Where Your Dreams End

Chapter Six Being Chosen and Choosing Sides

They spent the first couple of hours looking out the windows trying to figure out how no one else saw the train or the school. Max made himself comfortable right away on Sarah's lap and became thoroughly disgusted with her each time she rose and moved around the car. After awhile the conversation turned, to how wonderful it was that they were finally on their way. "Yeah, isn't it cool?" said Zoe. "I can't wait to get there I want to be chosen."

"What is that anyway?" asked Sarah.

"Chosen for your dorm, I don't know how it works. Remember I tried to get Dillon to tell us but he wouldn't. I do know where I want to go."

"Where's that?" asked Sarah.

"Well you see there are four dormitories. I want to be in Bellarmine Hall, that's where Eric is. But I won't really be upset unless I end up in Parathion." Zoe made a horrible face.

"Why's that?" pondered Sarah.

"Just about everyone who comes from Parathion ends up no good. A lot of Dark Wizards came from there," explained Zoe.

Sarah suddenly felt that she didn't want to be in Parathion dormitory either. She was just beginning to understand this world, but she knew that she didn't want to be a dark wizard. "What else should I know that I don't?" asked Sarah.

"Well I know that once you've been chosen for your dorm you represent them at all times. If you do well at the school, it reflects well on your dorm. However, if you don't do well or you get in trouble your can loose points. At the end of the year the dorm with the most points wins the Crest."

"The Crest?"

"Yeah I guess there's this beautiful gold Dragon's Wood crest that hangs in the dorms' common room of the winning dormitory for the next year. Eric says that Parathion always wins because they cheat at Quidditch and their crooked."

"Do you think that's true?" asked Sarah.

"I dunno. Eric talks garbage a lot but he really gets serious when he talks about Parathion and Quidditch," said Zoe.

"What about Parathion and Quidditch?" asked a voice from behind them. Sarah and Zoe turned to see a tall, pale girl standing in the doorway and next to her with his arm around her, was an older boy with slick black hair. He repeated his question, "what about Parathion and Quidditch?"

"I was just telling my friend the names of the dormitories and we we're mentioning Quidditch." Zoe was bit scared all of the sudden and had gone back a step or two. "That's all," she concluded.

"She doesn't know anything about the school?" he asked and then without giving her time to answer he asked. "Has she been hanging out in the Muggle world? I suppose she's a mud blood come to play." Sarah wasn't sure what to do or say. The girl that was accompanying the young man was now giggling wildly. Zoe's face was turning red and Sarah could tell that she was very close to loosing her temper.

"What have we here?" came a familiar voice bringing up the rear. Eric pushed past the two very rude strangers and into the car. Zoe and Sarah both felt a rush of relief. "Come to pester the sixth graders Griffin? Too scared to bother students your own age?" he asked putting his arm around the two girls, "I suggest that you find someone else to bother."

"Ah," started the greasy teen, "should have known, forgot the 'ittle sister was coming up this year?" he mocked. "Who's her mud blood friend?"

Sarah could tell that Eric was angry, but didn't loose his cool. "I suggest that you find out any information you want to know when we get to school otherwise you'll be looking pretty stupid when we pull into the station and you're not in your school uniform." Sarah suddenly noticed that Eric was now changed and in his school uniform. The teenager and his girlfriend suddenly went speechless as they looked at their watches.

"Now if you don't mind," started Eric, "it's time for my sister and her friend to get their uniforms on since we'll be pulling into the station soon." Eric leaned forward, closed the doors to the car in their face, and then turned to Zoe and Sarah. "Are you two all right?" he asked.

They both nodded. "Who was that?" Zoe asked after a moment.

"Malcolm Griffin, the slimmest kid in school," Eric proclaimed.

"Oh so that's Malcolm?" she replied. "You were right he's disgusting."

Eric smiled. "You two don't need to worry about him, he's all talk and no show. Besides, you have me to protect you," he said winking.

"Yeah, yeah, now that's disgusting," joked Zoe and they all laughed. Zoe and Sarah brought out their carry on bags and pulled out their robes to put on.

Sarah thought for a while and then looked back at Eric. "Eric what did he mean by mud blood?"

"Sarah, there are a lot of prejudice people in the world who have nothing better to do than make up rude names to call others. Mud blood is an extremely rude name that people like Griffin call wizards or witches that have muggle backgrounds."

"Oh," responded Sarah. She couldn't think of anything else to say. A tear rolled down her cheek and she again thought about going home. "Maybe I'm not meant to go?" she whispered to Zoe, ashamed to let Eric hear her.

Eric saw the tear on her cheek and wanted to reassure her, "Sarah, I've been telling you and my sister for years that you are witches, you're not going to make me look bad now." Sarah smiled a little. "That's better. Now we need to get ready because the train should be pulling in about," he paused and then said, "now." Sure enough, the train jerked to a complete halt. "Damn I'm good," he said and then he turned to the girls, "I gotta' go because we prefects need to get off first other wise you 'ittle sixth graders will get lost." Zoe reached over and smacked him on the arm. "I'm telling mom," said Eric pretending to cry and then he stuck his tongue out and exited the car laughing.

Sarah and Zoe looked at each other. "He's right you know, we're going to be fine, we are natural born witches."

Sarah laughed and nodded, but she didn't speak she was afraid that she would start crying again if she did. Zoe suggested that they gather their things and head to an exit, so they did. Max wasn't happy about being forced into his pet carrier again, however Sarah assured him that it wouldn't be long before he could be released. As they were leaving, a gentleman took Max and their carryon luggage from them and told them that they would be transported to the school. Sarah relented reluctantly and the two girls exited the train and onto the platform outside.

It was dark outside now, there were large gas lit streetlights lining the platform so that the hundreds of students that were all now dressed alike were tripping over each other. Eric was one of the many prefects that were now herding the upper grade students toward a tram in the distance.

"Sixth Graders will come this way please," came an extremely boisterous woman's voice from Zoe and Sarah's left. They both turned to see an older short stature witch dressed in long royal blue and gold robes standing at the north end of the platform. The girls got into line behind the other sixth graders who were now headed her way. "We will be crossing through the gardens and into the east wing on the school before we enter the great hall," she continued.

"Here we go," Zoe whispered.

"That's what I was thinking," thought Sarah. She took a tight grip on a corner of Zoe's robe and began to follow the crowd.

