How the heck did I forget to add this chapter last November?

Saturday did not mean quite so much as it used to, what with their days being unbound by class schedules. Still, when Sparrow awoke, she felt a little bit of that old relief and optimism that Saturday once brought. Today was Saturday, hooray, [Sure, have fun in the cold mud|time to go out and play].

Although in her current circumstances, it was sorely tempting to just lie abed wrapped in the arms of her girls, even with the necessity of the Animagus incantation. As Sparrow reluctantly lifted Jill’s arm off of her and clambered over Jocasta to leave the bed, she looked forward to the day that she could at last have a [I have no idea how anyone manages to stay in bed past 7|lie-in].

Then again – once she had recited the incantation, she realized that, with the work she was throwing herself and her loved ones into, there might never be any true rest, perhaps not even after the work was done, if it could ever even be completed in their lifetimes. For all Sparrow knew it was the work of lifetimes, like the [Even the Sagrada Familia took 144 years, and that was with modern tools|great cathedrals of old]. She might never get any rest. This was the path she had chosen.

And that wasn’t even factoring in what the Ministry would say when it finally took her seriously.

Sparrow was leaning over the windowsill in the early dawn light, trying to peer through the frosted glass, when she felt a gentle hand on her shoulder. She turned, seeing Jocasta standing there, looking concerned. "I’m alright," murmured Sparrow. "As much as I can be."

"As much as any of us can be in such times." Jocasta put her arm around Sparrow’s shoulders. "But we shall be here for each other, though storms may come."

Sparrow sighed. "I wish they would come. So I could get this stupid Animagus business over with."

"Stupid?" said Jocasta. "My dear, you wound me!"

"Yeah yeah. [You want me to become what?|Your idea and all], and I went along with it. My goodness, you’ve been a bad influence."

Jocasta drew Sparrow a little closer. "A fun bad influence?"

"Certainly that."

Sparrow felt a large hand on her shoulder, and looked back, and up, to see Jill standing there in her nightgown, looking tired and forlorn. "You look like you’re having a fine morning."

Jill yawned. "I woke up and realized my teddy human was missing. I felt so lonely."

"You have two," said Jocasta, releasing Sparrow and putting her arm around Jill’s waist. "Ah, but both of them left you, didn’t they? Sparrow, let us comfort our big old bear of a girlfriend. Why, I know of a lovely bed where we can lie."

Sparrow chuckled. "As long as we’re not late for breakfast."

…

They did not miss breakfast, though they were a little close. Yet despite obtaining ample sustenance that morning, it did not prevent her from feeling a fair amount of tension in her abdomen, as she stood in the Hufflepuff common room watching her crew [What's the opposite of 'easy peasy lemon squeezy'? Difficult gravel lemon expand?|attempt the Patronus charm].

It had been Iphis’ suggestion, in order to compromise between a day of study and a day of rest. Everyone had agreed, feeling the need for a break from the usual OWL practice. Jocasta had been intrigued by the notion that casting the Patronus could be straightforward; Wren had been all too eager to show off; even Miranda had silently nodded her assent.

And in the event, both Miranda and Wren had proved quite capable. Wren’s cat-bird Patronus, though still more blank than featured, prowled across the top of a couch before leaping into the air and flapping up to the balcony. Miranda had managed to cast what looked like a dog with cat eyes, a cat’s tail, and a different set of wings, which barked silently and bounded into the air after the cat, flapping with far less grace.

Everyone had applauded the two of them for this feat, though really, Sparrow could not call herself too surprised. Budge’s theory of Patronus creation leaned heavily on the creative spirit, which Wren and Miranda had in plenty; the things that built their souls were the things they themselves built daily. [How to make the patronus easy? Take the magical mechanics track!|Artificers of all sorts clearly had an edge with this method].

Iphis, in comparison, had not gotten the trick nearly as easily. He had picked his best memory with nearly as much speed as Wren had done yesterday – and yet, his initial efforts had only yielded a glowing white cloud. Even when he Sent the incantation instead of speaking it aloud, his result had been merely a blank humanoid figure, no matter how hard he tried. Wren had admonished him to work smarter instead of harder, but what that meant specifically for this case, everyone had a hard time guessing. Wren had suggested he have greater confidence in himself, which Iphis had scoffed at; it took a silent conversation of Sending between him, Wren and Miranda for Iphis to at last attempt the Patronus again.

Which resulted in a humanoid with a feminine figure, [Hmmmmmmmm|precisely as tall as Miranda], with cat eyes instead of human eyes, and enormous feathered wings in place of human arms. It did not follow the cat and the dog, which were chasing each other about the balcony, but stood with its wings folded, staring at Miranda, its pupils dilated widely.

What it all meant, no one knew for sure. Only that Budge’s theory was showing solid support.

