"Nnnno," he says slowly. "Should I? And - I got to swap out bugs for mice last year, but someday I might need to cast a spell on a person I don't want to kill."

"Your spillway should close up as you go longer and longer without using accidental and/or wandless fire," Healer Song says. "And then it will be safer and safer to cast spells on people and nondisposable objects. But for the short term, while you're still working on it, maybe a fire suppressant will work. Are you capable of relatively gentle deliberate wanded fire - about the same strength as your accidents? We can test it here without making anything worse if so, I just don't think I have a good way to test an overpowered Incendiary Charm."

He shrugs. "Yeah, I think so."

"How much do you think so?" Healer Song asks, glancing around at various things he would rather not see go up in smoke.

"Well, maybe we shouldn't do it near any stuff you don't want on fire? But I don't actually think I'm going to light anything extra on fire. And I'm really, really fast with Extinguishers."

"Perhaps we should go outdoors and put a leaf on a boulder for you."

He laughs. "Sure."

And out they go, and Healer Song puts a leaf on a large rock, and casts a fire suppression on the leaf.

"All right. So that should help as long as the target in question is a relatively replaceable object and not, for instance, a human. You can ask your teachers to perform it for you; I'll put it in your note. I cannot imagine why no one did this before even if they thought it was neotenous accidental magic."

"Search me," snorts Feral. "People just don't think of stuff sometimes. Anyway, two years back I probably still wouldn't have gone near the mice."

"Yes, that's fair. But this should protect your next firecreacker or equivalent."

"Sure, okay," says Feral. "Thanks. You're less useless than I was expecting."

"My career ambition is to be less useless than anyone expects," remarks Healer Song, and he heads back into the infirmary to write the note.

Giggling, Feral follows him.

Write-write-write. The note explains the spillway (without reference to the suspected trauma-related cause) and what should be done about it. Healer Song signs the note and hands it to Feral. "Here you are, then." He coughs slightly. "You can always make an appointment if you would find it helpful to have me be surprisingly useful on any other matter."

"Well, as you like," shrugs Song. "Too late for today's Transfiguration, but you can probably make your next class if you go now."

During the middle afternoon period, Bella and Sherlock have transfiguration together. They are also doing the firecracker exercise.

Sherlock successfully transforms his firecracker into a firefly and back.

So does Bella! Her firefly is not very energetic and can't seem to turn its butt off, but it is totally a firefly, and then it is a firecracker again.

Firefly. Firecracker. Firefly. Firecracker. It's almost meditative.

Bella is not as quick as her friend, but she earns a good grade for the day anyway, and then they're off to Magical Theory, the last class of the day.