CALVIN IV

Apparition wasn't as fun as Calvin had hoped it was. Back in America, when their group had first been introduced to the MAGES program, they had seen American officials and wizards apparate all the time, whooshing in and out of existence in the blink of an eye, only to reappear as if from nowhere. And Calvin hated it. Every one of them had nearly thrown up their first time, and both Michael and Blythe had, coughing and retching on their knees.

A majority of the group had already been apparated back to their Hotel, all that remained were Calvin, Colin, Conner, and Jonah. Jack had just gone, and Phillis had yet to return from taking him. The four of them waited at the Leaky Cauldron for Michael, who had gone off to buy his wand. Why he hadn't just done it when Conner and Seth did was beyond Calvin, but Michael was the sort of person who didn't really care about making sense.

Calvin thought the wands were cool and everything, but his group had been most interested in the weird sport that the wizards played: Quidditch. He, Jack, and Jonah had gone straight off to the best supply shop Phillis could recommend them, reminding them that first years weren't allowed to play.

"It's much too dangerous for eleven year olds, and you're lucky they even have flying lessons!" Phillis explained as soon as Jack had brought it up for the eighth time.

"Yes, but even as first years, we're already all sixteen! Surely they'd make an exception!" Jonah responded, really just trying to make Jack stop bringing up the issue.

"That may very well be, but that doesn't mean you should waste this project's budget on something you may or may not use! I'm allowing you to buy brooms, and that's it! Not a single bit of uniform or armament is to be bought by any of you, do I make myself clear?"

They all responded with the now becoming classic "Yes, Phillis," and had made their way off.

And what a broom Calvin had bought.

It was a Comet Catcher 580, supposedly the perfection of the comet model, a broomstick with a swirly handle like braided hair, brown like a chestnut. The plume at the end was black, except at the tips, where the color shifted to a radiant light blue, as if water slicing the horizon of a nighttime sky. It was gorgeous.

Jonah had just managed to afford a Cleansweep, a very slender and straight broom that was entirely silver, the ploom seeming to glow with a fluorescent light. Jack had lucked out incredibly though. The clerk at the store said that Jack had a Quidditch build about him, and managed to haggle with him for an antique medieval racing broom, namely the Nimbus 7.

However, Calvin believed jealousy was a waste of time, and his broom looked cooler, anyways. And in the end, that's all that really matters. Calvin ran it through his fingers, flicking each individual piece on the brush. He was eager to fly it, but Phillis had assured them to the contrary.

"If you want to fly your brooms, it'll have to wait until next week, if not when school starts. We have to get all of the paperwork sorted out for your school, and then arrangements have to be made for holiday stay, transportation, family communication, government involvement, and the program's success and or failure! We won't have downtime until the day before term, and if I have time then, I could only teach you three, and everyone else would have to watch, and that wouldn't exactly be fair, now would it?"

Calvin would probably have to wait until school started, and personally preferred that. He didn't take Phillis for a very athletic woman, and she admitted to as much. He would rather have proper lessons and try out for the team, but Jack was less eager about waiting. He would constantly ask her about teaching them, and they had only bought their brooms a few hours ago. Hopefully he would tire of it soon.

Calvin's thoughts were interrupted as Colin began to speak.

"Hey! Michael's back!" He called over Conner's shoulder, who had now regained consciousness, although barely. Michael was indeed back, wearing his full set of robes for some reason.

"Why are you wearing your robes? Phillis asked us not to, no matter how cool they look!" Colin called out to him as soon as he was in earshot. Michael shrugged.

"Might as well try to get used to wearing them." He said, almost a little too plainly, as if he had rehearsed the line, ready to be questioned about it.

"Did you get a wand?" Calvin asked him. It wouldn't surprise him if Michael had come back to ask for money, unable to afford one.

"Yeah, down a galleon." He said smugly, producing a tiny little white stick from his cloak.

"A galleon?" Colin asked suspiciously.

"Yeah, for the wand." Michael said, wiggling the wand around, not understanding the question.

