.

Episode One
The Revelation Hypothesis

Published 10/3/2014

=ooo=

Leonard and Penny had decided to conduct an experiment in her apartment. Leonard had arrived earlier with spaghetti, sauce, a loaf of garlic bread and a bottle of sauvignon blanc, prepared dinner, then set a timer to see how long it would be before Sheldon came over to: A, complain that Leonard should be cooking dinner for him, not Penny; B, explain that spaghetti was much better eaten with hot dogs cut up in it than just with sauce; and C, invite himself to dinner because he was hungry and couldn't cook for himself because he was too busy and important for such menial work. That, of course, would lead to D: since he was eating with them anyway, could Leonard go pick up some hot dogs for the spaghetti?

So far, twenty minutes into the experiment, no Sheldon had yet appeared.

"How is the spaghetti, by the way?" Leonard asked.

"It's good," Penny nodded, taking another bite. "Almost as good as mine."

Leonard smiled at Penny's joke. She never cooked the spaghetti right. "Almost," he agreed with her, trying to keep the sarcasm out of his voice.

"The garlic bread is good, too," Penny added, taking another slice.

"I'm glad to hear that," Leonard said. "Because I wanted to try something new this time," he added. "You know, because I am an experimental physicist, after all, and this is an experiment—"

"Yes, sweetie, I get it," Penny said, holding up a hand to forestall more explanation. "It's wonderful. In fact, everything is wonderful now." Since their engagement in May, Leonard had gone all-out to impress her with his homemaking and cooking skills. Her apartment was now the cleanest it had ever been, with none of her blouses or panties strewn about the floor. The carpet was vacuumed, the drapes were washed and cleaned, and every surface in the room was dusted and polished until the place practically glowed.

Now Penny understood what Sheldon meant when he said he was in hell.

"I'm glad you're happy," Leonard beamed at her.

"I am," she agreed. "I really am," she added trying to convince herself. She attacked her spaghetti once again. "Now I know how you feel, living with Sheldon," she said.

"Well, good," Leonard said. He processed that for a moment, then frowned. "What—what does that mean, exactly?" he asked, uncertainly.

"Oh, I don't know," she shrugged. "It's just a little, well—overwhelming."

"Overwhelming?" he looked confused and a bit hurt. "What's overwhelming?" He looked around the room. "Everything is so—neat, now."

Penny's eyes narrowed. "Are you saying my apartment was messy before?"

"Well, no," Leonard blurted out quickly. Then, "but, well, yeah. Cluttered, really, but not dirty per se," he added, as her expression turned stony. "It had—personality," he continued, hoping that would mollify her.

It seemed to work. "Well," she said, looking around the room. "It does look nice now." She gave a short laugh. "If only my mother could see this. She used to complain about my room all the time."

"So did mine," Leonard commiserated. "She would go through it every week and throw out anything that wasn't put away in a drawer, a shelf or hung up correctly in my closet."

"Yeah, your mom is a trip," Penny agreed. "What did she say when you told her we were engaged?"

Leonard looked embarrassed. "Um," he said.

"You still haven't told her? Leonard, why not?"

"Well," Leonard explained, in a very quiet voice. "I know Sheldon is looking forward to telling her when she gets back from her European book tour."

Penny shook her head and took another bite of spaghetti. "I'm surprised Amy's not jealous about that," she said. "The other woman in Sheldon's life. Besides his mom and me, that is."

"Well," Leonard confided, "Amy did make him write an addendum to their Relationship Agreement stipulating that he would not engage in more than three email exchanges with her per week, or contact her by Skype more than six times per month, or seven times in months with 31 days, without clearing it with Amy first."

"Well, good for her," Penny said again, taking a sip of her sauvignon blanc. "You know how those unmarried older women can be with younger men."

Leonard was smiling now. "Yeah," he agreed. "My mother the cougar."

Both of them chuckled. "And, you know," Leonard mused. "I'm not sure if Sheldon ever finished that book on sex we got him. He did say it gave him nightmares."

"According to Amy he hasn't finished it yet," Penny supplied. "She told me he said it was an example of —" she paused to remember his exact words—"'the kind of hippy-dippy free love nonsense that is ruining our country and our educational system.'"

"That sounds about right," Leonard agreed, grinning. Seeing she was finished eating, he stood and took their plates to the kitchen sink. "I'll wash the dishes then we can watch that DVD you rented. I've wanted to see 'The Notebook' for a long time." He turned away and added under his breath, "Even though you hardly even see a notebook during the entire movie…"

"What?" Penny asked, from the table.

"Nothing."

There was a knock-knock-knock at the door. Both Leonard and Penny looked at it, then at each other. "Who could that be?" Leonard asked.

"Well, it's not Sheldon," Penny pointed out, walking toward the door. "It's six knocks and three 'Penny's too short to be him."

Opening the door, she found a dapper older man standing there, dressed in a formal black cut-away coat, a sweeping black cape with red lining on his shoulders. He had on a white bow tie and gloves and a black top had, and was holding a gold-tipped black cane. "Good evening, my dear," he said, removing his top hat and bowing with a flourish. "Do I have the honor of addressing Miss Penny?"

"Um, yeah," Penny said, taken aback by the man's appearance. "Sorry, we don't need any tickets to the opera tonight," she quipped.

"Ah," the gentleman smiled at her humor. "Quite droll, my dear. I'm acquainted with your father, Wyatt. I would like to speak with you about a matter that concerns the two of you. May I come in?"

"Um, sure," Penny said, letting him inside.

The gentleman, who appeared to be in his late fifties or early sixties, glanced around the apartment. "Very … quaint living arrangements, my dear," he said, removing his gloves and dropping them in his top hat, as Leonard walked over to stand next to Penny. "And who might this young fellow be?"

"This is Leonard Hofstadter," Penny said, introducing him. "He's my fiancé."

The older gentleman regarded Leonard appraisingly. "You are to be married?" he asked, his eyes narrowing much like Penny's did when she wasn't pleased.

"Um, yes—yes, sir," Leonard said, taking an unconscious step back.

"Well, congratulations," the man said, taking Leonard's hand and shaking it.

"Thank you, sir," Leonard said, relieved by his reaction.

"Please excuse my manners," the man continued, still shaking Leonard's hand. "My name is Maurice. I am Penny's grandfather, and Wyatt's father."

"Oh my God!" Penny exclaimed, completely surprised. She hugged the older man excitedly. "Daddy never told us you were still alive!"

Maurice returned the hug, then held her at arm's length. "It has been quite some time since your father and I have spoken, Penny," he said. "When I learned that he had married and raised children, I wanted to meet the three of you."

