I waited patiently in my room. It reminded me of when I was little and had colorized mother's divination book. To be fair, I was only five at the time, and the diagrams in the book looked much better after.

Knock Knock

“Come in.” It was clear who was there, so I didn’t ask.

“Daughter, we need to talk.”

“To be fair, he started it.” I defended myself right from the start.

“Is it really so much to ask for that you behave civilized around him?” she asked, a little tired.

“Was it so much to ask of him to not cheat on you at any opportunity? What did you even like about him? He is a total douchebag.” My mother's expression told me that I had said something wrong. I also regretted it immediately. That idiot somehow was still her weak spot even after they broke up. What he had done to her had scarred her for life. She had really loved him, and while I wouldn’t rule out the possibility that he, at some point, had loved her too, he was treating her feelings like dirt. I had zero respect for the man, even if he tried to play my father for three years. Three years in which he had slept with eight other women. Eight! If I had been in my mother's place, I would have cut off his head. Both of them. To make it worse, after mother couldn’t bear their relationship anymore because of what he did and broke up with him, he hadn’t even kept his outside relationships secret anymore.

I saw that tears were forming in my mother's eyes. At this moment, she wasn’t a proud teacher, wizard, or even mother; she was just hurt.

“Mom, I’m sorry; I didn’t mean to...” I didn’t finish the sentence out of fear that spelling out what I didn’t would make it worse.

She whipped her tears away as if they had never been there, but she couldn’t hide her pain. Not from me. My senses were much sharper than those of an ordinary wizard.

“So your brother got his wand today. What do you say?” She changed the topic.

“It’s great, I guess. I’m happy he got sorted to you. I would have beaten him up if he hadn't.”

She suppressed a small, sad giggle. “Don’t do that. Never. I don’t want you to quarrel over something so unimportant. And he wouldn’t survive a hit from you. So even if it is important, you are not allowed to hit your brother.”

I know that she knows that I would never hurt my brother. I still acted shocked.

“Even if he really deserves it?” I asked playfully, trying to change the mood to something more casual.

“No. Not even then.” She sighed, and I sighed because I knew that she wasn’t willing to play along.

“Charlotte, I really want you to at least not openly antagonize him. Is that possible? We can’t allow discord in our rows at these times. Only if we stay united can we stay strong.” She asked, and I knew that it wasn’t the time to joke around anymore.

“I will behave, mom. For you, not for him.” I said.

“That is enough for me. Thank you. I love you,” said my mother, who gave me a small peck on the forehead. The second day in a row. What am I, fourteen?

“I love you too, mom.” I answered nonetheless. I didn’t even need to lie; I really loved my mom. Age be damned.

“Can I ask you something?” I whispered, not knowing if she preferred to go instead.

“Always.” Came the prompt answer.

“Are Uncle and He-Who-Shall-Not-Be-Named united? It didn’t appear like that today.”

Mother ignored my way of coping with my least favorite family member and answered.

“They will work it out, Charlotte. They always have.”

With that, our discussion was ended. It worried me a little. A little too much. A potential war didn’t sound like something that shouldn’t worry me.

With that, the next school year started. Surprisingly, despite the lingering doom over everyone’s head, our lives continued as usual. The only thing I noticed was that the founders weren’t sitting together during lunch anymore. Or any other meal. They usually sat at least for one meal together and discussed important school businesses, but now they sit with their students for every meal.

While I thought that it was nice in a way, I know it wasn’t right.

So after the third day of an unchanged situation, I tried to talk with Uncle, but he said that I shouldn’t worry about it. He hadn’t even shown me his progress with the shrinking potion or told me about a new prank for the douche. From one day to the next, I had to stop worrying about Percival joining the family business of pranking his dearest and instead worry about the rest of my family abandoning that tradition.

Toadwits wasn’t fun anymore, I realized with terror.

“Mom. Mooom Mooooom. It’s terrible. What should I do?”

“Growing up would be a start. If you don’t know where to begin you could start with your herbology homework.” Said my mother while grading the first homework of the year.

The author's content has been appropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.

“That mean moom. You know I can’t grow up.”

“Did you even try?” That went a bit too far in my opinion. I really couldn’t grow up. I was eternally chained to this sixteen-year-old body. Cursed to stay young and beautiful forever. There was nothing I could “try” to change that. It was the same as telling a Nowitz that he could use magic if he really tried.

“Mooom.”

“No Charlotte. You can see that I’m busy. I can’t force your uncles to be like before, even if I wanted to. If you really need someone to play with, you could start by talking to some of the students. And stop behaving like a ten-year-old. I know you are doing it just to annoy me.”

I stared at her, mouth agape. While it was totally normal for mother to go back into her busy workaholic schedule as soon as the new school year started, she never sent me away like that. Even playing the part of a kid has failed. For the first time ever. And she suggested that I spend time with other students. That was outrageous. They hated me. All of them. Well, maybe with the exception of Helena, Percival, and William. But the rest only talked to me if they were forced to or if one of the founders stood right next to me, thinking it would earn them goodwill.

So with no real option left, I did my herbology homework. Mother gave me special homework since I had finished the regular curriculum and far more after that, even though I wasn’t particularly interested in plants. Their only interesting use was in potions, which was the only reason I even bothered with them.

