Sophia Brandt and the Ilvermorny Fountain of Youth

Thunderbird Tower

"What did you just say, Callum Black?"

Rosie looked positively furious after hearing the plan they'd come up with for climbing Thunderbird tower to find the Thunderbird clue. It was one of the few times that Sophia had heard her friend raise her voice (apart from the time Callum pranked Rosie into thinking she'd forgotten to do their History of Magic homework). Sophia quickly looked around the dining hall to see if anyone was listening but it was still early enough that there weren't many students awake.

"We're going to steal broomsticks from the Wampus quidditch team and fly to the top of Thunderbird tower," he said confidently. "That's the plan."

"Oh, I heard the plan," Rosie said. "I can't believe that's the best plan the three of you could come up with. You had two weeks to prepare!"

After coming up with a lead for the Thunderbird clue in the library, Rosie had insisted that they all had to focus on their midterms before doing any clue hunting. She took over preparing flashcards and leading study sessions and Sophia, Noah, and Callum were entrusted with planning how to climb Thunderbird tower.

"We were looking into other options," Sophia said, "but this was the best one." She didn't want to make Rosie any angrier by telling her about some of the more ridiculous plans the boys had come up with.

Rosie shook her head. "There's no way we're flying on broomsticks. First years aren't even supposed to ride on broomsticks until the spring semester." 

"I've done it before," Callum said, puffing out his chest. "Michael taught me how to ride on his last summer. And Noah's flown before too!" 

"I've flown once," he pointed out. "I don't think it's a good idea either. We don't even know if the clue is up there." 

"It's there, it has to be." Sophia was even more certain that it was there now after spending the last two weeks thinking about it. 

Rosie sighed. "Is this really the only way?" 

"It is," Callum said. 

"Fine. But you'd better make sure we don't get caught." 

* * *

They ate their breakfast and walked past a few other students on their way to the Wampus tower. Before they reached the Wampus common room, Callum led them out a small door that took them outside of the castle. There was a wooden shed with a large lock on it which held all of the Wampus' teams practice gear. 

Callum pulled his wand out of his robes. "Alohamora," he said confidently. 

Sophia watched in amazement as the lock on the wooden shed dropped open with a click.

"Wow," Rosie said, impressed. 

"I learned that from Michael, too," he said with a grin. Callum opened the doors to the shed to reveal the Wampus team's arsenal of quidditch supplies. 

Although it had looked small from the outside, the shed was much larger on the inside. It was also surprisingly clean and organized, so it didn't take long for Sophia to spot the quidditch broomsticks lined up against the back wall. Except that, while there were at least twenty slots for broomsticks, there were only two broomsticks still there. 

"Oh no!" Callum said as he raced to the back. "The Wampus team is probably practicing now that midterms are over." 

Sophia followed him to the back of the shed and reached out a hand to grip one of the two broomsticks. "Just grab them and we'll figure it out later," Sophia said to Callum. He nodded and took the other broomstick.