"Well, my sister and brother are back in Nebraska," Penny explained. "My sister is married and has two boys, and my brother is—well, he's sort of working for the state right now."

Maurice looked puzzled. "A job in government?" he asked.

"More like, in jail," she said, embarrassed.

"I see," Maurice said. He gestured toward the couch. "Do you mind if we sit down? I'd like to talk to you about your father. I have some things to tell you about him."

Penny looked concerned at this. "Is anything wrong, sir?" Leonard asked. "Did something happen to Wyatt?"

"Nothing has happened," Maurice assured them. "Please," he said, gesturing to the couch again. Penny and Leonard both sat, looking intrigued.

Maurice sat down next to them, still holding his cane. "I must apologize for taking so long to find you, my dear," he told Penny. "I have been abroad for some time, and I do like to know how well the members of my family are faring in life."

"Well, so far no problems," Penny said. "I'm engaged to Leonard and everything's wonderful. Unless," she added sardonically, "you count the ten years I spent in a dead-end job getting minimum wage, trying to become an actress but getting nowhere…"

"I see," Maurice nodded sympathetically. "I understand the trials and tribulations of acting, my dear. I myself am an actor of some repute," he said proudly.

"Really?" Penny perked up immediately. "What have you done? Would I have seen you in something?"

"No, my dear," Maurice smiled. "It would have been before your time, I fear. Most of my acting has been in the theatre. I have done Hamlet, Macbeth, Richard the Second, Petruchio from Taming of the Shrew, Prospero —" he stood suddenly, raising one hand dramatically as if holding a skull. "Alas, poor Yorick!" he cried. "I knew him, Horatio: a fellow of infinite jest, of most excellent fancy: he hath —" Maurice abruptly stopped and sat down again. "But, I digress," he apologized. "Back to the matter at hand.

"There is something I must tell you," Maurice said, and it was evident he did not wish to speak of it. "When your grandmother had Wyatt, I was not married to her."

"I see," Penny said, then shrugged. "Well, that's not so unusual, is it?"

"It was at the time," Maurice told her. "Even more so for the fact that … I was married … to another woman."

"Oh," both Penny and Leonard said at the same time.

"I am not particularly proud of it," Maurice continued. "My wife and I have a somewhat, shall we say, open relationship, but we had agreed that our one daughter together would be all the children we would have. Wyatt's mother, however, had different plans. I did not learn of his existence until after she had borne him."

Penny nodded knowingly. "My sister did that with her husband. He didn't know she was pregnant until she went into labor. She got off her job at Denny's and when he picked her up she said, 'We're going to the hospital, honey, I've got a baby to deliver!' Surprised the crap out of him! Of course, to be fair, they'd only been married four months at the time."

There was a brief silence.

"In any event," Maurice continued, ignoring Penny's remarks, "my wife and I have since reconciled our differences, and Wyatt's mother and I have managed to look beyond his disability and accept him gladly as our son."

"Wait a minute," Penny held up her hands. "What disability? My father is the healthiest old guy I know! I've never seen him sick a day in his life."

"He never shared the details of his birth with you?" Maurice asked. "Strange, I would have thought—but perhaps he did not wish to burden you…"

"Burden us?" Penny's voice was going shrill. "What's wrong with him?" She started to look panicked. "Does he have some kind of incurable disease he passed on to us?"

"No, no, my dear," Maurice reassured her. "Nothing of that sort. Wyatt's disability is known as Latent Magic Syndrome."

There was another silence, somewhat longer this time.

"I'm sorry," Leonard leaned forward to make sure he'd heard correctly. "Could—could you repeat that, please? Latent What Syndrome?"

"Latent Magic Syndrome," Maurice repeated patiently. "A condition where the patient's magic does not develop fully, or at all in some cases. In the case of your father," he said to Penny, "his magic had not developed at all by the time he was three. His mother Elvira and I were heartbroken, of course."

"Hold on," Penny said abruptly. "What are you trying to tell us here? That my father is some kind of Squib, like in those Harry Potter stories?" She looked at Leonard. "'Squib' is the right word, isn't it?"

"Yes, very good!" he nodded at her.

"No, my dear, not at all like those stories," Maurice said, severely. "Those are mere flights of fancy, old mortals' tales about witches and warlocks. They have nothing to do with how we really are."

"What is what, exactly?" Penny asked, both curious and doubtful.

"Witches and warlocks have existed for millennia," Maurice explained. "For countless generations we lived in a realm that existed alongside your mortal plane, but was separate from it. One day, thousands of years ago, some of us ventured into your realm to see what it was like. There we discovered your ancestors, living in crude huts and toiling in the dirt for food. Many of us returned to the comfort of our own realm, but a few remained behind to help the poor mortals improve their lot in life.

"How did they do that, exactly?" Leonard asked, curious.

"Well, once we learned that mortals could not do magic," Maurice said. "We started teaching them other things. We gave them language and writing, for example, though some mortals took it upon themselves to try and improve on our methods." He shook his head sadly. "A trifle misguided, though I admit I do prefer using English to, say, Sumerian. Especially in the theatre."

"That's pretty amazing," Leonard said, sounding awed.

"That's pretty unbelievable," Penny said, giving both him and Maurice a cynical look. "Leonard, are you really buying this crap?"

"What?" Leonard looked surprised.

"You don't believe me, my dear?" Maurice asked, looking disappointed.

Penny shook her head. "You're a pretty good actor, I'll say that. But this is starting to feel like one of Sheldon's bazookas, or whatever he says."

"Oh." Leonard looked surprised, then nodded. "You could be right." He looked apologetically at Maurice. "I'm sorry sir, but I'm not buying it either."

Maurice looked affronted. "I assure you it is entirely true," he said indignantly. "Look, I have Wyatt's birth certificate right here, for proof." He reached into his coat pocket and took out a scroll of parchment. The scroll rolled open as he handed it to Penny. She and Leonard looked at it:

The Witches Council
Certificate of Birth

This is to certify that the Warlock

Wyatt

Was born to
the Warlock Maurice
and
the Witch Elvira

this eighth day of August, 1862 A.D.
in the state of New York
in the country of the United States of America
in the Mortal Realm

Witnessed this day by Hepzibah Head of the Witches Council

"Born in 1862?" Penny said, staring at her father's supposed birth date. "Funny—he doesn't look a day over 100." She handed to parchment back to Maurice. "You can get something like this in any joke shop in town."

