Chapter 8

When Galinda shows up at Literature class, late, she slips in silently, and I cannot make out her mood. I feel odd in Meddik's presence. I used to lap up everything he had to say about literature, but now I can only think of his and Galinda's sick bargain. I feel horrified to think that all these students are sitting here innocently, with no idea what's happening behind the scenes. I should say something – and would, if only I didn't have to keep my hold on Galinda.

Her essay gets returned to her with a B. I get an A, of course.

As the lesson commences, I notice the usual whispers of Galinda and her friends. This time they are talking about Galinda's improved grade, a grade which she doesn't deserve, which her friends don't know is a fake. The stupid bimbos actually believe that Galinda is trying to better herself.

'Do you think you'll stand a chance of getting into Morrible's sorcery class?' Miss Shenshen asks.

'I've got a ways to go. The artichoke gets A's and even she wasn't let in, remember?'

'Yeah but she's blind. And dangerous.'

'True. Which is why, when I start getting A's, I'll actually get in,' Galinda says firmly.

My palms are tingling. The injustice is not fair! I have worked so hard and that dumb blonde might get in on her dishonesty! The notion makes me hot and confined. I can feel the adrenaline creeping up on me. The tingling increases, something jumps from my finger, and then there is a gasp from Galinda's seat.

'Ow!' Galinda whines, and Meddik stops talking.

'Excuse me, what seems to be the problem?'

'Just – just a pain,' Galinda stammers.

'Do you need to be excused to see the nurse?'

'Yes please – it was awfully sudden.'

Of course she does. It means getting out of class which, at any rate, might be more bearable without her in it. She gets up and leaves, and the lecture resumes, and I spend the rest of it feeling jumpy and agitated.

My palms don't stop tingling until much, much later.


There is a tense buzz in the cafeteria, far different from its usual light atmosphere. It is a sign that something important must have happened, if this bunch were able to be distracted from the usual trivialities of their lives.

I get my lunch and make my way around the room, looking for Nessa.

'Over here, Fabala,' she calls out, and I slowly weave through the many tables and students to sit with her.

We have been on distant terms since I brought down the politics building. Although we have continued to take our meals together, they are frequently filled with awkward silences, broken occasionally by Nanny's crazy nattering. I poke at my food, wondering what to say. Introducing any normal topic of conversation would be like an expectation of forgiveness from Nessa, which I know I don't deserve.

Occasionally she will say something, though her sentences are short and clipped. I don't blame her. I would be furious if I was a future governor with a sister creating chaos.

'They doubt me,' Nessa says, and I don't need her to clarify in order to know who the 'they' refers to. Some of the Munchkins have not been kind to her since the Politics building came down.

Her words make me wince.

'I apologise.'

My apology is feeble. It doesn't change anything. I have already made it several times over, but such fickle words as 'I'm sorry' won't placate the entire student body, not when they have already made up their minds about me. The truth is, they will hate me no matter what I say – and by extension, they will give Nessa a rough time as well.

'You have to get it under control.'

She has said this many times.

'There doesn't seem to be a way. Not when Morrible won't let me take her seminar.'

'Perhaps that is for the better,' Nessa replies. 'Sorcery is evil. Even if it would help you, dappling with such subjects is against the Unnamed God. No – you are better off finding some other way. By disallowing you this, the Unnamed God is trying to save you.'

'If your supposed Unnamed God wanted to rescue me, he would not have allowed me to be born green. Or blind, for that matter.'

Nessa sighs.

'I know you get troubles for these things, but the Unnamed God would save you if you chose to let him in. There is no need to be so sinful just because you have oddities.'

'I am sinful by being born. Besides, I don't have a soul, so I cannot be taken in by any God, existent or not.'

'Can you not just cage the magic?'

I think about her question. Yesterday I spent three hours listening to Galinda recite long passages of sorcery textbooks, but I do not recall the subject coming up. At some point I will have to take a trip through my memory and sort through everything I learned, but for now I merely shrug.

'I do not know if such a thing is possible,' I respond, but inside I feel hopeful. It would save me many problems if it was.

Please, please let it be possible.

We continue to eat in silence. The tension in the café seems to be growing. The hushed whispers are turning into animated debate and I can hear some malice creeping in. Whatever it is, it really has gotten these students stirred.

'What are they talking about?' I ask my sister.

She pauses before responding.

'There has been talk of new Animal laws.'

My ears prick up.

'What kind of laws?'

'Apparently the Wizard of Oz wants to ban the Animals from teaching in schools.'

'What?!'

