The Woodward Academy, Year 3

Chapter 8: January

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"Go on in, David. She's waiting for you."

David knocked, and then entered the dean's office when bidden.

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

"Doing okay, I guess. I do need to talk to you about this whole thing with Prof. Quayde, though."

Dean Lengel straightened. "Okay, what is the problem, exactly?"

"Put simply, he failed me without cause."

"Explain what you mean by 'without cause'."

"I mean that, judged by the standards he judged every other student, instead of by the standards he was judging me, I would have passed the class with high marks."

The dean nodded. "I'm going to have to call in Prof. Quayde. Are you going to ask me to overrule him?"

"Not much point in complaining about it otherwise, is there?" David asked reasonably.

The dean smiled. "Not really. I'll call in Prof. Blackstone, as well, then. Take a seat while we wait."

The two chatted amiably while the two professors were sent for. Prof. Blackstone arrived first.

"Good morning, Dean Lengel," he said. Prof. Blackstone was a tall man, stoutly built, with short black hair and an open, friendly face adorned with close-cropped beard and mustache. He nodded to David, but didn't speak to him, as they were not acquainted.

"Good morning, Harry," she greeted him. "We're waiting on Prof. Quayde," she told him.

Prof. Blackstone nodded, and took a seat along the wall.

They were all quiet now for the couple minutes it took for Prof. Quayde to arrive.

"What is it, Emile... Oh, it's you," he said, seeing David.

"Yes, it's me, Professor. Did you actually think I was going to take you flunking me sitting down?"

"What's this about, Dean?" Quayde said, turning his attention to Madame Lengel.

"David has challenged his grade in your class."

"I decide what the grades are in my classroom!" Quayde demanded. "Not some snot-nosed punk demighost piece of slime!"

While Dean Lengel was absorbing this outburst, David turned to Prof. Quayde. "Actually, Professor, you only determine the grades if the student doesn't question them. However, Academy policy clearly states that if any student feels they were graded unfairly, especially in such a fashion as it might impact their continuance at the Academy, they may bring the matter before the Dean of Students, who will then make a judgment about the grade in question."

"How dare you recite rules to me!" he snarled.

"I dare because you are clearly unaware of them, and because you seem not to much care for doing things the honorable way."

Prof. Quayde was so angry now that he was unable to speak. David turned to face the dean. "A comparison of my tests versus those of the other students will make it immediately obvious that I was given far harder exams. In fact, it was completely impossible to complete any of my exams in the ninety minutes normally allotted for them. My final exam, in particular, was nearly twice as long as that of the other students. Of the two-hundred-plus questions on it, I was able to complete about a hundred fifty of them."

"Is this true?" the dean asked Prof. Quayde.

"I don't remember," he snapped. "I've graded hundreds of exams this semester."

"Perhaps if we looked at the exams?" the dean suggested.

"Do I look like I have them with me? They're back in the office filing cabinet!"

"Hardly seems like a problem for the head of the Conjuring Department of the best wizarding school in the kingdom," David pointed out.

Prof. Quayde went red in the face. "Are you going to allow him to disrespect me that way?" he demanded of the dean.

"What disrespect?" she asked. "He has a point. Produce the exams, Delquin."

Quayde snarled in disgust, but then gestured with his hands and spoke some words. A filing cabinet suddenly existed where empty space had been previously. He opened the middle drawer and withdrew an obviously compacted folder. He set it on the dean's desk, and uttered the spell to open it. The file was huge.

"These are the exams for his class for the entire semester."

"Dean Lengel, if I may?" David asked. She looked up at him quizzically. "I think I can find my exams for you rather quickly."

When the dean nodded, David turned the file so he could look at it edge-on. Since the tests were fastened at the corners, all he had to do was look for the irregularly thick ones. In just a few seconds, he had pulled each of his exams part-way out of the pile.

Dean Lengel could see his name on each test that had been pulled out. She looked at Prof. Quayde. "You do realize that the very idea that he could find his tests without looking at the actual names, supports his claim, don't you?"

"I reserve the right to test my students how I see fit," Prof. Quayde sniffed.

"And he's reserving the right to question your methods," the dean replied, unmoved. She took each of David's tests, along with the test both above and below it, for comparison. Everyone waited silently while she perused the documents. After about five minutes, she closed them, and looked up at Prof. Quayde.

"This is disgusting."

Prof. Quayde looked down at her. "So now what?"

"David... I concur that you have been graded unfairly. However, that doesn't change the fact that we have no usable grade for you on file for this class."

Prof. Quayde's face broke into a grin until David spoke.

"Yes, ma'am... I'm requesting to challenge Conjuring 301."

"As I thought you might," she said with a matching grin.

"I will not give him another exam," Prof. Quayde snapped.

"Nor would I let you," the dean replied.

"So who will examine him? You? You're clearly his friend!"

Dean Lengel rose from her seat and glared daggers at Prof. Quayde. "Three things, Delquin. First, I do not appreciate your tone in the slightest. You will afford me the respect due as the Dean of this Academy. Second, you know as well as I do that I couldn't conjure to save my life. David probably has a better grasp of the information than I do. Third, and most importantly, why do you think Prof. Blackstone is here?"

Prof. Quayde flinched as the anger roiled off of Dean Lengel. He tried a procedural tactic. "It is improper for a junior professor to pass judgment on a more senior one. I am the head of the Conjuring Department."

"That is a matter that will be looked at very soon. However, I'm not asking Prof. Blackstone to make any judgment call about you at all," The dean said, her voice clearly conveying her disapproval of Quayde. "I've already done that. I'm asking him to evaluate a student's understanding of the subject matter. Are you saying he's not qualified to do that? You recommended him for the job... are you saying your judgment about his abilities was in error?"

