofia penned the two necessary spells into a vacant journal, including proper pronunciations and reminders for each one. Meanwhile, Cedric worked to create each of the potions…

"A drop of morning dew," he murmured as he mixed the potion. "Three unicorn hairs, two pumpkin seeds, a dash of fairy dust, a hint of sugar…and voila! The WYW Potion is complete." He smiled proudly as he held up a vial of sparkling purple liquid.

"Great! Just one question…" Sofia gave him an inquiring look. "Where did you get fairy dust from anyway?"

"Oh, it's a long story… Something about an ambitious pirate fairy long ago… In any case, a few bottles made their way to the last convention I attended, so I happened to pick some up." He shrugged. "Of course, there's always the supplemental Fliegel Magic."

"Oh, I'm sure Grotta would love that." She laughed. "So that is the wishing-to-be-someone-else potion. It works?"

"Of course it works. We just need only test a tiny bit though, because we don't want to use it all up before demonstration." He grabbed a pipette and dipped it into the liquid, squeezing just enough for a small amount to be absorbed into it. "Here, give it a go and see for yourself."

Sofia took the pipette and held it up. "So just…drink it?" Seeing him nod, she did as she was told. And then… "I wish I were… Princess Belle!" In a single spark, the young auburn-haired girl transformed into the brown-haired princess she admired so much. "Ah-mazing!" she squealed, though not in her own voice—in Belle's. That made her more excited. "Mr. Cedric, this is the best potion ever! Do you have any idea how much fun this is going to be?"

He laughed. "All right, calm down. I know you're excited. Now, to change back, simply wish to be yourself again."

"Oh, wait, there's something I've always wanted to do…" She reached forward and hugged him, surprising him.

"Sofia?"

She giggled and backed away. "It's so different hugging you from this height. I can see your ears now!"

The sorcerer gave his student a curious look before chuckling. "Cute. Really cute. Now go on: we still have two other potions to work on."

"Oh, fine. I wish I were Princess Sofia again." With that, she changed back to her normal self. "I like that potion. Can you make that for my Wassailia gift this year please?" She smiled cutely.

"Er, maybe when you're a bit older… Anyway, on to Potion 180." He extracted several items from his cabinet and placed them all on the table. Each container was neatly labeled, and some of those labels were interesting to read.

Sofia tilted her head as she examined the items. "Vex vine, wildflower extract, seagull feathers, tree sap… Mr. Cedric, are you sure about this potion?"

He nodded as he began mixing several ingredients together. "Worry not, Sofia. I've made this potion on several occasions. When my schoolmates and I attended Hexley Hall, this was one we enjoyed creating. We liked to slip it to our teachers every now and again…" He snickered. "One time, a few of my classmates fooled Madame Irena into drinking it before class, and the rather retched and crabby old woman we were used to turned into the kindest and most doting professor we'd ever had. We even got cookies out of it."

"You sorcerers sure do like to play tricks on people, don't you?" The chiding was playful, so he didn't see any reason to become defensive.

"In truth, sometimes. Madame Irena was just one of those people who needed Potion 180. Trust me. Anyway, if it turns light pink, we'll know it works. I'd rather not try it on you now, because I've seen your angry side, and I don't care to see it again any time soon."

Sofia smiled sheepishly. Oh, he'd seen her angry side, all right. Finding out your best friend was actually trying to steal from you and cause trouble for your kingdom kind of did that to people. Still, she managed to see the humor in his remarks. "That's right. Don't make Scary Sofia come back."

The potion did in fact turn light pink, so Cedric wrote something down in their journal before setting it aside with the WYW Potion. "Okay, final potion: Fountain Potion."

"I'm excited about this one! Aging potions have always been interesting to me."

"Admittedly, I find them fascinating myself. It interests me the science behind it all." With that said, he began mixing the final potion. "I suppose youth is something we all miss sometimes…and those who still have it don't realize how lucky they are."

Sofia leaned against the table as he worked and slowly kicked her feet back and forth. "Do you miss being a child?"

"Every now and again. Some of my best memories were when I was around your age—being young and free, not having to worry about much. But when I realized my spells were never that strong in comparison with my classmates, I suppose I became frustrated and turned to trying to prove them wrong. Agitation and disappointment really mess with your mind, Sofia." He crushed a lily blossom into his mortar as she watched.

