Godmothered

Family dinner

Beatrix quickly switched home and checked the time. 3:00. "Mom, I'm home!" she announced. She pulled the sweatshirt over her head.

"What did you do?" her mom, Starra, asked.

"I mostly just introduced myself." she nodded. "Nic- what are you wearing?"

"A sweatshirt?"

"Where did you get it, that's what I meant."

Beatrix looked down at the shirt. "So, the person I'm helping is named Mia. Her and her mom went shopping, and I pretended to be Mia's new friend from school. Mia's mom bought me this, she's really nice!"

"That's kind of her. The shirt just isn't very... traditional."

"I know, but I like it because it's different," she explained.

"Okay, then. Come down for dinner in three hours. And, I'm ok with the shirt, but your grandmother is coming for supper and she might not appreciate it." Starra warned, and left for her room.

Beatrix trudged up the stairs. She loved her grandmother, but she was strict and tidy, unlike her. She entered her room, and plopped on the bed. She levitated her advanced spellbook to her hand- that spell took WEEKS to learn- and flipped through it. She found a spell that interested her and started to read it. This spell used your wand to create a small, holographic screen to see somewhere. Unlike switching, you wouldn't go through it, just see it. She'd thought about this spell before, but since she hadn't even switched at the time, she decided not to try it.

Today it might be worth a try.

Beatrix pulled her wand out of the pocket where she slipped it and reread the spell. Twirl the wand twice, and focus on where you wanted to see. Similar to switching. Then, after you've twirled, you poke the air in the area you twirled. As long as you didn't lose your focus, the screen would appear. She twirled her wand around, creating an imaginary circle, and pressed into it. A small square formed from the tip of her wand, and made the screen. She saw Mia in her room, on her phone.

"Hey!" Beatrix said.

Mia screeched. "Gosh, you scared me- how are you doing that?"

Beatrix shrugged. "A spell. What're you doing?" she asked.

"Checking my Insta. I'm proud of this photo I edited, where I made the background a sunset. It got 12 likes so far!" Mia showed her the screen.

"I have no idea what that means, but nice. Did you see my note?"

"Yeah, 10am tomorrow is good. It's what, Saturday? So tomorrow's Sunday. I'm assuming your school schedule is still over the week?"

"Yes," Beatrix verified.

"I hope they don't give out much homework. It's so terrible when you always are bombarded with it, and when your mom keeps reminding you to do it. I want a break! My mom made me do all of it at home a few days ago, but I wish I did a few questions everyday. It'd be less intense," Mia ranted. "Your homework must be fun!"

Beatrix laughed. "Sometimes. Spellwork is enjoyable, but once, for flying, we had to time ourselves and stay in the air for 3 minutes. I was so tired!"

Mia set her phone down. "I can imagine. My back would hurt!"

Beatrix shook her head. "Actually, it's more in the shoulders. Up and down. Once you get better at it, you can time it better, sort of like when you're swimming and you tread water. You can't go too fast, or you get tired." she explained.

"Ah."

Both of them stayed silent for a moment, trying to figure out what to talk about next. Then Mia spoke.

"My brain is what gets tired." Mia giggled.

"Same."

Suddenly, the doorbell rang. "Oh, it's my grandma. Gotta go!" Beatrix said.

"Bye!"

Beatrix waved her hand through the screen, and it disappeared. Beatrix quickly started to pull off her sweatshirt, then stopped and contemplated. Should she? She was allowed to wear it! But her grandmother probably wouldn't like it, because it wasn't very customary.

She shook her head to herself, and kept it on.

"Mom, welcome!" Beatrix's mom said to her grandma.

"Oh, Starra! How are you? How is Beatrix?" she asked. Her grandmother wore a simple white dress with a sapphire necklace. She looked young for her age, and her straight and silky hair rushed down her shoulders.

"Hey, grandma," said Beatrix. "Hi, Beatrix, how are you? How's school?" "Good and good!" she responded cheerfully. Her grandmother looked her up and down and frowned. "What are you wearing?" here we go, thought Beatrix. "I told her it wasn't traditional, but she wore it anyway," Starra piped up. Beatrix glared at her. "Well... let's continue this conversation at dinner!"

Starra had made some mashed potatoes and chicken, with rice on the side. "Let's eat! Your dad is still in the human world, working on his studies," Her dad's job was to examine and take an interest in non-magical cultures. Beatrix thought that was a cool job, but she'd rather be a fairy godmother.

"Anyway, what you are wearing? It's nice, but maybe don't wear it here, you need to dress more congruously." her grandma said.

"It's just a sweatshirt,"

"It's not very orthodox,"

"Does that matter?"

"It's important,"

"How?!"

"Beatrix." Starra said sternly, eyebrows furrowed.

"What the HEX! I can wear the thing if I want to! Nobody cares if it's 'orthodox' or 'traditional'!

"BEATRIX! EXCUSE YOUR LANGUAGE!" Starra exclaimed. Beatrix slammed down her fork. "I," she began, "am no longer hungry."