“Nope, just me.” Emmett looks a little sheepish. “What’s taking you guys so long? I’ve already eaten all the Choco Pies in the desk drawer. Can we go now?”

I wave him over to us. “Come look at this, Em!”

Even Mong comes to huddle over the spellbook with us, as Hattie, Emmett, and I silently read the preamble:

Casting this spell will allow a witch’s gift to be shared temporarily with a saram subject for seven days. The witch’s strength will be reduced by half for the duration of this period.

Two notes of warning:

(1) This spell must not be cast between the gifted. Previous attempts have resulted in severe and unintended consequences, including death.

(2) Post-spell, all the saram subjects’ memories must be wiped with a strong dose of Memoryhaze potion to preserve the privacy and sanctity of the clans.

“Pfft, I am not having my memory wiped,” I quip. “Not now, not ever.”

“Defo not,” Hattie answers. “That won’t apply to you. You’re a special case.”

Emmett frowns and clutches Mong. “Guys, this sounds risky. I really don’t think you should be messing with this stuff.”

I ignore his warning and focus my attention back on the page. It’s too late now to turn back—I’m too invested.

Instead, I follow my finger over the hand-drawn pictures of bellflower root, perilla leaf, and hongsam root, and read through the instructions. “So it looks like we make two potions with these ingredients—one for you and one for me. The clinic should have everything we need.”

Hattie nods. “We drink half the potion before the incantations, in the presence of a council elder, then we do the incantations and pour the other half into the Gi cauldron.” She pauses. “That’s totally doable!”

I frown. “Uh, except we need to find a council elder who’s willing to be there. Not to mention we need to get inside the temple to use the Gi cauldron. You know I can’t get in unless I’m with Eomma and Appa.”

“Riley’s right,” Emmett says, pursing his lips. “Doesn’t sound that doable to me.”

I exhale the disappointment from my system, now wishing I’d listened to him. “I knew it couldn’t be that easy. This is never gonna work.”

Hattie, with her eternal optimism, grins widely. “You guys give up too easily. Don’t you see this is perfect? In fact, we couldn’t make it more perfect if we tried.”

Emmett and I cock our heads. Did she just read the same words we did?

“My ceremony’s tomorrow,” Hattie reminds us. “I’ll have just gotten my Gi, we’ll have easy access to the cauldron, and all the elders will be there. That’s when we’ll do the spell.”