I was wrong. I was so very, very wrong. I don't know how I ever could have thought that Professor Grabiner was nice, or even remotely civil. I made the mistake of hanging out with Tommy on Monday and Tuesday night. At class on Wednesday, Grabby did nothing but taunt me the whole time, asking me questions that I could not possibly know the answer to and telling the other students that I was clearly not one to pay attention and encouraging them not to be like me. I don't even know how I managed to get through class. My hands were shaking so hard that even my notes started to become unintelligible. After class, there was nothing I wanted to do more than run and hide in the safety of my room, but I had to confront him about it, I didn't have a choice.

I wait until all of the other students are out of the room before I dare approaching him. "Sir, did I do something to offend you?" I try to keep my voice level, but I'm pretty sure he could sense how fearful I was.

"Offend?" he asks, turning to face me. His eyes are shining with rage. "No, stupid girl, offend isn't the right word."

"Then what did I do?" It bursts out of me like a little child about to cry. My breathing is labored with tears about to come, but I don't cry, at least not yet.

If he's in any way affected by my outburst, he doesn't show it. "I told you firmly that I did not want you tutoring the boy-"

"I wasn't tutoring him, we were just doing magic together-" I start, but he is talking above me.

"Be quiet! I think this stunt will cost you ten demerits, maybe you will listen and obey me next time," he snaps.

"Obey?" I echo. "You never gave me a direct command. You said you didn't want me to tutor him, and I'm not. Two friends hanging out practicing homework is not tutoring."

"Do not argue semantics with me." He glares at me, but I continue.

"And Jason said that he would like to see me practicing more with Tommy. You two are both my teachers, aren't I supposed to obey you both?"

His hands are shaking with rage as he holds them out to me, palms out. I put up a shield around myself as I feel myself being thrown backwards into the wall. He seems shocked, but I'm not exactly sure why. Is it because I defended myself? Is it because he used magic to attack a student? Could he get in trouble for this? The shield cushioned some of the blow, but it still hurt. "I-I-I'm sorry, sir," I stammer. I feel my legs go weak and I clutch onto a nearby desk for support. "I-I won't do magic with him anymore."

He is still fuming, but his voice is more stable when he speaks again. "Idiot girl, the only reason I am so hard on you is because your words have consequences. When you give your word to do as someone says, there can be serious repercussions if you break your…promises."

"But I didn't promise you anything," I manage. "You told me you didn't want me tutoring him, but I never explicitly agreed to do anything. You never gave me a chance to talk."

He hesitates, staring me down. I can feel my heart beating faster and faster in my chest that I can hear it in my eardrums. It feels like it's ready to burst out of my chest, or maybe that's because he is trying to pull it out of me by sheer force of will.

"Be careful how you speak. You may make vows accidently, vows you don't even remember making. You are still held to the consequences of those vows. I will see you tomorrow for your test," he says at length, picking up his books and striding out of the room.

I suck in a breath as soon as I hear the door close behind him and start to cry, raking big gulps of air into my chest. It's an ugly sound, I hate it even as it hits my own ears, but I'm shaking and I'm upset and I don't know how else to let it out. So I half-sit, hunched over the desk for support, trying to get my knees to stop shaking and to control the tremors in my hands. I want to teleport back to my room but I can't really trust that I can teleport all of me in the state I'm in, so I wait until the corridor is empty before I venture outside.

I make it back to my room without running into anyone I know and almost collapse as I'm inside the door. The only thing stopping me is the fact that both Ellen and Virginia are there. "Are you okay?" Ellen asks, jumping to her feet. It occurs to me that I don't think either of them has heard me cry before.

"I-I don't know what I keep doing to make him hate me so much," I sob. I pass between their hands and eventually make it to my pillow, which I ball up against my face to keep them from seeing me like this.

"Donald was in here earlier, he said Grabby was really laying into you today," Ellen said softly. "Did something happen?"

"He-he-he-he he told me that he didn't want me to tutor Thomas anymore with magic," I say through sobs. "And I didn't okay, I didn't tutor him, we were just practicing and I-I-I guess Grabby found out about it somehow, and he-he-he got, um, really mad…"

"He didn't hurt you, did he?" Virginia asks. I think back to when he raised his hands and how quickly I put up the shield. I've never been in serious combat before…what if I hadn't put up the shield in time? What if I hadn't put it up at all? What if he sent me flying back with enough force that I cracked the back of my head open against the back wall? What if he had killed me?

