Morgan le Fay Institute for Magic

Chapter 18 - Rambunctious Return

It was a dreary Monday morning. The sun hid behind several layers of clouds. The perfect weather for studying thestrals in magical creatures class. Or blast-ended skrewts. And yet Professor Fauns had them assemble in a normal classroom to learn about phoenixes – a creature he couldn't show them because they were very rare.

The boys were already there when she arrived at class. Ezra, who nowadays looked a lot older than his actual 20 years of age, sat with his nose in a book, while Willem doodled on his parchment. Ella's spot, of course, was empty. But so was Dan's.

She sat down, frowning, before leaning over to the boys. "Morning. Have either of you seen Dan?"

Both Ezra and Willem grunted a negative response.

Weird, she thought, watching the classroom door. It was one minute until the start of the lesson. Dan was never this late.

She'd barely spoken to her best friend all weekend. Most of it was spent in her bedroom. When she came out for lunch or dinner, Dan was nowhere to be found, so she went back into her bedroom afterwards. She'd wanted to tell him about her scuffle with Willem from before the weekend, but he never showed up.

A few times she'd found herself walking down to Ella's room. But every time, even before knocking, she figured the girl probably just wanted to be left alone.

Ravenna shot up in her seat when the door opened, but it was only Professor Fauns.

"Good morning, class!" the stout old man called as he flicked his wand to clean the board from the previous lesson. Another flick and a piece of chalk began writing the word phoenix in the middle of the board. "Our lesson today is about phoenixes – some of the most magnificent magical creatures in the world. Who can tell me something you already know about these creatures?"

The class stayed silent. Ravenna's eyes flicked back and forth towards the closed door. Where is he?

"Anyone?"

Perhaps he'd simply overslept. Except in seven years' time she'd never known him to oversleep. I hope he's not in trouble...

"Miss Inkwood, surely you remember something from last year's lessons on this subject."

Startled, Ravenna sat up straight. "I'm sorry?"

Professor Fauns' moustache quivered slightly. "Please tell us what you know about phoenixes, Miss Inkwood."

"Oh. Right, yes. Er... They are large, bird-like creatures. Instead of dying they combust, burn to ashes, and are reborn from those ashes to start their life cycle anew."

Professor Fauns nodded, gesturing for her to keep going.

It had been a while since she'd read about phoenixes. She tried her best to recall what the textbook said, but there were too many other creatures that Ravenna found just as interesting. "Erm... What else... Oh! Don't they have healing powers or something?"

The professor's face split into a smile underneath his moustache. "Well done, Miss Inkwood, that is correct. Their tears can heal the most terrible wounds." He turned around, grabbed his wand and had the chalk write all of this down onto the board.

As her teacher set off into a lecture, Ravenna's attention once again turned to the door. Why is Dan late? He's never late!

With a sigh she picked up her quill and started copying down what Fauns wrote on the board. She'd go and look for him after class.

She'd barely finished the sentence about a phoenix's healing tears, when the door swung open. Their two missing classmates stood in the doorway.

"Ella!" Ezra exclaimed.

The boys jumped up from their seats, Ezra's book falling to the ground unnoticed. He wrapped his arms around her, picked her up and twirled her around. A giggle escaped her, though it wasn't quite as lively as it normally would have been. Professor Fauns, in the meantime, sat down by his desk and observed the class with a smile on his face.

"Sorry we're late, Professor," said Dan, but Fauns waved it off before he'd even finished his sentence.

"Stop it, you guys. I haven't been away that long," said Ella, pushing Ezra away from her.

"Long enough," said Ravenna, as she went over to hug the girl as well, despite her eyes being pulled towards her best friend. Was he the reason Ella had finally come back? How did he do that? "Welcome back, Ella."

As Dan took his seat next to her, still smiling up at his classmate, a thought hit Ravenna. Is this why I couldn't find him all weekend?

"Thanks. It's just for a lesson or two. I've promised Professor Trindine I'd go to some classes today. She thinks it'll help take my mind off tomorrow."

"Tomorrow?" Willem squeaked. "What's tomorrow?"

Ella sat down and stared at her hands in her lap. "The funeral."

"Oh," Willem whispered, glancing at the others for help.

Ezra took his place next to her and put a hand on her shoulder. "I'm sorry, Ella. We all are. If you need anything, anything at all, just let us know, alright?"

She nodded. "I'll be alright, I guess. I just miss them. I can't imagine never seeing them again. And tomorrow... It's just..." She let out a shaky sigh.

"I know." Ezra moved his hand to wrap an arm around her shoulder and pulled her close. "Do you... Do you want me to go with you? Tomorrow, I mean..."

Ella frowned, then sat up to look at him. "Would you? That'd be really nice."

"Of course!" Ezra nodded eagerly, obviously just happy to have found a way to help.

"Thanks." She smiled gratefully.

"Alright, everyone," said Professor Fauns, standing up by his desk. "Even though we're all thrilled to have you back in class with us, Miss Rook, I believe it's time to get back to the lesson, shall we?"

"Of course. Sorry, Professor."

For the first time since the start of the school year, Professor Fauns could not keep the class under control. During his lecture, the boys kept whispering jokes to Ella in an attempt to cheer her up. It got so bad that Professor Fauns had to send Ezra to the headmistress at one point, but he came back ten minutes later as if nothing had happened. Ravenna couldn't imagine Professor Slughorn had given him much of a lecture for disrupting the class, since he'd only done it to try and cheer up his friend.

Then, while they were answering the questions in their textbook, they kept drawing bizarre doodles on their parchment. They were meant to be funny, but they were so bad that half the time Ella couldn't even figure out what they were meant to be.

When Fauns finally sat back in his chair and took out some homework to grade, giving up on teaching level five for the day, Ravenna nudged Dan's side. "I'm impressed you managed to get Ella back to class. How did you do that?"

He grinned, pride shining in his eyes. "I went to see her on Friday, after classes. It just happened to be the right time; she was ready to talk. She didn't stop talking all weekend."

Dan chuckled, but Ravenna's heart sank. So he did spend all weekend with her... All those times she'd stood outside Ella's door, too afraid to knock for fear that Ella would get upset all over again. All that time, Dan had been on the other side.

She caught herself, and shook her head. Don't be ridiculous, Ravenna, it's not as if Dan can't spend time with anyone else but you.

With great effort, Ravenna plastered a smile on her face. "Well, I'm glad you were there for her."

"Yeah," said Dan, watching Ella chuckle along with the boys' silliness. "She'll be alright. We'll make sure of it."

Ravenna hunched over hertextbook, pretending to focus on the questions in front of her. Her quarrelwith Willem from before the weekend drifted through her head. She'd tell herbest friend about it another time. Not today.