A/N: Hiya! I'm going to keep this kind of short, but I want to quickly say that I'm going to change the rating to T as there will be some violence later on. Nothing like super gory or anything, but it won't be PG level either, so be aware of that. (This chapter doesn't have any of the content that the rating change is happening for, but this is a warning in advance).

Enjoy!

!

Margaret took a deep breath as she stood in front of the door proudly marked "Principal's Office". She glanced behind herself to see all of the other 12th years standing there with her. It had been agreed by the end of the school day that all of the 12th years had some substantial concerns over Mr. Hook's competence as a teacher, and as such it was quickly decided that a meeting with Mr. Nolan was imperative. At the toll of the afternoon bell marking dismissal, all of the 12th years gathered in a packed cluster around Mr. Nolan's office door, waiting for the man to arrive back from the bell.

The echo of footsteps alerted them all to his presence, the entire crowd turning to their left to see him pause for a second upon seeing the group. He let out an audible sigh and resumed his trek to his office, the sea of students opening a path for him to walk through.

"Ms. Darling and…company, it is a pleasure to see you," he greeted dryly. The entire group nodded their heads as an acknowledgment toward the greeting. "It seems that you have something very important to tell me, or else I would not see all of you gathered here before me."

"Yes, sir," Margaret said, acting as the speaker of the group.

"Well, then, let us continue this conversation in my office with only one representative if you please," he said, eyeing the rest of the students to stay back. Margaret strode into his office confidently, seating herself in the comfortable guest chair that faced Mr. Nolan's desk. He seated himself tiredly and began to shuffle through the small stack of papers on his desk. Having had enough experience with Mr. Nolan, Margaret knew this was her cue to begin.

"I do hope that we do not come across as impertinent in doing so, sir, but we have some concerns over our English teacher, Mr. Hook." Mr. Nolan continued to work through the papers, stacking them in various piles all over his desk. "As a group we all feel that Mr. Hook's methods…are not reflective of the atmosphere of Grim Preparatory School."

Upon saying those words, Mr. Nolan stopped sifting through the documents on his desk, leaning back into his chair. "Go on."

"Today, he showed up very late to class, almost 15 minutes. Now, to his credit he doesn't appear very familiar with the layout of the school, so he may have been lost. However, he has multiple classes throughout the day, and we are his last class. Unless he had not ventured out from his class during the rest of the day then he should have no excuse to not be punctual. Along with that, he is incredibly strict with his classroom rules and discipline. Now, discipline and order are important in the classroom, but the extent and literal use of his rules are comparatively harsh. And his methods for dealing with an individual who breaks such rules are…an almost criminal offense."

Mr. Nolan thought for a moment, rubbing his chin as he pondered the situation. "What does he do?"

"Well, Mr. Hook has a 'no talking' rule. When he asked the class if we understood his rules, we replied with a verbal yes, to which he began to ask the class the meaning of this rule. A girl replied audibly the meaning…and he proceeded to grab her by the ear and yank her on the floor, threatening her physically with his…hook," Margaret explained slowly, feeling deeply unsettled by the entire affair. Mr. Nolan flinched at the explanation, seemingly enraged at the events that had transpired.

"That is deeply worrying indeed. I believe your word, Ms. Darling, but as protocol states the matter must be investigated. I will see what can be done to make amends."

Margaret smiled wearily, standing up from her chair and giving a nod in farewell. She closed the door to the office to see the wide eyes of everyone in the group who had heard the entire conversation.

"Do you think they'll fire him?" A boy asked Margaret. She thought for a moment.

"I have no idea."

!

"Dear, what on earth is troubling you so much. And don't give me that 'I'm fine' nonsense. You cannot fool me!" Wendy said in a firm voice. Margaret offered a small smile at her Nana, picking at her food with her fork. She couldn't tell the truth; god knows what her grandmother would do if she learned about her English teacher's actions. But what could she say? She didn't want to lie either.

"I'm just…worried about school…that's all. I mean, this year is a very important year. Classes are getting pretty serious, even more so than they did last year. I'm worried I won't be able to measure up. I know it sounds like barmy talk, but it's true," she told Wendy. Wendy seemed to completely accept the answer without hesitation, to her relief.

"My grandchild unable to measure up? What kind of talk is that? If I know anyone that is determined to a fault, that is you. You will be fine. Now, you just need to not drive yourself to wits end with studying and keep your head about you and you'll do very well. Allowing yourself to relax is just as important as working hard," Nana advised, waving her spoon at Margaret animatedly. Margaret managed a slight chuckle from this action, as it was obvious that Wendy was trying to cause a response.

The rest of supper passed uneventfully. Margaret forced herself to engage in lively talk despite her desperate wish to remain quiet throughout. To her luck she finished her plate rather quickly and managed to excuse herself from the table without raising too much suspicion, giving the excuse that she had quite a bit of school work to get working on.

She trudged up the stairs dejectedly, walking into her room and plopping herself onto her bed. Margaret was well aware that Mr. Nolan was being earnest in his promise to investigate the matter of Mr. Hook, but deep down the uneasiness she felt still remained. Something about him didn't sit right with her, and no it wasn't just the hook. His ways of running the class were deeply concerning on more levels than one. But the worst part about it was that there was not guarantee that he would be relieved from his position. For the time being, everyone in the 12th form was stuck with him as a teacher with no end in sight.

Suddenly, Margaret heard a rattling from the window in her room. She sat up, and immediately saw the windows blow wide open in front of her, with a gust of wind blowing in a substantial amount of leaves into her room. Margaret jumped up and ran to the window, sharing a brief battle with it before managing to shut and lock it firmly.

"How peculiar," she remarked to herself, preparing to clean the leaves from her room. However, a strange marking caught her eye. Another moment of observation allowed her to deduce that all of the leaves that blew in had a letter written on it, though the scrawl was barely readable.

Margaret knelt down onto the floor and began to pick up the leaves, laying them out in various arrangements to attempt to read the message.

"D…a…y…n…j…u…r," Margaret said slowly. "Daynjur. Danger?" She asked herself quietly in a low voice. She cocked her head to the side as she considered other letter combinations, though ultimately the majority of them didn't pan out.

"Danger. Someone thinks I'm in danger? Who would write a message like this, let alone the terrible spelling?" Margaret questioned herself slowly. "It doesn't make any sense unless…" she suddenly froze as realization dawned upon her. Could someone be trying to send her a message about Mr. Hook? In context it would make the most sense. But still, who could have done it?

Similar questions swam in Margaret's head as she carried the leaves over to her bed. "I just don't get it," she said finally after another 10 minutes of intense thinking. "I'll have to do some research tomorrow; maybe something will turn up." At that, satisfied with her plan she placed the leaves in one of the drawers in her desk carefully, pressing them in an old notebook of hers before climbing into bed and falling fast asleep.