Rosemary was in her bed, fast asleep, when she heard a voice whisper: “Tace - tacete - leve esto”. A strange sensation came over her, like glitter swarming up from within her. Slowly, she opened her eyes and saw a hooded figure above her wearing a black cloak. However, she could not see this figure’s face, or even be certain that it so much as had one. Instead, all she could see was a mask — a plain white mask with large, gaping black eyes, a pointed nose bulbous at the tip, and an expressionless mouth stretched to a long thin line. She tried to scream, but something unexplained prevented her from making a sound.

  The hooded figure effortlessly scooped her up in one arm and walked toward the door. Through the corner of her eye, Rosemary could see him — it clearly seemed to be a him — as he opened the door with a hand covered by a white glove. The figure glided through the door. Rosemary, unable to turn her head, could not tell if the door closed — but she faintly heard a cat whom she was sure must have been Luna growling.

  The hooded figure got onto the shortcut stairway and began to slowly descend. Rosemary’s heart pounded in fear, though she couldn’t move even in the slightest. One flight down, the hooded figure got off of the shortcut staircase and headed to the regular staircase. While on the way from one staircase to another, Rosemary began to feel that she could start moving her fingers — but right then, the hooded figure stopped. It looked in her direction, lifted a wand with its gloved hand, and from behind the mask Rosemary could hear the same voice whisper once again: “Tace - tacete - leve esto”. The figure swung the wand in her direction, and purple-and-white glitter from the wand hit her, making her once again go completely limp.

  The hooded figure continued to carry Rosemary, and very soon reached the regular staircase. As soon as they were almost a whole flight down that one, all of the lanterns affixed to the walls that were previously burning very dimly suddenly went to a full blaze that illuminated the halls. A wailing noise began to sound through the air. The hooded figure stopped for a moment, but then continued at an increased pace. It got off of the staircase and went down the hall to the corridor around the fifth floor. It ran to one of the doors to access the wall walk. It pushed down on the door handle with its gloved hand — but the handle wouldn’t move.

  Unexpectedly, the hooded figure laid Rosemary on the floor. It didn’t just throw her down, but laid her there gently enough to avoid any injury. Then, through the corner of her eye, Rosemary could see it push against the door and vanish.

  Moments later, Rosemary saw Sarah lean over her, and even saw Luna in the corner of her eye. She then felt Sarah’s fingers hold her hand by the wrist. After a few minutes, when Rosemary began to feel she could move again, she struggled to sit up. She wasn’t able to, though, until Sarah helped her and propped her against the wall.

  “Are you okay?” asked Sarah.

  “I’m scared,” said Rosemary in a slurred voice.

  “What happened?” asked Sarah.

  “I woke up and couldn’t move,” slurred Rosemary, “and some guy in a mask picked me up and carried me here.”

  “Well of course you’re scared,” said Sarah, patting her on the hand. “You’ve been through something that would scare anybody.”

  “What if he comes back?” asked Rosemary.

  “Who?” asked Sarah.

  “The guy who brought me down here,” answered Rosemary, as she began to fall over.

  Sarah caught Rosemary and straightened her out against the wall. “We’ll find a way to keep you safe,” she said. “I promise.”

  “I have a question,” slurred Rosemary.

  “What?” asked Sarah.

  “Can I stay in the infirmary,” she asked, “or somewhere else they can watch me at night — at least until I can be put in a room with others?”

  “Let me ask you something,” asked Sarah. “How long are you able to lock your transformation in place?”

  “I don’t know,” said Rosemary. “Over three weeks, I think.”

  “Mind if I check?” asked Sarah.

  “Sure,” said Rosemary. “Go ahead.”

  Sarah straightened Rosemary against the wall carefully enough that she could spare both hands just long enough to withdraw her wand from her bracelet. Then, bracing Rosemary with her left hand to keep her from falling over, she lifted her wand with her right hand and chanted, “Somamorpho censeo.” She then pointed it at Rosemary and chanted “Et hic subiectum.” A misty blue aura shot from the tip of Sarah’s wand and enveloped Rosemary. Sarah swished her wand about for a few moments, and then made a jabbing motion, causing the aura to vanish.

