After Architecture and Art, the four of us spent a few moments in the corridor looking out at the fountain in the courtyard. Our next class was Elixirs with the Winderons, but we could sit with our respective groups. As we trickled in, Professor Mortitch was already standing at the front of the room, a tall, pale woman with thin blonde hair.

"Hello, class," her voice was quiet and raspy, as if she'd been screaming her larynx off the day before. "You're in for a significant year at Loxton. With the current behavior of the Forest, there's a lot on our plate. We will work hard on our standard curriculum for the third year, but we will also include experimental potion-making that might help us determine what's happening with our woodlands since it's a relatively new phenomenon."

She paused and tapped her chin with a long slender finger. "What exactly that will consist of, I'm not sure. There's still much that we professors need to prepare and figure out. For now, we are going to focus on what will be covered through the course. I just wanted to keep you aware in case we pivot at any point."

It was the first class where we didn't go over a review from last year's lessons, and we started with the new curriculum right away: The Draught of Peace. This potion relieves anxiety and agitation but only for a few minutes. All hour the class struggled with creating anything remotely resembling the elixir except for one person who mixed it together as if she was just pouring milk into a bowl of cereal: Daphne.

For the last class of the day, Bran and Edna split off from us in the hallway.

"Where are you two going?" I asked.

"We have Mage History with Professor Hawthorne," Edna said.

My chest tightened. "Oh, right." I cleared my throat.

"We'll let you know how it goes. See you for dinner?"

"Sounds good." Daphne smiled.

I was frozen with silence before Daphne strolled towards an exit door. I had to catch up with her as we made our way outside towards Zoology.

As we stepped along the Loxton grounds, we approached a large cottage with a curved roof, a stone chimney, and a wall of square windows. From Loxton to the forest, the cabin was the only thing in the middle of the field. The edge of the forest closest to Loxton was green, vibrant, and full of trees and plants. But deeper in, I could see the purple plumes of haze.

"You okay?" I asked Daphne, noticing that she hadn't said much since Architecture.

"Yeah," she said.

"I've only known you for a full twenty-four hours, but I feel like something is bringing you down."

"Did you see what happened earlier in Rymina's class? I don't want another year of being second to Layla Moors in academics and Dragonstryke!"

"Who's keeping score? Why do you care? You're a champion potion maker, right? Plus, you're the only person who completed the Draught of Peace today. I don't know, if you ask me, that's pretty impressive."

Daphne didn't respond. We walked silently until we were outside the cottage.

"So they have a detached little building here for more classes, huh?" I asked.

"Just Zoology. I guess it wasn't initially part of the curriculum when they built Loxton, but they needed another separate building. This place is entirely dedicated to Zoology."

We went through the charming arched wooden door and entered a room covered with sunlight from all the windows. An oak scent filled the wide-open space. Hardwood floors and long desks occupied the center. Along the walls were model animals of all varieties, like it was a damn natural history museum.

"Come on in, everyone! Take a seat wherever you'd like!" A portly man with a massive gray beard and giant glasses waved us in. If he was in my home world, kids in high school would have called him blind Santa Claus with how thick his frames were, but he had on a tweed suit and vest. His name was on the chalkboard behind him written in perfect cursive: Professor Matlock.

I wish I was smiling like Professor Matlock, but the sight of Oliver sitting in the corner irritated me too much.

"Hello, Fyrons and Venomauses! I'm delighted to have you in my abode!" Professor Matlock beamed. "Technically, it's not my home, but I spend so much time here that it certainly feels that way sometimes! So, I'm happy to have you here. Happier than normal! Why, you might ask? Well, with the phenomenon of the forest getting cursed, everyone was worried about the continued instruction of this class. But not to worry! I'll guide all of you safely through our exciting journey of learning about the animals that inhabit our wonderful world!"

No one else seemed nearly as enthused, but I leaned forward listening intently.

"With the recent behavior of the forest, we've seen something really peculiar with the animals as well." Professor Matlock shifted his eyebrows back and forth. "This curse doesn't just affect the trees and our beautiful greenery, but it has unfortunately impacted our little critters. Take a look at the flanackle I have here. No worries about taking out your book or anything. I just want to show you a demonstration."

Professor Matlock stood at a slightly raised stage and had his own table where he set a cage on top of the tall desk in front of him. He opened the little latch and ushered out a cute furry animal I had never seen before. It was a little larger than a squirrel and had a face like a possum but with slightly bigger eyes, a pudgy body with black and white spots, and short legs. The tip of the nose was bright orange, with a curly tail. It looked cute enough to own as a pet.

Stolen content alert: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.

"So yes, you see the common forest flanackle here, yeah?" Professor Matlock said.

Everyone nodded, except me.

"Well, let me show you this one. It came from a little deeper in the forest here. On the edge of where the curse is." Professor Matlock pulled out another cage in front of his desk, and this one was a cube of thin bars, but we could still see the cursed flanackle inside. The fur was a strange, vibrant purple. The eyes glowed red, and the nose turned bright blue. The flanackle snarled at the class and tried clawing its way out, banging against the cage, taking chomps at the metal prison. Meanwhile, the other flanackle was shaking in the corner, frightened to be within a few feet of the cursed animal.

"Why am I showing you all this, you might ask? Well! It's quite simple. Stay away from the cursed forest!" he boomed. The whole class recoiled and blinked at him. With how jovial he had been, I wasn't expecting such intensity in his voice. "Anyways, class, this is quite the tragedy that we can't go out and study our specimens and the forest like we normally would. I mean, sure, we can go out to the edge here and do our lessons a little bit, but we usually take deep walks through the forest. So I'm sorry you're being deprived of that."

