The library was a quiet and sacred place of learning and rest. That was assuming that the librarian wasn't completely tyrannical or the visitors weren't as loud as dogs in a howling competition.

As such, from where I sat there was always a subdued hum of chatter. Rather than completely mute, I'd say the noise was gagged here. Hannah studied the books along the shelves in complete and total silence.

Getting Hannah's attention in her foul mood was difficult. I could hardly call her name in a public place. Although saying that, if anyone heard someone call her name nobody would assume the cat was the one who had spoken it. Presuming they were sane of course.

So instead I sat next to her, staring up at her, eerily never breaking eye contact. It was an incredibly low effort way of catching her attention. She could shrug it off and I'd be completely screwed.

But she probably would be interested in what I had to show her.

When she noticed my stare she tried to ignore it for a while. Eventually she closed her book bitterly and decided with much trepidation to follow me.

I led her around the bookshelf and sat down by the corner. She raised her eyebrows at me, wondering what was the point of interrupting her reading to walk just four meters down the shelf.

I tried my hardest not to roll my eyes. Why else would I get her to follow me if I didn't want to show her something? Take the hint dammit.

Sauntering calmly, I rounded the corner of the shelf to the opposite side and glanced back at Hannah.

Killian was still there, immersed in his study. Standing by the shelf on his own with a strange object in one hand and a book in another.

Tiredly, Hannah rounded the corner whereupon she caught sight of Killian. The sight drew out of long suffering sigh.

She made to turn around, a sentiment I would have completely understood. But she would miss the point if she did that so quickly so I placed a paw on her foot.

I really didn't think this would work however she noticed and stopped. For simply putting a single paw on her boot, she was gave me a very austere glare.

Look at what's in his hands. I tried my best to mentally communicate this but there was only so much emotion I could express to another human when I had the face of a cat.

I made the best of my situation. Rotating my ears as though pointing. Which probably looked very weird. Which to my credit, was the point.

It didn't look like Hannah had noticed what was in Killian's hand. But with heavy steps she approached the boy. “Killian.”

He froze up, practically forgetting how to breathe. As I watched carefully, I noticed one or two things about his demeanour that seemed off.

“I thought you had practice.” This line of questioning wasn't what I hoped she'd open with.

It took a few moments for Killian to reply. And even when he turned with a playful grin, his expression was somewhat tense as he subtly pocketed the strange object that was in his hand a moment ago. “Yeah huh, practice? Me? Man yeah well you know me, Killian the model student. Would never miss a class in his life.”

“So you're skipping class?” Hannah translated his blithering into normal human words.

“Didn't you hear the bit where I said I was a model student?” Killian gestured to the book in his hand. “I mean look at me, using my free time to study like a good little boy.”

I couldn't tell whether it was his usual attitude or whether there was something else, but the way he talked bothered me. The way he smiled and his often strange body language as he joked on. It reminded me a bit of a clown.

Hannah didn't immediately reply, instead crossing her arms and tapping her fingers thoughtfully.

“Something up?” Killian asked. “Where's your usual oppressive threat of violence or verbal skewering of my self-esteem?”

“Killian, we're in a library. Stop being so loud, people are trying to study.” Hannah rubbed her tense forehead. “You're giving me a headache.”

“Ah right... Well if you don't mind then I'll uh... I'll be somewhere else.” Killian took a few slow steps backwards as he gestured away from Hannah.

Mission failed it seemed. Hannah hadn't notice-

“Killian, what were you studying just now?”

The boy froze up once more. “Errrrrr.” The sound rolled comically out of his mouth for a painfully long time. “What do you mean?” I'd never seen someone feign innocence so badly. It was like he was putting on a pantomime act for children.

“What you put in your pocket.” Hannah delivered very bluntly.

“Ah right. You mean this?” Killian dangled up a purse.

“That's your wallet. Try your other pocket Killian.”

Killian lamely fished around in his other pocket and brought out the strange object. It's dimensions were all square. There wasn't a single soft edge. It's metallic surface had designs etched on the surface. It was awkwardly shaped. It wasn't large enough to be considered and art piece but it wasn't small enough to think of as strange jewellery.

Adopting the most childish grin on his face, Killian declared. “Ah you got me, this is a bomb.”

