Chapter 6: November

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"Ugh. Do you think I could have possibly gotten that potion more wrong?" Gwen asked David as they were walking out of class.

"Maybe. It didn't implode your cauldron, after all..." he chuckled while she scowled at him. "Don't worry about it. I'm sure you'll-"

"David?" Prof. Stott called out just as they were about to walk out the door.

The three of them - Jim was with them, as well - turned to the teacher.

"Yes, ma'am?"

"Could I talk to you for a moment?"

"Sure. Go on, guys. I'll catch up with you later."

"Don't do anything I wouldn't do," Jim whispered to him.

"What wouldn't you do?" David whispered back with a grin.

"I wouldn't say no!" Jim hissed, and then left with Gwen.

David walked back over to Prof. Stott's desk.

Prof. Stott stood up and moved to her work table. She had a cauldron there, which had been bubbling throughout the class period. "David, I know you do well in my class, but do you enjoy it?"

"Yes, ma'am. Potions is a lot like chemistry back home, and I loved chemistry."

Prof. Stott nodded. She sprinkled something into her cauldron, and then turned back to him. "As is my habit around this time each year, I am inviting a small group of students to take part in an advanced potions class. I would like you to join that class. It would be in addition to your current class load, and would require extra work, but you would learn a great deal more of potion making, faster."

David was a bit startled. "Why me?"

"I teach six Potions classes. I ask the best student from each one. You are far and away the best student in your class. It doesn't hurt that you've always shown an interest in my work, either." she said with a smile.

David grinned back. "When would the class happen? I would need to make sure it doesn't conflict with any of my other classes."

"I have already made sure of that. By necessity, it will be an evening class on Mondays and Fridays."

"Only twice a week?"

"It's not an 'official' class. You will receive no grade for it, and so it also doesn't follow the normal class schedule. Don't feel obligated to join if you don't want to. This is an invitation, not a requirement."

"No, I want to. I'm just a little stunned that you asked me, and I want to make sure I understand everything."

Prof. Stott smiled at him. "That's one of the things I've always liked about you, David. You make sure you know what you're doing."

David would have blushed if he could. "When do classes start?"

"This evening at 8:00 p.m. Can you make it?"

"I'll be here. Uh, the class is here, right?"

"Yes."

"Okay. I'll be here. And thank you, Professor, for inviting me."

"My pleasure, David. See you tonight."

David hustled out of the room to go find his friends and share the good news.

-----

As David entered the cafeteria, he was bemused to see three of the maintenance wizards trying to remove some tables from the ceiling of Byron Hall. As he turned to join his friends, his eyes also came across a large new portrait on the wall. Beneath it was a plaque that said, "Lord Peter Woodward - Patriot, Wizard, Scholar".

David chuckled as he made his way over to his friends. Well, he said he'd remind us of his presence.

David sat down at the table with Jim and Gwen. Before he could say anything to them, the pixie popped in to take his lunch order. He placed his order, and the pixie went away.

"So what did Prof. Stott want?" Gwen asked.

"And did you give it to her?" Jim said with a leer.

David rolled his eyes at Jim. "Just because all you think about is sex, doesn't mean the rest of the world is perpetually horny, you know." To Gwen, he said, "She invited me to take part in an advanced potions class."

"Wow," Gwen said. "My brother Jon was in the advanced class one semester."

"Was it interesting?" David wanted to know.

"He wouldn't talk about it," Gwen said. "He just told me not to worry about it. Probably because he knew I'd never be in the advanced class," she grumped, pouting about her lack of performance in Potions.

David put his hand on her arm to show support. "You can't be good at everything, Gwen. You're kicking butt in TEM, and you said your Technomandy grade was one of the best."

"I know. I just feel like I'm failing at Potions."

"You're not failing! You have a passing grade. Prof. Stott told you that. Do we need to take another day and go over stuff again?"

"If you have the time," she said.

"Okay, on Saturday, we'll take a study day."

"Thanks, David. I don't know what I'd do without you."

"Don't worry about it."

-----

When David entered the classroom that evening, two other students were already there. They nodded to him, but didn't offer any further greeting. They weren't having a discussion amongst themselves, either. Both of them, in fact, were reading a book.

Wizard nerds. Fascinating.

Shortly after he sat down, a fourth person came in. After the other two nodded, David said, "Hey."

The other guy came and sat next to him. "Hey. You have any idea what we're going to learn in this class?"

"Nope."

"Still, it's gotta be good, if she's not teaching it to the others."

David had to agree with that assessment.

"Hey, you're that demighost guy, aren't you?" the chatty boy asked.

"Yeah," David said, disappointed. He hardly wanted to be known as 'that demighost guy'.

"Man, all I can say is I'm glad I'm not you."

"Gee, thanks."

"I mean with all the shit you've been getting. I don't think I could put up with it."

David shrugged. "You get used to it, unfortunately."

"I guess, but I wouldn't want to."

Just then, Prof. Stott arrived, and the conversation ended.

"Oh, good. You're all here already."

"I thought you said there were six," David objected.

"The other two are in my second-year class. They meet at a separate time, as they are learning even more advanced things than I will be teaching you four."

The professor took off her coat and hung it on a hook on the wall. This gave all four of them a very nice view of her figure, which David tried to ignore. Prof. Stott walked to her chalkboard before starting to speak.

"In class, we have been learning specific potions for specific tasks. These are the safest potions, and the easiest to master. However, it can be quite a burden to try to carry around a hundred different potions to do what you need to do, or worse, carry around all the ingredients you would need to replicate any potion you might need. You'd have to carry around my stockroom, and that's heavy."

