This dream appears to be a little nebulous, but she keeps quiet, feeling that, as deranged as she already feels to her roommates, especially Alejandra, she doesn't want to compound it with mentions of possible consequences.

  For the rest of the weekend, she keeps these lingering thoughts to herself. How would I drag the Ottoman Empire into the consequences of a war it didn't want by sending a cahier de doléances to Istanbul? And why? But the way Geneviève worded it seems to be implying that these consequences would be indirect, and the Ottoman Empire wouldn't be a belligerent: if the de Basticans foresaw that war in question actually came for the Ottomans, they would have said dragging into a war, rather than its consequences... Speaking of which, the Ottoman wizarding community is preoccupied by the situations in Serbia and Yedisan!

  A few days later, as usual when Nurcan wants to ask questions outside the scope of the lectures, she waits until it ends to ask Pelléas, the instructor.

  When she goes to Transfiguration class on Monday, she stays for a bit after class:

  "Il y a un sort qui m'intéresse, que je crois me serait utile: Geminio..." (There's a spell that interests me, that I feel would be useful to me: Geminio...)

  "C'est trop avancé pour toi. Tu comprends la théorie, mais tu peines à jeter les sortilèges!" (That's too advanced for you. You understand theory just fine, but you struggle with casting the spells!) Pelléas objects.

  "Je manque juste de puissance!" (I'm just underpowered!)

  I was willing to live with being underpowered for a while, but I won't let my lack of power get in the way of getting the cahier de doléances to the Bab-i Humayun in Constantinople! I might be wondering whether I have enough magical power to Geminio a cahier de doléances... Nurcan ruminates about her low power. I think I have an idea of how big a cahier de doléances could be. It's basically a book, a pretty short one.

  "Peut-être que ta baguette est inadéquate! Pas de Geminio pour toi tant et aussi longtemps que tu l'utilises!" (Maybe your wand is inadequate! No Geminio for you so long as you're using it!)

  My wand, inadequate? I couldn't have known... The wand issued by the Bab-i Humayun to me is a little unwieldy, but I was in no position to beg for a different wand; back then, I was just an inexperienced, untrained witch, she gets flashbacks of the day she first left home, as she leaves the Transfiguration room.

  Of the day a Karakalem faculty member took her to Sihirli Mahalle. Of the issuance of her first wand, which she still uses to this day: a cornel wand with a kneazle whisker as its core.

  However, for the days to follow, she goes from having lingering thoughts about the oneiric warning delivered by the de Batiscans about her actions inadvertently causing damage to the Empire to questioning how could either the wand's kneazle whisker core or its cornel would have caused her to be so underpowered.

  She also questions whether her poor grades (relative to the rest of her report card, anyway; she was still on the low side of Effort Exceptionnel in that course) in Transfiguration really were caused by her wand, rather than any defect in her understanding of the material. Or even whether she'd be able to learn Geminio in time for her to use it on a cahier de doléances before it's sent to Versailles.

  When the next weekend trip rolls around, after ensuring that her homework is complete, she goes to Visigny's wand shop, operated by the Acajor family for generations.

  "Cette baguette ne me convient pas!" (This wand doesn't suit me!) Nurcan complains about her wand, trying to ascertain whether her wand really made her that underpowered.

  Who, in their right mind, would use cornel wood to craft wands with, at least not with a kneazle whisker? Franck examines Nurcan's Bab-I Humayun-issued wand, realizing that her wand is faulty.

  "Le cornouiller et les baguettes magiques ne font pas bon ménage avec toi!" (Cornel and wands don't mix with you!) Franck then checks his inventory to determine if there's anything more suitable for her.

  He then has Nurcan try out a few wands; with most combinations of wands and cores, Nurcan still appears to be just as underpowered as she was with her old cornel wand. Which makes her face red as she tries more wands.

  Am I going to remain that underpowered, regardless of which wand I'm going to wield? The only difference I feel is that other wands are more agile than a cornel one, Nurcan feels her hands getting sweatier as she tries more wands, to no avail. Some wand, somewhere, must allow me to unlock whatever power I really have! I won't let my lack of power stand in the way of this exchange!

  What becomes clear to Franck is that beech is the best fit for her, in terms of wood, but there isn't much of an inventory for beech wands. When "that one wand" is finally found, with a fairy wing core, which is flexible enough for her needs, and also seems to be the best fit, clearly showing that she has more power with it than with any other wand at that shop:

  "Combien c'est?" (How much?)

  "Quinze bézants!" (15 bezants)

  She doesn't hesitate one second to fork over the sum in question to obtain the wand that she deems the solution to her power problem, or at least a step in the right direction.

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  When she comes back to her room, that day, she tells all 3 of Alejandra, Emmanuelle and Isabella about a spell she deems of use:

  "Dans quelques jours, après le cours de Métamorphose, on va apprendre Geminio ensemble!" (In a few days, after Transfiguration class, we're going to learn Geminio together!)

  Alejandra's annoyance is heard in her tone of voice. "Est-ce que ?a a rapport à tes cahiers de doléances? Je t'ai déjà dit que je ne t'aiderai pas à aller les chercher!" (Does it have anything to do with cahiers de doléances? I already told you I won't help you get them!)

  "Non. Il s'agit là de copier des objets par magie!" (No. Here it's about using magic to copy objects!) Nurcan retorts.

  The foursome go over what could make the copies imperfect, at least in the long run. And how that is rooted in the Principal Exceptions to Gamp's Law of Elemental Transfiguration. As well as how one letter in the incantation could change everything.

