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The knock came again.
Grimwald paused mid-spell and grumbled to himself as he put his magic away, “I tell you it’s nothing.”
His apprentice continued to knock.
The young man stopped only when Grimwald rolled his chair out from his loft and swung one leg over the bars. Landing with a strong “thump” on the wooden floor and looked to his apprentice with a stern face.
Grimwald’s apprentice looked down and tried to explain himself, “I didn’t want to interrupt, but you told me to stop interrupting you.”
“And so I did, and so you did,” Grimwald motioned with his pale hand and slowly walked down the ladder. “Now I believe you were about to teach me something before your incessant knocking interrupted again. Was the spell to ‘Cause Fear’ or ‘Stun’? Which one did I get wrong?”
“Neither,” the apprentice replied. “I was going to teach you the spell ‘Fireball’.”
Grimwald rolled his eyes and muttered, “I am surrounded by idiots.”
The apprentice wiped his brow and looked down at the floor. “Besides you, Mr. Grimwald, most of the world would consider me an idiot as I am completely incapable of learning complex spells and cannot even remember how to point my spell wand at something.”
Grimwald crossed his arms across his chest and then tapped his index finger against his chin. After a moment of deliberation, he replied with a barely audible voice, “Fireball.”
The apprentice nodded and pointed his wand at a nearby shelf. “It is a very simple spell.”
Grimwald sat down and watched as the apprentice drew out a large thingy.
“I repeat,” the apprentice repeated, but the spell did not fire. “That’s the thing’s name.”
“Smells like it,” Grimwald said before closing his eyes and rocking his head back and forth. “Yes, yes, I remember that I can teach you the spell so long as it is named something silly and does something stupid.”
The apprentice’s mouth slightly opened in surprise and his eyes opened slightly wider. He cleared his throat before clearing his throat. “It is a very powerful spell, Mr. Grimwald.”
“That it would be,” Grimwald said, slightly turning back to the apprentice. “With great power, comes great responsibility. Or is it the other way around?”
“You get that from Spiderman.”
“Oh,” Grimwald replied. “That’s not what I remember. How did I get that line from Spiderman?”
“You don’t watch Spiderman!” the apprentice snapped back.
“Oh, I don’t,” Grimwald replied. “I know that you are to blame for me having a bad memory.”
“Why would you say that I think?”
“You are to blame. Next time you interrupt me, I will make sure to teach you a spell that I obviously forgot to that day and you will ask me to teach it to you. So you will be to blame for my bad memory.”
“Yes,” the apprentice replied. “You could have told me that you forgot. You just kept staring at… at…”
“At what?” Grimwald asked.
“I dunno,” the apprentice replied. “What were you looking at?”
Grimwald’s body shook and his voice trembled as he tried to speak. “Oh good god!” he cried out and threw himself backwards into his chair. “My back! My legs!” Grimwald threw out his arms and would have fallen over, if he had been standing. “I can’t move my arms!”
“Are you ok, Mr. Grimwald?” the apprentice asked. “I can help you, if you want.”
“I’m fine,” Grimwald replied. “I’m just a little, a little – ugh!” Grimwald looked down at his twisted back and legs, as he inhaled one deep breath and exhaled almost as fast.
The apprentice looked at his master with a puzzled look on his face. “What happened?”
“Just a little, a little….” Grimwald paused to breathe. “Nothing.”
“Grimwald,” the apprentice said. “I can help, so let me help.”
“That’s not how it works,” Grimwald replied while he tried to push around his back. “Help isn’t something that you give to someone… ugh…” Grimwald looked at his apprentice and tried to calm himself. Grimwald took a few more breathes and steadied himself then said, “A spell that is cursed is something that you do to someone else. This spell was something to you.”
“But I didn’t –“
“That sounded like a question,” Grimwald replied.
“….that sounded like a… ugh!” the apprentice replied.
Grimwald looked over to see that his apprentice was clutching his chest and shakily gasping for air. “What is this?” Grimwald asked.
“I… I, I don’t know,” the apprentice stammered. “How was I supposed to know?”
Grimwald slowly rose his back and elbows as he looked over at his apprentice with arms perpendicular to the floor. “You feel no pain, you sense no magic and you are completely unaware of your surroundings.”
“No, no, no,” the apprentice said as he rose to his feet. “I do have that. I have that day and night. I know whatever you tell me is true.”
“Right,” Grimwald replied. “Just how do you know, then? If you cannot sense anything in your surroundings, how do you know you are doing this spell right?”
“Oh, that,” the apprentice replied. “That is easy.”
“Then why am I not sensing any magic, sensing no pain and only sensing your gasping?” Grimwald asked. “I would think I would be sensing something, if you have the right answer.”
“You are,” the apprentice replied. “You are sensing the bubble of hate around me.”
“Ah,” Grimwald said. “Well that would explain my sudden migraine.” Grimwald took a few more breaths and steadied himself. Grimwald was able to slowly rise to his feet and walk down the ladder.