"Dude, my wand cost eight galleons." Colin said upset, producing the black piece of painted Rosewood, decorated with beautiful markings of lightning bolts, indicating the Thunderbird tail feather that dwelt within.

Calvin produced his own wand. His had only cost seven, which was still six more than one. Phillis had congratulated Conner and Calvin on their cores, as their phoenix feathers matched the core of her own wand. Calvin still had no idea what the core of a wand was or what it did, but he supposed it was nice to match with somebody.

"Really? The guy literally only charged me one for the one." He said, twirling the wand as if it were a baton, and smoothly sticking it back into his robes, most definitely something he had rehearsed a million times before coming to meet them.

At this, there was a quiet snapping sound as Phillis cracked into being before them, and Michael hurriedly closed his robes off, hiding the wand for some reason.

"Alright, who's next? Oh, Michael!" She called out, noticing him standing there. Michael gave a curt nod, as Colin offered his arm to Phillis as if asking her to dance.

"I'll go next, seeing as how Brittany and Ben already left." He said, and Phillis linked her own arm with his, popping out of existence just as fast as she had returned.

"How many wands did you go through?" Michael asked Calvin, gesturing to the stick Calvin had laced in his fingers.

"Actually, I got it on the first one." Calvin replied, smiling. "Ollivander said that it was rare, but not unheard of. Jonah went through two, and Jack nearly burnt through eighteen before he got his. He knocked down a bookcase, it was actually terrifying."

The two let out an awkward chuckle.

"What about you?" Calvin asked him.

"Hm?" Michael asked, not understanding.

"How many wands did you go through before you got yours?" Calvin asked, repeating the question.

"Oh, three for this one." Michael responded, reproducing the wand from his cloak, and wiggling it around for emphasis.

"For this one? What do you-" Calvin began, but before he could interrogate further, Phillis popped back into existence right in between the two of them, pushing Michael onto the ground.

"Oh! My apologies!" Phillis hurriedly exclaimed, rushing to help Michael up, even though he was practically already standing.

"Alright, Calvin, you're next." Phillis said, holding out a hand cheerfully.

"What are we going to do about Conner? There's no way he'll be able to apparate in his state." Michael chimed in, gesturing to Conner, who was still incredibly dazed.

"Yes, I doubt he'll be able to take the strain, so you and I are going to carry him back to the Hotel the old fashioned way after I apparate Calvin." Phillis explained, wrapping her fingers around Calvin's own.

"Ready?" She asked, waiting for Calvin's approval. He nodded, and the next thing he knew, he felt himself crushed almost, being squeezed by a sort of invisible pressure as his vision went dark, and his body stiffened. He held onto Phillis's hand as tight as he could, squeezing with all of his might. Then, after merely a moment, he reappeared in a Hotel lobby, right in front of Jack and Jonah.

"Hey!" They exclaimed, as Calvin placed his palm to his temple. Phillis swore that wizards eventually got used to apparating, and that it was even worse when you were actually doing the apparition, but Calvin still felt incredibly nauseous, and doubted he'd ever ignore the feeling. There was another pop as Phillis immediately whooshed away to get Michael and Conner, and it was unlikely she would return for quite some time.

"Calvin, we've gotta show you this!" Jack immediately said, walking off with Jonah towards the direction of their rooms. The Wizarding Hotel they were staying at was supposedly "first class" which Calvin estimated meant the same thing as Five Star. The floors were incredibly polished marble, emblazoned with a chessboard pattern that reflected upon it everything in the room like a mirror. There were several elaborate marble benches with lovely cushions upon them, sewn magically with several arcane designs and niceties. There was even a fountain in the central foyer, with two spiral staircases on either side that led to the Hotel's many stories, the third of which contained their rooms.

Phillis had arranged for each group to have their own separate Hotel room, three people for each four-bed room, except for her room, as she would be bunking with all of the program's girls. This meant that Colin, Ben, and Payne were left odd men out, and had to bunk up with another group. Ben was to stay in Conner, Seth, and Michael's room, Colin was to stay with Blythe, Ross, and Nick, which left Payne, who was to stay with Calvin's group.

