Thirteen

Alexandra had been hoping to find some loophole that would allow Bran and Poe to help her get her hands on The Forbidden Book of Forbidden Places. But they insisted that there was no way to do so that would not be a violation of their duties, and reinforced the point by beating themselves over the head with large, hardbound volumes, until Alexandra begged them to stop. Reluctantly, she agreed to abandon her quest for forbidden books.

For now, she added silently to herself.

The library elves did help her request a book from the New Amsterdam Public Wizards' Library: The Lands Below, and Other Native Muggle Tales. It was actually listed as 'children's fiction,' so Alexandra supposed it probably wouldn't be very enlightening, but it was the only book mentioning the Lands Below that wasn't on the restricted reading list. Bran and Poe told her it would probably arrive by owl in a week or two.

In the meantime, Alexandra delved into books about Numismancy, talismans, wizarding burial rituals, and Greek lore. She found a very old and complicated spell for transforming a coin into 'ghost currency' (though what use ghosts would have for currency, the book did not explain), and a reference to ancient Greek wizards being buried with 'oboluses' so they would not return as ghosts. Fascinating as this was, it didn't tell her what the connection might be to the Lands Below.

She wondered, also, why Darla had been so desperate to obtain an obol. Alexandra could think of no reason why Darla would want to go to the Lands Below, and was almost tempted to just confront the other girl directly and ask her. But that would necessarily lead to admitting that she had Darla's missing obol.

The weather was beginning to turn warmer. What little snow there had been was long gone, and Maximilian took her out for broom riding or dueling practice every weekend in March. She continued to thrill at their “wizard duels,” though she was still frustrated by her inability to beat any of the Stormcrows one-on-one.

“You are improving,” said Maximilian, as he and Beatrice helped her out of a tree one Saturday. It was the twenty-first of March. Martin was rolling over and over on his broom, laughing. He had knocked Alexandra clean off her broom, and only a gust of wind conjured by Maximilian had blown her into the treetops. She clung to a top branch that bent perilously towards the ground, too far below, until her brother retrieved her.

“Watch yourself, Martin,” Beatrice cautioned the other boy. “She could really have been hurt if she'd fallen from that height.”

Martin waved a hand dismissively, and did another acrobatic sideways roll. “Max saved her, didn't he?”

Alexandra climbed onto her brother's broom and held onto him. “He always gets me,” she muttered.

“He has to work at it harder now, though,” Maximilian observed.

Alexandra glared at Martin, still goofing off on his broom, and suddenly pointed her wand. “Accio broom!”

Martin's broom jerked and scooted out from beneath him as he was rolling. He yelped, and had to grab it with both hands. It didn't move any further, but for a moment, he was dangling below the suspended broom, with his legs kicking in the air, and Alexandra, still holding her wand extended, shouted, “Levicorpus!” Martin howled as his feet suddenly swung in an upwards arc, and then he was hanging upside down, grabbing the broom from above.

“You cursed me when we weren't dueling, you little sneak!” Martin yelled. “That was dirty!”

“No rules, no timeouts, remember?” Alexandra smirked, and then felt the tip of a wand pressed against her neck.

“Do you really want to play that way?” Beatrice asked sweetly, sitting on her broom next to her and Maximilian.

Alexandra gave Beatrice an innocent look, and said, “Liberacorpus!” Martin fell, once more jerking to a halt as he held onto his broom, and then pulled himself up onto it again.

“Pull that again, and I'll hang you upside down and pants you,” he growled.

Alexandra just snickered, though she did flush a little. She wouldn't put it past Martin to carry out his threat.

“How did you do that?” Maximilian asked, as they returned to the academy. “We've only practiced Levicorpus a couple of times.”

Alexandra shrugged. “I just did it like you showed me, and it worked.”

Maximilian shook his head. “You're going to be a hell of a witch, Alex.”

She tried to hide how pleased that made her feel, and replied, “I still can't do Summoning Charms very well, though.”

“I told you, they're not as easy as they look. Most seventh graders would be hopeless at them. Like Darla.”

Alexandra stiffened slightly. “What do you mean?”

Maximilian cleared his throat. “Never mind.”

Alexandra wanted very much to ask more questions, but she thought she knew where Darla might have been trying to learn Summoning Charms – and why.