"I guess anyone would feel that way," she said softly as she observed his motions.

Sensing the change in atmosphere, he smiled, trying to get her to cheer up. "Regardless, yes, I do miss being a child sometimes. However, being older does have its advantages."

"Yeah, like being taller," the girl laughed.

"You'll get there. Just be patient." He mixed all of the current ingredients together and formed a new potion: a blue one this time. "It's ready. One sip sets a person back five years. Two is ten. Three is fifteen…so essentially increments of five."

The princess grinned. "I guess I'd better be careful then if I test it. I don't know if it's possible to be half of zero years old."

Cedric rolled his eyes and shook his head. "Silly girl. All right, I believe these are finished." He placed the potions into a basket lined with purple fabric. "Three potions, two spells that you wrote down, and now…let's have a look at that wand." He walked over and picked up their wand before sitting next to his apprentice again so they could observe it together. "The outward appearance was easy enough, but typically magic insertion is a multi-process job. However, your amulet seemed to have other plans."

"It's been doing some weird things lately," she admitted as she glanced down at the jewel in her hands. "You've seen it yourself. Whatever magic it had when Princess Elena was trapped is still there, and it seems to be acting differently than it did when she was inside of it. I don't really know how to explain it."

"One of these days, we're going to do some further research on it. There were several notes at the Hexley Hall library, but with Grimtrix hanging about, we didn't get all the information we needed."

Sofia smiled. "It's fine, Mr. Cedric. We'll get around to it, I think. In the meantime, I'm curious to see what this wand can do!" She held it up once more. "It handled the bouncing spell yesterday. I wonder if it can do something more." She glanced toward his bookshelf and walked over, pulling one of the books out and setting it on the table. "What was that enlarging spell again?"

"Presto gigantica," he replied.

"Presto gigantica," she echoed as she aimed the wand at the book, smiling in delight as it grew. "Awesome! And to shrink—oh, I remember. Gigantus shrinky-dinkus." She giggled at the silly-sounding spell before beaming at her mentor when the book returned to normal size. "That was so neat."

"Don't you mean 'ah-mazing?'" he teased, making her smile.

"Yeah. Whatever this new form of magic is, it seems to be more powerful than I realized… Maybe this will help us out in the competition on Saturday."

"Maybe, but Sofia, listen… I want you to be careful." He settled one hand on her own to make sure she was paying attention. "Magic is a rather uncertain thing sometimes, and it can even be dangerous. I won't have you getting hurt because of some school competition, so if you feel as though something is wrong or if there's something you believe you can't handle, you need to let me know immediately, all right?"

The girl nodded and settled her other hand over his own. "I promise."

"How touching," the disembodied voice spat as the shadowy figure continued observing the friends in the hologram image. "Leave it to good old Cedric to be so protective over the precious little princess. I suppose Grimtrix was right. I'll have to watch out for her." He stood and walked into the light, finally revealing a tall figure dressed in dark slacks and a dark robe to match. A golden amulet of his own dangled around his neck. The black hood draped over his head hid his visage from the world, though every now and then, the light from the flickering candles illuminated small glimpses of the striking green eyes that lay beneath. "Only a matter of time, Cedric."

A few days later, the storm had mostly cleared, though the skies were still overcast and questionable at best. Cedric and Sofia, now dressed in her apprentice robes of course, registered early for the Spell It Out competition and spent the rest of their time setting up.

Cedric observed the students and their 'outside sources' as they passed by. Only Sofia had signed up for the Royal Prep side. Several students he didn't recognize—though obviously from Hexley Hall—were already showing off their spells for practice.

"Sofia!"

Sofia turned at the call of her name and smiled happily when Amber ran over and hugged her. "Amber! James! You guys made it."

"We wouldn't miss this," James declared as he grinned. "Mom and Dad are already seated in the stands."

"But it doesn't start for another hour," Cedric informed them as he frowned.

"Well, they naturally wanted the best seats in this place," Amber stated proudly. "I mean, come on! Our sole Royal Prep student going up against the sorcerer wannabes from Hexley Hall? No offense, Cedric."

He rolled his eyes discretely before folding his arms.

"We'll be cheering you guys on," James said before grabbing his twin's hand. "Good luck, Sof!" With that, they took off.

"Cedric!"

