Thomas stops by my room before the Halloween dance to see if I'll skip out on detention with Grabby, but I tell him that it's a lost cause and to have fun at the dance. The truth is I do want to go to detention now, at least partially. I want to apologize to Professor Grabiner, and I want to see if maybe I can figure out why he's so mean to everyone. I am slightly daunted by Virginia's warning that he'll come down harder on me than ever, but for some strange reason, I don't think he will. I like to think of it as bravery, but deep down I think Virginia and even Grabiner himself would agree that it's stupidity. I'm just a student. He's not going to tell me anything…but at the very least, he probably won't kill me.

I go into the detention room earlier than usual and sit down at one of the desks in the front, folding my hands in front of me and staring straight ahead. I am ready for this. I am ready for this. I am- I notice that my knees are shaking and I'm glad I'm sitting and it's less obvious underneath the desk because I'm so not ready for this, as much as I would like to be. I remember the flash of anger on his face and the rage in his eyes when he attacked me in the classroom. I remember how zoned out he looked when I was yelling at him. Maybe he really is just a robot. Maybe he is going to kill me. Holy shit he is a murder robot that is going to kill me.

Suddenly he walks into the classroom, and he looks almost confused to see me. "What are you doing here?"

It's like all the air has been let out of a balloon. I feel confused and off-balance. I quickly decide that this must be a test, and so I maintain my composure. I stare straight ahead, without meeting his eyes and simply say, "Tori Brown, reporting for detention, sir."

He sighs like he doesn't have the patience for me right now, and walks around the room. I keep my chin locked straight ahead, trying to keep my vision focused dead-center so I'm not even tempted to see him out of the corner of my eye. If I can pretend that I'm not intimidated by him right now, maybe I won't be.

"You can go," he says at length, and I blink twice. Go? "To the dance," he adds, as if he understands my confusion. "Go on, go. You're released early."

For some reason, this makes me mad. Does he expect me to say thank you? Is this a game? I yell at him for being cruel so he does something nice for me? I somehow expect this is a test, that I'll leave the room only to end up in another room like this one until I go crazy trying to get out, but I don't think so. He sounds tired. But at least he's not dead.

"No thank you, sir," I say calmly, keeping my eyes locked dead center. I press my fingernails into the palms of my hands to hold my nerve.

"No-?" Out of my peripheral, I can see him turn around to stare at me. He might be gaping, I'm not sure.

"I was strictly out of line when I yelled at you, sir," I say, although it comes off a bit robotically. "I cursed at you and in turn I broke Iris Academy's policy to respect the professors of the institution. As you are a professor of this institution, I broke the rules and thus must serve detention as my punishment for breaking them."

"Punishment is only effective when it compels one to feel remorse for what they have done," he says coolly, and I suddenly feel my resolve slip as I glance at him out of the corner of my eye.

"I, uh, I am…sorry, that I yelled at you, and said that stuff," I murmur, twisting my hands in my lap. "I am…sorry." I look back up at him nervously but I can't quite read his expression.

"Duly noted," he replies as he turns his back on me.

"No, I am sorry," I exclaim. He doesn't turn around. So much for my composure and talking this out like adults. "I didn't mean to say that stuff to you. I was mad, and I was upset and I had no right to talk to you like that. I cursed at you and I was cruel to you and I, it wasn't my place to say anything. I know nothing about you and I said all that stuff anyway and then you weren't at class and people, people were saying that you got so upset with what I said that you killed yourself and I couldn't…I couldn't live with myself if you had, had done something because of what I said to you. I mean…I didn't think you would but I still was upset that I made you….upset."

He chuckles to himself at my outburst. "Silly girl. You think I am so swayed by your opinion?"

I think about it for a moment. Doesn't he care? Hadn't he said that once, that he cares about what I thought of him? I can't remember where or…the context, but didn't he…? "Yesssss?" I say slowly, cocking my head to the side, still trying to remember. Was it when I was a treasurer last spring? I can't…remember…

"Tori." He says firmly, and I snap back to attention, shaking my head.

"Um, no," I say quickly. "No, you don't care what I think."

