Chapter 12: May

~~≈≡≈~~~≈≡≈~~~≈≡≈~~

David arose the following morning well before the sun, as usual. He took the opportunity to take his shower in peace, but then he wasn't sure what to do with himself. He decided that he would just take a walk around the grounds, even though it was still dark out.

"Jailla?" he whispered. The bird raised his head sleepily. "I'm going for a walk, and I'll probably be gone for a while. You want to come with, or you want to wait here?"

Jailla hopped onto David's proffered hand, and then walked his way up to his shoulder. He then promptly went right back to sleep.

"Hmph. Some companion you're going to be," David whispered to himself. He was quiet when he left the room, so as not to wake Jim.

David made his way up to the terrace, and simply began to walk. He was concerned, as he had not yet heard anything from the board of discipline concerning his future. The fight with Marcus had happened two days before, and he was anxious to find out what they were going to do to him.

After making a full circuit of the terrace, David made his way up to the Academy level, and began to walk around it. He had been walking slowly, and it was nearing sunrise. Jailla began to perk up as David passed by Beckett Hall, which faced to the east. The first rays of the sun peeked over the horizon just as David was approaching the library.

Suddenly, David saw movement beneath him, on the terrace. He stopped and looked down, and realized it wasn't movement, but growth. Blooming into existence, right before his eyes, were thousands upon thousands of flowers and plants of every shade of the rainbow. Where the sun touched, the flowers bloomed. He could watch as the line of foliage marched with the sunlight across the terrace. It was fascinating, and David stood, spellbound. As the border of the flowered area moved beyond his sight, he walked with it, following so he could watch.

Finally, the flowers had filled all of the terrace except for the extreme western edge. He knew that the sun would not hit this area for hours, and so the flowers would probably not appear there for a while.

"Happy Fae Day, Jailla," David said.

Jailla chirped softly, and then flew off, to explore the new flora.

-----

David stayed to watch the flowers progress even through the shadowy western area. He had nothing else to do, after all. By the time he was ready to go eat breakfast, most of the terrace was covered in brightly colored foliage.

As he was about to head off for the cafeteria, he remembered there was one more thing he had to do today. He pulled out his mirror, dialed, and said, "Misty Inverness."

In just a second, Misty popped into being. She showed up full-sized, which David had never seen her do before. "Good morning, David!"

"Good morning, Misty. How are you today?"

"Glorious!"

"I'm glad you're in such a great mood. Seems a shame that they make you guys do all this on your special day, but it is beautiful."

"They don't make us, David. They let us! All of the rest of the year, we have to follow their landscaping plans. Ugh, how dull. On Fae Day, they let us decorate how we want to!"

"Oh. I see. Well, I think you all did a great job."

Misty giggled. "Did you need me for something?" she asked.

"I wanted to give you your birthday present," he told her.

Misty looked confused. "David, I wasn't born. You know that. I was..."

"Yes, you were created... but you still came into being on Fae Day, right?"

"Yes..."

"So, this is your birthday." He pulled out a small box and handed it to her. Misty smiled at him tolerantly, and opened the box. She smiled widely as she pulled out of the box a crystal rose. It was made from pink-tinted crystal, and the sunlight shining through it cast sparkles in every direction.

"It's beautiful," she said.

"Well, nothing compared to the job you guys just did, but I just wanted to say Happy Birthday, and thanks for putting up with me."

Misty smiled at him, and then did something uncharacteristic. She gave him a hug. When she stepped back, she looked at him oddly. "Your intentions have cleared," she said.

"Took care of the idiot," he told her.

Misty nodded. "Thank you, David, for thinking of me. I will put this in a place of honor."

"I wasn't sure you actually had a home to put it in... Where do fairies live?"

"We have communal homes, actually. We do rest at night, and have meetings to plan and talk about things. I am going to place this in our gallery."

"I'm glad you like it," David said, a little nonplussed. He didn't think it was all that special.

"People so seldom think of us fairies. It's nice to be remembered. Have a great Fae Day, David."

"You, too," he replied.

Misty smiled, spun about, and disappeared.

David scratched his head, shrugged, and headed for breakfast.

~~≈≡≈~~~≈≡≈~~~≈≡≈~~

David entered Dean Lengel's office with a bit of trepidation. Once again, the board of discipline had been convened. The dean motioned David to his place, which was not beside her, this time. He faced the board of discipline, and standing next to him, although not too close, was Marcus.

"This disciplinary meeting is hereby convened," the dean intoned. "This meeting has been called in the understanding that the facts of the matter have already been ascertained, and that a judgment has been reached by the board. This meeting is convened to announce the judgment of the board, and to mete out any punishment as the board or the dean see fit.

"What is the board's decision?"

The head of the board of discipline rose. "It is our judgment that, first, a fight involving magic did, in fact, occur. This is not in dispute by either party, and even if it were, there are literally hundreds of witnesses.

"Further, we believe that Marcus Savolar did, in fact, initiate the confrontation by taking into his custody Amanda Master against her will.

"Next, we believe that Marcus Savolar did, in fact, perform the first incantation of the fight, which was an attempt to morph David Stroud, which would, of course, have forced him into ghost form.

"Fourth, we conclude that David Stroud did, in fact, destroy Marcus' Savolar's overcoat by means of some spell or combination of spells.

"Finally, we conclude that, had David Stroud not chosen to act, Marcus Savolar would probably have died at the end of the fight."

"Could you explain that last, please?" the dean asked.

"Something neither of the accused related to us, however several of the witnesses did. The fight ended when David Stroud performed lux lucis, thus rendering Marcus Savolar unconscious. When Mr. Savolar collapsed, he fell into the moat. Mr. Stroud subsequently entered the water to pull Mr. Savolar to the shore. He left him on dry land, and walked away. Mr. Savolar did not awaken for several minutes. We judge from this that, had he not been pulled out of the water, he would most likely have drowned before anyone else could have retrieved him."

"I see." She turned to the two students. "Does either of you have anything to say before punishment is announced?"

Neither of them did.

"Very well. Does the board of discipline wish to suggest punishment at this time?"

"It is our recommendation that Marcus Savolar be placed in detention housing for the remainder of the semester, and that he be forced to make a formal and public apology to Ms. Master for violating her personal sovereignty.

"It is also our recommendation that David Stroud be required to pay for a replacement for the coat he damaged during the fight."

"That's it?" Marcus demanded. "You put me in detention, and all he has to do is buy a damned coat?"

"Mr. Savolar," Dean Lengel said shortly. "You should be grateful that we are not handing you over to the Rimohrs for kidnapping and attempted murder. Your actions this year have been grossly criminal, and the only reason you have not been expelled from this school outright is that we cannot prove legally that you did them. Don't be fooled into thinking that we don't know your involvement. Count your blessings that you will spend a few weeks in detention, rather than sixty years in Barnard Hill." Barnard Hill was a maximum-security wizard prison that was known to be a horribly unpleasant place to live. Marcus actually shuddered at the thought.

"Have you replaced your coat yet, Mr. Savolar?"

"No," he said stiffly.

"Mr. Stroud, you will provide the cost of a new coat of the same style, to be obtained from Madame deChagny's Magical Wears."

"Yes, ma'am. In fact, I will pay for any coat he wishes to buy from her."

Marcus sneered at him, and the dean nodded. Turning to the board of discipline, she asked, "Is there anything further?"

"No, Madame Dean."

"Very well. The board is adjourned. Mr. Savolar, you will wait out in the anteroom for your escort."

Everyone left except David, who had not been dismissed.

"Why did you offer to buy him an even better coat?" Dean Lengel asked him after she had called for Marcus' escort.

"Did you see the look on his face? No better way to irritate your enemies than to be nice to them."

Dean Lengel laughed. She said, "I cannot say I appreciate you fighting on my campus, David. But I do understand you didn't really have a choice. And to find out that you saved his life..."

"I didn't want that on my conscience. It would have made all the crap that he and others have been saying about demighosts legitimate."

The dean nodded. "Do you need a note for class?"

"Oh, yes, ma'am. I have Prof. Thropp's class right now. I don't want to even consider walking in late without an official permit."

The dean laughed again as she wrote out a note. She handed it to him, and then asked, "Do you think this will be the end of the trouble?"

"Well, with him in detention, I figure his friends won't give me any grief for the rest of the year. What happens next year... we'll just have to see."

"What about the rest of the school? Do you think the other students will continue to be a problem?"

"I don't know. They applauded after I beat Marcus. I don't know what to think anymore."

"Really? Well. Head on to class."

"Yes, ma'am. Thank you."

-----

"That's it? Detention?" Gwen huffed. "They should have sent that bastard to prison!"