Cedric had expected everyone from Grimtrix to Greylock to show up, but he was surprised to see a trio of some of his former classmates before him. "Beatrice? Draegan? Wesley?" He looked behind them to see individual students following them. "What on earth are you doing here?"

"We're here for the competition as well," Wesley responded. He seemed a bit older than Cedric though not by much. He had his curly black hair loose about his shoulders while his soft brown eyes turned to his charge. "This is my partner and cousin, Jasper." He indicated the rather small boy with blonde hair beside him. "It's his first magic contest."

"I see…" Cedric then glanced toward the other man in the group. "Draegan? I thought you'd moved to Rudistan?"

"I moved back two years ago," the other sorcerer replied as he pushed his long tumble of ponytailed blonde hair behind his back. He adjusted a cloth tied around both of his eyes.

"And you are still having vision problems, I see."

"It won't be long until I'm completely blind, I'm afraid…" He smiled thoughtfully as he sensed the pity from those around him. "Not to worry though. When one sense leaves, the others become stronger. Plus I have confidence that my partner, Gilbert, will lead the way."

Sofia looked toward a young boy who appeared to be about twelve or so. He had soft raven-colored hair and light blue eyes. He seemed a bit antsy and constantly tugged on his own robes. "Poor guy," she murmured to herself. "He's probably nervous."

"And Beatrice, you're looking well," Cedric continued as he turned to his red-haired former classmate.

Blue eyes sparkled as the redhead laughed raucously, causing the guys to wince. Yeah, that laugh they didn't miss at all. "Cedric, you know how to charm a girl! But ease up. I'm a married sorceress now."

"But I wasn't…" Cedric glanced toward Wesley, who rolled his eyes. Beatrice had always been a bit vain, so none of this was necessarily surprising. "My apologies, I suppose?"

"Nonsense! Anyway, this is my daughter Eugenie. She's top in her class!"

Eugenie had the same red hair her mother did, yet hers was braided down her back. She also had brown eyes instead of blue. "I'm only third in my class, Mommy," she reminded the woman, who shot her a look. "But…I take great pride in it."

Sofia almost felt sorry for the girl. It was as if that sentence had been instilled in her or something.

"Well, this is my apprentice, Princess Sofia." Cedric placed one hand on Sofia's shoulder, a seemingly comforting gesture to the girl. "She invited me to join this competition as her partner."

"I've heard of you," Gilbert announced at last, his voice slightly raspy for some reason. "You're the princess who stopped Elliot, Amy, and Kurt from destroying Royal Prep, aren't you?"

Sofia smiled thoughtfully. "Well, I had a lot of help from my friends and Mr. Cedric."

"Oh, yeah," Eugenie added, "she's always helping others too."

"And she's pretty," Jasper, the smallest of the group, added before blushing in embarrassment and hiding behind Wesley.

Sofia giggled modestly. "Thanks, Jasper… Um, Mr. Cedric, I'm going to get back to work. You can catch up with your friends. It was nice to meet you all!" She curtsied lightly before returning to her chore.

"Actually, I'd better help her," Cedric said, really not wanting to converse with people…especially those he didn't used to speak with on a regular basis (and certainly not wanting to start now). "May the best partners win."

"Oh, don't worry," Beatrice cackled. "We will!"

The group dispersed and Cedric returned to his apprentice. While everyone else had begun to get ready, Gilbert had dragged Draegan aside into a tent.

"What is it?" Draegan asked in slight annoyance as he untied the cloth around his eyes and glared at the young boy. Turned out he could see just fine! "It's bad enough you've roped me into this charade; do you also have to literally push me around?"

"It's the only way anything gets done around here," Gilbert snapped before drinking a potion and changing…into Grimtrix. "I told you the little princess would somehow pull her sorcerer into this competition. It's like they can't resist!"

"I think you're a little obsessed with this girl and with Cedric." The blonde rolled his eyes. "Don't you have thousands of other sorcerers you could corrupt?"

"Yes, of course, but they're nowhere near as fun!" He smirked.

"Grimtrix, your plan to exact revenge against Cedric and his little princess friend is rather sophomoric. I can understand the allure of power, but there's a right way and a wrong way to go about these things."

"Oh, really?" the older sorcerer demanded. "And what is the 'right' way, Draegan?"

The younger sorcerer smirked and wielded a wand. "My way."

