A/N: Still perhaps the most boring chapter in the story, in my opinion. I just don't find this scene in the musical very interesting, although it is important for the motivation of Elphaba's character. Bear with it – you know who shows up in the next chapter… ;D

Disclaimer: I own nothing except the fight at the end.

xXxXx

What with adjusting to college life, my worries for Nessa, and trying to make the best of my bad roommate situation ('trying' being the operative word here), I realize that I haven't written much about my actual classes. Although I've always done well in school (and I say that in the most modest sense possible!), I find schoolwork (and school in general) dull, pointless, and hardly worth wasting the time, effort, ink, and space in my diary to describe. However, since I don't have anyone else to tell about it, and I've already finished my assignments for tomorrow, I suppose I might as well try to write at least a little about what I do all day.

I have four classes, the typical courseload expected of an incoming first-year student. Introductory Life Sciences (yawn) and Mathematics (double yawn) are the bane of my existence, other than a certain blonde with whose name I will not soil this page. Then, of course, there's Madame's sorcery seminar, which I positively adore.

The last of my four classes, Ozian history, might well be my favorite after the sorcery seminar. It's taught by – you'll never believe this! – a Goat named Doctor Dillamond. I haven't had the pleasure of meeting many real, live Animals before, and the few I've met have been Beings of decidedly… average intelligence. It is truly a learning experience and a pleasure to know an Animal so well-educated as Doctor Dillamond is – why, there are many times that, if not for his hooves and horns, I would hardly take him for a Goat. He's extremely proud of his… well, Animal-ness, I suppose, and would never wish to be anything other than what he is – in fact, he'd probably take what I just wrote as an insult – but I really respect the old fellow, and that's the highest compliment I can think of to pay him.

Doctor Dillamond spends a lot of time talking about Animal rights here in Oz, and about all the new restrictions being placed on them. Sometimes, I'll admit, it does get a little irrelevant to whatever we're supposed to be learning, but he makes valid points, and I'm beginning to find myself being drawn more and more towards his cause. Take today in class, for example...

The entire class was present, accounted for, and seated at their desks when Doctor Dillamond entered the room, late as usual. "Settle down, now!" he directed after murmuring a brief apology for his tardiness. Then he began to pass back some papers that we had turned in a few days ago. "I have read your most recent essays. And I am amazed to report the progress! Although some of us still tend to favor form over content..." He cleared his throat and directed a pointed look at my roommate, who was sitting in the back of the room looking supremely bored, as he handed her back her essay. "Miss Glinda."

Barely bothering to glance up from whatever she was doing, Galinda took the paper and corrected him, as she does at least once or twice every class period, "It's GA-linda."

Doctor Dillamond frowned slightly, clearly not in the mood for Galinda's snobbery today. "Yes, of course. Excuse me... Glinda." I had to suppress a smile. Mispronouncing someone's name once may very well be an accident, but doing it twice in a row, especially after the person has corrected you, hints quite strongly of the intentional.

"I really don't see what the problem is," Galinda complained petulantly. "Every other professor seems to be able to pronounce my name."

Well, I've been listening to Galinda's whining on this subject since the first day of classes, and I'm so blasted sick of it! I couldn't stand it a clock-tick longer. I turned in my seat and shot her a glare. "Maybe perfecting the pronunciation of your precious name is not the sole focus of Doctor Dillamond's life. Maybe he's not like every other professor. Maybe some of us are different."

Galinda raised an eyebrow and cast a sly smile at a couple of the girls she had deigned to allow to sit next to her. "Oh! It seems the artichoke is steamed," she purred smugly.

Everyone giggled at the tasteless joke. My cheeks flaming, I slid down as far as I could go in my chair, glowering at Galinda and vowing silently to pay her out for embarrassing me like that. Just wait until I get you alone, I thought vengefully as I tried to send telepathic waves of pain and suffering her way. (Sadly, I don't think it worked – I'm not that advanced in sorcery yet.) Then you'll be sorry!

