"Hey, Jared! Hi, Kev, your bro makes a sweet dog doesn't he?" said a lanky blond guy in cargo shorts who was stooped down petting Jared.
"Huh? You know Shaggy - I mean, Jared?"
"Sure, he's your bro or was until you made him your dog permanently. He must've wanted it or you're a really powerful latent."
"How come you know it's Jared?" demanded Kevin.
"Oh, cause I'm the wiz who slipped him the collar and medallion. I really didn't expect this though. I just thought he'd get a little hairier. Guess maybe he was a latent too. I'd try the collar gag on a dozen guys before and none of when full sheep dog like this," the blond said marveling at the sheepdogginess of Shaggy.
"Oh, I see the medallion is now a dog tag identifying you as its owner. Wow! Do you know how hard it is to magically engrave a medallion?" then the guy slapped his head, "Duh, of course you do, cause you did it."
"What are you talking about? Erik?"
"Eyrick," the blond corrected, "I just tell folks my parents were big Lord of the Rings fans, but of course it's an old wizarding name in my family."
"You're a wizard like Harry Potter?"
"Well, not like Harry Potter, but a wizard yes. The Rowling dame muddled up the wizard game to make it seem harmless to norms, and keep them from catching on to us wizzes. Anyway, you should already know that. It's a class ten spell to overwrite a medallion like this."
"Well, I do read at an 8th grade level," replied Kevin uncertain of what to say.
"Huh? You never had any wizardly training? Then how did you? I mean it takes years of training to master a spell like that and you have to be - how did you change that tag?" demanded Eyrick.
"I just grabbed it and willed it. Otherwise the cop was going to take Jared and give him to some lady," Kevin explained.
"No spell? Just will-craft," Eyrick stared in awe, and there was fear in his eyes. He had read of great mages who could reshape reality by just thinking it, but he never thought he would meet one, and he never thought it would be a tween. "Say, uh, I suppose I better get going."
"You came looking for Jared. Why? Didn't high school start about half an hour ago?"
"Yeah, but we were supposed to have baseball practice before school, not ball practice, weight training. Jared was a no show, and nobody knew who I was talking about when I asked. You don't just erase a person from reality that seamlessly. So I came looking for him. I thought it might have been my spell gone wrong, but I never expected -" he paused, stood up, and pointed, "You."
He turned to run away, saying, "Well, gotta go. See ya!"
"Stay, Eyrick!" commanded Kevin.
Eyrick felt a tug around his neck like a dog collar causing him to heel.
He slowly turned around, and forced a smile, "Yes?" he asked.
Kevin was holding the medallion around Jared's neck, and looking up at Eyrick.
"Oh, no, you don't want to even think that. Wizards look out for other wizards. I- uh"
"Jared will howl all day, if he's alone. He needs a companion."
"How about we go by the pound, and I'll get him a really cute-" Eyrick began, but Kevin was already shaking his head.
"Doobitas calib-" Eyrick began to encant.
"Quiet. Don't say a word, Eyrick," ordered Kevin waving his finger.
Eyrick's throat clenched up and he couldn't speak. How was he supposed to cast a spell, if he couldn't speak? How powerful was this kid? He needed to get help? His eyes searched the park for another wizard, but-