The wand construction kits were available in a number of different “flavors” - that is to say that they contained different kinds of wood. The kits were sold in boxes about eighteen inches long by six inches wide by three inches deep. Each kit was labeled to make it clear what kind of wood it included. Simon chose a box labeled “Sassafras” because he had heard in stories, years back, of that kind of wood being favored by witches. Granted, the availability of all the other flavors of wand-construction kits was ample evidence that if there was any truth to that idea it was either exaggerated or not applicable to wands - yet the association, however ungrounded, was still there in Simon’s heart.

  There was, of course, no such choice to make where the cauldrons were concerned. All of them were pretty much uniform and standard. And they weren’t in boxes. They were just out there on display on a free-standing six-foot-tall circular display shelf for Simon to just grab one and put it in his cart. However, there was also a friendly middle-aged salesman there who asked Simon where he was from.

  “Oak Ridge, Tennessee,” Simon responded.

  “You serious?” asked the salesman. “That’s where you’re from?”

  “Yes,” answered Simon.

  “You’re kidding!” replied the salesman.

  “Are you from Oak Ridge, too?”

  “No,” said the salesman, “but I’ve heard of it. Must be stressful keeping magic a secret there. But a tough, manly guy like you? You can handle it.”

  The words “a tough, manly guy like you” burned Simon - like a spear through the heart. He knew that the words were intended in a spirit of kindness - but he hated being a boy with every fiber of existence - and being seen as a “manly guy” was even worse.

  Simon slunk down in embarrassment. “Don’t call me that,” he wanted to say - but he knew it would be of no use. Several times before, at school, when he had shown even the slightest objection to being held up to masculine standards, he had received increasing harassment from his peers. And many times, when he had thought of objecting more forcefully, he was stopped by his knowledge of how venomously people talked about those far-away people who asserted that they were women despite being born as boys. And as painful as it was to have people suggest that he either was or needed to be in any way manly - the fact that he didn’t feel he could risk pushing back against it stung even worse.

  But on the other hand, something else about this salesman’s comment about the stress of keeping magic a secret in Oak Ridge was not painful at all - just very perplexing. It had already been made clear to Simon, from the time that he had received his invitation to attend Misty Peaks, that it was essential to keep magic a secret from those who did not themselves have magic - with rare exceptions such as his parents. However, there had been no indication that this applied in Oak Ridge any more than it did anywhere else. Simon was puzzled as to what this comment could be getting at.

  At checkout time, Simon knew to tap his card on the orbis beside the register, having been through that experience at the Four Winds. However, he learned that there was more that he needed to know about the checkout procedure in magic stores when, after receiving his payment, the cashier, a college-aged man, looked at him for a moment. “Cargo compartment?” the cashier asked when it was clear that Simon was just staring back.

  “What?” asked Simon.

  “Oh,” said the cashier “are you from a mundie family?”

  “Mundie?” asked Simon.

  “A family without magic,” explained the cashier.

  “My parents don’t have magic,” explained Simon, “but I do, and my sister might.”

  “But my point is,” insisted the cashier, “you haven’t been much to magical stores.”

  “No,” affirmed Simon.

  “Okay then,” said the cashier, “you see that lever on the left of your cart’s handlebar?”

  Simon looked and saw a red tab right at the very left of the cart’s handlebar near the top, not very different from the one at the bottom of the back of his cart that would be used to trigger its collapse back into a waking stick. “Yes,” he answered.

  “Well,” instructed the cashier, “just pull it all the way to the right.”

  Simon did as the cashier instructed - somewhat timidly still, but not as much so as when he had triggered the cart to collapse earlier. As soon as the tab was all the way on the right, the front wall of the cart briefly thickened and then split in two lengthwise. One wall remained at the front where it had always been, while the other, over the span of a few seconds, moved all the way to the back and merged with the cart’s back wall. Simon looked inside and, to his amazement, saw that the cart was now larger on the inside than it was on the outside - just like both of the stores that he had thus far been in.

  He then watched as the cashier lowered the front wall of the cart and loaded the caldron into it before placing the box of the wand-construction kit inside as well. Finally, he watched him lift the wall up until it snapped back in place.

  “Okay, now,” said the cashier. “It looks like this is your first time using a magical shopping cart. So the first thing you need to do is switch it from the cargo compartment back to the shopping compartment. To do that, just move the lever on the handlebar back to the left.”