Prof. Quayde was trapped, and he knew it. There was nothing he could say now that would not humiliate himself. He closed his mouth, turned, and left the office. Dean Lengel returned to her seat.

"David, I do apologize that you had to deal with him. I also apologize that I cannot re-work your registration to take you out of his class in the spring. That would require me to move a student from Prof. Blackstone's class into Quayde's. I can't 'punish' another student to help you. There is, of course, the issue of whether or not you can pass Prof. Blackstone's challenge exam."

"I'm not worried about that, ma'am. With all the studying I've had to do on this subject, it's probably one of my best."

"Very well. Professor, if you would, I would like you to schedule a time for a challenge exam. Get it done this week, please. Assuming you pass, David, you can finalize your schedule, which I know has you signed up for Conjuring 302."

"Yes, ma'am. And, I know the answer to this is probably no, but isn't there something that can be done about him?"

Dean Lengel smiled. "You're right. The answer is no. Unless he does something that is blatantly in disregard for the rules, you're stuck with him, I'm afraid."

"I'll manage, as I told him last week."

"So I heard," she said with a grin. "Was there anything else?"

"No, ma'am."

"Okay. Make your arrangements with Prof. Blackstone, then."

~~≈≡≈~~~≈≡≈~~~≈≡≈~~

"So, Professor, how'd he do on his challenge exam?" the dean asked a few days later, when David and Prof. Blackstone returned to her office.

"Madame Lengel, I tested him to his limits. I kept asking questions until he admitted he had no answer. Minus a few critical facts, David could almost challenge out of Conjuring 302. He is certainly competent... I would say excellent, in fact... in the material covered in 301."

"You're comfortable giving him a passing grade for the class, then," she asked. It wasn't really a question.

"I'm comfortable giving him an A for the class," Prof. Blackstone confirmed.

"Okay, thank you."

Prof. Blackstone nodded, then he turned to David. "Good luck this next semester. I will ask for a volunteer to switch classes with you when my classes start, but I don't hold out much hope. Prof. Quayde's reputation precedes him. I'm sorry there's nothing more we can do to get you into one of my classes, but that's the way it goes. I imagine I'll be seeing you in May, again."

"Probably. Thank you for your time, Professor." The two shook hands, and then Prof. Blackstone left.

"Well, you impressed him thoroughly," Dean Lengel told David with a smile.

David shrugged. "Again, when you've had to rewrite the book by hand, you become pretty familiar with the subject matter."

Dean Lengel nodded. "I'll put your new grade into your record. Prof. Quayde's joke of a grade won't even appear."

"Thank you," David said.

"Since you're here," the dean said, "I wanted to let you know that you can move back into your dorm room on Monday. The RA's will be back then. You don't... have to... mind you, but I imagine it gets a bit dull staying in someone else's home."

David smiled. "Occasionally. But there are other benefits."

Dean Lengel smiled in knowing embarrassment. "I'm sure."

~~≈≡≈~~~≈≡≈~~~≈≡≈~~

"Do you have anything to do today?" David asked Sam. They had just finished eating breakfast.

"Nothing especially interesting. Why?"

"Well, I figured to move back to the dorm tomorrow. I thought perhaps we could spend today..."

"Naked?" she finished with a grin.

"Well... it's possible it'll be our last time together," David said.

Sam frowned slightly. "I'd rather not think about it that way. But I'm not about to pass up the opportunity," she said, raising her eyebrows and staring at him lecherously.

~~≈≡≈~~~≈≡≈~~~≈≡≈~~

David was putting his books and supplies away after returning from the bookstore. He'd had two new textbooks to pick up, plus the various materials and supplies he needed every semester. Jailla was sunning himself on his perch by the window, studying himself in his mirror. He looked up when there was a knock at the door.

Knowing who that probably was, David waved his hand in the direction of the door and said, "Open." The door swung wide, revealing Prof. Fibblebitz on the other side.

"Hey, Lise," David said brightly. "C'mon in."

She came in, closing the door behind herself, and walked over to David. He embraced her and gave her a warm kiss in greeting. She held onto him for a long moment before she finally let him go.

"Something the matter?" he asked, worried she was upset.

"No, just hadn't seen you in a couple days, and was missing you."

"Oh," he said, smiling down at her.

"I didn't interrupt anything, did I?" she asked, uneasy.

"No, just putting things away. What have you been up to?"

"The usual. Getting ready for the new classes." She walked over to the window.

"Good morning, Jailla," she said. He chirped at her in greeting. When she reached into her pocket, his interest grew. She pulled out some sunflower seeds, which managed to pull his interest completely away from his mirror. Lise fed Jailla as she and David chatted about nothing in particular while he finished straightening up his desk. After that, he joined her at the window.

She fed Jailla the last of the seeds, and then dusted off her hands. "Sorry, that's all I brought with me."

Jailla finished swallowing the last seed, and said, "Thank you." David relayed the message, and Lise smiled at the bird, reaching out very slowly, and then scratching him on the top of the head. He leaned into that, enjoying it for several seconds. Finally, Lise stopped, and turned to David. Jailla immediately returned to staring at himself in the mirror.

"Did you have any plans for today?" Lise asked David.

"Nope. What I did have planned, I've already done. Was there something you wanted to do?"

"Nothing specific. I just thought we could spend the day together."

"Sure. Why don't we go for a walk around campus, and maybe we can think of something to do while we're out there?"

"Sounds good."

David led Lise to the door, then he turned, "You coming, Jailla?"

"I'll stay here today," he replied, still looking at himself in the mirror. David shook his head, and then left with Lise.

~~≈≡≈~~~≈≡≈~~~≈≡≈~~

"Hey, David," Olissa said in greeting. She hugged him, but he was sitting at the table, so he couldn't effectively hug back.

"Hey," he said in reply. "How was your break? I see you got your present," he told her. "You look beautiful."

