Avalon beamed at the professor's reaction to her answer. She was relieved that she had made a valid point, and even more relieved that Professor Sissay complimented her on her thinking. Avalon picked up her quill and continued jotting down some notes on her parchment. She paused to listen as the professor relayed the instructions for the next activity. Yes! She would be able to work with the fascinating little elephants. She wrote the incantation in large, capital letters on her parchment so that she wouldn't forget it.

Avalon made her way to the professor's desk and smiled as she gingerly retrieved one of the elephants. She had been eyeing them since the beginning of the lesson, so it only seemed right that she use them for the activity. Taking a deep breath, Avalon picked up her wand and pointed it at the elephant. She made a few slow counterclockwise circles before stating the incantation. "Emfanizou Arithmou!" she said firmly. But nothing happened. Absolutely nothing.

Raising an eyebrow, Avalon retraced her steps. What did she do wrong? The incantation was correct. She used slow, counterclockwise movements. Ah! Counterclockwise! She remembered that Professor Sissay had said to use clockwise movements. Avalon shook her head sheepishly at her mistake, but quickly tried again, using a controlled, clockwise movement. "Emfanizou Arithmou!" A plume of smoke drifted from the tip of her wand and hovered above the elephant. At the first sign of the 2, she started the horizontal wand movement. The rest of the numbers followed, billowing gracefully out of her wand. 2 3 9 7 4 8 8.

Heeding Professor Sissay's warning that the numbers would disappear quickly, Avalon snatched up her quill and scribbled the numbers on her parchment. Yes! They matched the ones on the blackboard! If only she could have gotten the spell to work on the first try...