Mollified Magic Ch. 15

"It's so good to see you two in person," she said, smiling at both Molly and me.

After breaking the embrace with Molly, she turned to me.

"You look like you could use a hug too, young man," she said as she opened her arms.

I stepped forward and hugged the elderly witch around her shoulders as she hugged me around the waist.

"It feels strange to call you Mrs. Spellman," I said, "Can I call you Grandmother?"

"I wish you would, dear," the elderly witch replied, then she laughed and said, "You seem much taller in person."

"Where is Morgana?" the warlock asked.

"I believe she's upstairs," Tish said, "Are you going to see her?"

"I think I should," he said as he started up the stairs.

"Why don't you two go up as well," Tish said to Molly and me, "Your grandmother and I will get dinner ready. I expect Aunt Clara and Arthur will be here any minute. I've never known either of them to miss a meal."

We went upstairs to Molly's room and sat down on her bed.

"What do you know about the Warlock Council?" I asked.

"A bit" she answered, "they are the 13 most powerful warlocks. Each of them has an additional special power bestowed upon them as members of the Council. That's what those staffs are for. Four warlocks represent the four elements of magic: Earth, Wind, Fire and Water. My father has the staff of water, as designated by the dark blue orb. Two warlocks represent the degradation of life: death and corruption. Then comes the seven deadly sins: Envy, Pride, Gluttony, Sloth, Lust, Wrath and Greed."

"One of those warlocks is elected to be the head of the Warlock Council, that is until Blaze, I mean Lord Blaze, the warlock of fire, usurped the position and bound the others with the Golden Staff."

"I noticed the number 13 comes up a lot," I asked, "There are 13 members of the Warlock Council, there will be 78 members of the Coven once you come of age. That's a multiple of 13. Is there a reason for that?"

"Don't forget," Molly said, "Halloween is on the 31^st of the month. Reverse the numerals and you get 13 there as well."

"What does it mean?"

"Thirteen is the number of Magic's harmonic convergence," Molly explained, "The easiest way to understand it is through music. You are familiar with musical chords, are you not?"

"Sure," I said.

"A note represents a nodal point on a vibrating string. A chord is multiple nodal points on that same string. Octaves represent a series of eight of those same nodal points," Molly explained, "Similar strings with the same vibratory nodal points create a vibratory or harmonic convergence. They strengthen and reinforce each other."

Molly continued.

"Magic works very much the same way, except instead of groups of eight or twelve, magic "chords" work in groups of 13. Having 13 or multiples of 13 strengthens the power of magic within that group."

"When I join the coven," Molly said, "it won't just get incrementally stronger, it will get harmonically stronger as well."

Morgana peeked her head in the doorway.

"Molly, Tom, supper's ready."

The table dominated the small kitchen. In place of the small table with four chairs was a much longer table that stretched from one end of the kitchen to the other. A white linen tablecloth covered the entire table. There were chairs at the head and foot of the table and three chairs to a side. Name tags appeared above each table setting and we all took the seats assigned. Tish sat at one end and her mother, Morina sat at the other.

Arthur and Aunt Clara ("Mrs. Scornfield") joined Molly, me, Tish, Molly's father Adrian, Morgana, and Grandmother Morina. Once everyone was seated, food magically appeared on the plates. There was a perfectly cooked roast beef, swimming in a brown gravy with potatoes mashed with pumpkin puree and spiced with cinnamon, allspice, and clove, as well as roasted carrots and asparagus on the side.

This was my first magical dinner, and it was the finest meal I had ever eaten. Tish gave her mother all the credit for the recipe and execution of the meal. After the main course, the dirty plates magically disappeared and were replaced with dessert plates of pumpkin pie with a spiced whipped cream topping.

During the meal, Arthur tried to distract Molly by changing the color of his eyes whenever Adrian and Aunt Clara weren't looking. At one point, he opened his mouth and stuck out a forked, snake-like tongue, which he wiggled up and down before settling it back into his mouth without getting caught.

"So juvenile," Molly whispered under her breath.

After supper, Molly and Morgan invited me into Morgana's room to talk and go over plans and preparations for tomorrow. Tomorrow was officially "beggars' night," or "trick or treat night" in Salem, although you would hardly notice a difference since throngs of visitors dressed in costumes had invaded Salem all week. The store had been giving out candied treats to its customers throughout the month of October, but tomorrow they would give out candy to non-customers as well.

Morgana asked Molly and me if we'd be interested in helping Tish in the store in the morning, since Agnes would be busy preparing the potions for the 'Coming of Age' ceremony later that evening. Agnes would then be available in the afternoon when Tish would be busy helping Molly get ready for her part in the ceremony.

"You were so cute in that disguise yesterday," Morgana said, "and you handled the customers so well. You'd be a real asset tomorrow."

"I had a lot of fun, too," I said, "it was my best Halloween costume ever."

"It's settled, then," said Morgana, "Now then, after breakfast -"

She was interrupted when their father entered the room.

"I wanted a chance to talk with you three," he said in a quiet voice.

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Next Chapter: Molly's Coming-of-Age Ceremony