All four boys chuckled dutifully.

"What we are going to learn in this class are base potions. These are potions that, by themselves, do nothing. Yet when you add one more ingredient, they become full-fledged potions, and they will do different things depending on what that ingredient is. For instance," she said, pulling a vial out of a desk drawer, "this is Sevat's Base. It was, naturally enough, invented by a wizard named Sevat. If you add lavender to it, you will get a sleeping potion. If you add blazegrass instead, you end up with a potion that will increase a person's speed. On the other hand, if you add an onion and heat it up, it becomes lunch."

Once again, the four boys laughed for her.

"The reason we don't teach base potions to everyone is that they are very hard to make. You must get them exactly right. If you don't, the resulting potions you make from them can have disastrous effects. Sevat lavender, for instance, made incorrectly, isn't a sleeping potion. It can become a petrifying potion. Or worse. Sevat blazegrass can cause a person to spontaneously combust, if not properly concocted. Because of the precision involved, only the best potion-makers will ever master base potions. I'm hoping that, of the four of you, just one will be able to make a solid base potion by the end of the semester. Don't be discouraged if you don't achieve it. This is a very tough skill to master, and even if you never manage it, the knowledge you gain here will help you later.

"Now, let's get started."

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David awoke long before Jim did, and he tried to be quiet. He dressed by the light of his glowing orb clock, and then had to decide what to do with his time. It was five o'clock in the morning, and there was nothing to do outside of his room. He decided to attempt to get in some studying. He only hoped that he wouldn't wake Jim up with the light.

Instead of calling in a firefly - they were stationed in the hallway in case they were needed - David decided to simply use a candle. He tapped his wand to the tip of the candle and whispered, "Chosina hono.' A tiny flame sprouted from his wand, and the candle was lit. He pulled his wand away and said, "Peractus," which put out the flame on his wand. Now, with some light to work by, he opened up his Charms and Hexes book, to see if he could find something about wand control. His visit with Mr. Wormwood had not been terribly helpful, because while Mr. Wormwood was a master at making wands, he was not all that gifted at using them. His only suggestion was to remain calm while using the wand, and that was difficult to do when David was worried about the outcome of the spell.

After an hour or so of study, Jim rolled over, waking up from his sleep. He mumbled, "What the hell are you doing up so early?"

David said, "Go back to sleep. You're dreaming."

"Mmph," Jim said, and lay back down on the bed. After another twenty minutes, though, he sat up. "I can't go back to sleep. It's too close to time to get up. How long have you been awake?"

"About an hour and a half."

"And you went to sleep after I did. How do you function on that little sleep?"

"I've been needing less and less of it lately."

"Hmph. Must be nice. All that extra study time. Only, I'm worried you're going to start keeping me up."

"I try to be quiet," David said defensively.

"Yeah, but you don't try to be dark. I'm used to sleeping in a pitch-black room."

"Well, it's really hard to read without some form of light."

"Yeah, well, it's really hard to sleep with it."

David sighed.

Jim said, "Look, let's just get our day going. I need to shower." He walked over to the door and tried to open it. The doorknob turned, but the door wouldn't budge.

"What the hell?" he said. "I can't get the door open."

David came over and tugged on it. There was no moving the door.

"Fuck. Some asshole's locked us in our own room! I don't need this shit. I've gotta pee!"

"Calm down," David said.

"Easy for you to say. You don't need to pee!"

David shook his head at Jim, and then he crossed his arms and faded to invisibility. He pushed himself through the wall, rather than through the door, so that he could see what was on the other side.

When David was standing in the hallway, he found that three boys had rigged up a rope and pulley, with one end of the rope tied to their doorknob, and the three boys holding the other end.

David considered what he might do about this little problem. The rope they were using was tough; it would be hard to cut through, and it would take a while to burn through. That would be too obvious to the boys playing the prank.

Getting an idea, David moved over to stand in front of the boys. They couldn't, of course, see him, as he was invisible. He pulled out his wand and pointed it at their feet. He didn't want this to do any serious harm.

"Okina hono ventus!" he shouted. The boys didn't have time to react to that however, and as he finished, a large ball of flame erupted from the tip of his wand and it was carried by a magical wind in the direction David was pointing. The flames engulfed the feet of the three boys, setting the hem of their robes on fire. The three dropped the rope and screamed, running down the hallway.

David laughed as he ended his spell and put away his wand. He walked back to his dorm room and then faded back to solidity. He untied the rope and opened the door, so Jim could get out and go to the bathroom.

"What was the problem?" Jim asked when he got back.

"Some assholes were holding the door closed with a rope."

"What did you do?"

"Used a flamethrower on them."

"You used hono ventus?"

"Hey, if they're going to teach it to me, I'm going to use it."

Jim laughed.

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As David arrived outside Savage Hall, he was intercepted by someone he didn't know. David had come for the Magical Creatures Familiarization Seminar on Equine Races, and he hoped that whoever this person was, they would not prevent him from seeing the seminar.

"David Stroud, yes?" the man asked him. David nodded. "Ah, good. I am Prof. Josiah Schmidt. I am the Animperium teacher here. Your roommate is Mr. Gillenham, is it not?"

"Yes, sir. What can I do for you?"

"I was hoping you could assist me, actually."

"How?"

"Well, you see, during these seminars, I like to allow interaction with the creatures. At least, as far as is safe. Some creatures, of course, it's simply not safe for people to get near. The interaction helps people to better understand the creatures."