David chuckled at Gwen's fury. He was just happy to have the whole thing behind him. He only hoped that the school as a whole would just give it a rest now.

"And what's your punishment?" Olissa asked.

Gwen turned on her. "You think he should be punished?"

Olissa looked at her and said, "In cases of fighting, both sides usually receive punishment."

David said, "They're making me replace his coat, since I destroyed it during the fight."

"That's all?" Olissa asked, somewhat surprised.

"Yeah."

"Good," Gwen said. "Not that I think he deserves a coat. Certainly not one with Woodward's badge on it."

"How is Amanda?" Olissa asked.

David replied, "I haven't seen her since the fight. I'm assuming she's fine."

Olissa nodded.

~~≈≡≈~~~≈≡≈~~~≈≡≈~~

"Hey, Amanda," David said as he sat down next to her in Potions class.

"'Toss the bitch'?" she said as she turned to him.

David smirked. "I was trying to get you out of the line of fire."

"And if those trees had not saved me?"

David snorted. "I think Dean Lengel, and whatever wizards put them there, would have a coronary at the suggestion."

Amanda giggled. "I'm glad you beat him. He was a jerk."

"Still is a jerk. We just don't have to see him for the rest of the year."

"Where did he go?"

"Detention."

"So... there's no real punishment for what he did?"

"Not as such, no. Oh, he's supposed to apologize to you, in public, at some point. I don't know when that will happen."

"That's something, I guess. He gets to be humiliated, and that's good."

"So, you ready for finals next week?"

Amanda shuddered. "Don't remind me. I still don't feel like I'm caught up in this class."

"Do you want to come over this weekend, and we can study it?"

"David, I don't..."

David raised his hand. "Just study. I heard you when you said you couldn't date me any more. Does that mean we can't be friends?"

Amanda sighed in relief. "Okay, yeah, I could sure use the help."

"All right, class," Prof. Stott said at that point, "Today, we begin our review in earnest."

-----

Near the end of Potions class, David and Amanda had finished their potions, and were each looking over their notes. Suddenly, a boy named Leonard stepped up to David and said, "Stroud?"

David looked up. Leonard had never spoken to him before. David knew that he had taken part in the early hazing days, throwing rocks and calling names. He had not been part of Marcus' crew, but he had certainly not been friendly.

"Yeah?" David asked neutrally.

"I don't suppose I could trouble you for a little help with this stuff? Prof. Stott is busy with someone else, and I'm just not getting this to work."

David raised an eyebrow in surprise. He looked over at Amanda, who was as shocked as he was.

David looked back and said, "Sure, I guess." He closed his notebook, and put it back in his backpack. To Amanda, he said, "Keep an eye on this for me, okay?" She nodded, and then David turned back to Leonard.

"What seems to be the trouble?"

~~≈≡≈~~~≈≡≈~~~≈≡≈~~

David joined the crowd out in front of Savage Hall to wait for Prof. Schmidt. This was the second seminar this year on magical creatures, and David wanted to make sure he saw what was here. He stayed on the edge of the group, because he was still wary of pranksters. Also, he wanted to make himself easy to find, just in case Prof. Schmidt wanted to use him as a guinea pig again.

Prof. Schmidt emerged from the stable area, and motioned the crowd over to him. There, he began his lecture.

"Good morning, students. Today is the Magical Creatures Familiarization Seminar on Canine and Feline Species. We have eight animals to review today, so let's get on with it, shall we? Walk this way."

The professor led them over to a pen which housed a recognizable creature. It was a three-headed dog.

"This is Cerberus, the three-headed dog. Contrary to Earth legend, he does not guard the entrance to Haven. In actuality, he is a very happy pet of the king, here on loan. I'm going to ask that you not pet him, because he's hyper, and someone might get injured accidentally. He's quite friendly... in fact, a little too friendly, at times, given his size." Cerberus was about twice the size of a hellhound, which David could see lying in the grass several yards away.

"Moving on," the professor said. He walked toward where the hellhound was lying. As the group approached, the hellhound rose, its nose twitching. Suddenly, its ears perked up, and it bounded toward the group. Several people screamed, and most people backed away. David didn't back away, but he realized the animal was coming straight at him. It was when he noticed the hound's tail was wagging that he relaxed a little bit.

The hellhound ran a circle around David, and then shoved his head against David's chest. David snorted, and then scratched the huge canine between the ears. The hellhound pressed against him, his tail wagging and his tongue lolling. Finally, David finished up.

"Go on," he told the animal. It did, with a bit of a whine. The rest of the group chuckled.

Prof. Schmidt said, "Apparently this hound was borrowed from your gate, David." To the group as a whole, he said, "If you're from Earth, you'll have already seen at least one of these. This is a hellhound. They are guardian animals, and they protect the gates between Earth and Dugerra. Only magical beings are permitted into Dugerra, and the hellhounds enforce that rule. They will not interfere with the passage of a wizard, so you need not fear them at all. And, as you can see, if they recognize you, they can be quite affectionate. Unlike Cerberus, they are a little more controlled in their enthusiasm. If you would like, you can pet him. Hellhounds do not have names, as they are not pets. If they have a name, it is known only amongst themselves."

Several of the students approached the hellhound to pet him. The hound took the opportunity to romp and play with them. Freed from his normal duties as a guard dog, he was enjoying his play time.

After some time, the professor had the students move on. The next canine was somewhere between the size of the hellhound and Cerberus, and he looked rather nasty.

"This, students, is a dire wolf. He is chained for your protection. If you see one of these in the wild, pray that there is some large barrier between you and it. If there isn't, I would recommend you have your wand at the ready, unless you like being lunch.

"Dire wolves hunt in small packs of four or five. Any more than that, and they start fighting amongst themselves until they drive out the weakest of their members. These animals have magical speed, and can run faster than anything you can imagine. Quite a lot faster than the cheetah. Also, do not stare them in the eyes. They can fixate you with their gaze. It is a sort of paralysis magic, making you much easier to kill and eat.

"Dire wolves live mostly in Vrudena, but there are some in extreme northern Callamandia, as well. Just be very careful when moving through forests, especially at night. Unlike a normal wolf, which will usually go out of its way to avoid you, a dire wolf will see you as little more than an easy meal. They are known man-killers. For obvious reasons, you will not be interacting with this creature. Let's move along, shall we?"

The group chuckled on arriving at the next pen, because what was inside it was no canine, but in fact, a giraffe.

"Despite appearances, and how the devil he has ever seen a giraffe, I have no clue, this is a canine species. This is a tanuki, the magical raccoon dog. If the rascal would take his normal form..." Prof. Schmidt picked up some treats and waved them at the 'giraffe'. Suddenly, the creature morphed, and rapidly took the shape of a small canine that somewhat resembled a raccoon. It rushed over to get the treat the professor was still holding out for it.

"Tanuki are no danger to humans, even if they take on an apparently-dangerous form, such as that of a tiger or a dire wolf. They love to play, and are quite mischievous. They usually change forms to get attention, though they do also use it to protect themselves from other animals. Should you see one in the wild, just ignore it... or play with it, if you have the free time. I'm sure they will appreciate it.

"You may feel free to pet this one. It is my pet, actually, and his name is Nook."

Most of the students, including David, came up to pet the tanuki, which seemed to love the attention. Finally, when everyone had their chance, the professor continued.

"That concludes our review of canine species. The next four animals will cover feline species. Please, walk with me."

The students all followed the professor around to the back of the Animal Annex, to somewhat smaller pens. Inside of one was a creature that David stared at, blinking several times. He was sure he wasn't seeing right. It looked like a slightly overgrown lion, only...

"This is a sphinx," Prof. Schmidt told them. "It has the body of a lion, and the head of a person. Most sphinxes are female. Male sphinxes generally have wings. Why only the males have wings, we don't know. Also, the males tend to be much more aggressive, while the female sphinxes are merely enigmatic."

"What's unusual about that?" one of the students asked out loud. The group laughed.

"You will find conversation with a female sphinx to be difficult. They tend to speak in riddles, allegories, and half-revealed truths.

"You will find conversation with a male sphinx to be brief, usually followed by him trying to kill you. Should you be confronted by a male sphinx, my best suggestion would be to go someplace he cannot fly into. He is still a powerful creature on the ground, but without the ability of flight, he is far less dangerous.

"I would allow you to talk to the sphinx, but, really, you don't need the headache."

Throughout all of this, the sphinx merely sat there in the grass, her head up, staring at them. She had not uttered a sound. David gave her one last look as the group moved on.

The next creature, David felt probably ought to be chained, but it wasn't.

