E.C. EDWARDS - The Mighty Antimagic Spell

The boy cleaned the blackboard because he felt something was wrong.

"Let's think a little," the professor told Johnny. “A quarter less than the quantity of a quarter of a cup it means ...”

The boy wrote again on the blackboard.

¼ - ¼ = 0

Again the same mistake, so the professor stood up and started writing on the blackboard.

¼ - flying chestnut tea

1- ¼ - water from dragon scales

The professor gave Johnny the magic chalk.

“And the same amount of basilisk glue.”

But Johnny was so confused, that he was about to cry.

"I don't understand why we should learn such calculations," he sighed.

“Because we need maths all the time. For potions, for example,” Knudlac again showed Johnny the geranium that was quiet and calm.

“I'm not interested in potions,” the boy defended his point. “Neither maths. And I don't understand why there are no caps or hats that once on your head, help you calculate. To wear them only in need...”

Mr. Knudlac got close to the boy and put a hand on his shoulder.

“Dear, mathematics first develops thinking. Without it, we wouldn’t have much of what we have today. Mathematics is used in all fields. Sceptics use it to know how to build, invent, develop technologies that help humanity. In all their fields ... and all their inventions make their lives easier.”

“I don't want to be a sceptic. I’m not interested in it. I just want to be a strong wizard.”

“And we use what they invented. And also to be a strong wizard, you need to know maths.”

“That's not true,” the boy went on, stubborn.

“My dear Johnny ... do you understand what I'm telling you?”

“No ... but I pay attention to you, Mr. Knudlac.”

The children started laughing, and Knudlac had to somehow show him that he was wrong. He had to prove to him the opposite.

“When you are a strong wizard, difficult times will surely come when you have to fight with black magic wizards. Let's just say I'm one of them.”

The boy prepared his wand as for a duel.

"Debilitatio Dextera Manu Sua" Knudlac said, until the boy who hated mathematics could react.

But the magic wasn't for Johnny. It was for a skeleton that was around.

You could see now the bones of the upper right limb of the skeleton slightly rotated, like twisted branches of a willow tree.

“We consider, dear Johnny, that your right hand got numb, as if paralyzed. You drop the wand, but you must not lose your temper.”

Johnny joined the game. What could be more exciting than a fight with Knudlac himself? As if his arm had a problem, Johnny took the wand in his left hand.

“To recover your right arm, this recipe can help.”

A quarter cup of flying chestnut liqueur.

Less than a quarter ice dragons' scales

And then ... we add just as much basilisk glue.

The professor gave the boy that half smile, and then continued:

“Unless you know another method ...”

The boy nodded confirming he didn’t know anything else that could help him.

“If you can follow this recipe, you’ll be able to stop the effect of my magic. If you fail, I’ll do the potion, but that means ... you lost the duel against a black magic wizard. If he cast such spell on you, he’d immobilize your arm for at least a few hours.”

Johnny took the chalk in his right hand, and then prepared to write on the board.

“Your right hand is numb, dear.”

Some of the other students smiled. But Johnny frowned slightly, and then he smiled too. It was his idea to try not to use his right hand, as if he were injured, not the skeleton.

The boy started to calculate. He showed the results to the wizard professor and the latter created a potion as calculated by him. When the boy saw the potion was ready, without questioning what effect it would have, he poured a few drops of that elixir on the right arm of that skeleton.

“Only three drops,” Mr. Knudlac took the boy's bottle when he saw that he tried to pour more.

In just a few moments the potion had its effect. Only ... not the one he wanted.

The petrified bone of the skeleton began to become elastic like heated rubber. That bone stretched and stretched, until it touched the ground. It was now a bone scattered on the floor of the classroom, like honey that flew out of a jar without a lid.

"You seem to have completely destroyed your arm," Knudlac smiled at the boy.

The other children wanted to laugh, but Mr. Knudlac's sharp gaze stopped them again.

“A little maths would have helped.”

“Silvya Kruman, do you think you can help me with the recipe?”

“Yes,” the girl replied. “Put a quarter cup of ground flying chestnuts into a bottle.”

The professor filled a small bottle with flying chestnut dust.

“Then put three quarters of ice scales juice out of a similar bottle.”

The professor followed the instruction.

The girl stopped a little.

“And from a similar bottle three quarters of basilisk glue.”

The professor mixed the ingredients, after which:

“Debilitatio sinistram eius...”

And he poured three drops of potion and the twisted bone of the skeleton’s left hand skeleton regained its original form.

After that a whisper repaired the rubber bone of the skeleton too.

The professor sent Johnny to his desk just waving arm.

“Not only mathematics is necessary to know. All the subjects are important in life. Chemistry, Botany, Biology, Geography, History ... You need them to become strong wizards.”

“How can Geography help us?” a boy asked.

“If I sent you to bring me yak horn powder, for one of my recipes, where would you go?”

“I think in ... Tibet,” said the boy.

“How do you know this?” Knudlac smiled, pleased that the boy knew the answer.

“From the Geography lesson.”

“See? It’s necessary to have expertise. Knowledge, as I call it. It’s the foundation of a wise mind ... the foundation to become great, good and strong wizards.”

The professor smiled at them and began to clean the blackboard moving a magic sponge with the wand. That sponge, even though it was very small, cleaned all the writing on the blackboard in the blink of an eye.

“I wish you a wonderful day. The maths time is over. And I'm waiting for you next time at an even more interesting maths class. It will be a class more interesting than any class has been so far. See you next time.”

The students took their stuff and started out of the classroom, laughing and joking, more than happy, summing up the maths class and wondering what could be done to make it even more enjoyable.

And Johnny ... he understood he had to learn ... even maths.