Blight Academy

One Day of Many

The lecture hall was quite full, I had to choose the only empty seat at the front. I looked around the room in awe. So many different people gathered here, ready to learn. A girl had her hair dyed purple, another had yellow eyes. A boy had skin like silvery metal. I smiled before taking out my notebook and pens. Let's just say I was ready to learn.
The class settled down as a buff man walked through the room, standing at the front. He had long curly black hair and a bushy beard. He had round rimmed glasses that sat upon his noise and he walked like he owned the room. Everyone stared, ready to listen.
"Good morning class," he said, getting an enthusiastic response. "Today we will be learning about the shape-shifters ability to adapt to any situation... But first I would like to welcome a new student to our class. Mr. Quince would you like to introduce yourself?"
"Um..." I said all eyes on me. "My name is Leonard Quince but people usually call me Leo."
"Nice to meet you Mr. Quince, we hope to enjoy having you here," he said. "I'm Mr. Ivan and I'll be your TFS teacher for the year."
"Thank you," I said, he went to his desk and pulled out a book.
"Everyone turn to page one-hundred and thirty-seven, Chapter Nine: The Shifter Tales of India," Mr. Ivan said, passing the book to me and gave a small smile which I return.
~~~
"That will be all for today, I hope you all took notes because I will not repeat myself again," Mr. Ivan said and everyone jumped to their feet to leave.
I had been so captivated by his stories, I was surprised the class ended as quickly as it did. I hurried to pack my things to get to lunch, I was eager to meet up with Thoman, Alice and Sapphire and tell them how great it is here. I felt like I was learning so much.
"Mr. Quince, will you stay for a minute," Mr. Ivan said and I immediately froze. "It's nothing bad I promise."
I finish zipping up my bag and head over to his desk where he took out a stack of books and put it on the desk. He sighed before sitting just on the edge of said desk and folding his arms.
"In all honesty, when I heard you were a college drop out I feared for the worst. Usually Ms. Williger would wait until the start of the school year before integrating new students into the school. It's almost winter and we have already covered a lot of what will be on your end of year exams," Mr. Ivan was very serious in this moment, very different from his loving demeanour while teaching.
"Mr. Ivan-" I said but he cut me off.
"I'm not finished yet," he said and I immediately looked at my feet in shame. "I thought this without realising your character. You aren't what I expected when I first heard about you."
"Really?" I practically whispered.
"Yes, really," he said. "I read your essays from high school, they were very riveting and it's no wonder you had straight A's. I know you have a love for reading and writing, you even chose linguistics as your major for university. It's a shame what had happened when it did."
"Thank you, I think," I said, mumbling to myself.
"Here is the books we have covered and will cover throughout the year," Mr. Ivan said, gesturing to the large stack. "I want you to catch up as well as read ahead. I need a bright mind in this class and I think you could be it."
"Thank you sir," I said but he still didn't smile.
"And I understand you still don't know much about what your transformation will be like," he said
"No, not really. Kinda been to busy adjusting," I said.
"Somehow, during the attack at Lake Greenwood, the gypsies blood got into your system. After a week of contamination, symptoms will start to show. For a gypsy, these can be lumps across the skin, a change in vision, you might experience lack of sleep, vomiting and some pain. After three weeks, you will need to turn because if you don't, you might turn at random and with no control over what happens. I've scheduled in a time for you to transform, you can invite whoever you want to witness it but it will be held out in the woods by Lake Thera around midnight."
"Why there?" I ask.
"It's safer if you are away from large crowds of people at the time," Mr. Ivan said. "I'll teach you how to turn and the basics of control. You need to know exactly what is gonna happen if you want to be able to control your gypsy animal."
"Thank you, this is really helpful," I say.
"Don't mention it, now get out of here before interval ends."
I take the stack of books, smiling at Mr. Ivan gratefully before heading out of that lecture hall with a skip in my step.
~~~
"You guys are all invited," I say and they all laugh.
"Sweet," Sapphire yelled out loud. "I've haven't gone to a good transformation since Mary turned into a goldfish."
"I'll bring food, everyone gets seriously hungry after their first turn," Alice says.
"What do you think you'll turn into?" Thoman asks. "A bird? A goat? Some kind of giant centipede?"
"I don't know but I hope it's cool," I say. "Like a dragon!"
"But dragons don't exist," Sapphire says.
"Yeah but wouldn't it be so cool!" I say practically bouncing in my seat. "I could fly and breath fire!"
"Well, maybe if you wish hard enough it much just come true," Thoman says and I smile.
The bell rings, letting everyone know it's time to go to class. Alice and Sapphire, pack up their lunches while Thoman turns to me.
"So what do you have now?" He asks.
I take out my timetable, unfolding it and looking to see what I had but I couldn't recognise the code for it. It didn't even have a room number.
"I don't know, just says 'F.P'. What does that mean?" I ask and Thoman looks over my shoulder, brows furrowed.
"That's strange, only year twos and above get to have free periods," he says. "I wonder if it's a mistake, do you have all your subjects?"
I look at the timetable, counting them all. "I'm missing Linguistics!"
"Isn't that the subject you said was the only reason you agreed to come here for," Alice said.
"Yeah, it was," I say, looking at the flimsy paper again like it would change.
"I'm sure it's just a mistake, go talk to Principal Williger about it," Sapphire chimed in.
"Yeah, I'll do that." I say, frowning.
~~~
I knock on the door to her office, hoping that she would be there to see me. The door is a dark oak wood, carved into strange swirling patterns. Just knocking on the door sent an echo down the halls.
"Come in," Principal Williger says on the other side of the door.
I push it open and am in awe at her beautiful office. I was once again reminded of Hogwarts with books upon books, ancient paintings and tapestries and dark oak wood galore. She had a beautiful white bird that sat in an equally as beautiful golden bird cage. I made my way to her desk, walking over century old rugs. She looked as scary as ever, with her feathers standing tall on her head. She wore a dark red blazer and a black blouse. Her reading glasses rested on the tip of her beck.
"I'm sorry to disturb you, Principal Williger," I ask, trying not to sound rude.
"It's fine, Mr. Quince and call me Ebony. There is no need for such formalities when it is just us," she said and I sort of stammered. She seemed like a strict woman yet she dismissed the formality so easily.
But I have no time to dwell on such things, I have to know what happened.
"I've come to say that... That I noticed Linguistics was left off my timetable," I say and she nods, sliding off her spectacles. "I usually wouldn't mind but Linguistics was apart of the reason I came here in the first place."
"I was going to inform you about that actually," she said, raising from her chair. "There is a slight issue with you taking this class, there is only one Linguistics course in this school and it only has three people attending."
"I'm perfectly fine with a small class," I say.
"The class is at two-thirty in the morning," Ebony says.
"Two-thirty? Why so early?" I ask.
"The class is for night class students, nobody in the day class has ever signed up for a linguistics course," Ebony says. "And unfortunately, I can't spend the resources I need to give you a class that is just for you."
"I'm still willing to go," I say. "I don't care if it's at four in the morning, I'm going!"
"You're welcome too, Mr. Quince but you still have to keep up with your regular classes," she says, standing tall. "No excuses for being late or slacking off. Understood!"
"Of course," I say.
"I still inspect you to get good grades!"
"I completely agree," I say.
"That's good to hear," Ebony says. "Now you should go study before dinner, it will do you some good."