Yet not rock-solid, and this was why Sparrow felt tense. For both Jill and Jocasta were struggling to even get small wisps of cloud out of their wants, no matter how loudly they shouted.

Jocasta at last let her arm fall, collapsing back into a chair, while Jill threw her wand on the floor – or tried to, it hovered an inch from the carpet before leaping up and [Try me bitch|smacking Jill in the face]. Then it zoomed to Sparrow’s hand. She hastily drew the Fetching Stick out of her pocket so Jill’s wand would have something to stick to besides Sparrow’s own wand.

Wren giggled. "Wands really do have [Wand lore|minds] [Will you stop helping me!|of their] [Hogsmudge|own]."

"I just don’t get it," growled Jill. "I’m doing all the steps. What’s missing?"

"Maybe we just can’t do it," said Jocasta. "[That's quitter talk|Maybe it’s not for us]."

"But you do have happy memories?" said Sparrow.

Jocasta met her eyes, and nodded slowly, unblinking. Then she glanced at Jill, and back at Sparrow, wiggling her eyebrows. Sparrow rolled her eyes.

"Soul-building," said Wren. "A memory of something that you have seen or done that not only made you happy, but gave you some [Nothing Up My Sleeve|constructive hope for the future]. Something that made you believe in the future, that still does. Do you have anything like that?"

Jocasta looked again to Jill, and again to Sparrow, this time without mischief in her eyes – instead, she wore an expression of longing. She let out a sigh. "Happiness I have in plenty, so many such memories that I can hardly choose between them. But hope for the future? After the things I’ve seen? I don’t know."

"I should think if you have any source for it," said Jill, "it would be in your relationship with Sparrow."

Jocasta met Sparrow’s eyes. "Hmmmmm."

"Wren and Miranda find it easier because they are always making things," said Sparrow. She strode over to Jill, handing over the girl’s wand along with the Fetching Stick, and then moved to Jocasta, sitting on the arm of her chair, twisting around to meet her eyes once more. "As for what you are making, my dear, it is not currently tangible, but it soon will be once the ritual is complete."

"Ooh," said Jocasta. "Goodness, I am effectively leading a group project, aren’t I."

"And quite a tricky one at that," said Jill. "What memory might you have based on that, that fills you with both joy and hope?"

Jocasta smiled, a twinkle in her eye. "There was a day, long ago, that I spoke with an adorable little witch, and made a wild proposal to her that I did not expect she would even entertain. Imagine how my hopes were lifted, when she actually did. And then in December, one magical evening, when we [December Dance|danced] – she seemed to have already decided to follow my lead into this matter, despite having been furious enough with me earlier that month to violate her solemn oath and [In which Sparrow Jones invents a spell|injure me]. And then, in January, we had a [In which Sparrow Jones hatches a nefarious plot to save humanity|lovely little tryst in the library], and she fully accepted the plan – what a moment of my life that was, when we sealed the deal!"

Sparrow giggled. "My goodness, you seem quite taken with her. Where is this witch now, I wonder?"

"She could be anywhere," said Jocasta. "She could be right next to me, for all I know." Jocasta grabbed Sparrow’s arm and pulled her down onto her lap. "Why, she could be right on top of me."

Sparrow leaned forward to whisper into Jocasta’s ear. "I might like that, yes."

Jocasta grinned wickedly. "Ooh, you are following my lead. But let’s not get ahead of ourselves. I think this –" She kissed Sparrow on the lips. "– will be enough for now." She raised her wand. _{• EXPECTO PATRONUM! •}

What came out of the end of her wand was a short humanoid figure, no taller than Sparrow, bearing a dragon’s eyes, and dragon wings that dwarfed its small stature. It immediately flapped its way up to the ceiling and soared about the common room. All of the children gasped.

Including [The witch's sabbatical|Cleo Sassoon], who had just come in through the common room door. She stood there, gazing up at the Patronus, slack-jawed.

"We’re just having some fun," said Wren. "What do you think?"

"What?" said Cleo. "How? What? Merlin, how did you –" She tore her eyes from the Patronus, looking at Sparrow and her little crew. "Who are you? What are you? How in heaven’s name did you manage a Patronus as fourth-years? And – and a human one? What is this?"

Sparrow shrugged. "We’re not sure yet. Maybe once we actually perfect these things we’ll understand."

"I think it’s my turn?" said Jill.

Cleo backed away, standing behind a large armchair. "I hesitate to see what you would come up with."

Jill only smirked, and closed her eyes, breathing deeply for a few seconds. Then she raised her wand. _{††††† EXPECTO PATRONUM! †††††}

What erupted from the end of Jill’s wand was a vast glowing-white cloud, larger than anything Sparrow had ever made or seen. Sparrow clapped, but her hands fell silent when she saw that Jill was looking thoroughly frustrated. Sparrow cleared her throat. "Not good enough for you?"

