Extra: Grabiner-POV: Investigation

After the students have been taken care of, Petunia summons Prof. Kralik and myself for a meeting, the content being about the incident of course. It will be a long night, it seems. Well, reminiscing about that weird nightmare I had, I'm not in the mood for sleep anyways.
"Please come in.", Petunia invites us into her office, thereby disrupting my thoughts. "First of all, I'd like to start our investigation meeting by saying that I believe in the innocence of our students. Whatever happened tonight, I'm sure there was no ill intent involved.", Petunia declares with conviction.
One shouldn't jump to conclusions during an investigation. While I do agree that it is improbable that the incident was meant to harm Mr. Phifer or Mr. Blaising, it is still a possibility that shouldn't be discarded right away. "With that being said, do we have any suspects?", Petunia asks.
"We have no clues as of now, unfortunately. Well, I suppose Mr. Danson, the younger one, is the most likely to cause any sort of trouble in this school, but that alone is not enough to suspect that he was involved in tonight's incident, of course.", I reply.
"Good. Arrest him.", Petunia swiftly commands. "Excuse me?", I ask perplexed. Surely, I misheard? "Arrest him.", she repeats. "Why?", I ask.
"Because he is our suspect?", she replies nonchalantly. He is? Since when? Just because I mentioned his unruly behavior? "But there is no evidence to support such a suspicion? To arrest him merely based on his past behavior hardly seems fair." I never expected that I'd have to defend Mr. Danson one day, especially against Petunia! What kind of situation is this? "Given his relationship with the inhabitants of the room that was attacked, it's unlikely that Mr. Danson is the culprit." I can't believe I have to defend Mr. Danson. And in addition, against Petunia! What a weird turn of events.
"Oh, I'm sure tonight's incident has nothing to do with Mr. Danson. He's a bit naughty, but he would never endanger his friends.", Petunia replies with conviction. Good, it seems she returned to reason. "Nonetheless, let's arrest him." What the hell, Petunia? "Please enlighten me as to why you, of all people, want to arrest a student, who you deem innocent?", I ask her bewildered. "Isn't it obvious? If we arrest him, the culprit will feel bad about emself, which will eventually lead em to confess." Obviously? More like that's the single most inane idea she ever had. Which is saying a lot, given how many inane ideas she had in the past. "And what will Mr. Danson think about your investigation method?", I ask her sarcastically. "How odd, usually you would never bother to take your students' feelings into account, Hieronymous. Could it be, that you're finally softening up?" What the hell is she talking about now? Is it really that odd of me to disapprove of arresting innocents? "Anyways, I'm certain Mr. Danson will be more than happy to get arrested, once we tell him he'll get merits for it, since he's helping us in finding the culprit.", Petunia explains. I'm not convinced about her ludicrous method, but Petunia has made up her mind and she's annoyingly stubborn. Furthermore, as the headmistress, she's naturally the one who has the last say. "Wonderful, then everything is set, right? In that case, I'll return to my sleeping quarters now, I'm dead-tired.", Prof. Kralik comments cheerfully. Oh, he was also present? Given his incompetence in adding anything of use to the investigation, I forgot he was here for a moment. Seriously though, working with him is as good as working alone. Although no, I must correct myself. Working alone is less annoying. Working with Prof. Kralik is worse than working alone.

The next day Petunia proceeds with her insane plan and arrests the young Mr. Danson after class. Once he heard that he'll get five merits for it, he stopped arguing and obediently let himself get locked up in the special detention room. Given how often he causes trouble, he really needs those merits to stay in school, but still, his obedient behavior surprises me.