"This is a griffin," Prof. Schmidt told them all unnecessarily. "The head and forelegs of a bird of prey, and the rest of its body some form of cat. The typical griffin most people are familiar with is the eagle/lion breed, but they are actually the second-least common version. Smaller breeds are more likely to be seen, such as the osprey/leopard, or the kite/lynx. Obviously, the larger a griffin is, the more damage it can do, but for the most part, they tend to leave people alone as long as they are not persecuted. This one, in fact, happens to be rather fond of folks, so if you feel comfortable enough, you can go up and pet it. I would ask that you keep the people directly around him to less than five at a time."

David was one of the first to approach the animal. Everyone was leery, but he figured he was the safest among them. As he stepped up, the griffin cocked its head at him, and then it spread its wings and play-bowed at him. David grinned and stroked its head, and then the other students slowly came up to pet it.

Once David had his fill, he walked away. He ended up next to the professor.

"Professor, you said that the eagle/lion was the second-least common version. What is the most uncommon?"

"That would be the eagle/tiger breed. Exceptionally large, often cranky, but reclusive. Even if you go hunting for griffins, you're not likely to find one."

"And the smallest of the griffins?"

"That would be the kite/lynx. Many people actually keep kite/lynxes as house pets."

"Are they good for that?"

"If they're hand-raised, yes. Otherwise, they're a bit unruly."

David nodded.

After everyone who wanted a turn had got one - and less than half of the students felt safe approaching something that looked very dangerous - Prof. Schmidt had them move on.

"Students, these two ladies will present the last two creatures to you. This is Princess Serena, and Princess Krysta, from Mirelia. Highnesses," Prof. Schmidt said, motioning them forward.

Krysta stepped forward first. She had short blonde hair and an almost boyish body, but trim and muscular. Her gaze was open and friendly.

"Hi, everyone. I am Krysta, Guardian of the Waters of Mirelia. My sisters and I protect the land. To help me with that task is my buddy Huron, here. Huron is a water cat."

Huron was a large, stocky animal the size of a bengal tiger. He was colored blue, with a patch of white on either side of his head, and white on his underbelly. Faint streaks of lighter blue could be seen running through his fur that reminded David of a swimming pool.

"Water cats, as their name implies, love the water. In fact, he rarely leaves it unless I ask him to. They can breathe underwater, and so they never have to surface. They eat mostly fish, though they will occasionally take prey at the water's edge.

"Whether or not a water cat is dangerous depends mostly on you and the cat. If you encounter one on land, just make sure you don't get between it and the water; their first reaction will be to flee to their 'home'. In the water, they may approach you. If they do so slowly, then feel free to let them get as close as you feel comfortable with. Most of them will respect a safe distance if you back away.

"If, however, they are swimming toward you full speed, then you are in danger, and you should find some means of defending yourself. Swimming away is probably not your best option, however, as they are massively powerful swimmers, despite their size."

"How does he help you protect the land?" one student asked.

"Water cats have phenomenal powers of navigation. I use that to help me get around. Also, as my familiar, he often grants me the ability to breathe underwater, as well."

"Familiars can do that?" David asked Professor Schmidt, who he was still standing next to.

"If you have been with your familiar long enough, they can grant you some of their abilities, or in some other way be useful to you. It never happens in the first few years, however.

David nodded. Krysta continued to talk for a little while, relating a story about the last 'mission' her and Huron had gone on. While she talked, Huron paced in front of the crowd. He nudged several of the front row, who all backed away. When he nudged David, however, David put his hand on the animal's head. Huron paused for the scratching that he had been seeking, and then he moved on, continuing his pacing.

"Awfully bold," Prof. Schmidt said to David.

"I'm already dead," David replied. "What else can he do to me?"

Once Krysta had finished, Serena stepped forward. Her blue-tinged white hair flowed in the breeze. Her gray eyes were piercing as she surveyed the crowd, and the wolf next to her kept a close eye on everyone.

"Hello, friends," she said. Her voice had a soft quality, and yet she was clearly audible. David assumed it was magically enhanced. "My name is Serena, Guardian of the Spirit. This is my familiar, Destiny. He is a normal wolf, except for being a familiar.

"The cat you are about to see is known as a Shadow Cat. They are temple guardians in Mirelia, and very highly intelligent. I will bring him out now."

Serena went to the doorway to the indoor animal housing, and came back with a huge black panther. It was at least as big as Huron. David realized, as he watched it move in the sun, that, though it was all black, it also had black stripes on its body. These only became visible because the sunlight would glint differently off them than off the rest of the animal's fur. Its eyes seemed to pierce David's soul, as it stared him down.

"This is Arasmir. He normally lives in the central temple of Mirelia, guarding it with his family. I asked him to come with me today because he had never been outside the temple before. As far as I know, Shadow Cats live nowhere outside of Mirelia, so you are unlikely to encounter them unless you travel there. If you do happen to visit one of our temples, be aware that the cats will prevent you from harming the temple, or being disrespectful on temple grounds. Otherwise, they will leave you alone.

"I would let you pet Arasmir, but he is feeling a bit under the weather from the trip, and so he's a touch cranky. Are there any questions?"

A couple of students asked Serena questions, but David kept feeling like the cat was staring right at him. His eyes never seemed to waver. Once the questioning was over, Serena took the cat away.

"Professor... does that cat have something against demighosts?"

"Not that I know of, why?"

"I felt like he was staring at me the entire time."

Prof. Schmidt said, "You were probably imagining it. They are very intimidating creatures. However, if he was staring, perhaps he can sense that you are different."

"Maybe."

Prof. Schmidt moved forward and faced the group again. "Let's thank Krysta and Serena for coming today." The students all applauded. "Now, that concludes this seminar. I hope you enjoyed yourselves, and you were able to forget about the fact that you have finals starting in two days!"

The entire group groaned. The had, in fact, been able to forget, and his reminder was quite unwelcome.

"Thanks a bunch, Professor," David said with a smirk.

~~≈≡≈~~~≈≡≈~~~≈≡≈~~

"All right, you all know how this works. You may begin your written test now. I will call you up individually for the potion-making portion of your exam. Amanda, if you would."

Amanda looked over at David, worried, but he gave her a smile and a nod. He watched her go, but then he turned his attention to his potions exam. While he felt no concern over getting the exam done, he was diligent about it. He took nothing for granted. While he was aware that grades in classes here meant significantly less than in an Earth college, they were still important enough to be serious about.

Amanda came back shortly, a grim, but still relieved, look on her face. Prof. Stott called up the next student, and class went on, students walking up as their names were called.

Finally, Prof. Stott called David's name. He was on the last question of the test, so he held up a hand to let her know he'd heard her, but finished answering the question before he got up. He grabbed his test and his cauldron, and made his way to the front of the room. He set his cauldron on the stand, and his test on her desk.

"Done already?" she asked quietly.

"Well, it is my best subject," he told her with a grin.

"Fine, then. Make me witherwart potion."

David pursed his lips for a second, remembered the ingredients, and then went over to the supply shelves to get what he needed. He returned with the necessary flasks and containers, and then set to work.

David added the first three ingredients without problem, but when he added the fourth ingredient, just as he was about to put the stopper back in the vial, he caught a strange odor. He sniffed the contents of the vial, and then read the label again.

"Professor," David said quietly, "this doesn't smell like vinical seed to me..."

"Let me see it," she said, and David handed it over. She, too, sniffed it, and wrinkled her nose. "You're right, it doesn't. It smells like rotten waxroot seed. Which could be a problem."

Prof. Stott was able to erect the containment field around David's cauldron just in time. The cauldron cracked and shattered, sending pieces hurling against the shield. Prof. Stott and David looked at each other in concern.

A student in the back, named Lyle, laughed, and tried to high-five his friend. He was one of Marcus' friends, all of whom were trying to find a way to get back at David for getting Marcus in trouble.

The guy sitting next to Lyle was someone who had never spoken a kind word to David. He just looked at him and said, "That wasn't cool, dude. You don't screw with finals."

Lyle looked at him as if he'd grown a third arm. "Oh, come on! You hate that guy as much as I do!"

"No, I just thought it was fun to harass him like everyone else did. But he fought Marcus by Marcus' rules, and still kicked his ass. Do you really think it would have even been a close fight if he'd played by his own rules? David's okay. You guys need to just leave him alone."

Lyle couldn't believe he was hearing this. He completely believed what he heard next, though.

"Lyle McMillan, you will report to the dean's office for punishment. You will also receive a failing grade on your final exam."

The class oohed at that, but little more than that. They all had a test to finish.

"Guess I flunked, too, Professor. I should have caught that. I let my guard down."

Prof. Stott snorted. "You had every reason to trust my supplies. I should have been paying more attention to the... known antagonists."

"How did they know which ingredient to mess with, though?" David asked.

