Chapter Seventeen:

The next day came quickly since Jess went to his room to sleep immediately after the meeting. He was sure no one was keen to be chatty with him now. And hey, maybe after some time to themselves everyone would come around, right. Right?

Didn’t matter know though, he thought stretching himself out. He flipped open his grimoire to check the time- and would you look at that!

It was only 6am!

He was right on time today. He even found the dorm showers today and to his surprise it was pleasantly clean. It was still a shared shower in the cancer dorm, but it was clean. Although the old pipes did echo and rumble whenever you used hot water.

Brushing his teeth was the most satisfying part of it all. His teeth had started becoming furry in the past couple days, and he could feel the layers of plaque sticking to it. Eugh. But now he brushed till his gums were a bit too sore- but clean.

He even had time to finally put on his uniform, and it didn’t look half bad. He was just about to turn sixteen, so he wasn’t at his physical peak anywhere near his full height or build. But he had a feeling this black uniform would look seriously impressive on an actual adult. It was straight out of a comic book movie.

Breakfast was better too, he managed to clear two bowls of cereal and even fed Brainrot, and to make the morning better it was the Chihuahua not the imp in control, so he even got to play a little fetch. But he decided that the moment the of the imp started taking over too much he would the damn thing to whatever was in the dorm pool.

And a bit later he found himself in the exam hall.

Perfectly on time too! Now, see what a difference an early start to the day can make? He was wide awake and ready for the exam, relaxed, clean, and just in a good mood despite the week. He spotted Gwen sitting in the very first seat.

She was staring straight ahead, completely focused on her own thoughts with a scowl on her face by default to scare off any would be approacher. The rest of the class didn’t seem as focused, maybe they weren’t too stressed. He must have guessed right. History was an easy class.

“Hey, Gwen-”

“Can you not bother me? I’m trying to revise here!”

“I thought this was an easy paper?” he said coyly.

“Explaining centuries worth of history in three hours is easy to you?”

“Fine, just tell me where I have to sit.” He said patiently.

“Somewhere else.” She said, and snapped back into her revising mode.

He didn’t blame her for still being upset with him, heck maybe she wasn’t even upset anymore. This might be normal exam behaviour for her.

He walked over to the other side of the room, and he recognized two people from yesterday. Khanyi and another guy who had sat next to Matt yesterday. Fernando or something? A Spanish international. He was quite sure David had said Fernando. There was no Matt or Maizley in the exam hall, guess they didn’t take this class.

He was also getting looks from people whenever he approached his seat. There was no way everyone hated him or thought he was some clown, but he wasn’t going to take a chance and sit somewhere randomly- There was a free seat behind Khanyi however. Rather the devil you know right?

She didn’t say anything as he slid into the desk behind her, but he heard the guy behind groan, and someone else laughed at that reaction.

At least he had a seat.

He hadn’t paid too much attention to his dorm mates during the meeting because his flight or fight response had was in gear the entire time.

But now he could see Fernando and Khanyi more closely. Fernando was slim and had long, clean silky hair that fell to his shoulders. He had slightly bronzed skin, and his lips were bruised and chapped a little like he chewed on them often. He was one of the few students who didn't wear the full uniform. He didn't wear the cloak or a jersey, instead he just wore the button down shirt and he missed a few buttons at the top and the collar, showing his neck and the start of his chest. He had his sleeves rolled up too, with several leather bands running round his wrists. He was attractive and was actually doing well chatting with the girl behind him- okay wait no, she set his eyebrows on fire. Good to have the class laugh at someone else for a change.

And Khanyi was in front of him. He could only see the side of her face now from behind her. When she wasn’t upset with him, she was otherwise pleasant. She was chatting to her a friend who was in the next row about the test. And she was actually kind of normal. Nice and pleasant. He never thought anything bad about anyone in the dorm or the school. But up till now he’d only kind of seen the hostile sides of everyone because of the chaos he was causing. But most of these guys were just normal students weren’t they?