It's my turn to guard the detention room. To my surprise, I don't see Prof. Kralik sitting at the desk in the small room leading to the detention room, even though it currently should be his turn to guard it. What is this incompetent nitwit trying to do now? I curiously pass the desk and walk further into the corridor, passing into the magical suppression field until I arrive in the detention room, where I witness Prof. Kralik questioning Mr. Danson. "Still not willing to admit, Mr. Danson? We will lessen your punishment, if you confess, you know?" Prof. Kralik was present, when Petunia divulged her plan, wasn't he? Then why is he treating the younger Mr. Danson as a true suspect? Unless, he didn't listen when Petunia divulged her plan to us? Truly, his incompetence knows no bounds. "How many times do I have to tell you? I didn't do anything; therefore, I have nothing to confess!", Donald angrily retorts. "Greetings, Prof. Kralik. It's my shift to guard now. You may leave.", I interrupt their conversation, being fed up with watching this charade. "Ah Prof. Grabiner. Yes, of course, I'll leave the suspect to you.", he replies politely, before scurrying away. "Do you also think I was actually the one, who did it?", Donald asks me bitterly. I don't bother to refute him, nor do I assent to his childish accusations and return to the desk instead. Maybe this incident can be used as a lesson for the younger Mr. Danson; teaching him that his behavior will reflect on him, even if he can avoid the immediate consequences by doing odd jobs for Petunia. After all, he wouldn't be in his position right now, if it wasn't for his constant rule-breaking.

Just a few minutes after my turn of guarding Mr. Danson started, Miss Middleton suddenly arrives in front of my desk. "I demand to speak to Donald.", she declares boldly, as soon as she spots me. "And what are you basing your demands on, Miss Middleton?", I calmly retort. "Well, on what basis have you arrested Donald? There's no evidence that Donald had anything to do with the incident, isn't it unreasonable to lock him up, purely based on his reputation as a troublemaker?!", she counter-asks challengingly. Ugh, I'm really not in the mood to argue with her. She is right of course, but I can't tell her that. "It's up to the staff, not the students, to investigate this incident, Miss Middleton. Rest assured, we will investigate this thoroughly.", I reply evasively. "Well, you won't find anything in investigating Donald, since he didn't do anything, so you might as well start searching for the true culprit.", Miss Middleton retorts haughtily. "Again, Miss Middleton, it's not up to you how the Academy deals with this. We won't cease the investigation of a suspect based on the personal feelings of a student. Now, unless you have something important to report about the incident, I suggest you head back.", I coldly admonish her. Unfortunately, my admonishing wasn't enough to make her leave, instead she's standing in front of me, pouting like a child. How unusually immature of her. "Still not leaving, Miss Middleton?", I ask her with a raised eyebrow, slowly growing annoyed of her presence. "I want to talk to Donald.", she replies resolutely. "No.", I reply curtly. "Why not?", she asks me with crossed arms. Ugh, annoying. "Because he's a suspect and currently under arrest.", I answer. "So?", she follows up. "So, you can't talk to him.", I reply, my patience slowly fading. "Just because he's a suspect?", she asks annoyingly. "Yes.", I reply curtly. "That's not a reason to obstruct me from talking to him though?" I narrow my eyes. "It certainly is enough reason. Since you seem close to him, he could use the chance to ask you to hide evidence.", I argue back. "That's ridiculous.", she retorts. "Please let me talk to him. Please!", she pleads, noticing that her prior retort didn't move me. "No." I can proudly say that pleading never worked on me. I'm quite resistant against such sentiments. "I won't leave, until you let me!", she exclaims stubbornly, changing her approach yet again. Annoying! "5 demerits.", I reply and scribble them down in my little book. "For what?", she asks me with accusing eyes. "For rudely annoying your professor with your nonsense.", I coldly retort. Shock appears in Miss Middleton's eyes for a short moment, only to be replaced by resolution yet again. "I won't give up. Please let me talk to Donald." How stubborn. Well, it's not the first time that she displayed this flaw. But what to do now? Give her demerits until she leaves? It's a pity, since she's such a good student, but you reap what you sow. 'Let her through, Hieronymous.' What the… 'Petunia?', I ask back, using telepathy. She's watching this? Why bother? 'Can't you see? It's young love! Ah, I have to see this…' Bloody hell! Damn that old hag and her romance delusions. "Alright. Go through, but make it quick, Miss Middleton.", I force myself to say through gritted teeth. Unfortunately, that old hag is still my superior… "Yes!", Miss Middleton replies happily, while hastily passing by. "Another thing.", I hold her back. "Yes?", she asks me, tilting her head. "Another five demerits.", I say and note them down in my little book. "…Yes.", she grudgingly replies and continues walking down the corridor towards Mr. Danson's confinement room. Without a doubt, Petunia will listen in on their conversation. A stalking headmistress… The reputation of our Academy would be ruined, if others were to know about this. But then again, it's already miraculous that Iris Academy's reputation isn't in shambles yet, given Petunia's past antics. Well, at least I won't have to listen in on their conversation, since Petunia will be doing that. Listening to their heart-to-heart talk would make me feel incredibly uncomfortable, but given the current circumstances not observing them also wouldn't be feasible. A few minutes later, Miss Middleton comes back and politely yet reluctantly thanks me for letting her talk to Mr. Danson, before leaving.

