Meghan stayed in bed the entirety of Sunday. The night before she had stayed up late with Vivian and it had been nice, but now she had a lot of reading to do.
Sometimes when Professor Grisham talked, she got the feeling that he knew something she didn’t, something more specific than all the other knowledge he was trying to pass off on her. When she didn’t get something, when she had trouble with a concept he seemed so frustrated and… worried.
So, her Sunday was spent curled up in bed with several books and highlighters as she tried diligently to cram her brain with all the relevant information. In the end, the pages that she had read was looked like the fucking rainbow.
---
Sophie didn’t feel like playing in the snow Sunday, not after the news of a second death, potentially from a hunter. Instead she stayed inside playing a card game with Hazel, lazily using her wand to flip the cards and debating with her friend and the new guy the merits of hunters being real and how many there could potentially be in the world.
---
Most Sundays Professor Hunt was not in her office, but with everything going on with the death of the student Sinclair was lucky enough to find her in her office. Still, she frowned at his sudden appearance, placing her pen down and looking through her glasses at him. He seemed a little frenzied and she was a little surprised by his sudden request for extra time with the runes professor and what that necessarily had to do with the death of Hayato.
"Mr. O'Flaherty," She greeted cooly. "Here you are, in my office, once again." There was no smile to be found on her face, but there often wasn't. "I'm not sure what one has to do with the other, but if you would like extra tutoring with Professor Loray, that is something you will have to take up with her as she would be the one to have to carve time out of her schedule to teach you. Do you feel that you are not getting proper instruction in class?" she sighed, quietly. "And unless you have the name of Mr. Anzai's killer and where we could find her, I believe we have the necessary information regarding him, but please go ahead." There was a chance he could have heard something that was not seen in Loray's rune that had replayed the scene. The headmistress leaned back and patiently waited for Sinclair to tell what he knew.
The headmistress listened intently as Sinclair described what he had seen and then expressed his worry that she would be coming after him next. “I understand your concern,” Professor Hunt soothed, “but if she was worried about you seeing her, she likely wouldn’t have let you just go and wave you off like that. If she truly were a hunter, which there’s no hard proof that she was, then she probably would have gone after you right then and there. You are safe on campus; Altsoba is an incredibly safe place. The only ones who know how to get onto the campus are those that attend this school and it’s employees. If that woman is out there looking for you, she will be unable to find you.
Eyeing the runes on her desk she gently nudged them back in Sinclair’s direction. “If you honestly feel you need the extra time with Professor Loray, as I said previously that is something you will have to take up with her. She is under no obligation to give you additional lessons outside of class time and I cannot force her hand to do so.”
With that, Sinclair was quietly dismissed.
---
Eva was distracted, momentarily, by the flurry of snow around them. The snow had already been mesmerizing to the young girl, but the use of magic with the snow delighted her. The moment passed though and she grew focused, listening intently to Nito's instructions. It was a Sunday, the one day she didn't have practice or class and the day she could spend the most on working with ice. She was determined not to disappoint the cyromancer who patiently took time out of his own training schedule to teach her.
The sorceress stumbled over her words at first, aware of Nito's watchful eyes. It always threw her how intently he would watch, but after a few minutes she would usually be able to move past it and actually focus. Closing her eyes and taking a deep breath to refocus her thoughts, she thought about her magic and where it was centered, drawing her energy from there and imagining that it spread from her, as Nito said, like a web gathering individual snow flakes. Then she worked to put that visualization into reality, opening her eyes to pay attention to the flakes that she was catching. The ones that were missed obviously frustrated her, and there were more dropped than gathered, but she didn't quit.
He believed in her, so she believed in herself.
She was very observant, particularly to small details, it is completely possible that Eva has been paying attention to which foods Nito would pick at, ignore, and be most excited about. She was learning to read him every day, having learned that his face would hardly ever be telling but his eyes, they reflected the most information. The choice of muffin had been intentional.
Eva spent the morning and afternoon practicing with Nito and then the rest of the afternoon evening she spent in the girl’s common room studying and doing her homework. They had group work coming up in specialization and she had to study the mechanics of working with a group. Focus and concentration was hard enough on your own, it was bound to be harder to find the proper balance of force and control with different people, too much or too little help from one person could ruin the whole experiment. That thought led her to make a mental note to pack an extra cloak and change of clothes for tomorrow; she had a feeling she’d be soaked by the end of class.