"A good question. I had everyone making the same potion, but how they would know which potion ahead of time..."

"Is it the potion you're using in all of your classes?"

"Yes. I use this potion every year for Potions 102."

David nodded. "That's how they knew, then. They took a chance, though, that I would be the one who got 'got'."

Prof. Stott nodded. "I wonder if he had an accomplice. Someone who perhaps sits closer to the supply shelf."

"Could be. What do you want me to do about the exam? My cauldron is unusable..."

Prof. Stott snorted. "Go back to your seat. We both know you can craft witherwart in your sleep."

"Yes, ma'am," David said with a smile. He went back and sat down beside Amanda, who could not say anything to him, as she was still working on her test. He opened his Enchantments and Curses book, and began to study.

-----

"David Stroud," Prof. Zoroaster called out quietly. They were all in the middle of their Divination final, and, of course, the professor was making sure that they were all capable of practical divination, as well as the knowledge. David made his way up to the front of the room, and stepped behind a partition that the professor had erected, for the sake of privacy and noise control.

"All right, David. You have shown aptitudes in crystallomancy, cartomancy, and oneiromancy. You have some limited skills in runic interpretation and pyromancy, and you have no ability to speak of in astrology or hydromancy. Or, at least, none that we found. We cannot easily test you in oneiromancy, because it takes so long. Therefore, you may choose from crystallomancy and cartomancy for your demonstration."

David considered for a moment, and then said, "Crystallomancy."

Prof. Zoroaster nodded, and brought out his crystal ball, setting it on the table, and motioning David to sit before it.

"You know what to do. Tell me what you see."

David hoped that his image would change. The only thing he'd ever been able to see without focusing on a specific topic was the image of Olissa in the hospital. He hoped that the fight with Marcus might wipe that image, since Marcus was unlikely to be hurting anyone else now.

David closed his eyes and brought himself into a meditative frame of mind. Then, he opened his eyes, and gazed into the center of the crystal ball. The haze inside the ball cleared, but the image he saw was the same as he had always seen. David saw Healer Hall working on Olissa, and he was sitting in a chair this time, which was new. Previously, he had been standing over her.

In the vision, David looked over at Olissa, but then he turned back to a book he was reading. David could not make out a title, but the book was thick, like a textbook. David tried to pan the vision, so he could look around the room, and he was able to, but there was nothing to see there except the rest of the infirmary. He made his way to a window, to look out. He saw green grass and filled out trees; it was as the school looked today. The image, disturbingly, was somewhat clearer than it had been.

David could think of nothing more to see from this scene, and so he pulled back out of the vision, closing his eyes and taking a deep breath to clear himself of the effects. Finally, he opened his eyes and looked at Prof. Zoroaster.

"And what did you see today?" the professor asked.

"It was the same subject as usual," David said, "but a slightly different image."

"Different how?"

"I was no longer standing at her bedside, but instead reading a book in a chair next to her. Also, I was able to get the vision to show me what it looked like outside. I was hoping to get some idea of a timeframe. Unfortunately, everything was green."

"Everything?" Prof. Zoroaster asked.

"Yes, why?"

"Even the Sentinel Trees?" Prof. Zoroaster pushed.

David thought for a long second, trying to see the image in his mind. "Yes, even those," David said finally. "Why?"

"Have you not noticed that the Sentinel Trees change color throughout the year? If your vision shows you Sentinel Trees with green leaves, then it is the spring season. They are gold in summer, red in autumn, and orange in winter."

"Oh. I guess I knew that, from watching, but just never paid it any attention."

Prof. Zoroaster nodded. "Observation is an important skill for a diviner, David. Try to cultivate that within yourself."

"Yes, sir."

"You have passed this test easily."

David smiled. As he got up, he asked, "Professor... how do you know that we're not just making this stuff up?"

Prof. Zoroaster grinned. "Trust me, I know."

David got the message. "Yes, sir."

"Go on back to your seat and finish your test."

-----

"Come with me, you two," Professor Edgars told David and Phil. "Your final exam will take place in the Great Hall."

David and Phil followed the professor into the Great Hall. David had never seen the room darkened before, but then, the doors were usually shut when he came into the castle for class, so he figured this was probably normal.

"Your final exam is an actual task. By that, I mean that the dean has asked us to negotiate something with the residents of the castle. David, are there ghosts here?"

David closed his eyes and centered his thoughts. He let his mind reach out, and he immediately felt the presence of several ghosts. He could not identify them, except for one, who was clearly Penny. He opened his eyes again when he was done.

"Yes, Professor. Several."

"Wait... how do you know that?" Phil asked.

Prof. Edgars said, "As a demighost, David has some advantages over us. I showed him how he could see the ghosts who were present, even if they did not make themselves visible. You are not able to perform that little 'trick', Phillip, and so I did not teach it to you."

"Oh. Okay."

"Did you sense, David, whether Lord Woodward was present?"

"I don't know, sir. I only recognized one of the ghosts, but I've only met Lord Woodward once, so I'm not sure I'd recognize his energy like that."

Prof. Edgars nodded, and then explained, for Phil's benefit, "What he saw was not the ghosts' physical form, but their essence. He will only recognize them personally if he is very familiar with them. I would assume that the ghost you recognized was Madame Barbonne?"

"No, sir. Actually, it was my ghost advisor, Penny."

Prof. Edgars nodded. "Very well. We shall proceed on the assumption that Lord Woodward is here."

"I could ask Penny, if you like, sir. If we need to speak with Lord Woodward, she may know where he is..."

"We will hold that as a fallback position. Phillip, you will ask Lord Woodward to come forward and speak with us. Let him know that we have a request from the dean."

"Yes, sir." Phil stepped away from the other two, into the middle of the room, and went into his invocation. When he was finished, he stepped back toward the others. They all waited for a minute, but no one appeared.

"Strange. I expected he would be here. Your invocation was quite correct, Phillip, have no fear of that. David, perhaps it is time for you to call in help?"

"Yes, Professor. Um... Professor, do you want me to be formal about it? Penny and I speak on a very friendly basis."

"No need. This is not part of your exam."

David nodded. "Penny? Can I speak to you, please?"

Penny appeared almost instantly, right by David's side. "Lord Woodward isn't in the Great Hall tonight."

"Do you know where he is?" David asked.

"He is touring the grounds. If no one told him he was expected to be here..."

David shrugged and turned to the professor. "Professor, do we ask him to come here, or do we go to him?"

"Which do you think is more appropriate?"

"That depends on what we're asking," David replied. "If this is a minor matter, then we should go to him, to disrupt his day as little as possible. If, however, it is an important and weighty matter, then we should ask him to come here, because this is a more formal setting for negotiations."

"Very good. In this case, we will go to him. This is a minor matter. Madame Penelope, can you take us to Lord Woodward?"

"Yes. This way."

They made their way outside the keep, and into the courtyard. They walked up onto the rampart, and around until they were on the ocean side of the castle. There, they found Lord Woodward with Madame Barbonne. They appeared to be having an intimate conversation, which they ended abruptly as the others approached. Penny gestured, and faded, as they no longer needed her services.

David stepped forward, toward Lord Woodward, and said, "My Lord, we are very sorry to interrupt your evening. We have brought a request from the dean that we would like to discuss with you."

"Very well, get on with it," Lord Woodward said. David looked to Prof. Edgars.

The professor said, "Lord, if you are amenable, the dean would like to hold this year's upper level graduation ceremonies in the Great Hall."

"That's an awful lot of people tramping through my castle," Lord Woodward objected gruffly.

Prof. Edgars motioned to the two students, who looked at each other, then to the professor... and then began their negotiation with the owner of the castle.

~~≈≡≈~~~≈≡≈~~~≈≡≈~~

"All right, class, settle down." Prof. Thropp said this despite the fact that no one was even whispering. "Your exam begins as soon as I am finished giving instructions. For the first forty-five minutes of class, you will be creating your own enchantment. You will use the text. It must be an original enchantment; you may not copy any effect contained within the book.

"After that forty-five minutes is up, you will begin your written exam. During the exam, I will call you up here to perform your enchantment. You will not have time to work on your enchantment during the written portion of the exam; you will need at least forty minutes to complete the exam.

"You will have only one attempt to get your enchantment to work. I suggest you make it a good attempt. Now then, begin."

David took a deep breath, got out his book, and began looking frantically for something to enchant.

-----

"David Stroud," the professor called out. David got up, tucking his test into his coat pocket for safe keeping. He made his way up to Prof. Thropp's desk.

"You may proceed," she told him.

David pulled out his wand.

"Enchantments very rarely use wands, Mr. Stroud," Prof. Thropp snapped.

