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Howl had invited his favorite pupil (and prettiest, if he was honest), to his house. Sans Luka, naturally. The wizard had developed an intense dislike for the shadow based on the fact that he'd been involved in the conspiracy to change his hair color. If only he could banish Puff from his bedroom...

His room would be able to go back to being messy, just like he liked it. Oh well, at least it was presentable. "Puff, do you think you can leave us alone today? I want to teach Kali how to make seven league boots."

Puff shook his head, his tail twitching at his host. Of course he couldn't leave him alone. The shadow had a tendency to stick to Howl like glue. He clung to the boy's trousers. "Pu, pu," he said sadly. Surely his host wouldn't make him go away?

"Fine. No cleaning, no attempting spells, no eating my books--"

"Pu!" Puff agreed, saluting.

Vate opened the door, seemingly amused. "Hey Kali," he said with a snicker. "You know where Howl's room is by now, I assume." He gave another snicker. "You'll enjoy this lesson," he promised mysteriously. "If it gets too bad, tell Howl to have a glass of tea with honey. It helps."

Calcifer floated down the hall; he had lately taken residence in the fireplace, sharing Howl's dislike for certain shadows. "Lesson's going as planned," he said, looking at Kali. "Just don't laugh at him too much, and there won't be much slime." Hopefully.

"Is Kali here?" Howl didn't manage even a three worded sentence without his voice cracking. He swore.

Howl rose an eyebrow at Kali as she walked into his room. How did she think things were going? His room was clean, for one thing. His voice was acting up and he hadn't been able to find a spell to fix it yet. Wizards often started their training later in life; perhaps there wasn't one, he thought miserably. "Horribly," he began dramatically, though his voice cracked on every syllable and destroyed the effect he had desired. "If Sophie ever hears about this..." He gave a tragic expression.

"You wouldn't know any spells to fix this, would you?" he asked rather hopefully. He hesitated before clearing his throat. "I thought we could study how to make seven league boots today," he said in his best teaching-tone. His voice went from tenor to scratchy in a matter of seconds.

He swore. He was going to get Darcy back for this, one way or another.

Howl sighed in self pity. "I don't think there is a spell to fix this," he sulked. It had been bad enough the first time, when the wizard hadn't been as aware of magic. "Tea and honey?" he asked doubtfully, raising an eyebrow. "Really?" There was a glimmer of hope in his blue eyes. "I'll make some after the lesson. Maybe we'll have time to--"

Puff had appeared from behind him, reaching for a book on his host's bed. "Puff, I told you not to eat my books," he started, frowning. "That's probably the one we need, too. Kali, could you get it? I was saying, maybe we'll have time to do two lessons," he finished, looking at his notes; his hand writing, while just barely readable, was nice enough to look at.

"You can use the spell on any pair of boots," he explained. "Did you bring some?"

"Good," Howl said with a smile. "You know that every step is ten and a half miles?" he asked, reminding himself of how badly Sophie's first experience with seven league boots had went. "You have to be careful to only take one or two steps, or you'll end up too far away from where you want to go. Make sure you don't get lost and take another step," he added. "Goodness knows where you'd end up."

He took the book and opened it, turning to a page he'd written himself. "The spell's a bit harder than the cat spell," he said, handing it to her. "You'll need some of these," he pushed some metal rods towards her, before smirking. "I don't remember how to do it, so you'll have to figure it out on your own."

Howl hated being ignored. Absolutely hated it. He liked being the center of attention at all times. He sighed, and then sat at his bed, taking the metal rods from Kali. His expression was one of utmost concentration. He seemed to remember---

He was setting the rods up, putting them together, until he had a box. He nodded to himself before carefully placing it on the desk. "Here," he said. "I'm sorry. I couldn't remember," he looked genuinely apologetic. His memory was still coming back to him; though the reason he had lost it in the first place was unknown. "It won't be so difficult now."

And maybe now she'd stop ignoring him.

"Inside," Howl said. "In the middle. This is the standard shape for all complex spells," he added. "Do you know the spell?" he asked, looking over at her, almost warily. He seemed worried she would ignore him again. "I gave you the page, right?"

He paused, and looked away from her. "Hey Kali..." he started. "How do you know when a girl likes you or not? Really likes you." Was the ever good with the ladies boy asking for advice? "It's this one girl I've been having trouble with--sometimes I think she likes me, and other times, I don't think she does at all."

Howl hesitated. If he told Kali, what if the girl heard? She would most certainly laugh at him! His chances would be absolutely ruined, and he would have to move ten thousand miles away, clear his name in a place that had undoubtedly heard about him, and find another girl of true and fair quality. If one existed in this world. "None of your bus--" he sighed and muttered something. "Sophie," he admitted finally.

"I ask her to dance, she stomps on my feet. She seemed happy to see me first--but I'm positive she's told her father things about me. He really seems to hate me." That and the wizard was absolutely sure the vampire wanted to make him a breakfast treat.