Alexandra Quick and the Thorn Circle

The Goblin Market

The bus wasn't parked in front of the strip mall with the laundromat. Instead, they were in front of a Polish deli, though the neighborhood looked as shady as the one Ms. Grimm had taken Alexandra to. It might have been the same neighborhood, just a different block, but Alexandra wasn't sure.

"Now, please line up by grade," said Mrs. Speaks as the students filed out of the bus. It was still before noon and there were people on the street, some of whom looked in their direction, and Alexandra wondered that no one seemed to think it was unusual that a schoolbus was parked in front of a deli in a neighborhood like this, or that thirty-odd children were getting off a bus that didn't look like it could seat more than a dozen at most.

Alexandra's group of sixth-graders lined up next to seven seventh-graders. There were five eighth-graders, including the bossy Ozarker boy who'd scolded Constance and Forbearance. Alexandra made a face at him. He scowled back at her.

Apparently not as many older students needed a bus ride to the Goblin Market. Besides Gwendolyn, there were thirteen other kids who ranged in age from fourteen to seventeen, and two of them were chaperones for the seventh and eighth-graders.

"Ninth-graders and above, you're on your own," Mrs. Speaks said to them, "but remember you're representing Charmbridge Academy. Behave yourselves. Make sure you're back behind Grobnowski's by six o'clock. Everyone else, stay with your assigned chaperone. Anyone gets lost, just head for the promenade in front of Grundy's and we'll meet up with you there eventually. Don't wander off or make us come looking for you!"

And with that, they filed into the Polish deli, which was called Grobnowski's Old World Deli. There were some very old men with wizened faces wearing woolen sweaters and sock-like argyle caps on their heads seated at tables inside, playing chess with moving pieces, or talking, or reading newspapers, which Alexandra noticed had moving pictures. Some of them ignored the children while others winked, and a couple of them waved to Tabitha Speaks, who waved back.

Behind the counter was an extremely thin, sour-looking woman and a much fatter and friendlier-looking man. Everyone here was old, except for the students traipsing past the glass cases and between the tables. The deli itself seemed old, even older on the inside than it looked from the outside, with smoke-covered wooden beams and rafters, an old iron pot-bellied stove in the center of the establishment, currently unlit, and the smell of oils and aged meat permeating the place.

Alexandra saw one case had cards stuck in front of the prosciutto and ham and kielbasa and sturgeon and roast beef. The cards all listed prices in Ps and Es and Ls rather than dollars and cents, and there was a sign above the meat counter that said "Guaranteed Wizard-raised meat." A cheese counter, however, had one half that said "Wizard cheeses" and another half that said "Muggle cheeses," and the Muggle cheeses were cheaper. Some of the Wizard cheeses were colored blue or green or candy-striped red and white, and one wheel with a wedge cut out kept changing colors as Alexandra watched. She would have liked to look around the deli some more, but the line was moving to the back entrance, and they filed out into the Goblin Market.

As before, there were witches and wizards and some creatures that were clearly not human, and there were more of them than before, since it was daytime. Alexandra thought she saw someone leading a winged lion down the street but they disappeared around a corner. She saw Goody Pruett's down the block, so they were on the same street she and Ms. Grimm had been on before, just entering it from another direction. As the other chaperones led their respective grades off, Gwendolyn said, "Well, everyone stay together so no one gets lost! We're going to visit Hoargrim's first, because I know you're all looking forward to buying your wands!" In fact, Gwendolyn looked more thrilled than any of them, as if she were announcing that she was taking them to get a pony. She even clasped her hands together. "I remember when I was matched with my wand. I was so nervous and excited!"

"Yeah, we're excited, now can we go do it?" David muttered behind Alexandra. The other girls smiled politely, then gave each other looks and giggled as soon as Gwendolyn turned her back to lead them down the street.

Alexandra slowed down to walk alongside Constance and Forbearance. "How do you get matched with a wand?" she asked them, since they had wands already.

"Well, every wand is different," said Constance.

"Unique," said Forbearance.

"Wands have humors and turns, like people. You have to find one what suits you."

"Actually, we're much eager to watch you-all buy yourn wands."

"We was given ourn, see."

"Ozarker wands are all hand-me-downs."

"Passed down everly from previous generations."

"Mine was brought over by one of our ancestors from Europe." It was Forbearance speaking now. At least, Alexandra thought it was. Their identical appearance and habit of picking up and continuing each other's sentences made it particularly hard to keep them straight.

"Mine ain't quite that old," said Constance. "It was cut 'n charmed over a hundred years ago, and belonged to our great-great grandmother."

"But Constance is the first one to wish with it since Great-Great Grandma passed on."

"That was almost thirty years ago, but it didn't kin to no one else 'til I picked it up," Constance finished.

"But how do you know when a wand suits you?" Alexandra asked.

"Oh, you'll know."

"I reckon they have scores of wands, and you'll get to try them all a piece."

"And when you find the one what kins to you, why, that's the one you'll buy!"

"But we've never seen how it's done by city witches."

Alexandra found this all both intriguing and unhelpful. She imagined walking into a store with cases full of wands on display, and picking up one after another and being expected to just know whether or not it was suitable.

Hoargrim's was small, almost unnoticeable, sitting between what looked like a toy store and a cafe. Its exterior was dark wood, unlike the brick buildings around it, and there was only a single sign in brass letters above the window: "HOARGRIM'S WANDS AND ALCHEMICAL SUPPLIES." In the window display, Alexandra could see several wands of different lengths sitting in velvet-lined cases, along with a small silver cup sitting next to a mortar and pestle.

They entered, and the interior seemed to swallow sound. Their footsteps became more muted and everyone naturally spoke in whispers without realizing they were doing it.

The shop smelled like old wood, shoe polish, and something pickled and slightly unpleasant. Lamps inside provided more light than what filtered through the dusty window. There were barrels throughout the store; pickled bear livers, dried batwings, hens' teeth, and earwig pincers. Alexandra saw a jar full of newts' eyes sitting on the counter staring at her. Behind the counter were racks full of powders and poultices and oils and minerals. A huge, ancient owl sat on a perch above the counter, staring at the children who'd filed in.

There were stairs leading down into the basement, with a sign overhead saying "Alchemical Supplies," and underneath that, in red letters, "Children must be accompanied by a responsible adult."