She was heading toward her dorm when she was stopped by Joseph again. “Hey, Eva.” he stepped in front of her and the young sorceress slowed.
“Joseph.”
“No one has seen Anthony all day.”
She tilted her head at him, confused. “He hasn’t been back to his dorm?” Joseph shook his head and she adjusted her backpack. “I haven’t seen him, Joseph.”
He ran his hand through his hair, “I know, I’m just worried about him.”
“I’m sure he can handle himself.” Eva said after a beat and Joseph nodded, but didn’t move. “Maybe you should go talk to Professor Hunt? I know he didn’t have plans to go to Banff yesterday, but maybe he ended up going?” No body had been found but that didn’t mean something hadn’t happened to him.
“Yeah, if he doesn’t turn up by breakfast I’ll go see her.” He still didn’t move and after an uncomfortable silence Eva stepped around him and headed up to her room.
__________________________________________________
The next morning Eva had to drag herself out of bed for Dueling Practice. They started the hour with thirty minutes of cardio, as if they would be able to increase their endurance in the week before the tournament. Professor Topp was crankier than usual this morning, too, and anytime a student showed signs of slowing down during the run she’d bark at them to pick up the pace.
They spent the next fifteen minutes lining up in front of her as she fired off offensive spells and they had to deflect or block the spell before going to the back of the line so they could go through it again.
The following fifteen minutes they were split into pairs to practice offense and defense in two minute intervals. Eva was usually paired with Ishade but he wasn’t at practice and oddly enough Professor Topp didn’t seem too peeved about it. It wouldn’t be until later that she would find out that Hayato had been her friend’s roommate. She ended up being paired with the professor instead. Practice was extended another fifteen minutes for more running. By the time Eva was showered and dressed and dragging herself to the dining hall she was already craving being back in bed.
Still, she gathered up breakfast for herself and Nito and met him at the lake a little bounce in her step when she caught sight of him.
---
Water
By the time she arrived to specialization class Eva was fully and sleepy and she worried that she would ruin her group's project.
Professor Holcombe stood at the front of the room, all the desks that were usually there were nowhere to be seen, so the students awkwardly stood in the center of the class. “As some of you have probably already forgotten, we are beginning the segment on group and partner work. Magic requires incredible effort, focus, and discipline. It is one thing to work on that on your own, but the true test of your abilities is working with another sorcerer to perform magic.”
He paced the room as he spoke, making eye contact with each student at one point or another. His bushy eyebrows were knitted together as he spoke passionately about the assignment, “Alone a sorcerer can achieve great things but working in tandem with others, a sorcerer can achieve greatness.” He gestured at the class, “We will start in pairs today. By the end of the two weeks, you should be able to work as a class. Today pick someone you're comfortable working with, tomorrow you will work with someone new! Remember, this should be done in silence.”
The assignment was to create and maintain a waterfall from the ceiling to the floor between the student and their partner. If one put too much magic or not enough the wall of water would not hold. By the end of the class they would be expected to wordlessly reverse the direction of the water from floor to ceiling with their partner.
Fire
Like the classroom used for water, the desks were missing in the fire room. Professor Towns, a tall willowy woman, stood in the middle. She greeted the first person through her door the same way she always did: tossing a fireball in their direction. The student was meant to hold it and pass it to the next student through the door and so on. Anyone who lost control, let the fire die out, or missed the fire would be docked a point for the day.
When everyone gathered around her she beamed. “Today starts our segment in fire collaboration.” She gave a similar speech about the importance of being able to work with another sorcerer, “there is some magic that is unachievable on your own. To work poorly with another person can wreak havoc and devastation upon a city! To work properly with other sorcerers, you can attain new heights! Who's ready to begin?”
Several students, hung up on wreaking havoc, exchanged a look and no one really said much. “Great!” she chirped. “Partner up… and Max, Monique, today you may work together but tomorrow please find a new partner.” She moved out of the way as the students milled about. “Move quickly, now.” She urged.
The assignment was to create and control a fire whip, as team without discussion. She wanted it to expand across the room and to be about three feet in width. “The size shouldn't be a problem,” she started and someone whispered, “that's what she said.” Towns ignored it and continued, “but maintaining control, particularly as two individuals, will be your challenge. I don't expect it to be mastered by the end of class.”