"Okay, that makes good sense... but I don't see how I can help."

"Well, you see, one of the creatures we are demonstrating today is a kelpie. Are you at all familiar with kelpies?"

"No, sir. I've not heard of them before."

"Well, it's a kind of horse that lives under water. Normally, I have to forego any interaction with the kelpie... but your presence gives me an opportunity to safely demonstrate their dangerous nature. Tell me, do you... breathe?"

"Only out of habit." This was a question David had long ago answered for himself. He did, in fact, still breathe regularly, because his mind still thought it needed to. However, he was capable of intentionally holding his breath indefinitely.

"So being underwater for a long time..."

"Would not hurt me."

"Excellent. I would like you to ride the kelpie for me. No one else here could safely do it. You, however, can. All you will need to do is hold your breath, and you will be perfectly safe. Will you assist me?"

"Okay, sure."

"Thank you. Come this way."

Prof. Schmidt led him over toward the river. David had wondered why the demonstration was so close to the water, since the seminar was for equine species. Along the way, they saw a centaur, and...

"Is that a horse ghost?" David asked.

"Pardon?" Prof. Schmidt asked.

David pointed. "Over there. It looks like... well, it looks kind of like a pegasus, only colored funny, and its eyes are glowing blue. And it's... well, a ghost."

"Ah, so she came!" Prof. Schmidt said excitedly. To David, he said, "It is a havaghora. They are ridden by the banshees."

"Okay, I know the word banshee... not in any way that I'd be excited to see one, though..."

"You're from Earth, aren't you?"

David nodded ruefully, fully aware how common this question was becoming in his life.

"A banshee is a spirit... not a ghost, let me make that clear. They never had a human body. They are the messengers between worlds, and also they act as a guide for the newly deceased into Haven."

"Wait... why didn't I see one, then?"

"Because Haven is not your new home. You may freely travel wherever you wish."

"That is not the reason we weren't there," a female voice suddenly said from behind them. They both whipped around, to see a woman standing before them in tunic and hooded cloak. David found her strangely attractive, even though her eyes glowed the same bright blue as the havaghora's, and her hair was shaded from black to blue at its tips.

"It isn't?" Prof. Schmidt asked. "I had just assumed..."

"You know what assuming does, Professor." To David, the woman held out her hand to shake. David shook it, and found her touch very cold, but not clammy. "My name is Gabriel." She waited for the obvious connection to be made. When she saw it in his eyes, she nodded. "I have been... borrowed."

David nodded with a smile. "So, you're a, a banshee?"

"Yes. I know what you think a banshee is. We're not. We are merely messengers. We move from Earth, to Haven, to Dugerra, and back. We deliver important messages. And, when someone dies, we are there to escort them into Haven, so that they are not afraid of their passage."

"So... why wasn't a banshee there when I died?"

"Because someone else was. Your crossing over, different as it was, was handled by the person who caused it. A banshee wasn't needed. There are only so many of us; we don't go where we're not needed."

David thought for a second. "Professor, you can't see the havaghora, can you?"

"No, he can't," Gabriel answered for him. "To answer the question you are pondering, you can see her because you are also a spirit, of sorts. When the time comes, I will make her visible, so that everyone can see her. Until then, she is happier as a specter."

David nodded.

"Well, this is all very enlightening," Prof. Schmidt said, "but we do have a seminar to get on with. Gabriel, I'm very glad you could make it. If you'll just wait over with..."

"Persyon," she said. "If you're talking about my havaghora."

"Yes, I was. If you'll wait with her, I'll try to put you near the beginning of the seminar, so we don't take up too much of your time."

"I'd appreciate that."

"Come on, David."

"Nice to meet you, Gabriel," he said. She held out her hand again to shake his, and he took it.

"We'll be seeing each other again, I'm quite sure," she told him with a smile that was much warmer than her touch.

David followed Prof. Schmidt over toward the water. While they walked, he asked, "Gabriel seems to be in an awful hurry. How come?"

"Banshees are very busy these days. Too many people living in Earth. Actually, more to the point, too many people dying in Earth. They're stretched pretty thin."

"Oh."

"That's why I didn't expect her to come. I had asked, but she's so busy these days..."

"Right. Why does she have a boy's name?"

"Gabriel isn't a boy's name in the banshee race."

"Oh."

"Now, there is the kelpie," Prof. Schmidt said, pointing to a horse in a pen. The horse dripped with water, and had some seaweed woven through its mane. For a brief moment, David swore the horse changed into a beautiful woman.

"Ignore the illusion," the professor said. "It's a lure. He's trying to get you to ride him. Now, when the time comes, I'll let you into the pen, and all you have to do is walk up and hop on. He'll do the rest."

"He's not going to try to eat me, is he?"

"No. Now, come along, we should start the seminar."

David followed the professor over to where the crowd was gathered. David moved off to the side, clear of the crowd, but not standing near Prof. Schmidt. He didn't want to accidentally take any credit for the seminar.

"Ladies and gentleman," Prof. Schmidt started, "welcome to our first familiarization seminar of the year. This year, we've chosen to start with the equine species. Later on, well get to the felines, canines, and so forth.

"There are various equine species that fall under the category of 'magical'. Not all of them are animals. Our first equine species is as smart and sentient as we are. I speak, of course, of the centaur."

The centaur stepped forward, and waved to the audience. Prof. Schmidt said, "Welcome, Dubnin. Would you care to introduce yourself?"

