I Am Totally a Real-Life Wizard (Not Clickbait, I Swear!)

Vendetta laughed nervously. "Do we also have to sing it? Because that sounds like the exact opposite of practical."

Dusk chuckled. "Oh, I have a distant memory of a battle like that once. I don't remember anything except the violent clashing of two horrendous singers."

"No singing required. Although you're free to try... Who knows? Maybe singing it the right way will make the magic more potent." Cody grinned.

Valeri raised an eyebrow. "No way am I going to start singing when someone's literally bleeding out." Yep, that was the reason. Totally not because they were a bad singer.

"Yes, let's not." All they could imagine was trying to sing to heal a hurt friend, only to become ultra aware of everyone staring at them. So they'd rather not.

They cleared their throat. "How are we going to practice? Are we going to give ourselves small cuts?"

Cody exchanged a glance with Khalil. "Well, the way I learned was through a field trip to a local hospital... but I don't believe any hospitals admit mages-in-training anymore, not after that unfortunate incident where a patient was turned into a pink elephant..."

Valeri raised an eyebrow. "How does that even happen?"

Dawn murmured, "It's probably better not to ask."

Cody opened a drawer and took out a small needle. “To practice your first time, no one needs to get hurt.” He stabbed it through the paper, creating an obvious hole. “For now, you can track your progress by seeing how many layers of paper you can fix. Once you can fix all of the layers, you can move on to real injuries.”

Valeri took a deep breath. "Okay. We just say the words, right?" She stared at the paper and willed the hole to close. "Heal what has been hurt, save what has been lost... um, wait... something about clocks...?"

Vendetta giggled. “Don’t pretend Tangled wasn’t your favorite movie when we were younger. You know the entire script by heart.”

They gently took the paper from Valeri. “Heal what has been hurt, save what has been lost, make the clock reverse to return the health that once was mine.”

About half of the layers closed, like they had never been punctured.

Valeri blushed. "H-hey, not the entire script! Anyways, the magic words are slightly different from Tangled..." They turned their attention back to the paper and repeated, "Heal what has been hurt, save what has been lost, make the clock reverse to return the health that once was mine." The rest of the layers closed, and the paper looked as good as new.

Cody nodded. “That’s good for your first time. You’re both at the same level, so it’ll be easier to learn together.” He ruffled their hair. “I’m proud of you.”

Vendetta grinned.

Dawn hummed. "Dusk and I are proud of you both too. We'll be able to take on Josephinzo in no time!"

"Well, maybe not 'no time.' There are quite a few more defensive spells to learn first... Make sure to keep practicing the healing incantation after the lesson. Alright, do you feel up for trying the potion version now?"

Dusk vibrated in excitement. “Oh, potions! I do love a good brew. I’m excited to see if you have some natural talent in you.”

Vendetta nodded. “I’m ready.”

"Me too."

"Good. We should have all the basic ingredients here... one moment." Cody left the room, rummaged around somewhere, and returned with a handful of leaves and flowers, bottles of colored liquid, and a bowl and spoon. "So, have you both taken chemistry before?"

Vendetta nodded. “Yeah, I took chemistry. It’s been a while though.”

Cody smiled. “Don’t worry. We won’t get too technical.”

He carefully poured a teaspoon of a peach-and-white swirled liquid into the bowl. "This will essentially be like a chemical reaction, except magic will be added in as well. Think of it like those reactions that require heat to proceed-- magic gives the ingredients a little kick to condense into a potion."

Valeri shifted their position to get a better look into the bowl as Cody crumbled up a small dark green leaf and sprinkled it in. "The ingredients I'm using don't matter as much as the intent. Be very careful what you think as you're making potions!"

“Is it possible to make a poisonous health potion then? If your thoughts are negative enough.”

Cody shrugged. “I wouldn’t say it goes that far, but it can be more harmful than good.”