She walked around counting heads and then confused asked to the room at large, “Has anyone seen Mr. Zarzuela?” Anthony had a Witch’s Cold last week but she would have thought he would have returned to class by now.
Fauna
Rather than meeting in their usual classroom, the fauna students met up outside regardless of the thick layer of snow on the ground. Professor Green stood bundled up in the clearing near the forest, cloak tightly wrapped around her.
“The past few weeks we have practiced magical summons of small animals: bees, rabbits, rats, snakes, etcetera.” Each letter was clearly enunciated; there was never any trouble understanding what she had to say. “Today we are starting on something bigger and, by the end of this segment, you, as a class working together, will be able to produce a woolly mammoth.” She, too, gave a speech about the necessity of learning to perform magic with another sorcerer.
“If you can learn to focus and be disciplined with someone else, you will see an incredible improvement in your individual practice. Today you will conjure a great Dane with your partner.” She waved her wand and the picture of the dog she was requesting was distributed to each student. “It should look as close to this picture as possible and you should maintain control of your animal. Tomorrow we work on horses. Pair up and begin. Quietly. Not a word should be exchanged.”
For most of the pairs, the conjuring of the animal was the easy part, but forming into the proper size and with the correct details is where most students messed up. One pair had ended up with a two headed dog and both were cringing at the result. Another pair had created a chihuahua but with the head of a pitbull and it was growling at the teens incessantly.
Wind
The wind students were set-up inside with the reinforced walls they usually used for their practical lessons.
Professor Craig was waiting, patiently. She was sitting criss-cross and hovering in the air, eyes closed. The students gathered around, shifting impatiently while they waited. When the last student had entered the room, only then did she open her eyes. A large gust of wind blew the classroom door closed and the professor uncrossed her legs to land lightly on the ground.
“Good morning, students.” She greeted, after a moment all the while, smiling serenely. “Go ahead and find a partner. Today we will be creating tornados!” Her eyes lit with excitement, “Just a small column of air. The goal is to
control your tornado. I want it three feet high, exactly. No taller, and no shorter. Two inches wide at the bottom and four feet wide at the top. I
will be coming around and measuring for those of you who manage to maintain any sort of proper shape. With proper control you and your partner should be able to maintain the size and proper amount of force. Work
with your partner to achieve your goal, do not work
against your partner.”
She began walking around the room, casually pairing up students who hadn’t yet done so. “Remember, this should be done without a word to your partner. You must find the balance with the magic, not with your words. Not a word.” Pause. “That means you, Miss Smith.” Cassie smiled sheepishly and made a zipping motion across her lips.
Most of the partners would struggle with getting the right amount of force condensed enough to be able to actually create a tornado, let alone getting it to the proper size, but they had two hours to practice and toward the end a few of them even managed to start getting the shape right. While the students worked, Professor Craig wandered around casually correcting technique and reminding them all about the importance of teamwork!
Earth
Just as the fauna students had been forced outside, so had the earth students. They, however, met in the track field which had been cleared of all snow. Professor Russell stood in the middle as students gathered around him in a semi-circle, chattering away while waiting for instruction.
There was a distinct rumble in the ground beneath them and the talking ceased almost immediately except for a few expletives of admiration.
“Of all the incredible things that earth is capable of, most students seem obsessed with the idea of creating earthquakes. The power to literally shift the world beneath you, to move tectonic plates calls to many of you.” There was a quiet murmur of excitement. “Well, we aren’t going to do that today. We are very close to a town full of humans and none of you have very much control, you could easily destroy it. That would be a ridiculous assignment.” There was several groans of disappointment. “But you will be learning to shift and manipulate rock which will ultimately result in you learning to shift the ground beneath you. By the end of class next week, together you will create an imitation earthquake. You will move the ground, but nothing deeper than that. Pair up.”
He waited for the students to arrange themselves in pairs before continuing, “Today you will be building, shaping, and manipulating these boulders.” He waved his wand and between each pair a five foot boulder would drop. Had they been hovering there the whole time? “Without destroying your material, reshape your rock. No talking. Now, begin.”
He was already pacing through the students and a hand went up, “Figure out what it is you’re trying to create together, Mr. Benson. Feel your partner’s magic and pay attention to what they’re trying to do and build from that. This should be a wordless exchange.” The professor answered the unasked question and the hand went down.