In the afternoon, just when my shift was about to end, another student barges into the small room. "Why are you here, Miss Solmoro?", I ask her, without looking up from the book that I'm reading. "I… I'd like to turn myself in.", she squeaks in an annoyingly high voice. I look up from my book, and into her eyes. "You want to turn yourself in?", I follow up with a raised eyebrow. "Y Yes. I I'm the one who did it. So please, release Donald. He's innocent.", she replies, while looking onto the floor. I observe Miss Solmoro more closely. Her shoulders are tense, and her hands are clasped with interwoven fingers. It's obvious that she's nervous, but it's unsure whether she's honestly confessing her crimes, or just trying to sacrifice herself for Mr. Danson. Well, with a bit of white magic, the truth will be easily found. 'Petunia, please come here. We have a student turning herself in.', I contact the Petunia telepathically. 'Just a moment, kay?', Petunia replies. A minute later, Petunia teleports down here and takes over the interrogation of Miss Solmoro. As it turns out, Miss Solmoro was indeed the one to set the door on fire. It was an accident, without any malicious intent. How does someone accidently set a door on fire? According to Miss Solmoro, she just wanted to play/practice being a ninja. A ninja. That's why she was sneaking through the school at night, casting attack spells against imaginary foes. This is ridiculous. Unfortunately, it's still unclear as to why Miss Solmoro's attack broke through the protection seal of the door. Well, since Prof. Kralik was the one to renew the seals on the doors the last time, it might have been his mistake. He's careless and incompetent enough to make such an embarrassing mistake, in my opinion. Anyways, thankfully the investigation finally concluded. It's a relief that this incident ended before the exam. To be honest, I'm anticipating how s- my favorite students will fare this time. I'm expecting them all to pass with ease, of course, but I'm curious how they'll deal with having an opponent this time.

To my dismay, some of the students used questionable methods to succeed this time. And Petunia even rewarded them for doing so! Bloody hell. Why does that old hag have no sense of modesty? Once again, I wish I could ask her parents that question, but they died long before I was even born…

On Saturday, I'm supervising detention again, this time not for the young Mr. Danson, but for Miss Solmoro. I gave her the task to research on fire safety and compile the information into a guide. Hopefully, she learned her lesson this time and will act more carefully, should a similar situation arise again.