Oh, well if that was the case there was no way he could have stole that from Riker's office. I mean who keeps bombs lying-Wait a second that's besides the point! Why does he have a bomb?!

Hannah paused. “A... Bomb?” Was the word really unfamiliar to her? Bomb, y'know, as in remote explosive device.

“Ah nevermind. I was joking anyway.” Killian waved away Hannah's muted reply and pocketed the item again. “It's actually a part to a large physical patent primer. I asked my family to send me one to help in my studies.”

“Aren't you an apprentice?” Hannah asked. Apprentices usually learnt to weave spells themselves, not study physical patent use.

Killian shrugged. “It's not that hard to imagine how knowing this stuff would be useful, right? Most apprentices graduate to become physical patent operators. About six in ten physical patent failures are caused by faults in the primer. It's a pretty important component of the spell and as an apprentice, it's hard to come to appreciate.”

Practically everyone besides Hannah seemed to be able to weave spells innately with practice. All the time they were creating patents on fly without using any physical tools. It seemed to be a running theme that a lot of spell casters didn't seem to understand how spell weaving worked.

This frustrated me. It felt like a lot of spell casters weren't respecting magic.

The silence was awkward. The bad mood Hannah was in had still not abated. Killian fidgeted nervously likely for more than one reason. “Well, it's just me thinking of my future. Apprentices usually graduate to be patent operators because no physical patent is ever made perfectly. That's where our trained spell dexterity comes in to compensate for production error. Um, could you stop glaring at the floor? You weren't in such a bad mood this morning y'know.”

“You can blame my cat.” Hannah growled. Slowly, I backed away. “And now someone's practically thrusting their amazing innate ability to weave spells in my face like an erect pe-”

“Shhhh!” The librarian interrupted at a truly fortuitous moment.

“Sorry.” Killian gave an apologetic whisper as the Librarian headed back to their desk. Killian continued with his voice barely quieter than before as soon as the Librarian was out of sight. “I don't quite get it. 'Innate' spellcasting isn't the problem. Practically anyone can do it unless-ooohhh nevermind. I'm gonna shut up now.” The scrolls, the rumours, everything slid into place mid sentence.

Meanwhile Hannah stood there, arms crossed with an unamused expression on her face. “Problem?”

“None.” Killian shook his head.

Hannah gestured with her hand. “Then by all means continue telling me how 'practically anyone' can weave spells.” The words were spoken with a serrated edge.

Killian winced. “Ahh yeah nah. Isn't the weather nice today?” Whistling innocently, he moved his arms to guard his sides.

The conversation lulled to a stop. And for a moment it seemed like it would end with none of the questions I was curious about being asked until Hannah glanced at Killian's neck. “Hmm...”

“What?” Killian asked, probably nervous about the idea of being strangled to death.

“Didn't you use to have a necklace?” As the question left Hannah's mouth innocuously, it punched both me and Killian in the gut.

He froze up and his smile sharply vanished. His entire demeanour cracked apart as his expression was replaced with a subdued glower.

“You used to go around with a fancy necklace.” Hannah kept her expressions fairly muted, making it hard for me to judge whether this was some elaborate bluff or not. We'd only met Killian a few days ago.

Killian appeared to bite back the first words that came to his mind. Smouldering with the power of a thousand suns, the malice emanating from his glare sent shivers down my spine.

“I'm guessing you lost it?”

“Lost it?” He parroted, his words like the hiss of a kettle releasing steam. Judging by his reaction, Kyle's story was probably true. “No, that necklace is mine. It was stolen from me. That necklace was given to me by my father but that bi-”

“Shhhh!” the Librarian made a second appearance, slicing through the tense air of the discussion with an steely authoritarian gaze that only a pissed off Librarian could give.

“Sorry.” Hannah apologised as the Librarian warned there would not be a second warning.

That Librarian had a sixth sense for profanity. Was that a skill all Librarian's possessed?

Hannah held the same stoic unimpressed impression she wore when Kyle snapped. “I'm guessing there's a long story to this.”

“Yeah, there is. I'll tell it if you really want to know but don't for a second think that I 'lost' my necklace or it ever belonged to anyone else.” A reasonable request over having our ears talked off lamely like last time. “I never got the chance to wear the necklace here. How'd you find out about it?”

