...and then,suddenly,they weren't!
Amid six hundred and eighty thousand sparkles of light,Mrs. Smillwallow appeared!
Jim and Rick and the five centauresses all felt equally helplessly rooted to the ground as with a snap of her fingers the old witch restored them to being two frightened late-teenage boys,four fitness addicts in torn leotards,and a stable-girl."My power has grown so I pay little attention to cast-off wands",she said."But I forget what mischief mortals can get up to with such things..." A wave of her hand and they were in an empty field,the house having vanished."There might have been more juice left in it than I thought,but now that you've split it in five..." The five wands vanished in puffs of smoke.
"So,my thief...I think you've learned your lesson?" She looked at Rick.He had the power of speech now but was too terrified to say anything,he merely nodded and babbled incoherently.She continued."I read that you are enchanted to never use a wand again.That can remain in place."
Before Jim's eyes the doddery old curio-shop owner began to change,transforming into a tall,blindingly attractive redhead,Jim wondering idly,after their stunts in the locker room,if she was also left-handed."Ambidextrous,actually",she said out loud,and he squirmed in fear at the confirmation that she could read his mind.
She turned to the five women."I think you had best leave justice to me...it was my property that was stolen,even if you were victims of its abuse...though you do not seem to have truly minded in the end."
"If you please",Amber pleaded,"We like being centauresses!"
"Oh very well.You can be wif-centauresses and transform for the night of each full moon...but behave yourselves."
Despite himself,Rick mumbled "wif?" and Mrs. Smillwallow turned back towards him.
"English word for human female,where were denotes human male.I'm not giving them sex-change powers."
"That's Old English",Jim objected,or observed...he lost the objection in his tone as she looked at him.
"Compared to me,no English is old",the witch told him.He lowered his gaze.
A flick of her hand,and the boys found themselves
Wed Dec 09 00:39:45 2009