"Yeah, I bought at least thirteen boxes of fart flowers, and I started stuffing them in the potted plants in our hallway!" Jack went on explaining, elaborately describing the Wizard Pranks he'd already been pulling. Out of all of the shops they had gone to, they had spent far too much time at Weasley's Wizard Wheezes. It was a joke shop emporium, and Jack had simply bought one of every product that didn't have the word fart in the title, and at least seven of every product that did.

The only reason he had so much dough to blow was conversions. Everyone in the MAGES program had been assured an equal share of the project's rather lengthy budget, however, Jack decided he would want some additional expenses, and so, his parents had their "Muggle Money" (It felt strange even calling it that) converted into the Wizard Currency of Galleons, Sickles, and Knuts. The entire time through their shopping spree, Jack had constantly jingle jangled with the sounds of metal coins bouncing around in his pockets, and it was at least surprising to Calvin that Conner had been mugged but not Jack.

As they approached their room, they saw Payne was already standing outside it, holding his nose. Payne was visibly shorter than most everyone else in the group, with well-combed blond hair standing at about everyone's chest height. He was a mix of slightly fat and slightly muscular, a body type that fit him rather well, even as he gave the three of them death stares as they approached.

"Guys, it smells like crap in this hallway." He explained, gesturing to the array of now-pranked potted plants. "Couldn't we have done this in a DIFFERENT hallway?"

"Just go inside the room, you can't smell it in there." Jack explained, gesturing to the door as the three of them now came up to it.

"First off, Calvin's the only one with a key, second off, you CAN smell it in the room, because that's where all of the leftovers are!" Payne retorted. Calvin walked past the two as they bickered, and slid the key from his pocket. Phillis had essentially picked a leader of each group by handing out the Hotel keys. The only owners of keys were Calvin himself, Conner, Brittany, and Blythe, each to their respective rooms.

As the key clicked in the lock, Calvin pushed the door open. It was a strange contrast to the modern world that the wizard world was always rocking, using regular keys for hotels as opposed to the modern keycard. And, much to the opposite of the incredibly modern and stylish lobby, their room was a different story. First off, the room was only the size of any normal bedroom, yet had a fully lit chandelier hanging from the ceiling. Each of the four beds had canopies above them, draped in fine sheets and silk. A large fire was burning in the fireplace, and Jonah walked past Calvin into the room, ready to change the color of the flames, one of their altogether favorite features.

Jack practically tackled Calvin as he dashed into the room, sprinting to his collection of pranks and poop balloons. Payne waited patiently for Calvin to get the key out of the door, before the two headed in. The room just had a general feel of old fashioned, filling the aesthetic with a very "victorian" vibe to say nothing else, and the balcony. Oh, the balcony.

It was a wonder to the boy's minds, as the hotel was nestled in Downtown London, nestled between two other buildings, with not an inch between them. Yet, every room had a balcony, that looked out over any place the occupant of the room wanted. Magic was amazing.

Calvin went and plopped himself onto his own bed, and took a sigh of relief. He wasn't used to this kind of lifestyle. He had been ripped away from his normal life in the United States as a high schooler, and was now about to become a magical high school student in an English castle. It was a lot to process. As Calvin sat contemplating, Jack ran around their room like a five year old, parading with his broom held high above his head.

"I wonder what happens if you fall off…" Jack wondered as he leaped off of his bed, and landing harshly, still hoisting up the broom as if to save it from touching the ground.

"Phillis told us about five times." Jonah remarked, wondering how many more times Jack would forget basic information. "At each and every match there are countless teachers presents who can cast Anti-Gravity charms." Jonah explained carefully, really trying to get Jack to process the information.

Hours went by like this. Jack would ask questions, tell one liners, reference nerd culture, and every now and again try to jump off the balcony, before getting thrown back on by its magic. Jonah tried his best to enjoy the luxury of the room, and was going through his suitcase, unpacking to make himself more comfortable, and producing a deck of cards to pass the time. All the while Payne was mostly texting, as the hotel was one of few places in the Wizarding World where you could get connection.