Doctor Dillamond clapped his hooves together for silence. "Class, class! Miss Elphaba has a point! As you know, I am the sole Animal on the faculty. The token Goat, as it were. But it wasn't always this way. Oh, dear students, how I wish you could have seen it as it once was." At this point, he gave a wistful sigh, and it became obvious that he was about to embark on another of his numerous trips down Memory Lane. "When you could walk down the halls and see an Antelope explicating a sonnet, a Snow Leopard solving an equation, a Wildebeest waxing philosophical. Don't you see, dear students, what is being lost? How our dear Oz is becoming less and less... well…" He paused long enough to cast a sidelong glance at me before finishing, "... colorful?" Then he pointed to the blackboard, upon which was drawn a detailed timeline of the history of Oz, and proceeded to begin the day's lecture. "Now, who can tell me what sent these events into motion?"

History has always been one of my better subjects, and this was a question that I've known the answer to since primary school. I raised my hand, and Doctor Dillamond nodded that I could answer. "From what I've read, it all started with the great drought."

"Exactly," he nodded. "Food grew scarce, people grew hungrier and angrier. And the question became, 'Whom can we blame?' Can anyone tell me what is meant by the term 'Scapegoat'?" I shot my hand up again, and Doctor Dillamond gave me a weary smile before glancing around the room. "Someone besides Miss Elphaba?" His eyes fell on someone in the back of the class, and a bit surprisedly he acknowledged, "Ah yes, Miss Glinda..."

"It's GA-linda... with a GA," she told him yet again. (If I hear that line one more time, I do believe I'm going to throttle the girl.) "And I don't see why you can't just teach us history instead of always harping on the past."

I had a sharp retort on the tip of my tongue ready to fling at her, but Doctor Dillamond spoke before I could. "Well, perhaps these questions will enlighten you." With that, he walked over to the blackboard and turned it over.

Everyone gasped as the reverse side of the board was revealed. Instead of the promised set of questions, a simple slogan met our eyes. There, chalked in huge blood red letters for all to see, was the sentiment, ANIMALS SHOULD BE SEEN AND NOT HEARD.

The shock was so great that no one moved or made a sound for what must have been almost a full minute. Finally Doctor Dillamond managed, "Who is responsible for this?" Of course, no one put themselves forward as the guilty party. "I'm waiting for an answer," he warned, peering closely at every face in turn. When the culprit still did not confess, he let out a defeated sigh, and his shoulders slumped visibly. "Very well… that will be all for today," he said quietly. When no one moved – I don't think any of us believed he was serious at first – he repeated himself more forcefully. "You heard me, class dismissed!!!"

Surprised and disturbed by this unexpected turn of events, everyone gathered up their things and filed out of the room in silence. I was standing by the door, waiting for Nessa, when I noticed that Doctor Dillamond was standing very still, his back to me, staring at the words on the blackboard. "You go on ahead, Nessa," I whispered to my sister as she rolled up in her wheelchair. Seeming to understand, Nessa nodded and wheeled herself away.

Once she was gone, I stepped quietly back into the room. "Animals should be seen and not heard..." I read aloud from the board, wondering who could possibly believe such a thing.

Doctor Dillamond turned in surprise, then gave a wan smile when he saw that it was only me. "Oh, Miss Elphaba, don't worry about me. Go along and enjoy your friends."

"Oh that's all right. I have no friends," I told him, trying my best to make it sound as though this fact didn't bother me. Then, on a whim, I offered, "Would you like to share my lunch?"

"Oh, thank you! How kind."

I reached into my satchel and pulled out the sandwich I had grabbed on the fly from the dining hall this morning. Undoing the paper around it, I handed the wrapper to Doctor Dillamond (he is a Goat, after all!) before tucking into the sandwich itself. We ate without speaking for a minute or two. Then Doctor Dillamond caught sight of the vandalized blackboard, and slowly handed what was left of the paper wrapper back to me. "I seem to have lost my appetite."

"You shouldn't let ignorant statements like that bother you," I admonished my teacher. Then I realized how silly that sounded coming from me, of all people – you know how sensitive I am about my green skin! Wrapping up the remainder of my sandwich and tucking it back into my satchel, I added hastily, "I mean, I always do, but you shouldn't."

"Oh, Miss Elphaba," he sighed, "if only it were a simple matter of words on a chalkboard. But the things one hears these days... dreadful things!" And he began to talk, growing angrier and angrier. He related story after awful story of Animals that he knew who were being forced from positions of prominence, their rights horribly restricted – or, worst of all, losing their powers of speech altogether! "Something bad is happening in Oz," he told me with utter certainty, lowering his voice to a conspiratorial whisper. "Under the surface… behind the scenes. Something baaaaahhh…" He trailed off into a sound that I had never heard come out of his mouth before, a sound that I can only describe as… a bleat. Sounding as stunned as I was, he quickly amended, "Sorry… bad."