He sighs and sits down across from me, although I don't meet his eyes. "That is not…entirely true," he says, and I make a small noise in the back of my throat in response, trying to understand what he's saying. He sighs, and then shifts topics. "Do you understand why I yell at students? Why I'm so cruel to them, as you said?"

"To protect us, right?" I ask. "Because magic is very dangerous and we're young and inexperienced and we don't know the magical laws like making promises and oaths, and even when we're doing magic, people can get hurt…" He's watching me carefully now. "And someone can get hurt. Did get hurt? And…I'm sorry, sir, haven't we had this conversation…before?" I want to say more but there's this strange itching in the back of my head that I can't explain. It's like I can see an image on an old television set that hasn't been adjusted properly and the colors are all out of balance, but I can see it, there's something there even though I'm not sure I can make out what and I hear someone talking and I think it's a man's voice but it's all garbled and I think I can feel tugging on my sleeve but I want to see it, I want to see what's there, there's something there, there's a feeling, I just want to see, I need to see, I want to-

"OWW!" I cry out in pain and I look up to see Professor Grabiner standing above me, breathing heavily. "What the hell did you just do to me?"

He hesitates for a moment while I pull my robes around me. "Are you all right?"

"No," I reply on instinct. I blink and look around me, but there's no one else in the room. "What was that?"

"What was what?" he asks.

I glare at him. "What just happened? With the-the lights, and the colors. There was something there."

"What was there?" He's watching me carefully and I run both hands through my hair, trying to piece it together.

"I don't know, there were voices," I say, thinking back. "A man's voice. But I couldn't see it, or hear it, I guess. I mean, I heard talking but it was like there was this really loud static in the background and I couldn't hear what he was saying and I just – what happened to me?"

He is quiet for a few moments. "A spirit attacked you," he says at last.

I pause for a second. "A spirit attacked me?" I repeat dubiously.

"It is All Hallows' Eve," he explains, although he doesn't look as sure of himself as he usually does. "Malicious spirits can sometimes try to work themselves into a human host."

"You mean like, possession?" I ask. He nods. "Wait, so all that-" I point at my head. "-noise and stuff was just..."

"What?" he asks, but I already feel it slipping away. Maybe it was just a ghost trying to pass through me. I don't know. The pain isn't there anymore and I don't feel anything else. There's no one in the room except for me and Professor Grabiner who looks extremely concerned.

"Anyway," I say quickly. "What were we, uh, talking about?"

"Your punishment," he says and narrows his eyes. I sigh inwardly. "But seeing how you were just attacked, I think it's fair to say that you've suffered enough for one night."

"Um, thank you sir," I say quickly. "And thank you, for uh, saving my life, I guess."

"As your professor, that is my obligation," he says simply.

"Um, so are we…cool now?" I ask.

"Cool now?" he echoes, raising his eyebrows.

"Well, we have to work together as treasurer," I say. "And I need to see you for class, so I want us to be able to work together. Maybe we can be…friends?"

He sighs. "You are a student. I am your professor. We will not have any sort of friendship or otherwise aside from the professional working relationship-"

"Yeah, yeah, I figured, you don't have 'friends,'" I say casually. "Am I good to go now?"

He pauses for a moment. "Have a good night, Ms. Brown."

"Thanks," I say, and start to get up. For some reason, my knees aren't working right and he catches my hand to help steady me. "Umm, sorry about that."

"Are you all right?" he asks.

"Yeah," I shrug. "Must be some, uh, leftover mojo from that spirit thing or whatever."

He nods, but looks less sure. That's what I realize that my hand is still in his, the warmth of his skin flush against my own. A spark of adrenaline shoots through me and all of a sudden I feel dizzy with excitement, I feel-

I jerk my hand out of his grip so violently that I slam it against the side of the desk with a resounding thunk. "Are you all right?" he asks, but I can barely hear him over the pulsing that is spreading through my wrist like wildfire.

"Fine," I say quickly, taking a step away from him. My face is flushed and burning from embarrassment. "I, um, will see you in class, s-sir," I stammer as I make my way out of the room. "Good day-night-bye…sir." With that I scurry down the hall as fast as my legs will carry me. When I am safely out of view, I curse at myself and then heal my hand. I stretch out my fingers, but there doesn't seem to be any permanent damage done. "I'm such an idiot," I curse under my breath.