As David smacked himself for not recognizing the athlete earlier, Dubnin said, "Good morning, Woodward Academy! My name is Dubnin, and I am a fairly typical centaur, of the Carmelina Breed. We are not the only breed, though we are the most common in this area of the world.

"Centaurs are magical creatures that came into being some thousands of years ago. When, exactly, is unknown. What is known, or at least is believed, is that a dragon was somehow involved. That is why, in the crest of every centaur breed, a dragon resides at its center.

"Are there any questions?" Dubnin asked.

"How, exactly, are you magical? Are centaurs wizards?"

"Some of us are, yes. But not very many. We don't seem to have a good knack for it. No, centaurs are magical because of what we are: a combination of human and equine features. Our bodies function even though they should not. This happens because of magic."

"Are there any other questions?" Prof. Schmidt asked. There were none. "In that case, let us thank Dubnin for taking the time to talk with us today."

As the crowd applauded, Dubnin bowed and moved off to the side. He walked straight toward David, so it was clear he had something to say.

"Hello again," David said, as the centaur grew near.

"Hello," Dubnin said with a smile. "I have a message for you, from Giendia. When she found out I was coming here today, she asked me to invite you to watch her compete in an archery tournament."

"I'd love to, if I can make it. When is it?"

"Next month. The first Saturday."

"I will do my best to be there. Is it at the same place?"

"Yes. I will tell her you will try to attend."

"Thank you."

As Dubnin walked away, and David pondered why the centaur girl wanted him to see her compete, Prof. Schmidt continued with his seminar.

"Now, our next equine species is one that you will probably only see one other time in your life. Gabriel? Could you come forth?"

At that, Gabriel and Persyon both faded into solidity and walked together over to the professor.

"This is Gabriel. She is a banshee. I will let her tell you about her friend."

"Good morning, students," Gabriel said softly. "As Prof. Schmidt has told you, I am a banshee. I am a messenger between worlds, and a caretaker of the dying. In order that we banshees can get from place to place, we were granted our own special mount.

"This is Persyon. She is a havaghora. She is a spirit, as am I. The banshee and the havaghora form a team; we do not ride just any available mount. I dare say if I rode anyone other than Persyon in anything less than a dire emergency, she would never let me ride her again!"

The students chuckled dutifully.

"Havaghora are not dangerous to humans, and in fact, almost never interact with them. Their reason for existing is to wing the banshees from place to place. If you happen to see one... then I'm afraid you are probably dying. If, like now, you see one because we have made ourselves visible, then it is because we have a message for you or someone near you. Do not fear the banshee, or the havaghora. We are here to help."

Prof. Schmidt asked, "Does anyone have any questions for Gabriel?" There were none, so the professor said, "Thank you, Gabriel, for taking the time out of your very busy schedule."

Gabriel nodded to the professor as the students applauded. She then made a point to turn toward David, and inclined her head to him, as well. David responded in kind, and then Gabriel and Persyon both faded to invisibility, to everyone but David, who could still see them just fine, though he could tell the difference between solid and insubstantial forms.

"Now, if we could all move over to the corral, we will continue our seminar by talking about animals that you might actually encounter in your day to day lives here in Dugerra.

"Our first one here is actually more for the native Dugerrans than for anyone from Earth. These creatures are somewhat rarer here than in Earth. This is a standard Arabian horse. It is, in fact, a non-magical creature. I include it here because it is the base off which all of these other equine species must have been brought forth, in some manner. This particular horse is a mare, and she is quite friendly. If you would like, you can come up and pet her. Just stay away from her back end, and don't be too harsh with your petting."

For several minutes, the professor allowed those who wanted to, to come touch the horse. He said her name was Sunshine, which seemed appropriate, as she seemed very outgoing and friendly.

Once everyone who wanted to had had a turn, the professor continued. "Now, the next animal, you have to be familiar with, as it is the creature that brought you here to the school. This is, of course, a pegasus. Because the plural of pegasus is such an ugly word to say, we shortened their name, informally, to peg. Also, the male and female pegs have different names, as is common with all species. A female peg is still a peg. A male peg is known as a winnie. The native range of the pegs occurs in an area of Vrudena, just northwest of the Five Lakes area. They were... voluntarily domesticated about two thousand years ago."

"Voluntarily domesticated?" someone asked.

"Much like the wolf, in Earth, became the dog, the wild pegasus chose to befriend man for mutual benefit. It was a time of hardship for the pegs, and they turned to man as a food source, providing him with transport as a means to continue being fed. It was several decades before the pegs' native range was once again truly fertile, but by then, the pegs and the humans had established a friendly relationship."

"By which you mean we enslaved them and they can't get away," a girl proclaimed disgustedly from the audience.

"Young lady, the animal has wings. If it wanted to leave this pen, it could have done so at any time whatsoever. There is no containment charm holding it in place, no homing spell placed upon it. We do not abuse the animals here. Whenever we ask the pegs to carry a load, we always add at least one extra peg to haul the load than we think we need. We treat these animals as friends, and we hope they think of us the same way. Abusing an animal in Dugerra is a serious offense, and I dare say, as you are clearly from Earth, if you were to accuse someone in public of what you just accused us of, you could be seriously injured.

"Now, moving along," the professor said, visibly struggling to regain his composure. David wondered how much of that rant was truth, and how much was idealization of the place he lived. David had to admit, though, that if the pegasus was being mistreated, it had every opportunity to leave.

"This next creature is one you need to be careful around. Should you offend it, the consequences can be rather nasty. The unicorn, you see, has the ability to cast certain spells. It uses its horn as a wand. The spells are limited in number, but can be quite strong, and very hard to provide counter-curses for.

