Chapter Fifty-Three

January

It took Jennifer a lot less time to set up for class than it had during the first of the year... attempting to adjust the temperature took much longer. In fact, she finally gave up and asked Mr. Campbell to adjust the thermometer for her, waiting until it warmed up before she was willing to pull Radiance's cage out of her cloak and get her set up.

"It's so terribly cold here," Jennifer complained to the Rogue. "Even a warming spell doesn't seem enough to cut it. I hope I get used to it before the students arrive tomorrow, but for some reason I doubt it. Maybe I'll tell them to a set aside their projects during the first week so we can make personal heating devices," she suggested with a grin. Reluctantly, he signed to her. "Oh yes, I know. That dratted Industry and Items Fair is coming, and I am definitely not looking forward to it."

She sat down and began sorting through a small stack of mail that had been left on her desk, but as she went through it, she saw that one of them looked like a personal letter. But why would anyone send it here, she wondered? Running some cautious checks to make sure it was safe, she opened it cautiously and read it thoughtfully.

"Severus, I don't suppose if you know if Brenda is in her office?" Jennifer asked the Rogue. He nodded. "I had better take this to her then," she decided. She grabbed her coat, hat, gloves and cloak before braving the terrible cold and racing to get inside as quickly as possible. In fact, she nearly knocked Frank over as she ran in; he was apparently walking towards the Wizardnet Lab.

"Hey! Careful, Jennifer!" Frank warned.

"I'm sorry! It's just so cold!" Jennifer protested.

"It's only -2," Frank grinned at her.

"-20 more like!" Jennifer exclaimed.

"Fahrenheit," he reminded her teasingly as he stepped out the door. Hurrumphing at that, Jennifer walked down the main hallway to the other end of the building, knocking only briefly against the open door before stepping into Brenda's office.

"Welcome back, Jennifer! Did you have a nice holiday? How was it?" Brenda asked all in one breath.

"Warmer," Jennifer said curtly, getting a chuckle from Brenda. "I have a problem and I want to know how I should handle it," she said. Brenda looked up with interest. "You see, I got a letter from Angela Powers."

"Really?" Brenda said, a bit confused. "Why?"

"Actually, she's asking me advice on a project she's working on for her new school," Jennifer explained, handing it to her. "I would like to answer it, but not without parents' permission, and under the circumstances..."

"Yes, I see the problem," Brenda agreed. "Let me hang onto this and talk to Wind about it."

"Thanks, Brenda," Jennifer said and stepped back out. Then she decided to go to the Commissary for lunch to see who was around.

It was obvious straight away that her friends were hoping she was going to come, because they were all sitting at her table when she walked in. The wolf den was empty at the moment; apparently they had decided to eat at Quickbrooms. Jennifer grabbed a coffee and a peanut butter sandwich and went over to her table.

"You're back! Did Quintin like the rabbit?" Lav asked before anyone else could get anything out.

"They are inseparable," Jennifer replied with a chuckle, sitting down. "Rasputin is quite jealous, in fact. I'm certain that Severus had his hands full when he got them back to the castle. And Gretchen, those tree ornaments were lovely, thank you!"

"Oh, yeah, those were great!" Kay agreed.

"I got them in Dresdner Striezelmarkt," Gretchen told them. "You should come visit Germany sometime in the Christmas season. I can't think of anywhere better to spend Christmas."

"I did spend some of it in the Alps," Jennifer replied. "The first three days of vacation, Severus took me to Villahexen."

"Oh no, that ski resort? It's nothing but a Wizard tourist trap," Gretchen told her.

"Well, yes, I know, but it's one of the few places Severus likes to go for some quality time because they have a policy for being discreet," Jennifer explained, then lowered her voice. "This time he booked the entire east wing so that we'd have exclusive access to the hotspring on that side of the hotel, but if you want to hear more about it, you'll have to wait for Coven Night."

"Your husband is so romantic!" Kay lamented. "I don't think Ray has an entire romantic bone in his body!"

"You could always try going out with Asher," Lavender teased her.

"His brand of romance is a bit too smutty for me," Kay said.

"I think it's a bit too smutty for everyone," Gretchen said.

"Hey, that's a conversation best left for Coven Night too," Jennifer scolded, the other three women snickering at that. "But I do want to know how that date to Kennywood went."

"It did not go as badly as I thought it would," Gretchen admitted. "Frank was actually pretty nice, and not much different than he acts here at the school. I have seen him with other dates when he was all over them."

"And I bet each one he met on the Wizardnet," Lav said knowingly, putting cream in her coffee. "He acted that way because that's how they expect him to act."

"What do you mean?" Jennifer asked.

"Well, since you don't have to use your real name on a lot of Wizardnet cites, you make up a handle... a screen name. And some people act completely different when they don't have to say who they really are," Lav explained. "It's like having a secret identity. So when he meets with a girl that he met online, he knows they expect him to act the same way he acts on line, so he behaves like that so they're not disappointed in him."

"Then I understand perfectly," Jennifer replied. "One of my son's did something similar to that, but through regular letters. After a while, he realized that trying to behave like someone else to impress a girl wasn't something that was sustainable."