"You shouldn't need to go down there," Gwendolyn said, as several of them looked in the direction of the stairs. "We'll give Mr. Finsterholz a list of the standard supplies you'll need and they'll prepare packages for each of you."

Alexandra wasn't the only one who looked disappointed, as any place requiring an adult escort was bound to have interesting stuff in it.

A small man with a beak-like nose and little tufts of jet black hair standing out as stiffly as the bristles on a wire brush around an otherwise bald head shuffled out from behind the counter. He was wearing a white shirt and dark green vest, black trousers, and a dour expression.

"New students, jah? Sixth-graders?"

"Yes, sir," said Gwendolyn. "This is Mr. Finsterholz. He'll be matching you with your wands, so line up over here at the wands section." She handed a list to the old man, who peered at it, squinting through a pair of reading glasses, then handed it to a younger man behind the counter who began taking bottles and jars down from a supply shelf.

The wands section was at the opposite end of the store from the stairs leading down to the alchemical supplies. It was a smaller room with no partition between it and the main floor, but unlike the rest of the store, it was carpeted. Wooden cabinets lined the walls from floor to ceiling. Finsterholz ambled over into this room, and beckoned the first one in line forward, which was Darla.

Darla took a deep breath, looking excited and nervous, exactly as Gwendolyn had described. All the other kids could feel her excitement. Finsterholz peered at her, looked her up and down, and then bent over to pull a wand out of a box in one of the cabinets closest to the floor. "Give this one a try, jah?"

Darla took the wand, which was long and had a reddish color. She held it in a tight fist, and gave it a little shake.

"Nein, nein, don't hold it like a drumstick!" Finsterholz snapped, making Darla jump. "That one's not right for you." He snatched it out of her hand and put it back in its box, and then pulled another one out of a box that was closer to his waist level. "Here. Try this one."

The new wand was shorter and thicker and almost black in color. Darla took it carefully and held it in a looser grip. She wiggled it tentatively.

"Nein." Finsterholz snatched it out of her hand too. Darla looked as if her confidence were being drained rapidly. The old man didn't notice. He had her try out three more wands, with Darla becoming increasingly anxious with each one that was rejected, until she looked close to tears.

"Jah, that one is good, I think," Finsterholz said, as Darla held a dark, tapered wand in a trembling hand. "Hawthorn with nogtail hair. Unusual combination. Not the most popular core, but very good for hexing and jinxing."

"Or for Dark magic," murmured Constance, behind Alexandra.

He grabbed a box and held out his hand to wrap it up, but Darla clutched it to her chest. "I'll hold onto it, if you don't mind," she said, a little haughtily. She glanced at Gwendolyn. "I'm allowed, since we're enrolled at the academy now, right?"

"Well, yes," Gwendolyn admitted. "But don't start waving it around or trying to cast spells with it, or it will be confiscated." Finsterholz shrugged and gestured for Angelique to step forward.

As interesting as this entire process was, Alexandra was no more enlightened than before after watching Angelique and then Anna try out the wands that Mr. Finsterholz picked out for them, seemingly at random. Angelique received her match with the third wand, which was a thick black willow one with a dragon heartstring core. Anna found her wand with Finsterholz's first pick, which delighted both of them. Like Darla, Angelique and Anna both wanted to hold onto their wands.

David was next. He stepped forward, and Mr. Finsterholz squinted at him, as if not sure what to make of the boy. David folded his arms and looked back defiantly at the wand merchant, who was only an inch or two taller than him. Finsterholz turned around and drew a long beechwood wand from a box near a top shelf.

It was longer than any of the wands Alexandra had seen so far. David took it and held it lightly, letting it rest on the fingertips of both hands, and then snatched it with one hand and whipped it about. Finsterholz jumped. "Don't do that!" he snarled, and then said, "Well?"

"Feels good," David murmured. He smiled, and made a little flourish with the tip.

"Ach. Some times it just takes me a little longer than others to get a feel for them. I usually don't have as much trouble as with that girl." He jerked a thumb at Darla, who pouted and stuck her nose up in the air. Then he snatched the wand back out of David's hand. "If you're going to play with it then it stays in its box." Over David's protests, he wrapped it in a long box and handed the box to Gwendolyn.

Now it was Alexandra's turn. She stepped forward to take David's place (he was now arguing with Gwendolyn), and faced Mr. Finsterholz.

"Muggle-born too, aren't you?" he grumbled. "I can tell."

"Does that make a difference in what wand we get?" Alexandra demanded.

"Nein. Maybe it makes a difference in how you use it." But he was still squinting at her. "Troublesome, you're going to be troublesome," he muttered. Alexandra narrowed her eyes but didn't say anything.

Finsterholz was right, if by "troublesome" he meant "time-consuming," as he placed one wand after another in Alexandra's hands. She held each one carefully while trying to feel something magical about it, but she felt no particular affinity for any of them. She tried birch, beech, ash, oak, yew, redwood, cherry, and apple, with Finsterholz muttering about unicorn and kelpie hair, and even something called a re'em. "Not scales or feathers or heartstring for you, no, definitely hair."

Alexandra was determined not to look worried the way Darla had, but she wondered if either Finsterholz or the wands were biased against her.

Finally he pulled a wand out of a box in a dusty corner, and handed it to her. It was a light-colored wood and felt hard yet flexible in her hand. She moved it in slow circles, careful not to whip it or snap it about.

"Troublesome, like I said."

She looked at Finsterholz. "Why?"

"Someone had to die to obtain chimaera hair, mark my words." He made to take the wand back from her, but remembering how he'd confiscated David's, she held it away from him. "I'll hold onto mine, too," she said defiantly.

"Ach! Fine." He thrust the box at her. It said "Hickory (Carya illinoinensis)/Chimaera hair/10.5"" on the label.

"Everyone, put your wands away now," Gwendolyn said. She'd given David his wand box back. Darla and Angelique reluctantly put theirs back in their boxes, and Alexandra, after one quick flourish of her new hickory stick, did the same. Inwardly, she was delighted, her excitement dampened somewhat by the knowledge that she would have to take her new wand home and then do nothing with it. But Constance and Forbearance had been right; Alexandra couldn't wait to get her hands on it again.

"Well, chimaera hair is very rare," said Darla, as Gwendolyn herded them back into a line. "I've heard chimaera scales have also been used in wands. Of course rare materials don't necessarily make a wand more powerful."

The clerk to whom Mr. Finsterholz had given Gwendolyn's list of supplies had prepared seven tightly-wrapped packages, which he handed to each student as they came to the counter. Alexandra took hers, which rattled a little and gave off a faintly spicy smell.