"I see." Maurice's voice was hard. "I shall have to give you a more concrete example." He slipped the parchment back into his coat then held out his empty hand. It was suddenly filled with a bouquet of flowers. "Hold out your hand," he said to Penny. When she did, the flowers floated through the air from his hand to hers.

"Not a bad trick," Penny said in a bored tone. "Howard could probably a better one, though," she added. "I'm still not convinced."

Maurice's expression had grown cold as ice. "You wound me deeply, my dear. I have taken the time and effort to travel here to see you, and yet you do not believe me. I see that drastic measures are called for." Maurice rose from the couch. "Stand up."

"What for?" Penny asked, not moving.

"I see I shall have to prove to the two of you who and what I am," Maurice said. "Stand, both of you."

"What—what are you going to do —" Leonard began.

"Stand," Maurice ordered, stamping his cane on the floor. Outside, lightning flashed and thundered rumbled through the sky.

"Yes, sir." Both Leonard and Penny leapt to their feet. "Please don't hurt us," Leonard said quickly.

"I have no intention of hurting either of you," Maurice said, stiffly. He retrieved his top hat, putting on his gloves and setting the hat back on his head. "Now, if one of you would name some place far from here that you've visited."

"Well," Penny thought for a few moments. "Leonard had to go to Arizona to get his friend Sheldon a few weeks ago."

"Kingman, Arizona," Leonard amplified. "The police department. All of his things had been stolen."

"An interesting choice," Maurice said. "But I think we need someplace a bit more conspicuous. Let me think…" He considered a moment. "Ah! I have it! The Grand Canyon is just the ticket!"

"The ticket for —" Leonard asked, as Maurice stamped his cane on the floor.

"— what?" Leonard and Penny looked around. They were suddenly no longer in her apartment, but standing on a walkway overlooking—

The Grand Canyon.

"Whoa," Penny gasped, looking out over the Canyon, bathed in the reddish glow of the setting sun. "Leonard…" she pointed toward the canyon.

"Uh, oh… my," Leonard said, following her finger. "How—how'd we get here?" he asked Maurice.

"I brought us here with my powers," Maurice said, gesturing with his cane toward the Canyon view. "Now, smile and say, 'cheese,'" he said, holding up his hands in a framing gesture.

"Huh?" Leonard said. There was a flash and both he and Penny blinked stars out of their eyes. When they were able to focus again Maurice handed them a photo of them standing in front of the Grand Canyon. Penny was smiling but Leonard had a look of complete confusion on his face.

"Now do you believe me?" Maurice asked.

Penny stared at the picture. She turned around, comparing the view in the photo to the view behind them. They were the same. "I believe you," she said, convinced. "It seems impossible, but we're here. I can see the Grand Canyon. I can feel the sidewalk we're standing on. I don't know how, but we're here. This is amazing!" she said excitedly. "What else can you do?"

Maurice tapped his cane again and they were back in Penny's apartment.

"So why are you showing us all this?" Penny wanted to know.

"Well, think about it," Leonard said. There was an eager look in his eyes. "If Maurice here is your grandfather, and he's a warlock, then it's possible you're a witch!"

"Is that true?" Penny asked Maurice, who nodded and smiled. "Okay, so why haven't I ever been able to do any hocus-pocus stuff like you can?"

"I'm afraid your father's condition may have affected your magical ability," Maurice said, with serious concern. "Latent Magic Syndrome can be passed on, though it becomes more and more recessive in successive generations.

"When your father was tested for magic," Maurice continued, "His magical abilities were almost nonexistent. Our physician, Dr. Bombay, prescribed a potion that could have cured the condition, but alas, it did not work," he concluded sadly. "The Witches Council decreed that he would be removed from our realm, to live with mortals."

"That's terrible!" Leonard said, shocked.

"Indeed," Maurice agreed. "His mother chose to leave with him, to make sure he was raised properly in your primitive society. There was one side effect from the treatment, however. After Wyatt reached adulthood, he began to age much more slowly than other mortals. That is why, though he appears to be about 50 years of age to you, he is actually 142 years old."

"I wonder why Daddy never told us any of this?" Penny wondered. "That's not like him."

"He was too young to understand when he was taken away," Maurice explained. "However, when he turned 18, I paid him and his mother a visit, to make sure he knew about his warlock heritage."

"Really? What did he say?" Penny asked.

"He was … not happy about it," Maurice said. Unconsciously he touched his chin where the boy had used his fist to express his displeasure to his father.

"Now that sounds like my dad," Penny nodded.

"I had Dr. Bombay examine him again, to see if adolescence had brought about any changes in his physiology that might change the nature of his disability," Maurice went on, "But his magic was still suppressed too deeply to be awakened. And it was years before he noticed he was aging more slowly than other mortals. He began moving to different parts of the country every 20 or 30 years, to keep from attracting attention, until he met your mother in Nebraska in the 1970s. Until then he had remained unmarried and childless, keeping the secret of his birth to himself. I do not even know if he has told his wife, your mother, about it."

"Yeah," Penny mused. "I doubt it. Mom always told us there was something wrong with him, but I'll bet she never guessed he was a failed wizard."

"Warlock," Maurice corrected her. "And he did not fail, my dear. The disabled cannot help their disabilities.

"However, after I discovered my son had married and had children," Maurice went on, "I took it upon myself to determine whether any of his progeny —"

"His what?" Penny interrupted.

"His children," Leonard supplied. "Progeny means children."

"Oh," Penny said. "Okay. Go on."

"—whether any of his progeny had any latent magical abilities of their own," Maurice said. "There has been much progress in the treatment of LMS in the past 150 years.

"Unfortunately, neither your brother nor your sister had any latent magical ability that could be awakened," Maurice said, sadly. "Thus, I have come at last to you, my dear Penny."

Penny sat back as she realized what Maurice was asking. "You—you want to test me for magical ability?" she said, shocked. She shook her head. "I—I don't know about that. I have to think."

Maurice looked at her in surprise. "What is there to think about?" he asked. "Having powers like ours would be of great benefit to you! You could go anywhere you wanted, do anything you wanted to do! You could be a world-renowned actress! Is that not something you have always desired?"

"Well, yes…" Penny admitted, slowly.

"I agree," Leonard interjected. "It's something you really need to think about," he said firmly, already imagining her leaving him the moment she realized she could have and do things he could never give to her.

"Leonard," she said, turning to him. "You know I love you," she said, smiling. "I know it took me a long time to say that, a very long time—"

"Very, very long," Leonard added. "Extremely long—"

"We get it," she cut him off sharply. Her voice softened again. "But I can say it now, and I will always be able to say it. I can't imagine being without you." She embraced him, and Leonard tried to stifle a small sniffle.