Olissa blushed. "I didn't go to the spa until the day before I came back here. I hope you don't mind, I let my mom use the second day, so she could go with me."

David shrugged. "It was your gift. I like the hair," he said. She smiled.

"Thank you for the bracelet, too. It fits perfectly." She was wearing it now, and the silver dragon on her dark skin stood out nicely.

"So, have you met your new roommate? Or are you not getting one?"

"I guess I'm not getting one," she said. "There was no notice in my mail, or anywhere in the room."

"Nice to have your own space," Simon said. He and Heath were in their usual spots at the table.

"I don't know," Olissa said. "It seems pretty lonely in there. Shell and I got to be pretty good friends... well, except when I was being stupid," she said. David smiled softly at her in support. "Not to mention the help she gave me with homework from time to time."

Gwen showed up at that point. She gave David a big hug and a quick peck on the cheek.

"Hey, Gwen," David said, acting as if it was a bother for her to be so happy to see him. He smiled at her as she sat down next to him. "How was your break?"

"Fantastic! And thank you for the Segway!"

"You got her a Segway?" Jim asked incredulously.

"Yeah." To Gwen, he asked, "Did you bring it with you?"

"Of course!"

"Good. I was having a devil of a time explaining it to Dean Lengel."

"You know, David... that raises a question for me," Simon said. "I guess I didn't think about it before but... where the heck did you go for break?"

David grimaced, and looked over at Olissa, who already knew where he'd gone. Finally, he said, "I stayed here at the school."

"But the dorms are closed," Jim objected.

"I'm aware. I said I was at the school, not in the dorm room."

"So where were you?"

"At Sam's place."

"Sam... you mean Prof. Stott?" Simon asked, still not used to David calling her by her first name. When David nodded, he asked, "Where does she live?"

"In faculty housing," David evaded.

"And where is that?" Jim prodded.

"I can't tell you."

"What do you mean, you can't tell me?" Jim said, annoyed.

"I mean that one of the rules that was placed on me when I was allowed into faculty housing was that I cannot tell you where it is, what it's like, how to get there, how to get out of there, or anything else about it. That's why I've never mentioned it."

"Never... wait, how long have you been staying there?" Jim demanded.

"Since last winter break."

Jim stared at him dumbfounded. "And you never told me!"

David shrugged. "I didn't feel like repeating the phrase, 'I can't tell you,' a hundred times."

Jim grumbled, and stabbed at his steak.

"Speaking of annoyances," David said, "Why is it you're eating with us? Where's Devyn?"

Jim swallowed and said, "Hey! That's my girlfriend you're calling an annoyance. And she's not back yet. She told me she wouldn't be back until dinner."

Gwen said, "Olissa... did I hear you say that you don't have a roommate?"

Olissa nodded. "Shell's moved on to another school."

"She didn't stay long, did she?" Simon said.

"She's doing an evaluation for her people," David explained.

"Her people? She's a human, isn't she?"

"No, she's a werephin." Shell had told him that he could tell people, now that she was gone. "The merfolk are looking into the idea of sending their students to human schools, and they asked her to look into it, so she's attending various schools to get her education and see what they're like." As Simon was trying to absorb this, he turned back to Gwen. "You were asking about Olissa's roommate situation because...?"

"I thought maybe she could move in with me, or I could move in with her. According to the notice in my mail, Devyn has moved out of our room, to go stay in someone else's."

David's eyes widened. "Wow... that's a fairly final way to break up with someone, isn't it?"

"Yeah," Gwen said angrily. "And she never even talked to me about it."

"That sucks," David said, putting his hand on her arm. She smiled at him in thanks. Turning to Olissa, he said, "Well, if you want a roommate..."

"You sure?" Olissa asked Gwen.

"Sure. We seem to get along pretty well. You don't throw wild parties secretly, do you?" Gwen asked.

Olissa snorted. "I've never even been to a wild party."

"Well, there you go. I'm game if you are."

"Sounds good," Olissa said, still a bit unsure, but willing to take the risk.

"Great!"

~~≈≡≈~~~≈≡≈~~~≈≡≈~~

"Morning, Sam," David said, entering her classroom. He put his backpack on the work table, and went over to her. He had to stop himself from giving her a kiss; it had become a habit.

"Good morning, David," she said warmly. Feeling the same impulse, she asked, "Have you asked Louisa about... us... yet?"

David grimaced. "I'm afraid to, honestly. I never realized how insecure she is. She seems so confident in class."

Sam nodded. "She knows her subject well. Her personal life has been something of a mess, though. You're right; it might not be a good idea for you to ask. She might think you prefer me over her. On the other hand, I can ask without causing that kind of upset."

David nodded back. "I'll let you deal with that, then. I'm having enough trouble not letting anyone know I'm dating her in the first place."

"She's still on that, is she?"

"Yeah. She's just a bit anxious about the school knowing she's dating a student. I don't get that... I mean, I would understand that in Earth, but here, it seems to be a complete non-issue."

Sam sighed. "It's just her insecurity. Try not to let it get to you too much."

"Oh, it's not that big a deal, really. It's just going to get awkward when Jim, my roommate, keeps asking me who I'm going out with, and I can't tell him."

Sam grinned. "You'll think of something, I'm sure. Anyway, we'd better get class started."

"Okay. I've got another potion idea to work on, anyway."

"Good."

-----

David met Olissa outside of Prof. Quayde's class, and they entered together. They were a few minutes early, and so they found a place to sit, and settled in. David took the opportunity to turn to Olissa.

"How are you and Gwen settling in together?"

"It's only been the one night," she reminded him.

"Yeah, but I'm sure you've got some sense of it..."

"I think we'll be good. I'm not as comfortable with her as I was with Shell, but she's better than most of my other roommates."

