The Woodward Academy, Year 3

Chapter 3: August

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"I'm gonna feel really self-conscious, walking around like this," Olissa told him. She was wearing a one-piece bathing suit. It had a dragon print on it, which looked nice against her chocolate skin.

"If I can forego my uniform for the day," David told her gently, "You can wear that."

"You don't look horrid in your bathing suit!" she scolded him. "Although, good lord, you are pale."

David walked over to her. "You don't look horrid in yours, either," he told her. "I know it won't make you feel any better, but to me, you look incredibly hot in that. If we didn't have a festival to go see... well, you wouldn't be wearing it for very long, let's say."

Olissa blushed. "It does make me feel better. Thank you, David." She kissed him strongly for a moment, then they broke apart.

"Jailla, you coming?"

"I'll sit this one out, thank you," Jailla said.

"It's your boredom," David told him. Turning to Olissa, he asked, "You bringing Bispy?"

"I have to. He'd destroy the room in protest if I didn't." Looking to Bispy, she said, "But you'd better be on your best behavior... no, in fact, you'd better be on someone else's best behavior, because your best behavior still sucks!"

Bispy did something that sounded suspiciously like a sniffle. "I just like having fun," he said.

"Yeah, well... your version of fun usually gets other people annoyed."

"Come on," David said, trying not to chuckle at the chastised look on Bispy's face.

The two left their hotel room, which they'd gotten the night before, and entered the streets of Nagyara Falls. It was a sunny day, and very warm already, even though it was early morning. Being right near the falls, the humidity was extremely high.

"You want breakfast, first?" David asked her.

"Yes!" Bispy answered for her. She looked down at her familiar with a scowl, then said to David, "I think we should. It's a pretty long time until lunch."

David nodded, and they slipped into a diner. Bispy climbed onto the seat and sat quietly.

"What'll it be, folks?" the waitress asked.

Olissa said, "Fruit salad for me. Can I get a plate of bacon and sausage for my familiar?" Bispy's head perked at that.

"Sure thing. How about you?" she asked David.

"I'll have your Festival Special," he said, pointing to the sign.

"You got it."

As they waited for the waitress, David asked, "So, is there any pattern or rituals to go with this festival, or is it just the walk-around-and-see-things kind?"

"I'm pretty sure you just wander around. I've never been to the water festival, either, David."

"Yeah, but you usually know these things," he told her.

She grinned. "Not this time."

"I guess we'll just have to find out together, then," he said.

It didn't take too long before their food arrived. Bispy was eating off his plate before the waitress finished setting it down. They thanked her, and she went away.

"That looks tasty," Olissa told him.

The Festival Special involved all the fruits he remembered from Sarah's basket, plus a special breakfast soup, made from fruit and cream with some herbs and spices mixed in for added flavor. It was, in fact, quite tasty.

The two chatted as they ate, deciding on their plan for the day. When they were finished, David paid up, including a generous tip, and the three headed out.

"Why didn't Jailla want to come with us?" Olissa asked.

"Water. He's not a big fan of water."

"Oh," she said, grinning. "Doesn't go flying in the rain, then?"

David laughed. "Not unless he gets caught out in it. He hates that."

As the two neared the river, and the falls, the festival activities started to pick up. They saw a few vendors at first, and then more. Finally, they reached the area near the falls, which was clearly designed for tourism, as there were no buildings, except for the few dedicated to helping people observe the waterfalls.

"Now that's what a waterfall should look like!" David said. "Much more impressive than its Earth cousin... though I think that's what Niagara probably looked like before they started messing with it."

"Could be," Olissa told him. "So, what should we do first?"

"Let's just wander around for a while."

The three walked through what David considered a park. The area was covered in grass, with walkways covered in stone. They were on the upper part of the river, so the falls were below them. The river was wide, and swift-moving. Families sat on the grass, enjoying treats they had bought from the vendors, or playing with squirt guns. Over in one roped-off area, there was a water-balloon fight going on. They stayed away from that.

They walked beside the river, towards the falls. As they approached, soft chiming filled the air from rain chimes, set in the ground to catch the sprinkling mist from the falls. It was very pretty.

As they reached the edge of the falls, the roar drowned out the chiming. The sheer power of the water going over the edge was impressive. They were standing near the smaller of the two falls. The other one formed a crescent shape. Next to that one, there seemed to be some kind of glistening tube.

"What in the world is that?" David asked, pointing.

"Water ride. Want to try it?"

"Hell, yes! How do we get there?"

Olissa pointed to the bridge, further downstream, that crossed the river. They made their way in that direction, enjoying the rainbow that appeared over the falls. It was the brightest rainbow that David had ever seen.

"It's magically enhanced," Olissa told him. "It's a real rainbow, but they enchanted it to make it more visible."

"Cool."

The walk across the bridge gave them a spectacular view, and David wished he had a camera.

"You don't know any imaging spells?" Olissa asked him.

"No. Cherise handled that sort of thing for the handbook."

"Well, I'm sure they sell some, somewhere," she said. David nodded, and they continued their trip across the river. Even Bispy was somewhat awed by the power of the water.

Once they were across the river, they walked back up the other side, until they were above the falls again. There was a bit of a line for the water ride.

"You going to go with us?" David asked Bispy.

Bispy, for once, looked a little concerned. "Is it safe?"

"It's perfectly safe, you wuss," Olissa told him.

"Am not!" he replied. "I'll go."

Olissa made David go first, and so he stepped up and showed the man his Festival Pass, which he had purchased for all three of them the night before. It allowed them free access to all Festival activities, instead of paying for individual things. David stepped into the water tube a bit hesitantly. It took him a second to realize that this was not a tube containing water, but a tube made of water. There was no structure holding it up. He blinked a couple times, then shrugged. He sat down in the water, which wasn't too cold, and pushed himself away from the landing.

The ride started slowly, scooting along the front edge of the top of the falls. The water pushed him along, moving at a leisurely pace. He loved the view as he traveled beside the entire crescent.