"How touching," Maurice said, though there was condescension in his voice. Why did the women in his family always have to get mixed up with mortals?

Penny and Leonard had finished their embrace and she was looking at Maurice again. "What happens if I say no?"

"No?" Maurice looked discomfited. "If you chose to remain a mortal, I would remove myself from your life forever. You would not even remember that I existed."

Penny had an unpleasant thought. "You said my brother and sister weren't magical—is that what you did to them, too?"

Maurice nodded. "They gave their permission for the test," he told her. "But they remember nothing now, not even that I ever spoke to them."

"That seems pretty crappy of you," Penny said, getting upset.

"Maybe it's for the best," Leonard added. "A lot of times in science fiction, when people find out they missed out on opportunities like that, it turns out really bad for—" he shut up when Penny glared at him. "But—those were just stories, I guess."

"And what about my father?" Penny went on, getting even more worked up. "Does he know they were tested? Does he know you want to test me?"

"I have not talked to him yet," Maurice admitted. "I wanted to wait until all of your results were in before I gave him the news."

"Well I don't appreciate being treated like a guinea pig!" Penny said hotly. "You can't just come in here and tell me this stuff and expect me to just go along with anything you say!"

Maurice sighed. "My dear, you are overwrought." He put his top hat back on. "I will return tomorrow evening around—" he took a gold pocket watch from his vest "—eight p.m., to receive your final answer regarding the test. If you say yes, I will have Dr. Bombay administer the treatment and examine you to see if it is effective. If not, I will disappear and you will never see nor hear from me again." He took her hand gently in his and kissed her knuckles. "Until tomorrow, au revoir." Maurice vanished, and lightning and thunder crashed outside as a strong wind whirled inside the apartment, though all the windows were shut, leaving Leonard and Penny surprised and disheveled.

"Well, that's something you don't see every day," Leonard finally said.

"You don't think I was wrong, do you?" Penny asked, tossing her head so her hair settled down. "I mean, he was clearly out of line!"

"Of-of-of course," Leonard agreed, straightening his own hair. "Clearly."

Penny saw through that immediately. "You agree with him, then?"

"I'm just saying," Leonard said carefully. "People don't handle unexpected shocks like that very well. Remember the flashy pen-things in Men in Black?"

"Neuralyzers," Penny supplied.

"You remembered the name," Leonard beamed. "I'm impressed! They used them on people so they wouldn't be freaked out by learning that aliens walked the Earth."

"Yeah, I get it, Leonard," Penny said flatly. "So what do you think? Do you think I should take the test or not?"

"Well…" Leonard rubbed his head, trying to figure out what to say that wouldn't piss Penny off. "I think that…"

He was interrupted by three loud knocks on the door. "Leonard and Penny!" Sheldon's voice came excitedly through the door, repeated two more times as Penny walked to the door and opened it on the third "Leonard and Penny!"

"What is it, Sheldon?" Penny asked. Sheldon was wearing an air raid helmet and orange safety coordinator vest, and carrying a flashlight in one hand. In the other hand he held an air raid horn. He looked extremely upset.

"Are you two all right?" he asked anxiously. "I thought that sudden burst of lightning and thunder might have frightened you!"

"We're fine, Sheldon," Penny said.

"How are you doing, buddy?" Leonard asked, seeing how nervous Sheldon was. "Everything okay?"

Sheldon gave him an odd look. "Well of course I'm okay," he said. "How else would I be?"

"I just wondered, because of, you know, all the safety equipment you're wearing."

"Well I wouldn't be much of a safety coordinator for this floor if I wasn't dressed properly to do my job," Sheldon said, importantly, waving the flashlight and horn around as he spoke. "Really, Leonard, you have no idea of how much training goes into handling these things properly. This is the reason why we need to keep on having quarterly drills, so that you will know the proper protocols in case of—" His finger accidentally tightened on the air horn and it blasted a klaxon sound across Penny's apartment.

"Oh dear," Sheldon said, startled, and fainted.

"Well, so much for Mr. Storm Alert," Penny said, looking at Sheldon.

"Help me get him back into our apartment before he wakes up," Leonard said. "You take his feet," he said, pointing to Sheldon's legs.

"Why do I get this end?" Penny objected.

"Because this end bites," Leonard said, as they each grabbed a handful of Sheldon and dragged him out of the apartment.

=ooo=

Our whole universe was in a hot dense state,
Then nearly fourteen billion years ago expansion started—Wait!
The Earth began to cool,
The autotrophs began to drool,
Neanderthals developed tools,
We built a wall (we built the pyramids),
Math, science, history, unraveling the mysteries,
That all started with the big bang!
- Lyrics from the Big Bang Theory theme song

=ooo=

The next morning in Sheldon and Leonard's apartment, Penny had come over to have a bagel before she left for her new job as a pharmaceutical representative at Bernadette's company. Her boss Dan was really helping her get acclimated to her new job responsibilities and training.

"Thanks," she said as Leonard handed her a toasted bagel covered in cream cheese. "So, we never finished talking about things last night. What do you think I should do?"

"Um, I don't know," Leonard said, pouring himself some coffee in a travel mug for his drive to Caltech. "I was actually kind of hoping I'd wake up this morning and it would all be a dream. Then I saw this." He held up the photo of him and Penny at the Grand Canyon. "What do you want to do?"

"I was thinking of talking to Amy and Bernadette about it at lunch," Penny mused.

"Oh. Um," Leonard paused, looking worried. "I don't know if that's a good idea," he said. "They might not believe you."

"But we've got this," Penny said, picking up the photo.

"That could be photoshopped," Leonard pointed out.

"Well, I've got to figure out something before tonight!" Penny snapped.

"Ah, well—okay," Leonard said, thinking fast. "What about this: you talk to Bernadette and Amy today, but don't say anything about last night. Just present your question as a general hypothesis, like 'if you got superpowers, what would you do with them?'"

"Really?" Penny looked at him, unimpressed with his suggestion. "You think that's the sort of things we talk about when we're together?"

"Well I don't know," Leonard admitted. "Actually I try not to think too much about what you talk about. Anyway, I can ask the guys the same question, and after we get home we can compare notes." Leonard ran a hand nervously through his hair. "Then, if this Maurice shows up again, maybe you can come up with an answer for him." He looked askance at Penny. "I have to tell you, though, if it was my choice I'm pretty sure I know what I'd do."

"Which is what?" Penny asked.

Before Leonard could answer, however, Sheldon walked into the living room and turned to him. "I just realized," he said. "You and Penny were having spaghetti last night and you didn't invite me!"