"NO," growled Jill, so loudly that Cleo squeaked and ducked behind the chair. "I had a good memory. I had such a good memory. And I have so much power! Why am I not getting it?"

Sparrow shrugged. "It's good but not constructive? Or maybe Budge's new method isn't perfect."

"I didn't expect perfection," grumbled Jill, "I just wanted to get as far as you have."

"I think we’ve done enough exercise work for today," said Iphis. "We can keep trying at this in our spare time for the next few days. We’ve had great progress, I am proud of all of you. And also – Wren has something they would like to show you all."

Wren was bouncing up and down, an eager expression on their face. "Yes yes yes yes."

"Then," said Iphis, "crew of the Lark Rising, let us adjourn to the workshop, and gaze in wonder."

…

What greeted Sparrow, upon entrance through the door, was one of the hoop-arches that she had seen [The witchy wireless|the last time] – only, it was encompassing the entrance, so that one had to step under it as one entered the workshop.

And, as Sparrow noticed in passing as she passed through, it seemed to be [Don't ask me where I got this stuff|made of gold], engraved with glowing runes. At least, part of her mind noticed this; mostly she was distracted by the fact that the space about her had grown larger. And then there was another arch to pass through, right before her. She looked left and right and saw what looked like a wand-length gap between the arch before and the arch behind; but the air within shivered more than the air above a candle, promising nothing good. She elected to press forward through the next arch – and as she did, the world about her grew again. Once more here was another arch – and so on, and so on, marched Sparrow forward, until she was standing before what looked like a solid wooden surface, ever-so-gently curved, with a wide band of glowing violet light.

She stepped toward the band, only to realize that, as she peered closer, it was not simply made of violet light; rather, it was countless tiny glowing runes inscribed in golden metal, so many as to look like one bright band at a distance.

"Well my stars and garters," said Miranda behind her, "they actually did it."

Sparrow whirled around. There was the rest of her crew. Jill and Jocasta were looking around at the whole scene, silent in their astonishment; Miranda was peering at the surface of the archway; Iphis was beaming. Wren looked [All hail me!|high and mighty proud]. "Darn right," they said, standing tall, "IIIIIII did it. The Remember Ball is ready to go!"

"I don’t understand," said Jocasta, staring at the scene beyond the gap in the arches. There was a normal-sized workbench standing at a distance, surrounded by sawdust and wood shavings. "I thought – I’ve only ever seen the most highly-skilled Wizards shrink someone without causing them severe injury. It’s an incredibly complicated spell to use on living beings, and almost never on human beings, unless you’re trying to kill them. How did you manage it?"

Wren nodded their head to the interior of the archway, which bore as many runes as the outer surface. "The Ancient Runes are quite potent for artifice, and offer a great range of options for customizing a spell effect."

Jill nodded. "The language does seem quite extensive and precise."

"[Shut up shut up shut up|You don’t know the half of it]," said Iphis, and then his eyes grew wide and he turned to the wooden surface, seeming to take a great interest in its well-polished surface.

Jocasta frowned, looking at the runes more closely. "And you didn’t even include a dimensional folding effect? This is just...shrinking people and objects [So it all looks fancy but it's the magical equivalent of a horrifyingly jury-rigged machine|in real space]."

Wren nodded.

"How in the hell –"

"I’m sure Cleo or any other student could ask the same of us," said Sparrow, "on so many topics. But I’m interested in this…" She turned to look up at the wood, where it curved up and out of sight, a sphere as tall as a tower to them. "Wren, this is your finalized Remember Ball?"

Wren nodded vigorously.

"But it’s made of wood," said Sparrow. "You were working with metal, for durability and flexibility. What changed?"

"Wood remembers when it was alive," said Wren. "It remembers what it was, and what it did, before it was cut down. It is already used to holding memory. Metal was never alive in the same way. It remembers nothing. Wood has proved so much more durable for holding memories. I went even further, and [Oh, wonderful, that's a perfectly renewable resource!|took wood from the bench seating in the Charms classroom], which remembers so many students over hundreds of years."

"And this entire shrinking business?" said Jocasta. "Why bother?"

"The thing took a lot of runes," said Wren. They shook their wand out of their sleeve, and tapped it on the wooden surface. Immediately the wood lit up with runes beyond number, so many that the sphere now looked like a ball of violet light, more than wood and metal.

Sparrow immediately felt as though something were [scuse me, thank you, I'll just take that|tugging on her insides], in a manner similar to a portkey, and she felt suddenly slightly tired. She looked around and saw that everyone else bore expressions of faint queasiness. Wren tapped the wood with their wand again, and the surface of the sphere resumed its wooden appearance. "Sorry," said Wren, "that was turbo mode. For when you need immediate protection against incoming memory charms. Otherwise it just siphons bits of your memories slowly."