"Oh, you really think you can handle the two of them, eh? By all means, be my guest. You were a bright student of mine during your days at Hexley Hall, but you always let the idea of power consume your thoughts too much. It was always your way or no way at all. Don't be stupid, Draegan. Those two may not look like much, but they are far stronger than they appear."

"I know," Draegan said with a small sneer. "I hear they both defeated you pretty quickly a while ago." He chuckled as a growl escaped the older man's mouth. "You wouldn't be here if it weren't for me. You'd still be captured. Be grateful, why don't you? And let me handle the princess and Cedric. If nothing else, I could use a challenge for once." With that, he tossed some de-aging potion onto Grimtrix, causing him to take on the appearance of 'Gilbert' again. The blonde retied the cloth around his eyes and prepared to put his plan into motion.

The competition began less than an hour later. Each group of participants (totaling at 30, with 15 partners) had three teachers to judge them based on how they did for their potions, spells, and wand work. The trio of teachers made their way down the line and instructed each pair to demonstrate. The onlookers in the stands also got quite the show as magic of all sorts permeated through the air.

Cedric and Sofia were next to last, right before Draegan and Grimtrix. They didn't appear to be worried at all.

"We can do this," Sofia enthused as she adjusted her purple hat on her head.

Cedric chuckled as he helped her fix her hat until she nodded in satisfaction. "That we can."

"Hello, participants," an older gentleman greeted the duo as he and his colleagues approached. "Thank you for showing interest in our competition. May we hear your two spells please?"

Sofia nodded as she wielded her normal wand. "Our first spell is the Healing Spell. For example, sir, I see you have a wound on your hand. May I?"

The lead sorcerer nodded as he held out his hand.

"Sana vulnus." She uttered the words with such strength that she surprised the trio. She smiled happily when the wound on the man's skin vanished.

"Incredible," he said, pleased, with a toothy grin. "You know your spells, little one. Does your partner have a spell?"

"Indeed I do," Cedric responded as he held up his own wand. "The Weather Neutralizer Spell."

"Oh, perfect for a gloomy day like today," the woman of the group acknowledged. "Carry on then."

Cedric nodded and glanced toward the sky, which was thickening with dense and dark clouds ready to burst with rain at any moment. "Corrumpebant nubibus!" He smiled triumphantly as the clouds began to shift and even out, the previous darkness fading into a more natural color instead.

"Excellent work," the third member of the group encouraged with a nod. "You have both succeeded with your spells. Now let us see what you have prepared for your potions. I take it they are also just as grand."

"We think so," Sofia responded sweetly. "Mr. Cedric, let's start with the Fountain Potion," she whispered to her mentor.

"If you say so." Seeing the hesitant look her face, he smiled gently. "I'll do it."

She grinned. "Thank you." She held up the blue liquid to the judges and to the crowd behind them. "This is the Fountain Potion: a de-aging potion that reverts you to a more youthful state, based on how many times you sip it. Mr. Cedric is going to demonstrate." She handed him the potion.

"One sip equates negative five years," he explained to all in earshot. "Therefore, to prove my point, I suppose two sips, an equivalent of ten years lost, will suffice."

"That's what you think," Gilbert muttered with a smirk as he sneaked behind the sorcerer in question.

Cedric held the potion to his lips and swallowed twice, prepared to stop, but he instantly felt the grab of some magical energy that forced him to drink the entire bottle. "Oh, no," he whispered in shock as the vial fell from his hands, shattering as it hit a rock.

Sofia gasped as Cedric reverted to his child form, clearly closer to her own age now. "Mr. Cedric?"

"Oh, my," the female judge speculated as she observed them. "Well, the potion definitely works, it seems."

"Indeed it does…"

Sofia and Cedric turned as they heard Draegan's voice, a more sinister tone to it than they'd expected.

"And now that you are both children, this will be a piece of cake." He ripped off the cloth binding and gave the friends a piercing glare with his startling green eyes.

"M-Mr. Cedric," Sofia stuttered as she hid behind the child form of her mentor. "What's going on?"

"I knew something wasn't quite right with him," he whispered to her. "I always had a bad feeling about him."

"Seriously?" Sofia whined in frustration. "What is the deal with all of these evil sorcerers all of a sudden?!"

"Sofia!" Roland called from the stand. "Stay there! We're coming to get you!"