When he reached the other side of the waterfalls, however, the tube moved out into open air. He could see all around himself, though it was distorted slightly from the water tube. Suddenly, he started going faster, as the tube angled downward. He splashed through the water as he moved, taking a couple full circles, then, unexpectedly, the tube plunged right into the waterfall. He was shocked at first, but the tube protected him from the wrath of the water just outside. He marveled at it for the seconds it lasted, then he was back out in the bright sunlight.

After that, the tube angled sharply downward, staying near the front edge of the falls. He gasped at the steepness of the plunge, and only at the very last second did the tube turn, carrying him along the very surface of the river. It went for a ways, and then deposited him gently in a small pool of water. He climbed out, and then watched as Bispy emerged from the tunnel next. The creature let out a kind of hissing whoop, and David wasn't sure if he was excited, or pissed off.

When Olissa appeared, however, and David helped her out of the pool, Bispy said, "Can we go again?"

The other two laughed. Olissa told him, "Maybe later. We've got lots of other things to see."

"That was a rush," David told her. "Especially the part inside the falls."

"That scared me a bit, I have to say," she told him.

"Yeah, me too," he admitted. "But after that, it was cool. Where to now?"

"You want to take the boat ride?" She pointed to the dock, where, a large sign announced, you could board the Fairy of the Falls.

"Sure. Let's just stop in here and get an imaging wand first."

David stepped up to a vendor's booth and purchased a wand which was enchanted to capture images. They could later have those images either transferred to parchment, or they could have an animated reproduction done, which would be three-dimensional.

He also bought Bispy another snack. It seemed the dragon never got full.

They boarded the boat, and were handed a poncho.

"Just... how close are we going?" he asked, a bit nervously.

"Close enough that you need these," the attendant told him with a grin.

Bispy forewent the proffered "pet poncho", and hopped onto the rail to look out at the water. David and Olissa donned theirs, and then joined Bispy at the rail.

In a little while, the boat left the dock. They headed away from the falls at first, to explore the river.

Suddenly, the boat was surrounded by spraying fountains of water. The water danced and bubbled, spurting here and there in short bursts, mixed in with long sprays that arched over the boat to land on the other side.

"Water sprites," Olissa said. "I love seeing them play like this."

David agreed. The displays were beautiful, and impressive. The show ended as the boat passed through a continuous tunnel of water spray.

The fun wasn't over, however. As they turned around and came back up the other side of the river, the boat slowed, and everyone moved to one side, as they were treated to a display of aquatic prowess by a group of mermaids. Everyone cheered as the ladies tumbled and spun in the water. Several of them leapt up out of the water, doing full acrobatic flips before plunging back down into the depths. Several of them leapt together, playing a game of leap-frog as they swam their way up the river.

David was highly impressed with the whole thing. The display lasted for at least twenty minutes, and he was so riveted by it that he almost forgot to take images of it. He did get several impressive shots, however.

When the display ended, a few of the mermaids swam up alongside the boat. One of them swam up where David and Olissa were standing.

"You a student?" she called out. The shirt David was wearing was bright blue - like his uniform coat - and had the Woodward Academy logo emblazoned across its entire front.

"Yeah," he called back.

"What's your name?" she asked.

"David. What's yours?"

"Shell. Oops, gotta go. See you around, David!" She plunged back down into the water, and disappeared.

"That was weird," David said to Olissa. She nodded in agreement. They didn't have too much time to consider it, though, as the boat was nearing the smaller falls. The spray was already pretty heavy, and he had a feeling they were going to get quite a bit closer.

The boat approached to the closest point it could without being inundated by the falls. The roar was deafening, and the power of the water could be felt shaking the very air. They sailed along the front edge of that falls, diverted around a rocky outcropping, and then moved back in to ply the front edge of the crescent-shaped falls. They were in so close, it almost seemed as if the falls was beginning to wrap around them, and the thundering made conversation completely impossible.

Finally, the boat returned to the dock, and they disembarked, depositing their thoroughly soaked ponchos in the receptacle.

"Wow, was that loud," David said. Bispy was shaking his head back and forth, trying to clear the sound out.

"Yeah. What say we go sit for a little while, and recover? I actually feel a little dizzy."

"Okay. Let's go sit in the grass for a while." The park extended to this side of the river, and so they walked toward the grass. Along the way were several vendors, and David stopped off at one.

"What are these?" he asked the vendor. It reminded him of a lollipop, but instead of being a circle or ball of candy at the end, the whole thing was cylindrical, with a thin stick at the end to hold onto.

"Pixie sticks. Very tasty, and relaxing."

"That sounds good. I'll take two."

The man handed him two, and he gave one to Olissa. As soon as he put it in his mouth, a wave of calm descended over his body.

"Ooh, that feels nice. What's that?" he asked.

Olissa replied, "They have a magical relaxation effect. They're great for chilling out after a stressful day."

"Hmm," David replied. They continued on and found an unoccupied tree, sat down together, and just relaxed for a bit.

-----

The three sat for quite a while, just watching things. They saw two more mermaid shows, though from a distance, and they could make out the water sprite fountains, as well. There were also kids running around squirting each other, and parents chasing little ones. Bispy occasionally became a target for an adventurous - or foolish - child, and he would chase them down, but even he was merely playing, and once he tagged or, in one case, tackled, them, he would run back to Olissa and settle back down.

Finally, they'd had enough of a rest.

"What now?" David asked her.

"Well, it'll be lunch time soon. Let's go back to the other side of the river, and find a place to eat."

"I guess I can get my shot on the bridge now," he said, holding up the wand.

"Actually, I wanted us to take the tunnel."

"There's a tunnel?"

"Yeah. It goes underwater. C'mon, I'll show you."

As they walked, David said, "You know, it's a good thing Gwen's sister told me about Festival Cities being a free-travel area. I thought I was going to have to ask your aunt to chaperone us."

"Wouldn't that have been a nightmare," Olissa said, frowning. "But I knew that, so I would have told you about it before you'd have called Aunt Shandra."

They walked down a long ramp, which led underground, and then it turned sharply. They passed through a dark area, and then, suddenly, the walls of the tunnel became transparent, and they were looking out into the river, from beneath.

"Holy shit," David said. "It's like the tunnel at an aquarium." They walked slowly, watching the fish swim by. David made sure to get several images.