Just a few days after the fire incident, another incident happened. Prof. Kralik woke me up in the middle of the night, to inform me that Mr. Ramsey had tried to absorb the soul of Miss Dumont. Petunia had already taken care of it, as the ritual triggered the observation-spell she wove over Iris Academy, which detects the weaving of forbidden magic. Unfortunately, Mr. Ramsey managed to escape. To ensure that he won't come back and harm other students, we must modify the protection spells over Iris Academy and take him off the list of beings allowed onto the Campus. As for Miss Dumont, Petunia was able to interrupt the ritual in time, but she received some damage and fainted. Petunia is currently treating her in the infirmary. This wouldn't have happened, if Petunia hadn't insisted on letting Mr. Ramsey stay here, despite his dubious background. To think that the future of a promising witch could've been ruined due to such carelessness, I can't help but be angry at Petunia. She's often preaching about 'giving everyone a chance to prove their goodness', but isn't it more important to protect our innocent students? Giving someone a chance to prove their goodness, gives them a chance to prove their vileness as well. I finished renewing my portion of the protection spells, but thinking about what could've happened, I decide to confront Petunia about her prior decision to let Mr. Ramsey remain here. After teleporting into the infirmary, I immediately find Petunia weaving green magic over a sleeping Miss Dumont. I open my mouth, ready to berate her, but looking closer at Petunia, I'm suddenly unable to say what I wanted to say. I don't remember the last time Petunia looked as pale as she does now. Coupled with that desolate look of hers, which looks especially off on the usually cheerful her… I'm not someone soft-hearted, but… It reminds me too much of myself. Of my mistake. At least, Miss Dumont survived. And she even retained her witch soul, she's still able to weave magic. Just when I was about to quietly retreat and leave her alone, Petunia notices me. "Hieronymous… It's my fault, isn't it?", she asks me sadly. I can't tell what it is, but in this moment, she actually has the atmosphere of someone, who's been alive for a long time, unlike her usual self. "Yes.", I reply softly. My reply seems to surprise Petunia. "How odd. I was certain you would curse me with burning hate, maybe even attack me physically.", Petunia notes. "It seems you're finally starting to forgive yourself.", she adds with a soft smile. I raise an eyebrow, once again not understanding her thought process. "Whenever someone reminded you a bit too much of yourself, you used to passionately hate them.", Petunia explains. "… That is not something that can be forgiven.", I reply stiffly, before teleporting away. Back in my quarters, I have trouble sorting out my thoughts and emotions. I sigh. This is going to be another sleepless night, it seems.

The next day I'm tired as expected, but since I'm used to being sleep-deprived it doesn't affect my teaching. However, I notice that she also seems to be tired? She's not as concentrated as usual. I wonder if something happened to her? Well, her private matters are not my business... I wonder, if she already knows about what Mr. Ramsey tried to do? This Academy has a problem with gossiping, news always travels very fast here, unfortunately. How would she react when hearing about Mr. Ramsey's attempt to steal Miss Dumont's witch soul? Would she be frightened? Since she seemed to have been somewhat close with Mr. Ramsey before… Mr. Ramsey still hasn't been caught, unfortunately. I can't help but feel uneasy, especially given his past behavior towards her. What if Mr. Ramsey still has his eyes on her? Furthermore, the holydays are approaching… She won't return home, right? Mr. Ramsey can't enter the Academy, which means she's safe here, but if she returns home… Should I forbid her to return home, as her husband? No. Since it is my duty to protect her, it would be in my right to do so, but I simply can't do this to her. I don't want to use such means to protect her. Forget it, there are other ways to keep her out of Mr. Ramsey's reach. If she really doesn't want to stay here, I'll simply take the necessary measures to keep her safe outside the Academy. Nonetheless, let's remind Petunia to encourage her to stay here for safety concerns. I could also talk to her myself, of course, but Petunia is better at dealing with convincing students, therefore I'll leave it to her.
"Oh, you're worried about your cute little wife, Hieronymous? How nice to see you're finally becoming more honest with your feelings.", Petunia replies to my request, while giggling. This annoying old hag! "But there's no need to be shy, dear, you should talk to her directly, if you're concerned about Mrs. Ojousama-Grabiner.", she adds teasingly. That old hag seems to take a weird pleasure in calling her by that cursed full name. "I'm certain she would feel touched, if she heard how much you worried about her." "I'm merely fulfilling my vow, Petunia.", I say through gritted teeth, "Please take this seriously." "So not cute.", old hag replies disappointed. "Well, there's no need for me to talk to her about that. She already agreed earlier to stay here during the holydays." I sigh in relief. "Isn't that nice? You should use the chance to spend some quality time with her, maybe go on a date together, since you'll both be free.", old hag advises me, while grinning sickening-sweetly. Ugh, I reached my limit. If I continue to talk to this deluded woman any longer, I'll snap. "Mind your own business!", I admonish her, before turning my back and quickly walking away. Anyways, it's a relief that I won't have to worry about that any longer.