"Yes, ma'am, but if you'll notice, my wand contains a crystal at one end. I need the crystal as a talisman for this enchantment."

She looked at him askance, but then nodded. "Carry on."

David took a deep breath, concentrating, and knelt before he chanted the spell. As he reached the end of the spell, he brought the butt end of his wand down onto the floor. As the crystal in his wand touched the tile, a bubble of water appeared.

The bubble quickly burst, and flowed outward, covering the tile floor in water, or so it appeared. The enchantment was mere illusion, but it was convincing. Soon, the floor looked as if it wasn't a floor, but in fact water that appeared to be a dozen feet deep, with fish swimming through it. The water reacted to things moving through it, splashing as David rose from his kneeling position.

Prof. Thropp looked at David. "I'm actually impressed," she said, without cracking a smile. "Well done, Mr. Stroud. However, you are aware that your spell will last nearly half a day?"

"Yes, ma'am."

"Why?"

David shrugged. "It's finals week. I wanted to give everyone something to laugh at, to lighten their mood a little."

Prof. Thropp stared at him, then nodded. "You have passed. Return to your seat."

-----

When David finished his written exam in Prof. Thropp's class, she dismissed him. He wasn't the first person to leave. He didn't exit the building right away, however. Instead, he found a place to sit, and then watched the people who had to walk through the hallway.

The first person he saw was someone coming in the front door. They were about to take a step, then looked down, and grabbed onto the door frame. David chuckled at them, as they couldn't decide what to do. They had a class to get to, but how were they supposed to navigate the water?

Just then, one of David's classmates came walking out of Prof. Thropp's room. They, of course, knew it to be an illusion, and so just kept walking. The water splashed around their ankles as they walked, looking down at the fish. They were a bit surprised that the illusion extended this far, but they laughed and waved at David as they passed by.

The student in the door looked flabbergasted at first, seeing someone walking on water. Then he realized that it must be an illusion. His first step, however, was a very tentative one. David chuckled as the guy took a few hesitant steps, then started walking normally.

The guy came over to him.

"You do this?"

"Yeah."

"Why?"

"E&C final exam."

The guy nodded. "Nice." And then he walked off.

-----

David spent a few more minutes watching people being stymied by his aquarium illusion. Finally, though, the rest of the students came out of E&C, including Olissa and Gwen.

"How the hell did you finish the test so fast?" Gwen demanded.

"Most likely by getting several questions wrong," David said with a chuckle. He shrugged. "I just answered as best I could, and moved on."

"I didn't even finish," Gwen moped.

"Neither did I," Olissa said. "I had about five questions left."

David could see they were both stressed and unhappy. "Come on, guys! You're walking on water! Let's go get lunch, you'll feel better."

Gwen looked down, and it did make her smile. "It's a good enchantment, David."

"Thanks."

~~≈≡≈~~~≈≡≈~~~≈≡≈~~

With finals over, the students were able to relax a bit. The last two days of class, if the teachers even asked them to show up at all, were merely a review. On Saturday, the gang went together to receive their grades, which were supposed to have been posted to their mailboxes in the early morning.

"How'd you do?" David asked Jim.

"Better than expected, but still not great. You?"

Rather than answer him, David turned to Olissa. "How did you do?"

"I did okay. I stumbled a little bit with Umbrasocius at first, and E&C was a nightmare, but... I guess it'll do."

"How did you do?" Jim asked again.

"Gwen? How about you?" David asked.

"About like Olissa did. Why are you avoiding answering Jim?"

David showed her his report card.

"You fucker," she replied in awe. Jim snatched the report out of Gwen's hands, and read down the list of A's in every subject.

"I fucking hate you," Jim replied with a mix of awe and despair. David took his report card back. "It's the extra study time, guys. If you had an extra four hours to get your work done, you'd get all A's, too."

"Oh, I doubt that," Gwen said. "An extra twenty hours a day wouldn't have helped with Thropp." David chuckled.

"Where's Devyn?" David asked Gwen.

"Prepping for the exam."

"Exam? Finals are over. What exam?"

"Don't you ever read the bulletin board?" Gwen asked with exasperation. "Or, hell, it's listed on your report card... Your year-end exam. Your day and time should be written there."

David pulled out his report card again, and looked at it. Down at the bottom, it did say that his year-end exam would happen in the Sabrina Hall library on Monday at 3:15pm.

"I thought we were through with Finals," David objected.

"This isn't a class test," Gwen told him. "It's a generic wizarding exam. If you fail this, you will be required to get special counseling and tutoring next year, so that you can be sure to pass licensure next year."

Olissa added, "Normally, the year-end exam is a type of licensure exam. For each year you attend school, you can do more with your magic. For instance, at the end of your third year, you're allowed to travel in Dugerra. You need a license to do that. Or, it's... well, like an endorsement on a driver's license. It's an extension to your wizarding license."

Gwen picked up the explanation. "But completion of your first year of school doesn't get you squat. Still, they want to make sure you're progressing toward licensure, so they give you a generic test, just to see how well you know what you're doing."

David nodded. "How would you study for such a thing?"

Gwen shook her head. "I have no idea, and she wouldn't tell me what she was doing."

Jim suddenly asked, "Hey, David, did you ever sign up for the Metamorphosis Tournament?"

"Somebody signed me up for me," David said, glaring at Gwen.

"We have to compete together," she said. "For moral support."

"Uh-huh." Turning to Olissa, he asked, "Did you sign up?"

"Competing is not something I enjoy," she said, shaking her head. "I will come to watch you guys, though."

David nodded.

"So, what should we do with the rest of our day?" Gwen asked.

"Let's go down to Gorumshead," Gwen said. "We can just screw around and have some fun."

"David?" Olissa asked. "Can you do that?"

David pulled out his mirror, and dialed up his escort. Then the group headed off for a day of relaxation.

~~≈≡≈~~~≈≡≈~~~≈≡≈~~

David walked into Sabrina Hall with a bit of trepidation. He had no idea what they would ask of him on this exam, so he couldn't prepare for it, and that made him a little nervous. On the other hand, his grades implied that he knew what he was doing.

Upon entering the 'library', which was merely a large, round, multi-story room with books along the walls, he found two people sitting at a table, and Prof. Stott standing off to one side. He nodded to the professor, and then approached the table.

"David Stroud, I'm here for my exam."

The examiners were a man and a severe-looking woman. The woman did all of the talking.

"Do you have anything to say before your examination begins?"

"Um... well..."

"Spit it out," she snapped.

"Well, Prof. Stott is my wizarding master, so if she's part of the exam..."

"Your professor is here as an observer only. Her relationship to you is not important."

"Oh. Well, in that case, no I don't have anything to say."

"Very well. We will begin with a simple question. In your own words, why is wizarding licensure necessary?"

"Because way back when, some idiot caused a lot of trouble because he didn't know what the hell he was doing, and the king back then decided that it would be a good idea that, if people were going to run around using magic, they ought to know how it works."

The man asked, "And do you agree with this policy?"

David replied, "It makes sense. From what I've seen, magic can be pretty dangerous. Just as in Earth it's not a good idea to give someone a gun without teaching them how to use it properly, the same applies to magic."

The two examiners nodded, and scribbled some notes. After that, they had David run through some simple charms, which he did, without any real problem.

"You have done your charms well, Mr. Stroud," the woman said. "Now, we would like you to morph yourself, to give yourself yellow eyes."

"That's... not possible," David replied hesitantly.

"Certainly it's possible," the woman snapped. "Students have been doing it all day."

"Yes, but those students aren't me. I am a demighost. It is not possible for me to be morphed."

"A rather convenient excuse, Mr. Stroud," the examiner replied snidely.

David shrugged. "I can morph someone else, if you have a volunteer. I just can't do it to myself."

"Just for the record," the man said, "Can you prove you're a demighost?"

Prof. Stott started to say something, but David held up his hand to let her know he had this covered. He crossed his arms, and faded to insubstantiality. He then looked at his examiners and asked, "Proof enough?"

"Yes, quite. Thank you," the man said. He scribbled some notes while David faded back to his solid form.

Prof. Stott said, "If it will keep the examination moving, I will volunteer to be morphed."

"You would trust a student with your very shape?" the woman asked.

"I would trust this particular student with quite a bit more than that."

"Very well. Mr. Stroud, you will give your professor yellow eyes."

David performed this morph, and several others, as directed by the examiner. When he was done, Prof. Stott was not terribly attractive.

"Very well, now you must revert her to her original form."

"Zurukkentag," David said, pointing his wand at Prof. Stott. This was a modification of the normal reversion spell, which would revert all of his changes at once. She quickly morphed back into herself, which was a relief for David.

The examiners made their notes, and David stood waiting. Finally, the male examiner reached down to an open crate that sat next to him. He pulled a rabbit out of it and set it on the table.