  I can kind of feel Alejandra is a little concerned about breaching the Statute of Secrecy, or doesn't want anything to do with Muggle politics, Nurcan keeps to herself. But I know by now that Muggle geopolitics can be a pretty heavy topic for someone our age. She feels a little more hands-on as a witch, so she was my go-to for Transfiguration.

  "On peut pas pratiquer ?a sans surveillance!" (We can't practice that unsupervised!) Isabella yells at the other witches.

  "Nurcan disait ?a pas pour rien!" (Nurcan said that for a reason!) Emmanuelle adds, a little annoyed.

  But, a few days later, at the end of the next Transfiguration lecture, Pelléas makes an announcement about extra credit:

  "Si vous désirez du crédit supplémentaire dans mon cours, je vous invite à une séance spéciale consacrée au Geminio ce soir!" (If you want extra credit in my course, I invite you to a special session devoted to Geminio tonight!)

  I couldn't let Nurcan be the sole beneficiary of Geminio! I definitely saw an improvement between last time and today in her. Might be extra credit for second-year students, but for those who are going to sit for the BUSEs (Brevets Universels de Sorcellerie élémentaire), sixth-years, that is, it's a review, Pelléas reflects on how changing the wand made a difference to Nurcan.

  After telling the whole class about the time and place, the instructor prepares the theater department's rehearsal room with practice materials such as blank parchment scrolls, ink bottles, and other items in common wizarding use for which a relatively short lifespan is acceptable.

  Once the session begins, it's clear that the youngest takers are people looking for an extra push to get them over the edge, but the older ones don't seem to be doing so well in that course. Like Léon, one of the intramural Quidditch players, who just want to pass his BUSEs. And looks at Emmanuelle as soon as she enters the rehearsal room.

  "Oh, Miss Rictus..." the Beater starts talking about the students Emmanuelle brought in tow. "Pourquoi as-tu amené ces jeunottes ici?" (Why did you bring in these youngsters?) Léon asks, referring to Alejandra and Nurcan, while older students arrive.

  "On veut copier des objets par magie!" (We want to copy objects with magic!) Nurcan answers for the duo.

  Emmanuelle, faithful to her last name, gets some facial spasms while hearing Léon's question. In reality, Alejandra just needs a little push to get into Optimal territory in that course, but I'm confident that Nurcan can get there, provided she gets all the extra credit from here on out.

  While the wide array of attendees, mostly second and sixth-years, listen to the professor talk about how mispronouncing the spell's incantation could change the effects, Nurcan is frozen in place by the implications of using Geminio wrong on some future cahier de doléances.

  I don't want to flood the Bab-I Humayun's offices by someone handling a cahier de doléances I mistakenly cursed! Nurcan trembles when she sees Léon butcher Geminio, causing him to watch a pile of cursed parchment grow when grabs a blank scroll.

  "Finite!" Alejandra then waves her wand in the direction of the cursed pile of parchment.

  The pile of parchment stops growing when the counterspell has been cast on it. In fact, the cursed scrolls disintegrate in seconds, leaving only the original intact.

  At this point, Alejandra tries to cast Geminio herself. While she didn't mispronounce the spell, she finds the copy a little worse for tear. The instructor makes his rounds, with more attention being given to older students.

  Nurcan takes a deep breath, trying to calm herself down from her fears that her first attempt at using Geminio would result in a pile of cursed parchment scrolls. She gives it a try on a blank scroll close to her:

  "Geminio!"

  As with Alejandra earlier, Nurcan's first copy feels like a palimpsest next to the original scroll. However, no additional copies would end up being made upon touching it.

  Phew, I'm on the right track... Nurcan sighs, while the Beater, feeling the heat from the other attendees, waits until a few others make attempts of their own to try again.

  Especially when he screwed up so royally the first time that he doesn't want this attempt at Geminio to turn into an uncontrollable multiplication of objects.

  I won't let... Miss Rictus and her youngster friends beat me at Geminio! Léon ruminates while he tries to cast the spell again.

  So while the Beater casts Geminio on a bottle of ink, next to the parchment scroll he aimed at in his previous attempt, Emmanuelle's rictus causes her to mispronounce the spell.

  Now it's Emmanuelle's turn to place a curse on a practice object by accident. Léon casts Geminio on the same bottle of ink, but by doing so, triggers Emmanuelle's curse. As the bottles of ink multiply, the contact between each other causes ink to spill on the floor, and the instructor to step in:

  "Finite!"

  After the Gemino'd ink bottles disappear as they stop multiplying, Emmanuelle, feeling guilty about her own rictus causing this mess, casts Tergeo so that the ink stains get magically cleaned off the floor.

  But, as the session goes on, and all attendees improve at using Geminio, they do so at varying rates. Both Alejandra and Nurcan seem to get the hang of it for relatively small objects, with the latter trying to do so on another prop she feels is close enough to the size and mass of a cahier de doléances to build her confidence in using the spell.

  "Woohoo!" Nurcan exclaims after making a successful attempt at using the spell on something bigger than a mere scroll.

  Which spurs her to try casting it on something bigger than a cahier de doléances, like a female Muggle peasant's dress. However, this time around, the spell fizzles out, and she only seems able to duplicate a sleeve. I guess, I don't think I'll get better at Geminio in time for it to be a viable method for me to obtain a good disguise to go to a cahier de doléances-writing session without being detected. Because of that, I might be wondering how much Muggle money can a bezant get me, as well as how much it costs to get a peasant dress as appropriate.

  And then everyone returns to their rooms, satisfied with their progress with the spell.