Athra

Chapter 10 - Magic lesson

The staffroom was bigger than Lewis expected. It contained a kitchen including a fridge and freezer, had eight chairs placed around a square table and an old black couch that he could've sworn was here when he first attended over a decade ago.

All the school kids were out on their morning break and as a result, all the teachers not on 'break duty' where in the staff room. Lewis sat alone on the couch all the teachers scattered around the table and kitchen. Most of them he recognised from when attended with only a few new faces, most of them being assistants or substitutes. He listened in on their conversations in attempt to cure his boredom, their chats on what they've being doing today, and last weekend carried him through the next fifteen minutes.

Morning break ended and they all started leaving the staffroom, all heading to the playground to collect their respective classes. Unlike them, when Lewis left the staff room he followed the grey floor to the right and headed up the school. As he travelled down the corridor, he passed the year three classrooms and the two computer rooms, or 'suites' as the teachers liked to call them, that sat near the centre of the school. He eventually made it to a large open space, the grey floor designed in an octogen, and roof was completely made from glass forming a domed skylight. Halls travelled away from the octagon left, right, up all leading to different classrooms for their respective years. The school contained two classes for each school year. Years one to three were contained in the first half of the school and years four to six were contained up here, it hadn't changed at all since Lewis was here.

Lewis walked straight across the open space and down the corridor ahead of him into towards the year six classrooms, where he has been teaching. In Elysia, children didn't tend to get many magical lessons until year five and onward, using the lower years to develop non-magic-based skills such as writing, reading and basic mathematics.

At the top of the corridor were two doors. He pushed on the one to the right. It was locked. 'Damn'. He waited against the wall and soon children started pouring into the halls following teachers to their classrooms. It wasn't long before he saw Miss Whiteside walk across the daylight lit octagon followed by twenty-seven students, the light bouncing of her long blonde white her and blue eyes. She greeted him with a smile before unlocking the door and entering. Lewis watched as year six students funnelled into the room Eri and Sophie giving him a wave when they passed him. Once everyone had entered Lewis followed, gently closing the door behind him. Most students where still hanging their coats in the corner by the door which was filled with pegs and small cupboards for their bags. He walked past them and rows of tables towards the front of the room where Miss Whiteside's desk was sat as well as two boards, one formed from a crystalline glass material able to project images on itself and the other was an ordinary whiteboard, markers lay in holders at its base.

"Lewis I've just got to finish what I was teaching before break and then you're up" Miss Whiteside told him as he approached. She placed her coat on the back of her chair before wheeling it out and turning on her computer, its loud fans filling the room with a burst of sound before quieting down to a subtle hum. He watched as she quickly loaded up what seemed to be a presentation slideshow and then activated the main board, her slideshow instantly appearing on it.

"You can just sit in my chair and watch this bit" she stated with a smile as she walked over to the board. Lewis sat on her chair and rolled it further into the corner, it was surprisingly comfy. He watched as she finished her lesson, going over the answers to some math question. Observing the faces in the classroom most of them seemed to have done well. Or at least Eri did. After helping everyone understand any mistakes they'd made or anything they didn't understand she introduced Lewis. He'd taught this class before and other classes multiple times however, it never stopped the teachers from introducing him. Trading places with Miss Whiteside, he stood at the front of the room everyone's eyes on him. The first time he'd done this he had to admit it was slightly intimidating but now he felt use to it.