Suddenly, a large, dark shadow obstructed the sunlight.

"What the fuck is that?" David asked. The shadow was definitely not the boat. It had a long neck, a massive body, and flukes, with a long tail.

"Oh, hey! It looks like Nessie came this year!"

"Nessie? You don't mean the Loch Ness Monster?"

"That's the one. Not really a monster. We call them water horses, not that they have anything to do with horses, either, but..." she shrugged. "She doesn't come to the Festival often, I hear. It's kind of a long swim from her home in Scotland, you see."

"Why not go to the Scottish... or European, or whatever it's called here... version of the festival?"

"They don't celebrate it in Chasco... that's what Europe is known as. That includes Pithala, what you call Scotland."

"So... wait, you said her home was in Scotland."

"Yes. She lives in Earth."

"So... how the hell does she get to Dugerra?"

"Underwater travel gate," Olissa said.

David shook his head in befuddlement. "Will we get to see Nessie up close?"

"They'll probably have a showing for her, yes."

"That, I have to see."

With that, they continued on their way through the tunnel.

-----

They saw Nessie after lunch, but she wasn't quite as impressive above water as she had been from beneath. They walked along the river further, and suddenly, they came upon a contest.

"What's going on here?" David asked out loud.

One of the spectators turned and said, "It's the frog races!"

David and Olissa nudged their way to the front. Bispy was riding on Olissa's shoulder at the moment, so he could get a better view, and keep from getting trampled. The "race track" was a large tank, about twenty feet wide and fifty feet long. At one end, there was a twenty-foot long space of dry ground. At the other end was a similar five-foot space. In the middle was water. The sides of the tank were quite high.

David and Olissa watched as competitors stepped up to the tank, their frogs in hand. Each one set their frog on the ground, but held it in place. When a chime was sounded, they let their frogs go. Several of them got out their wands and zapped their frogs.

"That seems a bit mean," David said.

"It doesn't hurt them," Olissa assured him. "And they're not allowed to charm or enchant the frogs at all. The zap is just to get them moving."

The frogs, sure enough, were hopping around now. Two finally made it into the water, and started swimming. Their owners moved along the side of the tank, encouraging them to keep going. Finally, one made it to the other platform, at which point, another chime sounded, and the race was over.

"May I assume the only point of this is bragging rights?" David asked.

"Of course. There's a very small prize for having the winning frog, but it's usually like a free meal somewhere."

"Well, that's not bad. Good kids' sport, I guess."

"Do those look like kids?" Olissa asked, pointing to the next competitors, who all looked to be in their fifties. "There are age divisions," she explained as David shook his head in bemusement.

"C'mon," he said. "I've seen enough here."

Olissa chuckled, and they pushed their way back out of the crowd. They wandered, looking at several other small contests, until they came to the primary area, a large pool with clear sides, so that you could easily watch what was happening inside.

"Flo!" David said, recognizing someone standing up on the edge of the pool. She turned, and smiled, waving.

"Hey, you guys! Welcome to the Festival!"

"Are you competing?" David asked.

"You bet! In fact, I'm up next."

"Well, good luck."

"Thanks! Gotta run!"

Flo did some warm-ups, and then, when the chime sounded, she dove into the water. They watched as she swam through the underwater obstacle course, picking up various drop buoys. They were different colors.

"What are the colors for?" David asked.

"Different colors are different points," Olissa said. "The harder it is to get at one of them, the more points it's worth."

"How the hell does she hold her breath that long?" he asked. Flo had already been under for a full minute.

"Practice. Plus, look at her. She's in pretty good shape."

Flo came up out of the water, handing off her buoys to the judge, and then hopping down. She grabbed a towel, and came over to the others.

"I didn't know you guys were coming to the Festival," Flo said. "How do you like it?"

"Very interesting," David said. Just then, they announced Flo's score.

"I might win!" she said, bouncing.

"What do you get for winning the dive contest?" David asked.

"Oh, I'm not worried about the dive contest. I'm trying out for Festival Queen! The dive contest is just one part! I also had to do a magic display - mine was earlier - and then a non-magical talent contest, and several swimming contests."

"No swimsuit modeling?" David asked.

Flo looked at him funny. "What would that be for?"

David laughed, and shook his head. "Never mind. Good luck on winning."

"Thanks! I gotta get over to the next event. You can come watch, if you want! See ya!"

"That girl," David said, "Has way too much energy."

"At least she's pleasant," Olissa said with a grin.

"Yeah. C'mon, let's see what else is going on."

-----

The three of them wandered around all afternoon, looking at various games and contests. They caught one more of Flo's swimming events, and they would make sure to see the final ceremony, in case she won.

Around sunset, they came upon a strange object. It was round, about ten feet tall, with a six foot diameter. It appeared to be made of various pieces of glass, of different lengths.

"What in the world is this?" David asked.

"Pretty, whatever it is," Olissa said. Finally, they spotted a sign. "It's a Crystal Melodium. It's a water-powered musical instrument. You step inside, and move your hand to direct the water onto various pieces of crystal, and as the water moves over them, the crystal sings."

"Well, go on, try it," David told her. Hesitantly, she stepped inside. She lifted her hands, and then began to move them. Her first few motions produced random noise, but she quickly got the hang of the instrument, grasping how it was to be played.

David closed his eyes and listened as Olissa composed a beautiful song on the spot. The Melodium sounded like a crystal glass being rimmed by a wet finger, only a much fuller sound, and less harsh. Each note seemed to carry its own proper harmony with it. As Olissa played, several people stopped to listen. For long minutes, she stood inside, kind of lost to the world. Finally, she ended her song and stepped out to applause.

Olissa blushed, and came back over to David.

"That was beautiful. What was it?" he asked.

"I dunno. I was just making it up."

"Well, you're a natural, then. Maybe you should join the school orchestra."

Olissa grinned in embarrassment, and then they walked on.

-----

The ceremony for the crowning of the Festival Queen happened just after sundown, so David and Olissa headed that way. They found seats in the amphitheater, and waited patiently, chatting about their day.

Finally, the ceremony got underway. Most of it was an imaging of the highlights of the competition for those who had not watched every event. Finally, they got down to the five finalists.

