Chapter 4
"Sparks and Flames"
"So the first class of the day. is Defense Against the Dark Arts Level 7." Rory groaned. "Great, just what I always wanted.what have you got, Tabitha?" The girls were seated in the nearly empty Great Hall, finishing up their breakfast.
There was a long moment of silence as Tabitha stared hard at her scheduling sheet. "Umm. Spells and Enchantments Level 7."
Rory stopped dead in her tracks, eyeing her friend. "Are you gonna be ok?" she asked. Rory had a good reason to be concerned, the year before Tabitha had almost been permanently suspended from the school, because of her relationship with the Professor.
Tabitha wiped her eyes quickly and turned around, giving a smile, trying to act as if nothing could affect her. "I'll be fine, it's a whole new year and things are gonna be great!"
Rory quirked an eyebrow, studying her a moment. "Well if you start to feel upset, I want you to just leave the room.ok?" Tabitha nodded. "Alright, I have to run. If I'm late for my first class, Wardwell'll give me detention for the rest of the year! I'll meet you back here for lunch and we'll talk, ok?"
Tabitha smiled gently "That'll be nice. Maybe we can arrange for some Quidditch after classes are over tonight?" As Tabitha had suspected would happen, Rory agreed enthusiastically, eager to run off and sign the team up for the Quidditch field. After all, a new member for the team had to be chosen. Rory yelled a goodbye as she ran off in the opposite direction. Tabitha sighed, wondering how class going to be for her.
Luckily Tabitha had arrived after most of the other students, so her nervousness about being alone in the classroom with Professor Pierce had subsided. She took her seat and out her textbook for the class. She looked up, watching the rest of the students come into the room, taking their seats, chatting and joking around.
The sounds of someone clearing their throat made them hush, though. It was Professor Pierce, and he was ready to begin his lecture. Tabitha warily looked to her teacher, but he made no expression of recognition or even a thought astray from his lesson. This hurt, but was also a relief. This was going to be a long class.
Meanwhile, in Defense Against the Dark Arts, Professor Wardwell had already yelled at Rory. She had been doodling people on broomsticks playing Quidditch all over her notes. She had put on a sheepish and innocent grin and Wardwell gave her a break saying in an unfriendly tone "I think having to put up with you in this class is well enough. don't want to burden myself by having to baby-sit you during detention." Rory had sighed relief, maybe since it was the first day he was feeling generous, but probably not. The odds of professor Wardwell being generous were one in a million, at least.
Today he was doing a live defense lesson. A student was supposed to send an attack spell his way and he would explain how to defend against it. Stupidly a student by the name of Alyssa Grant had sent an attack spell too soon, and Wardwell had to actually make an effort to block it. It was an ember spell, so it had charred Professor Wardwell's cloak before he could counter it with a water spell.
Needless to say, Miss Grant would be finding herself in detention later on. This little action had put Wardwell into one of his sour moods, and he told the students to just read their "damned" text books for the rest of the class, and that they could expect an oral test on the first chapter at the end of the class. Rory groaned, since Wardwell's tests usually were impossible to ace and Swiftwing needed the points.
Tabitha had survived through her class; Professor Pierce had acted as if he didn't even know her. The hurt that welled in her stomach turned to a sweltering anger when she saw another girl, Amanda Keyes, trying to get Professor Pierce's affections by sucking up.
Tabitha grumbled about the girl being a floozy and buried her face into her textbook. She had convinced herself over the summer that she would have no thoughts about her teacher, no regrets, nothing. This year Tabitha was going to try her best to achieve the award of being "perfect", that would really help on her resume if she wanted to teach at a prestigious school like Hogwarts.
Finally, the morning classes had ended and Tabitha met up with Rory for lunch as promised. Unfortunately, Rory had bad news: the girls would have to wait a day or two to get the necessary paperwork to reserve the Quidditch field for training. But, Professor Grenich had told her that she would see what she could do to speed up the process. This way Swiftwing could get in practices and see if they could acquire any new players for this year.
