Thanks to all of you who reviewed, it really helps! Here comes the kindergarten itself, and let's take a look at Wyatt's new friends...
III. Wyatt? That's a strange name...
As soon as he got himself out of his mother's grip, Wyatt almost run to the other children. Oh, no, this little guy didn't have any confidence problems; how could somebody vanquishing demons since before he could even remember have any? But, then, those were not demons – they were little kids, and they were going to have fun, just like when all those kids had come to the manor for his birthday. No, not exactly – these kids weren't magical... but nevertheless, they were kids.
Growing up in an adult environment, Wyatt really missed the occasions to socialize with other kids. Sure, his mother and his aunts tried to spend time with him; but it just was not the same.He really loved the rare occasions when other kids came to the manor, or when he went to another kid's party, where he could meet other children and play. But, given the busy manor life, demon vanquishing was a much more common sport than anything else. And, there weren't that many magical children around – unfortunately, there is no such thing as a Hogwarts kindergarten or daycare, as much as Piper would have wished for one...
Nevertheless, Wyatt was very excited about meeting other kids. Of course, he didn't forget what his parents had kept telling him - "no magic, no magic, no magic..." Wyatt had started to get annoyed about that – there was no use in telling him a thousand times, after all he was no baby! He certainly knew when to use magic, he even knew about the "no personal gain" rule; this stupid rule his daddy kept reminding him of when he tried to use magic to play or to make his bed and his room...
Anyway, he had promised not to use any magic, and he was going to keep his promise... After all, demons are one thing, kids are another. Wyatt took a deep breath as he realized that he should really walk over to those kids and introduce himself. Should he really? There came another deep breath – maybe vanquishing demons wasn't that bad after all. No, I have to do it, he thought, as he looked to find any remaining courage. With that, he walked over to another boy.
"Hi, I am Wyatt", he said with the last bit of courage left. Maybe that was not that bad – the other boy actually smiled at him.
"Wyatt? That's a strange name... I am Johny."
The comment kind of hurt Wyatt's feelings, but he decided to overcome it. After all, it wasn't worse than what he had expected, and, at least, that guy didn't throw a fireball at him.
"Do you like Pokemon?" Johny asked him.
That was the start of a vivid discussion – of course he loved Pokemon, who didn't? He always thought that it was kind of magic, but nice magic, with no demons and no grown-ups! And, it turned out that Kate, Nicole and Ben liked Pokemon too. Thus, a little while afterwards, when Mrs Smith tried to get the small company of Pokemon fans into their classroom, she had some trouble to...
Albeit their disagreement, Mrs Smith managed to gather her class; after all, she was a very experienced teacher. In her honest moments, she would tell that she had been dealing with children as long as she could remember herself; and that, as she would admit with a smile, was a long time, even though she wouldn't show it.
"Well, class, I am Mrs Smith: I will be your kindergarten teacher for this year. During this year, we will make new friends, learn new things, and have a nice time. But why don't we start by introducing yourselves? Just tell us your name and something about you? Maybe something that you like?"
Johny started first. "My name is Johny, and I like Pokemon!"
Ben and Wyatt exchanged a quick look – yeah, we know that!
"I am Joyce, and I like Britney Spears!"
"I am Dave, and when I grow up, I want to study computers."
Mrs Smith smiled at the youngster's resolution. "Very well, Dave!"
"I am Joyce, and I love my Barbie!"
Barbie? Girls...
"I am Kate, and I like going to the restaurant with my mommy."
Wyatt was still looking at Kate when he realized that it was his turn. What did he like?
"I am Wyatt, and I like when my mom reads me fairy tales..."
It was so spontaneous; he loved it when Piper read him stories at bedtime. They had their own magic, and she always used to tell him that fairy tales were real, and that the seven dwarfs had once come to take care of him when he was still a baby; being accustomed to magic and demon attacks, he could very well believe that. But he had always wondered why his mom had told him never to mention Cinderella in front of aunt Phoebe.
His quick train of thoughts by Paul's comment: "Fairy tales are for girls! They are not real. I like Batman, he is cool!"
"No they..." Wyatt came to an sudden stop as he realized that he was going to tell him that fairy tales were real; but those kids didn't know anything about magic...
"Batman isn't real either" Ben jumped in to defend his new friend.
"So what?" said a semi-offended Paul.
"So nothing" said a calm Ben. "But you can't say that fairy tales are not real and that you prefer Batman instead, it makes no sense."
Seeing the introduction getting out of hand, Mrs Smith intervened. "Children, please, let's go on with the introductions. We heard that Paul here likes Batman, so let's hear from the rest.... Nicole?"
Nicole smiled, and Wyatt thought that was one of the nicest smiles he had ever seen.
"I am Nicole, and I like drawing houses and trees and flowers and the sun!"
"I am Lizzy," said a shy voice next to Nicole, "and I like going to the beach and swimming."
Wyatt's eyes were still fixed to Nicole, when he heard his new friends voice.
"I am Ben, and I like it when my dad is at home and we sit all together."
"OK class, nice to meet you all. I am sure we are going to have a very nice time together. Now, each of you go over the left side of the room and pick up the toy you like best? Just without any noise?"
The kids rushed over to the toys, but they didn't take any attention to the "without any noise" part. Well, it never works anyway, thought Mrs Smith.
Another school year had just begun. She knew that her work there had just begun – and, with those kids, it was not going to be easy, she knew that. Working with kids had never been an easy task; she knew that dealing with them, and, not to forget, dealing with their parents was no going to be easy. But then she knew what an impact early education would have in those youngsters' lives, and how her work could influence them. Being a teacher is a very responsible job; a good teacher can have a lasting impact on those kids lives. That's what she intended to do. And, those who knew her better would admit that she was very good at what she was doing...
Mrs Smith looked at her class: Lizzy has hugging a doll, Paul and Dave were trying to build a castle with Legos, Nicole and Kate we drawing, and Wyatt with Ben were looking at the Harry Potter figures.
"I wish I could go to Hogwarts" said Wyatt.
"I guess it would be cool" said Ben. "Imagine waving a wand and turning people you don't like into pigs..." Ben couldn't help but smile at the thought of playing that trick on somebody. "Yeah, that would be cool."
Wyatt smiled too, as he moved the figure's hand, pretending it to me a magic wand, towards the Spiderman figure that Ben was holding. "Hocus... pigus!" he said, under Mrs Smith's gaze.
I thought this would be an interesting point to stop the chapter, what would you think?