A dangerous sorcerer named Felix Faust has come to Sunnydale, intent on raising an ancient demon to subjugate all of humankind. To succeed, he must perform a powerful curse to displace his enemies, transporting them from one time and place and exch...
The sun's rays warmed the lawn and lit up the faces of every student hurrying to their final class of the day. Except for the faces of five students, focused mainly on the ground.
Buffy trudged along the sidewalk with Xander, Willow, Cordelia, and Oz, each of them matching her slow, unmotivated pace. They had left the library a minute earlier with nothing more encouraging to say to Giles than, "We'll figure something out."
But how were they supposed to figure out a way to stop Principal Snyder from dismantling the library, and Giles with it?
Willow's face seemed the most pained of all. "Where are we supposed to go now if there's no library?" she moaned.
"Yeah," Cordelia said. "There's no other place for you guys to plan your demon battles where you can guarantee no one will go."
Willow clutched her computer textbook tight. "Sure, but ... what if we want to check out a new book? Where do we go to read stuff? And, yeah. There's that whole demon battle thing, too. But what about books?"
Buffy frowned at her. "Worse, on both counts, what about Giles? Did you see the look on his face when Principal Snyder told him he's fired?"
"I know," Willow said, despairing. "He's not just a Watcher. He's a librarian. And he loves books. Now he's losing both jobs at once."
Xander was unusually somber. "What's he gonna do now?"
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Even Cordelia seemed upset. "Yeah, I mean, it's not like he has any other skills. Where else can he get a job reading books and sharing creepy information? Unless he worked at a museum. Or on the news! Those jobs are both pretty boring!" She put a finger to her chin, seeming excited over the possibilities.
Xander smiled sardonically at her. "And won't he be thrilled when you pitch it to him that way?"
Willow brightened with her own idea. "What if he started his own business?"
Oz shrugged. "It worked for Ghostbusters."
"Sure, why not?" Willow said, touching his arm quickly. "He could open up a magic shop or something, for real magic."
Buffy lowered her head to her chin. "Oh, please. Can you imagine Giles running a magic shop?" She frowned to herself, then blinked hard. "I just had a horrible image of Giles in a big pointy hat, looking like the sorcerer's apprentice. Ew." She waved her hands rapidly in front of her face as if swatting a fly. "Away, horrible image!"
"Don't hit me!" a boy screamed beside her.
Buffy blinked, seeing their friend, Jonathan. He always wore a blank, worried expression, but now he seemed genuinely afraid that Buffy might smash him like a bug. "Oh. Sorry, Jonathan, I was just –."
"I said, 'Back off!'" Jonathan repeated, his eyes wide, his voice rising. "Leave me alone, all of you!"
Standing a head shorter than most boys, Jonathan was timid by nature, bordering on paranoid. But even for him, this was odd.
