What was likely no longer than ten or fifteen minutes felt like an hour; Flora found herself pacing the shore, the circles in which she walked getting wider and wider, and then subsequently narrower and narrower, effectively leading her many feet from where she'd first began. It was then that she began to wonder where in Merlin's name Mr. Fudge had run off to—at least until she noticed just how far away the resort was!

She did not run, but made an effort to walk at a brisk pace towards the spot she'd just began, the sight of Mr. Fudge on the sandy ground eventually coming into view. Her cheeks flushed with embarrassment; she'd just left him there, completely abandoned and now brandishing the wand she'd sent him to get!

"Forgive me, Mr. Fudge," she said as she approached him. "I wandered farther than I thought!"

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---

Looking up toward the sound of a familiar voice, Paxton smiled with a glint in his eyes. She had returned! This was spectacular! Now he could show her all sorts of magic and prove that they can stop the fog!

Pushing himself from the ground and brushing the sand from his clothing, Paxton walked over to Flora and held out his wand, clutching it awkwardly by the hilt.

"I told you! Shall I cast a spell?" Paxton said with a hushed tone as he leaned in close to Flora's ear, "We have to be careful because I'm not actually allowed," He then moved back and returned to his normal volume, "But it will be okay. Father can't stop me. Ghosts can't hold wands!"

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He was fortunately not angry with her, though that was not enough to stop her nerves from acting up when he moved closer to her, holding his wand awkwardly in his tiny palm. No one under the age of seventeen, of course, was actually allowed to use magic, but her understanding was that no one was able to tell who was casting spells when they were in an area populated with witches and wizards.

That was not what made her truly anxious however; she was aware that they were but eleven years of age, and neither of them had presumably done magic before. Lots could go wrong in situations like this.

"Only if you know what you're doing," she said quickly, wanting to give him no chance to start waving his wand about before she could get out her concerns. "...And only if you let me try."

(This was, perhaps, not the most sensible thing she'd ever done. Whoops.)

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Paxton nodded confidently and turned to a nearby sand dune, "I'll go first though." Of course he knew what he was doing. He had seen spells cast before and had briefly read some books. He knew what he was doing. Definitely. One hundred percent.

Gripping his wand tightly, Paxton recalled a simple spell his brother had used a few times that made things float. The levitation spell! Apparently it was a first year spell so it should be really easy. After all, he was soon to be a first year!

"Erm, I think..." Paxton mused before nodding once again, "Wignardum Lavosa!" He exclaimed clearly as he flicked his wand upward... And then downward... in a sort of slicing motion toward the dune. Three times.

There was no levitation of course. Though there was a rather messy hole in the sand dune.

"That was meant to happen. It's called the.. erm... Sand hole spell." Paxton lied as he turned back to Flora and held his wand out to her.

"Please don't break it," His tone had suddenly turned very serious - a look of anxious worry across his face, "It's special."

---

  

Flora stood completely stiff as he moved to cast a spell, silently praying that she was not going to explode into a million bits due to poor spell-casting. She was slightly less anxious when he spouted out a spell that sounded familiar, but nothing ever came of it. He obviously had no idea what he was doing.

And neither did she, in all honesty.

She held her hand out to take the wand from him, passing him a soft, tender smile in response to his concerns.

"I would never. I promise," she promised sincerely, her smile subtly widening. His wand was very pretty, she thought, if not a little plain. It wasn't extravagantly detailed, nor did he possess one of those shiny wand-holders that she'd seen some of her parents' friends with. But it was real, and the first wand she'd ever held herself.

She stood still for a moment, attempting to navigate through her memories of spells she'd heard her mother and father cast over the years. The incantations were often so foreign, and nearly impossible for someone to remember if they weren't consciously trying to do so. Then, one memory stuck.

"L-Lumos," she tried, her lack of confidence evidenced by her wavering tone. There was nothing. No spark. No spell. Nothing at all. She cast Mr. Fudge a disappointed glance before looking down at the wand once more.

"Do you know if that's right? It's not working," she sighed.

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Paxton returned her soft smile and cautiously let go of the wand, allowing her to try her own spell.

She tried a different spell though it was definitely one he had heard cast! From what he could remember, it made your wand light up! And the word sounded right. Maybe you had to say it differently.

Furrowing his brows, Paxton took the wand back and shrugged, examining it closely.

"Maybe you have to say it differently," He pondered as he pointed the wand to the floor and tried to repeat her spell - albeit a little differently.

He hadn't studied how spells work and so it was only logical that you had to say it differently until the spell worked.

"Lamos!" He said as confident as last time though much like Flora, nothing happened.

Turning his gaze up to her with a quiver in his lower lip, Paxton huffed a little, "Maybe we are both squibs even if I have a wand now."

Oh no. That is what had happened! This is why children aren't allowed to use magic outside of school! They'll turn into squibs!

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   Flora Mulciber

Despite their spells not working, Flora was not so silly as to jump to such illogical conclusions. From what she knew, magic only worked when used properly; and as two children who had never doing any sort of spell-casting prior to now, it made sense that they'd failed! They hadn't even been trying any out of a textbook—only from memory!

"Don't be silly, Mr. Fudge," she lightly scolded, gently reaching out to place the wand back in his hands. "The wand wouldn't have chosen you if you weren't a wizard. Wizards and witches don't just lose their magic!" It seemed like common sense, but it apparently was not for Mr. Fudge!

