Astrid did not say anything as we walked to the classroom. It was perfect as the silence gave me time to press Shadow for answers. He started talking to me before I had a chance to ask him.

“Okay, Okay. Buddy. Listen. I may have forgotten to mention something last night.” Shadow began.

You think? Who the hell are the Tenebrions and why am I suddenly being called their last remaining relative? I thought back.

“It’s your cover story. This school, it’s not all that easy to get into. Ya see they’ve got this bee in their bonnets about students needing to be from a particular lineage. So we needed a way to achieve that. So, weren’t we just absolutely ecstatic when managed to find a disgraced family with a missing male heir. Honestly, it was almost too perfect.” Shadow said.

So, I’m. playing the part of this forgotten son?

“Yes, that’s the exact part. But don’t worry. It’s easily explained why you don’t know magic even coming from this family. And like that hot old lady said, only a few people really know about it. Just keep playing the part of being an idiot about magic.” Shadow replied.

That’s not a part, I am an idiot about magic.

“Nice, then it will be easy.”

Okay, but what the hell was all that with that man at the execution? I yelled into my head. There was a long silence before Shadow spoke again.

“That was the family’s patriarch, Rufus Tenebrion.” Shadow said. “I guess you’d call him a terrorist. He’d probably call himself a revolutionary. He’s on the extremist end of our cause. Oh shit.” Shadow said immediately realizing he’d said too much. I took a second to process that piece of information.

Our cause? What does that mean? Is this guy a member of the Collective? I asked.

“Uhhh… No. Not officially. But we share a common goal. It’s just the values that aren’t quite aligned…” Shadow said.

And those goals are what?

“Rufus is all about breaking down the the rules around magic. They want to get rid of the whole system of the people in power making all the choices about who can use magic and how they get to use it.”

And the Collective is after that same thing?

“In a sense. But they prefer to take less radical measures.”

But like aren’t you made of magic? The Collective has imprisoned you haven’t they?

“That’s not entirely accurate. If I hadn’t made a deal with them I’d be in a lot worse place right now. It doesn’t mean I won’t still try and get out. We both will.” Shadow said. I nodded. I felt like I’d probably gotten a lot more out of Shadow than they’d intended to tell me. Should I push my luck?

“What do you mean, push your luck?” Shadow said.

Damn it. I keep forgetting you’re in my head.

“Just ask it.” Shadow said.

Why did that man have my father’s face? I finally asked after a moment of silence. I could tell somehow that Shadow was trying to think of an answer.

“I don’t actually know, Kid. Truely, that part is beyond my understanding.” Shadow finally said. “Listen, I need to take a moment here to update Avendhal on our progress, so I’ll be out of commission for a few. If you need anything urgent, bring out the book and I’ll be pulled into the moment.” Shadow said leaving me with some things to think about. Thankfully Astrid still hadn’t said a word or acknowledged me. We walked for another few minutes until she finally stopped. She just stood by a door briefly and turned to face me. I walked up to stand with her.

“Is this my class?” I asked. She didn’t nodd or say anything. Instead she just stood there staring at me. I reached down and began to open the door and as I did she promptly turned and left. “Bye Astrid, Thanks for all the help! Loved our chat.” I yelled sarcastically after her. She suddenly stopped and turned around. She nodded and then just as quickly turned back and continued to walk away.

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As I slid open the door I was immediately hit with the smell of sulfur and I saw the source of it standing at the bottom of the tiered seating of the lecture room. Professor Dos, stood slightly hunched and was writing something on the board with his wand. I looked around the room which was smaller than I imagined it would be. It had large tall windows across the top of the room which were separated by light gray columns. The walls were also half that same shade of light gray at the top, but half way down they became detailed wood panels that matched the colour of the wooden tiered seating which was arranged in a semi-circle around the pit at the bottom with the professor’s desk and blackboard. When I looked up I noticed the ceiling looked like it housed an artificial sky complete with small clouds. The Professor turned to face me as I entered and his fiery red glowing eyes flashed. I couldn’t tell if he was grimacing at me or if that was just how he looked as a hellhound.

