Page 28 of Monster's Baby

Clarissa chuckled behind her hand.“We might when we travel in human-populated areas.”

“We can just bring the baby into the bathroom and perform the spell there,” Bruce argued.

“Hang on—” I cut myself off as a fourth year got in the professor’s face.

“Aren’t you just the cutest!”she squealed, squeezing his cheeks.“Cutie-wittle-baby!”

“What are you doing?”I demanded, standing up.“That is your professor!You don’t talk like that to your professors, no matter their current form!”

The girl flushed and tried to hurry away, but Headmistress Blackthorn stood in her path.

“Well said, Ms.Doyle,” the headmistress said.“Detention, Ms.O’Connell.My office, four o’clock.”She moved out of the way, and the student bowed and ran away.“I knew I had picked well when I chose you to take care of him.How was your night?”

“Exhausting.Babies have tiny bellies,” I said honestly.

“They do.”The headmistress pinched her lips together as she regarded the professor covered in his breakfast.“We have come up with a variety of spells to attempt, and would like to borrow Professor Reynolds for the morning.”

I resisted the protective urge I felt, shaking it off.I was surprised at its intensity.The other professors had his best interests at heart and wouldn’t hurt him.

“Of course,” I said.“Just let me clean him up for you.”

“Ingenious contraption,” she said, admiring the stroller behind the highchair.“I saw Mister Evans using it on the stairs.You’ve got the head for ingenuity,” she said to him.

I handed her the clean baby and she tucked him into the stroller.“See you at lunch.”

Aiden put his head in his hands.“Why did I feel like saying no?”

I patted his shoulder.“If it makes you feel any better, so did I.”

Professor Dunlop greeted us at the door of the Qualitative Spellcraft classroom.“I need you to go to the library.Emma Donahue comes from an older witch family.”He raised his eyebrows meaningfully.

“The hidden study rooms,” I whispered.“But I don’t know where hers is.”

“Mister Brecken is aware of every location in the library.He wouldn’t be able to access them without the master key.”He handed me an ornate brass key.

“A little on the nose, don’t you think?”I said, examining it.

“Simple is often as satisfying as the most complex spell,” Professor Dunlop said dryly.“Please retrieve Ms.Donahue.She won’t want to miss her first class.”

“Yes sir,” I said.

I trotted down the stairs to the basement and found Mister Brecken behind the main library desk easily.I explained the situation, and he nodded.

“The hidden study rooms are all around the library.It shouldn’t take long to find Ms.Donahue’s.”

He cleared the desk in front of him and drew a symbol with his finger.The magic left behind faded into the wood after he completed it, and then I was looking at the floor plan of the library.

“Fascinating!”I said.“Which one is hers?”

We studied the design for a moment.

“There,” Mr.Brecken said, pointing at a room off to the side.It wasn’t in the restricted section like mine.“I’ll lead you there.”He wiped his hand over the magical floor plan and it vanished.

“Can you make it on any surface?”I asked.“Or is it tied specifically to the desk?”

“I could make it in the air if I wished,” Mr.Brecken said, picking up his cane and walking slowly around the desk.“It’s easier to see on flat surfaces, though.”

He led me through the stacks to a back corner.“Here you go.”

---