The elderly witch didn't speak again, until they had climbed a slight inclination and then crossed a vast garden that Sarah was sure she would have been petrified in had she been able to make anything out in the shadows. Next, they entered a large greenhouse and paraded through the strangest looking plants that Sarah had ever seen before entering through some large glass doors and into a large hallway. There were more gaslights lining the walls. Sarah felt a little more comfortable; this was one of the hallways they had traveled down before. When everyone had managed to squeeze into the hallway, the witch spoke again.

"Welcome to Dragons Wood Academy, in a short while we will follow this corridor to the Great Hall. At that time, there will be a brief ceremony where you discover the dormitory that you will be living in during your stay at Dragon's Wood. After you have been chosen, you will join the table of your dormitory for the rest of the welcoming ceremony," she paused, and then asked, "are there any questions?" And then as though she new what they wanted most to know she said, "and don't ask me how you will be chosen." The barrage of hands that had shot into the air, were now withdrawn. "That's what I thought," said the witch. "I am Professor Quigley, I am the charms teacher here at Dragons Wood and the head of the Bellarmine Dormitory. If you are lucky enough to make it there or attend one of my classes I will be happy to help you in any way I can, however if I ever catch you breaking any of the rules or doing any sort of cheating you will find that I am not so cordial." Sarah was suddenly not so sure she wanted her dormitory after all but just before she had the urge to whisper something to Zoe, she noticed that the Professor was staring into her eyes. A sudden chill went down her spine and she felt terribly cold and lonely. She felt this urge to reach for Zoe and discovered that she had been separated from her while they were in transit.

Beginning to panic, Sarah searched to crowd for her friend. "Is something the matter?" asked the Professor, this time directed at Sarah.

"No ma'me," responded Sarah, another tear was forming on her cheek. Sarah could hear someone giggling in the back; she felt her face going flush and a lump forming in her throat.

"We'll have none of that," scolded the professor, looking in the direction of the laughs, the giggling stopped. Professor Quigley looked again at Sarah and then opted to move on. "All right then, if you will all follow me." Then she turned and started down the hallway.

Sarah again continued to look for Zoe, who she now discovered had been pushed to the back. They looked at each other and then managed to make their way to the same spot. Zoe grabbed Sarah's hand and whispered. "Are you all right? I couldn't get to you."

Sarah nodded. "I'm really beginning to believe that I want to go home." Zoe squeezed her hand tighter.

"Nope, you're not going anywhere," Zoe said smiling and then she looked up to see that one of the other students was waving and trying to get their attention. Zoe giggled. "Look Sarah its Dillon."

"Where?" asked Sarah, suddenly feeling better.

"Over there," said Zoe pointing slightly ahead. They both waved as inconspicuously as possible.

Dillon smiled back and mouthed, "see you in a little while." Both girls nodded in agreement. Sarah felt a little better as they rounded the corner to enter the great hall.

Professor Quigley wasted no time leading the sixth graders through the middle of the great hall and to the front. She stopped in front of a table that was in front of the head table. Sarah glanced up at the teachers who were now sitting there. Right away, she recognized Professor Killainka sitting in the center and Cedric sitting at the end on the right. The rest of the teachers were not familiar however there was a man sitting on the left side who sat looking proudly at Dillon, that Sarah some how figured was his dad. After looking down the head table Sarah turned her attention to the one that had been placed in front of it.

It was covered in a royal blue velvet tablecloth and was lit by two large candelabras that floated slightly above it. On the side facing the students was an extremely large book and old book. On the other side facing away from them were four smaller versions of the same book and a small elf like man who seemed to be tending them.

The room, which had been buzzing with conversation, now grew quiet. Professor Quigley stepped up to the table and pulled a list of names out of thin air. "When I call your name you will step up to the book and place your signature in it with this quill," she said again producing the quill form out of thin air. "Do you understand?"

The sixth graders all nodded, even if they didn't understand and she began to read the names, "Adams, Megan." A small redheaded girl with more freckles than face and small round spectacles approached the table and took the quill. Professor Quigley had to encourage her to get her to sign the book. After a moment, she did and then nearly fainted when her writing disappeared. The sixth graders all gasped and then the elflike man walked down the other row of books until be stopped at one and looked up.

"Bellarmine!" he yelled out. Shaking a little, Adams, Megan made her way to the Bellarmine table.

And this is the way that it continued, Professor Quigley called a name and then the new student wrote their name in the book and again the elflike man found which book the name had appeared in and then called out the dormitory name, until she reached "Nettleton, Sarah."

Sarah was petrified; so far, she had watched two girls and three boys entered the Bellarmine dorm. There had been four girls and two boys to Parathion, which had made Sarah more and more nervous each time. One of them being a boy whose last name was Griffin. There were also six boys and three girls to Broughton and there were the two girls and the seven boys to Keynes. Now it was her turn. Professor Quigley looked at her strangely as she approached to table and took the quill. Sarah could swear that she heard someone whisper her name in the direction of the Parathion table. "Go ahead," urged the Professor.

Sarah looked at her and then leaned down to write her name, "not Parathion," she said to herself looking directly at the book as though it could hear her. It seemed like an eternity before the little man stopped at a book. Sarah, who had been watching carefully, knew which book he had stopped at, her heart lightened a little as he shouted out the words. "Bellarmine!"

Sarah turned to face the cheering table; Professor Quigley smiled at her, "well done, Miss Nettleton, take your place." Sarah moved as quickly as she could to the table and sat next to Eric who gave her a bear hug that left her breathless. After a, minute things quieted down and two more students were chosen before the Professor came across another familiar name, "Ratcliff, Dillon." Sarah crossed every part of her body she could and listened carefully.

"Bellarmine," shouted the little man and again Sarah's table irrupted in a frenzy of clapping and cheering. Sarah looked up to see Dillon smiling at the man at the head table that she had assumed was his dad and noticed that Professor Killainka was clapping a bit louder and was smiling at the man. Dillon sat down next to Sarah and turned a bright shade of red when she hugged him.

"I can't believe that we're together," said Dillon, "it's so cool."

"Yeah, now we have to get Zoe," said Sarah

"Don't worry," stated Eric, "you almost always go in the same dorm as your siblings."

