(A/N): If FanFictionNet was working right, this would have been posted a while ago. But my computer couldn't connect to the login server. Sorry!

Actually, chapters six through nine would have been posted a while ago. I have NO IDEA what is going on. But I have no other locations I can access at (well, I might try my cell phone, but I can't upload stuff on there!), so thus, this thing is REALLY LATE.

UPDATE: THE SERVER IS FINALLY BACK UP! YAYAY!

But, at the same time, you get four chapters in the timespan of one!

Anyway, this chapter contains the last information you will see on the subject of life under the Dragon Order until the conclusion of the first mini-plot.

Which is a while from now.

There are actually two plot phases: there's Phase One, the one we're in right now, duh. This is the Other Phase, as I call it, because of the common appearance of the word 'other'.

Then there's the OTHER Phase, the one we're not in yet. I haven't come up with a creative non-spoiler name for this one yet.

Ooh! Wait...

Yes, spoiler free! Well, not quite, but, it's better than my other (Another Other! What a coincidence!) name for it!

The 'Magic' Phase.

Take from it what you will. The quotes are relevant. And important. It's not the Magic Phase, it's the 'Magic' Phase.

Also know that there will be warnings for implied drug abuse (and/or flat out drug abuse? I'm making up half of the details as I go along) in the Second Phase.

Continue reading with these strange thoughts populating your head!

CHAPTER SIX: SCHOOL

Coraline couldn't remember going to bed last night.

Well, besides going to bed in the Other World… or, more accurately, the other world she had dreamed about.

But there she was, in her own bed, with the candle snuffed out by her bedside, and the sunlight from the cracked window on her face.

Ready to begin another boring school day.

The day began when Coraline and Melanie were walking to school.

The two silently passed the many signs, common sights to see around the average school, displaying images with captions saying stuff such as 'ALL PERSONS WITHOUT D.O. APPROVED I.D. ON HAND WILL BE SEARCHED' or 'NO PERSONAL ITEMS BEYOND THIS POINT'.

Coraline wondered what they would be doing in her classes today. She guessed that in History they would be doing more projects on the Modern Era (it was the only unit legally allowed to be studied, in accordance with Dragon Order law), or everything that happened since the takeover thirty-or-so years ago.

She also started scripting out her conversations of the day:

Joshua: "Hi, Coraline."

Coraline: ...

Joshua: "You never talk to me..."

And another one:

Miss Ance: "Coraline, when did the Takeover occur?"

Coraline: ...

Miss Ance: "*sigh* Anyone else?"

Melanie always said not to stick out in school. If they found out she was a squib, she would be taken away to some far away place, and Melanie wouldn't be with her anymore. And both of them would be sad.

The easiest way for people not to find out who you are is to not let them.

And the way to do that was to not stick out.

Coraline never had any friends visit, or even any friends at all - Melanie always said that that was probably the most dangerous thing they could do. Once the kid found out that they had no parents, or that their house was a wreck, it would be too late.

Coraline made her way through the day, first with Mathematics, then English (where they studied the 'classics' written by Dragon Order officials), then to General Sciences (usually called 'Anti-Magic' by the students, as using magic to help with an experiment was forbidden), and finally to History, her least favorite class of the day, where she had to make peace with Miss Tempa Ance, an old woman who was older than time itself, and meaner than a swarm of wasps.

She was the same History teacher that had given her the long-term detention those months ago, which she loathed her for.

Today, the class was talking about the Takeover, and the forbiddance of muggle-borns and squibs. Why people like her - the different ones - were so bad, she had no idea. Coraline just knew that she hadn't been completely brainwashed like everyone else.

But Coraline didn't ever press the issue, as that only brought around suspicion, and suspicion only meant that she was more likely to be taken away. So she acted like the average kid, just to stay safe. In reality, Coraline had to supress a strange compellance to learn to act like the average kid.

Miss Ance had been going on about the Takeover and the names and blood statuses of the Dragon Order members. She highly doubted that everyone on the list was a pureblood, but she probably would never know whether half the stuff that wound up in her head was a lie or not.

As soon as History was over, Coraline walked to the detention room to do her time. After a few extra hours at the school, Coraline went home.

When she got there, Melanie was absent.

She's probably just at her other job, Coraline thought.

There was a note on the table, clearly in her sister's handwriting:

I've got to work overtime tonight. I won't be home until around three or four AM.

Dinner's on the stove.

Melanie

After Coraline ate, she went upstairs to retrieve the pamphlet, and then into the room with the little door.

She unlocked it and felt the same waves of magic coming.

Folding the pamphlet into a little square and sticking it in her pocket, Coraline crawled through the small tunnel.

(A/N): In case you didn't catch it, Miss Ance's name is a play on the name Temperance, which means 'Self-control or Moderation'. Even better (and I didn't realize this when I picked it) the name is English in origin.

So, she's back in the Other World again! Yay! (See, there's another Other!)