On Friday, my door guardian informs me that another letter of that father of mine had arrived. It's ridiculous that he's still writing me letters, even though he knows that I never read them. I suppose he simply enjoys bothering me. When I arrive in the post office, I spot her staring at a blue letter in a daze. A blue letter? Elven paper? "Good morning, Sir. Here to incinerate some letters?", she greets me. Something about her tone of voice sounds off. "Hm.", I reply curtly. Without paying her any further attention, I grab my letter and burn it. While doing so, I can feel her staring at me. Suddenly, I hear her hiss in pain. Turning around, I see that her fingers are slightly red and there's a pile of ash on the table beneath her. She tried to copy me? I questioningly raise my eyebrow. She ignores me however and starts casting green magic on her fingers instead. What is going on? The letter… Elven paper isn't sold here, you can only buy it in the Otherworld. Since she's a wild seed, who would send her such a letter? Could it be… Did Mr. Ramsey write her? If that's the case, maybe the letter could've been used to tract his hide-out. But more importantly, if he wrote her, that means he still targets her. "Is there something else, Sir?" I glance at her fingers. Since he's adamant about targeting her, it's better if she doesn't leave the Academy grounds. "I heard you'll stay over the holydays?", I ask her, just to be sure. "That is correct, Sir.", she replies somewhat confused. "Why?", I ask her. Is she frightened due to that incident? Does she feel threatened by Mr. Ramsey's disappearance? Or maybe, she's simply staying because Petunia talked her into it with her nonsense? "I can use magic here more freely, since I don't have to fear being discovered.", she replies calmly. Her eyes flicker to the ashes on the table however, betraying her calm. Her relationship with Mr. Ramsey seems to have been indeed a factor for her decision to stay. "I can assure you, that my decision wasn't influenced by Professor Potsdam. Please don't worry, Sir.", she adds. How could I not worry about her? My worries are clearly not unwarranted! Someone is targeting her after all. Even if we weren't married, she's still my student. It's only normal to worry about a student, who is in danger, isn't it? "If you excuse me, I have to deliver the mail, Sir. Good day to you.", she bids me goodbye, while pushing the cart towards the door and I open it for her. "Good day to you, Miss… Elise." That was close. I nearly used her maiden name. Calling your spouse by eirs maiden name once won't break your marriage contract, but since this marriage is just a farce to begin with, it's better to be safe. Elise… It's a nice name. Very fitting of her.

As it's the last day of school before the holydays, most students are unconcentrated and fidgety during my lessons. How annoying. I usually enjoy teaching, but not when my students aren't interested in learning. Even Miss Middleton seems to be distracted by the upcoming holydays. She's usually my most diligent student, therefore I'm a tad disappointed.
The drama club is performing another play in the evening, called 'The Small Place Of Purchase Of Frightening Things', to round off the last day of school before the holydays. To be honest, it didn't suit my taste, as it was too outré, too excessively dramatic and weird. They toned down the usage of stage blood compared to the last play though, at least a slight improvement.

