A/N: Hello! Yes, I am on time with this update this month! I know some of you were probably expecting Ghost of a Kind, and yes, I am currently working on Chapter 17 as we speak. But as my problem has sort of settled down a little bit, I've managed to start getting into a rhythm working on two fics at a time. I was working on Chapter 7 for Shadows of a Spare while completing Chapter 62 of The Owlcast, which continued when I switched to Ghost of a Kind. By that time, I'd already gotten over 90% of the chapter completed, so I decided to put my sole focus on it for a couple of days. Thus, here we are. XD

Once again, there is very little for me to say about this chapter, as outside of showcasing Delila's reactions to each lesson and the events that occur within it and the additional worldbuilding, there is very little action. But fear not, the next chapters will start to get to the good stuff. In the meantime, I hope you enjoy the spotlight I've shone on the four teachers I've included in this chapter. Though there are a couple of things I need to mention for Professor Finnelan's section. Firstly, when Diana and Delila are writing notes to each other, Diana's writing is in italics, while Delila's is in bold italics, though I have made attempts to differentiate their writing styles based on how they write out emphasised words. And secondly, Diana's answer to the Luna runes problem was taken from the English dub, which I transcribed by ear. So please keep that in mind when you get to that section, because while I did try to get it as accurate as I could... I may have misheard it. XD

Thank you to everyone who has been favouriting, following, reading and reviewing this fanfic. Your continued support is greatly appreciated. Just a reminder that Shadows of a Spare can also be found over on AO3 under the same title and username. As always, additional notes regarding creative choices for this story can be found at the end of the chapter. In the meantime, I hope you enjoy the next instalment for this fic.

Chapter 7: Out of Her Depth

Professor Finnelan was a middle-aged witch with blue eyes and brown hair tied into a bun and two thick strands dangling in front of her ears. She wore the same teacher's uniform as her colleagues and had two red feathers tucked into the band of her hat. However, as with some of the other teachers that Delila recalled seeing in the auditorium yesterday, she had her own additional accessories to her uniform, which included a bolo tie with an emerald-green oval decoration on its clasp. Unlike her colleagues, though (well, maybe with the exception of Professor Badcock, Delila mused), Professor Finnelan's face bore a chronic stern expression that the younger Cavendish swore she'd had since the first time she'd made her appearance, wearing a consistent scowl with her lips tightly pressed together. Delila had quickly gathered from the few interactions she'd both witnessed and experienced so far with her that Professor Finnelan was a no-nonsense educator, the kind that demanded respect and radiated authority, both through her mannerisms and the way she spoke. And that was especially evident now, as Delila observed Professor Finnelan's conduct during her first official lesson at Luna Nova: Magic Linguistics.

At the start of the lesson, Professor Finnelan covered everyone's desks with three (four, in the case of the Blue Team) blank notebooks, quills and tiny black pots filled with ink using the simple flick of her wand when its tip alighted with a bright green glow, bringing the trio of items into existence from puffs of smoke without speaking or breaking her concentration. Delila knew this technique wasn't common practice when it typically came to using magic, as witches were required to say a verbal incantation whenever they cast spells (something she knew from experience, obviously). Though she was very aware that witches with a certain level of skill and experience under their belts could reach a point in their training where they could cast spells without saying the incantation. Thus, despite barely knowing this teacher even from the brief encounter they had last night, the younger Cavendish could already tell that her education had been placed in knowledgeable and experienced hands. Naturally, nearly all the students in the classroom remained unfazed by the sudden appearance of their provided stationary, their fixed attention on the lesson allowing Delila's earlier palpitations to fade away and help her ease a little into her unfamiliar surroundings. The only exception was Akko, whose awed gasp Delila heard loud and clear from behind her; an expected reaction.

"Magic Linguistics is the study of the ancient languages and writing systems used by witches long ago," Professor Finnelan explained, keeping her wand raised, her free hand to her hip and her eyes closed while addressing the class before her from behind the podium. "This includes the subject of today's lesson: the Luna runes."

Twirling her wand round in a circle multiple times, Professor Finnelan produced thick and glowing green lines on the blackboard without glancing behind her, appearing to be casting the same spell as before. But instead of making objects appear out of thin air, she was making tiny crescent, circle, and semi-circle shapes compacted together in square and rectangular formations appear at the top of the blackboard, only to still her wand once they'd covered the entire top half.

To the average witch at a single glance, it all just looked like a bunch of random shapes made up of even tinier shapes, so tiny in fact, that they couldn't be seen unless you were standing directly in front of the blackboard. Of course, Delila knew better, hence why she tuned out the explanation Professor Finnelan gave and occupied her thoughts on the familiar characters on the board, dipping her quill into the ink and jotting down what she believed to be the translation into her notebook. From the corner of her eyes, she noticed Diana had her eyes closed, indicating she was also likely contemplating the runes on the board.

