"Apparently!"

"So your biggest desire is living with me and Professor Reynolds?"

"Kinda..." she's maybe blushing a bit.

Heee. 

"Aw. Well, mine's apparently standing next to you..."

"Yeah, um speaking of which," this isn't an awkward transition at all, "what do you think you'll do for the summer?"

She shrugs. "Haven't really thought about it."

"Professor Reynolds said I could stay with her again and you could too if you wanted."

"Oh. Huh. And you want me to stay with you too?"

"I think that would be nice."

"You'll get your wish pretty soon, then."

"And you too."

"Pretty sure I've already got it."

"Suppose so."

Heee. "I'll let Professor Reynolds know I wanna stay with you guys, then."

"Great."

School restarts without any real hiccups. Professor Quirrel begins working more closely with Ellie and Anathema once they catch up on their reading. He's familiar enough with some witchcraft from the era to provide a few jumping off points - though he cautions them these workings are often considered 'dark' in modern times, despite often being arguably not even vaguely morally ambiguous. After all, providing some of your own blood for a working is hardly harming another. (Most of the rituals he knows about require sacrifice of the self, of 'offerings' such as incense, or of animals - human sacrifice was no longer used by the Founders' time.)

That all seems... mostly okay.

Anathema's a bit iffier on animal sacrifice, though Professor Quirrel points out it was usually livestock animals being sacrificed - and they were often eaten afterwards, anyways. (Of course, Professor Quirrel says, there are a lot of rituals that don't go that far.)

And some that go farther, of course?

Small smile. "Well, yes, of course."

"Right."

It's interesting academically, naturally - is that something Ellie wants to learn more about?

Maybe for future study.

Alright.

The pieces fall into place rather well - the ritual doesn't require more than a trivial sacrifice, they think, or at least not the one that looks likely for a first attempt (Professor Quirrel cautions them they may have to spend a while tweaking it). Just a drop of blood from each girl, smeared on a set of runes about transformation and rebirth that Professor Quirrel helps them research.

The incantation they reconstruct from a fragment of a journal is kinda long and also in Old English - translating the entire thing's really difficult, but it's pronounceable, and it does seem to be something about inviting the archetype or spirit of an animal to come and be before you, so you may become it. There's a lot to do, to the point they're both having significant trouble remembering all the steps - at which point Professor Quirrel hums and says he has some (old, somewhat finicky and also very choosy) magical items that can improve recall. Two circlets, both made of silver and fairly plain. One seems braided, with a blue gem set to rest over Ellie's forehead, and an inscription in Old English twining along it. The other's a bit more ornate, with carvings of birds and cats, with a deep red gem over the forehead. The ruby one doesn't seem to work for Ellie at all, but helps Anathema a lot, while the sapphire works rather exceptionally well for them both.

Anathema pours over some astrology charts, tentatively picking a waxing half moon as an auspicious night. Professor Quirrel writes them notes allowing them to be out past curfew, and then, with a few mental rehearsals and preparations, they can begin.

Professor Quirrel notes he'll be observing, in case something goes wrong, but he won't be involved in the ritual itself.