I need to find a safer place to keep the obol, she thought. Maybe Darla couldn't Summon it out of her pocket, but what if she talked John or Maximilian into trying?

Back inside, she looked at her brother, and asked, casually, “So, doing anything tomorrow?”

“Studying,” he answered. “And then me and the other senior JROC officers have a meeting to plan training and surprise inspections for you lazy new wands.”

“Oh,” she replied, not responding to his teasing. She was disappointed, but tried to hide it. “Okay. See you in the cafeteria, then, maybe.”

He nodded, and clapped her on the shoulder. “Enjoy the rest of your weekend, Alex.”

Feeling a bit let down, she returned to her room, where Anna asked her, “Finished letting Max and his friends beat you up?”

“Yeah.” Alexandra rolled her eyes at her roommate. “I guess I should probably do my homework now.”

“You probably should. But David and Constance and Forbearance and I are all going to play Heart of Three Kingdoms in the rec room tomorrow, if you're not going to be doing anything with your brother.”

“Okay.” Alexandra nodded. “No, nothing special tomorrow. Max is busy.” She shrugged, and didn't notice Anna's eyes twinkling as she opened her Transfiguration textbook.

Early the next morning, while Anna was in the shower, Alexandra squatted and lifted the dresser next to her desk, moving it over a few inches. She laid the obol down and cast a Sticking Charm and then a Deadweight Spell on it, and then, for good measure, held her wand over the coin.

She knew from her Basic Magical Theory class that the 'doggerel verse' she'd used when she was younger was a crude and haphazard substitute for properly-tested spells – but it had worked. Sometimes. And she wasn't sure how long the Deadweight Spell would last.

“Obol, stay glued to the floor;
I command you to ignore
any Summons, or attempt to lift you,
until I pick you up, or gift you.”

She didn't know if one of her rhymes would really work against a Summoning Charm. But she couldn't think of any more effective precautions. She pushed the dresser back over the coin, and went over to the window, to let Charlie out.

Charlie had begun fussing when she had taken the coin out of her pocket, so she had hung her father's locket in front of the birdcage to distract the raven. As she opened her bedroom window, however, she noticed that the locket was glowing. Just a little, in the morning light, but the unnatural shimmer was noticeable. Charlie cawed and pecked at it, trying to snatch it from her hand, and Alexandra shooed her familiar away with an annoyed grimace. “Go on, Charlie, go find some worms or something!” Then added, “But not any more coins or other shiny things!”

With a harsh caw, Charlie took off through the open window, and Alexandra glanced at the bathroom door. Anna was still in the shower, so Alexandra opened the locket, and saw her father smiling at her.

Alexandra.

She gasped, and stared at Abraham Thorn's bearded face, turned towards her in a three-quarters profile. She hadn't heard her father say her name, but nonetheless, she was sure he had called to her.

“Can you see me?” she whispered to the cameo, with another glance at the bathroom door.

Her father smiled a little more broadly.

I can now.

She closed her eyes, concentrating.

Are you reading my mind? she thought.

There was a pause, and then she felt, more than heard, her father's words again.

Speak out loud.

She opened her eyes, and gave her father an annoyed look. “Are you reading my mind?” she repeated.

I can only hear the thoughts you share with me, and you don't know how.

That was good, she thought. She didn't like the idea of anyone being able to read her mind.

Why have you not been wearing the locket?

She frowned at his picture. “I don't know. I didn't know you could talk to me through it.”

I cannot, usually. This is not a simple spell, and it requires concentration from both of us.

She considered that. “I guess it would be bad if Diana Grimm knew about this, then.”

I would rather she did not.

She nodded. She had no intention of telling Diana Grimm about her locket. “So why now?”

You know why, Alexandra. Today is a special day.

“Is it?” she muttered.

Of course it is, darling child. My daughter's thirteenth birthday is very important. Did you really think I would forget about it?

She blinked, and regarded her father's face coolly.

“Why not? You forgot all my other birthdays.”

I never forgot, my dear. Please, let us not argue. We cannot speak long.

“Fine. Thanks for the 'happy birthday.' If you can't come in person, a voice in my head is just as good, right?”

Alexandra, the Inquisitors would expect me to try to visit you on your birthday. I dare not even send Hagar today.

“That's all right,” she muttered. “It's not like I was expecting a present.”