"Dr. Dillamond, are you all right?" I asked, concerned. "Shall I fetch you a glass of water?"

"No, no, I'm fine," he assured me quickly. "I don't know what came over me."

I studied him closely for a clock-tick or two, then decided to change the subject. "So, you're saying that there are Animals that have somehow… forgotten how to speak? But… how is that possible?"

"Well, with so much pressure not to... If you make it discouraging enough, you can keep anyone silent. But I, for one, will never let them stop me!"

Doctor Dillamond quickly cut himself off as Madam Morrible bustled in. "I heard there was some sort of disturburance in class. Are you all right, Doctor?" Then she caught sight of me. "Oh, Miss Elphaba, you're still here! I thought you would have been on your way to my seminar by now." The look she gave me said instead, You should be on your way to my seminar by now, if you know what's good for you.

Annoyed that we had been intruded upon just as Doctor Dillamond was getting to the most important part of the conversation, I replied, "Yes, Madam, ordinarily I would be, but..."

"'But'?" she interrupted. "I do hope I have not misplaced my trust in you. Magic is a demanderating mistress, and if one has ambitions of meeting the Wizard…" She cast a level look at Doctor Dillamond. "I'm sure Doctor Dillamond sees my point." Without waiting for my reaction, she swept out just as suddenly as she had entered.

I made a face at her back, but in the end there was nothing for it. "I'd better go," I said apologetically. At the door, I stopped and turned around. "Doctor Dillamond, if something bad is happening to the Animals, someone's got to tell the Wizard. He'll make things right. That's why we have a Wizard! So nothing bad will happen."

"I hope you're right, Miss Elphaba. I truly hope you're right."

My talk with Doctor Dillamond kept me preoccupied for the rest of the day, or at least until I got back to my room. Then Galinda and I had a most satisfying fight, which helped take my mind (at least briefly) off the morning's events.

The door to our room is very well oiled, and it opens without a sound. When I came in after classes, Galinda was sitting on her bed, her back to me, and I realized that she hadn't even noticed I was there. So I sneaked up behind her, grabbed her by the shoulders, and shouted, "BOO!"

She let out a piercing scream, jumped about a foot in the air, and turned to face me. When she saw who was standing there laughing herself silly, she shot me a frigid look and went back to the letter she was writing. "Oh, it's just you."

"Who were you expecting, Galinda," I asked sarcastically, "the Bogeyman?"

"At the moment, Elphaba, I would prefer the Bogeyman over you," she returned with a tight smile. "In fact, I'd prefer just about anyone over you."

"Well, aren't we just the epitome of politeness! Tell me, is that your proper Uplands upbringing showing itself, or do I just bring out the best in you?"

"Don't you dare criticize my upbringing," spat Galinda. "I can't help it if my parents didn't raise me to associate with the likes of you." Then she slowly looked me up and down and smiled, not nicely. "And my upbringing was obviously a far cry better than yours."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"Well… just look at you, Elphaba! For one thing, you have no sense of style whatsoever. Who taught you how to dress, an undertaker? No, I take that back – even an undertaker would have better taste than to saddle someone with that hideodeous excuse for a frock. And that… that thing you're always lugging around…"

"What, my satchel?"

"Oh, is that what you call it? Well, it doesn't go with anything else you ever wear. And that awful knit cap of yours… I don't even know where to begin. That thing is wrong on so many levels…"

I absolutely refused to be the slightest bit affected by Galinda's casual dissection of my fashion sense, or lack thereof. "Are you quite finished?" I wondered boredly.

"Oh, Elphaba, I haven't even begun," she laughed meanly. "But telling you everything that's wrong with you would take far more time and effort than I'm willing to waste on you. I think I've said enough for the moment."

"Good. Then it's my turn."

"Your turn? Oh, please! There's nothing about me that you, of all people, could possibly be in any position to criticize."

I laughed out loud at that one. "Oh, Galinda, you have no idea! There are so many things, I don't know where to start!"

"Oh, really? Like what?"

"Well, to begin with, you never take anything seriously – not school, not your friends, not anything. You act like life is one big party for your exclusive enjoyment."

"Why shouldn't I have fun while I can?"

