Simon turned around and saw a girl about his age with brownish-red hair and slight freckles standing there looking at him. She wore a uniform that was also a Misty Peaks uniform, but different from his. For one thing, on her feet, instead of loafers, she wore ballet flats. Her socks were of somewhat thinner fabric than his. Instead of trousers, she wore a skirt. She wore a white button-down shirt, but it was somewhat more elegant and frillier than his own plain oxford shirt. She also wore a black robe with the exact same school crest on her left breast - but the robe was clearly of a different, more feminine cut than his own.

  Last but not least, though it seemed it was she who was offering to help with his necktie, she herself wasn’t wearing one, but instead wore a ribbon just over half an inch thick tied elegantly into a bow with dangling ends just below her collar. It had all the same colors as his necktie, only instead of being arranged in the same repeating pattern of diagonal lines, they were arranged in one rainbow pattern that seemed to span from one end of the ribbon to the other. Simon’s heart sank a little. With everything he had heard about somamorphy, he still had some hope to escape having to be a boy - but surely the fact that his entire uniform was defined by this designation wasn’t going to help.

  “Yes, I need help,” he replied.

  “Well,” said the girl, “you see the red tab tucked just under the wide end of the tie?”

  Simon looked, and just under the fold of fabric at the back of the tie at the wide end he could see exactly that, an inconspicuous red tab.

  “Yes,” he acknowledged.

  “Just pull it as far as it’ll go,” she explained.

  Simon pulled the red tab. It only extended outward about an inch, but that was enough. As soon as he let go, the tie wiggled out of his hands - on its own. Less than a second later, the narrow end slid under his shirt’s collar at one end - and moments later, out the other end. He looked down and watched as the tie finished fastening itself.

  “Ta-da!” the girl said, triumphantly.

  “So what do you need?” said Miriam, having just finished with Serena.

  “I needed help putting on my tie, but she helped me,” said Simon, gesturing in the direction of this mysterious girl.

  “Oh thank you,” said Miriam to the girl. “I see you’ve met my son, Simon. What’s your name?”

  “Clara Lawson,” said the girl, extending her hand enthusiastically to shake Miriam’s hand. “I’m starting my first year at Misty Peaks Academy today.”

  “That’s wonderful!” exclaimed Miriam. “So is Simon!” She turned to Simon. “So, you haven’t left yet, and you’ve already made a friend!” She turned back to Clara. “He can be shy at times, but he’s a great kid. He just learned a few months ago that magic is real - when he got his invitation to Misty Peaks - so he’s especially shy now.”

  “So - you don’t have magic?” asked Clara.

  “No,” answered Miriam. “His father and I don’t have magic. His sister, Serena, might - but we won’t find out until next year. Does anyone else in your family have magic?”

  “Yes,” said Clara. “My whole family does.”

  “So where are you from?” asked Miriam.

  “Chattanooga,” answered Clara.

  “So you go a lot to the Chattanooga Choo-Choo?” asked Simon.

  “We’ve been there a few times,” said Clara.

  “Oh, we have to take the kids there every time we visit Chattanooga,” added Miriam. “They love that place.”

  “Where are you from?” asked Clara.

  “Oak Ridge,” interjected Serena.

  “Awesome museum there!” said Clara.

  “Yes,” agreed Simon.

  “So,” Clara asked Simon, “have you given a treat to any of the hobgoblins yet?”

  “What?” asked Miriam.

  “If you give the hobgoblins a treat,” explained Clara, “they’ll like you more. And when they like you, they’ll be much more helpful. Doesn’t have to be much. Half a granola bar will do.”

  “If those are sold here,” said Miriam, “I’m sure we’ll have a chance to get one before Simon leaves.”

  “Oh, you don’t want to wait till boarding time to give a treat to a hobgoblin,” warned Clara. “That’ll look like you’re paying them - and they don’t like that.”

  “So it needs to be half a granola bar?” asked Miriam.

  “Not necessarily,” explained Clara. “It can be any kind of food as long as it isn’t too processed. There’s a few other things you can give them - but it’s best sticking to food until you know the rules a bit more.”

  “Simon,” Miriam said to her son, “do you have with you that card I gave you the day we did your school shopping?”

  “Yes,” answered Simon.

  “Then go see if they’re selling something you can give to one of the hobgoblins.”

  “I’ll go with you,” offered Clara.

  * * *

  A few minutes later, Simon had purchased two granola bars. He and Clara were on the way back to the table where they had met.

  “Oh, look under this table,” Clara said all of a sudden, pulling on Simon’s sleeve.

  “Aren’t there people sitting there?” asked Simon.

  “Oh, it’s okay,” said Clara.