"Luna runes are a segmental script once studied from the moon and stars." Professor Finnelan opened her eyes and gestured her free hand to the blackboard. "Their characters are represented by the phases of the moon, as shown in the example on the board." Her stern gaze wandered over the swarm of students in front of her. "Is there anyone in the class who thinks they can translate the passage?"

I already have, Delila mentally answered, just as she stopped writing and put her quill back in its pot. The younger Cavendish didn't realise what the passage on the blackboard was for. She'd attempted the translation purely for practice's sake. But the thought that she'd just completed her first problem solving question in her first class filled her chest with a prideful warmth and nostalgic fuzziness; the child within her was inwardly beaming at her minor accomplishment.

Lightly elbowing Diana in her closest side, Delila slid her notebook over and pointed at it when her sister opened an eye in her direction, mouthing 'Does this look correct to you?' for good measure. Much like her sister's, Delila's handwriting was almost identical, written in neat, cursive. The only subtle difference between them was that Diana coloured in the dot on the letter 'i', whereas Delila didn't.

Delila watched Diana's lone blue eye scrutinise the writing on the page, allowing ten seconds to go by before she nodded stiffly in confirmation.

'So, you weren't telling tales about your studying earlier,' Diana mouthed in reply. Delila jokingly rolled her eyes and went to move her notebook away, only to freeze at Diana placing her palm on it to stop her from doing so. 'Do you want to give Professor Finnelan the answer?'

Delila immediately shook her head and responded in kind. 'I'll let you take this one. Gives me a chance to observe the proper etiquette expected in a classroom.'

Diana nodded in understanding and faced forward again, raising her left hand into the air. Professor Finnelan, who was now leaning forward with her hands on the podium for support and scanning between the students staring blankly back at her, was quick to perk up at the movement and focus on the older Cavendish.

"Ah, Miss Cavendish," Professor Finnelan addressed Diana and then pointed her wand at the board behind her. "Would you care to give it a try?"

Diana wordlessly rose from her seat then, shoulders back, eyes closed, hands clasped behind her, and head tilted to the ceiling, body language the younger Cavendish wasn't unfamiliar with. Confident, eloquent, composed—'Diana Cavendish' in a nutshell. However, she became briefly distracted by Hannah and Barbara exchanging smug smiles, whom she narrowed her eyes at suspiciously until Diana spoke.

"'Bless the one who lets the stone remain untouched,'" Diana recited in a stentorian tone, each word spoken with forced emphasis. "'Woe betide the one who moves it.'"

Shocked and surprised gasps echoed around the classroom as Delila witnessed the sea of heads from the students below simultaneously turn around. They stared up at Diana slack-jawed and wide-eyed, like her sister was an animal in a zoo who'd just performed an entertaining trick. The sight prompted Delila to lift a brow out of confusion. Why did this suddenly feel like every high society function she was forced to attend when she was younger?

Thankfully, Professor Finnelan restored order after nodding in approval. "That's correct, Miss Cavendish. Well done."

Diana sat down again without opening her eyes, resting her arms on the desk like she had done before. Yet despite the girls below returning their attention to the front of the classroom, Delila heard their awed muttering and whispers talking over Professor Finnelan resuming the lesson, engulfing Delila's eardrums. The contents were unknown, but the context clues were enough for Delila to guess what was being said, not helped by Hannah's and Barbara's respective and 'encouraging' whispers towards her sister.

"Way to go, Diana!"

"We knew you'd be the only one to know the answer!"

The bile instantly rose to Delila's throat like a backed-up pipe that had just been unclogged, her teammates' smug smiles from a moment ago suddenly making so much sense. She scrunched her mouth and dug her bottom set of teeth into her lower lip hard, her shoulders tensing, her eyes staring daggers into the visible pages open in her notebook, her hands shaking a little atop the desk as she resisted the ever-growing urge to hurl. And all the while, Delila observed Diana in her peripheral vision, unmoving, silent.

Until Delila's notebook was pulled from under her, ridding her of her nausea in an instant.

The younger Cavendish retracted her arms with a wide blink, her gaze whipping towards Diana with an inked quill in her hand, writing something down in Delila's notebook. At first, Delila lifted a quizzical brow, having no idea what her sister was doing or why. And then Diana finished writing and pushed the notebook towards her, allowing the younger witch to read the following question in Diana's neat and cursive handwriting on a blank left page:

'Are you okay?'

Ah. Diana had noticed her reaction, had she?

Releasing a quiet and irritated huff, Delila picked up her quill from her own pot and wrote down her reply at the top of the blank right page. Delila wasn't expecting this to be how she was going to make use of her provided stationery, but she supposed it was better than having Professor Finnelan scold them for not paying attention to the lesson.

Delila quickly finished her reply and then pushed her notebook over to Diana so the older Cavendish could read the following:

'This couldn't have waited until AFTER class?'

Diana stared at Delila droopy-eyed, her expression basically spelling out 'Really?' to the younger Cavendish. When said younger Cavendish shrugged, the older Cavendish quietly clicked her tongue and swiftly penned her response.