The woman said, "Hex the rabbit."

"To do what?" David asked uncomfortably.

"To kill it," she said coldly.

"Uh," David hesitated. "I really don't want to kill the rabbit."

"Stop being childish. I will bring it back to life."

"Wait... so, you've been having every student do this?"

"Yes."

"To the same rabbit."

"Yes."

"So you've had them kill it, then brought it back, just so they could kill it again?"

"Yes," the woman said in exasperation.

David looked over at Prof. Stott. "And they call demighosts monsters." He looked back at the woman. "I refuse to perform this portion of the exam. The only method I know for killing the rabbit by a hex would take him a couple minutes to die. I'm not going to put an innocent little bunny rabbit through that to prove to you I know how. If you need proof I'm capable of hexing something, then find a volunteer... or I can hex you, since you're so keen on it..."

The woman looked abashed. "This will not look good on your exam results, Mr. Stroud."

"Killing the rabbit won't look good on my conscience. I have to live with my conscience a little bit longer than my exam result. I'm not going to hex someone who isn't asking for it."

"Not even Marcus?" Prof. Stott asked with a grin.

David looked at her and smiled mischievously. "He's been asking for it all year!"

"Marcus?" the male examiner asked.

"A personal enemy."

"And you would hex this boy?" the woman asked.

David was about to answer, then stopped himself. "You know, truthfully, I doubt it. I mean, I say I would, in anger, or when I'm frustrated, but if it came right down to it, I probably couldn't make myself hex him in a serious way, anything more than tripping him, or an unwanted morph. That would make me too much like him, and that's something I never want to be."

"To get back on track, Mr. Stroud, will you, or will you not, hex the rabbit?"

"No."

The examiners looked at each other, and wrote some notes on their papers. Finally, the woman looked up. "You may leave."

David looked over at Prof. Stott, who kept her face neutral. He turned and left the examination.

~~≈≡≈~~~≈≡≈~~~≈≡≈~~

"Did you do it?" David asked Olissa.

"And then cried about it," she confirmed. "It's a good thing it was the end of the test."

"Did you do it?" Gwen asked David. They had been warned not to talk about the test until everyone's exam was over. They were now on their way over to Firebird Stadium, for the Morphing Tournament.

"No," he said. The others stared at him.

Jim asked incredulously, "You weren't able to hex a rabbit?"

"I'm sure I can. I refused to do so."

"Why?" Jim asked.

"Because the rabbit didn't deserve to die. Even briefly. Besides, the only way I know of to kill it was to use that drowning hex on it. That would be an awful way to die, and I wasn't going to put the animal through that."

"Did you explain that to them?" Gwen asked.

"Yeah. They did not look happy."

"You are so screwed," Jim said.

David shrugged. "I don't care."

Olissa suddenly gave David a fierce hug. When she let him go, she said, "I wish I'd had the nerve to refuse."

David hugged her back, then said, "Come on, let's get to the tournament. Hey, where's Rick?"

"He's already gone. He didn't sign up for the tournament, so he left after his exam."

"Are you two still getting along okay?"

"Yeah, though I don't know how well we'll survive the summer."

David said, "Bah, I'm sure it'll be all right."

"Thanks."

-----

The group wandered around the stadium, watching the older students performing their morphs. None of the three were scheduled to compete for an hour, so they just killed time being impressed by the other competitors.

Finally, a voice called out "David Stroud, level one, to platform six."

"That's this way. Come on," Gwen said, and led them off through the crowd. The tournament was not just for Woodward students, but there were several other schools here, as well. That was why the tournament was scheduled to take three days.

They found the right platform, and David stepped up onto it, his friends wishing him luck.

"David Stroud?" the lead judge asked.

"Yes, sir," he replied.

"Today is Skills day. You will be asked to perform three morphs. Speed is not your goal. Your goal is accuracy. You must come as close as possible to the requested morph. Do you understand?"

"Yes, sir."

"Very good." The man brought out a bird. It was a jay, and it reminded David of Jailla, who was sitting in David's dorm room. David had learned that Jailla didn't really like crowds.

"We wish you to turn this blue jay scarlet. You must change only the blue parts. Do you understand?"

"You want me to leave all the black and white feathers alone, and just make the blue feathers into scarlet ones."

"Correct. You may begin when you are ready."

David closed his eyes and relaxed. This was more difficult than their usual color-changing spells. He formed the image in his mind while taking several deep breaths. With the image steadied as best he could, David opened his eyes, moved his wand in a circle above the bird, and said, "cultum vermello." The bird's plumage shifted colors, but the red wasn't scarlet, it was more of a salmon color, actually.

"Well, you managed to morph the right feathers, but that is hardly scarlet," the lead judge said. "There will be points off for that."

David nodded. "You want me to change him back now?"

"You can if you want," one of the other judges said.

"Zurukken," David said, and the bird's plumage reverted to its normal shade.

"You don't get extra points for that," the third judge told him with a smile. David grinned nervously.

"For your next challenge, you must morph yourself by giving yourself a longer neck."

"That's an issue, sir. I'm a demighost, and cannot be morphed."

"Oh? Well, if you cannot perform the challenge, that will certainly count against you..."

Gwen spoke up from where she was watching. "I would volunteer to be morphed, judge!"

"You are a friend of his?"

"Yes, sir."

"Are you competing in the tournament?"

"Yes."

"Then I'm afraid you cannot. It would be a conflict of interest."

Olissa said, "I'm not competing." She stepped up onto the platform. "He can morph me."

The judge nodded. "Very well. Okay, give her a longer neck."

"How much longer, sir?" David asked.

"An extra four inches."

"Yay, I get taller!" Olissa enthused quietly.

David closed his eyes and concentrated for a long moment, until the image was completely stable in his mind. Finally, he opened his eyes, stared at Olissa, and performed the charm. Olissa's neck stretched until it did appear to be about four inches longer. It made her look quite odd.

"Very good, although you took an awful long time to do that."

"Sorry, sir. I didn't want to get it wrong and end up hurting her somehow."

"Understandable. You can put her back the way she was, right?"

David cleared out his charm, and Olissa rubbed her neck as she stepped down off the platform.

Finally, the judge set a block of wood on the table. "Change this into a hammer. A metal hammer."

David was about to begin the morph when the judge added that last part. David paused. He had only ever changed something's substance once, and he'd gotten that horribly mixed up.

"Is there a problem?" one of the judges asked.

"Uh... No, sir. Just not confident in this one, is all."

The judge nodded, and waited for David to proceed.

David closed his eyes and dredged up the charm from his memory. It was the longest charm he knew. He formed the image in his mind of a regular claw hammer, and then opened his eyes, continuing his breathing. He flicked his wand as prescribed by the spell, and said, "kubada lisha hali namali."

The block of wood shifted to metal, and then slowly, ever so slowly, forged itself into a hammer shape. The handle, too, was metal, and not covered in rubber to make it easy to grip.

"Not bad," the judge allowed. "Not perfect, but this is a tough one for novices. Very good, Mr. Stroud. You have completed your three Skills tasks. Scores will be posted at the end of the day."

"Thank you, sir."

David stepped down off the platform to rejoin his friends.

"Damn, that was tough," he said.

"You did great!" Gwen enthused.

"How's your neck?" David asked Olissa as they moved off through the crowd.

"Fine, thanks."

~~≈≡≈~~~≈≡≈~~~≈≡≈~~

"Ugh," David said. "Fifty-two. That's miserable."

"Oh, come on, it's not that bad," Gwen said to him. "The guy before you only got fifty-three."

"With two coughs and a sneeze!" David replied morosely.

"You did fine!" she insisted.

That same disembodied voice from before called out, "Jim Gillenham, level one, platform eight."

The group made their way over to platform eight, and Jim stepped up to the platform.

"Jim Gillenham?" the judge asked. Jim nodded. "Today is Speed Morph day." One of the other judges was busy setting out rocks on a table. "Your task is to morph these rocks. You may morph them into anything you like, so long as the morph is correctly done. Your goal is to morph as many of them as possible in one minute. Do you understand?"

"Yes."

"Very well. Proceed when you are ready. The clock will start with your first casting."

Jim cleared his voice, took a deep breath, and then, with a flick of his wand, he started chanting, "turana, turana, turana, turana..." With each word and each flick of the wand, the rock hopped into the air, changing into a frog and hopping off. One of the judges was corralling them into a containment charm, so that they could be demorphed later.

By the time the judge called, "Stop!" Jim was out of breath.

"Two of your frogs were not successful morphs. They will not count," the judge said. He was pointing to two that had taken frog shape for a second, and hopped off the table, then repetrified.

