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"Well something certainly pulled me!" Tina said.

Charlotte frowned in thought. "My spells have been more powerful lately. I suppose it's possible. I may have to stop using such complex spells entirely at this rate."

Tina looked at her grandmother in surprise, "Why would you do that? Isn't your spells being more powerful a good thing?"

Charlotte smiled ruefully, "You would think so, wouldn't you? But I'm too old to handle it. That spell took a lot out of me, and it never did before. If my spells continue to get stronger as they have been and I try to use that kind of magic again in a month or two, it could get away from me."

"What would happen if it got away from you?" Tina asked.

Charlotte shrugged, "It's hard to say. I've never heard of this sort of thing happening before. It's like there's more energy available than there was before. It could backfire on me in some way, or produce a result very different from what I intended. What that could be, I don't know."

Tina looked worried as she said, "Does this mean I could learn all this stuff only to not be able to use it?"

"I doubt it." Charlotte replied with a shake of her head. "You're younger and more flexible, and you're stronger in magic than I am. But all of that's a subject for another day. This spell won't last forever, you know!"

"Oh, yeah. So, what happens now?" Tina asked.

"Simple. You follow the pull you should still be feeling, and I'll follow you. Once we find the place it's pulling you to we can see about getting you a job." Charlotte explained.

Tina nodded and they left. Once outside Tina let the spell guide her, which was easy as it was trying to physically pull her in that direction anyway. Before long they found themselves at the mall. Tina wasn't too surprised by this, until the spell pulled her to one of the larger anchor stores. "An electronics store? I don't know anything about electronics!" Tina said in surprise once she was sure of their destination.

"Let's circle the building to make sure the spell isn't trying to guide us to somewhere on the other side." Charlotte suggested. Tina nodded, but the pull remained constant towards the electronics store. "Well, there must be a reason for you to need to be here. Let's see if they have any openings."

Reluctantly, Tina followed her grandmother inside. Charlotte asked if they had any openings and gave Tina a significant look when she was told they had three. Tina groaned, but started filling out the application. To her surprise, she was hired on the spot. Must be desperate she thought. After that they returned to Charlotte's house. Somewhere along the line the spell had stopped pulling Tina, which made her much more comfortable. It was pretty late, so she said goodnight to her grandmother and crawled into bed.
 

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Charlotte woke Tina in the morning so she could get ready for work. Tina grumbled a lot, but she still managed to make it to work on time. A supervisor named Tiffany gave her the tour and started training her. Tiffany told her she was doing well and seemed sincere. Even so, Tina was glad to get back to her grandmother's house. The shop was still open when she got there, so she helped her grandmother until it was closing time. Once all the customers had left she helped her lock up.

"Well, now that that's done, why don't we go up to my workroom and get going on your education?" Charlotte said. Tina nodded and followed her up the stairs into the attic. Unlike in her bedroom, the ritual circle in the attic was much larger and lined in silver. Charlotte tested Tina to see how much she remembered of what she'd taught her granddaughter during summer vacations for the last six years. She was surprised how much Tina remembered, and how strong she was.

After correcting the few mistakes Tina had made, Charlotte began explaining the reasons behind some of the rituals involved in magic. Tina knew some of this, but she went into far greater detail than she ever had before. Then she gave Tina the journal of a witch from three hundred years ago to study. "I don't want you trying any of the spells in there yet." Charlotte cautioned. "I just want you to read it and get a different perspective on magic. But before you get started on that, let's get something to eat!"

Tina was eager to start reading the journal, but dropped it off in her room before joining her grandmother in the kitchen. After dinner she returned to her room and started reading the journal. She was fascinated by how differently the witch had approached magic to how her grandmother taught it. She would have asked her about it, but she'd already gone to bed. She was so enthralled with the journal that she took it to bed with her and fell asleep while reading it.

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 To Be Continued…
 

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