'Please just answer the question.'

Delila scrunched her nose, but she complied after a moment's hesitation. 'I don't like how everyone reacted just now, OUR teammates included.'

'To me answering Professor Finnelan's problem?'

'YES. All you did was answer the question the fastest. It wasn't even a DIFFICULT problem.'

'I understand your frustrations; however, don't forget that the Luna runes are one of many ancient writing systems lost to time. They are largely forgotten nowadays, hence why classes like this exist and are mandatory. Our heritage has granted us opportunities that the majority of witch families no longer have, including access to archived material on the Luna alphabet. Their reactions are understandable when put into that context, aren't they?'

That was true, Delila reluctantly noted. She hadn't given it much thought before class started, but she knew Diana made a valid point. Being a descendant of the great 'Beatrix Cavendish' hadn't just granted them with a life of luxury that most didn't have, but also privileges in their magical studies that most probably didn't have either, including access to texts and other knowledge that dated back to the time of the Nine Olde Witches. Granted, a lot of that had been lost over the years, yet the younger Cavendish could bet that what they still had was more than the combined materials of every witch family present in this classroom.

'I suppose I didn't consider that. But it is STILL absurd, in my opinion. This is a SCHOOL. We are here to LEARN. And from what I saw in the provided textbook, ANYONE could have used it to figure out the problem on the blackboard. Why should it matter if YOU were the first to answer correctly?'

Diana hesitated when Delila pushed the notebook in her direction, her blue eyes staring, drooped, at the writing filled pages for a minute. Eventually, though, she turned the book over to the next set of blank pages and wrote out her answer, albeit slower and more careful than before, as if she was scrutinising her own wording.

'I think you already know the answer to that question, don't you?'

Because you're a Cavendish, Delila internally huffed, the obvious answer.

The younger witch buried her face into her palms and rubbed her hands up and down her face, feeling her sanity gradually being chipped away at piece by piece, like her brain was made of marble. Frankly, she should have seen this coming, and yet Delila had clearly made the mistake in thinking this behaviour was only restricted outside of the classroom, not in it.

A full minute went by before Delila's left ear twitched at the scribbling of a quill tip returning to the paper. But the younger Cavendish didn't remove her head from her hands until she felt the side of her notebook poke her closest elbow, prompting her to partially turn it so she could peek past her arm at the newest writing Diana had added.

'If it brings you any solace, Magic Pharmaceuticals is coming up next. Professor Lukić's classes are comprised mostly of visual learning, so everyone's attention will be on the lesson.'

It doesn't, Delila mentally disagreed. Her disgust was still crawling underneath her skin like her body had become host to a colony of maggots. But instead of writing that down, the younger Cavendish turned to Diana and nodded stiffly in acknowledgement, collecting her notebook from her sister and returning her attention to the lesson at hand. Because she'd known right from the beginning that her transition into boarding school life wasn't going to be easy, so the least she could do was tough it out for Diana's sake.

That didn't stop her from making her second mental note for the day, however: Don't answer any questions unless you're called upon.

As Diana had correctly informed her, the next class on Delila's schedule was Magic Pharmaceuticals—the study of magical potions. Due to her ancestor's skill with healing magic, Delila held quite a bit of knowledge on the subject already, albeit extended primarily to medicinal concoctions. According to Diana, much like their previous Magic Linguistics lesson, this class was supposed to be an introduction to the fundamentals of brewing specific concoctions, both medical and non-medical. And since she and Diana were apparently on par when it came down to their current knowledge on the subject, they both needed to take notes for this one.

But upon arrival to the designated classroom for Magic Pharmaceuticals (almost exactly the same design as the classroom for Magic Linguistics, barring the large black cauldron replacing the podium) and despite Diana being the one to choose the assigned desk this time (the first desk on the far-left side of the classroom), the Blue Team found themselves encountering the same cramped space conundrum as before. Fortunately, Delila was quick on the ball this time and suggested, to be fair, that Diana be the notetaker this time, while Delila copied them into her own notebook later. This idea was met with approval from her older sister and unwanted attention from Hannah and Barbara, the latter of whom once again showed no hesitation in singing their (pointless) praises after eavesdropping and caused cramping somersaults to rise in Delila's stomach. Thankfully for the younger Cavendish, however, she wasn't going to be subjected to the uncomfortable antics of Hannah and Barbara for much longer.

Professor Lukić, the teacher Delila remembered from the auditorium, made her timely appearance through the classroom's doorway, clearly revealed to be the teacher in charge of today's lesson the moment she stood in front of the cauldron and went about introducing herself to the class. She was an elderly witch with long and flowing grey-blue coloured hair that stretched all the way down to her feet, back and front. However, unlike her colleagues, her uniform's skirt stretched all the way down to her feet and her sleeves were long and loose over her arms. Nothing necessarily out of the ordinary, and yet now that Delila could see Professor Lukić clearly, she started to notice the other… glaringly eccentric features that made her stand out from the other teachers, such as her big and bulging eyes and squinted gaze, for instance, or how her nose seemed unusually large and pointed, or even how she stood hunched forward and how sharp and jagged her teeth were. She almost reminded Delila of what many regular people once perceived to be the 'stereotypical' witch back in the day, and that image only got worse when Professor Lukić officially started the lesson.

