3

In the Russo family sandwich shop on Waverly Place, Alex sat in one of the booths struggling with her homework. Her book open, papers before her and her hair trussed up to make her look insane, she struggled and fought to rush through her homework. She couldn't get any of her male admirers to do it for her; they all had massive homework assignments from Professor Danvers and couldn't help her anymore. That left Alex to do her work.

"I hate this stuff!" Alex shrieked and griped. "I hate school! I hate my new teacher!" She roared and cursed. Her father stepped away from her in case she started turning green and larger with large superhuman muscles.

"Alex…" Jerry looked upon her. "This is sort of your own fault. You've been sliding through school for so long that the second you have to do any work, you're not prepared for it."

"How is that supposed to help me?" She looked at her father complacently. "Dad, this guy hates me. I think he hates kids. Why else would he be torturing us like this?"

"I only hope he's gone in two years when I'm in the tenth grade." Max had to cover his sister's shift in the restaurant as she did her homework.

"Guys," His mother cleared and wiped down a few tables. "Anyone who wants to be a teacher does not hate kids! If they did, they'd just become prison guards!" She came over to support her daughter. "Lexie, you just do your best." She kissed her head. "What kind of teacher is he?"

"Lousy!" Alex snapped. "It's going to take me hours to copy from Harper!"

"He can't be that bad!" Max looked up. "I hear he has a photo of Britney Spears on his desk!" Alex just put her hand to her forehead and rolled her eyes. It hurt when she tried to think. She had to answer twenty questions connecting the myths of the Greeks, Egyptians and Sumerians with known historical events. The answers were somewhere in her textbook and required reading; there had to be a spell that would do this for her. She just frustratedly and overwhelmingly looked up rubbing her eyes to look around the shop. When she did, she noticed Justin coming into the shop and with him was Professor Danvers. How could that goofy moron bring him home into the shop?!

"Mom! Dad!" Justin rushed inside past their few customers. "I want you to meet Professor William Danvers! He's my new world history teacher!"

"Mister Russo, Mrs. Russo…" Danvers greeted Justin's parents with the honor of proper British custom and charm. He looked aside and noticed Alex; her hair piled wildly on her head, her tired eyes narrowed into an evil sneer, her lips contorted into an angry sneer and her over-wrought fingers gnarled around her short orange pencil. "Goodness, Mrs. Russo…" The sight of her amused him. "Not finished with your homework, yet? I thought you'd have finished it by now considering how light it was!"

Alex just growled a bit and turned back to her first question.

"It's an honor to meet you, professor…" Jerry Russo shook the hand of his son's teacher. "It's not often you find a teacher so concerned with the education of his students."

Alex growled a bit, waiting for some gamma rays to kick in and reveal the level of her anger.

"Thank you very much, Mr. Russo." Professor Danvers laid his case over the stool. Smiling, Theresa Russo offered him some American tea in a Styrofoam white cup. He pleasantly accepted it even though he didn't care much for American instant tea.

"Are you going to be teaching at our school in two more years?" Max asked.

"I certainly hope so!"

"Oh god…" Max now looked scared! He became like a mouse and turned away in fear of a future with Professor Danvers as his teacher!!

"Actually, Mr. Russo…" Professor Danvers sipped the nearly tasteless American tea given him and continued with the main reason with his visit. "I was wishing to speak to you about young Justin. You see, I find him to be a very gifted student, but I don't think he's being challenged academically. I think he should be enrolled at a school matched to his gifts in order to much better challenge him. I would like to sponsor Justin into a school of higher learner to help him reach his full potential."

"Wow!" Theresa and Jerry liked that idea whole-heartedly. Theresa hugged Justin closer, and Jerry proudly patted the boy at the shoulder. "This sounds great!!! What school should you think he should go to?"

"I'd like to transfer Justin from Wiz-Tech to Hogwarts in Britain."

Jerry and Theresa's grins suddenly froze. Alex looked over in shock and Max slid out of the kitchen upon hearing what he had thought he had heard. Did he hear what he thought he had heard?! Danvers knew about them being wizards? Did that mean he was a Wizard?! Was Justin going to leave Waverly Place to attend another school in Europe?

"What?" Jerry finally broke through his shock. Justin was still beaming excitedly. Justin was going to go from where to where?

"Dad, he showed me the campus!" Justin reacted. "It's great. I already made some friends, they play something called quidditch… I mean, sure some of the teachers are a little creepy, but I think it's so cool there! Can I go?"

"My baby going to school in another country?" Theresa hugged her son closer. "Oh, Justin, I don't know…"

"Uh, professor…" Realizing the sort of teacher that Professor Danvers was, Jerry looked around his shop of dining patrons and silently mumbled. "Isn't it a bit dangerous to be discussing magic in front of…. Well, non-magicks…"

"Why not?" Danvers turned to the room behind him. "Ladies and gentlemen, my name is Professor William Danvers, I am 357 years old and I practice magic. Does anyone want to see me conjure a dragon?" He spoke outward and openly to the room. He got a few eye rolls, looks of idiocy and a few blank stares as people finished their sandwiches. Danvers turned back to Jerry.

"You see… they don't care." He explained. "All people care about is one thing: themselves."

"You don't mind people thinking you are a lunatic?"

"The only thing worse than being thought of being considered a lunatic is actually being one." Professor Danvers was very scholarly and wise in his observations of the human condition. "Mr. Russo, Justin is not being stimulated as a student. How far can he get if he is not encouraged to go beyond his limits? Now, I don't mean to undermine your authority as a parent, but I really do care about seeing Justin being as much as he possibly can. Don't you care to see your son be the very best he can be?"

"Well, of course, I care…" Jerry looked to his boy and back. "But what about Alex? She deserves the same kind of schooling as her brothers."

"Why are you bringing me into this?" Alex moved in to the conversation.

"Mr. Russo…" Professor Danvers palmed his goatee a bit and looked to Alex standing by him. "I have observed your daughter today, and she is already about as far as she is going to get." He looked to Alex. "Without discipline and direction, she is going to be the exact same thing she already is for the rest of her life: just another pretty face and a disaster in the making. Should she become a full wizard… she will bring misfortune to herself and everyone around her. I am more interested in guiding Justin to be all he can be. Surely you won't stand in his way?"

"Well, of course not…" Jerry sighed a bit and looked to his wife. Justin cheered a bit under his breath. "Both Theresa and I want the very best for Justin… For all our kids."

"Excellent!" Danvers sipped the last of the tea and thanked Theresa for being such a gracious hostess. "I'm sure Justin will enjoy Hogwarts very much, and as far as Alex… Well, I'll submit her name as well, just to see what will happen."

"What? Why are you dragging me into this?" She was not crazy about how this was progressing.

"If you'll excuse me," Danvers collected his satchel case again. "I must go join my wife in Paris." He shook Jerry's hand and kissed Theresa's hand. She glowed from his aristocratic Old World personality.

"But you'll never make it!"

"Of course, I will; it's just out your other door." He opened the other door in the side of the shop where the image of the Champs-de-Mars appeared with the Eiffel Tower in the background. One of the dining patrons looked up, noticed the image then sniffed his soda to see if it had been spiked with liquor.