Ah, but you shall have one. What would you like?

She was tempted to point out that asking her on her birthday what she wanted was hardly showing interest in her life, but instead, she said, “I've got more questions. I talked to Mom.”

There was a pause, before his next reply.

I think this is a conversation we should have when we can speak more easily.

“When will that be?”

Soon, Alexandra.

“You make lots of promises.”

She heard Anna opening the bathroom door, and whispered, “I've got to go; my roommate is coming.”

Alexandra, please wear the lock–

His words faded as she snapped the locket closed and dropped it into her pocket. Anna emerged, in a bathrobe, running her wand over her hair. “Ready to go to breakfast?” she asked.

“Yeah, sure,” Alexandra replied. As Anna got dressed, something flapped through the window. Both girls turned, and Alexandra was disappointed, for a second, to see that it was an owl, not a raven. She took the envelope the bird was carrying, and thanked it. It hooted before flying away.

“Money from your parents, again?” Anna asked.

Alexandra looked up from the envelope, which she had just opened to find a card and some green Muggle bills inside.

Anna grinned at her. “You thought I forgot about your birthday, didn't you?” She walked over and gave her roommate a hug. “Happy birthday, Alex!”

“Thanks, Anna.” Alexandra smiled, hugging her back. She had never had a big deal made over her birthdays. At home, “parties” had usually consisted of Brian and Bonnie coming over to share a birthday cake her mother would buy on the way home from work. But it was nice to know that other people had remembered.

She was surprised, however, that Lilith Grimm was one of those people.

They didn't usually see the Dean except during the week, and rarely then. In fact, like most students, Alexandra imagined that the faculty simply disappeared after class, and rematerialized when school hours resumed. She knew that wasn't true, of course, but the only teachers or deans they usually saw on weekends were those assigned as chaperones. The unfortunate faculty members stuck with weekend duty would stay in their offices or the teachers' lounge most of the time, and students enjoyed the illusion that they had the school to themselves.

Sunday morning, however, Dean Grimm was at the entrance to the cafeteria, nodding to students as they went in and out. She did this sometimes, appearing suddenly to maintain a watchful presence in the hallways or near the library, or anywhere else students congregated. Today, she actually had Galen in her arms. Holding her cat didn't make her any less intimidating; as usual when the Dean was around, conversation was muted, and no one was throwing jinxes, trying to sabotage the Clockworks, or threatening to levitate food around the cafeteria.

“Good morning, Miss Quick,” said the Dean, as she and Anna passed by.

“Good morning, Ms. Grimm,” Alexandra replied, echoed by Anna. She expected to keep walking – after all, she'd mostly stayed out of trouble, ever since the episode with Darla, and she hadn't been called to the Dean's Office in months. But Ms. Grimm spoke again, before the girls continued on.

“This is a special day, isn't it, Miss Quick?”

Alexandra paused and looked at her, nonplussed.

“Your thirteenth birthday, yes?” asked the Dean, arching an eyebrow.

“Yes, ma'am,” Alexandra replied.

“Thirteen is a number of great significance, as you know from basic Arithmancy. Those who believe in the arts of Divination often wait until a child's thirteenth year to have her future read. There are a number of coming-of-age rituals that used to be common on a witch's thirteenth birthday.” The Dean smiled wryly. “My staff considers thirteen a very unlucky number to be in charge of. It's quite a difficult age, when children increasingly yearn to be adults. Dean Black has his hands full.”

Alexandra shuffled, not sure what to say. It confused her when Ms. Grimm suddenly took notice of her, and she wasn't always sure what point the woman was trying to make. Next to her, Anna was standing still, and completely silent. Dean Grimm terrified her.

“I haven't been in trouble lately,” Alexandra muttered.

“Yes, it's been a whole month since your last detention, and you haven't been in my office all semester. I believe that's a new record.” Grimm looked amused. Alexandra wasn't, but she held her tongue.

“Enjoy your birthday, Miss Quick,” the Dean told her. Galen, who appeared to be dozing, opened one sleepy eye, regarded Alexandra for a moment, and then closed it again.

Alexandra nodded. “Thank you, ma'am.” She and Anna looked at each other as they walked away.

David joined them in the cafeteria. Alexandra didn't know exactly what the Pritchards did on Sunday mornings, but she knew they always ate early, so she and Anna and David ate breakfast together, and then made their way up to the seventh graders' rec room.