"That's good. Listen, I wanted to say something about our... uh... 'arrangement'."

"Oh? Is there a problem? I've kept my expenses to a minimum..." she said nervously.

David waved his hand. "I couldn't care less how much you spend, really. I just wanted to let you know that I'm dating someone now, and she has already asked for exclusivity, so I won't be asking for your... uh... services? In the near future."

"Oh," she said, a slight frown crossing her face. After a second, she asked, "So, who are you dating?"

David grimaced. "She asked me not to tell anyone, but if you promise not to say anything, especially to Jim or Gwen..." Olissa nodded, and he said, "It's Prof. Fibblebitz."

Olissa's jaw dropped. "What is it with you and professors?" she hissed, so no one would hear her.

David grinned sheepishly. "Once again, it was the other way around. She announced her interest in me. But she's very unsure of herself, so she's trying to keep 'us' quiet from the school. You know how Jim is, and I think Gwen might blab, as well."

Nodding, Olissa said, "Yeah, she does seem to like to gossip a bit. Not cruelly, but she's like a news reporter, telling you all the things she's heard."

David chuckled. "Yeah."

"I hope things work out for you," Olissa said. "But I don't like being back in the position of accepting your help without a return on your investment."

"Try not to worry about it."

At that point, Prof. Quayde showed up and began the class without preamble.

"You've all been here before. Most of you barely squeaked by on your exams." With this, Prof. Quayde stared straight at David. "Some of you decided to whine until you got your way. In any case, you are here for a second semester of Conjuring. If you thought the first semester was difficult, you should probably drop out of this class now, as this will be truly hard.

"Because the class will require more personal interaction between me and you, I have decided to pick a teaching assistant for this class. This person will have my authority when I am either not present or busy. This will allow me to assist more people."

Quayde motioned to a person standing off to the side. David hadn't noticed him until now, and when he saw who it was, he groaned. "If you don't know him, this is Marcus Savolar. He had top grades in Conjuring last semester. You might want to pay attention to him; you could learn a few things about the world, as well as Conjuring, from him."

"Yeah, like how to be an egotistical jackass," David whispered to Olissa.

Olissa nodded, frowning mightily.

"Now, take out your books and open to page 212. We're going to get right into it."

As the students opened their books, Marcus walked over to David. He leaned down and whispered, "This is going to be fun, Stroud."

David muttered, "How do you like the new coat, Markie?"

Marcus snarled and stood up straight, moving to the back of the room where his desk was. Prof. Quayde ignored the exchange, beginning his lecture on Conjuring.

-----

"I didn't know you were in this class," David said to Olissa.

"I didn't get my letter until the very last day of class. You'd already left, to go help Mr. Garibaldi."

"Oh. Well, cool. What do you think we're going to be learning in here?"

"I don't know. Advanced Divination Techniques could mean anything."

"Yeah."

After a while, Prof. Zoroaster came into the room, joined by another man, who was heavily bearded, and for some reason made David think he was Greek.

"Good morning, students," the man said. "For those of you who don't know me, my name is Prof. Amus Dartson. This is Prof. Casey Zoroaster. Together, we make up the sum total of the Divination Department here at Woodward. In this first Advanced class, we like to teach jointly. It allows us to better answer your questions, and also give you more personal time with an instructor.

"In the 400-series classes, and these are the last formal Divination classes you will take, you will learn some highly advanced divination methods. You will learn how to enchant an object for divinatory purposes. You will even learn to divine other's thoughts, to some extent. You should continue on with your chosen divinatory methods in personal practice, but we will not focus on any single method of divination in these classes. Instead, we will focus on ways to apply your divination, or to combine it with other magic, to make it more useful.

"Now, as there are so few of you, why don't we go around the room, introduce ourselves, and tell us what your divination specialty is?"

As each student spoke, David tried to pay attention, but his mind kept mulling over the kinds of things they might be covering in this class.

This is going to be good.

-----

As David arrived at his Metamorphosis class, Prof. Arpilla motioned him up to the front of the room. He didn't bother to set down his books; he had a feeling he knew what was coming.

"Good afternoon, Professor," he said.

Prof. Arpilla blushed strawberry. "I've got to stop letting that get to me!" she muttered to herself. Getting her embarrassment under control, she said, "Like before, we'll need to work together, so that the other students can morph each other. Can you come in early, like last semester?"

David shook his head. "I have a class right before this one. But I've got all the time in the world after class..."

Prof. Arpilla nodded. "Okay. The other students may not like losing their tutor, though." She grinned at him.

David shook his head. "I just tried to help out. Not like I had anything else to do."

"I know, and you were a big help."

"I don't know about that. I suck in this subject."

"No, you don't. You're about average."

"Ugh. What a horrible thing to call someone," David said with a grin, making Prof. Arpilla blush again.

"You're not going to have a... problem... with me, are you?" she asked anxiously.

David sighed. "Cat, I'm cool with you having a new boyfriend. How are you and he doing, anyway?"

"Great. The kids are having a bit of trouble adjusting, though."

David nodded. "Too soon after 'Dad' has left?"

Prof. Arpilla's blush deepened and she said, "No, they just prefer you."

David nearly gagged. "Well, tell them their Uncle David isn't gone, I just won't be around as much. And you will let me know if that pig of a husband of yours gives you more grief, right?"

Prof. Arpilla nodded. "I think you actually scared him at the hearing. He's been very quiet since then."

"Good. Anyway, no, I won't have any problems with you teaching me. Will you?"

"I'll get over myself," she assured him with a smile. "Have a seat over there, why don't you?" she said, indicating a table she kept some materials on, so only had one seat available. David went and sat down, pulling out his book to get ready.

