They headed back to their aisle and Rachael put the book they were chasing back in its spot on the shelf. She climbed up onto one of the library tables jumping up to try and catch one of the books as it flies over head.

"Stop, stop! You're going to hurt yourself." Beckett laughs, at her.

"Are you laughing at me?" Rachael smiles, with pretending to take offense.

"Just a little bit. Here, try this. First, stop the air current." Beckett instructs, activating teacher mode. He demonstrated the action freezing all of the books in midair, before pulling them towards him. "Then turn yourself into a magnet. The book can't help but be drawn to you."

One landed in his palm and he gripped it tightly. "They also like it when you stroke their spines. They're more likely to stay on the shelf if they like you."

"We've been at this school for like three days now. How do you know all this?" Rachael asks, climbing down from on top of the table.

"My home library uses a similar filing system. Go ahead, try it." Beckett says, watching her carefully.

"Try it? How am I supposed to turn myself into a magnet?! I literally only know how to conjure fire, and that didn't work out super great last time." Rachael says.

"What did Professor Englund say in class yesterday, Rachael? About where magick comes from?" Beckett sighs.

"You mean what did you say?" Rachael retorts, but he just stared at her waiting for an answer. "That it's innate? We're born with it."

"Exactly. The point is, and I'm loath to say this, but you're probably the most powerful student at this school. I'll be shocked if a little spell like this isn't a cake walk for you." Beckett sighs. "The magnet part is the trickiest, but perfectly simple with the right Attunement. Which I'm pleased to be graced with."

"That doesn't explain how, though." Rachael huffs, anxiously.

"Just...How do I put it? It's a feeling you get, right in your center. If you focus on it hard enough, you can feel the energy being released." Beckett explains. "All you have to do is reverse that energy. Draw energy in, instead expelling it out. Now, go ahead. Give it a try." Beckett watched her expectantly with a small smile on his face.

"Okay, ignoring that you basically described an orgasm..." Rachael says, catching him off guard, the redness in his cheeks returning. "First step... I completely forget everything you just said...I got lost when my brain thought about sex."

Beckett frowned. "How about I gather the books up, and you just put them away. That sounds about your level."

Rachael grumbled something under her breath, eventually admiring that he was right.

They worked together pulling in books and placing them back on the shelves. He drew the last book to himself, before stopping to observe it.

"Wow, look at this. It must have fluttered over from another section of the library." Beckett says.

"Another old book?" Rachael asks.

"Rachael, this is a first edition Penderghast Compendium! Everything you've ever wanted to know about this lauded institution is in here! Up until the twentieth century, that is." Beckett smiles, waiting for her to be more impressed, but she really wasn't.

"Cool?" Rachael questions, not exactly sure what she should care.

"It has everything in it. Including a complete timeline of Penderghast deans chronicles all the way from the school's inception. Look here's the original school seal here." Beckett says, pointing out the a crest that's similar to the one advertised all around school and on his blazer, but instead of a Drymxmar in the center  there was a snake creature eating it's own tail.

"What is that?" Rachael asks.

"We were the Penderghast Ouroboros until 1916, when Dean Greygarden Waithe thought the mascot should be a little more I believe the word he used was 'fun'." Beckett explains, excitedly. He really seemed to get off to sharing his knowledge. "The rest of the seal is the same, though. The typeface, the colors of the shield representing the nine elements-"

"Nine elements? There are only eight colors on the crest." Rachael says, confused.

Beckett traces the outline of the crest on his blazer, which was a dark red color. "That's the ninth."

"But I thought there were only eight?" Rachael says.

"There's only eight that we're allowed to practice and study." Beckett explains.

"What's the ninth one?" Rachael asks, tilting her head to the side in confusion.

Beckett glances around the empty library to double check that they're alone. "Blood magick."

"Like the mastery of actual blood?" Rachael questions.

"More like the mastery over life itself." Beckett says.

"Blood-Atts are the only Attuned powerful enough to give life...and they can take it away just like that." Beckett frowns, snapping his fingers for emphasis. "That's why the practice of Blood magick has been banned."

"So the Attuned governments or whatever just disallowed them? How do you do that to an entire group of people?" Rachael says.

"It's more like they were suppressed. It's the rarest Attunement a person can have, so there weren't many to begin with." Beckett sighs. "How do you not know this stuff?"

"I-Uh...never paid attention in school?" Rachael says.

Beckett wasn't sure if she was answering him or asking so he just shrugged it off.

"But...Why? Why would they do that?" Rachael asks.

"Here, follow me. I want to show you something." Beckett says leading her to a three headed snake statue in the back of the library. The heads hissing as they approached, he held out a hand to settle it down.

"So you're the marble snake whisperer now?" Rachael asks, raising an eyebrow.

"It's an enchantment. You need special permission to access these archives." Beckett explains.

The snakes parted and bent to reveal a doorway and they stepped inside. It lead to columns of files and binders.

"Huh, I thought it'd be more impressive back here." Rachael says.

"But, you shouldn't..." Beckett snickered, his laugh transforming into a loud chuckle. "You shouldn't judge a book by its cover."

Rachael couldn't help, but smile, shaking her head at him. After a moment he calmed down and straightened himself out again.

"Right, well. To answer your question about why they went to such lengths to stop Attuned from practicing Blood magick..." Beckett says turning into one of the aisles. "There was a man. A while ago. He was kinda crazy, experimenting on children and all kinds of horrible stuff. They called him 'The Dread'."

"That's not terrifying at all. As far as bad guy nicknames go, that's pretty fucking dark." Rachael says.

"His real name was Raife Highmore." Beckett says.

"So what happened to him?" Rachael asks.

"No one really knows, actually. It's pretty strange. When I was a kid, he was basically the boogeyman. You know, 'if you don't eat your peas, The Dread will cone for you!'." Beckett says.

"Parental manipulation at its finest..." Rachael mumbles.

"And unfortunately, a very real possibility. For all the years he was being pursued, he only killed kids." Beckett says, turning into the aisle of Biographical Histories. "And then, one day, he just disappeared."

He stopped in front of the third shelf, skimming his eyes across the book spines before pulling out the book he wanted and handing it to her. She tried to open the book, but it wouldn't budge.

"Shit...I forgot all the books on this section can't be checked out without access approval." Beckett sighs, his pursuit of knowledge getting the best of him.

"And how do I get access?" Rachael asks.

"It would have to be approved by the dean herself. Usually for students that are already excelling past the standard year's curriculum." Beckett says.

"And are you one of those students?" Rachael asks.

"One of the many benefits of attending Penderghast's summer program. And being all around brilliant, of course." Beckett says.

"Then you could check it out for me?" Rachael asks raising an eyebrow.

"No way. I can't go around using my special privileges to help just anyone." Beckett gasps dramatically. "What if you damage it? Or bring it back and accrue late charges?"

"Okay, okay calm down. I'm not going to force you to compromise your morals." Rachael teases, putting the book back on the shelf, Beckett went to return the Compendium.

When Rachael got back out to the main part of the library she found Beckett waiting for her by the door. She grabbed her bag and walked over to him.

"Well it took you long enough." Beckett says.

"Were you waiting for me?" Rachael smiles.

"What? I-I...Well it's dark. And we live in the same building, after all." Beckett stutters, embarrassed.

"Right..." Rachael smile up at the slightly taller boy.