This thought brings a new heavy wave of sobs and I let it all out into my pillow, not caring about how loud I am. I'm so wrapped up in my tears and the sobbing and the embarrassment and the what if's that I don't even notice Virginia left the room. It wasn't until I heard Potsdam's, "Oh my" in the doorway with Virginia and Isobel behind her that I realize how bad this looks.

"No, no, no, I-" I start but I don't even know what to say.

"Come with me, dear," Potsdam steps forward and stretches out her hand. I take it and she leads me past Isobel, who pats me on the shoulder comfortingly. It's so embarrassing, and I keep my head parallel with the floor until I feel her put a hand on my arm and we're both teleported into her office.

"It's okay, dear, it's okay, why don't you have a seat," she gestures to the plush chairs in front of her desk and I do, pulling my knees up to my chest. I hide my face in the fabric of my robes, biting one of my knuckles on my left hand to keep myself from crying. "Poor dear, you're shaking."

I can't get control of myself. The embarrassment that even now the Headmaster has to be involved is what makes it worse. He is going to get in trouble and I don't even know what he's going to do to me when he finds out-

This brings on a new wave of sobs and she stares at me pitifully. That, also, isn't helping. "Why don't you try to take a few deep breaths, dear?" I try to breathe in, but it makes a gross croaking sound and I sniff and wipe my nose on my sleeve in disgust. Right now, I am a mess of snot and tears and my cheeks hurt from all the crying and-

Suddenly it's easier to breathe and I feel my sinuses clearing up. I take one more perfunctory sniff before my eyes clear. "There," she says. "Feel better?"

I do, slightly. "Is my face still red? Is my nose still swollen?" I ask as light tears continue to flow.

"It's no bigger than his is, dear," she says, and I let out a giggle that turns into a hiccup as I try to control my breathing. "That's it, there there."

"Is that, green magic?" I ask to try to steer the conversation against the fact that I was now the embarrassment of the entire school.

"Green and white," she admits. "I wanted to know how you were feeling, dear."

"Awful," I say.

"Awful," she confirms. "Do you want to tell me what happened?"

I look around suddenly, as if I'm afraid he has the room wired. "No, I'm fine, really. It was nothing. I…overreacted."

She sets her mouth into a firm smile and looks up at the ceiling as if to indicate that she doesn't believe me.

"He was being mean to me in class," I explain. "I got, I got really upset and so I confronted him about it after class. And he, he-" My voice trails off.

"He what, dear?" she asks.

I don't know how to describe it. I honestly, truly don't. "He just got mad at me."

"I can tell you're not being fully honest with me," she says after a moment. "Do you know how I know?"

"Magic?" I ask meekly.

"Your lip is quivering," she says. "Every time you lie, your lip quivers a bit."

"Really?" I ask, tilting my head to the side. It's such an odd piece of trivia I didn't know about myself, I'm not sure if I believe it, or if it's just something she's telling me to get me to trust her.

"Why don't you start with why he was mad at you?" she asks.

"Umm, Professor Coleman said he thought it would be good if me and one of my friends, umm, he's a freshman, Thomas?, practiced red magic together, since I didn't really learn a lot of it last year. And, umm, Professor Grabiner was really…against the idea."

"Hmm, do you know why?" She seems sympathetic, and that only makes it worse.

"I don't know!" My voice pours out with frustration, and I struggle to keep back another wave of tears. "I don't know why he hates me so much but he hates me so much and I don't know why. One moment he's being mean to me in class, and then he's nice to me, and then he's mean to me again, and-" I sniff hard. "And some people told me that they think he rigged the election to make me win over Jacob because he likes to be around pretty girls."

Potsdam actually laughs at that, and yes it sounded entirely stupid, but it actually felt good to get it off my chest and hear someone else confirm how ridiculous it sounds. I smile a little bit, and she waits for me to go on.

"He pushed me against the wall," I say at length, but offer no more.

"With his hands?" she asks. I can't quite read her tone.

"Um, no, with uh, magic," I say. "As soon as his hands went up, I put up a shield between us to negate the force of impact. I didn't know if he was going to really hurt me, but as soon as his hands went up, I went…shield." I raise my arm to imitate a shield being raised defensively.