"This fellow's name is Shapniegh. He is full-grown, but a bit small for his species. Your average adult male unicorn will be about a quarter larger than a typical horse. Your average adult female, about the same size as a horse, just slightly larger. Please note that unicorns are neither tame, nor domesticated. Shapniegh is here by agreement. Unicorns are intelligent, in their own way, and they can understand our intent quite clearly. They have been known to help man from time to time, for reasons of their own understanding. They have also been known to harm those who offend or try to hurt them.

"If you feel brave enough, you may come up and pet him. Be gentle, however, as he can get a bit cranky."

"You'd be cranky, too, if you were kept in a jail," the same girl objected.

"Young lady, this is no jail. You seem to be laboring under some preconceived notion that we captured Shapniegh. We asked him to come, and he agreed. There was no rope or net or any other capturing device used. He walked with us back to the school. The pen is not to keep him in. It is to keep you out. He could easily leap this fence without a thought. The stables in which he is kept are not closed off. This is far more like a hotel to him than a jail. As soon as today's seminar is over, we will take Shapniegh back to his home. The only reason we will even accompany him on that journey is so that we can assure ourselves that he arrives safely.

"What is your name?" he asked the girl.

"Michelle Byrne," the girl said.

"It is a good idea, Miss Byrne, to get one's facts straight before one starts hurling accusations at people. As you clearly have no clear understanding of the facts of the history of Dugerra and its animals, I would suggest you take a History class."

The girl huffed and walked off, and the professor waited for everyone to have a chance to pet the unicorn, who, by the end of it was getting somewhat annoyed. He trotted off to lie in the shade when everyone moved on.

The professor led the group over to the water. David figured it was his turn, but they did not go to the pen where the kelpie was located. The professor took out his wand, pointed it at the water, and cast a spell. It sent a burst of light into the water, where it flashed and sparkled briefly.

"I had to call our next equine to the surface, so you could see him. He lives entirely in the water, and will only occasionally drag himself out onto the shore to get some sun."

The creature in question did just that. It put its front hooves onto a rock on the bank of the river, and it heaved itself up out of the water, demonstrating its fish-like tail end. It then slowly settled onto the rock, looking up at the students and enjoying the sun.

"This is a hippocampus. Half horse, half fish. They are caretakers of rivers and streams. They maintain the plant life, with the aid of some fairies, of course, and they also keep an eye on the balance of fish life.

"As a human, you have nothing to fear from a hippocampus, unless you are trying to harm his river. If you do that, you may find that you have made a rather nasty enemy. They do not like to have lots of people around them, however, so we won't be petting him today. If, however, you encounter one in the wild that is willing to come close enough, feel free to pet it and say hello.

"Now, for our last magical creature." Prof. Schmidt guided the class over to the kelpie's pen. "This is a water elemental. It is known as a kelpie. It takes the guise of a horse. Kelpies are dangerous. They aren't actually trying to be harmful, however, and if you simply leave one alone, it will not attack you or chase you. It will, however, try to entice you by projecting the image of a beautiful man or woman.

"Kelpies, you see, love to be ridden. This would be all well and good, if only they did not wish to be ridden underwater. It is this caveat that causes them to be a danger to people, as once you climb on the kelpie, you cannot climb off it again until it has submerged you in the water and run its course.

"While I cannot let any of you near the animal, I wanted to show you that they are not evil creatures. A bit mischievous, but then, what elemental isn't? David, if you would."

David climbed over the fence and into the pen with the kelpie. The kelpie turned eagerly to face him, shaking his mane and prancing slightly.

"Mr. Stroud, being what he is, is in no danger from the kelpie. That is why I have asked him to demonstrate what happens when someone gets onto a kelpie's back."

David approached the animal slowly, and it waited as calmly as it could for him to arrive. Once there, it nudged him, and David put his hands up on the animal, and then jumped as hard as he could to get up onto the creature's back. Once he was situated, he found that his hands would no longer pull away from the animal's skin, and his legs were likewise glued in place. If he had not been warned ahead of time, he would be somewhat panicked.

When the kelpie took off at a dead run and leapt the fence, David decided that a little panic wasn't a bad idea after all. As the animal hit the water, however, David did remember to stop breathing.

The creature bolted down the river bottom until he and David were completely submerged. It then turned and ran along the river, running flat out. This wasn't as fast as a real horse on land, but it was plenty fast enough to make David wince as the plants rushed by.

Up and down the river the kelpie ran. David could clearly feel the creature's happiness. It was almost giddy with delight. After several minutes, however, it seemed the animal had tired itself out. It slowed to a stop, and David found that he could easily slip off the animal now.

David floated off the kelpie's back, and then patted it on the neck before swimming to the surface of the river. He was rather surprised to find that he was in the same exact place that they had entered the water. He walked up out of the river to some applause. David did not take a bow.

As David approached the professor, Prof. Schmidt pulled out his wand and with a little flourish, intoned, "castite thate". Immediately, all of David's clothes, and his hair, were completely bone dry. David smiled his thanks at the teacher.

"Thank you, David, for your help with the demonstration. As you can see, Mr. Stroud returned completely unhurt. Of course, this is only possible because he does not need to breathe. He was under for longer than anyone could hold their breath, and this is the danger of the kelpie. Do not approach them. Certainly, do not ride them. Unless, that is, you wish a watery grave.

"Well, unless there are further questions?" There were none. "Then that concludes this Magical Creatures Familiarization seminar. I hope you have all learned something, and have a good day."