Leonard hung his head as if in shame. Actually, he was silently cheering that he'd guessed at least one of Sheldon's responses correctly. "Sorry, buddy," he said, looking up again. "But I forgot to buy hot dogs and I know how much you like spaghetti with them."

Sheldon sighed and walked over to the refrigerator, opening the freezer section and pulling out a frozen package of hot dogs. "I always keep a spare package in the freezer for just such emergencies," he said. "Next time all you need do is ask. And that's one more point on your record."

"Noted," Leonard sighed. One more point in the next six months and he'd have to take Sheldon's make-up class again. "Are you ready to go?"

Sheldon gestured to the tan and beige jacket he already had on. "Of course I'm ready. By the way, good morning Penny, and I'm disappointed you didn't invite me to dinner, either."

"Well, Leonard was cooking," Penny said, finishing off her bagel. "I thought it was his choice to invite you or not."

"A valid point," conceded Sheldon. "But as it was your apartment, I believe you should share equally in the blame. A point for you, too."

"Hey!" Penny said. "That's not fair! Now you're taking two points instead of just one!"

"Again, a valid point," Sheldon said. "Alright, a half-point to each of you."

Penny turned to Leonard and smiled. "You're welcome," she said softly.

"What's this?" Sheldon suddenly asked, picking up the photo of Leonard and Penny from the kitchen island. He looked up, shock on his face. "When did you two go the Grand Canyon—without me?"

"Well, it's-a-um," Leonard stammered.

"It's just a photoshop," Penny interjected.

"Right," Leonard agreed, relieved. "Photoshopped."

"Oh," Sheldon said, studying the picture. "Nice work," he commented, dropping the picture back on the counter. "Well, are we going or not? Get the lead out, Leonard." He walked quickly to the door and out of the apartment.

Penny and Leonard walked to the door together. "Well," Penny said, patting him on the arm. "Good luck discussing that 'hypothesis' with Sheldon today," she said, smiling as she walked out ahead of him.

"Thanks," Leonard said, grabbing a key from the key bowl. "I wish my superpower was the ability to ignore Sheldon."

=ooo=

"Superpowers?" Rajesh Koothrappali repeated, looking up from his salad in the Caltech cafeteria to stare at Leonard. "What kind of superpowers?"

"I don't know," Leonard said, trying to think of something close to what he'd seen from Maurice the previous evening. "Something like, say, Dr. Strange."

"Are you talking magic or just general omnipotence?" Howard Wolowitz asked. "There are lots of characters more powerful than Dr. Strange."

"Oh yeah?" Raj said challengingly. "Name three."

"Galactus, Odin, and Dormammu," Howard rattled off.

"First of all, Dormammu is not from our universe," Sheldon said. "He is lord of the Dark Dimension; that reality is separate from Earth. Odin is the same—he's from Asgard. And Galactus's power is cosmic, not magical."

"So what?" Howard said. "Leonard said superpowers, not magic powers."

"Why don't we stick with magic?" Leonard said, trying to keep things on track. "Let's say we're talking humans with magical powers. If you were Dr. Strange, the Sorcerer Supreme, what would you do with your powers?"

"That's simple," Howard said, grinning. "I'd turn Bernie into Clea and we'd kick Dormammu out and rule the Dark Dimension as their wise and benevolent king and queen."

"If I were Dr. Strange," Raj said, a dreamy expression coming over his face. "I would make sure everyone on Earth was pretty or handsome, and could eat as much food as they wanted and never gain weight."

Howard stared at him. "Really? Women would be falling all over you."

"I know," Raj nodded, smirking.

"Wrong," Sheldon said, pointing at Raj, "and wrong," he added, pointing at Howard. "If I had Dr. Strange's powers I would remove all technology from the planet, reverting the world to the Stone Age."

"Are you crazy?" Howard said, leaning forward to argue. "There are nearly seven billion people on Earth! Most of them would die if we went back to the Stone Age!"

"Not my problem," Sheldon said stonily. "People shouldn't be breeding like rabbits."

"I could turn everyone into rabbits," Raj said, smiling to himself. "I could be their king and use all the farm land in the world to grow lettuce for them. If they worshipped me," he added, malevolently.

Leonard shook his head in despair. "I give up," he said. "It's impossible to have a rational argument with you people."

Sheldon turned to him. "For that you're banished to the Dark Dimension," he said. "Poof!" he added, making a magic gesture at his roommate. "See how you like living in a fractal pocket dimensional space-time."

Leonard just stared at Sheldon. "I don't care what your mother says," he muttered. "You're crazy."

=ooo=

Meanwhile, in a restaurant not far from Caltech…

"I'm not sure I understand the question," Bernadette said. "What kind of a superhero do you mean?"

"Sheldon says there are many kinds of superheroes," Amy put in, sipping on her glass of wine. "Ironically, he seems to like Batman a lot, and Batman doesn't have any powers at all. So I share in Bernadette's confusion."

"Okay, fine," Penny sat back, beginning to wonder why she'd said anything at all. But she'd already got this ball rolling, so— "What if you could do anything you wanted, no matter how … I don't know … weird it was."

Amy set down her glass of wine. "You remember that movie Frozen?" she asked. "Sheldon and I watched it on one of our date nights, and I thought it was really cool that Princess Elsa could make anything she wanted out of ice. Although, now that I say it out loud it strikes me as humorous that meant cool in the sense of 'hip' or 'with it' rather than the sense of 'cold.' If I could do anything I wanted I would make all of Pasadena into one big ice city and I could wear my tiara and an ice blue princess gown and glide around the city being its princess."

"Uh huh," Bernadette was sipping from her own wine glass. "I know my bosses at Zangen Pharmaceuticals wouldn't like this, but I'd make everyone immune to all diseases."

"Aww," Penny smiled, sipping her drink. "That's so nice."

"I'd probably be out of a job," Bernadette said, with a slight shrug. "But it would be worth it. And I could still do whatever I wanted, so I'd make myself rich. And taller." She looked at Penny. "What would you do, Penny?"

"You wouldn't have to do anything," Amy confided. "The world is perfect enough with you in it."

"No it's not," Bernadette insisted. "Not even for closet lesbians," she said pointedly to Amy, who looked surprised. "So what would you do?" she asked again.

"I'm not sure," Penny said truthfully. "I keep wondering if I'd make myself the most famous actress in the world, or just be the best wife I could be."

"Why can't you be both?" Bernadette asked with a smile. "After all, you can do anything you want, right?"