When it was time, Prof. Arpilla rose. "Good afternoon, class. I'm pretty sure everyone here knows me by now. This semester, we begin to work on the generic morphs. These will make up the last three segments of the core Metamorphosis curriculum. If you progress beyond that, you will be working with a professor in self-directed study. That's not something you'll need to worry about for a while.

"Now, this semester, we are going to focus almost entirely on the full-body personal morphs. First, we'll teach you to apply them to others, then to yourself. Though it may seem like very little work for an entire semester, you are likely to need at least that long to master the concept.

"So, let's get to work. Please open your books to page 328."

~~≈≡≈~~~≈≡≈~~~≈≡≈~~

"Good morning," Prof. Thropp said. "Welcome to Enchantments and Curses 302. Now that we are past the point of licensure, and you have all shown a desire to move beyond basic magic, we will start to get into the truly difficult aspects of enchanting items."

There was something of a groan from the class. What they'd done so far wasn't difficult?

"With rare exception, the enchantments you have learned so far are either very short-lived, or extremely simple. Some of you have managed impressive illusory enchantments during your finals, but ultimately, it's still just an illusion; a moving picture. Not a truly challenging matter.

"In this class, you will begin a new level of spell, which will begin to create enchantments that will have both complex and lasting effects. We will start out small, and work our way up. Your mid-term exam, so you are aware, is something that you will not receive a grade for until the end of the semester. It will involve enchanting an object in such a way that the enchantment lasts through the end of the semester. Should your enchantment fade before that, your grade will reflect the degree of time by which you missed the mark.

"Now then, books open, page 165. We skipped over this chapter last semester, but we will cover it in detail now. Let's begin."

~~≈≡≈~~~≈≡≈~~~≈≡≈~~

David was returning from his now commonplace time in detention. It was after nine o'clock at night, and the air was cold on his face. The sky was clear, the stars shone brightly, and David enjoyed the night.

What he enjoyed less was what Prof. Quayde was forcing him to do. He had told him that he was expected to write a fifty-page report on the Conjuring Room by the end of the semester. This was on top of all of his other work.

The Conjuring Room, as David had learned, was an advanced, second-year conjuring subject. It had to do with a magical way to carry things around with you without actually having them physically on your person. The theory of it, which David had spent the last ten hours reviewing, was making his head hurt. As he rode down on the rock lift, he mulled over all that he had read. It still didn't make much sense to him.

David was considering all of this as he entered his dorm room. The door opened quietly, as usual, and he walked in, not expecting anything. What he saw caused him to drop his book bag.

Jim was sitting on his bed, completely naked. From between his legs, his hard dick arced up at least two feet. It curved toward his body significantly, and in fact, Jim had his lips wrapped around his own cock, sucking on it.

When David dropped his bag, Jim jolted, his dick popping out of his mouth. He turned and stared at David, embarrassed.

David stared, open-mouthed, for a long second. Finally, he said, "I... didn't... see... anything. If you'll excuse me, I have to go bleach my eyes now." David backed out of the room, closing the door behind him. He decided to take a long walk around campus, to give Jim time to do... whatever it was he was doing.

David shuddered at the memory of it.

-----

When David returned to the room, rather hesitantly, Jim was dressed and sitting at his desk. David picked up his book bag, which was still in the entrance hall, and set it next to his desk.

Jim turned to him. "Hey, I..."

"I repeat," David said, cutting him off, "I didn't see anything. I didn't hear anything, I don't know anything, and, the fairies and Fates willing, I will never think of anything."

"Hey, I'm not the only one doing it, you know!" Jim said hotly, his shame turning to anger. "Hell, Simon's the one who told me about it!"

"And you felt the need to try it because...?" David prompted, still not looking at Jim.

"Because my fucking girlfriend... isn't!"

"Huh?"

"Fucking! Devyn still won't go past second base!"

"Ah."

"So, yeah, sorry, I'm a little horny. It seemed like a good way to relieve the stress."

"I think I'll stick to pixie sticks," he said.

"Yeah, well, some of us don't have a dozen girls begging to suck us off."

"Neither do I," David said. "But I concede that my girlfriend readily puts out. Sorry about that."

"Oh, so you admit that Prof. Stott is your girlfriend now?"

"No," David said. "I have an actual girlfriend. Don't ask who she is, she's asked me not to tell anyone about us yet. She's a bit insecure."

"Hmph," Jim said.

"Look... next time, could you just... pull the damned curtain closed?"

"Yeah, sorry, I didn't realize what time it was. I didn't figure you'd be back yet."

"Uh-huh. Let me guess; Devyn was here all day."

"Not all day..."

David sighed.

"What?"

"I asked you not to bring her here."

"You weren't around."

"Not the point, but I don't want to argue about it. I've already got a headache from this Conjuring crap. I'm gonna lie down and go to sleep early."

"Okay."

David pulled the curtain to separate the room, and then he got undressed.

Jailla said to him, "At least you didn't have to watch the whole thing!"

David chuckled, and then lay down in his bed. "Good night, Jailla."

"Good night."

~~≈≡≈~~~≈≡≈~~~≈≡≈~~

"Doesn't that guy realize he's not hurting you at all with these stupid detentions?" Olissa groused as they were leaving the class.

"Oh, I dunno. Ever since I started dating Lise, it's been a bit more troublesome."

"How so?"

"Well, Penny used to visit to... uh... pass the time a little faster... but she and I don't do that while I'm dating someone. Plus, this'll annoy Lise. I'm pretty sure she wanted us to do something on Saturday."

"Oh. Yeah, I hadn't thought of that."

"That's okay, I'm sure Quayde did."

As David was stepping out the classroom door, something squished under his foot. He looked down to see a pile of crap right where he had stepped. Since a dozen other students had passed through the door before him, he knew it had been conjured into place.

"Maybe you should watch your step, Stroud," Marcus sneered.