  “Okay,” said Simon, doing as the cashier had instructed, and he watched the separating wall move again - this time from the back of the cart to the front - revealing, once again, an empty shopping cart no larger inside than outside.

  “And now,” said the cashier, “you can collapse it back into a walking stick.”

  “Oh, thank you,” said Simon, as he reached down to lift the lever on the back of the cart. As soon as the cart had collapsed back into the form of a walking stick, he grabbed it and noticed that it was no heavier now than it had been before he had opened it up upon entering the store.

  * * *

  “So, where do we go now?” asked Simon as he and Dr. Fletcher exited the Potion’s Corner.

  “Next, I think we should go to the bookstore,” said Dr. Fletcher. “There, you can get your schoolbooks - and it’s also where your mom is going to meet us when she finishes at the scribe.”

  Together they headed to the nearest port to the cloud lift.

  “Is keeping the secret more important in Oak Ridge than other places?” asked Simon as the two of them walked.

  “What?” asked Dr. Fletcher.

  “The man in the store,” explained Simon as the cloud formed beneath the two of them. “He said it must be stressful keeping magic a secret in Oak Ridge.”

  “Magical secrecy is important everywhere,” said Dr. Fletcher. “People are a bit more concerned about Oak Ridge because of something that happened long ago - something that almost caused people without magic almost found out about it. But that was long ago.”

  “Before I was born?” asked Simon.

  “Before even your parents were born,” answered Dr. Fletcher as the two of them stepped onto the cloud lift’s port.

  This time, instead of depositing them at the edge of a walkway, the lift cloud they took landed them right on the ground - or at least what was made to seem like the ground by the enchantment that made this underground shopping center seem to be outdoors.

  “So, Merlin’s Book Cove,” said Simon. “That’s the bookstore, right?”

  “Right it is,” said Dr. Fletcher.

  Simon could see that it wasn’t very far at all that there was a storefront whose sign bore that name exactly. As a matter of fact, it was just two or three storefronts away from where they had landed.

  Unauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings.

  “Woah!” exclaimed Simon as soon as they walked in the door. Both of the stores they had previously visited were larger inside than outside - but none quite to the level that this store was. Simon had seen some large bookstores in the non-magical world - but none quite as grand as this one. Just the ground floor on which the two had entered seemed no smaller than the largest bookstore Simon had ever been in before - with all the amenities, including a set of five checkout stations near the entrance and a coffee-shop that they could see as they faced right. Furthermore, Simon could see that, covering all but a minimal portion of the ground floor, there were two additional floors. All of the floors were connected by a set of escalators, as well as a single glass elevator. And for that matter, it was a very roomy glass elevator.

  “Impressive, right?” asked Dr. Fletcher.

  “Yes,” said Simon. “Three floors!”

  “Plus the basement level,” noted Dr. Fletcher, “which is where you’ll need to go to get your schoolbooks.”

  “And what about the other floors?” asked Simon.

  “This store is full of books - books about every magic-related subject you can think of - as well as a good number of other subjects too.”

  “What’s the greatest thing in magic?” asked Simon.

  “Hmm,” mused Dr. Fletcher, “there’s a lot of stuff to learn in magic, including the fundamentals that go into just about every field. But I would say it’s know yourself.”

  “Know yourself?” probed Simon.

  “Yes,” answered Dr. Fletcher. “There’s lots of other stuff you need to learn - but when you know who you really are, that helps it all come together.”

  Simon stood there in awe, taking the majesty of the bookstore in, until he paused upon seeing a familiar face in the bookstore.

  “Ready to get your books?” asked Dr. Fletcher.

  “Yes,” replied Simon, “but can I say hi to my mom first?” It was his mother, Miriam, that he had just noticed, sitting at one of the tables reading a book and sipping a cup of coffee which, if Simon knew his mother, was undoubtedly decaffeinated.

  “Yes,” said Dr. Fletcher. “If she’s here already, we definitely should check in with her first.”

  “She is,” pointed Simon, and pulled Dr. Fletcher by the arm to where she sat.

  “Hi, Mammy!” Simon exclaimed as he let go of Dr. Fletcher’s arm to give his mother a hug.

  “Well, hello dear,” said Miriam, patting Simon’s hands with her left hand to reciprocate the embrace. “How is your shopping going?”