"Yeah," Penny nodded, thinking about that. "But would I want to once I could, I keep asking myself."

"Only you know that for sure," Bernadette said. "But I think you would."

Penny smiled at her. "Thanks," she said, emotionally. "It's really nice of you to say that."

Beside her, Amy nodded. "I'm not a closet lesbian, by the way," she announced. She pointed warningly at Bernadette. "And don't ever say that in front of Sheldon."

=ooo=

Several hours later, after an early dinner of take-out Thai food suggested by Sheldon (as it was Anything-Can-Happen Thursday and he said thinking about superheroes worked up his appetite) Penny and Leonard sat in her apartment letting their meals settle, both thinking furiously who would return to their apartment in less than 15 minutes for the answer to the question he had not quite asked yesterday.

Did Penny want to become a witch, or not?

Leonard was looking particularly thoughtful, Penny decided. "Penny for your thoughts," she said, smiling at the irony of that statement.

Leonard didn't smile back, however. "I-I-I don't know," he muttered. "This is a big step. I mean, assuming Maurice even shows up. But of course he's going to show up—this pretty much proves that!" He held up the photo of him and Penny at the Grand Canyon.

"Sweetie," Penny said patiently. "It's okay. Look, I don't know what I'm going to say. I mean, I think I know now but I could change my mind at the last second. With me, you never know. I mean, look at all the times I said no when you proposed to me. But you kept asking and asking, and in the final analysis, I do want to marry you, you big pop tart."

Leonard did smile then, and held out his hand toward her. She took it, smiling, and moved closer to him. "So what kind of pop tart am I?" he asked, teasingly. "Am I cherry? Or strawberry? Personally, I think I'm a strawberry." She stuck out her tongue at him.

"Oh, so I'm a raspberry," Leonard said, chuckling. He leaned toward her, lips pursed for a kiss.

"You're my special little raspberry," Penny said, closing her eyes and leaning forward to kiss him back. As their lips nearly touched something changed, and Penny opened her eyes, finding a pop tart in her hand with her lips pressed against it. Of Leonard there was no sign.

"Leonard," she said, looking around. What kind of joke was this? "What's going on?" she asked out loud, trying to figure out where he was. "Where'd you go, sweetie?" she said, wondering where he could have disappeared to so quickly.

She regarded the pop tart in her hand. It smelled good, and she was still a little bit hungry; the Thai food had been good but she hadn't eaten a lot of it. She shrugged and brought the pop tart back to her mouth, to take a bite of it and see what flavor it was—

She stopped just before she bit down. What if this is a Leonard-flavored pop tart, she thought with horror. Had Maurice somehow given her magic already? Could she have done this accidentally? She quickly set the pop tart on the cushion next to her, staring at it. "Leonard?" she asked the pop tart, wondering if she should expect a reply. How would a pop tart speak, exactly?

Maybe she could change it back. How was that going to work, exactly? She'd been thinking, weirdly, of Leonard being her special raspberry pop tart. Maybe she could reverse that and think him back to being Leonard. She put her fingers to her temples, squeezed her eyes shut and thought real hard, muttering, "Okay, Leonard, turn back into yourself." After a few seconds she opened one eye. Nope, the pop tart was still a pop tart.

There was a sudden loud whoomp and a large puff of white smoke billowed out of the floor, leaving Maurice standing next to the couch, still dressed in the suit, cape and top hat he'd been wearing yesterday. "Sorry I'm late, my dear," he said, bowing toward her, then noticed the pop tart on the couch. "Oh. Have I interrupted your dinner?"

Penny pointed nervously at the pop tart. "I think—" she swallowed and tried again. "I think I did something to Leonard."

Maurice looked at the pop tart. "Is this Leonard?"

"I don't know!" Penny cried. "We were about to kiss and suddenly I was holding that in my hand and—" she began waving her hands about wildly "—and then I don't know what happened!" she wailed, breaking down into tears.

"Interesting," Maurice pondered, rubbing his chin thoughtfully. "Could your powers have spontaneously emerged due to stress or emotion?" He picked up the pop tart, staring carefully at it. "Well," he said with a shrug. "There's only one way to find out." He took a bite out of the pop tart.

"OH MY GOD!" Penny shrieked, leaping to her feet, her eyes wide with horror. "You ATE him!"

"Not to worry, my dear," Maurice said, smiling broadly. He showed her the fruit filling inside the pop tart. "This is cherry, you see." There was a knock on the door.

Penny was still staring at him in absolute horror. "Don't you think you should get the door?" Maurice said blandly, taking another bite of the pop tart.

Slowly, still trying to process what had just happened, Penny moved to the door and opened it. Leonard was standing there, looking confused. "Oh my God, Leonard, it's you!" Penny cried, hugging him tightly then kissing him hard on the mouth for several seconds.

"Thank you," Leonard said, after the kiss. "But how did I get out here?" Penny whirled to face Maurice, who was still smiling broadly. There was an expression of fury on her face.

"You did that, didn't you?" Penny strode over to stand in front of the warlock, who was chuckling at his own joke. "That was a really crappy thing to do!" she snapped, pointing a finger in his face.

"I'm sorry, my dear," Maurice said, still chuckling. "I'm afraid I could not resist a small joke to lighten the mood before my arrival."

"Lighten the mood?" Penny exploded. "Is that what you think is funny?! My God, is that what you people are like, scaring people half to death thinking someone's been turned into a pop tart?!"

"Who was turned into a pop tart?" Leonard asked from the doorway.

"You were!" Penny snapped at him. "Or I thought you were! Get in here!" she demanded. Leonard quickly stepped inside the apartment. "And shut the door!" Penny said. "I'm not done yelling at Grampa Munster here!" Leonard shut the apartment door and stood beside Penny, trying to catch up on what had happened.

"My dear, it was just a simple prank," Maurice explained, trying to calm her down. "I meant no disrespect to you or your betrothed."

"I don't care!" Penny said loudly. "It was a horrible thing to do! How was I to know that pop tart wasn't Leonard! If that's the kind of stuff you think is funny, you can just count me out of this whole witch business!"

Maurice sighed. "Penny, I am truly sorry for scaring you like that. We warlocks sometimes forget that mortals are not used to the type of jokes we sometimes play on one another. I should have realized this was a difficult decision for you to make, and I should have treated it more seriously than I did. Can you find it in your heart to forgive an old thespian for playing a thoughtless prank on his own granddaughter?"

Penny stared at him for several seconds, the hard expression on her face slowly melting away. "I suppose so," she said, nodding. "It was pretty funny, now that I think about it."

"That's the spirit!" Maurice said, enthused by her response.