Each of the other students had handed the clerk some coins in payment. "Three lions for the alchemical supplies, fifteen for the wand," he said to Alexandra. Gwendolyn stepped forward. "She's a scholarship student," she said, counting out coins from a little purse. "I'll need a receipt." She held out a small roll of parchment, and a quill sitting on the counter floated into the air and scribbled something on it.

"Time to get your schoolbooks now!" Gwendolyn said, turning to the younger kids, and she ushered them out of Hoargrim's in a single-file line.

Their next stop was Boxley's Books. This was a much larger store with posters in the front window advertising discounts on used textbooks, as well as bestsellers like "Quidditch and Quodpot Through the Ages, Revised American Edition" and "Surviving Wandless: A Journey to Empowerment for the Magically Occluded."

Alexandra was a voracious reader, and was looking forward to browsing the section on magical creatures. She presumed wizard books would have more accurate information about creatures like redcaps and kappa. She noticed that like all the other pictures she'd seen, though, the covers of the books were animated. Authors' photographs would smile at whoever picked the book up, while the people riding brooms on the cover of "Quidditch and Quodpot Through the Ages" zipped and zoomed about.

"I'll have to hide any books I take home with me," she said to David.

Gwendolyn let them browse the shelves a bit, and Alexandra found several books in the magizoology section that had lifelike pictures of chimaera, dragons, and other beasts. An illustration of a kappa did indeed look like the creature she had seen in Old Larkin Pond. She read the accompanying text, which told her that if a kappa were tricked into spilling the water on top of its head, it would lose all its powers.

"Hah!" she said. "I figured that out on my own!"

Then she had to find the books on her class list. Most were from the "Young Wands Teaching Series." "Young Wands Teaching Series: Beginning Charms," "Young Wands Teaching Series: Beginning Transfiguration," "Young Wands Teaching Series: Basic Principles of Magic," etc. Her arms were full by the time she'd acquired all the books on the list.

"I'm afraid your scholarship doesn't include funds for non-required books," Gwendolyn said, pulling "Magical Beasts and Where to Find Them" and "101 Easy and Effective Hexes" off of Alexandra's stack. She scowled at the latter book. "You're too young for that," she added.

Darla and Angelique looked a little smug as they paid for their own books with the money they'd brought. They each purchased Witchteen magazine and some books about love potions and divination, in addition to their schoolbooks.

Alexandra noticed that Constance and Forbearance had purchased used textbooks, some of which were in rather battered condition, and looked a bit worried as they totaled up the cost.

"How did you get wizard money?" Alexandra asked David.

"School said there's a wizard bank that'll exchange dollars for eagles," David replied. "So my folks sent a check."

Alexandra envied David his ability to simply tell his parents about the wizarding world. She, apparently, would be unable to buy anything that wasn't specifically paid for by her scholarship. Then she remembered the money her mother had given her.

"Is there a bank where I can exchange Muggle money for wizard money?" she asked Gwendolyn.

"There are Gringotts and CBNW branches down the street," Gwendolyn replied. "We can go there if you really need to."

"I'll trade you," David whispered.

Alexandra was curious to see what a wizard bank looked like, but Gwendolyn didn't look eager to take everyone on a detour, and Alexandra wasn't eager to endure Darla and Angelique's condescending looks while she tried to exchange her Muggle money. So she pulled the two twenty-dollar bills out of her pocket. "OK."

David took the bills, and handed her two gold coins with lions on them in exchange. Alexandra looked at them suspiciously. Having only dealt with normal American pocket change, it seemed like not a lot of money for forty dollars.

"They're made of gold, you know," David said, reading her expression.

Alexandra shrugged and muttered, "'kay," and grabbed the copy of "Magical Beasts and Where to Find Them" back from Gwendolyn. She decided not to argue with her about the book of hexes. She ran back to the front counter, where a clerk took one of her lions and gave her eight coins with birds on them in change.

"One lion is ten eagles, which is twenty pidges," David said, as Alexandra inspected the coins in her hand.

"I'm going to ask Ms. Grimm why I never got a guide to any of this stuff," she grumbled.

"Now we're going to go to Grundy's!" Gwendolyn said. Darla and Angelique looked excited at this. They all filed out of Boxley's Books and down the street. They were rather weighed down now, with their alchemical supplies, wand boxes, and books. Still on their lists were robes, hats, gloves, boots, school clothes, a cauldron, quills and parchment, and a familiar.

Alexandra slowed her pace a little as they marched down the street, as this was her longest look yet at the Goblin Market. She was still intrigued by the odd fashions of witches and wizards, which looked like a cross between their traditional representations in children's books, and a hodge-podge of archaic American clothing styles. The non-humans were also fascinating, but didn't seem to appreciate being stared at. One little green man gave Alexandra a sour look as he hurried across the street into an imposing building with marble columns in front. She saw that this was Gringotts, which Gwendolyn had said was a wizard bank.

They passed Mahmoud's Flying Carpets, which advertised the latest imports from Asia and promised "a soft comfortable ride with every design, infinitely more stable than a broom." There was an animated poster in the storefront depicting an entire family enjoying a picnic while seated on a flying carpet, while decidedly uncomfortable-looking wizards riding brooms flew past them, grimacing and looking envious.

Across the street was Chicago's Broom Megastore, which had on its roof a large animated billboard on which a dazzling assortment of brooms were flying circles around some ragged, dusty-looking carpets. It looked as if Mahmoud's and the Megastore were engaged in a price war.

Alexandra noticed that there were no cars or other vehicles on the streets, and consequently, no traffic lights. She was about to conclude that wizards had no machines at all, when she saw a small clockwork figure marching down the street. Apparently these were not common as she wasn't the only person staring at it. Many wizards and witches were watching it curiously, but she noticed a couple of the small non-humans dressed in scraps of clothing were wrinkling their noses in disdain. The mechanical man pivoted on its metal foot and stepped into a greengrocer's that had sitting in bins outside both normal-looking vegetables and some angry plants that bared teeth and snapped at passers-by.