  Simon squatted down and looked under the table that Clara was drawing him to. Underneath it stood a tiny person, less than two feet tall, with a wiry figure. This strange person was dressed in a knee-length burlap tunic tied at the waist with a rope made of rubber bands. The skin was grimy, and the hair curly and disheveled. The eyes, however, were the most striking feature. Simon was amazed at how bright they were - even seeming to glow bright orange under the table.

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  “That’s a hobgoblin,” Clara explained.

  Simon got out one of his granola bars, unwrapped it, broke it in half, and held one half out toward the creature. “Hi, I’m Simon,” he said. “Would you like something to eat?”

  As the creature stepped forward, Simon finally got a better look at its hair. It was golden colored. Not blonde - but an actually metallic golden color.

  “Gee thanks,” said the hobgoblin, as he took Simon’s offering. “My name’s Sleet - and it’s a real treat meetin’ you.”

  “The same here,” said Simon, nodding to Sleet.

  * * *

  When they got back to where they had met, Miriam was talking to a woman about her age wearing a green robe and a matching pointed hat with bright-red hair tied in two neat pigtail braids.

  “Oh,” said Clara. “I see our moms have met each other.”

  “That’s your mom?” asked Simon.

  “Sure is,” said Clara.

  At 8:40am a disembodied voice could be heard throughout the floor. “Attention everyone,” said the voice. “USBME carpet 103 for Misty Peaks Academy now boarding at Gate Four.”

  Miriam handed Simon his backpack and a piece of paper folded like a brochure. “Take this,” she said, emphasizing the paper. “It’s your boarding pass. You’ll need it to get on.”

  “Thank you,” said Simon, taking the boarding pass after his backpack was firmly on his shoulders.

  Miriam gave Simon a goodbye hug and kiss on the cheek, as did Naphtali and then Serena.

  “Now go there with your new friend,” said Miriam, pointing to Clara, who just like Simon was now sporting a backpack and trailing a suitcase as the two of them started to head for the gate.

  “So, you’ve probably never been on a flying carpet before,” noted Clara, as the two of them joined the line of students waiting to board.

  “No,” affirmed Simon, shaking his head.

  The two continued onward as the line progressed. With everything that had gone on, Simon had gotten out of his mind how nervous he had been upon arriving at the Sunsphere. But now as he stood there just waiting in line, it all came back to him. His heart pounded as adrenaline coursed through his veins, making him even feel slightly weak at the knees.

  Finally they reached the head of the line where the door that previously was visible only by its outline was open and beyond it was a huge Persian carpet with several rows of seats facing away from them. They were greeted by a somewhat elderly man, likely in his sixties, wearing a dark blue robe with thick golden lining. Beneath the robe he wore a dark-blue oxford shirt and a very elegant gold tie. His trousers and shoes matched the dark blue of his robe and his shirt. On his head, he had a visor cap which also matched that dark blue color and had similar golden lining, albeit much thinner than that on his robe. In his right hand, he held an oak wand carved with a dragon motif. His left hand he extended toward Simon.

  “Ticket, please,” he said.

  Simon handed the man his boarding pass. He placed the tip of his wand on the paper, and there was a brief sparkle of light.

  “Alright,” he said, handing the pass back to Simon and gesturing at the carpet. “Welcome on board.”

  Mere moments after Simon had passed through the door and boarded the carpet did Sleet suddenly appear next to him.

  “Hey Simon,” said Sleet, wrapping one wiry hand on the handle of his suitcase and tapping him on the arm with the other. “You can give me yer suitcase. I’ll put it somewhere that even them hobgoblin-wannabe numbskulls at Misty Peaks’ll be able to find it and get it to you.”

  Simon looked at Clara, who had just boarded herself and was handing her own suitcase off to another hobgoblin.

  “Okay,” said Simon, nervously letting go of his suitcase. “Thank you.”

  The rows of seats on the carpet were divided into three columns, each one three seats wide. Clara selected the far-left seat in one of the rows about two-thirds of the way toward the front of the carpet and placed her backpack on the floor in front of her. Simon sat next to her on the middle seat of the left column doing the same with his backpack.

  “Nervous?” asked Clara.

  Simon said nothing. He just nodded.

  “It’ll be alright,” she said. “Flying carpets are fun.”

  “It’s not the flying carpet,” said Simon. “I’m afraid I’ll mess things up at Misty Peaks.”

  “Why would you?” she asked.

  “I always do,” explained Simon. “I don’t even know why.”

  Moments later, a somewhat tall boy with a crew cut of sandy-colored hair, wearing a Misty Peaks uniform just like Simon’s, came by.

  “Is this seat taken?” he asked, pointing at the seat to Simon’s right.

  Simon looked up, shaking his head.