Using the large cauldron at the front of the classroom, Professor Lukić proceeded to demonstrate how to make the potion of her choosing (a non-medical related concoction called 'Fog Brew', from what Delila caught during the professor's explanations) while also talking through the steps, leaving the students to pay close attention and simultaneously write everything down, the latter of which was a breath of fresh air for Delila; at last, an environment where her teammates were actually concentrating and quiet!

At first, Delila observed Professor Lukić adding vials of various coloured substances to the cold and still-looking water in the cauldron, listening intently to the elderly witch's thorough instructions as she proudly lectured the class on the exact measurements of each ingredient, what colour they needed to wait for the water to turn, how long they needed to stir for in between, etc. Just like Professor Finnelan, Delila could tell by the way Professor Lukić spoke and her mannerisms that she was very knowledgeable in her craft. But then, shortly after the Magical Pharmaceuticals professor added her most recent ingredient to the cauldron and began to stir it with both hands gripping on to her ridiculously long, wooden spoon, thick, teal-green smoke exploded from the water. It ominously oozed from the cauldron's opening and surrounded the grinning elderly witch like sickly fog, prompting Professor Lukić to elicit a shrill and grating cackle that sent a sharp jolt down Delila's spine.

"—Make sure you stir the water until it turns a teal-green colour," the professor relayed to the class once she'd calmed down, a mischievous glint suddenly entering her eyes as her grin seemed to widen almost… sadistically to Delila. Or was that her just being paranoid? "Then you add your live frog to the concoction." Professor Lukić took one hand off her spoon and reached it down behind her cauldron, keeping up her stirring with her other hand. "But you must do so while the water is still cold to achieve the proper effect."

A tiny croak sounded when her hand came back up, now revealed to be holding a small and olive-green frog upside-down by one of its webbed feet. Without stopping her stirring or breaking her gaze away from the class, the elderly witch carelessly dropped the dangling amphibian into the smoky water with a loud 'plop!', causing Delila to close an eye and physically squirm a little in her seat at the shrill scream the poor frog emitted as it fell in. Delila wasn't unfamiliar with live animals being key ingredients to potions, yet that didn't change the physical discomfort she felt at witnessing it first-hand.

The frog's addition to the potion increased the amount of smoke flowing from the cauldron, drawing Delila's attention away from what the professor was saying and towards the large haze of teal green now rolling its way over to the left side of the classroom. It rose three desks high and then descended upon the Blue Team with no warning, travelling straight up Delila's nostrils right as she inhaled.

The potion's odour was foul, a combination of what Delila identified as rotting fish, rotten cabbage and eggs, and even a bit of garlic. It weighed in her lungs with each breath she took, stinging her eyes to the point of watering and blurring her already clouded vision.

"Do you smell the pleasant aroma it's giving off?" Delila heard Professor Lukić ask the class.

More like the smell of death, Delila sarcastically thought; she was half-expecting the smoke to morph into the shape of a skull and crossbones.

Hacking coughs from the opposite end of her desk caused Delila to sideways glance Hannah and Barbara. Through her own tears and the shroud engulfing them, she just about made out the sight of the pair squeezing their eyes shut and covering their noses and mouth with their hands, shaking and twitching in their seats from obvious disgust. Diana, on the other hand, was showing little reaction to the death cloud, still managing to write in her notebook despite her sagging shoulders, knitted brows, and closed eyes. Though, Delila did catch her left hand reaching for her wand tied at her waist, which Diana promptly flicked upwards.

A tiny green glow flashed at the wand's tip for several seconds, and then the next thing Delila knew, the smoke surrounding their desk was split down the middle with a clean cut. The two halves parted off to the sides as evenly as a pair of drawn curtains, flushing out the foul smell from her teammates' and younger sister's lungs. The moment she felt the fresh and clean air flooding back through her nose after a quick inhale, Delila slumped against her seat with a relieved exhale, tilting her head to the ceiling to bask in the odourless surroundings once more. Hannah and Barbara, however, collapsed onto their fronts and sprawled out across the desk, groaning into the wooden surface and the pages of their notebook respectively.

"Thank you," Delila wheezed to Diana after the older Cavendish rested her wand on the desk beside her, her older sister nodding out of acknowledgement. But then the younger Cavendish's eyes drooped at the delighted and shrill cackle Professor Lukić released when she increased the pacing of her stirring, bringing Delila to sit up straight again and rub away the remnants of her tears with her palms. "Though, I would have appreciated the warning about the professor's… unique tastes and behaviour."

Diana halted her writing and huffed, opening her eyes and peeking over at her younger sister.