"Because the real world isn't like that, Galinda! In the real world you have to work for a living, and you have to pay your bills, and there's crime, and pain, and suffering, and when you get out there into the real world, you aren't going to know what to do with yourself. You've got to get your empty head out of the clouds and wake up."

She blinked in surprise. Obviously, no one had ever dared to speak to her that way before. Then she smiled tolerantly. "Do you know what I think, Elphaba? I think you're just jealous of me. That's what this is all about."

"Me, jealous of you? Don't make me laugh!"

"It's so obvious, it's almost pathetic. You're jealous because you don't have all the pretty clothes, shoes, bags, or friends that I do – "

"You put them in that order?"

" – and you're taking it out on me by telling me that I'm wrong for enjoying them."

"If you really believe that, Galinda, then you're even stupider than I thought. I would never in a million years wish a life like yours on my worst enemy – even if you didn't already have it."

"Well, there's nothing in the world – no amount of money, dresses, shoes, or bags – that could ever get me to switch places with you, Elphaba. Not even for a single day. I'd hate to be you."

"You know, Galinda, I don't think I've ever known a single other person that I loathed so purely and completely as I do you. It's really amazing, even to me, how much I detest you."

"Oh, yeah? Well, let me tell you, the feeling's mutual. You have got to be the most disgusticified creature I've ever laid eyes on."

I didn't bother to ask where in Oz she came up with the word 'disgusticified.' "And you are the most infuriating, most catty, most giggly, most ridiculous, most… most blonde… argh!" I broke off with a cry of frustration. There were no words strong enough, mean enough, bad enough to tell Galinda what I think of her. Finally I shouted, "I can't stand you!!!"

"I can't stand you!" she hollered back.

By this time, we were both on our feet, screaming at the top of our lungs at each other. Then a sudden knock on our door interrupted our war of words. Since I was closer, I grudgingly stomped over to answer it, yanking open the door to reveal one of Galinda's friends – I think it was Pfannee, or maybe Shen Shen.

When she saw me standing there, a highly unwelcoming look on my face, she automatically backed up a step or two. "We heard shouting," she stated bravely. "Is everything all right in here?"

"Yes, we're fine. Nothing's wrong." I turned to my roommate with something akin to a smile, and asked through clenched teeth, "Is it, Galinda?"

She caught the warning in my eyes, and quickly shook her head. "Nothing whatsoever. We're both perfectly all right. But thanks for your concern, dear. I'll be down in just a minute."

"All right. See you later, then." Having been reassured that her idol was (presently) unharmed, the girl went on her way, and I closed the door behind her.

"Now then, where were we?" I snarled as soon as the door was back in place.

But Galinda brushed past me with an uninterested air. "I'm tired of shouting at you, Elphaba. I refuse to waste any more energy arguing. I'm going out now, and I'll probably be gone for the rest of the night. Don't bother waiting up for me."

"As if I ever would. I don't care one bit what time you come back, Galinda. In fact, I wouldn't care if you never came back. So have a lovely time."

Galinda made a face at me before snatching up her purse and taking herself haughtily off to meet up with her friends, and then I was left alone to enjoy a few precious, Galinda-free hours of peace and quiet.

Now that I have the chance to just sit and think, my earlier conversation with Doctor Dillamond keeps forcing itself on my mind. Some of the things he said were almost too horrid to be true. Surely such atrocities can't be taking place right here in Oz! But Doctor Dillamond is an incredibly learned man – er, Goat, and I trust that he knows what he's talking about. If Madam somehow manages to get me a meeting with the Wizard, I'll warn him about all this. He'll be very upset to learn what's going on – I can only assume that he doesn't know yet, because he's too good of a person to knowingly allow things like this to happen – but if anyone can do something about it, it'll be him. I'm sure he'll appreciate being informed.

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So, I've decided that from now on, I'm reposting this solely for my own satisfaction, because obviously it's not good enough for the vast majority of my readership to think it warrants a review. I don't blame you – I understand that the plot and the dialogue aren't in the least bit original, and I also understand that people have many demands on their time and don't have time to review everything they read, especially if it's not something original and creative. I'm not angry, I promise. I will simply no longer expect reviews for this story. Of course, if you want to make my day, go right ahead, but please don't feel obligated. My deepest thanks to those few of you who have reviewed, and especially to Phantomfr33k24601, who is the ONLY PERSON who has reviewed every chapter consistently.