Hours went by. Benjamin didn’t mean to sleep in for long, but he had gotten energy back from before. Harry and Chi-Chi admitted ‌they also lost track of time and didn’t want to interrupt his peaceful sleep. The three got ready for the day and met with Isabelle at the school courtyard.

After explaining the animals’ whereabouts to her, the group checked the billboard for flyers with classes advertised. There weren’t a lot of options left, as only a couple of papers remained on the bulletin board.

Isabelle rested her hand on her chin and tapped her foot, examining all of her possible choices. She turned to Benjamin, not changing her expression.

“Which one do you think I should take?”

“How should I know?” Benjamin replied with a shrug. He tilted his head and crossed his arms, also lost in thought. “Your style of magic is a lot different from mine. Not only that, but it’s something that none of us have heard of before. So, I’m not sure which would work best for you.”

“But what about you? You have a lot of options for your weapon of choice—”

“I already know how to use my weapon, though. I need something that’ll enhance my magic quickly.”

“Ah, so you’ll be better equipped to protect Earth?”

“How many times do I—?” Benjamin groaned and massaged his temples. “Never mind.”

Sebastian appeared from the corner of his eyes as he walked past them. A smirk formed on Benjamin’s face as he power-walked over to him. He yelled to get his rival’s attention, as Sebastian stopped what he did and turned to face him.

“Why’d you do that?” He asked with narrow eyes. “Can’t you speak to me normally while we’re at the school?”

“Yeah, but you wouldn’t hear me,” Benjamin muttered.

“You weren’t that far from me!” Sebastian exclaimed. He sighed, knowing he wouldn’t get anywhere with the idiot magician. “Ok, so what do you want?”

“Where are you going? The billboard’s over there.” Benjamin pointed out, then snickered. “I’ll bet you didn’t pick a subclass yourself, or did you not get the class you wanted?”

“Of course, I picked one already. I’m heading there now.”

“Oh. Good for you.”

It was Sebastian’s turn to smirk. “Don’t tell me. Have you not picked a class already? There’s not a lot of options left, you know. You don’t want to get left with the table scraps now, do you? Then again, I’m not sure you can even handle the simplest of them. I don’t know which option would be worse for you...”

“Are you done yet?” Benjamin asked with a scowl.

“Hey, you’re the one that’s stalling me. Don’t complain.”

Isabelle watched them from the back and rolled her eyes at their constant bickering. She wanted to ignore them and focus on choosing a class, but she also wanted Benjamin to quit bothering Sebastian and help her. Or at least try to give her some more input.

“I found a class myself.” Benjamin lied. He cleared his throat and glanced at Isabelle. “I’m just trying to help find one for my partner.”

Sebastian stayed silent in response to that. “Well, I picked mine based on my weapon of choice.” He placed his hands on his hips and held his head high. It was clear he directed it towards Isabelle. “I’d say you can do the same, but I doubt there’s a class that focus on magical laptops. Sorry, I can’t be of much help.”

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“It’s alright,” Isabelle replied, waving it off with a light chuckle.

“I was also thinking about getting myself a familiar of my own...”

Benjamin and Isabelle’s ears perked up once he brought that up.

“You mean like mine?” Benjamin asked, glancing up at his hat.

“Like yours?” Sebastian repeated with a scoff. “Oh please, familiars are extraordinary creatures, and yours are just regular house pets that happen to talk.”

Isabelle’s mouth gaped open as she quickly exchanged a glance at Benjamin, having no idea how he’d react. To her surprise, he didn’t budge; his face contorted into a grimace as he stood his ground.

“That’s not true; Harry and Chi-Chi just don’t want to reveal their true forms to anyone yet.”

“Really? Not even to you, Benny?” Sebastian crossed his arms and teased. “You don’t think those two are hiding stuff from you?”

Benjamin’s blood boiled. He refused to let his rival get to his skin like that. But he also couldn’t think up a decent comeback against him. Benjamin hated to admit that Sebastian was right. Admittedly, he saw what they looked like before, but why couldn’t he remember his familiars’ real forms?

“Leave him alone!” Isabelle thundered, catching the others by surprise. “It’s like he said. They don’t want to show off their forms. You don’t have to believe him, but don’t say such awful things.” She clenched her fists and stared at the ground. “Chi-Chi and Harry have been supportive and loyal to Benjamin all this time, and I see no reason why they’d betray him. I also don’t see why Benjamin would replace either of them, even if they’re the best in his arsenal.”

Sebastian’s eyes widened at the response. He hung his head and rubbed the back of his neck. “I’m sorry...”

“If you want to apologize, say it to him.” She motioned towards the dark magician.

Sebastian didn’t know how to respond; he had no other choice but to bow his head and apologize.

Benjamin stared at him with narrow eyes, not sure how to react. Pretty soon, the school bell rang across the entire school grounds. Sebastian checked the clock from his holographic phone and, once he read the time, bolted out of the halls to get to class on time.

Benjamin and Isabelle stood in the courtyard alone. The two looked away; a quiet ambiance filled the air.

“Wow.” Benjamin broke the silence. “That was impressive. What you did back there. Thanks for that.” He told her as he tipped his hat.

“It’s no problem,” Isabelle murmured, rubbing her foot on the floor.

Their speeches touched Harry and Chi-Chi, still hiding in Benjamin’s hat. The familiars silently cried happy tears without them knowing. Harry’s eyes widened. A memory flashed before his eyes, back when he and his sister first met Benjamin.

Harry wiped his eyes as his face beamed up. He glanced at Chi-Chi, who gave him a perplexed look.

“Are you alright?”

“Yeah, I’m fine,” Chi-Chi replied, wiping her eyes. “You look like you got something on your mind.”

“I do; I thought up a great idea.”

“You do?”

“Follow my lead, okay?” Harry whispered. He crawled out of the top hat and tapped Benjamin’s head to get his attention.

“Huh? What is it, Harry?”

“I know a sub-class you can attend.” The hamster leaped toward the clipboard and pointed at a certain flyer. “Why not give this a try?”

Benjamin squinted his eyes and cocked his head to the side. “Shape-shifting?”

“Ooh,” Chi-Chi cooed from inside the hat. “That sounds like a great idea!”

“Why would I want to learn about this, though?”

“Well, it’d be interesting to try different spells. Think of the possibilities when you combine your magic with other types.”

“Not to mention you can use disguises to change your shape or form in many creative ways,” Harry added. “It’s just like you said before. The more spells you learn, the closer you’ll be unstoppable.”

Benjamin scratched his chin and pondered at the possibility. After deliberating, his face brightened up, and he grinned.

“That’s a great idea; I love it!” His smile faded soon after, and he glanced at his partner. “Oh wait, what about Isabelle?”

“No, don’t worry about me,” Isabelle said, waving it off. Her face lit up. “I just thought of one class I can attend.” To be honest, I can’t believe I didn’t think of it sooner.

“Are you sure?”

“Yep, we can meet each other again later today. We wouldn’t want to be outside when the second bell for class goes off, anyway.”

“Ok, sounds good.”