At the end of the day, Aava found herself in Meredith’s back room - together with Pishposh. It had been decided they should be confined there until it was clear exactly what had happened. Like any witch’s back room, it was a messy place - the walls were covered in shelves stacked with papers, dubious vials, and bundles of herbs, which filled the little room with a variety of scents. Several crates sat on the floor, and Aava sat on one of them. Pishposh looked like a cat again and had curled up on her lap.

Meredith brought them tea and drew herself up a chair, sitting opposite Aava. Corvus perched on the armrest, tipping his head as Meredith frowned.

“Well, that’s a right mess.”

Aava buried her hands in Pishposh’s fur. “It’s all my fault,” she muttered sheepishly. “If only I’d gotten the spell right-”

“Pish posh,” her familiar’s voice floated up from somewhere amongst all the fur. Aava looked down at them, surprised - they weren’t usually keen on reassuring her. Pishposh turned their head so their face, previously buried in the fur, stared up at Aava with bright blue eyes.

“They’re right, dear,” Meredith said, without losing the frown. “Something a lot more fishy than a mistaken spell is going on here.”

Pishposh’s eyes wandered to her, defiantly. “You think it’s me.” Aava scratched them behind the ears to calm them down.

“I don’t know if it’s you, but the fact remains that you were always very odd. And we have no clue what else it might be. Is there anything you can tell us? Even just how come you brought your own body?”

“I don’t think you understand what being a familiar means,” Pishposh replied huffily.

“We aren’t really conscious before being summoned into this world,” Corvus explained gracefully. “It’s like being born. You don’t really remember it.”

“I knew that of regular familiars,” Meredith said, peering at Pishposh.

“Well it’s also true of me,” Pishposh replied, curling back around so his face disappeared somewhere under his tail again.

Aava gently stroked his fur. “Don’t be upset, Pishposh. Meredith’s only trying to figure out what happened.” She looked up at her teacher, smiling apologetically over her familiar’s behaviour.

Meredith smiled back and patted her shoulder. “I’m sure we’ll resolve this in no time. I’ll bring you blankets, is there anything else you two need?”

“Thank you, Meredith.”

Later, Aava leant against the frame of the single small window, wrapped into a blanket. Meredith, as promised, had brought her a heap of them, transforming one of them to be a lot poofier and thicker than it had any right to, so it could serve as a mattress. The sun was setting. Pishposh was a weasel again and had draped themself around her shoulders.

Aava sighed. This was not how she had expected to spend the evening - somewhere, people were celebrating the freshly graduated witches amongst them… it didn’t even bother her so much she wasn’t one of them, but she would have liked to celebrate with Tayla and the others.

There was a knock on the door, and before Aava, surprised, had even turned around fully, it burst open. Laurence entered first, followed by Mia and Aileen. All three were grinning, and carrying plates loaded with food. “Hey Aava!”

She quickly pushed some crates together into a makeshift table, smiling at her friends. “What are you doing here?”

“Well, it’s a special day! We figured you wouldn’t want to spend it alone.” Laurence set the plate of roast potatoes he was carrying down, and hugged Aava briefly.

“It wouldn’t be the same without you,” Mia declared, folding one of the blankets into a seat cushion, and sitting down. Coyly she waved with a parchment roll - her certificate as a fully trained witch.

“Oh right! Congratulations, you!” Aava hopped over to hug her.

“Thank you! I’m sure you guys will do great. They said the rest of you can take their exam next new moon.”

“To be honest, I’m quite glad we’ve got a bit more time,” Aileen admitted. Miranda, her wild cat familiar, just tutted at this, but curled up peacefully next to her. Laurence put Merlin in his hood, keeping him safe from Pishposh, and Pinecone, Mia’s robin, hopped about on the table. Soon they were chattering and laughing, the events of the day buried under cheer.

Like a good elder host, Meredith peeked in at some point, offering cookies and for the guests to sleep over. Finally, they went to sleep in a heap of blankets Meredith had conjured up, possibly literally.

Aava walked along a bridge; it was very long, its far end suspended in mist, and surrounded by trees. Pishposh was with her, but of course Pishposh was always with her; he was winding through the air next to her like he enjoyed to do in dreams.

Something stirred up ahead in the mist.

A dark figure, barely more than mist itself. Its eyes were glowing in an unnatural blue.

Aava stopped as she saw it. It was so clearly menacing she instantly reached for a protective spell, but she couldn’t remember the spell. She couldn’t remember any spell at all.

The figure in the mist laughed soundlessly as Aava and Pishposh jerked awake.