You gotta fix it so’s we can leave.”“Who are you?” Ethan asked.“Who am I?” the stranger scoffed. “I’m the only guy who knows the scoop... the only patsy who’s in on the joke. Just when you think you’ve found an easy way out of the frying pan, bam, you’re dropped right into the fire. Some of ‘em get stuck in a loop, living out their despair over and over, like a clockwork toy. Me, I can appreciate a good pratfall, always did like a little Keaton.”“What is it that you want from me?” Ethan. Did it include whipping,or torture? I wasn't into pain of any kind, as my knees alreadytestified. I hoped not. It surely involved the entire weekend theway I'd hoped, because she'd said "afterward," and talked about howwe'd "end up." Maybe even married! "I saw from all those stories you read downstairs what turns youon. Not cruelty, but humiliation. You really want to feelyourself being transformed into a woman. Any of your usual manlypride or dignity has to be melted down, made to feel. "Shit, she was pulling her vagina open so wide, and the light was angled at the right angle, so it really was possible to see her cervix. I wasn't sure I could open myself that wide, but it was so wonderful to know that my son wanted to see mine more than hers, so I gave it my best shot, putting my fingers inside me, and stretching myself open until it hurt."Fucking hell, Mom, I can see how I could have come out through your vagina, but your cervix is so small, surely I couldn't have gotten. Wagers work relatively simply, two people agree to a competition and set the stakes for the loser.Most wagers were fairly mundane, getting on the outcome of a quidditch match, chess game, or round of exploding snaps, or the like. But there was no limit on what a Wager could be, or what the stakes could be, and wagers were binding. Once made they could not be broken easily, even if the price was extreme.The only slight saving grace, was that the magic ended at the boundary of the school.