Constance and Forbearance were waiting already, and as Alexandra entered the room, there was a shower of sparks. A multitude of birds materialized out of the air and began flapping around her, and then ribbons and streamers rained down from the ceiling. She was surprised to see Torvald and Stuart, just before the two eighth grade boys grinned and began wrapping her in sticky web-like streamers shooting from their wands. Maximilian and Beatrice and Martin were there. So was David's roommate Dylan Weitzner, and Carol Queen and Sonja Rackham as well, though the latter two looked as if they'd only wandered by and had stepped in to see what was going on. Charlotte Barker and her boyfriend, whose name Alexandra didn't know because he wasn't in JROC, were standing next to Maximilian and the other two Blacksburg students. Everyone cheered and clapped, and then, to Alexandra's embarrassment, they began singing “Happy Birthday.”

At the conclusion of the song, there was a loud pop, and a large, multilayered cake with thirteen candles appeared on a table already laden with candied witch-apples and cookies, Fizzy-Pop, and Butterbeer.

Maximilian winked at her. “You thought I forgot it was your birthday, didn't you?”

“I didn't think you knew it was my birthday,” she replied, and he laughed.

“The kitchen elves made the cake,” Constance informed her.

Alexandra was still trying to free herself from the sticky webbing. “Do the elves make birthday cakes for everyone's thirteenth birthday?”

“We had to ask special,” said Constance.

“They usually will do it for anyone, if you ask,” Charlotte told them.

Anna and David began helping to cut the sticky strands binding her arms and tangling her hair. Stuart and Torvald were giggling, until Maximilian used a spell to yank their wands out of their hands. Then he waved his wand again, and the thirteen candles on the cake suddenly blazed alight.

“Wish something, Alexandra,” urged Forbearance.

“And then make sure you don't wish nothing else, or use your wand, for the rest of the day,” warned Constance.

Alexandra looked confused, and Beatrice explained: “It's an old superstition. If you make a wish on your thirteenth birthday, and don't use any magic the whole day, your wish will come true. Don't take it seriously; there's no spell to work that. It's just superstition.”

Constance and Forbearance both looked as if they didn't agree, but they didn't argue with the older girl. Alexandra shrugged. Can't hurt, she thought, as she made a wish, and then bent over to blow out the candles. The flames didn't even flicker as she blew on them.

“What are you doin'?” asked Constance.

“You can't blow out the candles on a Jubilation Cake!” laughed Forbearance.

Alexandra shook her head. There were times when she almost felt at home in the wizarding world, now, and times when the smallest things would still remind her how much she didn't know that wizarding children took for granted.

The cake popped and crackled, and the candles sent up showers of sparks, as the Pritchards cut it and began distributing pieces. It didn't seem to get any smaller even as everyone in the room helped themselves to the sweet, multicolored layers of frosting and cake.

“Now you're officially a teenager,” David declared, relishing his fat slice of cake.

“Merlin help us all,” Martin drawled.

Alexandra rolled her eyes at him, but she was happy, and touched. As she opened the presents her friends had given her, Forbearance said quietly, “We invited Darla and Angelique.”

“I think Angelique would have come,” Anna mumbled.

Alexandra nodded. “But Darla would have flipped out, and Angelique is more scared of Darla than she is of me.”

“Alexandra, can't you bury the hatchet with Darla?” Constance asked.

“Y'all are worse than you was last year with Larry Albo.” Forbearance frowned at her.

“Feuds are awful things,” Constance admonished.

Alexandra shook her head. She knew the Pritchards meant well, but they didn't know the whole story. Even Anna didn't know the whole story.

“Maybe when she admits she cursed David, and apologizes for it,” Alexandra replied. “That would be a start.” But not nearly enough.

“That ain't gonna happen,” David snorted. “She'd be expelled, for one thing.”

Alexandra exchanged a look with Maximilian, and shrugged. She was enjoying her birthday party; she didn't want to talk about Darla.

The Pritchards gave her a beautiful new cape for her dress uniform. Alexandra held it out and admired it, while Constance assured her, “We made sure it was proper.”

“Maximilian gave us the reg'lations, and Beatrice gave us your measurements,” explained Forbearance.