Sarah was a little relieved but wasn't truly happy until the little man shouted "Bellarmine," after she had signed the book. They all spent five minutes jumping up and down excitedly until Professor Quigley gave them a stern look that make them stop. There wasn't a long list of students left after Zoe so it was only a short time before Professor Quigley took her place at the head table and Professor Killainka stood. The room grew quiet.

"Good-evening, students, and welcome to another year of classes at Dragons Wood Academy. For the information of the new students and reminders for some of the old," with this statement he looked in the direction of the Parathion table. "It's against school rules to do magic in between classes in the hallways or in the dormitories that is not homework related. It is also forbidden and dangerous to wander around school grounds at night. Anyone caught doing so, will face detention or expulsion. On the positive side I would like to introduce our new History of Magic teacher Professor Periwinkle," Killainka gestured to a short stocky gentleman who was sitting to his right, he had tiny round glasses that rested on the end of his nose and wore a very croaked hat that sat haphazardly on his head. "The professor was very kind to come on such short notice after Professor Milton was called away unexpectedly." Professor Periwinkle stood, bowed, and then returned to his seat. There was some polite applause from several of the tables, which ended as soon as Killainka began to speak again. "Well, if no one else has anything to say," he paused, "then I think that it's time to begin." Sarah jumped back when the empty table that lay before her was suddenly full of plates of food and glasses of juice.

"Cool," screeched Zoe who then began to fill her plate full of anything that she could reach. Sarah paused for a moment and then did the same. She was just about to stuff her face when she noticed that Dillon was sitting still and quiet.

"What's the matter?" whispered Sarah.

"Nothing, I'm just so happy," he replied.

Sarah laughed, "you told me that you couldn't wait eat it at the feast with the other students, so eat!"

"Yeah," said Zoe with her mouth full.

Dillon and Sarah looked at each other and shook their heads. "All right," Dillon said as he began to fill his plate and then the three of them spent the next half hour tasting and trying everything on the table.

Sarah and Zoe were excited to find that the older students at their table including Eric knew Dillon and were happy that he had been chosen for their dorm. Eric, who had settled in with his girlfriend and other prefect friends, stopped talking every now and then to introduce them to someone. The most colorful person they met was Jimmy Comminos, or "Jimmy Three Fingers" as everyone at the table affectionately called him. Sarah immediately recognized him as the ghost they had encountered on their visit to the school. He and the rest of the resident ghosts had presented themselves during the feast, which had caused several of the unsuspecting sixth graders to make a mess with their dinner. After a moment or two, the female ghost that had been with him before also showed up and was introduced simply as "Mitsey." She seemed very miffed at Jimmy and managed to take him a way in just a matter of moments, which everyone at the table found very amusing.

"Jimmy tries to act like a tuff guy," started one of the tenth graders at the table, "but he's a big pushover especially when Mitsey's involved."

Dillon leaned over to the girls about halfway through dinner and pointed out each person at the head table. "Professors Killainka, Quigley, and Periwinkle you already know." Zoe and Sarah nodded. "I think you met Cedric, and the really strong man on the left is my dad." There was pride in his voice when he spoke of his dad, he continued, "the Native American woman is Professor Chalipun, she's the transfiguration teacher," then he added, "she's really cool I can't wait for her class. Next to her is Professor Wetherspoon he's the potions teacher, then Sir Roger the flying instructor and Professor Robinson he's got computers."

Zoe looked at the last teacher that Dillon pointed out; he wore very plain black robes and his hat looked as though it would fall off any minute. "That figures," she said, "he just screams pocket protector.

Dillon and Sarah snickered. "Yeah, he does, doesn't he?" Dillon admitted.

"Hey, Dillon who's the creepy guy next to Professor Quigley?" asked Sarah.

"Creepy is right. That's Professor Abydos, he's from Egypt, and he's the defense against the dark arts teacher. He scares the daylights out of me. If you ask me he teaches the class so he can practice." Dillon had whispered this entire dialog and had kept his eyes on the teacher the entire time as though to make sure he couldn't hear him.

"Really?" asked Zoe suddenly intrigued.

"Everyone thinks so, he's the head of the Parathion dorm and they almost all end up dark wizards you know," he added. Sarah and Zoe looked at Abydos again and then Dillon continued. "Anyway, next to him is Professor Semiramise, she teaches Divination and Professor Stufflebean who teaches Arithamacy." Sarah and Zoe wanted to know more however Professor Killainka who had again risen to speak interrupted them.

"I trust that everyone is full and comfortable now," he said smiling. The dining room broke into several chorus' of "Yes sir" and "I'm full" and then subsided back into quiet as he continued. "Very well then, it is time for you to get settled into your dorms. Sixth graders will follow the Prefects to the dorm corridor. Everyone else should proceed as in previous years. I suggest that you settle in a quickly as possible and get some rest; there will be plenty of time discovering and socializing in the days to come. All right then I will bid you all a Good-Night." Sarah turned around to find Eric and then wanted to get one last look at Professor Abydos so she turned back.

"Where did they go?" asked Sarah looking shocked and surprised. The head table was now empty.

"They do that all the time," Eric replied, "I can't wait until I'm old enough to apparate."

"Cool," came Zoe's usual remark.

"Yeah well come along now, it's time to go to the dorms," bossed Eric.

Zoe whispered to Sarah. "He's going to love being in charge of us, you know."

Sarah smiled and nodded as they rose to follow Eric out of the great hall and down the corridors. Sarah was having fun watching to portraits checking out the new students as they passed. Some of them were seen popping up from time to time in other portraits gossiping to their inhabitants as they followed them down the hall. In what seemed like an eternity of following, they came to the dorm corridor and stopped. Ahead of them were the members of the Keynes dorm. Sarah watched as they suddenly disappeared as they moved down the hall.

"Cool," said Zoe.

"I don't know if that's what I'd say," replied Sarah "looks kind of scary."

"All right now, its time for us to proceed," called Eric and they all moved forward until they were deep into the hallway. After a moment they came upon a large open room were they encountered the upper grade students from they're dormitory catching up with old friends and talking about the beginning of semester. Sarah stopped and looked around; she hadn't noticed when the corridor had turned into the dorm. She ignored Zoe's "cool" and was now checking everything out. There were several study areas off to the right next to the bookcases and dorm bulletin board and computer area. To the left was a large fireplace with several overstuffed chairs and a couch for relaxing. There was a game table in the area just south of the two hallways where there was a television perched up on the wall.

