Chatoyant College Book 9: Sundered

Chapter 110: Increasing Magic

Corrie stared for a moment at the poster. She couldn't see anything different about it... but she wondered if she would were she to go into trance. "Could something else have been raising the magic level on campus to reverse what you did?" she asked. "I mean, could this be a natural process or something?"

"No, it is certainly not natural," said Professor Lal. "But something, or someone, may be raising the level again."

"Who could do that?" Roe asked. "It doesn't sound like something the average student could manage."

"No, not at all," said the professor. "It would have to be a group of powerful magicians working together."

"Like the court faeries," said Dawn.

Professor Lal nodded. "But the magic level may not have been raised at all, or at least not in general—there may be something specific that applies to only this poster. Corrie, you had a poster as well, did you not?"

Corrie nodded. "I still have it. But it doesn't seem to be doing anything strange." She clearly remembered how the sticker on her mood poster had moved around, apparently of its own accord, and taken her mood with it—or moved around without her to follow her mood, it was hard to tell. But she hadn't noticed that happening at all lately.

"If it will help, I'll ask Rico about his dragon," Dawn said.

"Yes, please do that," said Professor Lal. "What about the other objects that had given you trouble?"

"Edie's bag and Roe's doll," Corrie said. "I'll ask Edie about her bag."

Roe looked at her feet. "I gave the doll to Troy. I can try to ask him about it, but it probably won't be today. I have my lesson with Professor Strega tonight."

"I doubt there is reason to hurry," said Professor Lal. "But if any of you do find out between now and Monday's class, feel free to send me an email. I do know how to check that. I expect I will be meeting with the other magic professors over the weekend to find out what is going on."

"I guess I have a busy day, too," said Dawn. "I'll have to go to the library and see if I can get a glimpse of Sarah. Corrie, you'll come with me, right?"

"Of course," said Corrie quickly. "Have to keep you safe from the scary faeries." She grinned.

"Do that," said Professor Lal seriously. "I could not find any information about this student. I trust you will all be careful."

"We will," said Dawn. "And we'll email you if we find anything."

"Do you think we should ask Ever about this?" Corrie asked. "She did say that Belara and Feloc were up to something, but she wasn't sure what. They could be increasing the magic level."

"I can't imagine why they would want to do that," said Professor Lal, shaking her head. "But as I said, that may not be what is going on. We should wait until she contacts us again—and yes, I checked before class and there is no new leaf. She may have new information of her own."

Corrie nodded. "And we shouldn't bother Ever if there's no real reason to, since she could get caught anytime."

"That is a good thought," said the professor. She rolled up the poster. "I will take this back to my office and contact you should I need you." She ushered them out of the classroom.

Corrie went to her history class, where she was mostly able to force herself to concentrate, and then at last headed back to her dorm. She wasn't sure whether to be happy that the week of classes was over or dread the weekend. Last weekend really hadn't turned out so well. And they never had figured out anything about the knife, had they? Just that it had come from the court. But why would Belara and Feloc want to hurt her?

She shook her head to clear it, looked at her bed, and decided it really was time for a nap. She woke up when Edie opened the door and sat up, yawning.

"Oh, sorry, I didn't mean to wake you!" said Edie.

"That's okay," said Corrie, covering her mouth when another yawn threatened. "I should get up anyway. Finals are coming up and I should do some work on my history paper before we go to the library... that sounds silly. But we'll be distracted at the library."

"That's right," said Edie. "We have to go watch Dawn's back at the library in case that faerie shows up." She smiled. "I guess I didn't have to go this morning."

Corrie shrugged. "We have to watch all of our backs, probably. Who knows whether she was trying to target all of us with the book." She stood up and looked at her mood poster. She had to look over the whole thing twice before she realized why she couldn't tell whether there was anything odd about it—the sticker had apparently fallen off. She looked at the bed frame. Yes, there it was, fallen down in the dust. It must have lost its stickiness.