Disclaimer: The Wicked universe belongs to Gregory Maguire, but any new characters or places are pretty much mine.

Chapter 3 - Classes: The next morning, Ellie and Bianca got up, dressed, gathered their books, and went to breakfast in the dining hall. After breakfast, though, they split up. Bianca headed for the history building while Ellie went to the mages' building. Her first class was Magical Theory, taught by a tall, cheerful blond man called Professor Keld. He seemed nice, but his class was terribly dull.

Her next class was Branches of Magic: An Overview. This class was about all the various specialties a mage could choose. The teacher, Professor Nadine, was a stern woman with tightly-braided gray hair. Ellie was probably the only one in the class who liked the tough old woman; Nadine reminded her of the Superior Maunt, and even though she was thrilled to be out of there, she did miss it, a little.

This was followed by Magical Tools and Artifacts. The teacher here, Professor Dove, was a Quadling immigrant, judging by her rosy skin and crippled syntax. Still, she seemed to be the nicest teacher thus far.

Incantations was next. They didn't really get to do much in this class, because first they had to memorize charts and lists describing the various forms of incantations. One of Ellie's classmates, a boy with a shock of red hair called Tam, leaned over his desk to whisper to a neighbor, "I thought we were supposed to learn this stuff in Theory." The teacher, Professor Vestrin, a tall, brown haired woman, spun around and fixed poor Tam with an icy glare, made all the more unnerving by the violet color of the teacher's eyes. He shut up immediately. Ellie shook her head. Tam really shouldn't be baiting teachers on his first day.

At lunch, she met back up with Bianca, who was gushing about her previous class, Basic Foreign History. Her teacher had apparently taken ill and the substitute was one of the mage instructors, a Professor Dalloway. "And he told us, it's his first year. He's only 18, just graduated himself, Ellie, and I'm telling you, he has got to be the handsomest man I have ever seen."

Ellie groaned. "I was hoping you were a sensible sort, Bianca," she said with a sigh. Bianca looked hurt.

"I am, usually, but I am a girl, and I'm serious, when you see him you won't be so disdaining, missy." Ellie shrugged and then frowned as the boy Tam walked over to them.

"Hey, Bianca, how's class going?" he asked.

"Oh, fine," Bianca said with a shrug. "Tam, did you meet Ellie Verdi? She's got the same major as you; I'm sure you've seen each other. Ellie, this is my cousin, Tam Cooper."

"We're in Theory and Incantations together," Tam said. "So, Ellie, is it? Nice to meet you properly." He held out a hand to shake. Ellie took it after only a second's hesitation.

"Nice to meet you too. Do you think you're permanently out of Vestrin's good graces?"

Tam chuckled. "It's possible. I don't particularly care. I have a point."

"Well, yes, I agree."

"Thank you! I am vindicated!" And with that, he turned and headed back to his own table. Ellie gave Bianca a sidelong glance.

"Does everyone in your family have so much energy?"

Bianca grinned. "Mostly. Just Gramma doesn't, and she used to." The bell rang. "Bye, Ellie! And remember to tell me what you think of Dalloway!" Ellie rolled her eyes.

Ellie's second to last class was Arcane Magic. This class, taught by absent-minded Professor Jaxon, was all about ancient magics. Ellie had a feeling she would like this class; it seemed fascinating.

She had a free study period next, for which she knew she would be grateful later. Then came her last class, Potions. And, according to the schedule, this was the class taught by the 'famous' Professor Dalloway.

She was in the class first, probably because everyone else had stopped in the halls to chat. She came into the classroom and sat down quietly. The teacher had his back turned, but he turned around as she took out her notebook and pen. She nearly dropped the pen. Bianca had been right. Professor Dalloway was tall, with jet-black hair and tawny gold eyes. He had lightly tanned skin, and his face was nearly perfect, except for a slightly crooked nose, which somehow made him all the better, as though that one imperfection made him real. He smiled at her, and she thought that if he smiled at girls he was interested in that way, they must simply melt for him. She nearly did. It was only the steely backbone of her mauntery education that kept her seated, and not sliding into a puddle on the floor though she ducked her head quickly.

Everyone else came in, each girl's eyes lighting up when they caught sight of the teacher. The boys all looked aggravated, especially those who had been flirting with said girls only moments earlier.

Professor Dalloway cleared his throat and began. "So, Potions. Even if you find yourself failing dismally at Incantations or Arcane Magic, or any of what we traditionally call magic, you may find yourself to be a talented potioneer. Now, we learn a lot of herbalist's arts here, because of their uses in potions. Those of you who have grown up among those who know their herbs might already know some of what I'm going to teach you, so I ask you to bear with me and help your classmates who might not have your knowledge."

"I think you will like this class. I just got out of those desks myself, and I remember how boring things could get. So, I try to make this fun, but I'm giving you a warning. As the year goes on, we will be working with potions that get progressively more dangerous. If I catch you fooling around, you get one reprieve. Second time and you're out. Do we understand each other?" There was a general murmur of assent. "Good. So, let's get started. I'm going to introduce you to some basic herbs and plants today. Can anyone tell me the uses for willowbark?"

That was the final class, after which everyone returned to their dorms. Bianca was waiting expectantly when Ellie walked in. "Well?"

"He's very attractive, I'll give you that." Ellie lay down on her bed, staring at the ceiling.

"Well, at least you'll admit that much. Come on, girl, you're not in a mauntery now! You won't get in trouble for thinking someone's cute!"

Ellie shrugged. "He's a teacher, Bianca. So it wouldn't matter, would it?"

"No, but... Oh, you're no fun!"

"Sorry."

Bianca groaned, and then said, "So, tell me about your other classes, and I'll tell you about mine." They spent the remained of the time until dinner discussing their classes and then after dinner, continued the conversation.

That night, Ellie found she couldn't sleep. She felt as though... well, she didn't know exactly. She felt like something was happening somewhere, something that was important to her, but that made no sense. When she finally fell asleep, she dreamed of a chubby boy sheltering from the rain under a large black cape, with a pigtailed girl, a lion - or was it a Lion? There were so few Animals in Fliaan, it was hard to tell - a Tin Man, and a Scarecrow. Interesting crowd, she mused in her sleep. The scene shifted, and she saw a dark-skinned man with some kind of markings on his skin watching a woman on a bed. The woman looked as though she'd been badly burned, but what jolted Ellie awake was the woman's skin. It was as green as her own, though it was a darker shade.

Ellie's eyes snapped open and she stared up into the darkness. That had been an odd dream, and it had made so little sense. And she hardly ever dreamed, which made it all the stranger. She rolled over and managed to sleep again, and this time she didn't dream at all.

A/N: Well, this is the longest chapter thus far. I managed to introduce a few more important characters, which makes me happy. R&R!