All of these sights were wondrous to Alexandra. A few days ago, despite knowing about her own magical abilities, she would have considered a scene like this to be as fantastic as a Disney movie. Yet now she was being hurried along by Gwendolyn, and she noticed that while David was having a similar reaction, Darla and Angelique were watching the two Muggle-borns and giggling at them. At least Constance and Forbearance seemed a little wide-eyed at the Goblin Market as well. Alexandra supposed the magical shops and the people in their colorful garb and the non-humans didn't seem particularly strange to them, but they had never been in a big city before. She picked up her pace, and saw that their destination was just ahead.

Grundy's was the largest building in sight. It was even larger than the Gringotts bank building, and from the outside it looked like a department store. When they got inside, Alexandra saw that that was exactly what it was.

Grundy's had clothing sections, much like Muggle department stores, for men, women, boys, and girls. There was also an Ocular Department, a Household Charmed Goods Department, Furniture, Home Decorations and Remodeling, Wizard Appliances, Clockworks, Bath & Body Charms, and a Brooms and Carpets section. This was only on the first floor. Alexandra could see some old-fashioned elevators that went upstairs, and signs indicating that on the levels above were Glass and Potionwares, Cauldrons, Toys and Children's Charms, Sporting Goods, Wizard School Supplies, Wands & Wandcare, a Familiars and Pets Department, Muggle Imports, and so on. Grundy's was a huge grand exploratorium all on its own, a little miniature city within the Goblin Market, full of wizard wares and shoppers who were as interesting to watch as the things they were shopping for. Here and there around the store, Alexandra could hear bangs and pops and whistles, or chimes and eerie music, and see flashes of light or showers of sparks as some of the more spectacular items for sale demonstrated their effectiveness. There were pieces of paper flying overhead under their own power, as well as self-propelled balloons. One of these descended to float after the Charmbridge students, with letters running along its circumference, appearing and disappearing by magic: "Today Only - 20% off on all Quidditch and Quodpot Items (Not Including Brooms)!"

Alexandra had seen the book on Quidditch and Quodpot in Boxley's, and still had no idea what that was, but like everything else, she was determined to learn as much as she could by observation, rather than continually reminding the others of how ignorant she was and giving Darla an excuse to show off what she knew.

She did ask Gwendolyn, "If they sell wands here, why did we go to Hoargrim's?" but that made Darla give her a pitying look too, while Angelique snickered.

"Oh, Grundy's wands are all right, I guess," Gwendolyn said. "But they're made, err..."

"Cheaply," said Angelique.

"You'd have to be pretty poor to want a department store wand," said Darla. "Or someone with so little magical talent that it doesn't much matter what sort of wand you have."

"Now, that's not necessarily true," Gwendolyn chided, lowering her voice, but Alexandra saw from her expression that it probably was.

They headed into the clothes sections, which contained virtually nothing resembling clothes Alexandra saw in "normal" department stores, except for a small corner with a sign saying "Muggle fashions."

"All right, everyone needs classroom robes, hats, school clothes, gloves, boots, and goggles suitable for potions and herbology classes..."

"We have the list," David pointed out. Gwendolyn frowned a little, then said, "Fine, I'll let you go shopping then, but I'll need to check and make sure you've got everything on your lists before we leave. We'll be going to the Familiar Corner next. Let's all meet at the cafeteria in the basement at -" she checked her watch. "- one o'clock. Alexandra," she added, "I'll have to come with you since everything you buy has to be charged to Charmbridge."

Alexandra groaned inwardly. She wanted to explore Grundy's thoroughly, without their teenaged chaperone hovering over her shoulder. But all of them began hunting through the clothes racks together, though David split off to go into the boys' section. It seemed to Alexandra that witches mostly wore dresses, robes, and gowns. There were very few trousers available except in the girls' section.

Charmbridge did not have uniforms, for which Alexandra was very thankful, but it did have a strict dress code which amounted to almost the same thing. Girls could wear white button-down shirts or blouses, long-sleeved in the winter, short-sleeved in the summer, with jackets that were black or "suitably dark in color," and matching skirts (hem not to rise more than one inch above the knee) or slacks. Shoes were to be black or dark brown, and "comfortable and practical."

The dress code went on and on with specifications and prohibitions concerning socks, scarves, hair bands and ribbons, jewelry, and even underwear. Underlined at the bottom of the clothing list was "Muggle fashions are not permitted."

Alexandra was never, ever going to wear a skirt, so she picked out several pairs of pants. She was used to wearing T-shirts and wasn't at all happy that these would not be permitted at Charmbridge, so she found the least frilly button-down shirts she could. Gwendolyn kept suggesting clothes she thought were "cute," and Alexandra determinedly chose the plainest, darkest selections available. She was relieved to find that the underwear sold at Grundy's didn't differ noticeably from what her mother bought for her at the local SuperMart.

Darla and Angelique, meanwhile, seemed to spend inordinate amounts of time agonizing over minute differences in shades of dark green, or whether or not a particular skirt matched a pair of shoes, or whether to buy a blouse with three buttons or four.

Constance and Forbearance, on the other hand, bought hardly anything. Alexandra noticed the Ozarker girls seemed a little uncomfortable in the clothing section, especially when Darla and Angelique squealed over some colorful, gauzy (and forbidden, at Charmbridge) robes.

"Don't you need school clothes too?" she asked.

"We make most of our shifts at home," Constance said quietly.

Darla and Angelique went from the clothes section to look at Bath and Body Charms, while Anna, Constance, and Forbearance went directly to Wizard School Supplies upstairs. That left Alexandra alone with Gwendolyn, so she began wandering towards Wizard Appliances and Clockworks, despite the older girl telling her that she should buy boots and gloves next.

Alexandra was drawn to a crowd of children and adults gathered in a circle in the Clockworks section. She pushed her way between a couple of witches in the back, ignoring Gwendolyn's objections, and forced her way to the front, elbowing past another boy a little older than her.

A large golden balloon overhead flashed the words "Clockwork House-Servants!" Beneath it was a banner over a row of the mechanical men Alexandra had seen outside: "Grundy's is the Exclusive Distributor for Tockmagi ® Household Clockwork Golems!"

Before the audience, one of the clockwork golems was dancing what looked like an Irish jig. It was all gleaming copper and brass, with a smooth metal mask for a face. The dancing golem was wearing a child-sized tuxedo that concealed its inner workings, but the display models on the stand behind it were bare metal, and Alexandra could see that their joints and torsos were full of what looked like hundreds of tiny gears and sprockets.

"Walk on your hands!" ordered a boy in front of Alexandra, and the golem on the floor stopped dancing and flipped over onto its hands, and began walking about as easily as it had on its legs.