And he should probably do better by Matt, Khanyi and the eyebrow-less Fernando. They were dorm and class mates after all.

Khanyi was also a bit funny he realised, eavesdropping unconsciously on her conversation and laughing to himself.

She had a nice pleasant face when she laughed, and dark smooth skin. She looked good actually-

“Alright class. Settle down.” An enthusiastic voice announced, and a harried looking professor walked in. She was around his height. She might have been somewhere between 20 and fifty. Behind her large-rimmed glasses and unkempt brown hair it was impossible to tell how old she was. Even her wrinkled white coat and plain brown pants and shirt made her look as anonymous as possible.

“Alright, settle down please.” She said-

And just then, Jess realized he couldn’t hear her. He was lip reading and guessing the words she was saying since her voice was so soft. Her voice was stressed out and barely caught anyone's attention and he was more or less the only one paying much attention. Guess his class mates did take a mile where they could. They clearly didn't bother with anyone they didn't like, and they clearly didn't care too much for this professor.

She flicked her wand and conjured up a giant metal gong. Which she struck once and finally got the class settled as people either finally turned to the front or covered their ears in agony.

But jeez, conjuration magic? The professors here were the real deal weren’t they?

Shame that she couldn’t conjure up a hairbrush. Though that might be a bit much for him to joke about since today was his first shower in a long time.

The professor stood in the center of the hall and in a peppy voice like one of those over enthusiastic kids show presenters she finally started speaking a bit more clearly.

“So, is everyone excited for the exam!”

Silence.

She looked immediately embarrassed, and Jess had to go back lip reading.

“Ahem, good morning class. The exam is three hours long. And the rules of the exam… I- I’m sure you know the rules by now.”

She flicked her wand and a stack of papers from behind the teacher’s desk started passing themselves out to each student face down. On instinct, Jess reached over to flip over the paper and as he did, the paper sizzled and caught aflame.

“No!No!” the teacher squealed and hurried over to him. “You can’t flip the exam paper over before the exams begun.” She explained patiently, despite the clear panic in her eyes.

“Sorry, I didn’t know.”

“Okay, okay.” She said, and a new exam paper flipped over to his desk. She did a little loop with her wand and a little palm sized tornado slowly starting swirling on his desk to swarm up the ashes of his old paper. Once it was satisfied with the clean desk, the little tornado flipped over to the teacher desk and into a drawer. The little sweeping tornado was really efficient. Jess was surprised it didn't go and sweep up the ashes of Fernando's eyebrows.

The professor was also back to the desk and this time she conjured up a large hourglass and let it hover above her desk so the class could see it.

“You now have ten minutes of reading time before you may begin answering your questions.” She said.

And instantly the sound of paper being flipped echoed in unison through the room. They were all in sync, guided by some silent metronome. On beat: the class all flipped the first page, then read, and then at least 90% of the class had flipped over to the second page.

This really was an elite academy.

Jess finally picked up his paper and skimmed through it.

Okay, let’s flip through this. Five questions, Jess read. Question one was multiple choice. Seemed easy. With multiple choice you always had a one in four chance of guessing right-

Okay, not with this paper. Most of the multiple choice questions had around five questions and it looked you could select multiple answers and the answers weren’t straight forward either. Okay, that’s fine. He could still guess his way through the paper. It was just history. Surely he wouldn’t regret not studying?

Okay, okay, okay.

Let’s try… Question Three!

He flipped over to the page. Okay. Let’s read it.

You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.

Question Three

The main and sub-questions of question three deal with the events of the Assassination of C.A Mardel (USA Premier for Magic) in 2009.

3.a. Who was the individual charged with the assassination? (1 mark)

No idea.

3.b. Many claim that the forced political measures during his reign caused the sudden outrage against him. What were some of the laws he attempted to pass? Further discuss the reasons for the outrage against said laws despite the progressiveness of them. (15 Marks)

Okay, so there was Obama and Trump. Who was the magic guy for America?