"You're a very smart girl," she says. "Usually we don't teach defensive magic until next year because there should never be a case in which you should need to use it, but I'm glad you had the foresight to protect yourself."

There's something odd in her tone. "Am I in trouble?"

"Oh, no, no," she says dismissively. "If anything, I'm glad that your first thought was defensive magic, instead of offensive magic, especially since you felt threatened. Now, dear, are you all right? Any scrapes or bruises?"

"I hit my head a little," I murmur, embarrassed. "But…but I'm okay, just…scared."

"Scared?" she asks. "Of him?"

I look around before nodding my head slowly. "Please don't, don't tell him I told you this. I don't want him getting in trouble."

"Well-" she shifts in her seat. "He did use offensive magic on a student. That is grounds for disciplinary action."

"No, please, please don't," I beg. "You'll only make it worse. I still have to see him on Saturday mornings, and for tests, and he's the only one who teaches blue magic at this year level. He'll know that I'm the one who told and I don't know what he'll do to me."

"He won't do anything to harm you, I can assure you that," she says. "And it sounds to me like you're not getting a lot of learning done regardless."

"No, he's, he's, a good teacher," I say, then add, "When he's not being a bully."

She leans forward on her desk and clasps her hands together. "You're an adult now, Tori, and I'm going to treat you like one. I'm going to give you two choices. First, and I want you to know this, you are a student here and you are under our protection. You should never have to feel like you are afraid of anyone here, especially a teacher. Do you understand that?" I nod my head slowly.

"Secondly, although I doubt he would like me sharing this with you, Professor Grabiner is going through an extremely emotional personal crisis at the moment. Whatever he was upset about probably had a lot more to do with him, and was a lot less about you."

"No," I shake my head. "No, he thought that I had broken a vow I made him or something. He was trying to protect me in his own weird way, I guess. He was trying to protect me from having my magic and memories wiped. He wanted to scare me so I'm a lot more careful about what I say and do in the future…I think."

"You are a very mature girl, and I'm sure he is only hard on you because he sees the potential that you have, do you agree?" she asks. I nod my head stiffly. It seems weird to say, but I guess it is at least a little bit true. "Now, here's my proposal. I can discipline him. We have our own disciplinary code for teachers. I cannot tell you what his punishment would be, but I can say that I doubt he will ever lay a finger on you again."

I bite my lip. Whatever it is, it doesn't sound good. Surely they wouldn't go as far as to wipe his memories, would they? "Or, the second option is that we can leave this just between us. You will find, Tori, as you get older and meet more people, that there are mean-spirited people in the world. Some people who find enjoyment in the torture and suffering of others. I can tell you now that although Professor Grabiner has a unique approach to education, that he is not one of those people. You will have to deal with bullies eventually, Tori, but it's up to you to figure out how. Right now you are a student and you shouldn't have to deal with bullying from a professor-"

"Leave it just between us," I say automatically, and I think I know what she's trying to get at. "I know he's really private. He doesn't seem to get any mail. He doesn't seem to have any friends or family and I…I feel bad for him." I shake my head and smooth down my hair. "It doesn't excuse what he did to me, but he didn't really hurt me. He just scared me. And I think that's what he was trying to do."

She smiles at me. "Do you think you can get back to your room okay?"

I nod quickly. "Yeah, although, I'm a little scared to go back. I mean, everyone was talking about how mean he was to me in class today and judging by how fast word spreads around here, they all probably think he tried to kill me, so hopefully they'll be too shocked that I'm alive to ask me any questions." I force a smile, which she returns.

"That's the spirit. Now, run along dear," she says. I stand up quickly and leave her office.

As I get down the steps, Thomas is waiting for me outside. I walk past him, hoping he'll take a hint. "Tori, hey, wait up."

I take a quick detour onto the trails and slow down, waiting for him to catch up. "Hey, I heard about what happened. Are you okay?"

"Yeah," I wipe my nose with my sleeve again, hoping that I at least don't look like I've been crying my eyes out for the past hour or so. "What are they saying happened?"

"They're saying he used binding magic to throw you across the room," he says. "That he left you stuck to the ceiling and Professor Potsdam had to come get you down."

"Oh." I try to force a laugh, but nothing comes out.