As the group disbanded, Prof. Schmidt turned to David. "There were no problems, were there?"

"Nope. He just ran up and down the river until he got tired."

"Kelpies do not get tired, David," the professor said with a grin. "He'd simply had enough fun for the time being. Thank you again for your help. It was a much better demonstration than me just talking about it."

"Sure thing, Professor. Glad to help out."

"Good day to you," Prof. Schmidt said, and walked off.

David turned to go, and found both Olissa and Jim waiting for him. He had not known Olissa was at the seminar.

"What was that like?" Olissa asked.

"Incredible, really. If you're not worrying about dying, it's actually quite fun."

"Lucky bastard," Jim said with a grin.

"C'mon, let's go get lunch," David said.

~~≈≡≈~~~≈≡≈~~~≈≡≈~~

As David emerged from the dorm onto the rock-loading platform, he got his first glimpse of snow for the year. It wasn't much; perhaps an inch had fallen overnight. The wind whipped his coat open, which reminded him that, while his coat could keep out the cold, it didn't work very well if you let in the wind. He closed up his coat and was grateful for the warmth.

David made his way over to Beckett Hall. He needed to speak with someone, although he wasn't at all sure who. He decided a trip to Housing was probably his best bet.

"Good morning, can I help you?" the young woman asked. Her name was Sylvia, and David had seen her before, when he had come with Olissa to talk about her room assignment.

"Hi, Sylvia. I'm not sure if you're the right one to talk to or not, but I need to speak with someone about some... uh... special accommodations within my dorm room."

"Oh. Well, I'm probably the one you need to speak with. What seems to be the problem?"

"Well, you see, I seem to be needing less and less sleep lately. Right now, I'm down to a little under five hours a day. I can't seem to sleep for longer than that. The problem is, I keep waking up my roommate when I try to study while he's asleep."

"Oh, I see. That could be a bit of an issue. Do you want to move to a new room? Maybe someone else would be less bothered by your actions."

Just then, the dean walked in. David was unnerved. She had an uncanny habit of showing up when he had an issue.

"Well, honestly, I think you'd be hard-pressed to find me another roommate. Jim and I get along okay. I just don't want to be keeping him up at night."

"Hmm. What would you suggest?" Sylvia asked.

"Well, what he wants is to sleep in pitch-black darkness. Isn't there a way we can manage that?"

"I'm not sure..." Sylvia said, thinking.

"Where do you each sleep within the room?" Dean Lengel asked.

David turned to her. "Jim sleeps by the window. I sleep by the door. Steve slept in the middle, until he left."

Dean Lengel nodded. "Perhaps a heavy drape, then. Something that could be drawn across the room at night, so that what you were doing would not disturb him."

David nodded. "That would probably work. I'm sure the little crack of light at the top wouldn't bother him."

"But Dean Lengel, there is no rod for a drape in the room. We would have to install one," Sylvia objected.

"So we'll install one. This is an accommodation issue, Sylvia. We are required to do what is necessary. Besides, it's an easy fix, and though I am loathe to admit it, David's right: finding him another roommate would be difficult, at best." Turning to David, she said, "We'll get it installed sometime today."

"Thank you, ma'am. I've woken him up several times over the last week, and the discussions are getting unpleasant."

"I can imagine."

"Thank you both. Have a good day."

The two women wished him well, and he went about his way, feeling better about that situation. Certainly the drape should be enough to allow Jim to sleep.

-----

"Hey, David," Amanda said to him as she caught up to him while he was walking across the terrace. He had just come from his Metamorphosis class, and he didn't have anything to do for a while, so he was in no hurry.

"Hey, Amanda, what's up?"

"How did you do on your Umbra midterm?" She was referring to their mid-term exam in Umbrasocius class.

"Okay, I guess. I got an 84."

"That's better than mine. I'm kind of worried about the final next month. Any chance you could help me study for it?"

David smiled. "An awful lot of people ask me to help them study. Seems strange, given my grades."

Amanda grinned at him.

"But yeah, I'll be glad to help. You want to meet in one of our dorm rooms, or the library?"

"Well, we can't do it in my dorm room. One of my roommates hates you. Sorry." David waved this off. "So... how about the library?"

David nodded. "Okay. I can't do it tonight, I have a class. How about tomorrow afternoon... oh, shit, can't tomorrow afternoon... how about tomorrow evening?"

"Okay. What have you got going tomorrow afternoon?"

"I have to help someone study." David rolled his eyes theatrically, but grinned.

Amanda chuckled.

Suddenly, both of them went face-first into the snow.

"Shit!" Amanda cursed.

David just sighed heavily as he rose to his feet, then helped Amanda up. "You okay?"

"Yeah," she said, dusting herself off. "Just pissed off. What the hell happened?"

"Bara again."

Amanda frowned. "Dean Lengel really needs to do something..."

"Like what? Forbid people from casting spells? That wouldn't work very well..."

"No, but she could forbid bara..."

"Anything like that just impinges on the ability of the school to function. I'm just stuck living with it until they get bored."

"I suppose. But I don't like it. Good afternoon, Professor Rutherford," Amanda said suddenly, as a teacher approached with a child in tow.

"Good afternoon," the professor said. It was a middle-aged female professor that David was not familiar with. "Excuse me, Mr. Stroud. I hate to disturb you, especially after what just occurred, but... my daughter insisted."

The child in question was clinging to her mother's coat, half-hiding behind it. She looked to be no older than six or seven. There were quite a few children running around the school grounds, the family members of the school staff. David had never really paid them any attention, however.