“Mr Adams. Or do you prefer Tenebrion?” Professor Dos said in that low growl of a voice.

“Adams is fine.” I said. The professor nodded and seemed to accept that response as no further discussion was needed. There was a moment of nothing that passed between us just looking at each other before the professor turned back to the board and continued writing with his wand. It seemed he was writing in a language I couldn’t read.

“I was impressed by your exam performance. Killing a grecian monster is no easy feat.” Dos said addressing me suddenly.

“It was definitely something.” I said not sure if I really wanted to be complimented on my ability to kill something. I did suddenly remember something. “Oh I need to thank you for the wand. I’d be dead without it.”

Professor Dos snorted back a laugh. “A wand is only as good as the one that holds it. That’s your first lesson. Now, take a seat. Octavia will be here soon.” He said shooing me away. I moved and sat down at the back of the room. “Not there. You’re in the front row.” He pointed to the seat closest to the board at the front right. I sighed. I was definitely more of a back row student. I noticed that smell of sulfur had begun to dissipate the more I spent time in the room. There were a few awkward moments where Professor Dos wrote on the board in complete silence. I finally spoke after a good minute or so.

“Am I going to have to learn that language here?” I asked the Professor. He turned and seemed to be confused by this question. Then he chuckled.

“This? No, no. This isn’t a language. It’s a ritual spell casting.” The Professor said turning back to the board again. “Don’t worry it’s not part of our first lesson today. I put this up on the board each year to see if anyone can complete it.”

“Oh like good will hunting?” I said.

“Who is will? And why is he hunting?” The Professor said.

“No, it’s a popular film.”

“And this hunter named Will solves magic equations?”

“No, he, no, nevermind.” I said knowing when to quit. “So how many times has it been solved?”

“Never.” Professor Dos said. “I’ll let you know right now because you seem like the type to try. It’s not meant to be solved.” Dos tapped finished up writing and tapped the board. It spun around and revealed a new fresh one. I wondered why the professor would put up an equation that wasn’t meant to be solved.

“So why do you write it?” I asked. Before he could answer a sweet feminine voice interrupted.

“It’s to teach us a lesson in futility. About facing something impossible and realizing it’s okay to give up.” Octavia beaming and walking up to join us at the front of the class. I smiled at her as she sat down at the seat next to mine. Professor Dos snorted.

“If that’s your interpretation, Miss Quinn. That’s neither right or wrong.” He said. Octavia seemed frustrated by that answer and made a face that I thought looked like a toddler being told they couldn’t have ice cream for dinner. It looked like she noticed I was staring and she averted her gaze looking embarrassed. I held back a little chuckle and turned to the Professor who was attempting to sit down at the desk. It had a chair that was clearly not made for a large hellhound and he elected to push it aside and sit at attention like a dog. Again I had to hold back a chuckle.

“So Professor, I hope you teach actual magic and you’re not some kind of art teacher.” I joked. Professor Dos smiled.

“Yes Mr Adams, I do. Although I am quite good with water colours.” The Professor said. It seemed like he wasn’t as gruff as I’d assumed. He even seemed to have a sense of humour. Octavia giggled at his joke and he smiled at her.

“That’s a relief she said. As much as I liked Mr Cyrus, I wasn’t entirely interesting in learning about magical literature.” I said. Octavia’s head snapped to look at me with a look of pure shock.

“You don’t? But think of all we could learn! We could study the lost scrolls of the library of alexandria or The Hermes Alchemia or Homer’s Unwritten Epics! There’s such a rich world of words to explore there!” She said practically stumbling over her words as she rattled them all off too quickly.

“Uhh, Did you say Homer? Like from the simpsons?” I said.

“The… The simpsons?!” Octavia said. She looked outraged and only noticed my sly grin a moment later. “Oh you were joking.” She smiled. “For a minute there I thought you might be a idiot.” She said returning with a jibe of her own. I laughed.

“Oh if there’s one thing you’ll come to realize about me, Octavia. I’m most definitely an idiot."