"So the first class of the day. is Defense Against the Dark Arts Level 7." Rory groaned. "Great, just what I always wanted.what have you got, Tabitha?" The girls were seated in the nearly empty Great Hall, finishing up their breakfast.
There was a long moment of silence as Tabitha stared hard at her scheduling sheet. "Umm. Spells and Enchantments Level 7."
Rory stopped dead in her tracks, eyeing her friend. "Are you gonna be ok?" she asked. Rory had a good reason to be concerned, the year before Tabitha had almost been permanently suspended from the school, because of her relationship with the Professor.
Tabitha wiped her eyes quickly and turned around, giving a smile, trying to act as if nothing could affect her. "I'll be fine, it's a whole new year and things are gonna be great!"
Rory quirked an eyebrow, studying her a moment. "Well if you start to feel upset, I want you to just leave the room.ok?" Tabitha nodded. "Alright, I have to run. If I'm late for my first class, Wardwell'll give me detention for the rest of the year! I'll meet you back here for lunch and we'll talk, ok?"
Tabitha smiled gently "That'll be nice. Maybe we can arrange for some Quidditch after classes are over tonight?" As Tabitha had suspected would happen, Rory agreed enthusiastically, eager to run off and sign the team up for the Quidditch field. After all, a new member for the team had to be chosen. Rory yelled a goodbye as she ran off in the opposite direction. Tabitha sighed, wondering how class going to be for her.
Luckily Tabitha had arrived after most of the other students, so her nervousness about being alone in the classroom with Professor Pierce had subsided. She took her seat and out her textbook for the class. She looked up, watching the rest of the students come into the room, taking their seats, chatting and joking around.
The sounds of someone clearing their throat made them hush, though. It was Professor Pierce, and he was ready to begin his lecture. Tabitha warily looked to her teacher, but he made no expression of recognition or even a thought astray from his lesson. This hurt, but was also a relief. This was going to be a long class.
Meanwhile, in Defense Against the Dark Arts, Professor Wardwell had already yelled at Rory. She had been doodling people on broomsticks playing Quidditch all over her notes. She had put on a sheepish and innocent grin and Wardwell gave her a break saying in an unfriendly tone "I think having to put up with you in this class is well enough. don't want to burden myself by having to baby-sit you during detention." Rory had sighed relief, maybe since it was the first day he was feeling generous, but probably not. The odds of professor Wardwell being generous were one in a million, at least.
Today he was doing a live defense lesson. A student was supposed to send an attack spell his way and he would explain how to defend against it. Stupidly a student by the name of Alyssa Grant had sent an attack spell too soon, and Wardwell had to actually make an effort to block it. It was an ember spell, so it had charred Professor Wardwell's cloak before he could counter it with a water spell.
Needless to say, Miss Grant would be finding herself in detention later on. This little action had put Wardwell into one of his sour moods, and he told the students to just read their "damned" text books for the rest of the class, and that they could expect an oral test on the first chapter at the end of the class. Rory groaned, since Wardwell's tests usually were impossible to ace and Swiftwing needed the points.
Tabitha had survived through her class; Professor Pierce had acted as if he didn't even know her. The hurt that welled in her stomach turned to a sweltering anger when she saw another girl, Amanda Keyes, trying to get Professor Pierce's affections by sucking up.
Tabitha grumbled about the girl being a floozy and buried her face into her textbook. She had convinced herself over the summer that she would have no thoughts about her teacher, no regrets, nothing. This year Tabitha was going to try her best to achieve the award of being "perfect", that would really help on her resume if she wanted to teach at a prestigious school like Hogwarts.
Finally, the morning classes had ended and Tabitha met up with Rory for lunch as promised. Unfortunately, Rory had bad news: the girls would have to wait a day or two to get the necessary paperwork to reserve the Quidditch field for training. But, Professor Grenich had told her that she would see what she could do to speed up the process. This way Swiftwing could get in practices and see if they could acquire any new players for this year.