"Why do you think they never date the same girl twice?" Lav said with a knowing smile.

"Or after a getaway weekend, anyway." Gretchen said.

"Well, I'm going to make sure that Ray doesn't fall into that pattern," Kay said resolutely.

"I doubt he's in any danger of it, Kay. He seems to be the most sensible of the three," Jennifer commented. "He does spend an enormous amount of time on the Wizardnet, but he doesn't use it as a dating site like the other two do."

"True, but I had a peek at his phone when we were at Kennywood and found out his handle on that site and I made up one of my own," Kay said mischievously. "I've been sending him Net-owls." Jennifer sighed with exasperation.

"Kay, that is no more sustainable than any other form of secret identity," Jennifer warned her.

"Well, maybe not, but it'll keep him out of trouble for a while," Kay said.

"Remind me to bring up Corey at our next Coven Night," Jennifer told her. "And I'll tell you what happened to him."

"Our fifth Coven member will be so impressed by how much we have to talk about next time," Gretchen commented, and the others agreed with a chuckle.

Later that afternoon, as Jennifer finished her class prep and was about to lock the classroom so she could do her student checks in Rose Section, there was a knock on the door. Jennifer looked up with a smile as she saw it was Truman, and he had a brand new pair of lightly tinted spectacles on his nose.

"Hey, look at you!" Jennifer grinned at him. "Those look almost identical to mine, don't they?"

"Not only that, but they work in the same way too!" Truman said.

"They do?" Jennifer asked in confusion.

"Yes! You see, the day after the Yule Party, Alex and Ben took me to a wizard town up north to do some shopping. There was this really strange shop there with an old man who was busy carving a wooden rabbit when we went in," Truman explained. Jennifer smiled enigmatically at that. Apparently, she knew the shop well. "Anyway, while we were in there, he gave me a Christmas present, and Ben and Alex said it was alright to take it," he explained.

"Yes," Jennifer agreed.

"Well, these spectacles were inside, with a note saying they worked just like yours. Do you suppose it's too soon in my training to use them? I know you said something about getting me a pair like these when I got far enough along," Truman asked.

"The fact that you got them from the shop tells me that you are ready for them, Truman, regardless of if it was a gift or if you found them yourself. It's quite alright. We can talk about it more during our next training session," Jennifer said.

"Thanks, Ms. Craw!" Truman said and ran back out again, nearly bumping into Brenda. She paused long enough to compliment his glasses before stepping inside.

"Hello, Brenda! Did I not turn my stuff in right on the school Wizardnet again?" Jennifer asked anxiously.

"No, it's not about that, it's about this," Brenda said, holding up the letter and then holding it out for her to take. "Wind had some words with Angela's mother, and she's given permission for you to write her if you'd like."

"Oh, lovely! But what about her father?" Jennifer asked. "Because I'm quite sure he wouldn't approve."

"Well, that's between them, ultimately, isn't it? As far as Wind's concerned, you have permission," Brenda said with amusement. "Besides, you're going to keep sending it through regular Owl Mail, right?"

"Of course," Jennifer agreed.

"Well, being a paranoid and dutiful father when it comes to his teenager's activities, Alva Powers spends a great deal of both time and money on all sorts of spy programs to keep an eye on his daughter's Wizardnet activities," Brenda informed her. "But he doesn't pay attention to what physical letters she gets whatsoever." Jennifer grinned and shook her head at that. "If you write on a stationary note card so that the envelopes looks like a greeting card, he's even less likely to pay attention to it. He'll just assume it's an advertisement."

"I'm confused. Why would an advertisement look like a greeting card?" Jennifer asked.

"To give you a reason to open it, why else?" Brenda explained. Jennifer chuckled and shook her head.

"Thanks Brenda," Jennifer said.

"Oh, and don't forget... five weeks until the Industry and Items Fair," she reminded Jennifer.

"I'm not likely to forget about that, am I? Frank and the Millers certainly won't let me forget," Jennifer said with exasperation. Smiling at her sympathetically, Brenda left the room. Sitting down long enough to pen Angela Powers a reply, Jennifer put Radiance on her shoulder and closed up the classroom for the evening.

The next morning was quite hectic. Jennifer had to sort through new students who had come in for the Design II and Advanced Items courses as well as sort out students who had moved to a different time slot or had chosen to take something else. In the end, she ended up reintroducing herself in every class as if it had been the beginning of the year, and had each one of them write a small paper about their current projects so that she could reorient herself.

It had also become evident, especially after talking to Frank, Luke, and Sharon, that it would be a lot easier for all of the students in her advanced classes to meet in the Industry Shop classroom until after the Items fair. Fortunately, the semester changes had also put all three of her beginner classes in the morning, so after using the first day back to establish roll call for attendance, she began meeting her afternoon classes downstairs in the basement after lunch.