  A few moments later, a number of other students began showing up from all over Hemlock Tower — Ricky among them.

  “Rosemary?” gasped Ricky. “What happened?”

  “Someone took her from her room,” said Sarah. “Did all the basic first-aid checks and she seems to be alright — but she’s real shaken up.”

  She helped Rosemary back to her feet, and helped her keep balance as she sat down on the bench as the wailing sound stopped.

  Minutes later, when Rosemary still didn’t quite have her full bearings back, a witch and a wizard came up the stairs in a distinctive navy blue uniform. Not only were their robes navy blue, but so were the button-down shirts under their robes, even their trousers. Only their shoes were black.

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  On the left breast of their robe, where on a student one would see the crest of Misty Peaks Academy, each of these two individuals sported a golden seven-pointed star — a lesser heptagram specifically — at the center of which sat a circular insignia that Rosemary wasn’t familiar with. On the shoulders of their sleeves as well as elsewhere on their uniform there were other patches that she also couldn’t quite make out.

  “This is the SOD Response Squad,” said the man. “I’m Harrison — and this is Griswold. Can someone explain what’s going on?”

  “Someone broke into Rosemary’s room and made off with her,” explained Sarah. “I found her lying here, unable to even move.”

  “Any idea where the assailant went?” asked Griswold.

  Nobody said anything.

  “Well, miss,” Harrison said to Rosemary. “Were you conscious when this abduction attempt occurred?”

  Rosemary nodded, meekly.

  “In that case,” said Harrison, “would you mind stepping aside with us and giving us your statement on what happened?”

  “Okay,” said Rosemary.

  “I don’t think she’s ready to stand on her own yet,” explained Sarah.

  “That’s okay,” said Harrison. “We can help.”

  Griswold and Harrison each held one of Rosemary’s hands, helping her balance as she got on her feet. Then, as they walked Griswold helped Rosemary keep her balance. They went slowly to the other side of the tower’s fifth-floor deck, far from where everyone was gathered.

  Rosemary was no longer surprised when she saw Harrison deploy a field chair by taking out of his robe’s inner pocket something the size of a matchbook and open it like a pill-box. She watched as it grew four legs that reached the floor, as what had seemed like the base of the box grew in size to become the chair’s seat, and what had seemed like the lid likewise became the back of a chair. She had seen Professor Hathaway deploy chairs just like that in the Adventure Room the day that she and her classmates would go into the forest to find cores for their wands. The only way in which Harrison’s field chair was different was that in addition to all that, comfortable armrests appeared as the transformation finished.

  As soon as the two SOD officers had helped Rosemary sit down on the chair that Harrison had deployed, each of them deployed a seat just like it for themself and then sat down.

  “Okay,” said Harrison. “Now that we’re all settled, can we start with your name?”

  “Rosemary Corbin,” answered Rosemary.

  “So,” he said, “can you tell me in your words what happened?”

  “Well,” answered Rosemary, “I was sleeping, and was woken up by some fluttering of magic.” She went on, describing the entire abduction attempt. “When he couldn’t open the door to the outside,” she finished, “he put me down, threw himself at the door, and disappeared.”

  “Did he just vanish,” asked Griswold, “or did he go through the door?”

  “I think the door was locked,” answered Rosemary.

  “I know,” replied Griswold, “but did he walk through it without opening it — or did he just, vanish?”

  “I don’t know,” answered Rosemary as Luna came and bunted her head against her ankle. “I only saw it through the corner of my eye.”

  Harrison looked at his notepad for a moment, huffed in frustration, and looked up. “Do you know if you closed your door before you went to bed?” he asked.

  “Yes, I did,” answered Rosemary.