"I can assure you Professor Lukić is harmless," the older Cavendish whispered. "She can just be a little…" She paused to ponder the appropriate word. "… unconventional sometimes."

"And yet of all the teachers it could have been, she's the one I must converse with about my medication and my magical condition." Delila watched Professor Lukić take a good and long whiff of the teal-green smoke still lingering around her as it continued its stretch to the higher rows of desks, eliciting a skin-crawling tingle throughout the younger Cavendish's body that made her physically shudder. "Lucky me."

Delila heard Diana quietly tut and shake her head in disapproval, returning to her notetaking as she responded to her sister. "Well, regardless, you only have one more lesson to go for the morning. Perhaps use that as your incentive to endure the remaining time of this one."

"Perhaps I shall," Delila reluctantly mumbled. Not that I've got much of a choice, she mentally snarked. Still, the younger Cavendish supposed it could have been worse; she'd take an eccentric and strange elderly teacher creeping her out over gawking and two-faced students any day.

Harsh coughing from two rows behind her prompted Delila to glance back over her shoulder, her attention drawn to the Red Team seated on the third desk up (in the same formation as they were in the previous class), the trio still engulfed in the smoke of the 'Fog Brew'. The younger Cavendish spotted Akko and Lotte hunched over their desk, their shoulders shaking, the former clutching her hands to her chest and the latter pressing both palms over her mouth and nose; Delila sympathised with their plight, especially as it looked like Lotte didn't know the spell her sister had used. Meanwhile, Sucy followed in Professor Lukić's example and tilted her head backwards to sniff a long stream of the smoke up her nose, eventually slumping her posture and lowering her head with a dazed smile and contented sigh.

Delila pressed her lips together, stiffened her shoulders and swiftly swivelled round to face the front of the classroom again, ignoring the beads of sweat gathering at her temples. Looks like someone was enjoying themselves, she thought.

Magic Numerology was the third class on Delila's lesson timetable and the last class she had for the morning period, taught by none other than Professor Badcock, according to Diana. The study of the hidden meanings behind the numbers related to sorcery and divination was yet another subject Delila was familiar with, though, admittedly, it was also one of her weaker subjects, due to the fact she hadn't studied it as thoroughly or as often as others. Thankfully for Delila, Diana had a better grasp of Magic Numerology than she did, meaning that when the Blue Team reached their designated classroom and seated themselves at the same desk they'd had during Magic Linguistics, the older Cavendish had no qualms becoming the chosen notetaker for a second time. Delila recalled that Diana had a concise way with words that somehow succeeded in simplifying even the most complex of explanations for the younger Cavendish to understand, so having her sister take the lead for this particular class was for the best; little did Delila know how wrong that thought was going to be.

Prior to Professor Badcock's arrival to the classroom, a brief sweep of the desks below her and her own desk revealed that only Diana was bothering to take notes. Hannah, Barbara and the other girls in the class only had the provided textbook open in front of them, which was gigantic in size, thick in page number, and decorated with brown coverings and intricate patterns on the front cover coloured gold. This was certainly an odd sight to Delila. After all, from what she saw during Magic Linguistics, students utilised both their notebooks and textbooks, while during Magic Pharmaceuticals they only required their notebooks. But just the textbooks? Delila couldn't understand the logic.

Until Professor Badcock entered the classroom and begun the lesson, that is.

Surrounded by small stacks of thick books on either side of the wooden podium at the front of the classroom, the diminutive and chronically sour-faced professor introduced herself to the class and set up the blackboard behind her to display complicated diagrams and specific numerical equations, some of which included a list of roman numerals and the sefirot (the channels of divine creative life force or consciousness, Delila recalled from her past reading) they were connected to. As with Professor Finnelan's style of teaching, Delila was expecting Professor Badcock to be lecturing the class on the topics referenced in the textbook. What Delila didn't expect was for Professor Badcock to stand at the podium and read everything word for word from the textbook open in her hands, leaving the younger Cavendish staring intensely at this teacher as if she'd grown a second head.

Professor Finnelan and Professor Lukić had proven to possess impeccable knowledge and passion for their chosen subjects, both through their words, their lack of reliance on their source materials and, in the case of Professor Lukić, their behaviour. But when it came down to Professor Badcock, Delila observed the assistant headteacher spending the majority of the lesson with her nose buried in the pages of her chosen textbook, reading the text aloud exactly as she saw it, and not once bothering to spare her students even a single glance. Delila couldn't help wrinkling her nose in disgust. How lazy and clinical, she thought. She might as well be in the library studying the textbook herself than sat here listening to Professor Badcock parrot everything she was reading.