"But that won't stop us from moving on with today's objective." Professor Matlock waved his finger in the air. "I would like all of us to go outside and continue on with our first lesson anyways. I want all of us to be well acquainted with the common forest flanackle. Although they are common, that doesn't mean you get to see them if you just walk outside. They are quite skittish, and you need to employ a certain technique to have one come near you. This is important because similar tactics need to be taken if you'd like to study animals and observe them closer. Without further deliberation, let's go outside! It's a beautiful day, and kids like going outside for class, yes? Ha ha! How fun!"

A few kids chuckled at Professor Matlock and his goofy enthusiasm; I also laughed. He was already shaping up to be one of my favorite professors.

He gathered us all in the back of the classroom after putting away the other two flanackles he placed on his desk, and he carried a satchel around his shoulder and guided us all through the back door. Daphne and I originally sat near the front of the class, but we were in the back of the group as we went outside.

"You don't want to get to the front of the line?" I asked. "I'm a little surprised."

"Animals can frighten me a little bit. Especially seeing that cursed flanackle earlier." Daphne shuddered.

"Why did you take zoology if animals freak you out?"

"Well, they don't freak me out. I like pets, but animals in the wild, I guess. I'm just worried that they'll attack me or something. I thought if I took zoology, I might be able to overcome my fear." Daphne shrugged.

As we entered the beginning of the forest, there were plenty of trees around, but still open pockets of grass to hang out in. The trees were massive and had plenty of branches to give a lot of shade.

Professor Matlock herded the class to an open section, a perfect circle of grass, with trees surrounding us. The shade felt cool, and the fresh air of cut grass filled my nose.

"Okay, everyone, this is a good spot to try and lure out a flanackle." Professor Matlock cleared his throat, reached into his satchel, and grabbed something. "Although they don't like being out in the open, with my strategy here, we should be able to get one or maybe a few to come out and visit us. I've done this hundreds of times, and there have been a few occasions where no one shows up, but I'm feeling good today. First day of classes! We are back! Everything feels just right, the air, the breeze, the sunshine, haha! What more could you want!"

Holding his fist up, Professor Matlock opened his palm And had an orange cube in his hand.

"You see this? This is a treat that flanackles enjoy. The Mage Zoology Society design and create these treats, and they try to color them based on the color of the nose of the animal you wish to give a treat to. Earlier, we saw the flanackle and noticed the orange nose, yes? Well, this is the correlating treat. This is a straightforward process, I'm going to set one treat down over by that tree stump over there, and we are going to sit and watch from afar. It's important to have a second treat ready to go. I have another cube in my hand, which we will lure it in with. It's a two-treat process, but it requires a lot of carefulness. Even the hand techniques are important."

Professor Matlock reached into his bag again, pulled out another treat cube, and crushed it in his hand. "I've got to mention the third treat needed to spread as a powder to make a trail back to you, wherever you planned to hide and- uh- oof!" Professor Matlock froze, and his jaw dropped. Something caught his attention in the corner, behind all the students.

People started turning their heads. I saw Oliver's stupid face, which encouraged me to also turn to see what was happening. Through the trees, an orange nose flanackle tiptoed its way close to our circle.

"Uh, uh, uh, uh, class, please don't move or startle or frighten the incoming flanackle," Professor Matlock said. "I don't think it should be able to smell the treat from this far away, but maybe this one is a little different. Perhaps it's going to approach me. If it does, just remain still; it won't hurt you. As you can see, it's not cursed. I was hoping to get one of the flanackles to come from the other direction, deeper in the forest; I wasn't expecting this, though. Just remain calm, and if you need to come up closer to me, feel free, but be discreet."

At first, it seemed like the flanackle was going toward Professor Matlock, but it changed direction and focused on the back of the class, where I was sitting. Everyone was silent, but I did hear Oliver blurt out, "Whoa!"

I was really annoyed by that, he could have frightened off the flanackle, and it did hesitate for a second.

"Quiet now, class. Keep it down," Professor Matlock reminded us gently. "I'm not sure where it's going, but it should be approaching me any moment. Just taking a bit of a winding route, that's all."

But the flanackle inched its way toward Daphne, and I. Daphne shuffled away from it and a little bit closer to me, but I didn't mind. I was intrigued by the furry critter, so I held out my hand. A few kids gasped, and the flanackle flinched but leaned forward and kept coming closer to me.

"Uh, uh, excuse uh," I heard Professor Matlock fumble with his words behind me.

My hand stayed outstretched, and I slowly brushed the side of the flanackle's plush fur. More kids gasped.

"Sorry, I don't know your name yet, but you don't have to pet the flanackle if you don't want it, uh, well, huh," Professor Matlock said.

Everyone broke out in whispers as I continued to pet the small animal. The flanackle gazed up at me with wide, dark eyes. They were full of appreciation as I scratched its back. As the whisperings grew louder, the flanackle frolicked away, and I heard more people utter a variety of exclamations.

I focused back on Professor Matlock at the front of the class, and he was still at a loss for words. He cleared his throat. "...Uh... Okay, everyone, that was fascinating, but now that it's over, let's focus back on the lesson for today, and then we can have a few minutes at the end to chat and be merry. Sir, please see me after class."

Oh great. Did I really get in trouble again?