  The new boy sat down, and laid his backpack on the floor. “My name’s Jesse Davenport,” he said, extending his hand to Simon.

  “Simon Corbin,” Simon reciprocated, shaking his hand.

  Jesse stood up slightly extending his hand to Clara.

  “Clara Lawson,” said Clara, standing up and shaking Jesse’s hand.

  “It’s nice to meet y’all,” said Jesse. “Ready to start my first year at Misty Peaks.”

  “Same here,” said Clara excitedly, sitting back down.

  “Me too,” Simon managed to say after a moment’s pause.

  A few minutes later, the very same man who had processed Simon and Clara’s boarding passes as they were boarding the carpet came down the left aisle and sat at an elevated swivel seat at the front right behind a rolled up extension of the carpet that seemed to form a panel in front of that seat.

  As soon as he sat down, he turned his seat backward and started to speak. Even though he was quite a while away, Simon heard him as clearly as though he were right next to him.

  “Welcome aboard everyone, to USBME carpet 103 to Misty Peaks Academy of the Magical Arts,” he said. “I am Mr. Johnson, and I will be your conductor. This carpet will be disembarking in a couple of moments, and we will be at our destination in about half an hour. I ask that you be respectful of your neighbor and your fellow passengers, and stay in your seat unless there is an absolute emergency requiring you to do otherwise. And without any further ado, enjoy the flight.”

  With that, Mr. Johnson turned his seat around to face forward once again, and a few seconds later, Simon felt a slight jolt as the carpet began to accelerate forwards.

  To Simon’s surprise, over the next thirty seconds, the row of seats before them sank downward by two feet, the row before that by four feet, and so forth, all the way to the front of the carpet.

  “What’s happening?” asked Simon.

  “Oh,” said Clara, “that’s just the switch to the in-flight formation.”

  “In-flight formation?” asked Simon.

  “Well yeah,” said Jesse. “School carpets are old - but not so old they can’t do this.”

  “He’s from a mundie family,” explained Clara. “He’s never been on a flying carpet before.”

  “Oh,” said Jesse. “Well, it’s just something that any passenger carpet newer than seventy years old does. Gives everyone a better view.”

  “I see,” said Simon, as he noticed that the new configuration of the carpet was allowing him to see the periphery of Knoxville as the carpet’s path finished to curve toward the Smoky Mountains ahead.

  “So, where are you from?” asked Jesse.

  “Oak Ridge,” said Simon.

  “Chattanooga,” added Clara.

  “Sevierville,” said Jesse.

  The two sat in silence for a moment until Simon spoke up. “I wonder what if they don’t find my suitcase at Misty Peaks,” he stammered.

  “Why would that happen?” asked Jesse.

  “Because Sleet said that the people getting the bags there are numbskulls who want to be hobgoblins.”

  “Oh, they’re not that bad,” consoled Clara. “Here’s the thing about hobgoblins - they take pride in what they do. But hobgoblins from one crew always think that those from other crews are - well - that they suck. I promise you, the hobgoblin that gets you your suitcase once we land won’t have anything good to say about those at the Sunsphere either.”

  “Why?” asked Simon.

  “That’s just how hobgoblins are,” said Jesse matter-of-factly.

  “Just remember,” said Clara, “don’t give them a treat when they give you your bag. Wait for another time when they’re not doing anything - because they’ll get mad if they think you’re trying to pay them.”

  “And it needs to be natural food - or something hand-made,” added Jesse. “No money, nothing expensive, nothing that could be used as a tool for their work, and no jewelry or clothes.”

  “No clothes?” asked Simon.

  “No clothes,” affirmed Jesse, “and no jewelry. Doing that’s like saying that the clothes they make themselves aren’t good enough. Same goes for work tools.”

  “And giving them money or expensive things makes it seem like you’re trying to pay them,” added Clara.

  As the ride went on, Knoxville disappeared below the front of the carpet, and the only thing that could be seen ahead were the beautiful and ancient Smoky Mountains. Simon had been there a few times before on hiking trips with his family - but this was the first time he had ever seen them like this, from above.

  “So,” said Simon, “I’ve been to Worlds Fair park several times before - but I never saw flying carpets outside of the Sunsphere.”

  “That’s because you were looking from the ground,” said Jesse. “Flying carpets can only be seen from other flying carpets or from transportation hubs.”

  “You also can see them if they’re trying to avoid a collision,” added Clara.

  “Well yeah,” agreed Jesse, “but then they just look like fuzzy discs of light. You can’t see them clearly.”

  Simon continued watching the mountains ahead of him. He was still nervous - but the view was somewhat calming on his nerves. And it wasn’t long at all before he saw it in the distance - the wooden castle whose picture was on the brochure for Misty Peaks.