And apparently, Delila wasn't the only one who was struggling to engage with this poor excuse of teaching. A second glimpse at the desks below her and her own showed Diana as the only one dutifully writing away in her notebook, while everyone else was either slumped over their textbooks or swaying back and forth and resting their cheeks in their palms like they were on the verge of dozing off. The younger Cavendish shook her head with a quiet tut and closed her eyes, supporting her chin atop her clasped knuckles. She understood the subject matter wasn't necessarily easy to engage students with, but she expected much better from someone who primarily worked within the school's administration, the disappointment Delila felt ultimately causing the assistant headteacher's lecture to fly over her head and her brain to absorb nothing.

Delila momentarily contemplated opening her own textbook in her lap and reading through it by herself to kill whatever remaining time there was left of this class. But as she prepared to reach for the book wedged between hers and Diana's sides, Delila paused at the sight of Diana's quill halting on the paper, her free hand shooting up into the air.

"Professor Badcock?" Diana loudly addressed the assistant headteacher from her seat, causing Professor Badcock to fall quiet and look up at the older Cavendish. None surprisingly, the students below the Blue Team's desk also turned to look in their direction, some of them flinching a little out of surprise first at the new voice. "I believe you've misquoted line 102 on page 923 of the textbook."

Delila saw Hannah and Barbara look towards Diana with the same smug smiles she recalled seeing on their faces back in Magic Linguistics, making the younger Cavendish roll her shoulders at the electrifying tingle that travelled down her spine. Why did she get the feeling this wasn't going to end well?

"Have I?" Professor Badcock replied an octave higher than she probably intended, blinking perplexedly down at the textbook and removing one hand from the cover to adjust her spectacles. "Which part was it?"

"The scale range which Numerology is used to depict the universe with," Diana answered. "It should be one to four, not one to five."

"What?!" the assistant headteacher exclaimed, aghast.

Delila watched Professor Badcock lean in close to the current pages open in the textbook and narrow her eyes, her pupils skimming over the line Diana had indicated a couple of times. Several seconds later, Professor Badcock let out a mortified gasp and widened her eyes once more.

"Oh, no!" Professor Badcock said breathlessly, only to slump her shoulders and lower her head in clear shame at the realisation that dawned upon her. "You're right, Miss Cavendish. It appears I have. My sincerest apologies."

Hannah's and Barbara's smug smiles widened into wicked grins as they snickered behind their palms, the pair watching Diana lower her hand and return her focus to her notetaking like nothing had happened.

Meanwhile, Delila raised a brow and collected her own textbook from her seat, quickly opening it up and flipping through it until she found the referenced page and line. Sure enough, it said one to four and not one to five, making the younger Cavendish's brow lift a little higher as she shut the book in her lap. How did Professor Badcock get that wrong when she was reading directly from the book, Delila wondered.

That line of pondering was soon forgotten, however, when she heard Barbara loudly whispering in Diana's direction. "Great job, Diana! You're so much smarter than Badcock!"

Delila had to physically bite her lip to stop herself from snapping at the raven-haired girl right there and then, the exaggerated flattery once again sickening the younger Cavendish to her stomach. Instead, she attempted to divert her attention elsewhere to ignore the students who were still staring in their direction (or rather Diana's) with awe, resulting in her gaze landing on the Red Team on the desk above them.

Lotte was looking through the lesson's textbook with droopy eyes and a hand cupping her cheek, her other one muffling a small yawn slipping past her lips. Akko was slumped over her own textbook fast asleep, the side of her head laying on her folded arms while drool pooled at the corner of her open mouth. And then there was Sucy, holding a pestle dish above Akko's head and trickling a couple of drops of a green, sludge-like liquid onto Akko's ponytail—

… Wait a second.

Delila blinked a couple of times and rubbed at her eyes with her hands, just to make sure she wasn't seeing things. Yet it didn't stop the younger Cavendish from witnessing Akko's ponytail suddenly straightening and morphing into a small plant shoot with two leaves. Sucy's exposed red eye locked with Delila's sharp blue own as she pulled the pestle dish away, initially staring at her classmate blankly for a moment. A few seconds of staring later, the lavender-haired witch shot the younger Cavendish a devilish smirk, causing the hairs on the back of Delila's neck to stand on end.

Feeling the sweat gathering at her temples, Delila swiftly turned around to face the front of the room again.

Delila did not like that smirk, and she didn't feel inclined to find out what it was intended for, either.

By the end of the lesson, Delila's head was pounding. Her pulse was hammering away at her temples. Each blink of her eyelids felt heavy, to the point she was resisting the urge to close them and doze off right there and then.

Simply put, Delila Cavendish was exhausted. Physically and mentally.

Of course, aside from her obviously slow blinks and droopy eyes, the younger Cavendish did well to keep her true feelings off her face. As she followed behind Diana leaving the classroom for the cafeteria, flanked on either side by Hannah (to Diana's left) and Barbara (to Diana's right), Delila matched her older sister's erect posture and raised head, walking in time with the Blue Team's pacing despite lagging a little bit. Inwardly, however, was a different story, her sharp blue eyes continually flitting between the two girls leaning forward past her sister to animatedly talk to each other with cheery grins plastered on their faces.