I take the advantage of being alone in the corridor to slump down on the floor, holding my hand out in front of me, rubbing my fingers together where I had touched him. I had gotten a quick flash again, not as long or as steady as the one I had in the room, no lights or sounds, but the feeling associated with it was stronger this time. It felt like nervous apprehension, giddy excitement, and I didn't understand any of it. It was just a hand, a human hand, why should it have any effect on me? Because it was his hand? What did that mean?

It means things that I don't want to think about right now, and so I quickly get to my feet and make my way back to the dorm, where Ellen, Donald and Virginia are just coming in. "Have you seriously been with Grabby all this time?"

"All this time?" I ask. It felt like I was there for no more than twenty minutes. "Wait, is the dance over?"

"Yeah, we were one of the last ones to leave," Donald says, then catches the look on my face in the dim light. "What did he do to you?"

"I-" I hesitate. I want to tell them that I was apparently almost possessed by a spirit, but for some reason, I don't. I feel like Virginia would know more information about this, but I don't want to tell her. Would malicious spirits even be allowed on school grounds? Don't they have some sort of warding to protect us from that? Is that even how possessions work? Virginia would have the answers, but what if they contradicted what happened to me tonight? What would that mean? That Grabiner was lying about what happened to me? Why would he do that?

"He put me in a dungeon," I say after a moment. "He said when I found my way out, I could go to the dance. I kept going through room after room but after every door it was just another dungeon. I guess he finally let me out when the whole thing was over."

"That sounds terrible," Ellen said, but I shrug.

"I'm just really tired," I say, pushing past them to be the first one into the room. "I'm saying good night now, because I'm going to be snoring in about two minutes."

I hear Ellen out in the hall as I sit down on my bed. "At least you're not as loud as Virginia-"

"Hey!"

I smirk and close my eyes. Was I really attacked? Or did he do something to me? Did he save me? Did he help me or hurt me? Within two minutes, I'm asleep.

Professor Grabiner had cloaked himself and followed her out into the hallway. He watched her heal herself, watched her sulk, and then watched her join her roommates, talking outside the door to her room. He listened with interest as she explained her "punishment" – which he made a mental note to retain for future detentions.

She didn't believe him. She didn't believe that she had been attacked by a spirit, and for that he had only himself to blame. It was a pretty lame excuse, but he literally couldn't think of anything else. She had been out for hours, and he was starting to think that she had slipped away for good when she suddenly woke up when he applied too much pain. At least it got her to snap out of it. He was going to have to read up on more green and white magic in the future, in case this happened again. He could always just talk to Professor Potsdam about it – he wasn't quite sure why he hadn't fetched her tonight – but for some reason he felt as though he was the one who was supposed to wake her up. At one point he had even stooped to silly fairy tale mythology and kissed her, but she didn't stir, and he only felt like an idiot when the deed was done.

She had almost lapsed two times that night: first when he asked if he cared about her, and then when she reenacted part of the conversation they had the night of the May Day ball. She had started to give a similar answer as she had done then, when suddenly her eyes had shut and she slumped back in her chair, as if she had merely dozed off to sleep. In all his attempts to wake her, she had made occasional noises of stirring and her eyes occasionally dashed back and forth beneath her eyelids, but she had not awakened until he inflected her with a crushing amount of pain.

He would rather not do that again.

Besides the fact that it may have just been a fluke, he didn't want to take the chance and let her remember any more until they could figure out a way to take the shield down for good. It was better for her if he didn't talk to her or say anything to her that might set her off. Being cruel to her would only incite confrontation. He had been going about this the wrong way. He had to ignore her completely, and simply watch her when her back was turned…

…which was a pity. He had actually found her outburst to have been quite cute, after mulling it over in his head so many times. And her apology today, letting slip that she was concerned for him, that she cared for him, it pleased him. He couldn't remember the last time anyone had showed genuine concern for him without getting something in return. And now the one person who did was threatened to be ripped away from him forever. He sighed and headed back to his quarters. There had to be a way to get her memories back, and he wasn't going to stop until he figured out how.