As expected, Evergreen thoroughly tucked into his meal when the food appeared. Link and Andie asked him why they didn't see him in the nest that morning and also why he came into the commons with Beatrice. He just summarized his dream to them and gave them the Sparknotes version of his conversation with Beatrice, the Traveler's daughter, or so she was called that last spring. They were both quite impressed with what went down. Even more, they were impressed that he found his way to the Wampus Hollow, which indeed was a feat unto itself.

Evergreen briefly looked up to the staff table and when he made passing eye contact with Professor Woods, he suddenly lost his appetite and came back to the present, remembering that he was burdening Miss Agatha and it seemed Miss Agatha may have been burdening Professor Woods with her thoughts and opinions on the upcoming curriculum. If he burdened Miss Agatha anymore, not only would she have a hard time, but Professor Woods and possibly others would. He found himself getting a renewed feeling of frustration for himself. Why couldn't he be more like Link, who was both super cool and never let anything get to him?

He guessed he would never know.

He followed his group to Professor Graves' classroom and spent the time being hyper-aware of the space he was taking up. He just couldn't understand if Mom was as cool and as powerful as everyone said she was, why didn't he inherit any of her personality? He was a leech at best, and she was anything but. He got himself feeling more frustrated, cursing himself that he was there sitting in a classroom when she was off in some prison cell. If he really was worth anything, wouldn't he be out looking for her at that moment? He was suddenly glad though that they were so far apart. If she could see him, she very well could've been disappointed in him.

"Mr. Quandary!" came Professor Graves' voice, shocking Evergreen out of his thoughts, even startling him right out of his chair, crumpling upon the floor.

A few in the class, including the statuesque Sandy laughed loudly at his clumsiness. He just got back in his chair and covered his face for good measure.

"Thank you for such a display, but could you demonstrate the spell we had been working on, especially with the different colored buttons?"

He has got to be kidding, Evergreen thought. Because he had no way out of it, he acquiesced to the wild wizard's request. So, he pulled his wand out of his leather side holster, pointed it at a small beetle that was skittering along and said the incantation. This was all done with very little of Evergreen's usual enthusiasm, so the beetle did change into a button, but it still had its beetle wings, so the button flew right off the table and out of the open window off to the side. Professor Graves looked surprised but shook his head and asked Glade to demonstrate as well. She did so and it was unremarkable, meaning, exactly what was supposed to happen happened. Great, thought Evergreen, shown up by a girl. Not long after that thought, another one came to him. Great, now I'm being sexist. He remembered hearing his aunt Hannah use that word. If one said something negative about someone just because of their gender, it was sexist, apparently. Now, he was feeling guilty all around. Guilty to Miss Agatha, to Professor Woods, to Mom, and even to Glade, even though she never did a bad thing to him or ever spoke harshly towards him. He was on a roll.

That same negative attitude he brought over to his Charms class. He didn't say a word throughout the entire hour and a half and Professor Delacroix gave him a few uncertain glances. He did his best not to meet her eye. She never once called on him, so he had that at least to be grateful for. He looked over at Seta who appeared to be really feeding off Evergreen's agitation. There was an aggressive glow in his eye and his paw held his sword hilt in a vice grip.

Lunch was a quiet affair for the boy and his bunny. While his friends chatted amicably amongst themselves, Evergreen gave them single word answers at best whenever they tried to find out if anything was going on with him. He didn't eat much, he mostly just poked at a piece of chicken with his fork. He kept pretty quiet, even sitting next to Valerian in Defense Against the Dark Arts. The same unfriendly feeling that Evergreen remembered from their first defense class and their potions class prevailed.

He just couldn't win. He was seated right in between the Thunderbirds and the Horned Serpents and there was a heavy feeling of negativity. Valerian tried to make pleasant conversation and Evergreen tried to respond in kind because he didn't want to be rude, he did want to make friends with the boy, but everyone seemed to be in a bad mood. No one more than Evergreen. Even Professor Woods' smile seemed to be plastic, but she was trying, at least. Most of the class weren't even doing that. They were opening expressing discontent from being in the same classroom as individuals from their rival house.

"Last time class, we covered basilisks and ashwinders. Today, we are to look at ghouls, ghosts, and banshees."

She looked around, hoping for someone to raise their hand. No one did.

"Out of those," she continued "there are two spirits and one beast. Please open to page 45 and start reading about ghosts and banshees. Take notes on recognizing them and how to banish them or how to stave off the effects of getting too close to them. For your homework, I expect at least 500 words and remember to site your page numbers."

Some grumbling was heard, but the class was relatively silent after that.