  “Very well,” said Simon. “I have a shopping cart that looks like a cane when I am not using it.”

  “I think I’ve seen a few people here using those,” acknowledged Miriam.

  “And,” continued Simon, “I have a cauldron and a wand-construction kit. But you can’t see them, because they’re hidden in my cane.”

  “And have you gotten your schoolbooks yet?” asked Miriam.

  “No,” answered Simon. “We just got here.”

  “Then go get your schoolbooks,” she said, “while I speak with Dr. Fletcher.”

  “Okay, Mammy,” said Simon, giving his mother a quick kiss on her left cheek as he left.

  He went to where he had seen the escalators upon arriving at the store. He had to look around a bit, fidgeting with his walking stick as he searched - but eventually he found the escalator that went from the ground floor to the basement - and down he went. Upon reaching the basement, he twisted the handle of his walking stick to deploy the shopping cart - and upon doing that, he took out of his pocket his copy of the list of books he needed.

  He looked at his list, confused, as he slowly moved through the aisles with his cart. “Responsible Magical Aviation - 14th Edition?” he wondered. “Where can I find that?”

  As he moved, slowly and aimlessly, all off a sudden he felt a jolt and heard a CLANG. He looked up, and saw that his cart had collided with another.

  “Watch where you going, you rapscallion!” the owner of the other cart chided him. It was a girl about his own age with long, straight, blond hair tied into finely combed twin ponytails. She wore an elegant green dress.

  “I’m sorry,” said Simon.

  “And you think being sorry fixes it?” she drilled him. “Do you know who I am?”

  “Accidents happen, Melissa,” said a very young pink-haired woman who had just arrived at the scene.

  “They do,” said Melissa, “especially when there’s fools wandering around who have no business being here.”

  “Now who are you to say he has no business being here?” asked the young woman.

  “He clearly has no idea what he’s doing here,” insisted Melissa. “He’s probably some sprouter who thinks he’s all good just because someone told him he can do magic and invited him to the school.”

  Simon tried to hide it, but he felt himself cringing as the girl said that. He didn’t know what a sprouter was - but he got the feeling that it was something unsavory.

  “Sprouter?” said the woman, clearly in disapproval. “Don’t be calling people things like that around here.”

  Melissa said nothing, but squinted angrily at the young woman.

  “Now if you need any help,” said the young woman, “I’ll be with you in a few minutes. But let me first see if there’s anything this young gentleman needs.”

  “Don’t worry,” said the girl. “Unlike some people, I know how to find what I need.”

  Melissa turned her cart and headed away. But the moment the young woman couldn’t see her, she glanced angrily at Simon, pointed two fingers from her right hand at her eyes, and then at Simon, as if to say, “I’ve got my eyes on you.”

  “Anyway,” said the young woman, “can I help you?”

  “Yes you can,” said Simon, looking at this woman. She was very young - much younger even than the woman from the Four Winds. But what really stood out about this woman was her hair. It was long, flowing - and pink, with a purple tint.

  “So what are you looking for?” she asked - again summoning the attention of Simon, who was distracted by her hair.

  “Oh,” he said, showing her the list, “I have these books that I have to get for school.”

  Gently taking the list from him, she took a look at it and smiled. “Oh, you’re starting Misty Peaks this year?” she asked.

  “Yes,” answered Simon.

  “That’s awesome,” she said. “I’m going into my final year myself. My name’s Amy. What’s yours?”

  “Simon Corbin,” answered Simon.

  “Well, it’s nice to meet you,” said Amy, “and it will be great having you at Misty Peaks. So, shall we get your books?”

  “Yes,” nodded Simon, distracted by Amy’s hair.

  “Are you okay?” she asked.

  “I like your hair,” said Simon.

  “Oh this?” commented Amy, starting to walk and motioning Simon to follow. “Yeah - too bad I can’t keep it like this at school. But it’s still a great summer look.”

  It didn’t take Amy long at all to find the fourteenth edition of ‘Responsible Magical Aviation’ and put it in Simon’s cart - and very quickly thereafter she did the same with the ninth edition of ‘Magical Creatures of North America’.

  “So, is it common for people in the magical world to have purpley-pink hair?” asked Simon, as Amy was looking for Level One of the seventh edition of ‘Dangers of the Magical World’.