  Harrison and Griswold looked at each other for a moment with a look of concern on their faces, and then looked back at Rosemary.

  “Is there anything else you can tell us?” asked Griswold.

  Rosemary thought for a moment. “No,” she answered. “I’m sorry.”

  Harrison reached into his robe and grabbed a business card. “If you think of anything more, contact me.” He handed her the card. “Or if you want, you could contact Griswold.”

  “Here’s my card,” Griswold said, handing Rosemary hers.

  “Ready to head back?” asked Harrison.

  “Yes,” said Rosemary.

  “Okay then,” said Harrison. He got up and operated something on the back of his chair that caused it to transform back into its matchbook-sized form as Griswold did the same. Then, after the two officers helped Rosemary to her feet, Harrison collected the remaining chair in the same manner.

  Griswold helped Rosemary as the three of them walked back to where the others were gathered, Luna following in tow. This time, however, they were able to move a bit faster, and Rosemary relied on Griswold’s assistance a little bit less. By the time they got there, Professor Brown had arrived, as had a few more people wearing the same SOD uniform as Harrison and Griswold. Griswold stepped aside and spent a few minutes briefing Professor Brown on the situation, as Harrison coordinated with the other SOD officers.

  Afterwards, one of them went around checking the correspondence mirror booths, a few headed up the stairs, and a few down the stairs. Professor Brown turned to the students. “Unfortunately there has been an incident here,” said Professor Brown. “We believe that the party responsible has left the tower — but just in case, the SOD Response Squad is going to do a door-to-door search before this tower is taken out of lockdown. I ask that you all return to your dorm rooms and be ready to assist the SOD officers when they get to your room.”

  “And where does Rosemary go?” asked Sarah.

  “Same as everyone else,” answered Professor Brown. “To her dorm room. She has one, doesn’t she?”

  “You aren’t seriously thinking of telling a first-year student to go be in a room all by herself just after someone tried to make off with her!” protested Sarah.

  Professor Brown walked closer to Rosemary and Sarah to speak to Sarah on a more individual basis.

  “I believe we explained to you the situation,” said Professor Brown. “Unfortunately, at the present time, Rosemary is in a condition in which there is nobody we can assign her to a dorm room with.”

  “I know all about that,” retorted Sarah. “You’re worried that in less than four weeks, she’ll turn back into a boy.”

  “Exactly,” said Professor Brown. “It’s not likely that she will, but she can.”

  “This is ridiculous!” snapped Sarah. “Let her stay with me! I’m old enough — and I’m a Student Council officer. You know you can trust me.”

  “We can trust you more than most students,” assured Professor Brown, “but. Well. We’d still be responsible if you end up — pregnant.”

  “Pregnant?” flushed Sarah. “I promise you — if I get pregnant, it isn’t going to be by another girl.”

  “I understand Rosemary’s a girl deep down inside,” said Professor Brown, “but if she’s physically a boy, there’s still a risk.”

  “But she’s not physically a boy,” said Sarah. “And she can’t be for over three and a half weeks more — even if right now she decides she wants to again.”

  “And what when those three and a half weeks come to a close?” reminded the Professor.

  “That should still give you plenty of time,” insisted Sarah.

  “If we reduce the minimum to three and a half weeks,” reasoned Professor Brown, “someone might ask why not just three weeks — and then two and a half. And before you know it, the whole thing falls apart.”

  Sarah glared. “Rosemary was attacked already once,” she said, “and you’re more worried about slippery slopes?”

  “Okay,” said Professor Brown. “As soon as this tower’s out of lockdown, I’ll send Rosemary to the infirmary with instructions that they monitor her. And I’ll see if I can authorize that for the next ten days, the minimum — due to special circumstances — be reduced to twenty-five days.” She turned to Rosemary. “If that’s okay with you.”

  “I’m going with her,” Sarah stood firm.

  “That’s very well,” conceded Professor Brown, “but this still depends on final approval by Professor Parker and on Rosemary agreeing to these terms.”