"Ok, what is it?"
Joe pushed his blonde hair out of his eyes and grinned. "It's magic Pete, plain and simple."
"Bullshit. Is that what you pulled me out here for, some trick? Dude, I have such better things to do than to come over here and listen to your lame attempts to pull a prank."
Joe thought back to the week before. He and Pete were both Yale science majors, focusing on neurobiology and biochemistry. They were fascinated the way the body worked, and being college students, loved to research and talk about how the body changed during sex. That's what made this so exciting.
He had been spending the weekend in Salem, enjoying the different sites and attractions. Even though Joe was a science major, he loved reading up on magic and witches. Sometimes science seemed like magic, and it was fun to think about all the things you could do with just a wave of your hand and some magic words. So trawling through the faux magic shops was a good kick, and he liked teasing the "professional witches" who ran them. But then he had a rude awakening with the mysterious young woman who ran this shop near the woods outside Salem. It had been an interesting afternoon, to say the least.
"I'm serious Petey. This necklace is magic, and it's real. It can turn you into a girl, I tested it myself. It can probably turn girls into guys, I just haven't had the chance to try it yet."
Pete took the necklace from Joe and brought it up to his face. It was pretty ordinary looking. Just a simple iron disk with the astrological symbol for man and woman superimposed on each other, with a simple string running through it to loop on your head. On the back, there were words that he couldn't quite make out.
"Dude, you're such a bad liar. What does it say on the back?"
"Curious/let your passions show/Say 'Hectate, let free my loins/Until my body knows/Man from woman/Woman from man/And knowledge sealed/change me back again.'"
"What?"
"It's simple. Say the words while wearing the necklace, and you are changed into a woman. To change back, you only have to "understand" what it's like to be the other gender. It took me about an afternoon."
"Dude, where is this going? Once I say the words I'll know you're full of shit. What do you think is going to happen?"