Alexandra raised an eyebrow at Anna's gift: a book called Beginning Chinese Charms for Foreign Devils.

“It's an old book.” Anna was blushing a little. “The title isn't the best translation, but it's a classic, and really useful.”

“'Alexandra, the Foreign Devil,'” snickered David, and Anna blushed some more.

David gave her a Wizard Wireless set, which he'd ordered from the Grundy's owl-order catalog.

“Kind of an expensive present,” Maximilian commented. Alexandra and David both opened their mouths to protest, and then Alexandra saw Maximilian winking at Beatrice and Martin.

“Shut up!” She gave her brother a push.

Beatrice and Martin had chipped in to give her a pair of self-polishing dress shoes. “Since you need the help,” Martin cracked.

Alexandra breathed in with excitement as she picked up the largest of her presents: a very long, somewhat haphazardly-wrapped package whose shape left little doubt as to what it was even before she unwrapped it, pausing only long enough to read the tag from Maximilian.

“No way!” she exclaimed, and tore the paper away. It was a new broom, with a thicker shaft than racing models, black at the base and shading into blue towards the front. The stiff wire-like bristles were too short to do any real sweeping.

“A 2009 Valkyrie,” said Beatrice, impressed. “Might be too much broom for a new wand like you, Quick.”

“Just wait and see!” Alexandra grinned, and then looked at her brother, wondering where he'd gotten the money to buy a brand new, top of the line broom. This was an expensive present!

“My first broom was a Valkyrie,” he told her, as if his gift were nothing remarkable. “I like the Twister, now – less stable, but more nimble. But a Valkyrie will outfly any of those piece-of-kindling school brooms.”

Alexandra showed it off to her friends, then let them pass it back and forth to admire it, while she walked over to her brother, hesitated, and then gave him a hug.

“Thanks, Max,” she murmured.

“You do know you can't fly it at home,” he warned, returning her hug with a pat on the shoulder.

“I know.” She looked up at him, and whispered, “I want to talk to you about something.”

He nodded. “So do I,” he whispered back.

But their friends were still there, and she could hardly turn her back on them at her own birthday party, so it wasn't until later that afternoon that she and Maximilian had a chance to go outside together, and try out her new broom.

“I've never had such a big deal made out of my birthday before,” she said, as they stepped onto the grass past the paved exercise yards and walkways. It was a bit chilly today, though the afternoon sun was still shining brightly across the woods and Charmbridge's lawns.

“It is an important day.” Maximilian nodded. “You don't see the old ceremonies practiced much anymore, but some very traditional Old Colonial families still don't give their children wands until their thirteenth birthday.”

“That sucks for them,” Alexandra replied scornfully.

Maximilian shrugged. “It used to be, boys weren't wizards and girls weren't witches until they turned thirteen. You weren't considered ready for the wizarding world until then.”

She gave him a half-smile. “So I'm ready for the wizarding world now?”

He snorted. “Not even close. You don't have another 'boyfriend,' do you?”

She wrinkled her nose and shook her head. Then she held her new Valkyrie out at arm's length, letting it float off the ground, tethered only by the loose grip of her fingers, admiring its dark, glossy shaft and blunt, powerful profile, and the way it hovered there without even the tiniest wobble. It felt like it was anxious to take off, though – or maybe that was her. So she swung her legs over the handle, settled back into a hunched ready position, and pulled up hard.

“Wow!” she exclaimed, as the broom launched into the air, with several times the acceleration she was used to. Her hair whipped behind her and she had to squint as the wind roared around her face.

“Slow down!” Maximilian yelled, as he came zooming after her, while she leaned forward and rocketed into the sky. “If Colonel Shirtliffe sees you ignoring flying rules in sight of the school, you'll have your new broom confiscated! And I'll lose another stripe for letting you!”

Reluctantly, she leveled off and slowed down. She couldn't wait to test the limits of the Valkyrie, and she knew that when she went home to Larkin Mills, leaving it sitting in her closet all summer would be torture.

Maximilian, astride his narrow, more responsive Twister, pulled even with her, and smiled. “You like it?”

She grinned at him. “You know I do!” She was sure it had to have been awfully expensive, too. She wondered what she would ever get him for his birthday. Then her grin faded, as she looked around.

“The Office of Special Inquisitions couldn't be watching us right now, could they?”

