The Art of Peace

Chapter 9

Learning is a Lifetime

Practice of the Art of Peace enables you to rise above praise or blame, and it frees you from attachment to this and that.

- Moerihei Ueshiba, founder of Aikido

The morning of September second was bright and warm, with just enough of a cool breeze to show that fall was on the way. Harry apprehensively mounted the steps of École Secondaire de Chambroid and entered the door. He quickly made his way down the hall through the milling students to his first class, sitting down in an empty chair in the back. A few moments later a teacher entered the room.

"Good morning, class. I am Professor Lapres and I will be teaching history this year. We will be studying the period between the English invasion and the expansion of the Napoleonic Empire. Before we begin, however, I will have each of you stand in turn and tell a little about yourself. We will start right here in front. You may stand.

"Hi, my name is Daniel and I play soccer."

"I'm Madeleine. I like to listen to music and watch romance movies."

The room slowly introduced itself. Finally it was Harry's turn. Nervously he stood.

"My name is Harry and I just moved here from England."

As he sat down he could hear some giggles over his accent but he ignored them, trying to remember as many names as possible. After the introductions the class ran smoothly, and it was soon time for chemistry. When he entered the room, Harry was pleased to notice that the teacher was Professor Raines, the man who had been so nice to him before. What made the class especially nice was that Raines made sure he talked so Harry could understand him and seemed very open to questions from the students. It was quite a change from potions, and that in itself made chemistry a great class. The only other class he had before lunch was grammar, and that was just about the uses of nouns and verbs so it was not that difficult. With that it was time for lunch. Upon entering the cafeteria, Harry was inundated by the ceaseless chatter.

Taking out his meal that he had prepared that morning, he sat down in a corner by himself and began to eat. As he ate he saw a group coming his way out of the corner of his eye. The boy in front was nowhere near as big as Dudley had been, but he carried himself like Harry's cousin and the people behind him like his gang. Now knowing what was going to happen, Harry relaxed and readied himself for the worst.

"Hey, kid!" the boy in front said. "Look at me when I'm talking to you!"

Harry turned to fully face him.

"What do you want?"

"I want kids like you out of this school. We don't like your kind here, acting like you're the best."

"What do you mean, my kind?"

"I mean you English people. We don't want you here."

"I'm sorry you feel like that but I plan on staying. Hopefully we can be friends."

"Friends? The only thing you are going to be friends with is the ground!"

As they spoke, the cafeteria had plunged into silence as people watched the inevitable fight begin. The boy's group had surrounded the two of them in a loose circle, leaving them room, but also ensuring that Harry could not get away. This led to Harry being very aware of what was going on around him, so he was ready when the other boy's fist came flying at his face. Instinctively Harry's forearm swept it away and he rose, moving within the boy's reach. Catching the other arm as it came up, Harry spun and twisted the arm to the outside. Stepping on the boy's foot now, Harry gave a quick tug on the captured arm, sending the boy tumbling to the ground. Harry jumped on top of the boy, his knee in his back to prevent him from getting up. This had taking two seconds, if that, and the stunned silence surrounding him told Harry everything he needed to know about the size of his audience. Slowly he stood up and made his way out of the school, the gang being too shocked over their leader's defeat to present much of a threat. Sighing in disgust he sat down on the steps. Was it too much to ask that he have a normal school life? Not even a day and he was already famous again.

The door behind him creaked as someone came through it.

"Are you all right?"

Harry swiveled sideways. Beside him was a girl, just sitting down on the step beside him.

"Yeah, I'm alright. I didn't want this to happen here though.

"Well, it wasn't your fault. You scared a lot of people in there you know."

"Including you?"

"Not really. My older brother studies wing-chun Kung Fu. What you did was similar to things I have seen him practicing. My name is Inès by the way. And you are..."

"Harry. I'm new here obviously. I live with my uncle right now."

"Well, Harry, it's nice to meet you. Don't worry about all the kids in there. It's just that no one has ever stood up to Gaston like that before, let alone beat him. You seem like a nice guy, they'll come around."

"Why do you seem to trust me then? Most people wouldn't want to hang out with someone as dangerous as me," Harry said with a smile.

"You didn't seem that bad. I was in your chemistry class and Professor Raines usually isn't that nice to people unless they are nice too, so I figure you have to be okay. Besides, you didn't hurt Gaston like you could have. Only a decent person would stop like that when they were in control."

"You sound like you put a lot of effort into analyzing me."

"Of course I did. You were the only interesting person in class that I don't know already."

"Well I don't know whether to be flattered or worried here. It's..."

Abruptly a voice came from behind them.

"Mr. Poitier, will you come with me please?"

Harry turned around. A teacher stood behind him at the door.

"Of course. I'll see you around Inès."

