“You might notice that I called this a ward despite it being clearly an enchantment.” She lifted up and rotated the box around. “Notice how the effect stays with the box, not a location.
“When inventing wards, they generally start out as enchantments. It is far easier to experiment on a small, portable subject rather than something building sized.”
“We aren’t here to discuss the pedantry of proper terminology. Not today at least. Open your books to page one-one-zero-three-seven. We’ll be looking at more specific applications of order magic today.”
Irene sat up straight as the lesson turned to something of more personal interest to her. She doubted they would get in the thick of things during the lesson; order and chaos magic were taught only in the later years of schooling. Still, nothing would stop her from taking as many notes as she could today.
School Woes
Zoe Baxter snapped shut the book in her hands.
It was all worthless.
She had put a halt to her demonology studies–taking the terminology from Devon–to work on helping one of her new students.
No matter how many books she read on the subjects of diseases, debilitations, and illness, none of them had any answers. She’d been up and down every book and hadn’t even been able to come up with similar cases, let alone a cure.
Zoe was starting to get worried that she would have to delve into far more abstruse tomes to find any hint.
The girl’s father mentioned that they had never before come across anything that might lend a clue. With the power of Brakket Academy Library behind her, Zoe thought she might be able to find something.
She even roped Lisa into helping despite her being the nurse to the Rickenbacker dorms while Miss Finnell resided within the Gillet. She had absolutely nothing against Nurse East. He was a good medical professional and an adequate potioneer, but Eirin tended to be a tad loony at times.
So far, Lisa had found nothing. It didn’t help that Lisa hadn’t examined the girl on account of Miss Finnell vanishing for the entirety of the summer months. Despite arriving on the flight for orientation, she went back home to her father to spend some more time with him before school started in full.
She neglected to mention how she returned home.
Zoe sighed as she stood up. The book in her hand dropped back to between–Zoe would return it to the library later. She walked around her desk and came to a stop in front of her transparent office door.
First year students filed into her classroom one after another. They were always such fun to watch. Freshmen going to their first class displayed the largest range of emotions. Some came in eager, others nervous. One particular red-headed boy showed off an air of cockiness usually reserved for those with parents who trained them before school started.
Zoe doubted that young Mr. Beans had such training.
The door to Zoe’s classroom sat at the back of the room. As such, few noticed when Des and her adopted brother Hugo entered the room hand-in-hand. The class’ obliviousness did not last long. The two walked straight to the front of the room and took a seat nearest to Zoe’s lectern.
Hugo simply sat. His eyes unfocused as he stared straight ahead.
Des, on the other hand, seemed fairly chipper. With a smile on her face, she pulled out a book and immediately put her nose in it.
Then the whispers began.
The rest of the class had been conversing normally up to that point. Now they pointed and half covered their mouths as they spoke among the small cliques that formed over the summer.
Zoe expected this and had given due warning to both Des and her father. Both simply nodded and had a small solemn look–not that Doctor Finnell lost his wide smile–which gave Zoe the feeling that it happened at some previous school. They both agreed to have Des attend despite that.
Still, it annoyed her to see others so blatantly disrespecting their fellow students.
Zoe almost entered the room. The bell would be ringing shortly and she liked to start the year off with a bang. Or a bolt, as the case was.
Two students approaching the front desk gave her pause.
Part of Zoe hoped that they were going to be nice, polite, and perhaps even become friends.
The taunting looks on the two girls’ faces made Zoe think otherwise.
Yet Zoe stayed her hand. She’d wait and watch how it played out.
Both girls walked up, both attempting to hold in laughter by the looks of things. The one in the front–a black-haired girl Zoe did not yet know the name of–immediately opened her mouth and launched into a deluge of words.
Des didn’t seem to notice anyone speaking to her for a few moments. Once the girls started laughing, she looked up from her book.
The black-haired girl had a few more words to say before both burst out laughing again.