"It's nothing more than a glorified Muggle toy!" grumbled a fat bearded wizard behind her. "It can't Apparate, it can't charm, it can't do anything a proper house-elf can!"

"They'll never replace house-elves," agreed another man.

"But it's so much more humane to use golems than house-elves!" said a witch who appeared to be the second man's wife.

"Humane for whom? The house-elves?" The fat wizard chuckled derisively. "Have you seen how the poor creatures look at these clockwork replacements? They're horrified, as well they should be! Don't tell me you take those moonbats from ASPEW seriously?"

"They're a lot less ugly than house-elves," said the boy next to Alexandra. A younger girl gave him an offended look. "We have a house-elf! Her name is Gilly and she's like part of the family. Who'd want a thing instead of an elf?"

Alexandra watched the performing golem with interest. It looked like a robot to her, but she was pretty sure you couldn't buy a robot like that in a Muggle department store. She'd read about elves in An Encyclopedia of Spirits, Sprites and Fairies, and now she thought she knew what "house-elves" were.

"Alexandra!" said Gwendolyn sharply, trying to squeeze past the people in back. "We can't spend all day here, you know. Let's go get the rest of your school supplies."

Reluctantly, Alexandra faded back into the crowd, and rejoined Gwendolyn.

They purchased a pointed black hat that Alexandra thought looked just like what she might buy for a Halloween costume, and a black cloak that delighted Alexandra because it had pockets everywhere. Then they bought boots and heavy gloves, which made her wonder what sort of things they'd be doing in alchemy and herbology class that required fire-, fang-, and acid-proof gloves.

Upstairs, Alexandra was quite surprised to find that Wizarding School Supplies included quills and fountain pens but no pencils, and nothing resembling the markers or ballpoint pens she was familiar with. Likewise, there were rolls of parchment, and much more expensive Steno-Scrolls (which Gwendolyn said were forbidden in school), but no notebooks or pads of ordinary paper.

Then they went to the Cauldrons department, where David was also looking at shelves full of cauldrons ranging from teapot-sized to large enough for a grown-up to take a bath in. Most were iron, though they had bronze, copper, brass, and silver as well, and each bore stamps indicating capacity, thickness, and "charm rating" according to the International Confederation of Warlocks Standards Organization.

"Our list says half-inch, two gallon capacity minimum, cold iron," said David. "Dang, these things are gonna be heavy to carry." Then his face brightened as he saw a more expensive model on the end. "Check it out! Built-in Holding and Apportation charms!" At Alexandra's quizzical look, he said, "That means you can put all your other stuff in the cauldron and carry it like it weighs nothing."

"Eleven lions is an awful lot to pay for a cauldron," said Gwendolyn, looking at the price tag.

David shrugged, and pulled the apportating cauldron off the shelf. It did indeed seem to float weightlessly in his hand, and Alexandra watched enviously as he began throwing his books, clothes, alchemical supplies, and everything else he'd purchased into it, which held them all despite their volume being much greater than that of the cauldron.

"Make sure you take everything out at the counter and don't try to leave the store without paying for anything," Gwendolyn said.

David looked up, and his face twisted into a scowl. "You think I'm gonna steal something?" he demanded incredulously.

"No, no," Gwendolyn said, taken aback. "I was just warning you that everything has a Thief's Curse on it, and if you -"

"Why are you warning me about a Thief's Curse if you don't think I'm gonna steal something?" David asked furiously.

"I just meant, I thought you might not know -"

"Not to steal things?"

Gwendolyn was terribly flustered now, and Alexandra almost felt sorry for her, except that the older girl's patronizing attitude had been getting on her nerves too, and she didn't blame David for losing his patience.

"It's just that you, you might not be familiar with how things are in, in our society -" she stammered.

"'Cause I'm black?" David drawled.

"No!" Gwendolyn looked genuinely shocked, and then said, "Because you're Muggle-raised!"

However she had meant that to sound, it didn't sound any better, and the words hung in the air for a moment while David glared at her. Despite being much older and taller than him, Gwendolyn was almost cowering now.

"Yeah, well, I know you're not familiar with Muggle society," David said, his voice dripping with sarcasm, "but stealing isn't allowed there either. So thanks for the warning." He picked up his cauldron and stalked away.

Gwendolyn's face was flushed. Alexandra just looked at her expressionlessly, wondering what other prejudices people who'd grown up in wizarding society had about "Muggle-raised" children.

"I didn't mean to offend him," Gwendolyn said, as if hoping for absolution from Alexandra.

Alexandra shrugged, and Gwendolyn just fanned her face with her hand for a moment.

"Can I get one of those?" Alexandra asked, pointing at the expensive cauldron David had taken.

"I'm afraid not," said Gwendolyn. "You'll have to choose a basic model."

By the time Alexandra had checked off everything on her school supplies list except the familiar, she was uncomfortably weighed down. With a look at Gwendolyn, who merely pressed her lips together and didn't say anything, Alexandra had shoved all her clothes into her cauldron, but unfortunately it didn't simply swallow them up like a bottomless closet, the way David's charmed cauldron did. So now she had the cauldron full of clothes slung over her shoulder, the alchemical supplies under one arm, and her wand, writing supplies, and boots and gloves and cloak under the other. Gwendolyn offered to help carry some of her things, but Alexandra shrugged her off. She knew it wasn't really nice or fair to keep making Gwendolyn feel uncomfortable, but after putting up with so much patronization and Darla and Angelique's superior attitudes, Alexandra was feeling a petty sense of satisfaction in making her chaperone squirm a little.

They made their way to a counter, where a salesclerk wearing a black scarf on her head and a button on her blouse that said "Ask me about the Grundy's Christmas Club Account!" smiled patronizingly at Alexandra. "Buying school supplies, are we?" she said brightly.

"Yeah," Alexandra said.

"What school are you going to?" the clerk asked, as she began pulling things out of Alexandra's cauldron. On the counter in front of her, an abacus began clicking as its beads started moving by themselves, totaling up her purchases.

"Charmbridge."

"Oh, really? That's an excellent school!"

Alexandra nodded, not really interested in chatting with the saleswitch.

"Twelve lions and three eagles," the clerk said. Gwendolyn handed the clerk fifteen coins, took a receipt, and then she and Alexandra rode one of the rattly caged elevators down to the basement.