Their period of relaxing was broken when there was a knock on the door.

"It's Phillis." Came the voice of presumably Phillis.

Calvin walked over and opened the door. There, indeed, stood Phillis, garbed in her very attention-demanding mint robes.

"Ah! Calvin! Just the one I wanted to talk to!" Phillis said, gesturing for Calvin to join her in the hallway. Calvin did as bid, and closed the door behind him. As soon as the door closed, her cheery expression grew grim.

"It's about Conner." She explained, and Calvin understood.

"Is he gonna be okay?" Calvin asked, hopeful.

"Oh, yes, he'll be fine. He literally just had a couple bruises and a bloody nose." She said dismissively. Calvin breathed a sigh of relief, but Phillis continued.

"Listen, I did a sort of check-up on him, to see if anything magical had been done to him, and I found something." She explained, evidently concerned. Calvin was understandably confused.

"What did you find?" He asked, after Phillis didn't continue.

"Well...I found traces of a spell called 'obliviate'." She said. "It's a sort of memory spell. To wipe or change someone's memories."

"So...if it was used on him, does he have amnesia?" Calvin inquired. Phillis shook her head.

"That's not the way the spell works. The caster can rearrange certain thoughts and even create false memories. It seems whoever attacked Conner erased the event from Conner's mind. Obliviate is a very hard spell to master, especially to do it without harming anything else." Phillis said, seemingly growing more and more concerned with each passing word.

"What does that mean, though?" Calvin asked.

"Well, I'm a little worried. I don't know how spells like that may affect all of you, since you're not born wizards…" Phillis mumbled, trailing off. There was a silence as the two both stared at a potted plant in the hall, which reeked beyond belief.

"Why are you telling me all this?" Calvin asked, still unsure of the situation Phillis was trying to explain.

"Something about this situation makes me think that Conner was attacked for a reason. I'm a little apprehensive about sending you all off to Hogwarts." She clarified.

"Are you going to cancel the MAGES program?!" Calvin asked, suddenly panicked. There was no way that Calvin or any of the others could go back to regular lives after knowing this world existed. Seeing him distraught, Phillis adorned a warm smile.

"No, I wouldn't do that to you." She said, as Calvin heaved a sigh of relief. But as he did so, Phillis's expression turned serious again.

"But, you're the only person in the group I can trust. Someone may want to hurt you. You need to promise me that you'll protect everyone in this program with your life." Phillis said. Calvin stared at her.

"I promise." He said.

After this was said, Phillis headed back to the girl's room, barely taking time to shout to him to make sure everyone in his room was in bed before it got too this, Calvin turned to head back into his own room, only to find the occupants of it standing outside behind him. Jack, Jonah, and Payne froze as Calvin turned to face them, and he noticed they were all carrying their brooms.

"What are you guys doing?" Calvin asked suspiciously.

"Is Phillis gone?" Jack asked, walking towards Calvin to peek over his shoulder, catching a final glimpse of Phillis as she closed the door to the girl's room behind her.

"We're going to go flying." Jonah said, answering Calvin's question with a gesture from his broom. Calvin looked them all over.

"Where? We're in a hotel." Calvin pointed out, but Payne shook his head.

"That lobby is HUGE! We could totally fly around in there! I mean, we're not gonna be chucking around any balls, but why would we wait for school to start before we fly?" Payne explained, shaking around his broomstick with excitement.

"No, we-" Calvin began, but stopped himself. He thought back to Phillis's words, which were obviously still fresh in his mind, and corrected himself.

"We can't until I grab my broom." Calvin said, and dashed inside the room, resulting in a rally of hushed cheers from the other boys. They would be safe in the hotel, and Phillis was the last thing they had to fear. Calvin wasn't their babysitter, that was Phillis's job. All Calvin had to do was make sure that nobody died.

How hard could that be?