After some counting, the judge announced, "One hundred twenty-two." There was applause from the crowd surrounding this platform as Jim stepped down.

"Holy shit!" David said. "A hundred and twenty-two!"

"It's the one thing I'm good at: casting spells quickly."

"I guess!" David replied. "Makes my fifty-two look even worse."

"Aw, c'mon, dude. You can still kick my ass in school work."

David grinned.

~~≈≡≈~~~≈≡≈~~~≈≡≈~~

"Are you ready for today?" Gwen asked.

"Ready as I'm going to get," David replied.

"What are you doing for your freestyle?"

"Turning water into wine," David said with a grin. Gwen looked at him confusedly. "Earth joke," he explained, shaking his head at her.

"So what are you really doing?"

"I'm going to turn grapes into strawberries."

"Interesting. I never thought of morphing food."

"What are you doing?"

"You'll see," she said with a smile.

-----

"Gwen Hasterscant, level one, to platform two, please."

"I'm here!" she called out. She stepped up on the platform.

"All right, Miss Hasterscant. Today is Freestyle Competition. You may do one morph, anything you like, so long as it's not dangerous or destructive. Are you ready?"

"Yes, ma'am," she said.

"And what is your morph?"

Gwen laid a piece of rope on the table. "I am going to turn this length of rope into a boa constrictor."

The judges looked at each other and nodded. "Very well, you may proceed."

Gwen took a deep breath, touched her wand to the end, middle, and other end of the rope, muttered her charm, and waited.

First, the rope thickened and lengthened. Then it slowly grew a head and tail, its dull brown color developing a pattern. Finally, it started to wriggle on the table, getting a feel for its new body. It turned its head to look at the judges, then back at Gwen, and curled up on itself, feeling insecure.

"Very good, Miss Hasterscant. You can change him back now."

"Zurukken," Gwen said. The snake looked at her accusingly as it morphed its way into oblivion.

-----

"The competition between novices was fierce this year, and the results were close!" Dean Lengel said from the platform. "The space between first and second place was a mere two points.

"In third place, with a total of 253 points, Jim Gillenham!"

The crowd applauded as Jim looked flabbergasted. David shoved him toward the stage and applauded for him.

Once Jim had received his trophy and stepped down off the stage, Dean Lengel proceeded with her presentation.

"In second place, with a total of 269 points, Mitzi Hopper!" There was a great deal of applause for Mitzi, though she was not someone that David or any of his friends knew.

"And finally, in first place, with a total of 271 points, Miss Cherise Cabalon!" As the applause thundered and the girl walked to the stage, David realized he'd seen her somewhere before, but he couldn't put a finger on it.

"What's the matter?" Olissa asked him.

"I know her from somewhere, but I can't remember where."

Olissa nodded, but didn't say anything further, as the dean moved on from the novice-level awards to the higher-level awards. David kept watching the girl as she walked back to her seat.

Where have I seen her before?

~~≈≡≈~~~≈≡≈~~~≈≡≈~~

With the tournament over, students flooded out of the school, to begin their summer vacation. David was not at all eager to do so, and he would, in fact, not be heading back to the management facility until Monday. Devyn was already gone, and Jim had packed up and headed out early in the morning. The school was quickly becoming lonely.

Olissa caught up with David and Gwen at lunch. Her aunt was in tow.

"Hey, guys," she said. "I'm heading out."

David rose, and Gwen came around the table.

"See you guys in the fall?" she asked.

"Count on it," Gwen assured her.

"I don't have much choice," David told her with a grin. "I'll be here."

Olissa put down her bag and gave Gwen a brief hug. The hug she gave David was more substantial. "Thanks for all your help this year," she told him.

"My pleasure. Have a good summer. You, too, Bispy. And stay out of trouble."

"I don't even know how that's possible," the young dragon sniffed. David laughed.

"I'll write you," Olissa assured David, and then she headed off with her aunt.

As Gwen sat down, she said, "By the way, my mother insists on meeting you this time. She's actually coming onto campus to get me."

"She didn't have to bother. I have an escort now."

Gwen smiled. "She didn't want you having any excuses."

-----

David was hanging out in Gwen's room when her mother showed up.

"So you must be David. Good lord, you're pale," she said.

"Mom!" Gwen said, abashed.

David laughed at her. To Mrs. Hasterscant, he replied, "Having no blood will do that."

She smiled. "Yes, I imagine so." She reached out and shook his hand. "I hear you had a devil of a year here."

"It could have gone more pleasantly," he allowed.

"I'm sorry the students haven't learned tolerance."

"I think he taught them some," Gwen told her. "After he blasted Marcus."

Mrs. Hasterscant nodded. "Good for you."

The three chatted for a while, talking about nothing very much, before Mrs. Hasterscant said, "Well, we really need to get going. It's a long ride back."

"Believe me, I know. I'm going the same place you are in a couple days."

"Really?" she asked.

"I 'live' at NCCMF."

"Oh, right," Mrs. Hasterscant said, frowning. "I'd forgotten you met Gwen on the carriage ride to school."

"Why don't you ride back with us?" Gwen asked.

"I can't. I have to be 'in custody.' Mr. Garibaldi is coming to get me in a couple days."

"Okay," Gwen said, frowning. She gave David a fierce hug. "I'll see you in a few months. Try to stay out of trouble," she told him.

David thought quickly, and replied, "I don't even know how that's possible." He laughed, but Gwen didn't get the joke, as she had not understood Bispy. David didn't bother to explain.

Mrs. Hasterscant shook his hand and said, "David, it was a pleasure to meet you. I hope you and I can chat again sometime."

"I'd like that."

David walked them to the rock lift, gave Gwen another hug, shook Mrs. Hasterscant's hand one last time, and then watched them leave before walking back to his own dorm room.

When he entered the room, he found a note lying on his bed. It was in Sam's handwriting. It said merely, "Slyther Inn, Sunday night, 7:00pm."

David wondered at the mysteriousness of her message, but then shrugged and figured he'd find out what she wanted tomorrow night.

~~≈≡≈~~~≈≡≈~~~≈≡≈~~

"You want to stay here, or come with me?" David asked Jailla.

"How long will you be gone?" he replied.

"I don't know. It's Sam. It could be several hours."

"You will come back for me, right?" Jailla asked.

David grinned. "All my stuff is here. I have to come back here."

"In that case, I will wait here. I've seen her naked already." Jailla shuddered.

"Hey! What was that for?"

"Naked humans. Ew."

David laughed. He finished pulling on his boots, laced them up, and then stood. This was the first time he had ever felt like he was going on a date with Sam, and so he had showered, and was now considering whether to wear his dress uniform or not. He decided against it only because he wasn't sure what she had in mind. For all he knew, she could be taking him hiking up a mountain or something, though it was rather late in the day for anything of that nature.

Fully dressed, he pulled out his mirror. "Misty Inverness," he said. A soft pop came from behind him.

"Whoops! Missed," Misty said. David turned with a smile, to see her floating in the air. "What's on your mind today, David?" she asked in her soft, high-pitched voice.

"I have to meet Sam down at the Slyther Inn. Since that's off campus, I need my escort. You won't have to stay once I find Sam."

"All right, let's go then!" she said with a smile.

David and Misty chatted lightly on the way to town, and the trip was a pleasant one. Once they stepped foot into the Slyther Inn, Misty disappeared without a word, as Prof. Stott was clearly visible, sitting at a table in the corner. David noticed that she was dressed nicely, but in simple clothing. He was glad for that; he was not underdressed for the evening.

David walked over to Sam, and then hesitated for a second. Finally deciding, To hell with it, he leaned down and gave her a soft kiss. She smiled widely at him when they broke lip lock, and no one else in the pub seemed to notice. He slid into the chair across from her.

"You look very nice tonight," he told her.

"Thank you. You look... the same. Do you wear anything other than that uniform?"

David grinned sheepishly. "No."

Sam raised her eyebrows, but smiled at him.

"So," David said, trying to get back on track, "What's on the agenda for tonight?"

"Nothing super special," she said. "I just wanted to spend some time with you before you left. We're not going to see each other for three months, and I'm going to miss you."

"I'll miss you, too, Sam," he said, then froze. He had forgotten they were in public.

Sam didn't even notice. "So, I just figured we could have some dinner and spend some quiet time with each other before you have to leave."

"Sounds good to me," he replied.

Bonnie, who had clearly been waiting for a pause in the conversation, came over to them at this point. "Good evening, you two. Here are your menus. I'll give you some time to look things over."

As Bonnie went away, Sam asked, "So, have you gotten everything set to head off tomorrow?"

"Yeah. Not as prepared as I'd like. I wanted to buy my books for next semester... so I'd have something to do all summer... but they didn't have them yet."

