Eda barely moved her hand and all the kids who were still on top of the shelves rose into the air and dropped to the floor. They finally had their feet on the ground again; they had also returned clean, since the flour and spices that covered them had disappeared along with everything else, but Lilith still moved her wand and adjusted their clothes and hair, leaving practically no signs of the previous experience on them. "I'm going to get my staff" Hunter said, walking away; Edric and Emira seemed to intend to follow him, or rather to start looking for the staff themselves to find it before him, but a dirty look from Amity froze them on the spot.

However, the mint-haired girl didn't have time to remain sullen for long, because soon after Lilith asked her: "Amity, why didn't you call me?"

"Huh? What are you...?" Amity muttered, trying to explain that the exit had been closed by the lake, but then her eyes widened and her cheeks turned red. Almost mechanically, her hand opened her collar and pulled out a jewel shaped like a black sphere with a small crescent moon. She brought it up to her eyes and she looked at it as if she were staring at a ghost. "Um... I... I didn't think about that..."

"Wait, what is that?" Skara asked her.

Amity turned redder and redder. "It's a magical stone... my fairy godmother gave it to me so I can contact her... if I need her"

There was a moment of silence, then Boscha's voice broke it: "You had a way to call for help this whole time!?"

"I-I don't know why I didn't think of that!" Amity tried to justify herself. She couldn't understand, how had he made such a mistake?! "I..."

Lilith sighed. Amity was so used to practically never calling her and asking for help that she even forgot she had a magical means of doing so. She couldn't blame her; she knew that the reason for that forgetfulness was due to the girl's terror of admitting that she had made a mistake or that she couldn't get by on her own, and that this obsession of hers was not under her control. But despite this, he still scolded her: "Amity, next time something like this happens, call me right away"

Amity nodded sadly; she seemed quite distraught. "I... I assure you I hadn't thought of that..." she told her friends with a lot of shame in her voice. Why hadn't she thought of that? It was so obvious! How was it possible that it hadn't even crossed her mind?

Her friends glared at her, but then relaxed and put a hand on her shoulder. "Well, never mind. We got away anyway" Boscha said, then added with a smile: "Congratulations, Amity! Your first mistake!"

"Yeah! Now you're one of us!" Skara laughed almost hugging her. Amity didn't seem very comfortable with those words, but she still seemed somewhat comforted by them. Thanks to that gesture, the tension in her heart seemed to calm down a little.

"Damn, it seems like a hurricane has passed through here" Eda commented looking at the state of the forbidden section, then she crossing her arms and staring at Luz with severe eyes. "I hope you have an explanation for this. And I hope it will be the truth"

Luz looked down, immediately feeling guilty. She knew she had messed up, as usual. But before she could say anything an annoyed voice exclaimed" "I'd like to hear an explanation too!"

A grim individual had just entered through the door, at least one head larger than a normal person, with a face so long it looked like a bird's beak and an incredibly disproportionate gray beard and moustache. He wore a long purple and black robe with shoulder pads behind his back that lifted his up making it look like he had large wings as well. Next to him there was Slitherbeast, still half dazed from the blow he had suffered, who had evidently taken advantage as soon as the water had disappeared to return to his master. When she saw him, a drop of sweat formed on Amity's forehead: "Mr. Malphas! I can explain..."

"There is nothing to explain here. I come back from my lunch break all calm and suddenly I see my dog arrive with a big bump on his head telling me that there were problems in the forbidden section, and when I get here I find this!" Malphas roared, then he quickly looked at everyone present, and he finally stared back at Amity. "You were the only one here who had access to this place. I don't know what came into your mind but I don't care. I gave you that key because I thought you were a girl sensible enough not to go and touch things you didn't you should, but it seems I was wrong. I am very disappointed in you. As of this moment all your privileges in this library are revoked, and know that I will inform your parents of what has happened"

"What!?" Amity turned pale as Malphas snatched her special key from her.