"This is the Common Room for the Bellarmine dormitory," Eric was now explaining, "this is where you will study and spend most of your off time. Sort of your home away from home."

Zoe walked over to the bookcase and picked up a book, "cool, Stephen King, he's my favorite."

Eric smiled, "one of our more famous alumni." This made all the sixth graders say cool, and then Eric continued. "The girl's rooms are down the hall and to the left and the boys to the right. You will find that your things have all ready been taken there. I have been told that you should retire as soon as you get settled." He now turned to speak to the older students in the room. "That goes for all of you also." There was lots of groaning from both sides of the room but then everyone started saying goodbye and heading toward their rooms. Eric gave a few last minute words of advice to the sixth graders, warned Zoe to behave, and took off down the boys hallway.

"Well, I guess we'll see you in the morning," Sarah said to Dillon.

"Yeah, I guess so," he replied and then they separated and went to their rooms.

There was a brass plaque on the first door that they came as they walked down the hallway. Adams, Megan was the first to reach it and read it out loud, "Sixth Grade Dorm. I guess this is it," she said looking scared to go in.

"Go on open it," said one of the other girls everyone else nodded and urged her on. Very slowly, Megan opened the door and everyone stepped in. It was a large room with several windows covered with large blue velvet curtains with gold ties. There were two rows of four large cherry bunks on each side of the room. Each bed had a matching dresser and desk beside it and their belonging had been brought up and were now placed at the bottom of each one. Sarah immediately recognized hers, because they're lying in the middle of the third bed on the right was Max, looking quite pleased and unmovable.

"Well, at least he's comfortable," observed Zoe.

"He's a cat, all he cares about is food, a clean litter box and a comfortable spot to sleep."

"That's all I care about right now," echoed Zoe, "I'm getting my jammies on cause I'm exhausted."

"Yeah, I suppose the sooner to bed the sooner we find out what it's really going to be like here," agreed Sarah. It didn't take long for all of the girls to find their bedclothes and prepare themselves for bed. As the last one hit the bed, the room seemed to sense it and all the lights in the room went out. Sarah had a moment of paranoia when she remembered she wasn't taking her potion, but she remembered her fathers' words and decided she was way too tired to worry about it tonight and the next thing she knew she was sound asleep.

As usual Max managed to wake Sarah up before her, alarm did. As she pushed him off her face she rolled over and noticed that all the others including Zoe were still snoozing in their beds. She lay there for a moment thinking about the last twenty-four hours, she remembered that for the first time in over a week she had dreamed last night. Zoe and Max were chasing Mercedes and Socrates around a large room giggling and a lot of other things that were now slipping away. Someone had been in to open the curtains on the large windows and the morning sun was streaming in. "If Zoe was awake," she thought, "she'd be saying this is cool." This thought made her chuckle to herself.

Max jumped up on the bed again and walked across her chest. "All right, all right, I give up." Again, she pushed him into the floor and got up. The commotion that her and Max had caused had now managed to wake several of the other students including Zoe.

Sarah plopped down next two her on the bed, "was up?" she said jokingly.

"How can you be awake?" Zoe grouched.

"You're so chipper in the morning," Sarah replied.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah, go anyway and come back in an hour."

Before Sarah could hassle her again a tall thin blond headed girl came walking in. Sarah recognized right away that she was the prefect, Annabelle that Eric considered his girlfriend. "Good-Morning Ladies," she said very loudly, "time to get up and get ready for breakfast. You will receive your class schedules there. You have twenty minutes to get ready and get to the great hall. Professor Quigley will be disappointed if you are not on time, and your upper classman will be very upset if Professor Quigley is disappointed."

By the time she had, finished speaking everyone was up and running franticly for the bathroom. Sarah could swear that Zoe set a world record getting dressed but didn't really have time to tell her. They all made it to breakfast on time even though they almost knocked over several other students getting there. Dillon had saved Zoe and Sarah a spot and they had just settled in and started loading their plates when Professor Quigley appeared at the table, literally.

"Good morning Professor Quigley," said the entire table almost at once.

"Good morning students," she replied, "I'm happy to see that you made it to breakfast on time on your first day." She glared at Zoe and Sarah as though she knew that they we're there by the skin of their teeth and Sarah could feel her face turn red. "I have brought you your class schedules," she said as she began to hand them out. Sarah was amazed that she already knew who they all were. "Sixth graders will notice that my class is first up for the day, I will tell you, if you haven't already figured it out that it is particularly important to me for you to be on time." Again she looked at Zoe and Sarah, they were now both red. "Now I'll leave so that you may enjoy your breakfast."

And of course nobody could, enjoy or even eat breakfast because all they could think about was getting to class on time, especially since, as Megan now pointed out, no one knew where they were going. "That's not true," whispered Dillon as they stood in the corridor outside the great hall.

"What's not true?" asked Megan.

"I know how to get there," he whispered again.

"Of course you do," screeched Zoe, "come on let's get going."

Dillon was scared to be the leader but took off down the corridors gaining speed as he went along. The Bellarmine sixth graders kept up best as they could and were very appreciative and excited as they entered the classroom before the other house had and Professor Quigley. Zoe slapped him a high five and everyone else slapped him on the back. "I see we have managed to find the classroom on time," said Professor Quigley behind them. "Now let's see if you can find your seat."

The room grew suddenly quiet as the sixth graders scrambled to find a seat. The students from Parathion house weren't so lucky. All but two students were not on time and were warned that next time they would loose points for being late. "She should have taken points today," whispered Zoe. Sarah was afraid to talk; she just nodded and kept staring at Professor Quigley. She wasn't sure of anything that she was talking about but she was going to try to look like she did.

Professor Quigley spent the next hour outlining her class and what she expected her students to know by the end of the semester. Sarah and Dillon tried to keep up with her as they wrote everything that they could understand that she said. Zoe just zoned into the blackboard and the piece of chalk that was writing without a hand to guide it. By the end of the class Zoe was dizzy from concentrating on the chalk and Sarah and Dillon had writer's cramp.