"Bye, Harry!" she called out brightly, seemingly oblivious to his precarious position as he entered the school.

Harry followed the teacher, wondering what would happen to him now. Even if the fight wasn't his fault, he had finished it, and it probably would not look good to the teachers for him to be in one on the first day of school. After going through several halls, the two of them entered a room containing several teachers seated around a conference table. The teacher who had gone to get him sat down in an empty seat and gestured towards the one remaining.

"Please sit down Mr. Poitier. Now, I am sure you know why you are here today. There seems to be some confusion over the events in the cafeteria a few minutes ago. Would you care to explain them to us?"

"It wasn't my fault, I swear!"

"Calm down Mr. Poitier. No one is accusing you here. We merely want to know the truth of the matter at hand."

"Well, I was sitting there eating lunch and these guys came over and one of them was saying things about me and then he tried to punch me. I stopped him and took him down. I didn't hurt him much, did I? I stopped as soon as he was down and left. That's when you found me."

"Very well then Mr. Poitier. That is essentially what many other students told us as well. As for The other boy, he is all right, merely stunned. Do not worry; he shall be taken care of. We will not tolerate fighting in this school. Even though you were defending yourself, we cannot have you fighting here. Is that clear?"

"Yes, ma'am. I will try to stay out of fights in the future."

"Very good. That will be all, Mr. Poitier. You may leave."

Harry left the room warily. He had expected a detention, if not expulsion for fighting. After all, if this were Hogwarts he would be cleaning toilets or something just as bad, if not worse. It was with relief that he made it out the door without getting called back. Next period was a study hall, so he slipped into a corner and ignored the stares. The day ended with gym and algebra, and he made his way to his locker. Along the way he passed some of the boys who had been following Gaston earlier. They watched him warily, seemingly ready to defend themselves if he decided to conclude the business from lunch. He made it to his locker without incident and was moving towards the door to pick up Claude when a voice called his name.

"Harry!"

Harry turned around as Inès ran up to him, pople staring at her as she did so.

"What is it?" Harry asked as she caught up. "Aren't your friends going to think you're a little strange running after someone you barely know like this?"

"Oh, they know I'm a little weird, that isn't a problem. Are you going home?"

"Yeah, I just have to pick up my cousin first. Why?"

"Well, I thought you might like a little company, of course!"

"You know you really are strange."

Harry liked Inès already. Here was someone who did not care about what people thought about her or the people she wanted to hang out with. It was refreshing after being looked on as The Boy Who Lived and now as a fighter.

"Fine, you can come with me. But if I turn out to be a criminal, it is your own fault."

"Okay!" she declared brightly. "Let's go get your cousin!"

They walked along the streets as Inès chatted amiably. She never stopped talking, but it was not annoying like the Creeveys. Her conversation ran from the intelligent to the inane with almost no transition between the two. The more she talked, the more at ease Harry felt, and he found that once he started talking she let him, only interjecting with the occasional question or comment. After a couple blocks they stopped in front of Claude's school. As they walked up the steps, a little blur flew out the door.

"Harry! You came!"

"Well of course I did," Harry replied, ruffling the boy's hair. "You think I would make you walk home alone?"

"If you did, I would have Sifu beat you up!" Claude declared, sticking his tongue out at Harry. "And then you would have to be really nice to me all the time!"

"Sifu?" Inès asked. "Who's he?"

Suddenly noticing that they were not alone, Claude tried to fade behind Harry, peaking out nervously at the strange girl.

"Oh, yeah. Claude, this is Inès. Inès, this is my cousin Claude."

Inès bent down to Claude's level.

"Hi there, Claude. I like your backpack."

Claude grinned impishly.

"Harry picked it out. He said that Batman was cool. Do you think Batman is cool?"

"Of course it is! That's the best backpack anyone could get."

"So," Harry said, "how was your day, Claude?"

"It was fun! I got to draw, and play on the swings, and I learned about rocks!"

"That's great! Well, let's head home now. Inès, which way is your place?" As she pointed, Harry exclaimed. "Well, that's the same way we have to go. You mind keeping us company again?"

"Sure, why not?"

They made their way back to the flat. About a block before it, Inès parted ways with them, promising to see Harry the next day. He and Claude then made their way back to the flat and settled in. When Sifu arrived a couple of hours later, they ate their dinner, and Harry worked with Sifu while Claude played on their recently acquired Nintendo. Sifu had found it in a garbage can on the way home one night, and as money was tight, he took it home after realizing its only problem was its age. It had kept Claude busy, and that made for some quieter nights, so they kept it. Another few hours later, Harry finally was able to put his spell books away and settle in for the night. He fell asleep at peace with life. Maybe is whole Muggle school thing would not be so bad after all.