"And this year's Festival Queen is... Flo Tractus!" the announcer said. Everyone applauded, and David and Olissa rose in ovation. Flo stepped forward to accept her crystal tiara and her award trophy, also made of crystal. She waved at everyone, made eye contact with David and Olissa, smiled at the crowd, and stepped back. Fountains on either side of the stage erupted, dancing and getting all of the contestants - and most of the front three rows - wet. The performance was very pretty.

"So, is the festival over now?" David asked.

"Pretty much. Once the sun goes down, water's not nearly as impressive."

"Really," David said sarcastically. "Perhaps I should take you to the other falls."

"Why?"

"At night, they turn on the lights."

Olissa was intrigued. "After dinner, though, okay?" she said.

"Sure thing. We'll have to drop Bispy in the room, anyway, since we're going back to Earth."

"Right. David... it's been a great day. Thank you for bringing me here."

"Thank you for letting me," he said with a grin.

~~≈≡≈~~~≈≡≈~~~≈≡≈~~

David whistled as he walked down the long hallway from the rock lift into faculty housing. The tunnel ran the entire length of the terrace, and it was a bit disconcerting to him, as it was lit by torchlight. He did note that the torches didn't seem to be burning themselves up, though.

Finally, he reached the end of the tunnel and climbed the stairs. When he got to the top, he turned to his right, and nearly ran into one of the professors.

"Oh, excuse me!" David said in embarrassment.

"Watch where you're going," the professor snapped.

"Yes, sir. Sorry, Professor... I'm sorry, I don't know your name, sir..."

"I am Prof. Quayde."

"Prof... Oh, hey! I have your class this semester!"

"I'm well aware of that, Stroud," Prof. Quayde remarked coldly. "You would do well to reconsider your choice now. What are you doing in faculty housing?"

"I'm here to visit Prof. Stott," David replied, a bit nonplussed about Prof. Quayde's attitude.

"Good," a voice said from down the hall. "I was getting lonely." Sam walked up, glared at Prof. Quayde, and then gave David a deep kiss, right there in the hallway. Prof. Quayde hissed through his teeth, and walked off in disgust.

When Prof. Stott let go of him, David said, "Mm. Hi to you, too." Sam blushed. "What's the matter with him?" David asked as they walked back down the hall toward her apartment.

"He doesn't like you."

"What'd I do?" David asked plaintively.

"You forgot to finish dying," Sam said deadpan.

"Oh. That," David said. "Say, were you going out somewhere? I don't want to interrupt you..."

"I was going to my office to work. What we're going to do is much more fun," she told him with a womanly smile.

She was right; it was.

~~≈≡≈~~~≈≡≈~~~≈≡≈~~

"So, here's your new dorm room, D42," Sam said. The door opened at David's touch, and they went in. The door led to a hallway. Off to the left was the bathroom.

"No door?" he asked curiously.

"Pocket door," she corrected him, showing him the door, currently hidden in its slot in the wall. David looked in to see a shower, a sink, and a toilet. It was a decent size. He continued down the hall into the main room, a space ten feet wide and about fifty long. There were two double beds in the room, and David noticed a track in the ceiling, which supported a heavy black drape, between the two beds.

"So I'm bunking with Jim again, I take it," he said to Sam with a grin.

She nodded. "We try to keep roommates together for as long as we can, unless there are problems between them. And even if we weren't, the problem Jim has is one that a lot of people are likely to have, so it would still be easier to put that there now. Which side are you gonna take?"

"I always go nearest the door. It allows me to leave without disturbing him."

Sam nodded, and then she conjured all of his stuff, which had been kept at her place during the summer, onto his side of the room. Most of it ended up on the bed.

As David set Jailla on his perch and started to sort out his stuff, he motioned to the chair. "Take a load off."

Sam sat down to watch David. The first thing he did was to put his potions kit up on the shelf beside his desk. He then pulled out some books.

"Are those what I think they are?" she asked.

David handed one to her. She held it carefully. "This thing is outrageously expensive," she said. "How many do you have?"

"Five," he told her.

"You have the whole set? Damn."

"Should keep me busy for a couple centuries or so," he said. She grinned.

"At least."

David put them up on a shelf, and started to arrange things on his desk. He wondered where to put the dragon statue he'd gotten at the Litha Festival. He decided to set it in a spot where Jim was likely to walk within its reach.

After David had finally put away his clothes and other various items, he turned to Sam.

"Thanks for letting me stay at your place. I hope I'm not becoming a bother."

"David," Sam said chidingly, "you are not becoming a bother. I love having you around. You're the only guy I've had stay over who has ever made me breakfast," she said.

David smiled, then, thinking of something, he asked, "Sam, why did you want me to take Potions this year? You told me I didn't need it anymore."

"I know. And you're not taking it as a student. You're going to be my teaching assistant."

"Oh?"

"Really, it's just a way to put your apprentice time 'on the clock', as it were. We won't be having an outside-of-class apprenticeship this year, because of what you'll be doing. Well, I should rephrase. I'm not going to schedule a time for you. You are free to use my work room whenever you damned well please."

"Oh. And... um... what is it I'm going to be doing this year?"

"Crafting your own potions."

"What do you mean? I've been making potions for two years now..."

"No, your own potions. To complete your apprenticeship, you must create ten new potions. They must be unique; you can't just copy something others have done. If I can find a reference that mentions the potions you create, then they don't count. This is often the longest part of a person's apprenticeship, and this is why we spent an entire year familiarizing you with the herbs and other ingredients used in potion making. It gives you a basis from which to think up what you might want a potion to do."

"Wow. That sounds hard."

"It can be. It might take you a few years. Or it might take you two months. I don't know. You're such a natural at potions, it's hard for me to guess. Most people take a year or two, at least."

"So... you're not going to be teaching me anything?"

"Not really anything left to teach," she told him. "I'll be here to guide you, to help you brainstorm, be someone you can bounce ideas off of. You'll have to do a lot of research, to make sure you're not duplicating someone else's potion. I should be clear; you can create a potion that does the same job as another potion. It just can't have the same ingredients. There are, after all, a limited number of things that one needs to do."