As they left the classroom, the trio stopped to contemplate their next class and where it was. Not having been threatened be their next teacher, Professor Chalipun most of the students had been content to find his classroom on their own. However, they quickly discovered that they were being stalked. "Well, well, well, if it isn't handyman junior," came a voice from behind, "should have known you'd go to Bellarmine, after all that's where all the mud bloods and scum go."

Sarah turned to see one of the Parathion students that had been late to class standing with several of his friends. He had a familiarity about him that she couldn't put her finger on. "Griffin," said Dillon, "why don't you go find your big brother. I'm sure he needs you to help him find his way around the school. Oh wait a minute he's been here for years, no I was right he still needs all the help he can get."

Zoe and Sarah we're now standing on either side of him along with Megan who had come over after hearing the commotion. "Griffin, he must be related to the guy on the train," whispered Zoe.

"Well I'm sure he won't need any help whipping your team and her brother," he said pointing at Zoe, "at Quidditch."

Zoe lunged forward but was stopped by Dillon who pushed forward into her path. "I'm not worried but then again I'm not standing next to Arthur."

"Arthur?" puzzled Griffin. All of the sudden the other students that had been standing next to him let out screams. Griffin looked around to see that a very horrible looking ghost was standing next to him. It looked as though he was covered with blood and was missing half of his face. Griffin jumped, however tried to compose himself best as he could. "We'll finish this later," he said to Dillon as he turned to follow his now fleeing entourage.

Sarah, Zoe, and Megan stood very still hoping that the apparition would not turn to see them. Dillon however moved forward and smiled. "Thanks Arthur," he said to the ghost who had now made himself a little less terrifying by replacing his missing facial parts.

"My pleasure Master Dillon, any day I can scare a Parathion it's a good day," responded the ghost.

"This is Arthur," said Dillon, "he's the Broughton Ghost and a friend of mine."

"A pleasure to meet you ladies," said the ghost bowing, "any friend of Dillon's is a friend of mine."

"Back at you," said Zoe.

The apparition made a funny face, "I suppose I'll never understand the way you children talk these days," he turned to Dillon again, "well I must be off, we're having a meeting of the hysterical society." Then ghost laughed and then disappeared.

"Thanks again Arthur," Dillon said.

"He was creepy," said Megan after he was gone.

"Yeah, but he's great to have around when ever creepier Parathions are around."

"That's for sure," said Zoe, and then she looked at the clock on the wall. "We better scat or we're going to be late for Transfiguration." The rest of them agreed and Dillon led them down the hallways and to their next class.

Dillon had been right; Professor Chalipun was definitely the highlight of the morning. Chalipun was a Native American Shaman and she spent their first class explaining "The Wisdom of the Jaguar" and how it would help to teach them transfiguration. She finished her lecture by turning into a hawk and soaring out of the room.

"That was -"Dillon and Sarah cut Zoe short.

"We know Zoe, it was cool," they said together and then they all laughed.

Sarah pulled out her class schedule, "History of Magic's next, then lunch."

"I'm starving all ready," said Zoe, "let's get to class so we can go to lunch." Everyone agreed and they again made it to class before everyone else. Megan made a comment about sticking to Dillon to stay on top of things, which made him turn pink and then they found some seats down in the front.

History of Magic proved to be extremely boring, Professor Periwinkle drug on and on until what seemed like an eternity. He had a tick in his left eye that made Sarah twitch just looking at him. After class one of the Broughton boy made fun of him by rambling on and twitching. Everyone chuckled but somehow felt a little guilty about laughing at such a pathetic character.

They had no trouble finding the great hall again for lunch. The noise was so great that it was hard to hear each other talk. Everyone was so excited about his or her morning activities that it was hard to be quiet. Eric sat down next to them and wanted to know all about what happened at school so far today. Sarah explained about Professor Chalipun turning into an Eagle and how boring Professor Periwinkle was. However, Zoe couldn't wait to tell him about Griffin and Arthur.

Eric smiled from ear to ear. "Great job Dillon," he said slapping him on the back. "I'll have to thank Arthur when I see him. I heard the creep had a little brother creep but I hadn't seen him yet. I never pay attention the kids that are chosen into the Parathion dorm." Then he turned to Zoe and Sarah, "I'm sure Dillon will look out for you but if you ever need me I'll be there, and after all I'm the one that taught Dillon everything he knows." He winked at Dillon, slapped Zoe on the back, and went down to the other end of the table to join his friends.

Dillon was still pink with embarrassment when Eric left. Sarah laughed, "your brother's all right you know Zoe?"

"Yeah, he's been my friend since he started here, even though I was just a little guy," said Dillon.

"Quit, quit, I know my brothers cool, but I have to live with him so don't make his head any bigger than it is," Zoe said trying to look terribly miserable and put out.

Sarah and Dillon shook their heads at each other and went back to eating their lunch. Before long, Professor Quigley again arrived at their table to remind them that they had afternoon classes that they should not be late for. They cut short their conversations and finished as quickly as they could. Dillon pulled out his class schedule. "I don't know I could be late for this class," he said pointing at his paper. "We have Abydos next. Maybe we should just skip."

Zoe laughed and said "good one Dillon." Before she realized he was serious. "Oh come on Dillon, he can't be that bad."

"I'll let you decide we'd better get going cause if we're even one second late he'll take points, even on the first day."

Sarah didn't want to get in trouble on her first day so she led the way right after Dillon, pulling Zoe the whole time. They were all most at a full run by the time they reached his classroom. It was the darkest room that they had been in so far, there were covered cages lined up on one side of the room that were producing strange noises and the desk was covered with stacks and stacks of really old and dirty books. They weren't the last students to arrive, however there was a large group of Parathion Students in one corner who seemed to make their entrance to the room the topic of conversation. "Not a good idea to keep Professor Abydos waiting," called out Griffin from the other side, "he's not that fond of your kind to start out with."

Zoe had just about had enough of this creep; she rose from her seat and started across the classroom. Sarah tried to grab her arm but couldn't catch her. She was just about to lay into Griffin when the door opened suddenly. "Do we have a problem here Miss Turner?" came a cold and callas voice with an Asian accent.

Zoe froze; she knew she was in trouble. She turned slowly to find the creepy teacher they had asked Dillon about in the Great Hall. He wore long black robes of silk with a red sash that looked like it had some sort of hieroglyphics printed in gold on it. At this moment, Zoe was wishing that it covered his eyes, which now seemed to be staring right through her. Sarah could see that Griffin was very pleased with himself and it made her even angrier.