Grundy's cafeteria was an enormous open space with long rows of tables surrounded by deli and buffet counters. The smell of food made Alexandra's stomach rumble. She hadn't eaten since breakfast, and while she still had the lunch her mother had packed, she was much more interested in what the cafeteria might serve. She and Gwendolyn found David, Anna, Constance, and Forbearance already seated at a table, and Alexandra piled her things next to David's cauldron, which sat by itself on the table.

"I want to get something to eat," Alexandra said. "Can you watch my stuff?"

"Sure," said David, "if you trust me not to steal anything." Gwendolyn winced and looked a little wounded. Alexandra just shook her head at him, and ran to the nearest buffet table.

While much of the food looked familiar, there were also things like crispy fried batwings, roast snipe, peppermeat, hot witchbuns, various cauldron stews, butterbeer, and also a little Goody Pruett's concession, with a sign above the dessert pies saying "It's Not Nearly as Good if It's Not Goody Pruett's!"

Alexandra decided to get a plate of fried wizard-raised chicken, mashed potatoes with peppermeat gravy, witchbuns, fizzypop, and a slice of Goody Pruett's witch apple pie with ninety-nine-flavored ice cream. Pocketing her change (and telling herself that she hadn't really spent all of the money her mother had given her, although she wasn't sure how her mother would react to being given a handful of gold lions, eagles, and pidges back), she returned to the table, and saw that Constance and Forbearance were unpacking lunches they had brought. Gwendolyn was gone.

"Gwen the Goony Witch went to talk to some friends of hers," David said, jerking his thumb over his shoulder. Alexandra saw that Gwendolyn was now sitting at a table with some other teenagers. Anna frowned, and Constance and Forbearance paused to look at David for a moment, then resumed unwrapping their own rolls and little jars of jam.

"She didn't mean to insult you," Alexandra said, digging into her fried chicken.

"She insulted us," David pointed out, then added, "Although I didn't notice her warning you not to steal things."

"That's 'cause she's been with me the whole time. I can't get away from her!" Alexandra complained.

"Hello!" said Darla brightly, as she and Angelique appeared, both carrying several shopping bags. "Did you get all your shopping done? It's almost impossible with what little time we have," she sighed, before anyone else could answer. "Oh, you didn't buy very much," she continued, looking at Alexandra, Constance, and Forbearance's purchases, and then her eyes settled on David's cauldron. "Oh! That's one of the Holding models, isn't it?" She seemed surprised.

"Yeah," David replied. "With an Apportation Charm too."

"Well, I'm sure that's very convenient, although you know, it's a little... gaudy to buy such an extravagant cauldron just for potions class," Darla sniffed. Alexandra thought she saw a trace of envy, though. Darla didn't exactly seem opposed to gaudiness on principle, judging from all the extra clothes she'd bought which were bursting with non-Charmbridge-approved colors.

Darla and Angelique sat down, piled their things on the table. It was now too crowded with food and shopping bags, so they moved everyone's purchases to the adjacent table, and then the other two girls went to buy lunch as well.

"Gaudy!" David snorted.

Alexandra grinned, and shoved a forkful of mashed potatoes into her mouth. The gravy's strong peppery flavor almost burned the inside of her mouth, and she hastily gulped down some of her fizzypop.

The older boy in Ozarker clothes who had scolded Constance and Forbearance on the bus walked over to their table and said, "You'uns, come sit with us." Alexandra set down her butterbeer, and saw that there were three other boys at the table he had come from. One of them also wore Ozarker clothes and looked almost identical to the first boy, while the other two, who looked like they were even older, were wearing stiff black cloaks and hats. They didn't exactly look like Ozarkers, but they were dressed in what Alexandra thought was also a pretty old-fashioned style, not unlike what she had seen Alastair and Angus MacAvoy wearing.

Constance and Forbearance hesitated, and Alexandra said, "Who are you bossing around?"

The Ozarker boy scowled darkly at her. "Mind your own business, sorceress!"

"Make me." Alexandra met his gaze without blinking, and her own expression was dark as well. Who did this boy think he was?

"Please," said Constance.

"Don't be fussing," said Forbearance.

"Do you want to go sit with this bossy jerk?" Alexandra asked. Both girls flushed, while the boy began turning purple.

"They should be sitting with their own kind," he growled.

Now David's face was turning even darker. "What's that supposed to mean?" he snarled.

The other boys from the table were drifting over. Anna glanced over her shoulder, but neither Gwendolyn nor any nearby adults seemed to have noticed the confrontation brewing.

"Ozarker girls ought not be consortin' with furriners or sorceresses or Muggle-borns with no breeding," the older boy said.

"Foreigner?" squeaked Anna indignantly.

"Sorceresses?" Alexandra repeated.

"Breeding?" David growled.

"It's all right," said Forbearance.

"We'll go," said Constance.

"Like hell!" David snapped.

"David!" Anna whispered, as now some of the adults around them were turning their heads.

"What are you, like from the last century or something?" David said. "People can hang out with whoever they want!"

"And they're known by the company they keep!" retorted the Ozarker. He glared at Constance and Forbearance. "Do you really want to be seen with mudbloods?" His lip contorted into a vicious sneer, while all the girls except Alexandra gasped.

David's reaction was volcanic. "What did you call me?" he yelled, leaping to his feet.

Alexandra didn't know what a mudblood was, but she was sure it was bad. She stood up also, and ignored Gwendolyn's cries of "Children! Please, lower your voices! What are you doing?"

She imagined big, fat worms wriggling out of the older boy's nostrils. He looked cross-eyed for a moment, then snorted, wiped at his nose, and glowered at Alexandra. "What did you just contrive?" he said, gritting his teeth and stepping closer until he towered over her. "Did you make to hex me, you little mudblood brat?"

"Children!" Gwendolyn cried out, and then Alexandra kicked the boy in the kneecap.

He yelped and hopped on one leg, and then his three friends arrived, looking angry and confused. One of them grabbed Alexandra. "What are you doing?" He half-lifted her off the ground, and then with a yell David launched himself across the table and tackled the other boy, who seemed to be the first one's twin, even though he was almost twice David's size. The two of them tumbled to the floor together. People shouted and Constance and Forbearance hunched over with their hands over their heads, while Anna shrieked and ducked under the table to avoid the food and drinks David had sent flying. Alexandra saw Darla and Angelique, returning with trays of food, practically drop them in shock, and then the boy she had kicked slapped her across the face.