"Well, I did give you some work to do. And I've sent a letter to the manager of the facility, so they will hopefully make some arrangements for you to continue to practice."

"I appreciate that."

"And I'll send you a few books you can read about potion making. You can use the time to advance your apprenticeship."

"I really appreciate that!" he said with a smile.

Bonnie came back in a minute, and they both placed their orders. When she went away again, Sam asked, "So how did you do at the tournament?"

"Not even in the top 100. My roommate took third."

"Good for him. Sorry to hear you didn't rank better."

David shrugged. "Maybe it's a mental block. Morphing does such bad things when it happens to me, I don't want to do it? I don't know. I'm a slow spell-caster, and that hurt me in the speed round. My other scores weren't high enough to counteract that."

Sam nodded.

The two continued to chat and talk throughout dinner, and they sat there long after dinner, just conversing like friends, rather than as professor and student, or even master and apprentice.

Finally, Sam rose from the table. David did likewise, though he didn't know what, exactly, they were doing.

"Come on," she told him. He followed her with some surprise upstairs, into one of the inn's rooms. She closed the door, and then turned to him. She stepped close, and then embraced him, resting her head on his shoulder.

David stood, embracing her and enjoying the closeness. He was a little confused, but at the moment he didn't care; she felt very good in his arms.

Finally, Sam moved back slightly and they kissed. David kissed back immediately, pulling her a little more tightly against him. He knew that she could feel his hard-on.

Sam reached down to feel his hard-on a bit more directly, and he could feel her smile against his lips. She broke their kiss, and immediately slipped off her coat, and began undoing her blouse.

While David watched her, his hands began to remove his own clothes without much thought on his part. It wasn't long before the two of them were completely nude, which was somewhat rare for their encounters.

Sam ran her hand along David's cock, and then she motioned him over to the bed. She had him sit down on the edge of the bed, and then she leaned over him, presenting her tits for his perusal. He took them gently into his hands and massaged them, placing light kisses on them every once in a while.

Sam moaned softly, and then she knelt on the bed, straddling him. Her hand held his dick in place as she slowly settled down onto it, sighing as she felt him penetrate her depths. David shivered as he felt the pleasure of her pussy gripping his cock.

While David continued to fondle her breasts, Sam began to slowly ride David's prick. She didn't want to rush; they had all night. She began to moan softly as her hips moved up and down on him.

David felt his body tensing, preparing for his climax. He did his best to hold it off, but her pussy simply felt much too good on him. He closed his eyes and tried to breathe deeply, but it wasn't working. Finally, unable to prevent it, he moved his arms around to embrace Sam strongly, and held her down on his prick as he spewed his load deep inside of her.

Sam moaned in pleasure at the feel of it, but she was hoping he wasn't through. She still needed him.

Once his orgasm had faded, David let loose his death grip on Sam, and began to rub her sides. This felt wonderful to her, and she smiled down at him. She could feel his dick shrinking inside of her, however. She knew he would need a few minutes.

David, on the other hand, didn't want to wait. He had thought of trying something some time ago, but hadn't had the need until now. He leaned back from Sam slightly, and then crossed his arms.

"What are you doing?" she asked.

"Trying something. Bear with me," he said in non-explanation. He closed his eyes, and exhaled sharply. His body faded before Sam's eyes, from human, to ghost. David breathed out again, and his human body was restored.

"Why did you..." Sam started to say, but when she felt his cock stirring back to hardness, she had an idea of what he had done. "How?" she asked.

As he slid further onto the bed, pulling her with him, he said, "My body heals by remaining in it's 'natural' state. I wasn't sure it would work, but I thought maybe I could 'recover' more quickly by shifting to my natural, ghost, state, and back."

"It seems to have worked," Sam said with a smile. She could feel David's hard cock filling her up once again. She began to rock her hips, leaning forward over him, so that her tits hung down and swung enticingly. She could see his eyes looking at them repeatedly. "You like my tits, don't you?" she asked.

"They're beautiful," he said. "Just like the rest of you."

Sam smiled at him and swiveled her hips to give him a special treat for that compliment. He kept running his hands along her sides, which was arousing her more and more as they continued to couple.

After a minute or so, Sam felt her heat start to rise. She knew that her climax was coming, and she welcomed its arrival. She increased their pace somewhat, and David kept up with her, rocking his hips up into her in time with her movements. Sam groaned with each thrust, coming closer and closer to her peak.

When she arrived, she let out a long, low, moan, and froze. Her back arched, pushing her tits down toward David, and her eyes closed. She shivered all over as the pleasure washed over her.

After a few long moments, Sam finally started to recover from her orgasm. She looked down at David and smiled. He gently pulled her down against him, and then rolled, so that he was on top of her. While they were pressed together, they kissed, their tongues dancing wetly.

While their tongues danced, David began to move his hips again, sliding his dick in and out of her wet pussy. Sam moaned happily at the feel of it.

When David pushed himself up away from Sam, she smiled up at him, and then a look of concern crossed her face.

"What's the matter?" he asked, not stopping what he was doing, which she was thankful for.

"You're not falling in love with me, are you?" The tone of her question indicated her concern at the notion.

"No," he assured her. "I think the unusualness of our relationship stops me from doing that."

"Are you still okay with us just being friends?"

David made a certain move that he knew she loved. She squeaked in sudden pleasure.

"Does that answer your question?" he asked with a grin.

Sam smiled widely at him. "Good. I didn't want any misunderstandings happening between us."

David leaned down and kissed her as he continued to move in and out of her slowly. When he pulled away again, he assured her, "You made it very clear that first day what we could and couldn't have together. I'm good with that."

"Hmm. You're good with something else, too," she said, returning to the subject of their activity.

David changed the angle at which he was entering her, and Sam moaned loudly. He sped up somewhat, pushing her closer to her next climax. Sam slowly began to climb toward her peak. When it arrived, David did not stop fucking her, but kept sliding in and out of her slowly as she cried out in bliss.

When she was able to regain her breath, he actually sped up inside of her. Her eyes grew wide, and a grin spread across her face.

"If I can't have you for three months," David said in explanation, "I want to make sure I give you the best I've got."

"Oh, God..." Sam said as David began to fuck her in earnest.

~~≈≡≈~~~≈≡≈~~~≈≡≈~~

David awoke the next morning with Sam snuggled up behind him. He smiled. He'd never spent the night with a woman before, and found that it felt quite nice waking up next to one. They had coupled for hours, taking breaks as needed, but not giving in until they were both completely worn out.

Still, he had only gotten four hours of sleep, and he was completely rested. Sam, however, would be quite worn out if she got up now. He tried to get up and get dressed quietly.

"Running out on me?" Sam asked groggily as she sat up, the covers sliding off her curvy body.

"I figured you needed your sleep," he said, coming back to her and sitting on the bed. "I didn't want to wake you."

"Don't you need more sleep, too?"

David shook his head. "Four hours is all I ever get anymore." David leaned in and kissed Sam. She responded, but was very tired still, so there was no passion in it.

"I'm glad we spent the night together," David told her. "I really enjoyed it."

Sam smiled. "Me, too. But I'm going to be sore for a week!" She laughed ruefully.

"Sorry about that," David said.

"Oh, don't be. It was wonderful. I might even be satisfied until you get back."

David smirked. He doubted that pretty strongly. He could see that Sam was still half-asleep, and he decided it was best to make this parting brief. He kissed her again, and then gently pushed her back down onto the bed.

"I'll see you in three months, Sam. Have a good summer."

"Mmm," she murmured, drifting off to sleep without saying another word.

-----

David met Mr. Garibaldi back at his dorm room.

"Where were you?" Garibaldi asked.

"Saying good-bye to a friend," David said. He went over to Jailla and gave him a treat he'd picked up at the inn, to apologize for being gone all night. Jailla nibbled it happily, and chirped in acceptance.

"How come the change in routine?" Garibaldi asked. "Normally, I would have picked you up yesterday from here, and we'd have spent the night at the inn. Instead, I spent the night in a more interesting place..." Garibaldi admitted.

"My friend's idea," David replied. "She wanted to say good-bye properly."

"Ah," Garibaldi said. "Well, are you ready to go?"

"I'm never ready to return to prison. But yeah, I guess there's nothing else to do here."

"Let's head out, then."

David gathered up his bag and Jailla's perch. Jailla assumed his place on David's shoulder. At the door, David took one last, long, look at his dorm room. When he returned in the fall, he would be in the Pegasus Dorm. His time in Griffin Dorm was over. Finally, he turned to go down the hall.

I hope next year's a little less troublesome.

~~≈≡≈~~~≈≡≈~~~≈≡≈~~
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