"No, wait, Mr. Malphas! Amity had nothing to do with it!" Luz exclaimed coming between the two. She didn't want to get in trouble, but it wasn't right that Amity got into trouble because of her either. "It was all my fault. I stole the key from Amity because I wanted to get in here. I was hoping... I was hoping there was some book in here that could help me understand how to become a real girl, but I did everything wrong. Amity is here because he tried to stop me, not because he was committing a transgression!"

Although she was still very angry at the puppet for what had happened, Amity couldn't help but feel a little grateful for her; she admired the fact that she didn't hesitate for a second to step up and take responsibility. And even though that technically would have been the right thing to do anyway, Amity felt strangely glad that Luz was doing it to protect her.

But Malphas didn't think so. "Even if what you say were true, the situation doesn't change. Amity had the responsibility to protect this key and not only did she not do it, but when she realized the theft instead of coming to warn me she came here to stop you from person and hide her mistake. She has fully demonstrated that I can no longer trust her"

Amity's heart sank, but she knew what Malphas was saying was true. Even though Luz had stolen her key, she hadn't thought twice about chasing the puppet instead of calling an adult, even though she knew of the Slitherbeast's presence and the dangers of the forbidden ward. She had let her emotions dominate her and behaved irresponsibly, and she hadn't even thought about calling someone, and after the situation had escalated she had even forgotten that she had a very quick means of doing so attached to her neck. Maybe the best thing to do was actually put the head down and accept the punishment.

But Luz didn't give up. "Please, Mr. Malphas, this isn't right! Amity only tried to help, you can't blame her for wanting to stop me or others from hurting us! She acted impulsively perhaps, but she didn't do anything wrong! Punish her is not right!". She clasped her hands together as if praying and lowered her head: "I'm willing to serve any punishment on her behalf too! It's only my fault that all this happened, don't punish the most innocent one here!"

Even though she continued to keep her arms crossed and her gaze stern, Eda couldn't help but smile as she watched Luz try to make amends. She could clearly feel the corruption of the Owl Beast within her growing weaker until it vanished completely; even Lilith, who was now connected to her, could feel it and thought that maybe Eda wasn't so wrong in wanting to put so much trust in Luz. Even if she was wrong, she didn't seem like a girl with too little judgment... although there was certainly a lot to improve.

Malphas finally looked a little doubtful. "Mh. So you would like to be punished on Amity's behalf too?" he murmured, looking at Luz. "Okay, so be it. Then..."

"No!" Amity exclaimed stepping forward. She didn't know why she was doing it, it would have been much more logical to stay quiet and prevent the situation from escalating and perhaps reaching her mother's ears, but for some reason her mouth was moving on its own. "It's not fair that only Luz gets punished. I've done my share of damage too"

"But Amity, that's not true! This all happened because I stole your card!" Luz said.

Amity shook her head. "It's true, but I also didn't act responsibly. I should have called someone and instead I ran after you and even brought my friends with me, and instead of taking you and my siblings and dragging you out immediately I wasted time until until Slitherbeast showed up, and even then instead of trying to explain the situation I ran away. And you... it's true, you messed up, but it was thanks to you that our friends weren't fried by Otabin, and you always closed the book saving us all. You don't deserve to be the only one to be punished"

Luz couldn't understand Amity. Why was she doing this? It was clearly all her fault... right? Or did Amity actually believe she was guilty? Impossible, she was too smart. Or maybe not? And then... even if she really felt guilty, why say it instead of keeping it hidden? Luz clearly remembered how Amity had reacted when they first got into trouble, so if she now had a chance to get out of it without repercussions, why wasn't she taking it?

"Well, if Amity needs to be punished, we need to be punished too" Skara said as she stepped forward, almost dragging Boscha with her. "Although the puppet is mainly to blame for everything, it must also be said that we followed Amity without her asking us, so we can say that we made things worse". Boscha rolled her eyes and glared at Luz, but nodded anyway.

Edric and Emira had remained aloof and seemed intent on slipping away at the first opportunity, but they felt a shiver when Lilith looked at them; the fairy wasn't looking at them evilly or maliciously, she was just looking at them, but that was enough to send a shiver down their spines. "Oh, and that's fine. We must be punished too" they said finally, realizing that this time it was better to assume their responsibilities. "We are the ones who enticed Luz to steal the key. It's our fault too"

"It's mostly your fault" Amity hissed with no small amount of anger in her voice.