"Do the potions need to be... useful?"

"What do you mean?"

"Well, if the potion does something frivolous, like makes you belch every five minutes for three days, or something like that..."

Sam chuckled. "So long as it does what it is intended to do," she said. "It doesn't matter at all what it is intended to do. You planning to go into pranking potions?"

David smiled. "No, not really. I just wanted to know the rules. I'm not even sure where to begin with such a job."

"My suggestion? Write down a list of things you wish you had a potion for. Then go looking to see if you can find one in existence already. If you can't, or if you don't like the nature of the potions that already exist, then make potions up to do those things."

"Okay."

"Now... any other questions?"

David grinned. "Want to try out the bed?"

Sam grinned back at him. "Yes, yes I do. You know me a little too well, David," she said, undoing her blouse as she moved over to him.

It was a long and joyful afternoon.

~~≈≡≈~~~≈≡≈~~~≈≡≈~~

The week before the other students returned was both boring and productive. David got his supplies, set up his room, and began his studies ahead of time. He also helped Prof. Qwellyn, as was now his tradition, to move the plants from place to place. He'd had a talk with her about whether they would be continuing their own apprenticing, and they'd settled on an informal arrangement on the weekends.

When Jim showed up Sunday, David was reading through his T.E.M. textbook. This was the class he was most concerned with. He'd not done all that well the year before, and this was the last chance for him. If he didn't improve significantly this semester, he wasn't going to continue on.

Once Jim had unpacked, they went up to Byron Hall. On the way, Jim talked about his summer, which had been extremely dull. His parents had once again made him work over the break, and he'd been stuck in the same, dull diner. Dolly, the girl he'd almost had a date with, wanted nothing to do with him, of course; she figured he'd stood her up. Jim was glad to be back at school.

They entered the dining hall to find it over half full already. They looked around, and quickly spotted Olissa, who waved at him. He waved back, and then they headed over that way. David gave her a hug before sitting down.

"How was your stay with Aunt Shandra?" he asked.

"Dull."

"Sorry about that."

"By the way, what did you do after you dropped me off? Did you come back here?"

"No, not right away. I took a little vacation and went to see the Grand Canyon, and the San Diego Zoo." That he had seen it actually twice now, he left out.

"Aww. You could've taken me with you," she said.

"Then your father would really have thought we were dating," David replied. Olissa giggled.

The three chatted amicably until Simon showed up with someone in tow.

"Hey, guys," Simon said as he sat. "This is Heath, my new roommate." Greetings and introductions were shared, and Heath, who was from Buffalo, told them a little about himself.

As Heath was describing his first magical encounter, David felt arms encircle him from behind and try to crush his ribs. A soft kiss on the cheek followed, and then he was released.

David looked up to see Gwen smiling down at him.

"Hey," he said with a smile. "That was an awfully warm greeting. What did I do to earn that?"

"You told me to talk to my parents. You were right. They didn't have a problem with me being gay at all. I still don't know how you knew," she told him, eyeing him suspiciously.

"And I promised not to tell you," he said, closing that door firmly. She nodded in understanding.

"So where's Devyn?" he asked.

"Still in our room," she said. "She'll be here in a minute."

"Our room?" Jim asked.

"Yeah. We're roommates now."

"That's convenient," Simon said with a grin. Gwen blushed.

"Any change in her attitude toward me?" David asked.

"Not really. I think she's accepted that you're still my friend, but otherwise, she doesn't like you much."

David sighed. "Such is life." Turning, he asked, "Hey, Olissa, where's your roommate?"

"I don't know. She wasn't here yet when I left the room."

"You guys rooming together?" Simon asked, indicating David and Jim. David nodded. "I figured they'd keep you two in the same room, since you've been that way for two years already."

Devyn arrived shortly thereafter. Everyone greeted her warmly, including David. She acknowledged all of the greetings at once, rather than individually. She did not smile at David when she sat down on the other side of Gwen.

In a couple minutes, Dean Lengel got up and made her speech. As third-year students, they'd heard the speech twice already, and they only half-listened, just in case there was some new piece of information they needed to hear. In this case, there wasn't. Soon enough, she was finished, and the feasting began.

~~≈≡≈~~~≈≡≈~~~≈≡≈~~

David sat down to breakfast the next morning, and he and Jailla were already well into their meal before anyone else showed up. Jim was sleeping in, and so would probably miss breakfast altogether. Olissa was the first one to show up, and she had another girl in tow.

"Hey, David," she said quietly. "Morning, Jailla."

Jailla chirped at her, then went back to his piece of watermelon.

David looked up from his eggs. "Morning, Olissa. Who's this? Have we met before? You look familiar..."

The girl sat down as Olissa said, "This is my roommate. And you have met her before, only she didn't have legs at the time."

"Shell!" David exclaimed, finally recognizing her. "Hey! What are you doing here? And... uh... where's your tail?"

Shell blushed slightly. "I'm a werephin," she said to him.

"A what?"

"You know what a were is, right?" she asked.

"Sure, something that is half human, and half something else."

"Yes. Well, a werephin is half human, half dolphin. My hybrid form is a mermaid. I almost never take my dolphin form. In fact, I live as a mermaid most of the time."

"Interesting. So, what are you doing here at Woodward?"

"My mer-clan is investigating the idea of sending merwizards to human wizarding schools. Because I can become human, they asked me to do some evaluating. I'll only be here for one semester. After that, I'll move on to a different school."

"Oh. Well, good luck with your evaluation. You're a third-year, though... you've already investigated four other schools?"

"Actually, no. I've looked at one other, last semester. The first year and a half, I trained at a mer-academy."

David nodded. "I have to ask... did you ask to be her roommate?"

"No, why?"

"It's a really weird coincidence that we met you at the Festival, and now you're here." David admitted.

Shell grinned. "My life seems to be full of weird coincidences. I don't let it bother me anymore. But the reason I came up to say hi to you that day was because of your shirt. I figured if you recognized me when I got here, then I'd have someone I could ask questions of. See, I'm keeping my were-ness private, so I'd appreciate it if you didn't tell anyone."

"No problem there," David said. Olissa nodded in agreement.