3.c. Discuss whether C.A Mordels laws would have been beneficial despite the manner in which they were introduced. Use Victoria Lobotov’s study on the case to assist your argument on the ethics of forced change and the greater good.

Shit.

Okay, no. No. Okay.

Jess closed his eyes and rubbed his forehead. Let’s start with multiple choice. He reached for his pen-

He didn’t carry a pen. Or a pencil.

He glanced at the professor who was patrolling another row of students. Good. She wouldn’t see him. He glanced at Khanyi sitting in front of him.

“Khanyi?” he whispered.

She ignored him.

“Khanyi!”

“You’re going to get us in trouble.” She whispered back, whilst keeping her eyes fixed on her paper.

“Can I borrow a pencil?”

“You didn’t bring one?”

A student on the right gave him a dirty look.

“I forgot my stuff.” He whispered back.

She tossed a pen and pencil behind her without looking back and he caught it- and thankfully the teacher’s back was still turned.

“Khanyi?” he called again.

“What?”

“Can I borrow the answer for question three?”

“Excuse me,” the teacher said, slamming her hand on the table and putting her face inches from his.

“Just borrowing a pen.” Jess said, immediately playing innocent.

“See me after class please.” She whispered sternly and carried on patrolling, but kept an eye fixed on him for the rest of the exam.

The other students had shot him dirty looks now. And he didn’t blame them one bit. Maybe the Brentley cafeteria thing could be spun as quirky or funny but disrupting two exams in a row and acting like an idiot was going to rub people the wrong way. They probably thought he was some attention seeking idiot or something now.

Ugh, well they were right about the idiot part he thought bitterly as he looked at question four.

When the last drop of sand in the hourglass had emptied, Jess had barely written a full page of answers, whereas most students had to ask for extra paper to fit their answers down.

He let his head slam down on the table in defeat.

The rest of the class were all leaving- except him of course. He was in trouble again.

“How’d the test go?” a voice asked.

He glanced up to see Khanyi hadn’t left yet.

Jess shrugged in response. He didn’t even have a joke.

“See you after the holidays then.” She said and left with the crowd. She forgot to take her pen and pencil with her.

The class had emptied, and the professor sat down at the desk, he sighed and got up slowly to head there.

She pushed her glasses further up her nose to keep them from slipping, as she looked up at him.

“I am very disappointed in you! Causing a disturbance like that, and then talking in the middle of an exam.” She scolded.

“I just needed a pen.” He said dryly. He’d hard a difficult week. A very unfair, dangerous, and violent week so far. So, he was finding it hard to find patience to deal with everything right now. But as much as he was tired, he wasn’t going to just snap at this kind professor just doing her best. She was scolding him, but she reminded him of one of those chubby kittens that yowled and tried to do those little cat slaps but weren’t very damaging.

“In future you inform the invigilator of the exam if you require assistance. We’re happy to help.” She said in her most proper but sincere voice.

“But unfortunately,” she continued. “Trying to see the questions before the start is an infringement so I’ll have to record that. Talking is too! But I’ll give you a break since it was for a pen. It was just the pen?” she asked him one more time.

“Yeah. But, I didn’t know about the turning over thing.” He said. “Today was my first exam.”

That made her start.

“Today was your first exam here?”

“Yeah, I’m new.”

“Oh! Okay!” she said excitedly. “Well, that explains it, I’m so sorry then. I thought everyone would have known the rules. Although, next time, better safe than sorry. If you’re unsure of something, ask a teacher.”

“Will do. So, we’re done now?”

“Not quite yet." she said. "I’m nice but not deaf. I did hear you ask for the answer to question three.”

What a time for a curveball! Just when he thought he was off the hook.

“That was a joke.” He shrugged “I got carried away and couldn’t help myself.”

“You tried to cheat as a joke?” she said slowly, her voice thick with doubt.

“I tried to make a joke; I didn’t cheat.”