The Industrial Shop was so large that Jennifer was quite sure it took up a fifth of the entire basement, which ran the whole length of the building. It had large machines of many types that Jennifer had never seen before, as well as plenty she recognized as saws, forges, and safety areas for painting, welding, and spell-casting. She had used the room on occasion as a student, but never without supervision or without Wind standing over her to explain how to use them all, so watching students using the majority of the equipment without anyone standing over them to make sure they didn't injure themselves was more than a little unnerving. Jennifer didn't miss the fact that there was a Freeze Frame on the wall, and there were also probably plenty of other safety devices around that she wasn't even aware of yet.

Still, all of her advanced students seemed quite comfortable with their surroundings, since they had to take basic Industry before being allowed to take the Advanced Items course. Jennifer took attendance carefully as they got out their projects, and then she walked over to Luke.

"Do you mind if I ask a couple of questions?" Jennifer asked.

"Not at all," Luke said with a smile. "I guess you probably haven't seen some of these automated device machines before."

"Well yes, there is that," Jennifer agreed. "I was going to ask you if you could spare time to go over those with me as my second question, actually."

"Happy to," Luke agreed. "So what was the first question you wanted to ask?"

"Can I open one of the windows?" Jennifer asked with a smile. Luke stared at her. Then he glanced at the row of half-windows along two of the walls, the view partially obscured by piles of snow and evergreen bushes.

"It can't be more than ten degrees outside today," Luke said flatly.

"Yes, I know, sorry. But I would really prefer to work with a little bit of a breeze, if you don't mind," Jennifer said.

"How about I turn on the fans?" Luke suggested.

"No, a window would be much better," Jennifer said. He watched helplessly as she grabbed a ladder off a wall hook and pulled it over to the line of windows, climbing up to inspect them.

"I don't think those even open, Ms. Craw," he explained. But Jennifer simply took a charmed glass cutter out of her pocket and easily cut out the top row of square glass panes with expert precision.

"There, that's much better," Jennifer decided. Some of the students who had been working under the window scrambled to find different tables to work at.

"Okay," Luke said, too confused to comment as she climbed off the ladder and put the glass panels on a shelf. "Do you always carry a glass cutter around with you?"

"Oh, yes. Always," Jennifer confirmed, putting the ladder back and walking over to see what her students were working on.

Jennifer was so busy and dreading the cold so much that she decided to meet Severus and Quintin at Quickbrooms that weekend instead of Kingler's.

"I'm told that it typically starts to warm up in February. Sometimes they even have a false spring," Jennifer said after Quintin commented about how cold it was. "Unfortunately, I'm going to be much too busy helping students finish their projects to enjoy it if it happens. On the other hand, it's nice to have so much extra help in the afternoons, even if the Industry Shop classroom gets quite chaotic. Sharon helps them with posters that help explain their devices, utility, and potential uses in business. Luke helps them if they need to use the large industrial tools. Frank is in charge of helping them with any programming needs if they involve the Wizardnet. And my responsibility is to check all of the items to make sure they work as intended and to help them add their final charms and troubleshoot as required. The entire process is quite hectic," Jennifer explained to Severus. "Still, the vast majority of students are on their final stages, and when those are done in the next week or so, I promised Sharon to help her make final recommendations on each of the student's presentations."

"It definitely sounds like you have your hands full at the moment," Severus agreed. "Is the fair eating into your research time?"

"A bit, Severus, but I do most of the research for that on the weekend. I have also been learning quite a bit from Luke on larger devices that I've never really had access to before. You never know, it may help," Jennifer decided. "And he said that if I need any large equipment for my research that I'm free to use the shop on the weekends too," Jennifer said. Severus nodded thoughtfully at that. "How are things between Rasputin and Ebony?"

"Rasputin doesn't like Ebony," Quintin said seriously.

"Rasputin is simply jealous of sharing your attention, Quintin, it will pass," Severus replied, glancing at Jennifer. "Really, that is all it is now. Rasputin has reluctantly accepted that Ebony is part of the family and that he isn't going anywhere, but it's going to take time. Quintin was able to get them both out at playtime by hiding Prince Hop in the Sorting Hat. I hope none of the students find anything unpleasant in there next year when they're Sorted." Jennifer chuckled at that.

"You know perfectly well he was paper trained before I even got him home, Severus," Jennifer told him. "Besides, I have a feeling that Prince Hat would be quick to complain if anything like that happened."

"Fair enough," Severus replied, sipping his coffee.

After they were done with their visit, it was reluctantly decided between them to wait until after the Items and Industry Fair before getting together for another family day. Instead, they planned a full day in New York the weekend after it was over to celebrate the fair's successful completion. Jennifer wasn't as convinced as Severus was that there would be a 'successful' completion, but she was sure that she would be glad to be done with it no matter what the outcome was. And because the Items Fair would last all week, February would probably be gone in a flash, and Jennifer was looking forward to March.

At least, she was looking forward to March, she thought with annoyance, when she had made the mistake of going to the Items room after her lunch with Severus and Quintin. For there on her desk along with other announcements were the testing schedules, including WAT's and PAT's for the high school students, and worse, POW tests for everyone. Well, there was no getting out of it this time, she admitted to herself with a sigh, stuffing it in her work folder before taking it up to her room.