"How dare you!" he bellowed at her. Alexandra's face stung, but it was nothing compared to the fury she felt, and she kicked him again. Only this time, she didn't kick his kneecap. Her foot connected higher, and all his breath went out of him in a wheeze. He began sagging at the knees with a strained expression on his face, before she threw her shoulder into him with all her might and sent him sprawling.

"Revulsio!" someone yelled, and David and the boy he was wrestling with suddenly tumbled apart on the floor, while another purple flash threw Alexandra backwards away from her adversary. Then they were all surrounded by store employees, a couple of adults from nearby tables, and a red-faced Gwendolyn, who grabbed everyone and hauled them to their feet.

---

Gwendolyn's outrage was nothing compared to that of Tabitha Speaks. The bus driver was incredulous, and practically speechless. Everyone had been evicted from Grundy's, and everyone involved in the brawl had been Barred, which Gwendolyn explained (as she led them all, trembling and tight-lipped from the store) meant that they were magically prevented from reentering the premises until such time as the Bar might be lifted.

Gwendolyn marched side-by-side with the seniors who were chaperoning the older boys, and found Mrs. Speaks chatting with another witch in front of a store called Hats For All Seasons. She was not at all pleased to be interrupted, and even less pleased when the chaperones stammered out an explanation of what had happened.

With all of the sixth, seventh, and eighth graders lined up before her, she shook her head and said, "In my twenty-three years as a bus driver for Charmbridge, I have never been so embarrassed! Can you imagine, Charmbridge students brawling on the floor of Grundy's cafeteria like... like Muggles!"

Alexandra and David both bristled.

"Better not say anything," Anna murmured in a tight voice behind them, sounding terrified.

"Your behavior is inexcusable! Reprehensible! Gwendolyn and Peter, what were you doing while the students you were supposed to be in charge of started brawling?"

Surprised to have this blamed on them, Gwendolyn and Peter both looked flummoxed.

"I was only a few feet away-"

"I just turned my back for a minute-"

"I certainly wasn't expecting-"

"Never mind!" Speaks glared at them all. "What caused this?"

"I just asked my kindred witches to join us at our table," said the Ozarker boy. "And those... savages set upon us-"

"You lying -" David snarled, and looked like he might start another fight right in front of Mrs. Speaks.

"He used the m-word," said Anna suddenly from behind.

Speaks paused. "Muggle?" She looked confused.

"No. The other one," Anna said quietly.

After a moment, Mrs. Speaks's face wrinkled more as her eyes widened.

"Benjamin and Mordecai Rash, did you use such foul language?" She glared at the twin Ozarker boys, until their eyes joined Constance's and Forbearance's on the ground. Then she stared at Alexandra and David.

"Be that as it may, your behavior was inexcusable. Inexcusable!" she repeated. "You are aware that Charmbridge Academy students are expected to conduct themselves as if representing the school at all times? And that cursing, hexing, jinxing, and most certainly engaging in Muggle fisticuffs with other students is absolutely forbidden?"

No one said anything.

"You have embarrassed yourselves and this school today. Rest assured, I will be informing the Dean of this incident immediately. I'm sure she'll have a great deal to say, so I'll say no more."

A collective shudder went through all the students. Alexandra tried not to wince, but imagined another one of those howling letters being delivered to her bedroom, maybe this time while her parents were home. Would she be expelled? Her scholarship taken away? The thought filled her with more dread than she wanted to admit.

"Have they purchased all their school supplies?" Mrs. Speaks asked the chaperones.

"Yes," said Peter.

"Everything but familiars," Gwendolyn said quietly.

"Go get your familiars, and then have everyone return to the bus," said Mrs. Speaks.

So the sixth graders followed a silent, sullen Gwendolyn down the street, past many interesting shops that they knew they would not be visiting any time soon, to The Familiar Corner, which was a white-bricked building on a corner opposite the Colonial New World Bank.

Inside, it looked much like a pet store. There were cats and rats and bats and toads, and a reptile section with snakes and lizards, and a large aviary. Dogs were noticeably absent, and Alexandra also didn't see any fish. Nor, besides rats, were there any other rodents typically found in pet stores, such a hamsters or guinea pigs.

The shopkeeper was a friendly older gentleman named, appropriately enough, Mr. Jolly. "Feathers, fur, or scales?" he asked Darla jovially.

Darla and Angelique had been a bit shaken by the fight in the cafeteria, but since they'd managed to avoid direct involvement (and thus, punishment), they were considerably more cheerful than the other students. Darla said, "I've always wanted a cat. We have cats at home, actually, but none of them are mine."

Alexandra noticed that unlike Muggle pet stores, the animals in the Familiar Corner were mostly wandering around free. Although there was a wire cage around the enclosure for rats, which evidently protected them from the cats and the owls overhead, and the toads, lizards, and salamanders were likewise in a large glass terrarium, with a glass wall separating them from the snakes, it seemed to Alexandra that a large number of animal species were coexisting in a relatively open space. The many cats lounging on carpeted shelves overhead or prowling the floors and counters did eye the smaller creatures now and then through the protective barriers, but she was still surprised not to see more stalking, chasing, or fighting going on. Some of the birds looked rather edible from a cat's perspective.

"A familiar isn't required," said Gwendolyn, noticing that Alexandra was looking around a bit wistfully. "They're very useful for certain things, but of course they come with obligations as well. If you have allergies or you just can't keep one at home, there's no need to choose one right now."

"Make sure you find one that suits you," said Mr. Jolly. He scratched the ears of a ginger tabby sitting on the counter next to him. "They're a little like wands, that way."

Well, Darla was certainly catty, Alexandra thought, as Darla held a sleek black cat in her arms. Angelique was looking at ferrets, while Anna and David were both looking at birds.

Constance and Forbearance had not said a word since they left Grundy's, and both girls were standing quietly near the front entrance. Alexandra drifted over to them and asked, "Don't you want a familiar?"

"We have familiars," said Constance.

"Barn owls," said Forbearance.

"We left them at home." Neither girl met Alexandra's gaze.

"I'm sorry I got you two in trouble too," Alexandra said, and then couldn't help adding, "But your friend was kind of a jerk."

The Ozarker girls looked at each other for a moment.

"He ain't our friend," Constance murmured.

"Only a fellow Ozarker," said Forbearance.

"Kindred."

"Only that."

"So does that mean Ozarkers are kindred, and everyone else is a mudblood?" Alexandra asked. The two girls flushed and looked down.