"I didn't expect to have one of you as a roommate, though. That was just an added convenience."

David smiled. "Well, if you have questions, I'm sure Olissa can answer them. If not, feel free to ask me... though I probably won't be able to answer them, either, if she can't."

Olissa giggled, and Shell smiled at him.

"Thanks," she told him.

~~≈≡≈~~~≈≡≈~~~≈≡≈~~

"Good morning, students!" Prof. Phillips said. "We're all here for Charms and Hexes 301, I hope. Yes? Good. Well, we're all magicians here, so I don't think I need to make any long introductions. This year, we'll begin a new phase of your spellcasting, and that is the point where your charms all start to become silent. Now, this will take several years of training and practice to become truly skilled, but eventually, a master wizard is able to do away with almost all of the jabbering necessary to normal charms.

"We will, of course, still be learning some more 'normal' charms, the kind you must actually speak to do. We'll focus this year on some more powerful effects, things with a bit more range than you've done before. As such, we will often be meeting outside, as there is simply not enough room here in class. I'll make announcements when that is to happen, never fear.

"Now, let's get on with it, shall we? Open your texts to page 18, and let's begin."

David leaned over to Jim, who was sitting next to him, and whispered, "Sounds like this class is getting a lot harder."

Jim just nodded grimly.

-----

As David walked into his Herbology class, he saw Prof. Qwellyn already present. She motioned him up to her as soon as she saw him.

"Good morning, Professor," David said to her when he got to her desk.

"And to you, David. No point in you bothering to sit down there. You'll be assisting me again this semester, if you don't mind."

"I don't mind, Professor. I just don't feel qualified," he told her with a smile.

"Oh, hufflepuff. You know quite a lot more than you give yourself credit for. You're also a fast study, which will help the other students."

"Yes, ma'am," David said.

"You can sit over there," she said, pointing to the same desk as he'd been given last year. As he went and sat down, Prof. Qwellyn addressed the room as a whole.

"Good morning, students. We're all here for Herbology 301. This semester, we are going to talk about fragile plants. These are plants that are very delicate and difficult to care for. Both this semester, and next semester, if you take it, will cover this subject in depth. Most plants require basic care. If they are fed, watered, given sunlight and generally looked after, they do fine. Some plants, however, have very demanding needs.

"For instance, the jakafillis plant can only grow in soil that is regularly aerated by earthworms. The lamancer plant requires diffuse light; direct sunlight will kill it in less than a day. The trefumca flower insists upon a humidity level of an exacting nature. And these are just some of the simplest ones you'll encounter as an herbologist.

"In many cases, the plants can be satisfied through simple, physical means. You just have to be careful in your treatment of them. In other cases, however, it will be necessary to apply a magical touch. As an example, the easiest way to make a trefumca flower happy is with a misting enchantment. There are other ways, but they are less reliable.

"As you might imagine, this class will require a great deal of hands-on work. I have asked David to assist me again, so that I can spend time with each of you as you work. If you have a question or need something, and I'm not available, please ask him for help.

"Now, let's walk over to the greenhouse, and we'll begin our lesson for the day."

As all the students rose, David walked over to Prof. Qwellyn. "You're digging an awfully big hole to plant me in here, Professor," he said.

Prof. Qwellyn smiled at his metaphor. "I want you to grow good, strong roots," she told him, completing the analogy.

"Uh-huh," he said, following her out the door.

-----

"Hey, guys. So, how was Conjuring class?" David asked as Jim and Simon sat down for lunch.

"Oh, my fucking god, does my head hurt," Jim said morosely.

"That shit's confusing!" Simon told him.

"Is it really that hard to understand? I glanced at my textbook, and it didn't seem that complicated..."

"Maybe it's just Prof. Quayde, then. He talked so far over my head..." Simon told him.

"Ah. Yeah, I've already had one run-in with Prof. Quayde," David told them. "He doesn't like me."

"What'd you do, kill his familiar or something?" Jim asked.

"He apparently has something against demighosts."

"Well, that sucks," Simon said. David shrugged. "When is your Conjuring class?"

"Tomorrow morning."

"Good luck. I hope you fare better than we did."

"What have you got next?" Jim asked David.

"What, you didn't memorize my schedule this semester?" David kidded him. "It's on the wall in the room..."

"Haven't had time," Jim told him.

"I have Crystallomancy at two. You?"

"History at 3:30."

"When did you start taking an interest in History?" David asked, shocked.

"You've got to have some of it if you plan to pass citizenship," Jim told him. "If I want to become a Dugerran, I have to know some of it."

"That's true," Simon confirmed. "You've got to know at least the basics."

"Oh. Yeah, I'm not focused on my citizenship exam yet. Right now, I'm more concerned about just passing these classes. I have a bad feeling about this semester."

"You'll do fine," Simon told him. "You're always worried about your classes, and you always do fine."

"We'll see," David said.

-----

"Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen. Well, our class seems to have gotten quite small. I welcome Prof. Dartson's former students. Each of you is entering your third semester of study in Crystallomancy. Here, you will develop the skills necessary to do viewings on complete strangers, how to push yourself to your very limits of seeing, and, something we haven't covered previously, how to see into Earth's future. A less-skilled crystallomancer will not be able to read Earth, without actually being in Earth, and likewise with Dugerra. They cannot cross the barrier. One of the things you will practice this semester is how to push through this, to truly be able to read the future anywhere, at any time.

"And, I should also like to point out that this is your final Crystallomancy class. If you wish to continue with Divination, you can, of course, take a different form. Some of you, though not many, will be invited to continue on, into the 400-series of Divination and beyond. Those who are invited will receive a notice from me, either in person, or in their mail. These students will enter the Advanced Divinatory Techniques section. They will perfect their own particular divinatory powers, of course, as well as learning things such as how to block divination, how to break such a block, and how to enchant items to give them divinatory powers. There are many other things to be learned as well, but a firm grasp and understanding of basic divination has to be displayed first. That is why these courses are by invitation only. These invitations, I should point out, will mostly go out near the end of this semester, when I have seen where you have progressed to.