"At least I don't need a teacher holding my hand to back up my actions," David replied to him.

"You son of a..." Marcus started, coming at him. David pulled his wand immediately.

"Just try it," David replied. "I kicked your ass once, I can do it again. This time, I might not pull your sorry ass out of the moat."

Marcus glanced down at the tip of David's wand, which was already crackling with energy. His own wand was low, and he didn't have the faintest notion of what spell he was going to cast. He stepped back, glaring at David the entire way.

"That's what I thought," David replied. "You may have Quayde's backing, but you're still a coward." David aimed his wand down at his shoe, and he conjured the mess there onto Marcus' desk. He gave him a satisfied smirk, and then turned to leave. "Come on, Olissa."

As they left Hyneman Hall, Olissa said, "You know if Quayde saw that, he'll rat on you to the dean."

"Let him. Nothing happened except for Marcus conjuring the shit on the floor. The dean is already aware of Quayde's attitude problem."

"So why doesn't she fire the jerk?"

"She can't."

"Hmph."

David patted her on the shoulder. "Come on, let's go to lunch."

~~≈≡≈~~~≈≡≈~~~≈≡≈~~

"Can you give me some help on Conjuring?" Gwen asked as she walked with Jim and David back to the dorm. They had just eaten lunch.

David said, "Sure... though it's not exactly my favorite subject at the moment. I had a date on Saturday."

Gwen frowned. "Yeah, well, it's not my favorite subject, either, but that's because I don't know what the hell the professor's talking about half the time."

David chuckled. "Okay, just drop by some evening, and we'll go over it."

Gwen broke off to go to her room when they made it to the door, and Jim and David walked to theirs, so they could get their books for their next classes. When they opened the door, it was as if a tornado had ripped through the room.

"Holy shit," David said.

"Not this again," Jim fumed. "It took me two hours to clean up last time!"

David made a quick decision. "Don't touch anything this time."

"Why not?"

"I think we need to report this one. The first time, I could write off as a prank. But this is the second time it's happened, and it looks even worse this time. They're clearly looking for something."

Jim dropped down onto his bed, while David pulled out his mirror. "Security department," he requested. In a second, a face appeared.

"Maintenance, Security," the bored-looking man said.

"Yes, I'd like to report a break-in at my dorm room," David told them. That perked the man's ears up.

"What's the room number?" David told him. "We'll be there shortly."

It was less than five minutes when the security man showed up with a helper.

"Holy crap, this place is a mess," the helper said.

"May I assume you don't keep it like this?" the security man asked.

"How could we? The brownies would clean it up every night."

"Good point. Okay, have you touched anything?"

"No."

"Is anything missing?"

"We haven't checked yet. I should point out that this is the second time someone has broken into our room. We didn't report it the first time because we thought it was just a prank."

"When was that?" the man asked.

"Last month. Not sure of the exact day."

The man nodded. "Okay, that suggests a pattern. You two, try to find out if anything's missing, but don't touch too much. I think we're going to have to call in the Rimohrs on this one."

"But it'll take them an hour just to get here!" Jim objected. "I'll miss my class!"

The security guard shrugged. David said, "Jim, just make sure nothing of yours is missing, and you can head to class. I'll stick around for the Rimohrs. I'll only be missing Herbology, and that's something I can make up with Miss J on my own time."

"You sure?" Jim said.

David shrugged. "I've got to miss the class one way or another. No point in both of us missing."

"Great. Prof. Schmidt's supposed to be showing us something new today, and I don't want to miss it."

David nodded.

The first thing David went to look for was the Lost Book of Galen. It was sitting where he had left it, hidden behind his desk, wedged in between the desk and the wall. The next item he checked on was the amulet, which he had placed underneath some straw in Jailla's travel cage. It, too, was still in place. The cage had not even been touched, from the looks of things. David decided to pull both of these items and set them on his desk.

"What're those?" the security guy asked.

"Possible targets," he replied. The security man nodded, and didn't ask any more.

"An officer by the name of Garibaldi should be here shortly."

"Yeah, I'm sure Joe will be thrilled to see me again," David replied. The security guard's eyes widened a bit.

"I wouldn't call him that to his face..." the security guy warned.

David snorted. "I'm the godfather of his newborn daughter. I think I can first-name him safely."

The security man, clearly too befuddled to go any further, just shook his head and walked away.

Turning to Jim, David asked, "You missing anything?"

"Nope. You?"

"No."

"Maybe it really is a prank," Jim said.

"I don't think so. I think they're just not finding what they're looking for. Why don't you go ahead to class. I'll wait here."

"Okay."

After Jim left, David pulled out his mirror and called Prof. Qwellyn, to let her know why he wouldn't be in class. She told him she understood, and would see him on Sunday.

David sat, glaring at the mess, until Garibaldi arrived. The security guy said, "He says he knows you,"

Garibaldi shook his head in disbelief. David said, "Hey, Joe."

"What the hell happened here?" Garibaldi asked.

"Someone broke into our room. It looks like they were looking for something, but apparently they didn't find it, since we can't find anything missing. As I told him, this has happened once before, but the mess wasn't so severe last time. We thought it was just a prank, so we didn't bother to report it. That was last month, before the break."

Garibaldi nodded. He looked around carefully. It didn't take him long to notice the two objects obviously placed on the desk. "They didn't toss these around..."

"Actually, I put those there. I think they might have been after one or the other of them. They're the only things in the room that I can think of that they couldn't get by going to a store."

"What are they?"

"This is the Lost Book of Galen, a very old potions book, of which there is only this one copy. This... is some kind of amulet that someone sent me. When I got it, it was missing this top stone here. Jailla had given me the crystal a couple years ago for Christmas. We figured that whoever sent this to me, expected me to put my crystal in place. They very well might be trying to get this amulet back, now that it's complete."