Delila naturally anticipated her first day at Luna Nova to be out of her depth. She was temporarily living far away from home with a bunch of strangers and trying to adjust to the regular routine and inner workings of public boarding school life. That was already an expected challenge without factoring in her Grieving Heart Syndrome as an additional complication. But the more Delila reflected upon the behaviour of her peers, Hannah's and Barbara's in particular, and Diana's passiveness towards it, the stronger that feeling of déjà vu became. It fluttered round her stomach and clawed at the inside of her throat, converting each step she took into a sluggish stroll.

It hadn't been apparent to her until now because of how hectic everything was yesterday and this morning, but Delila was sure she knew this nauseous feeling. They tended to spring up around people she sensed were bad news, people whom she loathed. Not disliked. Not hated. Loathed; the strongest of the three. And that's how she knew Hannah and Barbara were reminding her of someone familiar, someone her brain was refusing to expose at this time. Because she'd experienced this intense sickness before, almost daily in fact. It was one of the reasons why she became a shut-in, after all, to escape the culprits who caused these violent reactions. Her—

Delila's train of thought was derailed by the sight of the wooden doors leading to the cafeteria vestibule. The younger Cavendish instinctively dug her heels into the carpet and shuffled backwards a couple of steps, movement that didn't go unheard of by her teammates. Diana was the first of the trio to partially turn around, soon followed by Hannah and Barbara quizzically lifting a brow each.

"Delila, is something the matter?" Diana asked.

"Uh…" Delila uttered in reply, dazedly blinking between Hannah and Barbara upon hesitating to say anything more and trailing off.

I don't want to eat lunch with them; that was what Delila wanted to answer with. That was the reason why she'd stopped. But obviously she couldn't say that in front of them, causing her brain to short circuit while it scrambled to come up with a convenient lie.

Luckily for the younger Cavendish, however, her sister caught the look she gave their puzzled teammates, based on the way Delila saw Diana's own eyes slyly glance the two girls flanking either side of her.

"You look a little tired," Diana continued when Delila didn't answer her. She slowly approached Delila and leaned in close to her face, cupping her chin with a hand and squinting. "Are you unwell?"

Diana ended her enquiry with a brief and sly wink, giving Delila the confirmation she needed as to what her sister was doing.

"Y-Yes, actually," Delila quietly replied, massaging her fingers around her eyes and then putting her fingertips to her temples. Diana's cue restored Delila's brain function to normal, helping to ease a white lie off the tip of her tongue. "I think I inhaled too much of Professor Lukić's 'Fog Brew'."

"I think so too, based on your symptoms." Diana straightened up and clasped her hands behind her back, her eyes closing. "You should sit out in the courtyard for a little while. The fresh air will do you good."

"Perhaps I should, yes."

"Do you remember where it is?"

"It's the grassy area on the first floor, isn't it?"

"It is."

"Good." Discreetly mouthing 'thank you' for Diana's benefit, Delila turned away and started walking to the stairs at the bottom of the west corridor. "I'll head there right now, then."

The younger Cavendish stopped at hearing Hannah's stuttered objection. "W-Wait, Diana!" Both Cavendish twins turned to see Hannah and Barbara jogging to Diana's sides again, the former frowning at the older Cavendish with what appeared to be concern. "You're not going to accompany Delila to the courtyard?"

"There's no need to," Diana calmly answered. "The cafeteria is only a short distance away. Delila knows where we are if she needs me for anything."

"Are you sure?" Barbara pressed as she mirrored Hannah's frown, looking between both Delila and Diana with a hand curled into her sternum. "If you want to keep an eye on Delila, we can just eat our lunch in the courtyard instead of the cafeteria!"

"Yeah!" Hannah chimed in and nodded vigorously a couple of times. "We honestly don't mind, do we, Barbara?"

Barbara shook her head. "We really don't!"

"Ahem," Delila purposely cleared her throat with a fist pressed close to her lips and her eyes closed, gladly doing the honours of shutting down the girls' attempts to keep them altogether. "I appreciate the consideration and concern, Miss England, Miss Parker,"—ugh, that first part left a bitter taste on her tongue—"but please don't make yourselves uncomfortable for my sake. I'll rejoin you when our next class begins."

Hannah's and Barbara's frowns deepened at this response, their exchanged looks making Delila wonder for a moment if these two were preparing to persist in ensuring the four of them didn't split up. In fact, now that Delila thought about it, their concern for her actually looked and sounded… genuine. Though whether it was towards her or Diana, she couldn't quite tell.

In the end, the pair relaxed their expressions and slouched a little, with Hannah releasing a relenting sigh. "If you say so, Delila."

Barbara said nothing, prompting Diana to take over the conversation again. "We'll come find you when we're done. But if you have any problems in the meantime," she emphasised while looking down at the elixir vial on Delila's hip. "you know where to find us."

"Of course." Delila turned away again to roll her eyes out of Diana's sight, muttering the next part under her breath as she departed for the stairs. "I'm not a child."