Malphas had watched the whole scene in silence, and Slitherbeast took the opportunity to say: "Master, with all due respect, I think you should be lenient this time. These guys made a mess, but they're not bad. They saved my life after all"

Hearing his trusty dog's plea, Malphas surrendered. "Okay. Let's do this: now you put this place back in order. I want everything in the exact spot where it was. If by this evening the forbidden section has returned to its former glory, then I will pretend that today I raised a little too much the elbow in the pub and what I'm experiencing now is just the result of a colossal hangover, and therefore there is no one to blame or parents to warn"

Amity felt a wave of relief wash over her: it seemed that not only would she not be deprived of her privileges in the library, but also that her mother would not know anything! If it weren't for the fact that she wanted to maintain her composure, she would have knelt down and screamed in delight.

Malphas approached Eda and Lilith: "I saw you enter just before me, so I know that you had nothing to do with it, and from what I heard you talk it seems clear to me that you are the guardians of these kids or at least those who they have currently been entrusted to. Can I count on you to keep an eye on them and prevent them from getting into trouble again?"

"Don't worry, we will watch them carefully" Lilith reassured him, even though in her heart she believed that the boys had no need to be watched... well, at least some of them; in the twins' case it was certainly better to leave to them a guardian.

Just then Hunter returned, carrying the staff he had managed to find among a pile of books. "Huh? And who are you?" Malphas asked. "Are you responsible for this too?"

"No, absolutely! He only came in to save us, it's thanks to him that we're still alive!" Edric was quick to say. "And I also don't think it's a good idea to try to punish him!"

"Yeah! He's the classic: 'I'm a very calm guy, but if you piss me off I'll stick a bomb straight up your ass'. Trust me, it's better to avoid it" Emira added in a cold sweat.

Hunter wasn't understanding anything of what was happening, but suddenly Amity spoke up: "Wait! There's something he can do" she said. "Hunter, if it doesn't bother you, can you check that my siblings are working and not doing any damage? You're allowed to burn their ass if that's the case"

"Wow, you're sadistic. I like it, I'm in" Hunter replied.

"What? Dude, this is a betrayal!" Edric exclaimed, and Emira also seemed to be in the midst of despair.

"Sorry guys, but I literally had to fight a five meters tall fisherman because of you, so now I want to get a little revenge" Hunter replied, and the orb on his staff glowed red. "Come on, what are you waiting for? Get to work!" he said, and some sparks flew from the bracket and fell at the feet of the two twins, who, after a frightened cry, immediately began to collect the fallen books. Amity smiled with satisfaction like few times in her life, then she nodded to Luz, Boscha and Skara and together they also started repairing the forbidden section.

It took them all day to put everything back, and when they were done they were all so tired they could barely stand. When Malphas finally approved their work and guaranteed that they could go home without fear of any repercussions, the kids left the library and sat down destroyed on the small staircase leading to the entrance (in the case of Edric and Emira, they lay down completely, so which looked like melted cheese spread on bread). "Ugh! I don't think I've ever worked so hard in my life" Boscha exclaimed, wiping the sweat from her forehead, then she glared at Luz: "I hope you're happy, loser. You've been making us work all day"

Luz blushed and lowered her head in shame. "I know. For what it's worth... I'm sorry"

There was a moment of silence, then Amity said: "Apology accepted"

Luz's eyes widened in surprise. "Seriously?"

"Yes, I think you've earned your forgiveness. Maybe... you're not completely a bad girl" Amity replied, and Skara seemed to agree too. Boscha rolled her eyes in disappointment, but eventually she nodded too.

Luz felt happiness fill her. Taking advantage of the moment she added, "Look... what I told you when I came to steal the key from Amity... it wasn't a lie. Believe me, you would have noticed if it had been. I'd really like it if we could be. .. well, friends" she said. "Don't get me wrong, I still think you're a little too pompous and arrogant, but… you're not that unpleasant to be around either"

The three girls looked at her, then Amity shrugged and said, "Well... we can give you a chance"

"Yeah. You're not bad either, puppet. Even if you're definitely the weirdest and weirdest person I've ever met... and you seem to attract trouble like a magnet attracts iron" Skara added.