Doctor Dillamond! I immediately push my chair back and stand up. Without bothering to bid my sister good bye, I manoeuvre my way out of the cafeteria and hurry through the university to the Life Sciences department. I scarcely pay attention to the students I knock into on the way – I just know that I have to speak to him as fast as possible.

'Doctor Dillamond!' I exclaim, bursting into his classroom.

'Miss Elphaba!' he responds.

'They can't take you away, they just can't!'

Doctor Dillamond sighs heavily and I feel my heart sink. Now that my panic has ebbed, reality begins to catch up to me. No matter what either of us say, there may be nothing we can do about it. If the new laws get passed, Dillamond will be removed and nobody will get any say in the matter.

'I am hoping that there might be a chance,' he says slowly, and my heart speeds up.

'What chance?'

'You see, I am rather close to proving the link between humans and Animals. If I could just get this done before the new laws were passed…'

'You would be able to stay!' I exclaim excitedly. 'Doctor Dillamond, that's wonderful! That way they'll have to let you stay!'

'Yes well…one can only hope,' he says.

I don't pray, but if I did, I would pray that he proves the link in time. If he leaves, the only people I will have left are Cerys and my sister, and only out of obligation. There will be no one left who interacts with me completely willingly. I cannot fathom which option is worse – staying here in total isolation with a student body that hates me, or leaving and surrendering myself to the streets and shunned by my own family.

It seems like I am destined for solitude no matter what happens.

But perhaps not. After all, there is one option left – to do what Nessa said and cage the magic somehow. I would have to give up the idea of curing my blindness, but at least the magic wouldn't be wayward.

That night I drag Galinda back down to the library. She whines in protest but we both know that she doesn't really have any choice.

'This is so unfair,' she grumbles. 'You're taking me away from my obligations.'

'Which ones, your social ones? I do not believe them to be of any importance whatsoever.'

'But they are important! If I skip too many of them people might believe I'm actually studying!'

'Is that such a bad thing?' I mutter. 'If you study you might get into Morrible's sorcery seminar on your own merit and won't have to resort to your little affair with Professor Meddik!'

'You – you – artichoke!' she exclaims.

Is that really the best she can come up with? I wonder, as I sit down at a desk and wait for Galinda to get the sorcery books. She sits down with a discontented sigh, and I feel compelled to say something.

'I would have thought you'd take to reading about all this sorcery stuff, given how badly you want to get into the seminar, but I guess your view on the subject must be as idealistic as your notion of marrying Fiyero.'

'It is not idealistic!'

'Your views on sorcery, or Fiyero?'

'How dare you say that! And anyway, I rather think that your views must also be idealistic if you think that swotting up will change Morrible's mind about you, or did you forget the part where you brought down an entire building?'

'It was an accident!' I suddenly realise that my voice has risen and is echoing around the otherwise silent area. Taking a deep breath, I say 'And besides, I have decided that that is no longer my plan. In fact, I wish quite the opposite.'

'What in Oz are you talking about?'

'I wish to cage my magic.'

She pauses. 'At least you'll no longer be dangerous.'

It must be the first time we've agreed on anything.

We start to scour the books for information on caging magic. There have been several instances recorded in Ozian history, where someone chose to cage their magical ability for whatever reason. The first recorded instance was a Fourteenth Century man who had some severe disabilities, including a neurological disorder which made him unstable. His condition made his magic progressively more sporadic, and the only option to ensure his (and everyone else's) safety was to cage his powers.

The book describes the process by which the magic is caged. It takes another person to perform a binding spell on the person who intends to cage their powers. The spell is irreversible – once it is cast, there is no going back, and the magic is locked away forever. I wonder if I can convince Morrible to do it. Galinda might be magical, but her ability is so low that I doubt she could levitate a teacup let alone perform such a difficult spell as this one.

'Miss Elphaba,' Galinda says hesitantly.

'Yes, Miss Galinda?'

'I – I need to go. I'm sorry, but I…'

'No! You will stay here.'

'But I…'

'Do I have to remind you about Fiyero?'

'No, I – I know. But please, just this once. I can't not go, I…'

She suddenly seems fearful, a fact that causes me to pause. Although she is afraid of me, I can't help but wonder at her sudden need to defy me in spite of the consequences. I want to pass it off as an act, a mere means of getting away from me, but somehow I can't help thinking that there is more to this than it seems.

'Please,' she almost whispers. 'Please, I'm begging you.'

'Fine,' I relent. 'Go. I suppose I can make do with what I've got, for now.'

She hurries off as fast as she can. Truth be told, all I need to do now is go to Morrible and ask her to cage my magic, and after that, all of this will be over.