  “You’re still on about that?’ asked Amy. “You’d think this is the first time you’ve seen someone with pink hair.”

  “No, I’ve seen a few people with unusual hair colors,” said Simon, “but they were using hair dye.”

  “Oh I see,” said Amy, “you grew up in the mundie world. Right?”

  “That means that my parents don’t have magic?” verified Simon.

  “Yep,” affirmed Amy.

  “Yes,” answered Simon.

  “Well, that’s okay,” assured Amy. She stopped, leaned in a bit closer, and spoke in a slightly more hushed voice. “There’s people who’ll try to make you feel small because of that - but don’t listen to them. They do not speak for everyone, even if they want you to think that. And remember - even if your parents don’t have magic, you do. They wouldn’t invite you to Misty Peaks otherwise.”

  Simon didn’t say anything, but smiled in response.

  “But anyway,” said Amy, as she resumed the search for the ‘Dangers of the Magical World’ volume Simon needed, “you’ve seen people who color their hair with chemicals? Well - I do it with somamorphy.”

  “Somamorphy?” asked Simon.

  “Yeah,” answered Amy. “It’s the magic of transformations to the body.”

  Amy put the volume she was looking for in Simon’s cart and began searching for the first level of the thirty-second edition of ‘Understanding Potions’.

  “So what else can somamorphy do?” asked Simon, his curiosity rising by the moment.

  “Lots of stuff,” said Amy. “You see how I keep my hair pink in the summer. And my friend, Lacy? Well, she likes to have purple eyes with slit pupils like those of a cat. If you want, once I’ve got you all checked out with your school books, we can go to the middle floor, and I can find you a starter book on it. Would you like that?”

  “Yes,” said Simon, enthusiastically, with a huge smile.

  * * *

  It didn’t take long for Amy to find the required volume of ‘Understanding Potions’, as well as the first level of the twenty-ninth edition of ‘The Amazing World of Enchantment’. Finally she found the last book on Simon’s school list - which was the seventh edition of ‘Magical World History for Young Witches and Wizards’. She then took him to a register where she quickly checked out all the books and helped him load them into the cargo department of his cart. He promptly collapsed it back into the form of a walking stick, and she then led him to the elevator.

  “So your friend uses - somamorphy - to give herself the eyes of a cat?” asked Simon as the elevator passed the ground floor.

  “More or less,” affirmed Amy.

  The elevator finally reached its destination one floor above ground level. Simon, looking down through the glass walls, could see his mother at her table, reading and sipping her coffee. Dr. Fletcher wasn’t with her anymore. This made sense, as now that his mother had finished her business at the scribe’s office, she would be the one accompanying him to the remainder of the stores.

  “Can somamorphy do deeper changes than that?” asked Simon, as the two stepped off the elevator.

  “Like what?” asked Amy.

  “Nothing,” said Simon, afraid to reveal what he desperately hoped to do with this kind of magic.

  “Come here, Simon,” she said, moving toward a padded bench amidst one of the aisles and motioning Simon to come along with her. The two of them sat down. “Now, I know that look on your face,” she said, “and whatever it is, I know it isn’t just nothing. What’s eating you?”

  “I can’t say,” said Simon, almost unintelligibly, as he pulled his knees to his face with his arms, setting his feet on the bench.

  “You don’t want to talk about it?” asked Amy, understandingly.

  Simon said nothing. He just shook his head.

  “Okay,” said Amy, “you don’t have to talk about it if you’re not ready. Let’s just find your book.” With that, she got off the bench and looked down at Simon, still crouched up into a ball. “Ready to go find it?” she asked.

  Simon just nodded, timidly uncurled, got up off the bench, and began following her as she led him several aisles over to another bookshelf. As he watched her search, Simon realized that there was a chance that her not knowing what he wanted to learn somamorphy for might make it harder for her to select the right book for him. Furthermore, he realized that if he couldn’t tell her what he wanted it for, he might not ever be able to tell anyone - and probably would never be able to use somamorphy the way he so desperately wished to. This prospect was just unbearable - so he took in a deep breath and exhaled, preparing himself to reveal a secret that he had never shared with anyone before.

  “Amy?” he said.

  “Yes?” she responded.

  “I want to be a girl,” Simon blurted out - and then promptly looked away, burying his face in his hands.