Boscha bit her lip, then she gave up: "Okay... let's say that I tolerate you hanging around with us. But don't expect me to approve anytime soon!"

Luz smiled like she hadn't in a long time. "Yay! Don't worry, you won't regret it! If there's one thing I do well it's having fun!"

Amity, Skara, and even Boscha were momentarily moved by that smile. It seemed as if Luz had the sun for teeth and was warming their hearts with her rays. At that point Lilith stepped forward: "Amity, it's time to go home. You two too, lazy people" she said looking at the two twins, who barely got to their feet.

Amity stood up and stretched. "Yes, it's getting late. Well... bye, Luz. See you tomorrow in class" she said, and she, Lilith and the twins left, followed by Boscha and Skara who also had to go home.

Hunter, who had remained silent until then, spoke up: "I'm going too. I still have to do maintenance on my staff, and then I don't mind a good night's sleep". Which translated meant that he still had to communicate the existence of the second fairy to his uncle.

"Remember you promised to see us every now and then" Willow said, popping out of Eda's hair where she and Gus had been holed up until now since they have nothing to do and they had discovered that such hair they were really soft and nice.

Hunter let out a smile. "Don't worry. I haven't forgotten". And with that he jumped over Flapjack and disappeared into the sky.

Once they were alone, Luz finally turned to Eda. It was time to really face the consequences of her actions. "I'm sorry. I know I disappoint you"

"No, you didn't disappoint me, kiddo. In the end you did the right thing, even if you did the wrong thing first. The moment Amity was in trouble, you didn't hesitate to step up and take responsibility. I'm proud about you" Eda reassured her, then her face became stern. "Luz, I know you really want to be a real girl, but there are no shortcuts. And you certainly won't find the answer in the books in the forbidden department. I know it's tiring and you wish everything were easier... but after all, that's not how real life works. If you want one, you have to accept that fact"

Luz lowered her head regretfully. Eda was right, she had deluded herself into thinking she could find something and instead she had only created yet another disaster. "You're right. I should have realized it sooner"

"You realize it now, and that's what matters" Eda told her, rubbing her hair lovingly, then her voice became serious. "I forgive you this time too. But woe betide you if you pull any further mischief on me, is that clear?"

Luz cracked a smile. "Thank you, Eda. You're too good, really"

"Heh heh! I know. Come on, let's go home, so I can prepare dinner for you. You need it after you've worked all day" Eda replied, and so they set off towards the Owl House. And even if she didn't show it inside herself, Eda was literally bursting with happiness; because for a brief moment when Amity, Skara, and Boscha had accepted her into their circle of friends, she had seen Luz smile in the same bright, intense way she had once smiled.

The fact that Amity didn't remember that she could call Lilith with her magical necklace (the same one that the fairy touched her when she made her first appearance in the story) doesn't mean that she's stupid, but it was to actually show how much Amity has a mental disorder, since she is so used to never using that jewel for fear of not being able to get by on her own that even when she knew that the best thing to do was to call Lilith (she actually says this to Luz) she didn't go remembered, not due to forgetfulness but due to a real mental block. As Amity herself says when she and Luz were performing the Witch Duel, she has literally never asked anyone for help, and you can easily understand why (she panics at the mere thought of a tiny part of her being defective, and admitting to not being able to do something on her own would mean, from her point of view, being completely defective). So, don't take her for stupid because she didn't remember from the jewel until Lilith told her. By the way, the necklace in question is the one she wears during the second season after getting rid of her mother's one

In case anyone doesn't remember, Malphas in canon is the librarian who appeared in episode 5 of season 2. And for those who didn't understand, the title refers both to the fact that the boys have to tidy up the forbidden department and that Luz is finally starting to heal from the trauma thanks to the fact that Amity and her friends accepted her into their group