"No sir," said Zoe was almost choking on the words.

"Then perhaps you had better take your seat." Zoe did not have to be told more than once; she quickly made her way back to Sarah and Dillon and sat quietly. Zoe was sure that he was still staring through her as he made his way to the front of the class but she wasn't about to look.

"I trust there will be no more disruptions of my class," he said after a moment then he paused and looked around again. "It seems to me that the school is getting a little lax on what sort they let in these days." He was looking in their direction, but they didn't move. "But since I am not the Dean I suppose I will have to work with what they give me. I promise that you will not slide through my class; you will work twice as hard as in any other class and be grateful when you pass. And now for your homework." There a groan from one corner of the room that silenced quickly when he turned in that direction. Abydos proceeded to load them down with at least three hours of work that was followed by a lecture on how the homework should be presented and what was and was not acceptable. By the time he had dismissed the class even the Parathion students were groaning as they left the classroom. Dillon and Sarah pulled Zoe quickly into the opposite direction of Griffin and down the hallway.

"Hey, you don't have to worry, I learned my lesson for the day," she said as the rounded the first safe corner. "I thought he was going to kill me. There are curses you know, that you don't even have to speak out loud, that can kill you," she finished with terror in her eyes.

"Well I'm not sure if that's all true, but I don't' think that any of the teachers at Dragon's Wood would kill anyone, even Abydos," Dillon assured her. Sarah chuckled a little but tried not to let Zoe see it. "Although I suppose he could scare you to death." The girls nodded and then they decided that they should head outside for Herbology that was next.

Sarah thought that she could have slept through Herbology and gotten just as much out of it. Zoe however seemed to hang on Professor Greene's every word; this was a side of Zoe that Sarah had never seen. After what seemed like an eternity, the bell rang and Dillon announced excitedly as they left the greenhouse, that Flying Class was up next. Every since Dillon had pointed out the flying teacher she had been looking forward to this class.

Sir Roger Cavendish was a British gentleman who seemed to be a little off his rocker. He was dressed like a World War II flying ace and spoke so rapidly that he was hard to understand. After everyone discovered that Sarah could, they kept leaning over to her and asking her what he had said. He didn't allow them to actually fly; however, they were given instructions on how to call and mount their brooms. They were actually allowed to hover for a moment, or two above the ground, but that was all. It wasn't much but it was enough to take their minds of the last hours events and but a good spin on the end of the day. After they had returned their books and things to the dorm, they met again downstairs for dinner.

Sarah had to tell Eric about Darks Arts Class, since just thinking about it gave Zoe the willies. Eric looked at Zoe with a stern look. "Zoe you don't want to do anything stupid in Abydos class. I still have a hard time pulling out good grades in his class and I think he likes me. You don't want him as an enemy."

"I figured that out, bro, it's cool," Zoe said with a quiver in her voice. Eric put his arm around her for a moment then leaned back and messed her hair up.

"If you need any help with his homework though," he paused and then looked rather evil, "I won't help even if you beg me." Then he laughed heartily and walked off.

"Your brother is a psycho," said Sarah as he walked away.

"You're not just now discovering that are you?" asked Zoe.

Dillon looked at both of them like they were crazy and shook his head. "Like you two would know anything about sanity."

The rest of dinner was a recount of the day, minus the Dark Arts Class, Meagan, and some of the other students joined them to recount their experiences. Megan insisted that she be the one to tell "the Arthur" story. After a hearty laugh, the group turned to see Griffin sitting at the Parathion table looking at them as though he knew they talking about him. Their group was one of the last to leave the great hall after they finally decided they should go force themselves to do their homework.

The common room was full of students some, who hadn't been given homework on their first day, were playing games, and watching TV. The rest of them however, were hard at work. The room had all most emptied out when the small group of friends decided to give up for the night. They still had tomorrow night to finish before they'd have to turn in their homework to Abydos, so they all made they're way up to bed still complaining as they went. Sarah was the last one to get to bed; she decided to write her dad a short note about the day's activities, leaving out the seedier highlights. She handed it to Socrates before she let him out to roam for the evening. She had added a short PS in case he and her mother were still talking. Max quickly curled up around her feet purring and all seemed somewhat right with the world at Dragon's Wood.

The next couple of weeks went by quickly. Sarah and her gang managed to turn in enough correct homework to Abydos to keep him from taking points away from their dorm. All the other classes seemed like a breeze compared to his. By the fifth flying class, they were actually allowed to take a full lap around the school. Sarah told Zoe that she completely understood why her brother loved playing Quidditch if it involved getting to fly a lot. They were starting to make some close friends and hadn't done any stupid things since the first day. Unless you count the time, that Zoe had managed to make her potion blow up in Professor Witherspoon's face. All and all Sarah was starting feel comfortable about being a witch and about being at Dragons Wood. Max had even made a few friends, including Socrates who now spent a lot of his time delivering packages from her dad and mom.

Sarah had been surprised and excited to find that her mother had decided to spend a little more time at her dads to, as she put it, get a little more information about their world so she could be closer to Sarah. "Yeah whatever," Zoe had said laughing when Sarah had told her. "They're doing it."

Sarah had made several gagging noises and had then repeated, "out of my head, get out of my head," several times.

Zoe had also received her share of mail including some scolding from her mom when she had somehow found out about her encounter with Professor Abydos. "You're lucky you didn't get a howler," Dillon had said when Zoe had told her about the letter.

"Don't even say it," said Zoe.

"What's a howler?" asked Sarah.

Dillon laughed, "it's basically an exploding letter. First the sender spends about five minutes screaming at you and then it explodes."

"Man I hope I never get one," Sarah had replied.

Dillon had taken the girls out to meet his dad once after getting permission from Professor Quigley. He had been a very kind man who had given Sarah several odd looks and a case of the willies. He hadn't said much but had been very grateful at the way the girls had befriended his son. Sarah and Zoe didn't know how to tell either of them that he had been the savior. After the meeting, Sarah had later told Zoe that she could understand why Dillon had envied the feast after haven eaten his dads cooking. However, getting to investigate his section of the school grounds had been worth it.

