One of the present witches had had the presence of mind to conjure up a pot of tea, which was now being passed around among the people sitting in front of what once had been the town hall. No one had been gravely injured, but most seemed… “a little shaken,” Pishposh commented gleefully, rolling on his back before Aava.

Aava sat on a piece of marble that had crashed from one of the upper floors. The entire building had been obliterated. Most of the surroundings were bizarrely untouched, and the other houses on the square now stood around a heap of very refined rubble.

Clasping her hands around her mug, Aava anxiously looked around, meeting the glances of several people who quickly looked away. Meredith was standing with the other adult witches; they were quietly, but vigorously debating. Laurence caught her eye and walked over to her, sitting next to her after she shifted to the side a little. Merlin, his bunny familiar, stayed at his feet, nose nervously twitching at Pishposh.

“Well,” he said, casually putting an arm around her.

Aava smiled weakly. “Yeah.”

“Your eloquence is stunning,” Pishposh remarked before they returned to staring maliciously at Merlin, shifting into weasel shape.

Is he still always like that? Laurence mouthed at Aava.

“He doesn’t mean it,” Aava whispered back with a little shrug, and an awkward smile.

Aileen, another of the young witches, came over as well. She looked rather relieved. “Well, I can’t say that was good, but at least the rest of us will have more time to practice… Don’t beat yourself up, Avy, it happens.” She patted Aava’s shoulder amicably.

Aava chuckled helplessly. “Does it though?”

Before Aileen could answer, the council of adult witches broke up and moved over to Aava, Meredith in the lead. A lot of looks followed them over to Aava.

Aava hung her head. “I’m sorry, Meredith.”

“Don’t be ridiculous, dear,” Meredith instantly cut her off. “We have discussed the matter at hand and it’s quite clear you don’t have the power to cause this.”

Pishposh snickered, but Aava looked up hopefully. “You don’t think this is my fault?”

“Definitely not,” Amadou said, some of the other witches muttering agreements.

Meredith smiled faintly. “You did get the spell wrong, Aava, but this is more than you could have done if you wanted to. On the other hand, it would be a wild coincidence if it happened at the same time as your lovely spell for no reason…” She lowered her eyes to peer down at Pishposh.

Pishposh looked back up at her. If they would have brows to furrow, they would have done so. “Why are you looking at me?” They hopped onto Aava’s lap and slithered on up to her shoulders.

“We don’t really know about you,” Meredith explained calmly. “You are a very extraordinary being-”

“I know that.”

“-and because of that, we don’t know what quiescent powers you may have.” Meredith had, over time, become very good at ignoring Pishposh’s interjections.

Aava looked at Pishposh, who looked from Meredith to her. She, Aava, was just surprised Meredith thought they could hold that kind of power, but Pishposh was outraged. “You think I did that? Do you think that too, Aava?” He was trying to sound angry, but underneath that was a desperate appeal.

“Certainly not on purpose,” Aava said quickly, looking at Meredith. “Right?” She cupped her hands around the shoulders of the fur slinky that was now retreating behind her neck, remembering all too well how she had felt herself before Meredith had declared her innocent.

“I say we keep it under observation,” Angelica declared. “Sorry, Aava,” she added with a slight frown. “I know it is your familiar, or at least something like that, but if it might be a danger we need to keep an eye on it.” Many of the other witches muttered their agreement.

“They’re not an it,” Aava declared, getting up. She was more than a little intimidated by all these adult witches she admired, but this was her familiar they were talking about.

“I kind of am,” Pishposh interjected, clearly unable to hold a snide comment in, but they were speaking so quietly only Aava could hear. She tugged their tail for a gentle reprimand, shaking her head briefly.

“They’re staying with me. Pishposh is my familiar, you can’t separate us. Meredith, you tell them!”

“She’s right, Angelica,” Meredith said sternly, much to Aava’s relief. “That is out of the quest-”

“We don’t know what risk we’re taking!”