After I finished that, I helped Percival and Helena with their homework. They didn’t really need help, but I was so incredibly bored that I offered to meet them and offer my highly necessary assistance. A decision I regretted immediately. Percival has learned his first spell. A spell that absolutely needed to be forbidden.

He enchanted my chair in such a way that it made a farting noise when I sat down.

“Hahahahahaha” To my and Percivals surprise, it was Helena who found it the most funny. I had honestly always taken her for a stoic person who knew as much about fun as I knew about growing up. I guess one can always learn something else.

“Stop staring, Pev.” I reminded him as I saw that my dear brother was still staring at Helena even after she had stopped laughing.

“Hello Helena, I was searching for you all over the castle. Why didn’t you tell me beforehand?” And there came the moodkiller in person. My brother was just having his first blush because he stared too long at a girl, and then her self-announced fiancé appeared.

“Buzz of Baron. You weren’t invited.” I said, making it clear that we, or at least I, didn’t want him at our table.

The slimey baron stared at me with displeasure. As if I were the person who could be mistaken for a troll-teenager. I mean, seriously, is it so much to ask to use a cleaning spell on yourself after eating? He still had the greasy fingerprints all over his wannaby fancy robe. The robe was out when you bought it, little guy. Wait, he is a little higher than me. The robe was out when you bought it, tall guy.

"Helena, come with me.” ordered the Baron like the control freak he was.

“No, I will stay here with my friends.” Friends? When did that happen? Since when were Helen and I friends? I thought we were more like a distant family that tolerated each other. But if she thought of me as a friend, I wouldn’t stab her in the back. Especially because she looked quite nervous when she said it. I just wasn’t sure if it was because of the Baron or because of me. Anyway, I stood up and placed my hand on her shoulder.

“You heard her. Now do yourself a favor and buzz off.” When I said it, I realized that the Baron was quite a bit taller than me, not just a little and probably twice as heavy. Not that it mattered. I would probably still be able to pick him up with one hand, but he didn’t need to know that.

“Yeah, buzz of Baron.” My cute little bother had come to fight for his girlfriend. While I had my stare off with the slime, he had sprung in between Helena and the Baron. Wait, it is too soon to call her his girlfriend. We barely reached the status "friend" twenty seconds ago. So maybe I should wait before I tell mother. Wait a moment. What if he just wants to be a normal friend with her? What if I interpreted too much into the small blush he had when he stared at her or him standing up for her?

“Food won’t be flying into your mouth, no matter how long you let him open. Especially not with that stench. Please spare us. Something like that should be banned by law.” Well, to say I put oil in the fire would put it mildly. It was more on the scale of putting a virgin into a volcano, and the volcano then explodes for whatever reason. Do volcanos hate virgins?

Anyway, I had to dodge his spit as he was foaming in anger. I know we overstayed our welcome. I mean, he had, but that didn’t matter in that situation, and I signaled Helena to pack the book and run with us. While a tad slow, she caught on quick enough, and we let the Baron stand there, drowning in his own spit and anger.

We searched another classroom to continue our studies, and I regretted not being able to use magic once more. My brother, the idiot, thought it was funny to use the same trick twice and enchanted the chair again.

Now I was in a small dilemma. Did I want to expose him in front of his or our new friend, trade chairs with Helena, or become the idiot who fell for the same prank twice?

I decided that the atmosphere would be more relaxed if I started with a joke, or in this case, a fart, so I sat down, triggering the spell in such a way that the fart was especially loud and long.

“Hahahaha” once again, Helena laughed. Damn, was that girl easy to impress. My brother was laughing too.

"Oh, sorry. That was probably my breakfast.” The change in their expression was grandiose; before we, after a moment of silence, could laugh together.

The next day, I offered my help again, but the two declined. Apparently, they had to really do some homework this time. The little traitors had abandoned me at the first opportunity. But what wouldn’t I be for a big sister if I stood in the way between my eleven-year-old brother and the fifteen-year-old Helena, who laughed about every joke my brother told her? Was that a thing now, younger innocent boys? I looked at one of Uncle’s new students. A young boy with brown hair and a cute little birthmark on his neck. Experiment failed. Eleven-year-old boys are only mildly cute. Like a doll can be cute, nothing more, and I honestly doubt that the kid is funny.

With nothing else to do, I decided to spend my whole day in the bath. If there was a competition to see who could take the longest baths, they would only compete for the second place as my reign in the bath is “Eternal!” I giggled at my own joke, that made me sound like the dark lord of bathrooms, while I waited for the water to fill in.

I watched my body again in the mirror. It was frustrating, but my ribs were still visible. I guess the lunch I missed during the entrance ceremony was to blame. I mean, I always ate all my vegetables, and... no, wait a moment, I don’t eat any vegetables. Never. But I ate my chicken drumsticks during breakfast, and I’m sure I also had an additional pork chop today. I really did my best.

Oh, the water is ready. Ahhh, relaxing as always. The only thing missing would be something cool to drink. Now the only thing still ruining my mood was that stupid mermaid. As it wasn’t in the middle of the night, she was awake and thought she found her life's calling by singing. It wasn’t bad singing, but she also wasn’t the best. As someone who had quite sensible hearing, it annoyed me. Sadly, she didn’t seem to see any reason. I had to threaten her to sing along with her while also missing all the notes barely or changing the tempo randomly.

The little mermaid looked at me as if I had just threatened her family, but I didn’t care. I asked her nicely beforehand.