As for sleeping the only problem Sarah seemed to be having, was not being able to due to the amount of homework she had. A problem that seemed abundant in their hall when she looked into the eyes of her fellow students. Zoe of course never had problems sleeping and had to be awakened on a regular basis during study times. Dillon was quick to hide the circles under his eyes, which made Sarah and Zoe suspect that he was working overtime to do well. It was apparent that some of the upperclassmen were making his life miserable and getting good grades was a driving force in his life.

Despite all of the commotion and pressure of the beginning of school, it wasn't long before everyone was talking about the upcoming Halloween Costume Ball. Sarah had always been grateful that Zoe and her family had always shared her enthusiasm about Halloween since her mother had not. (It was memories like these that came into focus when Sarah thought about how things were now.) However, this year she would get to truly enjoy it with all of her new best friends and she couldn't imagine how wonderful it was going to be to have Halloween at Dragon's Wood. It was the first day of the fourth week when Zoe, Sarah, Dillon, Megan and they're newly acquired friend William Davies, had finished their homework for the night that Dillon brought up costumes.

"I don't' know what I'm going to wear," started William, "but I know I want to be scary."

"I know," announced Zoe, "you could dress as Abydos."

"And get expelled," said Megan coldly.

"Yeah but he'd be scary," retorted Zoe and they all laughed.

"I want to be something romantic," said Megan.

"Yuck," protested William, "we're only eleven, Megan."

"Your only eleven," said Megan with an air of dignity, "some of us have already turned twelve."

"Ooooooo, aren't you special," replied William.

"You are so juvenile," said Megan indignantly.

"Okay you two, don't make me hose you down," threatened Zoe. The rest of them snickered, a moment later even Megan smiled.

"I still want to be something romantic, you know like a grieving princess or a vampire bride," she retorted.

"That would be cool," answered Zoe, "I could get into being a Vampire."

"We could all be the undead," chimed Sarah, "we could be a clan."

"You know that's not a half bad idea," declared Dillon, "I'm sure I could talk Mitsey into finding us some old clothes to wear. She's always saying how she knows about storage areas at Dragon's Wood that no ones been in for years."

"I could mix up white makeup in potions class. Professor Witherspoon has taken a weird liking to me. Perhaps it's because I'm the only one who pays attention in class," offered Megan.

Zoe and Sarah rolled their eyes and smiled. "I bet your brother could get us some really great vampire teeth," said Sarah to Zoe.

"I'm sure and probably some real blood to drip down them," responded Zoe, and with this statement came a mixture of "gross and cool" from the audience.

Everyone broke into a chaotic conversation that ended in Sarah standing and calling out, "okay, okay, so have we decided to do this then?" Everyone looked at each other and then nodded. "All right," continued Sarah, "then let's make a plan and let's keep it a secret so no one else does it, agreed?" Everyone chimed in agreement, and then they all shook on it and decided to meet in on the front grounds after flying lessons the next day to discuss it further and in private.

By the time they got there, Dillon had gotten Mitsey very excited about finding them some clothes. Zoe had talked Eric out of the teeth after swearing him to secrecy, and Megan had already started working on the makeup after consulting with Professor Witherspoon. Everyone was so excited that they could hardly contain themselves. They had decided that they were going to be the highlight of the Halloween Ball and nothing or no one could stop them, except maybe Professor Abydos.

Zoe talked Professor Quigley into allowing them to use an empty classroom for the group to try their costumes a week before Halloween. Mitsey had helped them picked out their costumes out of the trunks and trunks of old clothes that she had found. Zoe had picked an elegant 1920's flapper outfit, Sarah and Megan had picked some turn of the century bridal outfits, and Dillon and William were dressed in early Chicago history gangster outfits with capes. Megan had done a wonderful job with the makeup and Eric's teeth were fantastic.

"This is so cool," said Zoe, to everyone's surprise.

"I have to admit, she's right," agreed Dillon, "we look pretty cool."

Mitsey stepped back and took them all in. "If I didn't know better, I'd say you we're all dead." Then she giggled. "I mean un-dead," she said giggling again. Soon she was giggling so hard, that Jimmy showed up to see what all the commotion was about.

If it was possible for a ghost to almost have a heart attack, Jimmy did. "Who in the--"

Mitsey punched him before he could complete his question. "Jimmy they're kids, you behave," she scolded loudly.

"Kids?" he questioned and then after a second look he realized who they were. "Dillon, is that you?" Dillon nodded smiling. "Jeepers you guys look great. Is this about the Halloween Ball?" Everyone nodded and cheered. "You guys are going to be great."

Everyone swelled with pride, having Jimmy's approval seemed the equivalent of winning the Kentucky Derby for a quarter horse. After a few minutes of admiring each other, they decided that they should really get back to the dorm and returned their costumes and makeup back to Mitsey for safekeeping. They were just about to leave when Professor Abydos walked in. "I see that we have some students who think that they can wander around the school whenever and wherever they please," he hissed. Everyone stood petrified for a moment, not knowing what to say. Nevertheless, they had gotten permission to be there and they weren't to let him intimidate them.

"Sir, we have permission to use this classroom from Professor Quigley," spoke up Dillon.

This didn't seem to have any effect on Abydos; he stood his ground and stared them down. "I suppose that you think that I will believe your explanation as though I had never been lied to by a student before." The rest of the group began to voice their opinions to back up Dillon. However, this just angered him more. "Silence," he yelled. Everyone stood frozen in his or her tracks. "Twenty points from Bellarmine and we will be making a trip to see the Dean about detention."

"You'll do no such thing," came an irritated voice from behind him. It was Professor Quigley and she couldn't have had better timing. "I gave my permission for these students to be here. In fact I was just coming to see how their project was coming along for myself."

Abydos turned around and gave one last glare at the students, "It seems that you've been reprieved this time, however don't think that I won't be watching you in the future," he said and then he quickly disappeared giving an additional look of disapproval to Professor Quigley. Everyone proceeded to thank the Professor for her wonderful timing. She nodded and told them that had better be getting back to the dormitories before something happened to them that she could not fix. No one had to be told twice they were so happy that they weren't getting detention that they made it back to the common room in record time.

"He was mad," whispered Dillon to Sarah and Zoe as they were walking back, "he's not going to let this go."

"He has to," said Sarah, "Professor Quigley said so."

"That's why he's not going to let it go. She made him look bad and in front of students."