“They could,” he replied, very seriously. He drew his wand, and said, “Muffliato,” then put his wand back in its sheath. “That will stop most eavesdropping attempts, though we could still be watched by scrying spells.”

“I won't show you the locket, then.” When Maximilian raised an eyebrow, she told him about the locket their father had given her for Christmas, and her 'conversation' with him that morning.

“Do you or Julia have a locket like that?” she asked.

He shook his head. “No, though he has contacted us through pictures and mirrors before. He has lots of ways to communicate when he really wants to.”

When he really wants to, she thought, but didn't say anything.

“He does have to be careful about sending presents. The Inquisitors can intercept them, and they'll examine anything he sends us,” Maximilian said. “Usually Julia and I receive a purse full of Eagles.”

“Oh. Money. How nice.” She pursed her lips together, and stared off across the tops of the trees.

“He is trying, Alex.”

She glanced back at her brother. “And you're defending him an awful lot.”

He looked at her steadily for a moment, then shrugged. “Anyway... I have another present for you, of sorts.”

“Another present?” She raised her eyebrows, and leaned forward, gripping the handle of her broom with both hands. “This one was pretty awesome!”

He smiled. “I'm glad you like it. But Easter vacation is coming in two weeks.”

She was a bit thrown off by the change of subject. “Yeah. I'll be staying here.” Some students went home for the week-long spring break, but quite a few did not, and Alexandra didn't want to admit that part of her wanted to go back to Larkin Mills for a week, and part of her was afraid to find out that her mother might not want her to.

He nodded. “I thought so. I'll be taking the Wizardrail home for the week.”

“Oh.” Alexandra tried to hide her disappointment.

His dark eyes twinkled. “How would you like to come with me?”

She stared at him, not sure if she'd heard him correctly. “Go... to Roanoke, with you?”

“You said you wanted to meet Julia.”

Her eyes were wide. “Really? You'd really like me to come home with you?”

“No, I was just joking.” Alexandra's face rippled with disappointment, and he snorted with exasperation. “Of course 'really'! I already asked my mother, and she'd love to have you visit. Julia is very excited to meet another sister who's younger than her.”

Alexandra felt her heart skip with excitement, but something nagged at her. “Your mother,” she asked slowly. “Does she really want me in her home? I mean, our father left her, and then some other woman had his baby...”

Maximilian smiled thinly, and shook his head. “Mother knew she wasn't the first woman in Father's life, and I think she realized she wouldn't be the last long before you were born. She doesn't bear any ill will towards any of his other children, or their mothers. She said you're welcome at Croatoa. That's our ranch,” he added, at her puzzled expression. “We raise horses.”

“Horses?” Alexandra's eyes lit up.

“Winged horses.” He grinned as her eyes lit up even more.

“Winged horses?” This was like Christmas and Disneyland and hexing Larry Albo, all at once!

Alexandra had never been outside the hundred mile radius prescribed by Chicago and Larkin Mills. Charmbridge Academy was as far from home as she'd ever gone. She couldn't begin to describe how excited she felt at the thought of such a trip. Ride the Wizardrail, see a real wizarding community, meet her half-sister... and winged horses!

Then her face fell.

“I'll need my mother's permission, won't I?”

“I suppose so,” Maximilian replied. “Don't you think she'll let you go?”

Alexandra's shoulders slumped. “So, do I tell her I'm going to visit the other children of my father, who she never wanted to hear about again, or do I just tell her that I made friends with a sixteen-year-old boy at school and I want to go spend a week at his house over vacation?”

Maximilian blinked, and then his mouth quirked sideways, half bemused, half dismayed. “I see your point.”

Alexandra's eyes lit up again. “We could just lie to her.”

His expression didn't change, but she could hear the disapproval in his tone. “Lie to your mother?”

“Tell her I'm visiting my friend Julia. She won't know the difference. And that's not really a lie, exactly.” Then Alexandra's shoulders slumped again. “Except she'll want an address and a phone number, and she'll probably want to talk to your mother.”

“What's a phone number?”

“Yeah, that's what I figured.” Alexandra sighed. She'd gone from elated to crushed in the space of a few moments.

“I'm sure there's a way to work this out, Alex.”

She chewed her lip, and nodded. “There has to be!” she said fervently. Right now, she wanted this more than anything else in the world.