“Okay.” She said, taking a breath and pushing her chair slightly away from the desk. “I do believe you but at the same time your conduct wasn’t acceptable even if it was your first exam here.”

“Okay."

“Okay,” she repeated uncertainly.

He probably wasn’t as responsive as he should have been and that was throwing her off, but he was getting really tired of this. At this point he’d just take whatever.

“I'll need to take your name down, to record the incident.” She explained.

“Fine.” He replied without much life in his voice. “Jess.”

“Jess,” she repeated, writing it down.

“Goldwyn.”

“Goldwy-” she stopped halfway and stared up at him. “Goldwyn? You’re related to Gwen Goldwyn?”

“Cousins.” He answered.

“Cousin.” She said awestruck for some reason. “So, your father is Jacob Goldwyn?”

Ah. There’s the reason, Jess realized, trying not to laugh.

The professor was breathing a lot heavier now, her glasses shaking down her nose a little.

“Yeah, that’s my father.” Jess smiled.

“Your dad is Jacob Goldwyn?”

Thank God that Jess had mastered that lip reading technique because her voice was barely a squeak now.

“Did you know him?” Jess asked, not able to hide his smile anymore.

“Yes! Both your parents! Not your parents- your aunt I mean! Your dad and aunt- Gwen’s mother. We were all in the same class when we were in school. And the same dorm.”

“Really?”

“Oh, we go way back. All our lives, I mean we didn’t speak much…” She admitted accidentally, and then turned slightly red at that. “Because we were always busy! I mean your dad was always just surrounded by people or off by himself, so it was hard to get a chance to speak to him. How is he by the way- both your parents I mean- of course. How are they? They must be excited you’re in Boxtens.”

“My dad’s okay. My mums dead actually.” Jess said.

“Oh, I’m so sorry.” She said sympathetically. “My condolences to you.”

“Oh, no.” he laughed. “That was a long time ago. I kind of outgrew her.” then he laughed to himself. “That sounds cold. She was just, out of our lives for a long time. I didn't even know she was dead till months later. She had issues… Dad and I never saw her for years, and then one day it turned out she was gone. So, it’s always just been us. You can’t really cry for a stranger, you know?”

“I’m so sorry” she said, shaking her head. “Making you bring all this up.”

“Oh, no” Jess said immediately. “It’s fine, it’s just normal now. Reality you know?”

“I suppose.” She said, uncertainly. She probably had more to say, but chose not to tell him how to feel or pry further. That was a rarity all in itself, especially when he talked about this. He felt a bit bad for this kind professor. If he ended up taking her class he'd make sure he paid attention, he had a feeling she used that gong really often.

“So, you knew my dad?” he asked, pulling up a chair for himself with a quick spell.

She gave a small chuckle. “I did.”

“I’ll probably see him soon.” Jess said. “I’ll tell him you said hi.”

“Oh, no.” she blushed. “He probably wouldn’t even remember me; I was no one.”

“Please, he had way too much respect for this place. He remembers everyone.” Jess said.

“That sounds just like him.” She said, not making much eye contact. Whenever his dad was brought up she immediately became so nervous her gaze dropped to the desk and her arms gestured wildly when she spoke.

“It’d be nice to mention a school friend. He hasn’t kept a lot of friends around.” Jess continued. “You know, after mum. He kind of shut down a bit, all he cared about was me and work. I always thought he just needed the right people- the right person to bring him back. I don’t know.”

“You really care about him don’t you.” She said admiringly.

Jess shrugged. “Yeah, I guess I do.”

“So how is he? I heard he was made an inquisitor? Was that really true?”

“Oh, yeah. For a few years now.”

“That’s incredible. I can’t imagine how brave you’d have to be to be able to do something like that.” She said, pulling her glasses off.

Oh my gosh, she was actually swooning. She had to be the one keeping Nicholas Sparks in business all these years. Well, she was clearly already so far gone in this that’d she’d long forgotten about getting Jess in trouble now.