After class, Evergreen separated from his group of friends and went up to the Thunderbird corridor and instead of going to the Nest, he turned and went the other way.

"Where are you going?" Seta asked him, tapping him on the ear.

"I don't know. I just need to be away from people right now." He replied, honestly.

"I'm not people, right?"

"Seta, you're a part of me. We are people, but we can't get away from ourselves."

His last words were said in kind of a rough way, but it wasn't totally unpleasant. Seta bristled at the tone, but he didn't say anything further. They just headed down the corridor together until they came across a large room that had glass walls and a glass ceiling. It was positioned to look as if it was hanging off the side of the mountain. Evergreen figured it was a good a place as any to gather his thoughts. In about a half hour, he needed to go to his history class, but he didn't want to see Miss Agatha, he knew that he would just ruin her day again if he did, so he decided to stay right there until it was time for dinner, or maybe until it was time for bed, he wasn't sure yet. He had never skipped a class ever, so he wasn't sure at first, but he resolved to do that for Miss Agatha.

The duo stayed in the glass room for a while, Evergreen diligently completing his homework to take his mind off things. Seta merely paced around the room, exploring. He found a few interesting little doodads and thingamabobs which neither individual understood the purpose of. It wasn't long, however until they heard a ghostly voice coming from what looked like a trapdoor in the floor.

In the next moment, a spectral figure came out from the floor. She was wearing a pilgrim dress, but her hair was free, and it floated every which way when she moved. It was Sarah Masterson, also known as the Solitary Separatist. She often haunted the Thunderbird tower. She was the first ghost Evergreen met that previous year.

"Ohhh," she crooned. "I didn't know that this place was occupied."

"I'm sorry Miss Masterson." Evergreen mumbled.

"I too am sorry, young Thunderbird. Would you like to talk about how existence is pain?"

"Actually, yes." He replied.

"Marvelous!"

They spent a few moments going back and forth, relaying one another's woes, the Solitary Separatist talked about her life and how it was tragically cut short. Her death day was going to be in a few weeks. It was her 387th death day as it was. Evergreen didn't know how to react to that. Evergreen told her about his life and never really knowing Mom and feeling so much pressure since school started. It was kind of nice, talking with someone like that who refused to put a positive spin on anything. It was just a real, unfiltered talk.

It was around that time, that Seta called out to Evergreen. When he turned around, his eyes locked with the eyes of Professor Woods. It was no surprise that she did not look pleased.

"Evergreen, Seta. Please take a seat." Professor Woods requested, as she led the boy and his bunny into her office.

"I'm sorry I skipped!" Evergreen said loudly, in almost a yell, with tears of shame pricking at his eyes. He cursed to himself. He wasn't going to cry in front of Professor Woods. She was super tough. She'd probably never look at him the same way again if he did.

"Thank you for saying so." She said, taking her seat behind her desk, briefly kicking off her heels and placing her feet on the turf-like carpet below her desk that Evergreen suddenly found to be quite interesting. "But I don't wish to talk about that with you today."

Suddenly confused, Evergreen looked up at Professor Woods. If she didn't want to talk about his skipping, then will he not be punished for it? And if not, what else could the witch have to talk with him about? What was going on?

"Can you tell me how you're feeling… honestly?"

This was a blindsiding question. He didn't expect this.

"Fine." He answered too quickly.

"Don't lie to me, Evergreen. You're no good at it." She replied with a kind and even voice.

"I-I'm feeling a lot of d-different things…" he managed.

"Will you say more about that? What do you mean when you say, you're feeling a lot of different things?"

"I mean, I feel stupid, like a burden, ashamed…" he said, hardly above a whisper. Talking with the Solitary Separatist was helpful in putting his thoughts into words.

"When did you first notice these feelings?"

"When –" he stopped. Did he really want to tell Professor Woods about his words with Miss Agatha?

"Yes? Did you happen to have a disagreement with someone?"

"Yeah," he replied, looking at his shoelaces.

"What are your current internal experiences and reactions regarding this?"

"I feel like I became a burden for them." He answered carefully. "I feel like I have put my nose in other people's business and have ruined everyone's day." Evergreen started to raise his voice. "I feel so stupid because if I can't even deal here at school, how am I supposed to deal with the Wicked Witch?!" he was borderline yelling at this point. "I mean, she's been nothing but nice to me and then yesterday, I made Miss Agatha—"

He suddenly stopped, horrified. He spoke Miss Agatha's name. Now, Professor Woods' day was ruined because of him and when she talks with Miss Agatha, it'll ruin her day as well! There was no way out. He was scared, ashamed, and confused. He figured, he had nothing else to lose, so he put his face into his hands and started crying again.