"What happened?" Leonard asked, still unsure what had gone on in his absence.

"Shhh, sweetie," Penny shushed him. "I'll tell you later."

"Now, as to the matter at hand," Maurice continued. "What have you decided to do about your powers?"

"Well, we each talked to our friends about what I could do if I had these powers," Penny explained. "Leonard's friends wanted to remake the world according to how they thought it should be."

Leonard nodded agreement with that assessment. "They wanted to turn everybody into rabbits, or take away all of the technology—stuff like that. It was pretty depressing," he added, unhappily.

"But rather predictable, from a mortal perspective," Maurice said. "Most mortals don't seem to understand that with great power comes great responsibility."

Leonard nodded. "Well, Stan Lee did, actually," he pointed out. "He wrote something like that a long time ago."

Maurice chuckled. "Ah, yes," he nodded. "Cousin Stanley," he said. "He always did enjoy writing in those amusing picture books," he said. "I shall have to pay him a visit one of these days." Leonard looked astonished, then delighted at Maurice's words.

"Okay, well," Penny went on, not really understanding (or caring) what her fiancé or her grandfather had just said. "I also talked to my friends, and they thought there was a lot of good I could do with powers like that. I mean, both for myself and for others," she explained.

"And finally," Penny concluded. "There's Leonard." She looked directly at him. "I know you're afraid that I'll leave you if I get these powers," she said. Leonard nodded, looking away from her. "I wondered about that myself, sweetie. But I don't think anything could happen to me to make me forget everything you've done for me, and I love you so much for that," she smiled, her eyes bright. "We'll always be together, no matter what happens," she said, taking his face in her hands and kissing him.

She then turned to face Maurice. "My answer," she said, "is yes, I'll take the test."

"Splendid!" Maurice beamed happily. "I forewarned our family physician to be prepared," he said. Looking upward, he said loudly, "Dr. Bombay! Front and center, old boy!"

A tall, stout man appeared next to Maurice, dressed in what looked like a cat costume. "Oh, dear!" he said, annoyed. "I thought you meant tomorrow night, Maurice old chap! Tonight my nurse and I are having a little game of cat and mouse. Ha!"

"Pull yourself together, Bombay," Maurice said sternly. "My granddaughter here has decided to be tested for magic."

"Ah well," Bombay sighed, resigned. "Sorry, darling," he said to the ceiling. "Duty calls." He whirled his right finger and instantly changed into a doctor's white coat, with a stethoscope around his neck and a head mirror on his forehead. His other hand now held a black doctor's bag.

"Now, my dear—" he caught sight of Penny for the first time. "My word!" he said, looking at Maurice. "This is your granddaughter? I thought you were referring to Tabitha!"

"Of course not!" Maurice snapped, annoyed. "We've known Tabitha was a witch for decades now! This is my son Wyatt's daughter, Penny."

"Ah, I see!" Bombay looked Penny up and down. "Latent Magic Syndrome?" he said to Maurice, who nodded impatiently. "Well, let's have a look, shall we?" he said briskly, setting his bag on the back of the couch and taking out a device that appeared to be an oversized magnifying glass."

"What-what's he going to do?" Leonard asked nervously, seeing the magnifying glass. He couldn't imagine how that was going to help figure out if Penny was a witch or not.

"Don't worry, lad," Bombay said brightly. "I've been at this for centuries, I think I've got the hang of it by now." He pushed a button on the magnifying glass and it instantly split into three parts—a round glass, a square one, and a triangular one, all in line with one another. Leaning closer to Penny, he began examining her carefully, getting so close that Penny began to lean back.

"Right," he said, putting away the glass. He put his ear against Penny's chest. "Cough, please," he said, and Penny coughed once. "Again, please," Bombay said, and Penny coughed a second time. "Very good," Bombay said, straightening up.

"Was that part of the examination?" Penny asked.

"Not really," Bombay said. "I just wanted to see how well they bounced. Ha!" he barked a laugh. Leonard shook his head incredulously.

"Bombay! That's my granddaughter!" Maurice said dangerously. "Ears off her chest!"

"Sorry, old boy," Bombay harrumphed. "Just a little medical humor there, to lighten the mood. The test was inconclusive, I'm sorry to say. The treatment might be effective, it might not. The only way to find out is to give it to her and see what happens."

Maurice placed a comforting hand on Penny's shoulder. "Are you willing to try, my dear?" he asked her.

Penny looked at Leonard, who nodded encouragingly. "I am," she said. "What have I got to lose?"

"Quite a bit, actually," Dr. Bombay said plaintively. "The treatment could make you quite ill, if your body rejects it. You could die, in fact."

Leonard looked worried. "I don't know if this is a good idea anymore," he said. "I don't know if I want you taking a chance like that."

But Penny looked determined. "I think I need to go through with this, Leonard," she said firmly. "I've been playing things safe for a long time now. I need to take a chance now that I'm so close to having something different in my life." She nodded at Dr. Bombay. "Give me the treatment."

"As you wish." Bombay reached into his bag and brought out a small potion bottle, handing it to her. "Drink this down," he said. "I'll be standing by to check you."

Penny stared at the bottle in her hand a long time. Leonard watched her anxiously, wondering whether she would decide to go through with it or not. "Whatever you decide, Penny," he said at last. "I'll be here for you."

"I know," she nodded, then smiled. "I'm starting to sound like Sheldon already." Leonard chuckled at her joke in spite of the seriousness of the moment.

"My dear," Maurice told her. "I won't think less of you if you decide not to go through with it. I would rather have a live mortal than a dead witch for a granddaughter."

"Okay," she said at last, making up her mind. "Here goes." She popped the top off the bottle and tipped it back, swallowing the contents. "Yuck," she said, making a face. "That tasted awful!" The bottle suddenly slipped through her fingers, dropping to the floor. She sat down on the couch, holding her stomach. "I feel weird," she said, putting her hand on her forehead.

"What's happening?" Leonard demanded, upset by her reaction.

"It may be working," Bombay said, watching her carefully. "Wait—"

Penny gasped in pain and clutched her stomach, falling on her side on the couch and curling up in a fetal position. "It's not working!" Leonard shouted.

"What's happening, Bombay?!" Maurice demanded of the witch doctor.

"I can't tell!" Bombay cried. "I've never seen this reaction before!"

"Oooh! Oww!" Penny was groaning on the couch. "Oh my god it hurts!"

"Do something!" Leonard said loudly. "Help her!"