"It's not a problem, Professor. What can I do for you?" he asked the little girl.

"Are you really a... a ghost?" the girl asked.

David smiled tolerantly at the child. Curiosity, he could handle. "Sort of," he replied. "I'm a demighost. It's a special kind of ghost."

"Can you really," the girl said, then whispered, "go invisible?"

David grinned. He crossed his arms, bowed his head, and exhaled sharply. Suddenly, he faded right out of existence. Then he reached out and fluffed the girl's hair.

The girl squeaked in surprise, and a bit of fright mixed with glee.

David faded back to solidity. "What'd you think?" he asked the girl.

"Neat!" she said. David smiled at her.

"What do we say to the man?" Prof. Rutherford prompted her child.

"Thank you, Mr. Stroud."

"You're welcome," he said. "And thank you for having the courage to ask." David looked at the professor, who smiled at him and nodded.

"Come on, Lyssa. It's time for your homework."

As Amanda and David returned to walking, Amanda said, "You handled that really well. I kind of thought you'd be annoyed."

David shook his head. "Luckily, the kids who live here have never gotten on the anti-demighost bandwagon. I'm perfectly okay with people being curious. It's the hostility I don't appreciate."

"I think I can understand that. Do you have more class today?"

"Yeah. History at four."

"Boring," Amanda opined.

David smiled. "Not to me, but to each his own."

"Well, I'll talk to you later. I've got to go do some more studying."

"Okay. See you tomorrow," David said.

"Yeah. Thanks for that."

"No problem."

~~≈≡≈~~~≈≡≈~~~≈≡≈~~

"All right, now that the roll has been taken... Today we are going to start with a new section. Up until now, we've been going over basic Civics information, to help you as a magical citizen of either Earth or Dugerra, but mainly Earth.

"Today, we are going to begin a brief tour of early Callamandian history. This will take up the majority of the remainder of the semester.

"Records are sketchy about the settlement of the original nation known as Callamandia. No one seems to have been keeping track. What is known is that the original northern border of Callamandia was much farther south than it is today. It would have been around the area of Cormatsen, or what in Earth would be roughly the southern border of Tennessee. I use this reference as I know many of you are from Earth, and are still more familiar with those places. I will slowly stop doing this as you attend more of my classes.

"The area currently known as Northern Callamandia was originally part of Vrudena, what many call The Were Nation. Callamandia was growing in population, however, and soon the king at the time felt that he needed more room, so his people could spread out and be less crowded."

At this point, someone interrupted. "Just how crowded was it, Professor? I mean, there really aren't a lot of people here..."

"It depends on whose standards you are using," Prof. Gardner replied. "By Earth standards, it wasn't crowded here. However, the Dugerrans had grown used to being spread out, and so they didn't like losing their elbow room. Senesty is a result of the original size of Callamandia. It is one of the only remaining cities from that time.

"To continue, the king sent envoys to the three neighboring nations: Vrudena, Gtharsis, and Mirelia. He asked to purchase land from each of these nations along their border with Callamandia. Gtharsis and Mirelia agreed in principle, and over the next year or so, agreements were reached.

"Vrudena, however, rejected the proposal outright, and in fact, returned a warning instead. They made clear that any incursion into Vrudenan territory would be met with a fierce attack.

"While this seems a reasonable warning to us now, the king then took supreme offense to being admonished in this manner. He assembled his army and marched on the Vrudenan border.

"We will go into much more detail about the first Were War in our next class. For now, I will tell you that it lasted ten years, and ended up with Callamandia being even larger than it currently is.

"After the war, there was much anger in Vrudena, and cross-border attacks were common. The weres would come and kill half a village, and then the king's army would cross and kill an entire were settlement. This would go on and on.

"Ultimately, in 843, Vrudena had had enough. They assembled their forces and attacked en masse into Northern Callamandia. This was the Second Were War, the one that Flo told us about on our trip to the museum.

"The Second Were War lasted for almost forty years, and most would say it was a Callamandian victory. Truthfully, it was something of a stalemate, and the treaty which ended the war in fact gave back some territory to Vrudena. Although several following treaties have had land passing back and forth between the nations, Callamandia looked largely as it does today after the end of that war.

"There have been skirmishes between Vrudena and Callamandia since, but both nations have taken great pains to avoid all-out war since then. The peace has held for over a millennium now."

"Professor... why did the Vrudenans threaten the king? I mean, that's what started it all..."

"To them, it wasn't really a threat. It was a statement of sovereignty. Weres, especially werewolves, which are the predominant race in Vrudena, are an aggressive people. They are direct with their communication, and they don't hide their strengths or their intentions. When they sent their message back to the king, they weren't saying, 'We're coming for you.' They were saying, 'Leave us be, or there will be a price to pay.'

"In all honesty, King Olack overreacted to the situation, and started the war for no good reason. He was offended, and that's all any king has ever needed to send wizards off to war. Luckily for us, our current king seems to be a little more level-headed."

"So, we live in stolen territory?" a girl asked.

"All land is stolen from somebody or something," the professor said. "Really, people don't own land, the land owns itself. We squabble over who gets to benefit from the land. In a strictly legal sense, the land isn't stolen, because the Vrudenans signed it over to us in the treaty."

"But they were coerced into signing the treaty," Another student objected. "It was either sign the treaty, or continue to get killed."