Hannah paused, her bluff called, and quick on her feet shrugged. “You wore it at least once right? I vaguely remember that I think.”

For a moment, I wondered why Hannah was carrying on this bluff. But the Librarian didn't look like someone who could be ignored more than twice. Anymore trouble, and that was it. It didn't seem safe to admit here that we'd heard Kyle's side of the story.

In a fight between Killian and Hannah, I'd bet on Hannah one hundred percent of the time. However Killian was a practised spell caster. I didn't quite know what that entailed but it probably meant a fight with him would end up one-sided.

The impression Hannah had left on me of magic after she burnt her arms was not a nice one.

Before Killian could say much more Hannah looked down at her feet to me as though she just remembered something. “Ah geez, sorry Killian I forget to get lunch for my cat. We'll have to talk another time. Get in the bag Adam.” She crouched down and opened her satchel. I perked my head up a little too hopefully before I realised I was being used as an excuse to leave.

'Get in the bad Adam'. Wasn't that a little too blunt?

I leapt into the satchel. The pace she'd been walking earlier had been murder on my tired legs to keep up with. This was probably the most opportune moment to escape without annoying the Librarian or getting involved further with Killian's problems.

Killian paused before he opened his mouth. Reluctantly he muttered under his breath. “Fine. I need to calm down anyway.” Gone was his joking demeanour. Skilfully, he got his expression under control, muting any sign of emotion as he attempted to go back to his book.

I prayed to the seven angels that we'd never have to deal with boys ever again. We left the library behind us.

Hannah had a peculiar way of studying lectures. Especially practical demonstrations of magic. After the library visit, much to my dismay we didn't actually go to the canteen to feed me. We hung about until it was time to head back to class.

Spellnull syndrome as the Nurse explained pretty much guaranteed Hannah could only cast a spell with the appropriate physical patent. Not everybody has spare physical patents lying around.

A fairy popular spell was the 'fairy candle'. Like a flame burning at the end of a candle wick, the spell would illuminate light from the tip of the caster's finger. With a little dexterity and know how, the Fairy Candle could even move and appear to float. As practical as it sounded, it's use for utility was somewhat diminished by it's constant need for the caster's attention. A slight break in concentration could cause a flicker.

However homework for this class which Riker was supposed to teach was to make a physical patent that would assist the caster in using the spell. A so called Fairy box.

This sounded like a job for Hannah. Sadly, Spellnull syndrome's influence didn't ease up here either.

More complicated patents meant more production errors. These errors had to be made up for by the casters spell weaving dexterity and uh oh, Hannah had none. In other words, it was either produce a flawless physical patent from scratch or miraculously cure herself overnight to finish this piece of coursework.

Despite the bleakness of her options, Hannah steeled her gaze and tried her best to study the material infront of her. Her notebook was full of meticulous notes, line after line scribbled down, diagram after diagram dissected in her own scholarly art.

Any patent so large and complicated it couldn't fit on a scroll would probably have too many human errors to be useable for Hannah. There was a good reason more than likely a good reason why this patent needed a box rather than a scroll to work.

And as I tried to curl myself up further into a ball to fend off this headache, I felt a certain amount of relief. It just so happened that today had been thoroughly unproductive so I was sure she would enjoy this wall of difficulty she could grind her head against to forget her other frustrations.

I still didn't know what had been bothering her this morning.

And so the day continued like any other. Lectures went on into the day until mid evening. And when there were none left it was time to leave.

“It's Friday tomorrow.” Hannah stopped at the gate and stared out across the city.

Tomorrow we'd learn whether the Nurse would stick to his word. Trends suggested the only appreciable person on the planet right now was Linth. Jean hadn't exactly done much to upset us recently either.

The festival just around the corner had snuck up on us. It'd start this weekend and last until the following weekend. The final day of the festival was a significant one of the religious calendar although I couldn't remember why. Probably something to do with a saint. It was always a safe bet to assume saints were involved.

On the second floor of a building close to the city's suburbs, where the river passed nearby and the cusses of sailors could be heard muffled in the distance, a witch studied whilst her cat lazily napped on the kitchen counter.