"What's it do?" Garibaldi asked.

"Beats me. Hasn't done anything since I got it except flash some colors when I put the last crystal in place. I did a brief search in the library, but couldn't find anything with this design. I'm going to have to look again."

"But if this is what they were after, why is it still here?"

"Because I had it hidden. Both of them. The amulet was hidden in the bottom of Jailla's cage."

Garibaldi nodded. "Okay. We'll take some fingerprints, see if there are any other traces we can follow. I have to say that unless we get something obvious, this probably isn't going anywhere as an investigation. We can't put too much emphasis on a case where nothing was taken."

"Yeah, I hear you. How are Zyla and Grace?" he asked as Garibaldi set to work.

"Zyla's fine, I'll tell her you asked about her. Grace is colicky at the moment, but she'll be okay. She's a cute little thing."

"They usually are. Anything she needs?"

Garibaldi looked up at David. David said, "What? You made me her godfather, don't act all shocked if I take the job seriously..."

Garibaldi grinned. "Yeah, Zyla's still feeling guilty that we didn't get you anything for Christmas."

David snorted. "You did have a few other things on your minds at the time," David pointed out.

"Yeah, still... thanks for the gifts. Especially the ones for Grace. She loves that mobile you got her."

"Good."

The two chatted as Garibaldi continued to do his work. Ultimately, though, he didn't find anything.

"Nothing here. I'm sorry, David, but it doesn't look like there's anything I can do. We've got no clues to go on. Whoever it was, they're good at covering their tracks. You have any enemies this year?"

"Don't I always?" David replied. "But I don't think Prof. Quayde would bother, and Marcus isn't brave enough to do something like this where he might get caught. My real question is, how the hell did they get past a magically locked door?"

"I don't know. With the airflow vent in the door itself, maybe they were able to somehow fish something up and turn the knob."

"But the knob is round... nothing to grab onto."

Garibaldi shrugged. "Again, I'm just guessing. Sorry, but that's pretty much that."

"Yeah, oh well. Mainly I just felt there should be a record of this just in case it gets worse in the future."

"Right. I'd recommend finding better hiding places for those items. And definitely find out about that amulet."

"I think I'll move these... out of my room. Someplace secure."

"Good idea. Anyway, nice to see you again."

"Yeah. Give Zyla a hug for me."

"What, Grace doesn't get one?"

"I don't want you stealing my hugs from Grace," David said with a grin. Garibaldi laughed.

"See you later, David."

With that, Garibaldi left, and the security man, who had been dumbfounded for the past hour, scratched his head.

"Well, I guess all we can do is file a report with the dean's office. They like to be aware of all of these kinds of things."

David nodded. "I'm well aware of that. Thanks for coming down."

"No problem." After a pause, the guy said, "You really delivered that guy's baby?"

"I was there. I didn't do the delivery."

The guy pursed his lips and nodded, then walked off. David went back into the room, and started to clean the place up.

~~≈≡≈~~~≈≡≈~~~≈≡≈~~

"Good morning, can I help you?" the bank teller asked David.

"Do you have safety deposit boxes?"

"Pardon?"

"Do you have... a place where I can put some personal items for safe keeping?"

"Ah, you mean a personal vault. Yes, we do. You'll have to talk with the manager." She raised her hand to get the manager's attention, and waved him over. "This young man would like a personal vault," she told him.

The manager did a double take, and said, "Mr. Stroud! Well, so you have some items that need securing?"

"Yes. It needs to be a fairly good sized box, uh, vault, as one of the items is a book."

The manager nodded. "Well, let me show you the sizes that are available, and you can choose the one that suits your needs."

It took another hour for David to complete the procedures for securing the book of Galen and the amulet. He took images of each of them with his wand, so that he would have a record of what he had put in the box. The bank manager encouraged this. Finally, with all the paperwork done, he headed back up to the school. He was missing lunch to do this, but he wanted to get it secured before whoever it was tried again.

Once David made it up to the school, he remembered that he needed to get his mail. He headed over to the post office, where Carol had his mail all ready and waiting for him. He couldn't stop to chat, as he was already pushing his luck about getting to class on time. He shoved his mail in his bag, and hurried over to Harris Hall for his Advanced Divination class.

~~≈≡≈~~~≈≡≈~~~≈≡≈~~

David leaned back and stretched. He'd just spent the last three hours taking notes from two different books about the Conjuring Room concept. He was almost beginning to understand the notion. His biggest concern was how he would condense all of the necessary information down into a mere fifty pages.

At the moment, however, what he was concerned with was the fact that his back hurt from sitting so long. He stood up and walked around, swinging his arms and twisting this way and that to remove the kinks. He still had hours left on his detention time, but he couldn't do any more research now; his brain was saturated with thoughts of dimensions and energies.

David paced around, wondering what to do with his time. Suddenly, he remembered that he had not looked at his mail from the day before. He didn't expect that would eat up a lot of time, but every minute helped...

Most of the mail was the usual day-to-day crap that he received regularly. The February calendar of events showed nothing of real significance. There was an ad for the theater down in town, which was apparently putting on a play. And then there was a sealed, official-looking envelope.

As David opened it, he wondered what could possibly be important enough for the government of Callamandia to be contacting him. Once he got into the envelope, he dumped out a book and a note.

The book was entitled Traveler in a Strange Land. He thumbed through it, seeing it was all text. He then picked up the note which had accompanied it. The note informed him that this book was the set of laws and regulations that it was essential for him to know as a Dugerran traveler, and this information was the basis of his year-end examination to get his travel endorsement.

David was immediately intrigued, and he went in to sit on the bed, and flipped open the book. He started reading slowly, trying to absorb all of the information within. This would surely keep him occupied for the remainder of his detention.

An hour later, he was proven wrong, when the door opened, and Lise came into the bedroom.