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Paxton frowned a little and huffed at her words. Not because he was annoyed; no. It was more because she was right and he knew it. But what that meant was he was awful at magic and couldn’t cast spells!

At least if he was a squib, it would make sense as to why the spells weren’t working. As it stood, there was absolutely no reason behind the spells not working!

Holding the wand tightly, Paxton shook it toward the ground to see what would happen – nothing.

“Maybe we are doing it all wrong then!” He turned his gaze toward the girl and bit his lip, looking thoughtfully into her eyes, “Oh I know!” He said suddenly – turning to face the sand dune once again.

“This is a spell Somersby has used before!” With lit up eyes, Paxton flicked his wand and exclaimed brightly, “Incendio!”

A shot of bright yellow light burst from his wand and scorched the sand causing it to melt slightly.
Taking a step back, Paxton turned back to Flora with the biggest grin he’d ever been seen with drawn across his face, “I did it!”

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Flora was glad that Mr. Fudge didn't feel the need to argue the subject further; he could, frankly, be one of the most emotionally-exhausting persons she'd ever met, and she'd known him for no more than half an hour! She hoped most of her future classmates weren't going to be as annoying as him (even if she did find an ounce of his silliness endearing). She was, however, less glad that he was continuing with his foolish wand-waving, especially when it could have directly resulted in melting sand under their feet! Fortunately, his aim was elsewhere.

"You've done it, yes," she said, eyes wide and brows creased in concern. "but you could have killed us! Set us aflame! And you would have to explain that to my mother."

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No way would he have hurt them! He had his wand pointed away from them! Ugh! And he was back to finding girls annoying.

“No I wouldn’t! I pointed it that way,” Paxton huffed as he pointed toward the darkened sand, “and I don’t see you casting any spells! And anyway! All it means is I was right because we can stop the fog now! We just need the right spell!”

Pondering for a moment, Paxton had an idea!

“Oh, I know! We can find a spellbook from my sister or brother and… learn a spell! Would you be able to see me later?”

Paxton wasn’t concerned about it, not really. All she’d have to do is sneak out whilst nobody was watching. It’s what he did more often than not though he had an inkling of a suspicion that his family knew exactly what he was doing, they just didn’t mind it. Who knew.

The point was, they would have to formulate a plan to get rid of the fog and that started with meeting in secret to discuss it.

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Every time Flora attempted to humor Mr. Fudge by cooperating with his antics, he always seemed to find a way to pull of his outlandish plans! Despite his ridiculousness, Flora couldn't deny that it was impressive; he had more determination and resourcefulness than most. Perhaps, she thought, he'd find his way into Slytherin house.

"I still don't know how you plan to get to Hogsmeade—in a legal way, of course," she challenged, casting him a dubious glance. She had no intention of running off, especially in pursuit of an unachievable goal.

(And neither did she intend to run off from her mother. Never. Her poor Mama's heart!)

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“We could…” Paxtron stumbled with a look of great concentration spread across his features, “We erm… We…” How on earth would he get into Hogsmeade? From what he could tell – based on the whispers around the resort – the Floo wasn’t working, there were no trains and he had no idea how to apparate.

And then it hit him!

“We could fly!” Paxton exclaimed, his eyes suddenly bright with enthusiasm. Of course! Broomsticks were legal and worked well – there was a whole sport based around it as well!

“I’m sure there’s probably a few broomsticks around that we can use to get there and we.. and we’ll fly over the fog and stop it from above!” His plan was fool-proof! The excitement in his voice only exacerbated the sense of belief he had in his own plan, “We will be heroes, Miss Mulciber!”

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Did he have an answer to every question? And knowing her luck, he'd know exactly where to find a pair of brooms as well! While she was unable to escape most of his suggestions with logic, this was, luckily, one she could.

"I don't know how to ride a broom, Mr. Fudge," she said with a satisfied smile. "And I doubt anyone would consider you a hero if you led an innocent young lady to her demise, hm?"

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“Wha-” Paxton stuttered at her implication that he’d kill her. He was in shock! Absolute shock! He wouldn’t lead her to her death! How rude! “No, Miss-” Paxton huffed and looked to the floor, his eyes filled with a sudden sadness.

“I wouldn’t-” He huffed and put his wand into his pocket.

Now he felt bad. He didn’t want to hurt her. It was just a silly little game. He wasn’t actually going to go to Hogsmeade! That was ridiculous.

“I’m sorry. I was just playing around.” He said, twirling his feet in the sand a little, his eyes fixed on the sand.

Before she could say anything though, Paxton mumbled under his breath, “I was just joking. This is stupid.”

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What was nothing more than a joke to her seemed to be taken much more seriously by Mr. Fudge, who coincidentally claimed to have been making jokes that she'd taken seriously. Her brow creased in concern and she peeked up at him through fluttering lashes, trying to catch his gaze.

"It's alright, you know," she said, her brows quirking on their own accord. "I didn't expect that anyone could lack such sensibility—not even you, Mr. Fudge. We might yet save the world, but it's an adventure better left to adulthood," she teased, though there was a sincerity in her sentiment.

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Paxton perked up a little at her reassuring words. Of course, it probably was best to leave world-saving to after they’d graduated. He didn’t really know what to say to her, though. She was being sensible.

So, instead, he simply grabbed his wand and nodded assuredly to nothing in particular.

Holding it out for her again, Paxton smiled in her direction; his eyes meeting hers, “Would you like to try again?”

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