"Marvelous work," said Iphis, giving Wren a hearty side-hug. "I’ve taught you well, it seems."

Wren giggled. "All in a day’s work."

Jocasta was still looking at the arch interior. "I am impressed…" She brushed the runes, her fingers briefly obscuring one of them. Immediately the world shrunk slightly, once again making Sparrow feel slightly queasy. Jocasta snatched her hand away from the surface, and the world returned to its great size. She gave Wren a significant glance. "Perhaps some [If the good folks at OSHA understood this device, they would probably go ballistic|safety issues] to resolve on this device?"

"It would be safe if you didn’t paw at it," grumbled Wren.

"Actually no it wouldn’t," said Jocasta. "There’s no dimensional folding, as you confirmed, which means that if the magic on this thing fails, you could be stuck in miniature form, with no telling what that would do to your biology, or...more awful possibilities."

Wren looked pale. "Uh. Alright. Yeah. That makes sense. I mean, maybe it would be nice to scurry about the world as a tiny creature for a change? Get into nooks and crannies [Spider and fly|and] –"

_{•I AM THOROUGHLY AWARE OF THE DANGERS OF SUCH EXPLORATION, DEAR WREN. •}

Wren looked shamefully down at the floor.

"Thank you for warning us ahead of time," said Iphis testily. "I am sure that with your foresight and guidance, we will be able to work out the issues with this system and allay your fears."

"Uh." Sparrow raised a hand. "One question?"

Wren looked up, evidently eager to be in their element again. "Yes go ahead."

"You set these arches up right in front of the doorway," said Sparrow, "which means you can’t enter this workshop without getting shrunk...so, um…" She nervously met Wren’s eyes. "How are you going to get the Remember Ball out of here?"

Wren and Iphis both smacked their foreheads.

"I’m sure they’ll think of something," said Miranda, with a smile in her voice. "They always do."

"It’s a wonder of artifice," said Jill. "Not sure how to employ it yet. Hopefully we don’t need it for ourselves." She drew a watch out of her pocket, and flipped the lid open. "We do have to get to lunch, though, and we have Saturday’s detention to attend to. So let’s leave this for now, shall we?"

"Food!" said Sparrow. "So much more important than artifice. Let’s be off."

Wren looked slightly affronted at this, but then they chuckled, and tapped Sparrow’s shoulder with their fist, before everybody made their way back through the arches and into the world of regular size.

…

That evening, Jill sat at the edge of the bed and sighed. "I...think I understand what’s getting in my way, with the Patronus."

"Oh?" said Sparrow, as she sat back against Jill’s back. "What’s the issue?"

"I don’t create," said Jill. "My work is based on [Kaboom?|destruction], not creation. Slinging fire around, dueling people...I’m not building anything."

"Ah yeah…" Sparrow sighed. "Downside of being a fighter, right? It’s all about defending the stuff other people have made, not making things yourself. Or...swiping the things other people have made, if you’re someone’s goon."

"Am I your goon, then?"

"You are not a goon," said Jocasta, as she brushed her hair at the vanity. "You are my valiant knight. "

Sparrow turned and draped an arm over Jill’s shoulder. "Our valiant knight."

Jocasta chuckled. "Of course, Captain."

"And there’s one thing she has built," said Sparrow.

Jocasta set the brush down, raising her eyebrows. "Oh?"

"I’d love to hear this myself," said Jill. "I don’t remember crafting anything."

"You built a [What Did You See in Me?|beautiful] [The Duel of Love|relationship]," said Sparrow, "with the two people you [A Soft Place to Land|love most]." She kissed Jill on the cheek. "Not that it’s precisely a tangible thing, of course –"

Jill shifted around to grab Sparrow and haul her onto Jill’s lap. "Oh, I can make it tangible if you like." She kissed Sparrow on the cheek, sending a pulse of warmth though her, and then looked at her with lidded eyes. "I can make it quite tangible."

Jocasa laughed. "Alright, Jill, try casting the Patronus now." She moved to the bedside table, and tugged Jill’s wand away from the Fetching Stick, handing it to her. "Go on then."

Still holding Sparrow, she took the wand, and raised it high. _{†††††EXPECTO PATRONUM! †††††}

This time, it was a humanoid figure that sprang into existence, emitting a white glow, with a white surface that seemed to have a metallic gleam. It was devoid of facial feature, and floated motionless. "Alright," sighed Jill. "Alright, at least I know I can get that far." She flicked her wand, and the figure disappeared. "I was hoping for something more developed."

"It’s a development," said Sparrow. "And it’s a faster development than anyone would call typical. We really are confirming Budge’s theory."

"I’ll have to be content with that for tonight," murmured Jill.

…

Above Jill’s volcanic landscape that night, there were white clouds flying, bright as if lit by the moon.

Remember Ball (fiction)