"What happened?" Thomas asks. "Is it because of me? Because I talked to Jason, and he said-"

"Look." I stop suddenly and turn to face him. "You're my friend, but I don't need you to fight my battles. I appreciate you trying to help, but you weren't a part of this. It was about a, a treasury issue. It had nothing to do with you." I shift my gaze back to the trails and start walking again.

He contemplates this and walks along quietly beside me for a while. "It seems like you can really use a friend right now." He reaches for my hand and I let him take it. Today's been such a weird day; I can't really bring myself to argue. We walk hand in hand through the trails for a while, until we're almost back at the dorms.

"Hey." He turns to face me and takes my other hand in his. "Look, things will get better. The Halloween dance is coming up. Go with me. Donald already asked Ellen, and I think Virginia has a date. I was thinking we could go together. It'll be fun." He smiles up at me and he looks so earnest and sweet and uncomplicated that I just shrug.

"Sure," I say. "Sorry I don't seem more…enthusiastic.…"

"Don't even worry about it," he says, booping me gently on the nose with the tip of his finger. "I'll see you around, Tori."

I smile in spite of myself and wave as he walks away. I sigh and gather my robes around me as I head inside and prepare for the inquisition I'm about to endure.

"That's the spirit. Now, run along dear," Potsdam said. Tori stood up too quickly and grabbed the back of the chair for balance, hesitating a moment before heading out the door. Potsdam waited a moment before speaking.

"It seems once again you and Mrs. Grabiner are the talk of the school."

"Miss Brown," Grabiner corrected her as he uncloaked himself.

"Well, it seems that now all of the students are afraid of you," Potsdam replied coolly. "Did you get what you wanted?"

"I reacted to the circumstances as I saw fit," he said defensively. "She seemed to have learned her lesson."

"By scaring the poor girl half to death," Potsdam exclaimed. "I know you're upset, but you need to control yourself. Especially around her."

"I can discipline my students as I see fit," he argued. "That is not your concern. Your concern is trying to figure out why her memory was shielded in the first place and how to get it back, but you seem to be doing a lousy job of that and sticking your nose into my business again as usual."

The effect was immediate. Her face clouded over, and the ends of her hair began to spark. When she spoke, her voice was low. "I put up with your tone, Hieronymous, because I know your circumstances and I know what you've been through. But I will not tolerate you harming our students, especially that girl. You made a vow to protect her. If you harm a hair on her head, you won't have to worry about answering to me. You won't have to worry about answering to anyone. I won't just erase your memory. Where shall I leave you? In the middle of the countryside in the rain? Under some decrepit little bridge in the city? What thoughts will I make you believe about yourself? I can shape you into whatever I want you to be, and you won't even remember if that's who you are. But I'll leave you with that one nagging little doubt in your head, if all of this is real, and it will eat you from the inside out. Do I make myself clear?"

As scary as Professor Grabiner seemed to the students, it was nothing compared to how scary Professor Potsdam could be when she really wanted to be. He nodded quickly, casting his eyes down. "I-I apologize. I, I didn't mean-"

"Stop talking," she snapped. "I'm not going to punish you for this. I can smell the stink of regret on you from a mile away. I feel your guilt and your regret and your pain and your rage. I know this isn't easy for you, but this is not her fault."

"I-"

"It's your fault," she said seriously. "You were messing around with that Manus in a room where you knew students had easy access. It could have been Tori, it could have been Minnie, it could have been some freshman boy for all you know. Maybe someone is using her to attack you, but either way, you are the one who put her in this position. And I know you have doubts, as to whether or not this is your fault and you should know that yes, it is. Unequivocally, yes. She is a student under our protection and you compromised that."

"I understand," he said solemnly, looking away from her. The sparks had died down but there was still a dark aura that surrounded her. "It is my fault she is in this position. I will do everything in my power to protect her until January."

Professor Potsdam glowered at him again. "For all your books and knowledge you have no common sense," she snapped. "For the severance, there must be two competent parties. She doesn't remember the marriage taking place; therefore, she can't consent to end it. Until she remembers, you are bound to her, and you are both bound to your oaths."

Anger rose up in him. At Tori, at Potsdam, at himself, at everyone. But he kept in check. Potsdam was in a dangerous mood right now, and he had to get out now if he valued his life. "As you said, this is my fault and I will do everything in my power to protect her."

"Let's see you do a better job of it this time," Potsdam warned. "You are dismissed."