Or at I was trying to nap anyway. Burdened by uncharacteristic restlessness, I quit trying to nap and instead decided to study what Hannah was up to. Her scholarly studies would be just the sleeping aid I needed.

“So... What are you doing?” She'd had her head down in her notebooks for quite a while.

She tapped a finger on the worktop thoughtfully and then sank her head. “Grinding my head against a wall.”

“I can see that.” That piece of homework was quite cruel for someone of her condition. But so long as she could keep her sponsor, she would be allowed to turn up to lectures. Whether one passed or failed simply depended on whether they could take the exam or not. That exam could be taken at their own leisure.

There would naturally come a point where the lectures became so tiresome that students would need to take advantages of magic licences to get study aid.

Curses upon me for daring to ask this question, but in the interests of boring myself out I'd do it. “What bit are you stuck on?”

Hannah didn't like the implication she was stuck at all, but there was no way she could hide it. “I'm not 'stuck'. I'm just problem solving.” Laughing at that comment wouldn't have done me any favours so I kept quiet. “The problem is the Primer.”

I paused, mulling over what I'd learned over my time here. “The primer is the bit that kicks the spell into action, right?”

“Very vague, but yes.” Hannah turned her attention back to her notebook. The complex diagrams jumping out at her like hostile snakes. “A patent can be broken down into components. It's the arrangement of components and their timing of activation that determine a spell's effects. The first component to be activated will always be the primer. The primer's purpose is timing all the other components of the patent. It has to be perfect with no room for human error.”

“Ouch. Sounds like a pain. Enjoy.”

“Thank you for your input oh wise and generous Adam.” Hannah sighed.

“Well I'm a cat. I don't know anything about magic.”

“You admit to being a cat only when it's convenient.”

“Hrrk.” She got me there.

It was a joke but if she took it seriously then I'd just admitted to being a cat. I should really not joke about that. It could be turned against me very easily.

And then I remembered something. “Jean said a while back that the scroll you used during the exams was filled with errors in the Primer. Is that why it exploded?”

“Which scroll?” Hannah avoided looking my way. As much as she tried to act inconspicuous, she had still been complaining about her arms feeling numb.

“Should I recount the entire events of that day for you?” I threatened. “I remember waking up after being yanked off my bed-”

“My bed actually and no, don't recount the events of that day. It'll only piss me off more about how selective your memory is.” She muttered. “Yeah I admit it, that spell's Primer was full of problems. But even so, it's my most successful attempt at turning a three dimensional patent design into a working two dimensional one.”

“I wouldn't really have described that as 'working'.” Unless of course it was by design she'd burned her hands up to her shoulders.

“Maybe I'll test it out on you next?” She threw me a menacing glare.

“Point taken.”

If the primer was that important, how come it the spell even fired up?

As though sensing the question in my mind, Hannah answered. “The primer was faulty, but it just so happened to activate the components in a close enough order for it to have effect. The big issues was that I couldn't control its vector. Something someone without spellnull syndrome probably wouldn't have had a problem with. How can I even set a precise vector on a two dimensional design anyway?”

So she'd played the lottery and won?

“But I used two scrolls, remember?” Hannah let a sly smile slip out. “Both 'worked' except I couldn't control the vector. Which hypothetically speaking, if I solved, meant I could use these spells as well as any innate caster and prove my brilliance.”

“I'm doubtful. That was the first time you used those scrolls. The next attempts might not work.” That was especially the case if she had to make them perfectly without any human error. “I guess if you had some tips from Riker, that'd make it easier.”

My comment took the smile off Hannah's face. Instead she crossed her arms and tapped her fingers thoughtfully. “Yeah. But I don't know. If it were that easy, scrolls that did those kinda of spells would be about. There's no mention of anything but practice scrolls. A big problem for scrolls is that paper is a flimsy material which burns up quite easily. I'd never be to cast a Fairy Candle with a scroll that'd practically evaporate half a second into the spell.”

“So the options are as I understand, start a physical patent science revolution on your own, or get some helpful tips from Riker. Maybe if we solved some of the problems stressing her out she'd come back and you'd have enough goodwill points to ask favours.” A devious plan. But it was on that give and take bases which many relationships were built.