"Now then, as is my custom, I'd like us to do a little warm-up. Most of you, I'm sure, have not used your divinatory powers all summer, and as such, you need to reawaken your mind to the feelings. Please begin your seeing... and let what may, come."

David settled in and began his viewing. He didn't have any expectation of what he would see, now. With the issue with Olissa and Cherise behind him, he had no inkling of his future, or anyone else's.

He was rather surprised to find himself seeing Mr. Garibaldi and Zyla, holding their new baby. The child looked very healthy, David was glad to see, and it was clearly a baby girl, since they had wrapped it in a pink blanket. Both parents seemed to be quite at ease. David didn't know why he was being shown this, but he was glad it seemed to be good news for a change.

When David came out of his seeing trance, he found an envelope sitting on his desk, with his name on it. He looked around before opening it, to make sure no one was paying attention. Inside was a short note, and a folded piece of parchment. The note said:

David:

You proved your abilities in your very first semester, and your skill has only grown with time. I don't even need to know how well you will do this semester to know that I would like to work with you further. I hope to see you in the Spring.

Prof. Casey Zoroaster

The folded piece of parchment was an official invitation to continue in the Divination program at Woodward Academy.

Holy shit. I didn't think I was all that good at this. I mean, yeah, the thing with Olissa... but I've struggled with a lot of other things...

David controlled his enthusiasm, just so he wouldn't draw attention to himself. He was, however, proud of himself for having impressed his professor. He tucked the envelope in his bag and sat quietly until Prof. Zoroaster continued their warm-up exercises.

-----

When David walked into Prof. Stott's classroom, she smiled and waved him over.

"Hey, David. How has your first day gone?"

"Pretty good. A bit confusing, but then, that's to be expected, isn't it?" David asked with a grin.

"At least you won't be confused in here," she said. "At least, I hope not!" They both laughed.

"So, where am I sitting?" he asked.

"Right here," she said, walking him over to her work table.

"But this is your space," he objected.

"I spend a lot of time walking around helping students in my 200-series classes," she told him. "I rarely have a chance to sit down. That's why I need an assistant."

"Oh. Well, that works, then." David put his bag down on the table, and sat on the stool. "I'm still not sure how to proceed with my apprenticeship, Sam."

She smiled at him. "You called me Sam! Yay!" she teased quietly. David would have blushed, but wasn't capable. "As to your apprenticeship, have you made a list of desired potions yet?"

"I've started on one, but I've only got four things on it. And I'm not even sure a couple of them possible, since they involve me and my demighost problems."

"Hmm," Sam said with a frown. "Yeah, there aren't any demighost potions I'm aware of. Which would make the job easier, as far as making unique ones... but to actually make something that works... you may be setting a fairly daunting task before yourself."

"Should I pursue something else, then?"

"Not yet. Give yourself a few months. See if you make any progress. After that, evaluate where you are, and make your own decision about it."

"Okay. You'd better get class started."

"Yeah."

David pulled down one of Sam's encyclopedias, and opened it, as she began to talk to the class. He was only half-listening to her, but he did manage to look up and greet the class when she introduced him. Shortly after that, he was engrossed in the text he was reading.

"Excuse me, David?" he heard. David looked up to see one of the students. "Can you help me?"

"Oh, sure." He put a marker in the book and closed it, then got up to go help the student. He ended up spending the rest of the class moving from place to place, just as Sam was doing.

This is going to slow down my research, he thought to himself with a hidden grimace.

~~≈≡≈~~~≈≡≈~~~≈≡≈~~

"I'm not looking forward to this," David admitted.

"Yeah, the others made this class sound pretty harsh," Olissa agreed. "And if the teacher doesn't like you..."

"Which he doesn't," David confirmed.

"That can only make it worse."

"We'll see."

The two walked into the class together, and found an empty table to sit at... but there were no stools. They stood, leaning against the table behind them, just like all the other students were doing.

Shortly, the professor walked into the room, and made his way to the front. He turned, facing the class, and waved his hands. Suddenly, stools appeared for all of the students.

Except David.

David looked around, to see if there was an empty stool he could borrow, but the professor had not conjured any extra stools. David raised his hand.

"What do you want, Stroud?" Prof. Quayde snapped.

"Sorry, Professor, but I didn't get a stool," David said politely.

"And yet you didn't get the message," the professor sighed. "You really shouldn't bother, Stroud. You will never pass this class. Might as well find something else to take. You'd be happier."

"Sorry, sir, but nothing else interested me at the time. Could I have a stool, please, or should I just sit on one of the tables in the back?"

Prof. Quayde growled. "Don't get snappy with me! One day detention, to be served on Saturday!"

David was stunned. He had never been served with any form of discipline at the school. He knew, however, from his work on the handbook, that teachers had complete discretion about assigning detention for infractions in their classroom.

"Yes, sir," David said. A stool finally appeared in front of him, and he sat down. He looked over at Olissa, who looked back, upset, but neither of them dared say anything.

"Now that our crybaby is satisfied," Prof. Quayde said snidely, "My name is Prof. Delquin Quayde. I am the conjuring master here at The Woodward Academy. Conjuring is not, as some of you may believe, the ability to create something from nothing. Doing that is an extremely difficult task, and is almost never worth the effort involved. No, conjuration is the ability to move something from one place to another without it having to travel through the intervening space. That is to say, it can take this apple," he said, picking up the apple on his desk, "and move it from my left hand, to my right hand, without having to go through the space between my hands. Like so." Prof. Quayde said a quick charm, and the apple shimmered, and then disappeared out of his left hand, and immediately reappeared in his right, accompanied by a soft flash of light.

"This is difficult, as you all know from your Sex Education class. I don't know why we even teach you beosda, as virtually no one gets it right. Likewise, most of you will spend your time screwing up in here. We will, therefore, be practicing on worthless objects, such as rocks and pieces of wood. Do not, I would caution, attempt to conjure things of any importance to you, as you will certainly lose them."

The professor went on with his lecture, and the students all started taking notes. Near the end of class, he gave them an assignment to do, and they all set about it. While David was working, he felt a presence at his table. He looked up, to see Prof. Quayde looking down at him, sneering.