After most students left the next day, Petunia gave me the list of students, who are staying at the Academy over the holydays for the first time. Usually Petunia is the one, who explains Iris Academy's holyday schedule to them, but for some reason she's outsourcing this task to me this time. I have a hunch that the reason for that has something to do with the fact that she is among those students. Petunia has always been quite persistent in meddling with my private matters and this time she seems dead-set on letting me spend some more time with her. Ridiculous. She is still my student! Therefore, our interactions will naturally be limited to the natural interactions between a student and their teacher, nothing more. As a teacher, instructing your student is not a big deal, which is why I don't mind this task, though I'm annoyed at the intentions of that old hag. I spend the morning completing my task, but I haven't come across her yet. She's the only one left on my list. I wonder where the hell she is. I want to continue reading my current book, it's about Germanic tribes, their culture and everyday life from the perspective of the Romans. I'm not particularly interested in the everyday life of those Germanic tribes, but about the customs they had, as some magical beings, who originated from these regions have overtaken some of those old customs. Anyways, I'm getting hungry. Maybe I should eat lunch first. I'll continue looking for her after my meal. While looking for a place to sit, I unexpectedly spot her sitting by the window, absentmindedly eating her lunch. Wonderful, I finally found her. Before I lose sight of her again, I decide to inform her now and get it over with. She doesn't notice me as I approach her, so I clear my throat to draw her attention. As she's curiously staring at me with her dark-blue eyes, I suddenly feel nervous for some reason. Ignoring my unreasonable nervousness, I ask her, "May I sit down?" …Why am I asking her that? No, wait, it would've been unpolite to sit down without asking and I'm not some unmannered troll. But then again, informing her about our holyday activities doesn't take long anyways… "Sure.", she replies, while tilting her head. No matter. I already asked her, naturally I will eat here now. I sit down, while ignoring her curious gaze and start instructing here about the holyday activities. To my surprise, she asks me, whether those activities include classes. Does she like learning magic that much? I already knew she was a diligent student, but I'm still surprised. However, learning magic is very straining on the mind, it's dangerous to overdo it. After making sure, she understood that and answering her remaining questions, I start eating my lunch. Still feeling her curious gaze on me, I ask her if she has any remaining questions, but she has none. Then why is she staring at me? Is my presence that uncomfortable for her? Somehow, that thought really irritates me. I usually don't care at all for the personal feelings of my students towards me, but… she is one of my best students after all. After I lightly reprimand her for her impoliteness, she turns her attention back to her own meal. As I leisurely continue my meal, my thoughts drift back to the book I'm reading. I haven't finished eating, but the temptation is too great. Well, I'm just going to take a little peek…´

So… I finished my book. Not my dinner, because I forgot to eat, but it was worth it. I wonder, if the book I ordered already arrived? If not, I'll just browse the shelves for more books. While sorting the book about Germanic tribes back, I come across her again. "Good evening, Sir.", she greets me. As I return her greeting, I notice her staring at the book I just put back. Is she interested in what I read? I doubt she'd be able to read it though, 'De origine et situ Germanorum liber' is written in Latin after all. "Are you looking for something specific?", I ask her, though somewhat annoyed at her seemingly endless curiosity. "…bout romantic?" Romantic? Ugh, don't tell me she also reads those cheap 'books' Petunia enjoys so much? "Romantic? This section doesn't contain stories for hormone-driven teenagers.", I reply, failing to hide my revulsion of those lowbrow, trashy novels. "You misunderstood. I meant the Romantic era, not some romantic novel.", she retorts. She acts unfazed, but her slightly pouty lips betray her. 'She feels offended?', I realize amused. "I see. Regarding which topics?"", I ask her, while carefully hiding my amusement. "About the arts." What a vague reply. "Arts?" "Yeah, like music, architecture or painting. There's nothing specific I'm looking for.", she explains. I can't tell, if she's really interested in learning more about the era, or if she's just extremely bored. Not that it matters, these books are protected against any pointless and uncreative vandalism our pubescent students may come up with. I explain to her the sorting system of the library, before heading towards the library loan counter. My book did indeed arrive. It's titled 'Hedley on the Hill: A lesson on shapeshifting by observation of Hedley Kows'. The reviews of this book were extremely good, hopefully it doesn't disappoint.

The next morning, I find a letter attached to my door. I hesitate but decide to read it in the end.

Dear Hieronymous,

This is just a little reminder to you, that you shouldn't waste your whole vacation on reading books. Instead, you should take the opportunity to spend more time with your cute little wife! I'm certain she would appreciate it, the last time I saw her she seemed incredibly bored. If you need any dating advice, you know where to find me.

Kind regards

Petunia

PS: Keep me updated about the progress of your relationship!

PPS: Oh, and for your first date, how about watching a musical together? I think she'd like that.

The guts of this old hag! I immediately incinerate Petunia's pesky note, before returning to reading.