"Oh, good. You're already on the bed. But you have on way too many clothes..." she told him with a grin.

David set down the book, smiled at her, and began to unbutton his shirt.

-----

"It annoys me that we couldn't go out today. Damn Prof. Quayde," Lise said.

"I know."

"What is it you did this time?"

"Asked a question."

"You asked... what did you ask him? If his mother was a prembat?"

David chuckled. "No, I asked him to repeat the assignment information. Some idiot next to me had been talking, and I wasn't able to hear him."

"And is that idiot in here, too?"

David snorted in disgust. "Of course not."

Lise frowned angrily.

"We can go out tomorrow night, if you want," David said. "There's a play at the theater in town."

"Hmm. That'd be nice," she said.

"So... dinner and a show?"

"That sounds good," she said, kissing him.

After they got up to get dressed, David asked, "How did you get in here, anyway? I'm not supposed to have any visitors."

"David, I'm an instructor. The security guy didn't question me."

David grinned at her. "Sneaky."

~~≈≡≈~~~≈≡≈~~~≈≡≈~~

"Where you off to?" Jim asked.

"Date. Don't you have one?"

"No. We went out last night. Not that it got me anything. When you figure you'll be back?"

"Probably late. Just don't make my eyes bleed again, okay?"

Jim blushed. David shook his head, adjusted his coat, handed Jailla a lagoonberry, and then headed out. He was meeting Lise at the entrance to Mt. Woodward, as she didn't want to be seen on campus with him yet. It annoyed him a little bit that they were being so secretive, since it didn't matter here, but that was what she wanted, so he went along with it.

Lise was waiting for David, and she kissed him warmly upon seeing him.

"You look awfully nice today," she said. David had decided to wear his dress uniform.

"So do you," he replied. She'd obviously spent time on her hair and makeup. "Are you hungry yet?"

"Not really. When does the play start?"

"At eight. We have time. Let's just go for a walk first."

"Sounds good," she said, linking her arm in his. They turned and walked down the street, chatting and enjoying each other's company.

-----

David and Lise arrived at the play with plenty of time to spare. They found a spot, about halfway back, and sat down. The chairs had arms that would lift up out of the way, and Lise immediately removed the one between them, so that she could slip closer to David. As she leaned against him, David turned slightly to make her more comfortable, and he put his arm around her shoulders, snugging her in tightly. She sighed contentedly. Seeing that the theater wasn't going to be anywhere near full, he said a little charm which lifted the armrest on the other side of Lise.

"Why don't you put your feet up, and be truly comfortable?" he offered. She shifted, moving her legs up onto the third seat, and then leaning against him even more strongly.

"I like this," she told him with a smile. David returned the smile, and squeezed her shoulders.

Soon, the play began. David found it interesting the uses to which magic was put during the performance. All of the backdrop, and much of the set, were mere illusion. The stage hands used charms to rearrange items between scenes, and amplifying magic meant that hearing the performers was guaranteed, no matter how quietly they spoke.

The play dealt with some historical events which supposedly took place in Callamandia several hundred years before. David enjoyed it, but he had no idea how real it was.

Throughout the show, Lise remained reclined, snuggled in tight against David, watching the play. They didn't say anything to each other, even during the intermissions between acts.

Finally, the play wrapped up. Everyone applauded except Lise, who couldn't do so comfortably. People soon started to leave, but David didn't move, and so Lise stayed where she was.

When the theater was almost empty, David gently patted Lise on the back, letting her know it was time for them to go. She rose reluctantly, as she had enjoyed their closeness.

As they walked back toward campus, they discussed the play. Lise took David's hand as they entered the mountain, and they rode up on the lift that way. She stopped the lift at the entrance to faculty housing, and they walked down the tunnel together.

"I had a talk with Sam," Lise told him as they walked.

"Oh?" David asked. He was pretty sure he knew about what, but he didn't want to say anything.

"Yeah. She wanted to know if I'd made any decision concerning her and you."

"And what did you tell her?" he asked.

"Before I tell you, I want to know why you haven't asked me about it."

"Because I didn't want to give you any reason to think that I prefer her over you."

"Don't you?" she asked. "She's a lot prettier."

"Not really. To both things. You are both very beautiful women, to me."

Lise blushed. "You really don't prefer her?"

They had reached Lise's apartment, and so he waited for her to lead him in before answering her. He faced her, and ran his hands along her arms.

"No, I don't prefer her over you. Why would I? What has she got that you don't have? Nothing, that I can see. I mean, sure, she and I are close. We've been working with each other for two years now; you can't do that without getting close. But you are my girlfriend. That should really be all that needs to be said about that."

Lise blushed, and then she kissed him passionately. After that, there wasn't much talking for a while.

-----

"David... will you stay with me tonight?"

"You mean, sleep here, in your apartment?" he asked.

"Yeah."

"Sure. I'll need to call Jailla and let him know, so he won't worry." Lise nodded, and then snuggled in tightly.

"I told her yes, by the way."

"Huh?" David asked, confused.

"Sam. You remember? I never told you what I told her."

"Oh. Um... yes... what?"

Lise giggled. "Yes, you two can resume sleeping together. Just make sure I get more than she does, okay?"

"Are you sure about this, Lise?"

She nodded. "I don't like seeing her lonely and frustrated. I think she's even more frustrated because you are there, and she can't touch you. So... yes, I'm sure. I know she won't take you away from me."

"Never happen," he said, leaning down and kissing her softly. They remained like that for long moments.

When they broke their kiss, she looked up at him. "I love you, David." Before he could respond, she put a finger to his lips. "Don't say it back. Not until you really mean it. If you say it to me now, I'll never know if you were saying it just to be polite."

David smiled gently at her when she removed her finger.

"Want to take a shower?" he asked instead.

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