“He’s done a lot of stuff as an inquisitor.” Jess said, hoping to distract her further just to be safe. “Saved the minister at least three times, fought a demon lord. He’s kind of filled in the whole inquisitor bingo card.”

The professor laughed but then when Jess didn’t she looked shocked. She thought he was joking.

“You're not joking.” she repeated in a mix of shock and defiance. "He killed a demon lord? And saved the minister."

“Oh, yeah.” Jess nodded. “Those things things don't really make the news. They hide it. Bad publicity you now?. Panic. But mostly publicity. Dad’s not too fond of the minister.” Jess laughed. “Calls him the worst bald fraud since Erik Ten Hag.”

“Does he really?” she asked, completely captivated.

“Not to his face.”

She shook her head. “Well just shows not everyone likes their boss. Even if they are the minister. But Minister Oak’s been incredible for us. We’ve had the lowest demon attacks the last few years. Some students even transfer out from military courses.”

Jess shrugged.

“Will you also be taking the military route?” she asked.

“No clue.” Jess said.

“Ah, the black sheep of the Goldwyn family are we?” she asked lightly. “Well, if I had some advice for you. Don’t plan too much if you're not sure yet.”

Jess laughed at that. “What kind of teacher are you?”

That made her laugh too.

“No, have options and work hard at everything you do, but not everything can be planned. You know, I’ve been here for so long and kids come in so adamant knowing what title or job they want, and when they get it they’re finally happy, but a lot of them aren’t. The person you are changes every day, the things you want now or don’t want might not be what you need later on. Just do your best and hopefully you’ll find what you want, but you won’t find it if you’re never trying. So work hard whilst you’re here. That’s the best part about Boxtens. It’s not a one-way road here, you can do anything. So promise you’ll do your best here.”

“I think I can manage that.”

“I’m sure you can.” She smiled. “Now, I think we should get on. You have a holiday due this week don’t you? The end of exams. And I have exam papers to mark. That's the bad part about being a teacher, we have to be in school everyday but we don't get the holidays.”

“No, i guess not. Good luck with the marking.” Jess said warmly, as he rose to his feet. “Professor? What's your name? So I can tell my dad that I met you.”

“Oh, no please don’t- that wouldn’t be… Uh, it’s Katherine- He wouldn’t even remember me-”

“Katherine. That's a nice name. I’m sure he wouldn’t have forgotten you.”

She slipped her glasses back on laughing breathily. “Thank you.”

“Have a good day.” He said, as he left.

Jess let the door shut behind him as he left the exam hall. Well, guess he owed his dad another thank you. He saved him a meeting with the headmistress just now. Well other than that... He definitely failed that test but at least exams were over-

“Gaah! Jesus!” he screamed in fright as he nearly slammed into Gwen.

“Took you long enough.” She snapped. “You didn’t get in trouble again did you?”

“Nope.” He said, sliding into stride with her as they left the exam hall. Was she waiting this whole time for him?

Gwen snorted, when she heard his ‘nope’.

“Did Professor Knight find out your last name then? I’ve been riding the Goldwyn name for years. I could bump my grade up from 98 to a 100 if i got that creep some of your dad’s hair and his used toothbrush.”

“Hey,” Jess warned, despite laughing. “She’s nice.”

“She’s a loser. You can just see it. She was never popular in highschool and never outgrew that. And she was dumb enough to come back and work here so-”

Jess snorted. “Oh my god, relax. She has a little crush. But she’s still brilliant isn’t she? She was completely fine till she knew about dad.”

“A guy she barely spoken to in like twenty years and she’s making a fool of herself. Honestly, if some people could be spayed- What?”

Jess laughed at her. “Leave it. So how come you waited outside for me?”

“Exams are over for the fourth years after tomorrow. We need to start preparing for the dorm games.”

“What? Now?” he asked in surprise. “Isn’t that kind of early?”

To answer him. She kicked his shin.