"We'll see you later, Delila!" Hannah shouted after her.

"Hope you feel better soon!" Barbara added.

Delila acknowledged the farewells with a wave, not once looking back at the two of them nor her sister as she went. She feared even glimpsing even one of them was going to make her feel worse, Diana especially. A slight tightness enveloped her chest at the thought of leaving her sister alone with those sycophants, yet she was swift to shake her head to the side and brush it off.

Diana will be fine, Delila reassured herself. After all, she'd gotten on okay without her for the last three years. What was an hour going to do?

The further Delila got away from her teammates, the more the fluttering in her stomach and nausea in her throat lessened. Each step she took forward became lighter and rhythmic. Her eyelids no longer felt heavy, her blinks increasing in number and speed. By the time the younger Cavendish was exiting the staircase leading to the first floor, her condition had improved significantly, her earlier sickness and fatigue disappearing like a distant memory.

But as Delila got a few steps from the stairs, she felt a light bump against her right shoulder, accompanied by a startled cry from the culprit.

"—Ah!"

Delila teetered a little to the left before she caught her balance on her left foot, briefly catching sight of a Luna Nova teacher's uniform falling to the floor within her peripheral vision before two thumps resounded against the carpet, one louder and larger than the other.

Recovering quickly, Delila straightened up again and turned to face the teacher who had bumped into her, finding her sat on the floor and hunched forwards, her hands holding her forehead, a green book resting on the carpet to her left. Her hat was tilted over her face, concealing her identity from view; however, it gave Delila a perfect view of the single red feather tucked into the hat's band, making the younger Cavendish narrow her eyes for a few seconds.

Hadn't she seen that hat somewhere before now?

The teacher's pained groan wiped the rhetorical question from Delila's mind immediately. The younger Cavendish approached the fallen teacher and started to hold out her right hand towards her, an apology already leaving her lips.

"My apologies, Professor. Are you—?"

The teacher lifted her head and lowered her hands to her lap before Delila could finish her sentence, revealing a pair of dazed red eyes with white pupils behind oval-shaped glasses.

Delila froze.

A/N: So, yeah, as mentioned in the above notes, I changed how the situation plays out in Magic Linguistics slightly. As I've been using the English dub for reference, I'm not sure how accurate the translation is regarding what Professor Finnelan says about Diana answering the problem on the blackboard. It seems implied in the anime that the Luna runes aren't widely known by most modern witches, but it really irked me that Professor Finnelan claimed Diana was the only student in the history of her teaching that class who was able to decipher the runes. Like... where is the logic in that?! I get it was likely done to try to prove how smart Diana was, but still... why would a teacher pose a problem to a class of students that none of them can answer? It just sounded silly to me, so I altered it a little to have everyone shocked that Diana answered it quickly due to her advanced reading on the subject. Makes her seem a little less 'Mary-Sueish', if you catch my drift. XD I was also a little nervous about this section because of having Delila know the answer, but I ended up going with it for a couple of reasons. One, smart characters exist. It's not OP for Delila to have good knowledge on magic, especially because of her family heritage, her relationship with Diana and her bookworm-like personality. And two, Delila has other flaws as a character, both personality and ability-wise, the former of which was also hinted at in this section. So, it evens it out.

Regarding Professor Lukic's section: I don't know what potion the professor was attempting to brew. 'Fog Brew' and its associated odour were made up, the former inspired by The Owl House. They have a fog brew potion in there, so I figured I'd use it here. As for the smell... Yes, I can confirm that some of the scents Delila lists in this chapter are associated with the smell of death. I mostly just put this in here for a joke, especially as I wanted to use Professor Lukic's section to highlight Delila's struggles with adjusting to classroom teaching. Nothing much happens in this part with Hannah and Barbara anyways, and Professor Finnelan's and Professor Badcock's sections covered the classmate side of things anyways, so... yeah.

And then we have the ending of the chapter. I know, you were all hoping that Delila was going to encounter the Red Team properly, at long last. But I cannot have that happen. Yet. If Delila is present for the start of the argument that occurs between Diana and Akko, she would have ended it as quickly as it began. She's not one to tolerate the type of behaviour displayed by both Hannah and Barbara and Diana, so it would have been swiftly dealt with too soon. For Delila to properly get her epiphany about her teammates, she needs to see the situation play out in the courtyard, hence why I have used Ursula as a convenient distraction. Outside of Delila getting the opportunity to be introduced to the Astrology teacher before episode three, Ursula is also looking into the problem with the Jennifer Memorial Tree, which I think is going to help strengthen what happens later on in the episode. What do I mean by this, you ask? Well, you'll see soon enough. XD Also, I felt it was too soon for the Red Team to properly see Delila, Sucy especially. That reason will be revealed within the coming chapters as well, though some of you might be able to guess it when you consider Sucy's knowledge on potions...

I think that's everything covered. If I've missed anything, feel free to ask away in the reviews.