"While you're in detention, you will copy as much of the textbook as you can. By hand. You might want to reconsider your interest, Stroud. As I said, you will never pass this class."

"As you say, Professor," David replied civilly. He had lots of other things he wanted to say, but knew that they would only make his own life more difficult, so he refrained. Prof. Quayde walked away, and Olissa leaned over.

"He's a real ass, isn't he?" she asked.

"Quite."

"I wish I could keep you company in detention," she said.

David shrugged. "I'll have plenty of work to do, anyway."

"I guess," she replied. "It's just unfair that you're going to be stuck in there alone for no other reason than that this creep doesn't like you."

David gestured fatalistically. "Nothing to be done about it. Maybe Penny will visit me," he said with a grin. Olissa giggled very quietly, then they both went back to their assignment.

-----

"So how'd your first Conjuring class go?" Gwen asked.

"Managed to get thrown in detention," David said deadpan.

"What?" Jim asked incredulously.

"It's totally unfair. You didn't do anything," Olissa demanded.

David shrugged. "The guy doesn't like me. I have a feeling I'm going to be spending a lot of time in detention as long as I'm taking his class."

"Switch classes?" Gwen asked.

"I can't. There are only two Conjuring teachers, and the other one's classes are all full. They must have known something I didn't."

"That none of us knew," Simon said. "I didn't know Quayde was such a jerk..."

"Maybe switch subjects?" Gwen asked. "Take Conjuring in the Spring, when you can get into the other guy's class?"

David shook his head. "There really wasn't anything else that interested me. I mean... Technomandy, maybe... but no. I'm not going to let this guy push me out just because he doesn't like me. If I start doing that now... where am I going to be for the rest of my life?"

"Undead?" Gwen quipped. David flicked a carrot at her, and it bounced off her nose.

"Still seems pretty unfair that you have to be stuck in detention for an entire day simply for asking for a stool," Olissa said.

"That's all you did?" Simon asked.

David explained the incident to him. "What I really did was not run crying from the man's class, which I'm pretty sure is what he was hoping for. Either that, or he was hoping I'd do something really serious, which would get me thrown out of the school. I think I frustrated him by not really responding at all."

"You think he'll eventually leave you alone?"

"No."

They all grumbled at that.

"By the way, Jim... why'd you switch from Fibblebitz to Arpilla this year?" David asked.

"'Cause I'm not taking Potions anymore. Gotta have at least one teacher who's nice to look at, don't I?"

David rolled his eyes. "Prof. Fibblebitz is fairly nice to look at herself..."

"Yeah, but she's no Arpilla," Jim replied.

The rest of the group laughed at Jim while David shook his head.

-----

"Good afternoon, class. This is Metamorphosis 301. Some of you are new to me, so let me introduce myself. I'm Prof. Catherine Arpilla. Each of you has suffered through two years of torture in previous Metamorphosis classes, so we don't need to really go over what this is all about.

"This semester, we will be covering whole-body morphs, as well as some fairly sophisticated mechanical morphs. I'm sorry to say this is the class that separates the wheat from the chaff, so to speak. This is where students begin to falter, or fail completely. Let me tell you that there is no shame if you cannot progress beyond this class. Metamorphosis is not easy, and not every wizard can or will master it. If you are one of the many who will meet your wall in this class, take heart in knowing that you have made it this far.

"Now, let's start with a few warm-up exercises, just to get back into the swing of things, shall we?"

-----

"David, can I see you for a moment?" Prof. Arpilla called out. They were doing a worksheet to review previous material. David looked over at Jim briefly, and then walked up to the front desk.

"What's up, Professor?" David asked. While David was merely being polite, Prof. Arpilla blushed.

"Geez, that gets to me in here, too," she said softly. Coughing, she said, "Anyway, what I wanted to ask you is, do you have free time after this class?"

"No, ma'am. I have TEM at 3:45."

"Hmm. The reason I ask is that we still have the same problem as last year. Many of this semester's morphs are done on people, which means your partner is out of luck. I had hoped we could maintain our arrangement of you staying after class."

"Well... I could show up before class, if you want me to... My Conjuring class ends at 11:15, so I'd have plenty of time to eat lunch and get here..."

"Okay, that will have to do, until I can think of something better. I'll let you know on which days you need to show up early."

"Works for me." Lowering his voice so no one else would hear, he asked, "How are the kids doing?"

"They're doing fine," she told him. "We moved into the new apartment a few weeks ago. I don't know how to thank you for your help through the summer... I don't know what I would have done without you."

David smiled and waved it off. "I'm just glad I could help. Has that prick of a husband been any more trouble?"

"No, I haven't heard from him. I think they're still trying to figure out how to weasel the kids away from me."

David nodded. "You'll let me know if there's anything else I can do for you, won't you?"

"Yes, I promise."

"Okay."

-----

"I have to say, David, that I'm kind of surprised to see you back in my class," Prof. Rutherford told him. She'd caught up with him after class was over, so she could speak with him.

"Your last chance, Professor. If I don't 'get it' this semester, I'm not going to spend any more time on it. No point in putting so much effort into something I'm not going to be able to use."

"I guess I can understand that. Thanks for giving me one more shot at it," she said sarcastically.

David grinned. "Sorry, but this class takes up twice as much of my time as any other has, and I think I just added one that's going to give you a run for your money, so..."

"Oh? Which one?"

"Conjuring."

"Really? I wouldn't expect conjuring to be that tough for you. At least, not from what I've seen you do in my class."

"Well, I think it's not going to be so much about the class, as the instructor."

"Which one do you have?"

"Quayde."

"Oh, dear lord," she said. "I'm sorry for you."

"Thanks," he said with a chuckle. "I'll manage. Was there something other than your surprise at seeing me?"

"No, not really... well, okay, yes. I wanted to say thank you for something that is none of my business. I wanted to thank you for helping out Cat. She and I have been friends for a while. I understand why she couldn't come to me for help, but I'm just glad someone was there for her when she needed them. And then the thing with the Rimohrs..."

"She's a nice lady, and a good teacher. I just did what needed doing."

"Well, thank you. Not everyone would have bothered."

David smiled. "See you on Tuesday, Professor."

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