"Not likely," Gilbert sneered as he froze the family, the contestants, and the judges. All that were left unfrozen were Cedric, Sofia, himself, and Draegan. "Now then, Princess Sofia, hand over the amulet."

"What? No! Who are you really?"

The wicked sorcerer reversed his own state and returned to his normal self.

The girl frowned. "Grimtrix! We should have known!"

"Yes, you should have," Draegan added as he advanced the children. "You're quite the challenge, little one. I've heard tales of the endearing Sofia of Enchancia, the girl with the heart of gold who sees the best in everyone. Tell me, is it true that you saved Cedric here from being banished from the kingdom after he tried to cause harm to you and your family?"

"That's none of your business! Ahh!" She gasped when the blonde man grasped her arm and yanked her toward him. "Mr. Cedric, help!"

Little Cedric stepped forward and glared at his former classmate before wielding the new wand he and Sofia had created. "Unhand her, Draegan! Don't make me 'disappearo' you!"

"Oh, you'd really try that when I have your little princess captured?" He smirked. "Bring it on, pipsqueak!"

"I am not a pipsqueak!" the boy argued before accidentally blasting a bit of magic straight past his apprentice, knocking a limb from a tree. "Oops."

"Priorities, Mr. Cedric, please!" The auburn-haired girl whimpered as the man tightened his grip on her. "Let me go!"

"Not likely," Grimtrix cackled as he held his own wand toward her. "Cedric, you make your choice. You can either drop your wand and save the princess, or you can take a chance and risk harming her. But just keep this in mind: if you activate your wand, so shall I. It's your call."

Cedric considered his options before sighing as his brown eyes caught sight of Sofia's worried blue ones. He dropped the wand to the ground.

"Mr. Cedric…"

"I won't let them harm you, Sofia," he told her gently. "I promised you. And sometimes, when you make a promise, you just have to remember to lower your head and prepare for what lies ahead." He gave her a meaningful look, which she seemed to latch onto before literally lowering her head. Cedric grabbed the Potion 180 from the table behind him, uncapped it, and tossed it onto both of the corrupt sorcerers.

While the men were preoccupied with trying to wipe the light pink liquid out of their eyes, Cedric grabbed Sofia and pulled her along, ducking under the tables and scurrying along to hide.

"That personality reversal potion won't last very long, seeing as one dose usually lasts five minutes for one person," Cedric explained to her as they caught their breath. "We have maybe two minutes to come up with a plan."

"I say we fight back," Sofia urged as she grabbed his hands. "We're much smarter than they are, Mr. Cedric."

"But we're so much smaller than they are," he complained with a defeated sigh.

"So what? I'm this size all the time, and you always believed in my ability to do something. Just because you're the child version of yourself doesn't mean you can't do anything you set your mind to. Believe in yourself, because I believe in you!"

The boy considered this before smiling and hugging her, surprising the girl. "I know what to do," he whispered as he sneaked back to their original location and crawled out from under the table.

"Oh, what a lovely sky!" Draegan enthused airily as he stared upward. "I thought it was supposed to rain today!"

Grimtrix smiled cluelessly as he, too, stared at the sky. "The miracles of nature, my friend."

Cedric snickered before grabbing the wand he'd previously discarded and crawling back toward Sofia hurriedly. "I got it."

"Great!" She paused. "Now what?"

"Now you hand it over."

The children turned to see that their table had been overturned and Grimtrix was glaring daggers at both of them.

"I expected this of the princess, Cedric, but not you… You used to be so good at following the rules and doing all the wrong things when you were told to do so. So why is it that you suddenly take issue with being bad?"

Sofia jumped up and stood in front of her friend. "Maybe because he's a good sorcerer," she responded for him. "And a good sorcerer thinks for himself and helps out his friends and family, and he takes responsibility for any mistakes he's made and learns from them."

Cedric smiled lightly as he listened to her.

"A good sorcerer cares about people and wants to make the world a better place. But Mr. Cedric isn't a good sorcerer. He's a sensational one. You, Grimtrix, are just a bitter old man with a serious complex. You need to get a grip and a life while you're at it."

"Why, you little brat!" He aimed his wand at the young girl. "This is the last time you'll interfere, Princess."

Cedric's eyes widened. "Sofia!"

To be continued…