“We?” Hannah raised a curious eyebrow at me.

“Slip of the tongue. I meant you.” I mentally cursed myself.

“So you want to help me?” She asked the question with genuine surprise. For some reason, I actually found the surprise hurtful.

“I mean, I could.” I let out a yawn and stretched my back. “I've got nothing better to do.”

“Correction, you do nothing.” Again that was quite hurtful. It was the speed with which she clapped back with these comments that surprised me.

If she was going to be like that I guess I wouldn't he-

“Well if you do anything useful I guess that means I'll make sure you get breakfast every morning.”

“Very well. I am at your beck and call.” Pride could get stuffed. Nothing could beat a few good slices of ham to wake up to. Just thinking about it got my mouth watering.

“Well?”

“Well what?” I snapped out of my daydream. “Oh right. I was sure it was Mather who stole from Riker's office. The rumours as well as my gut instinct telling me that this sort of thing was just characteristic of Mather.”

Hannah frowned and then shook her head. “I can't really do anything about that. Without his sponsorship I wouldn't be here. It's not like we have physical evidence.”

“He's not a very nice guy and besides, he's keeping you here as a specimen, not a student.” Although I wasn't sure I could vouch for Mather's being the main suspect anymore. “My second suspect is Killian.”

“So you believe what Kyle and Teel said?” Hannah shot me a curious glance. It wasn't like I'd noticed something about the boys' personalities that she hadn't. Besides, that'd be a very flimsy thing to base my opinion from.

“No. Killian was studying something in the library that looked suspiciously like the stuff Riker left heaped on her spare tables.” Although according to Killian, he'd got it sent from his family. And yet Killian had claimed his family didn't value him as he was neither the heir nor the spare. But something about that felt wrong.

“I didn't notice. Yet again, you have very selective memory if this is true.” Hannah sighed. Geez at least look thankful for the information I was giving. Granted, nothing would compare to catching the thief in the act of course.

It irritated me how much my memory was coming up in conversations today. But was it worth threatening my breakfast over though? Nah.

But I had to say something. It was a little odd how certain I was over an object I caught sight of for just a few seconds. “If it never came up again, I probably would have forgotten about it by tomorrow. If I filled my head with all the boring trivia I'd collected over my life, I'd be dense enough to sink through rock.”

“Suuuureee.” That was patronisingly long. “Well, I'll probably be busy tomorrow throwing up everywhere, so why don't you come to academy with me and stalk Killian for the day?”

Fridays meant more experiments.

The idea irked me. My instant gut reaction was to go no. There could be no good way anybody would react upon being stalked by the personification of bad luck. Of course, I just had to not be caught.

“Well I was actually hoping I could see what your tests were like?” I offered a counter plan. I didn't think she would accept 'I was actually hoping on just not going anywhere and sleeping all day' as an alternative.

Hannah gave it genuine thought, which frightened me for a moment because I wasn't sure whether her tests would be anything pleasant to watch. “I really wouldn't if I were you. It's not fun to be a part of and I imagine it's not fun to watch either.” She looked worried over me for bringing it up. “You don't want to be there Adam. Trust me.”

What are they doing to her? A cold chill ran through me. And for a moment that burning question was all that was on my mind until Hannah changed the subject.

“After all that what we've heard about Killian, I'm not sure. He seemed kind, if a little insincere when I first met him but now...” It wasn't that long ago we'd met him. We hadn't spent that much time around him. But it didn't take long for people to conjure impressions and make new relationships. “But if he's up to anything suspicious, let me know.”

“So you really expect me to stalk Killian... Geez this breakfast better be good.” It felt like I was playing that part of the helpful pawn here.

“Well I'll be too busy. Besides, stalking is left best for black cats. Don't you feel a little thrill about this? It really does feel like we're a witch and a familiar concocting a conspiracy.” Hannah grinned.

I couldn't say I agreed. “I mean, we're just investigating some petty theft right? Where's the thrill in that?”

“A lot of traders have come for the festival recently. I'm sure there'll be quite a few market stands tomorrow morning selling cured ham for Witch and cat duos fighting crime. Just saying.”

“Fine, this is incredibly thrilling.” I deadpanned.