Harriet Jinjur vs. the Academy

Chapter 13: Harriet's Physical

August went by in a flash, and it was now about three weeks before the autumnal equinox. Although it was that point many schools started their new years, the Academy has already had two months' worth of education on its belt.

Harriet didn't get why this dump had to tack on a couple of months on their school schedule, but since this is also serving as a boarding house on top of its hazy past, the Academy is clearly keeping up appearances.

The summer has already been a disaster for Harriet. On top of the homework, magical bullshit, and anti-academic anecdotes, she didn't get a chance to enjoy the pool too much or even beat the heat on the few days the meadow was pelted with.

It didn't seem to rain around here either, not even the typical tropical storm decided to drop on by. It's like the Academy Grounds was a haven for 24/7 pleasant weather. Hardly treacherous for her, but everything always gives off the impression of a cozy painting.

Harriet didn't like how perfect everything looks in the Meadow of Leisure because she had her share of the Forest of Outskirts and even some parts of beyond it.

Throughout her many escape attempts and constant misadventures, she never noticed a way off the island or even anybody to guide her back to America. As a matter of fact, everywhere she comes across is always dense with trees covering the horizon, almost like it's hiding something from her. That was enough for Harriet to run back to the Academy before anyone notices.

If she's going to get away from here, she'll have to do it on one of the many off weeks. The closest being around the back half of November.

But it hasn't always been miserable for Harriet. She's still making great company with Max and Bert and Aloysius, if he's in the right mood, when it comes to regular, everyday activities. As for everything that concerns magic, she always gets the helping hand when it comes to her homework. Aloysius even pointed out that Harriet hasn't been practicing many of her spells or using her wand that often.

She told him that it's not she wanted to clog her brain with all that crap, right before a thinly-veiled threat to mind that beeswax she calls his hair. It was that point when Aloysius decided not to help her any longer.

Nonetheless, Harriet has been getting decent grades. Not 'Chosen One' great, but enough to pass. There was trouble with the upcoming exam by the end of September, but Harriet has that covered too.

Besides Miss Hazelnut and Mr. Spinks, Harriet had plenty of teachers to give her a hand if she needed it. Alice the Scarecrow guided her in growing a suitable garden for Ryls, Slightly Driscoll taught her how to identify star patterns with easy-to-remember acronyms, and Grimsley (another last-minute hire after his old bones came all the way from a desecrated temple in the Forest of Ethop) finally gave clear instructions on Harriet's potionwork.

The company was tolerable whenever they weren't praising her status and not with the passive-aggressive degree as the so-called headmistress. Hazelnut kept scowling as Harriet kept turning her needles into string instead of matches. Questioning the logistics of turning a pig into a desk didn't help soothe her either.

And Mr. Spinks didn't do much better with her since Harriet kept questioning his supposed lessons, even getting him to a breaking point when it came considering that the Fantastical Mystics faked the moon landing.

In short, Harriet has been making to with the Academy as it solidified its curriculum and more of its students and staff passing her by. Betsy has been silent since the disaster that brought an end to the Com-Unity club and there hasn't been any sign of Veximus since their excursion to the Land of Phunyland.

She even brought up Grandmother Smith to him during which, but he recalled that he never sold something like that as well as telling that there isn't any thing as ghosts lurking in the Academy. Harriet brought up Gloucester's spirit animal status, but Veximus told her that happens to be an exception.