Anna walked over, holding a young owl on her arm. It was small and gray, but already looked rather formidable, with a hooded skull and bright yellow predatory eyes.

"Mudblood means someone with Muggle parents," she said in a hushed voice, apparently having overheard Alexandra's question.

"Like me and David," Alexandra said angrily.

"And me." The small Chinese girl looked at Alexandra seriously. "Mudblood is a really a bad word and polite people don't use it, but some families are still really old fashioned and think being pureblood is important."

"Most Ozarkers don't use that word," said Constance.

Anna smiled slightly. "Ozarkers have a reputation for being purebloods and really old-fashioned, most of them, and not liking to marry outsiders. But my father's a wizard and you should hear what his family says about him for marrying a Muggle. Trust me, Chinese wizarding families are worse than Ozarkers."

"That's a Great Horned Owl," said Mr. Jolly, ambling down the aisle to join the girls, which cut their conversation short. He looked at the young bird on Anna's wrist. "He may be cute and manageable now, but he'll be nearly your size when he's full grown." The shopkeeper chuckled.

"I'll take him," Anna said, and the owl hooted. She smiled, and as Mr. Jolly went over to check on David, said, "My mother is going to have a cow!"

This did not seem to worry Anna; in fact, it seemed as if Mr. Jolly's warning had made the Great Horned Owl even more desirable to her. Alexandra was starting to like Anna. She still wasn't quite sure about the Ozarker girls.

David was looking at raptors himself, but rather than owls, he seemed intrigued by a falcon seated alone on a perch. Mr. Jolly was warning him that falcons were extremely difficult and demanding birds to take on as familiars, and that they considered delivering messages to be beneath them.

"Are you going to get a familiar?" Anna asked.

"I want to," Alexandra said, and then decided that there was no reason for her to be less brave than Anna. "I haven't decided what sort suits me, though."

"Well, owls are always a popular choice," Anna said, following Alexandra as she walked between the rodent and reptile habitats. "Snakes and toads are... well, easy to care for and you can just tuck them in your robes and take them anywhere. Same with rats. Cats are nice, I suppose."

Alexandra stopped to look at a solitary bird standing on top of an empty cage, looking down at her. It was a big black raven.

"Hi," Alexandra said. She held up her hand in a closed fist. The raven cocked its head, regarded her with its black eyes, and cawed at her.

Gwendolyn joined Alexandra and Anna and hovered over the younger girls. "I don't think you want a raven," she said.

"Why not?" Alexandra continued holding up her hand.

"Well, they're..." Gwendolyn hesitated, looking up at the bird and adjusting her glasses uncomfortably.

"Ravens have a reputation for being Dark birds," said Anna.

"Of course they're dark!" Alexandra scoffed.

"No, Dark," Anna emphasized. She seemed a little unnerved by the raven's scrutiny, as did Gwendolyn. It was watching them as if listening to and understanding their conversation. "Ravens used to be popular with warlocks. Wizards who studied the Dark Arts."

"Sounds like wizards have a lot of stupid superstitions," Alexandra said.

With a flutter of black wings, the raven descended to land on Alexandra's fist. Anna made a startled noise and took a step backwards. Alexandra was now nose-to-nose with the bird, and looked directly into its eyes. It opened its beak and cawed loudly, spreading its wings to balance itself as her arm wobbled a little under its weight.

"How do you like the name Charlie?" Alexandra asked.

The raven cawed again.

---

David took the falcon, while Darla bought her black cat and Angelique chose a large ferret, which rather surprised Alexandra for some reason. Everyone had to purchase carrier cages for their familiars, as well as an initial supply of food, although Mr. Jolly told them that familiars were generally quite capable of hunting for food on their own, assuming they were let out.

Charlie cawed indignantly at being thrust into a cage, and spread its wings to make it more difficult, but didn't resist after Alexandra promised not to lock the door. Anna's owl was docile enough, but David had to put a hood over his falcon. He'd also been obliged to buy a heavy leather glove to handle the bird.

Everyone was feeling rather cheery with their new pets, though Gwendolyn was still wearing a stern expression. They were all weighed down with their day's shopping, and Anna in particular was having difficulty carrying her cauldron, her owl cage, her books and potion supplies, and all her clothes.

When they got back to the Charmbridge bus, Tabitha Speaks was waiting for them, arms crossed.

"Gwendolyn and Peter, I assume you'll be keeping a close eye on your charges so there will be no more outbreaks of name-calling or Muggleish brawling on the bus?" she said.

"Yes, Mrs. Speaks," the two teenagers replied.

"I'll be sitting with them all the way back," Gwendolyn added. The sixth-graders all exchanged looks and sighed.

"Good. After what happened today, I'm expecting a very, very quiet ride back to your homes, and that's what I'd better have. You all may be done shopping for the day, but believe me, Lilith Grimm isn't done with you!"

With that threat hanging over them, the grim-faced bus driver allowed them to board the bus. The Rash twins walked past them with dour looks but their mouths shut.

"I think it's best if none of you talk if you don't have to," said Gwendolyn stiffly, as they sat down at their table again and then crowded in to make room for the older girl. Most of their supplies were stashed in an overhead rack, but their familiars could not simply be packed away, and so three birdcages, a cat, and a ferret were all occupying the table with them, which made it quite crowded.

With Gwendolyn suppressing any conversation (she kept her nose buried in a book called Thaumaturgical Careers), they were reduced to exchanging looks and a few subtle gestures on the ride home. Alexandra passed the time by letting Charlie play with her gold bracelet, which the raven was greatly enamored of. Anna opened up one of her schoolbooks and began reading it, while David was reading a book on falconry. Constance and Forbearance did little but stare out the window, while Darla and Angelique looked the most bored, holding their familiars on their laps and stroking them.

Everyone was dropped off in the reverse of the order in which they'd been picked up, so David was taken home first. "See you all in about a week!" he said, waving as he carried off his supplies.

"Assuming we don't get expelled," Alexandra thought, but she waved back.

And well before eight p.m., the Charmbridge bus pulled up in front of her home on Sweetmaple Avenue.

"We'll see you again in four days," said Mrs. Speaks as Alexandra made her way to the front of the bus to exit it. "And you'd better make sure you're on your best behavior between now and then. I'm sure the Dean will be in absolutely no mood to receive any notices from the Trace Office."

"Don't worry," Alexandra said. "I won't be doing anything the Trace Office might notice."