Nothing happened.
Ushegg gave him a funny look. The alien boy put his slate down a few feet from them. He took Jeff’s arm, pointed it toward the slate, and annunciated, “Chay.”
Jeff nodded. He licked his lips. Deep breath. “Chay!” he shouted. From the tip of the wand, a distorted ribbon of air maybe three inches long launched toward Ushegg’s slate. It dissipated after a few feet, but Jeff let out a crow of triumph.
He tried again.
“Chay chay chay chay chay chay,” he said, trying to make it sing-songy and rhythmical as the teacher’s had been.
The distortion shot from the tip of the wand, but Jeff hadn’t aimed well, and he missed the board. Where the ribbon of air hit the floor, bits of dirt and rock began flying up, as if through an invisible vacuum hose.
Jeff adjusted his aim, but the ripple of magic lagged like a string pulled sideways through water. By the time it hit the slate, Ushegg was doubled over laughing, and Jeff’s shirt was covered in dirt.
Finally the slate slid along the floor and up to the wand. Jeff snatched it triumphantly from the air, and a shower of dirt and pebbles fell from him as he stopped the chant.
Ushegg took the slate from Jeff’s hand, still hiccupping a bit and wiping a tear from his eyes. “Zyoxu,” he said, holding the slate up to Jeff. Then he slid it across the floor to the wall and repeated, “Chay zyoxu.”
“Chay zyoxu!” Jeff tried and found that this time, the ribbon of spell zeroed in on the board even when he didn’t aim carefully.
After catching the board a second time, Jeff looked around for Suzy. She was standing with Shovuy, holding a wand and chanting. No spell was coming from her wand, and Jeff could feel the power building around her.
Jeff turned to Ushegg. “How do you...uh...” He pointed at Suzy. Ushegg nodded, and again he annunciated clearly, “Chay Yurwush’z bors.”
“Chay Yurwush’z bors?” Jeff asked. A ripple whisked from his wand and vanished. Ushegg nodded and repeated the phrase. Jeff squared his shoulders, pointed the wand at the slate, and began to chant.
Later, he would reflect that obviously, he should have stopped as soon as he saw something coming out of the wand. He was trying to build up the spell, and here the spell was shooting from his wand from the first word. But he was fascinated by the way the ripple curved out of his wand, snaking around behind him.
He turned to see where it was going.
It connected with Qush Yurwush’s wand and pulled.
The alien teacher almost lost it, but with a lunge and a fingertip snag, he managed to keep hold. Jeff’s chanting died on his lips.
Jeff watched the teacher’s expression flicker from confusion to outrage to comprehension and back to outrage. Ushegg collapsed in a fit of uncontrollable laughter next to Jeff.
Qush Yurwush stalked over to them and snatched the wand out of Jeff’s limp hand. Then he grabbed Jeff’s shoulders and spun him around roughly. Jeff had just enough time to wonder why when he heard the teacher say, “Zxerc!” and felt a stab of pain like a bee sting in his bottom.
Jeff leapt and spun around to see Qush Yurwush take aim and fire two of the same spell at Ushegg, hitting his hand and then his bottom. Ushegg yelped in pain, but he was still chuckling as he straightened up from his laughing fit.
Qush Yurwush yelled at them both for a while, but mostly at Ushegg, who finally sobered up enough to stop smiling.
Jeff rubbed his sore bum. Only one teacher at Alien Hogwarts, he reflected, and it had to be alien Snape.
A few minutes later, Qush Yurwush ended the lesson – and Jeff’s brooding – to lead the class out the back door to a walled garden. Or maybe not a garden, Jeff thought as he inspected the little plants, but a very young orchard. Cobbles made neat paths throughout and formed a neat grid around the trees. The whole place had a quiet, clean feel that reminded him somehow of a library.
The students spread out throughout the orchard, each settling down near a tree. Jeff followed Ushegg, who made his way to a little tree near the back and dropped down on his knees to inspect it.
It was a beautiful tree, though tiny – perhaps four inches tall – with a deep, almost-black wood and a handful of red leaves. It seemed more mature than a sapling this size should be; with its branches and leaves, it looked more miniature than young.
They hadn’t seen any trees like this in the forest, and it took Jeff a minute to remember where he had seen another –in the courtyard behind the school.
Ushegg fingered the tree delicately, inspecting it all over. Then he got up and walked over to a trough by the side of the building and filled a ladle with water. He returned and gently poured the water around the tree, bit by bit, giving it time to sink into the ground before adding more.
Jeff ran the ladle back to the trough for him. When he returned, Ushegg had his wand out.
The alien boy pointed at his tree and began a chant so rhythmic and flowing it was almost a song. A gleam of air flowed from the tip of the wand to the tree, but it didn’t shake the tree or even rustle the leaves.
As the spell worked, the little tree seemed to almost glow, though that may have just been Jeff’s intense attention, and when Ushegg finished his chant, Jeff stared for a long time at the beauty and vitality of the tree.
Ushegg walked back to the side of the school