Professor Woods was quiet for a moment and gave Evergreen space to feel what he needed to feel before speaking again.

"May I pause you for a minute?" she asked.

He replied with a noncommittal sound from the back of his throat.

"Thank you. What do you think Professor Shadowmend would say if she was here in this room with us?"

"Probably how I am a lazy, good-for-nothing, who can't keep his nose out of other people's business."

The witch got to her feet and rounded the table. She knelt at Evergreen's side and laid her hands on his shoulder. This action was a complete surprise to Evergreen and because of the physical touch, he let out another sob.

"She and I talked about you yesterday." She said.

"What?" Evergreen asked, suddenly stopping his tears, wiping his face with the sleeve of his robes.

"We did. And she told me that you are one of the politest, most sensitive, and most hardworking students she has seen in years."

How could this be when he was so obviously a problem to her? This didn't make sense.

"She also said that many look at her differently because of who she is, because of what she is, she never felt that from you. Many wizards fear or even hate vampires. Why else would she be unable to get married, which is her fondest desire?"

The boy had completely stopped crying at this point and looked at his head-of-house with utter astonishment. Of course, he had never looked at Miss Agatha differently just because she was a vampire. She was still a person with thoughts, hopes, and dreams. Just because she was different didn't mean she deserved to be feared or hated. What kind of dumb person would think so? He might have been dumb, but at least he wasn't that dumb, he thought as personal consolation.

It was no surprise to Evergreen, however, that her next question was whether or not he wanted to hear what Miss Agatha had to say on the matter. He had a million and a half reservations about such an action, but Seta said a few words of encouragement and that was enough to convince him to follow the ex-auror witch downstairs into the basement where Miss Agatha's classroom and office were.

When they entered the classroom, it was empty. Her last class ended about 15 minutes ago, so they went to the door at the far end of the classroom. Professor Woods knocked on the door three times and waited. A voice called from within saying that the door was unlocked and whoever it was could let themselves in. So, Professor Woods told Evergreen that she would be right outside if needed, and pulled the door open, letting him and Seta go inside.

Upon entering, the duo noticed that the whole office space was a perfect square. The décor was that of Victorian gothic and the colors were black and scarlet. There were plenty of fairies that were quietly chittering overhead and letting off their fairy dust glow, illuminating the space with enough light for Evergreen to be able to read anything without trouble. Miss Agatha sat on a loveseat that was positioned toward a window that showed a deep cave going down into the mountain. Within the cave, the office fairies gave enough light to show a large number of tricolored bats flying about eating mosquitos or whatever else they were chowing on.

In a moment, Miss Agatha's face turned from the cave window to Evergreen and Seta as they walked in.

"Oh, mah dear Mista Quandary!" she said with a relieved sound to her voice. "When you didn't show up for class earlier, I felt simply awful. I was sick with worry."

"I'm sorry, Miss Agatha. I was with Professor Woods, and I thought you didn't want to see me." he muttered, mostly to himself.

"What in the world gave you such an idea? Mista Quandary, you are a pup on Christmas, why wouldn't I wanna see you?"

"Because I was being nosy."

Today was a day for surprises, Evergreen thought, because soon enough, Miss Agatha pulled Evergreen into a tight embrace. At first, he was startled, and then he melted into it, his ear up against her chest. She was warmer than he'd have expected for a vampire. There was no heartbeat, though, he noticed with a bit of a shock. She also smelled like an antique store. It wasn't a bad smell, he thought.

"I am so sorry I raised my voice the other day at you. It was never my intention to hurt you at all. Will ya ever forgive me?" she asked.

"I'm sorry." He pulled away, confused. "But shouldn't I ask for forgiveness?"

Miss Agatha let out a deep belly laugh at this. She then said something about being around for centuries and people still somehow managed to surprise even her. He left her office not long after that, once they agreed that there was really nothing worth forgiving for. Evergreen said a few words to Professor Woods before she too entered Miss Agatha's office, closing the door behind her.

"Seta. You weren't with me this morning until I got to the ballroom, weren't you?" Evergreen asked, as they ascended the stairs toward the annex.

"No Evergreen, I was not. If you weren't going to do anything to fix your mindset, someone else had to." Seta quipped, clicking his teeth.

He recalled their previous conversation and Evergreen realized that Seta had found a loophole in his words. Evergreen wouldn't have burdened someone else with his problems, but someone could and did very well do so on his behalf. Silly rabbit.

"Hey Seta." Evergreen said, embracing the bunny. "Thanks."