"Yes, that is the nature of warfare," the professor agreed. "But they did have the choice. They chose to stop the war rather than continue losing their citizens. I'm sure that, had the war been going the other way, the king would eventually have done exactly the same thing, and Callamandia would be very much smaller than it is."

"How was Callamandia able to take enough land from the weres to double its size, nearly?"

"Ah, now that's a good question, and one that we will go into tomorrow. For the rest of today, we are going to discuss your test results from last week."

The class groaned. The test had not been an easy one, and no one had done well on it.

~~≈≡≈~~~≈≡≈~~~≈≡≈~~

"You need to put this into the mixture literally one drop at a time. You will then stir it for at least half a minute. If it grows cloudy, you will know that you have enough. If it does not, then you will add another drop, and repeat. Making base potions is an exercise in patience and perseverance."

"How cloudy will it get?" Bill asked. Bill was the student who had spoken with David. David was still unsure of the names of the other two members of his advanced potions class. They didn't seem to speak to anyone very much, even Prof. Stott.

"Like tea with milk in it. It will be completely opaque. At this step, at least, there is no ambiguity. Do be careful to control your drop size, however. It is very easy to put in too much, and there is no way to tell at this step if you have too much, only too little."

David carefully followed the professor's instructions. He ended up putting in eight drops of hornthistle extract before the mixture turned a cloudy green color. He continued to stir it until the professor came over to see his work.

"Good, David. It looks like you have enough. You'll need to keep it boiling now for at least twenty minutes. But not a heavy boil; just enough to keep it bubbling. And keep stirring."

"Yes, ma'am," David replied, stirring his potion diligently.

One of the other students, David thought his name was Gary, but was unsure, said, "Prof. Stott, I've now added twenty drops of this stuff, and it's still not cloudy."

"Twenty drops sounds like way too many. Let me see the size of your drops." She watched him put in another drop, and then said, "Yes, twenty times that would be far too much. Let me see your potion." Gary stepped aside, and she stirred the potion, muttering something quietly over it. It bubbled, and then the bubble burst with a loud pop.

"You made an error in step three last week. You'll have to start over. This is dangerously useless. Dump it into the sink."

"Isn't that dangerous, Professor?" David asked. "Putting it into a plain old sink?"

Prof. Stott smiled. "It would be, yes, but this is not a plain old sink. This one goes to a place where anything dumped down it will be magically neutralized before being further 'flushed'."

"Oh. Um, what are we supposed to do with mistakes when we're finally making potions on our own? If dumping them down the drain isn't safe, then..."

"I will cover that in class long before you are supposed to be making anything on your own." she said with a smile.

"Okay."

After a while, Prof. Stott came back to David's table. "Okay, I think you can proceed now. You need to add the sprig of dragonweed. Make sure your sprig only has four little branches on it, no more."

"Do even the shortest little ones count?"

"Pull those off. It makes the decision easier." she said.

David did as instructed, and held it up for her inspection. "Does this look right?"

"Yes. Now, keep stirring with one hand as you crush it and let the pieces drop into the cauldron with your other hand. It is a bit tricky if you're not used to doing it."

David crushed the weed in his left hand, pieces floating down into his potion. He kept stirring until the plant was all floating on top of his potion.

"Now what? It's just sitting there."

"Keep stirring until it melts. When it does, call me."

"Okay."

For another twenty minutes, David stirred his cauldron. Gary had actually already left, as he didn't want to start his potion over tonight. Bill was still working on his, though he was a few steps behind David, since Bill'd had to start over once already. Finally, seemingly all at once, the dragonweed pieces dissolved into the potion that David was making.

"Professor?" David called out quietly. There was no need to shout, with only four of them in the room.

Professor Stott came over and looked in the cauldron. "Give it a good solid stir for me," she ordered. David did. Prof. Stott watched it swirl, and she said, "Well, you're done."

"What do you mean, done?"

"I mean that's the last step of Sevat's Base. Of course, now we need to find out if you've done it correctly." She took a vial down from a shelf, and came back. Using her wand and a magic charm, Prof. Stott ushered the still-hot liquid into the vial. Holding it gingerly, she walked back to her work table, with David following her.

The professor pulled a long glass dropper out of a flask of liquid, and put one small drop into the vial with David's potion. The potion immediately turned a bright red, and then slowly went black.

"What does that mean?" David asked with dread.

"It means you didn't get it quite right," she confirmed for him. "I would guess you made a mistake on step five. Your measurement needs to be absolutely precise for that step, and watching you work, it's the only place I can think you would have goofed. Not that you're not careful with your measures," she said quickly, not wanting to give the wrong impression. "If you weren't, you'd have messed up long before step five. It's just that step five is so critically important to get exact. This is the one most important skill you'll need to master for potion making: measuring with precision." She saw the dejected look on David's face. "What's wrong?"

David sighed. "I just wasted two weeks on something that didn't work."

"Nonsense. Granted, the potion doesn't work, but the time wasn't wasted. You got in some good practice, and you've learned quite a few things in those weeks. I warned you that you weren't likely to get it right on the first few tries."

"I know," he said. "Thanks, Professor." He looked at the clock on her desk. "I don't really have time to start over tonight, do I?"

"No. Clean out your cauldron, and then call it a night. You can start fresh on Monday."

"Thanks, Prof. Stott."

"Don't worry about it. And don't beat yourself up over it. I have a feeling you'll get it right eventually."

David smiled in thanks for the encouragement, then trudged his way over to clean his cauldron.

~~≈≡≈~~~≈≡≈~~~≈≡≈~~
~~≈≡≈~~~≈≡≈~~~≈≡≈~~