Amidst the chaos, Osvaldo's (and Jun's) ears swiveled toward the back of the locker room. There was the sound of a door opening. It was a goth chick coming in the back door. She lightly tapped Jun's new antlers with her fingers while he gazed back at her. "I thought I sensed the curse working in here," she said to no one in particular.

She walked over to where Donny was sobbing and picked up his lion tail by the tip. He twisted around and yanked his tail away from her, holding it close to his own chest. She looked down at the football jock's kangaroo feet and noted, "Your transformations are coming along nicely."

"What are you doing here, Trish?" asked the kid with the horse tail. "You got expelled last year."

"And I've been bitter about it ever since!" She glared and pointed at him with the look of a villainess. "I've been looking for a way to get back at this school for what they did to me, and I finally found it."

She paused, made eye contact with Osvaldo, and continued: "As some of you might know, my friends and I are practitioners of witchcraft."

Osvaldo growled. "Roo! Roo did dith to e'ry one," he said, trying to get his tongue to work.

"No, Osvaldo. You did this to everyone. That medallion you found had been powerful and evil for a long time. I saw you take it back from that beagle, and I expected you'd turn into one. So we decided to adjust that magic to our own advantage. We slowed down your transformation and made it contagious: all who notice your transformation will themselves transform into an animal. Except, obviously, those of us who cast the spell in the first place."

Osvaldo asked, "What about the kids who laughed at my ears at first? They didn't change." His actual vocalization was garbled, but Trish understood his words.

"Are you sure about they didn't? Have you seen them at school today?"

Osvaldo realized he hadn't. He also realized what she meant with that question.

Trish continued, "Let's just say that they won't be leaving home anytime soon with their, hm, alterations." Then she started cackling like the witch she was.

Everyone in the room looked sort of depressed.

Trish made eye contact with Osvaldo again and said, "With your legs and your back changed so much, it must be hard for you to stand upright now. I'll adjust things a little bit so you can at least walk around again. Exposing more students to the unfortunate reality of your transformation--and their own! Mwa ha ha"

She started chanting, and Osvaldo found that he was indeed once again able to stand. It felt like he was on his tiptoes, but in reality he was standing on his paws. Nonetheless, his upright posture was greatly improved.

"Bye, everyone!" She said passive-aggressively before leaving again.

No one spoke, except Jun in his exotic accent: "We don' blame you, Os-val-do. Not your fault." Osvaldo's tail wagged slightly in acknowledgment, but his demeanor quickly returned to one of deep contemplation.

He was thankful he could still walk, but he dreaded going through his classes and possibly being discovered again. He couldn't do that to his friends and teachers. He wouldn't even wish such a fate on his enemies. He decided to leave school as fast as he could. Putting his clothes back on, he noticed that his shoes wouldn't fit over his canine paws. So he lowered his jeans enough to mostly cover them and hoped he wouldn't fall down.