"I may need to take her to my clinic," Bombay said, grabbing his doctor bag. "Hang on, everyone!" He raised his arm to begin the gesture to transport them all to his office, when the couch Penny was lying on suddenly bounced into the air.

"Wait!" Maurice said. "Look!"

A chorus of voices coming from everywhere in the room was rising in volume. Other pieces of furniture in the apartment were beginning to move as well. The living room chair did a somersault. The barstools under the counter were dancing around on their four legs. The dining room table and chairs had floated into air and were spinning around and around. Pictures on the walls were swinging back and forth or spinning around in place. The window curtains were flying open and closed, as were the windows themselves. The entire room seemed alive and spinning around in sheer delight.

"Are you doing this?" Leonard shouted at Maurice over the chorus and the dancing furniture.

"No!" Maurice shouted back. "She is!"

The chorus reached a crescendo that filled the room with sound, then abruptly stopped. The tables, chairs and couch all dropped to the floor. Leonard sat down next to Penny, reaching over and holding her upright as her eyes fluttered open. She looked at Leonard. "What happened?" she asked him.

"How do you feel?" he asked her anxiously.

"Fine, I guess," she said, looking around. "How did everything get so messed up?"

"It worked," Leonard said, hugging her tightly. "I think it really worked!"

"Oh, good," she said, feeling suddenly tired. When Leonard let go of her, she looked down at her hands. "Okay, so how can I tell?"

"Just a moment," Dr. Bombay said. He reached into his bag and took out a silver tuning fork. He put his hand out toward Penny. "Give me your left leg, please."

Penny frowned, looking warily at the witch doctor. Bombay looked impatient. "Don't worry, my dear, I'll give it right back," he told her. Slowly, she lifted her leg up so he could take hold of it.

Bombay grasped her leg, then looked around for something to strike the tuning fork against. He finally settled for Leonard's head. "Ow," Leonard said as the doctor tapped the fork on his crown, producing a high, clear C above middle A. Bombay touched the fork to Penny's left knee. The sound immediately morphed into a strange harmony of different tones, increasing and lowering in pitch. "Uh huh," Bombay murmured. "Hmmm. Quite interesting." He took the fork away and let go of Penny's leg.

"The treatment was a success," he announced. "You are now a witch," he said to her.

"Wonderful!" Maurice said, as Penny and Leonard hugged each other. "Smashing job, old fellow!" he said, clapping Dr. Bombay on the shoulder.

"Remember you said that when you get my bill," Bombay said. "Ha-ha! Well, I must be off," he said, and with a gesture returned to his cat costume. "I have some catting about to do with my nurse. Ha-ha! By the way, my dear," he said to Penny. "If you ever need work as a doctor's assistant, look me up. I think you'd be purr-fect for the job. Ha!" With a final gesture he disappeared.

That left only Maurice, who was beaming proudly at Penny. "My dear, I am so happy for you," he said delightedly. "And now, a present to celebrate this moment."

Maurice held out his hands in front of him. A large, leather-bound book appeared in his hands, with the words

The Book of Magic

engraved into the leather of the book's cover.

"This will help you get started learning about your new powers and the spells you can cast," he said, presenting it to her. "If you have any questions, feel free to call upon me. I, or someone in our family will come to your aid.

"Naturally," he added. "You should not tell any mortals about your new powers. They tend to become upset and unpredictable when confronted with magic." Maurice shook his head wearily. "Believe me, you have no idea how much."

"You mean I can't tell anyone about this?" Penny looked disappointed. "But Leonard knows!"

"You and Leonard are to be married," Maurice said gently. "He would have learned about it in time, anyway. We weren't always so understanding about these matters where mortals were concerned. When my daughter married a mortal, my wife Endora and I were absolutely livid, her especially so. She tried for years to break them up. In the end, however, it all worked out for the best."

"Oh, so they stayed together, then?" Leonard asked hopefully.

"More or less," Maurice smiled enigmatically. "Ah well, then

Good night, good night! parting is such sweet sorrow,
That I shall say good night till it be morrow."

And with those words he vanished.

Leonard looked at Penny. "I think Juliet said those lines, not Romeo," he told her.

"I heard that," Maurice's voice came through the air.

"Sorry, sorry," Leonard said, holding up his hands.

"That's better," Maurice's voice said. "Pip pip, and all that rot."

Penny had sat down on the couch and was leafing through the pages of the book. "Wow. This stuff looks more complicated than my pharmaceutical training manuals."

Leonard sat down next to her, looking at the spells as she flipped through the pages. "It looks like there's some amazing stuff in there," he said, very impressed. "I'm glad everything worked out the way you wanted it, Penny," he said, slipping his arm around her.

"I am too," she said, smiling. "It's just too bad I can't tell anyone about this except you."

"I'm a good listener," Leonard said, puffing himself up a bit. "If you need help with anything in that book, you just let me know," he said, importantly.

"All right, you," she said, putting her arm around his waist and leaning forward to give him a quick kiss. "It's a deal. I just hope you're good at reading Sumerian." She pointed to some markings on one of the pages.

"Ah, hmm," Leonard said, realizing he'd spoken too quickly. "Well, my cuneiform is a little rusty."

Penny laughed and kissed him again. This was going to be very interesting indeed!

=ooo=

A/N: This is the first Big Bang Theory / Bewitched crossover story at fanfiction dot net. I originally thought about a BBT / Harry Potter crossover; one of the chapters in my story "Harry Potter Versus" has a Harry Potter vs. Sheldon Cooper chapter. As I thought about the Big Bang Theory crossover more, I decided I wanted the magic to be a little different from Harry Potter. At some point I realized that the magic was going to be a lot closer to Bewitched's style of magic than Harry Potter's, so I altered the crossover to use Bewitched instead. I don't have to move the Bewitched storyline forward or the Big Bang Theory backward for them to mesh, since the witch and warlock characters of Bewitched are so long-lived.

There are also a considerable number of characters to choose from both sides of the crossover. I've already introduced a lot of names from the Bewitched side, with Maurice and Dr. Bombay appearing in this "episode." Endora, Tabitha, and Dr. Bombay's unnamed nurse were also mentioned in this chapter, as well as Wyatt, Penny's father and Elvira, his witch mother. We may see more of these characters in upcoming chapters.

The advantage of this crossover is in the open-ended format of such a series. The Big Bang Theory has started its 8th season, with two more seasons planned, so it will run through at least 2017. I have the outlines for at least 10 more episodes written down, but Bewitched and BBT characters both suggest quite a few ideas that can be expanded on. I hope to see reviews for this chapter suggesting ideas that you readers would like to see.

Thanks for reading, I hope you enjoy!

John