Sarah and Zoe tried their best to convince Dillon that they had nothing to worry about, but Dillon just kept saying you don't know him like I do. They finally gave up and went to bed about nine-thirty. Sarah swore that she could hear him telling William that Abydos was going to get them as they were going up the stairs together.

At Defense Against the Dark Arts Class, the next day the group couldn't help but feel a little full of themselves because of the events of the last evening. That is everyone but Dillon and Sarah, Sarah was now beginning to believe Dillon was right. Earlier in the day, she had passed him in the hallway and had gotten some very strange vibrations from him and the students from his house that he had been talking to. She got the strange feeling they had been talking about what had happened when she had walked up. Either way Sarah had a bad feeling about Abydos and she couldn't shake it.

This weeks lessons had centered on gremlins and how to protect against and repel them. Professor Abydos had taught them a repelling curse which they were now supposed to be using on some ordinary garden gnomes, however all that Zoe was able to do was poke it in the belly with her wand as it ran toward her. Several other students were managing to do others degrees of damage including setting classmates papers on fire and sending nearby books sailing across the room. Sarah had been one of those who moved the books and had commented to Dillon that she wished she did that in charms class. After awhile Sarah was beginning to think that maybe she had been paranoid. Perhaps they were going to make it through the class without incident and then the bell rang. "Before you exit your seats," he started, "the following students are required to stay behind." Abydos then began to read off a list of all of Sarah and her friends.

Sarah couldn't help but notice that Griffin and his group were snickering and staring and was relieved and surprised when Abydos told them to leave. All of them remained in their seats frozen, almost afraid to breath while Abydos paced back and forth for about five minutes before he turned and stopped. Again, Sarah wished that his eyes had been covered but of course, they were not. She could almost feel a burning sensation in the back of her head when his eyes made direct contact with hers. "I have been looking over your work and I have discovered that none of it is satisfactory. You have until next Monday redo all the work that you have been assigned this semester or you risk failure."

Everyone in the room knew that they could not say a word. They just sat there staring at the Professor until he dismissed them. They walked out into the hallway like zombies, Sarah noticed Griffin at the end of the corridor and pulled everyone to the side. "We can't say a word until we're far, far away from them," she said pointing in their direction. Everyone nodded numbly and quietly. "Dillon, how do we get out of here?"

Dillon stood thinking for a moment and suddenly his eyes grew large, "Madam Waymond."

Everyone looked at him like he was mad. "Madam Waymond, come this way." Dillon slid behind Abydos' door and down to the dead end of the hallway to a large portrait of an English noble woman.

"Good-morning Madam Waymond," Dillon said extremely politely.

"Why hello there Master Dillon," the woman said nodding in his direction.

"Madam Waymond these are my fellow Bellarmine students and I told them about how you are one of the founding alumni's from Bellarmine dormitory and they wanted to meet you." Dillon lied, however everyone chimed in like they knew exactly what he was talking about. Dillon continued, "We were hoping to have a conversation with you about it, however some Parathion students are at the other end of the hallway and they are looking for us. It seems that we are in trouble with Professor Abydos and then would like to make fun of us for it."

The aerostatic woman suddenly looked very indignant. "I know that I should never say anything bad about the teachers however that man attracts it," she paused. "I know Dillon," she started " you and your friends must use the tunnel behind my portrait."

"No ma'me we couldn't possibly, especially since we are already in trouble," again Dillon was not telling the whole truth.

"Nonsense, if I can't help out some fellow Bellarmine students, what good would I be." With these words the portrait swung open and beckoned them in. "I can keep a secret if you can," she said smiling. Dillon and the rest of the students quickly climbed inside and thanked her profusely. No one said a word until they were quite sure that even the lady in the portrait couldn't hear them. Then they sat down in the hidden corridor and freaked.

"I new it," said Dillon.

"It sucks that you were right," said William and everyone nodded in agreement.

"What are we going to do?" asked Megan. "There's no way we can finish that work by Monday. Not too mention the fact that we can rule out going to the Ball with all that work to do."

"That was the whole point," responded Zoe, "give us so much homework that we couldn't possibly go."

"The bad part about it is that we could do the homework by Friday and turn it in and he could still say it wasn't right," said Sarah.

"That's not happening anyway," said William. "I barely squeaked it out last time and according to him it wasn't right. Like I said, this sucks." Everyone sat quietly for a moment and then Sarah reminded them that they did have another class, so Dillon led them quietly out the secret passage and to Flying Lessons.

This was usually everyone's favorite class next to transfiguration. However today not only were Sarah and the gang depressed, but word of what happened had reached the other members of their dorms and they were all equally depressed. They all decided that they would help their friends no matter what and that Abydos wasn't going to break their spirits. This helped a little but didn't keep Sarah from falling off her broom three times during class.

They managed to avoid everyone by hiding in the library until most people had finished their dinner and then showed up in time to rush through it. No one was very hungry anyway. By the time they had reached the common room everyone knew what had happened including Eric who was waiting to greet them when they came in. "I told you not to mess with him," Eric scolded Zoe.

"But Eric I swear we didn't do anything wrong," Zoe cried and then Sarah and Dillon spent the next ten minutes telling Eric everything that had happened. When they were finished, Eric sat down on the couch by the fireplace. Megan and William were already sitting there looking a lot like the un-dead they had been mimicking the night before.

"You have to tell Professor Quigley," he said after a moment.

"That won't help," said Megan extremely stressed out, "she was there. Dillon thinks that she was part of the problem."

"I was part of what problem?" came the now familiar voice of Professor Quigley.

Everyone jumped to his or her feet again. "Nothing ma'me we were just talking about charms class and problems that we should be doing right now in stead of sitting here," said Sarah saying the first thing that popped into her head.

"Does anyone else here have a more convincing lie?" she asked, no one responded. "Then Mr. Turner," she said turning to Eric, "I expect that you will tell me what is going on." Eric looked at the group, then the Professor and proceeded to tell her everything that had happened as it had been related to him. Professor Quigley took a deep breath and then looked at the near-by grandfather clock. "Since it is very late and you have my class first thing in the morning, I expect you all to go directly to bed."

"But professor Quigley, we have homework," Megan moaned as if someone was stepping on her toes with spiked heals.

"Right now you all need a good nights sleep. I suggest that you don't think about your present dilemma since there is nothing that anyone including myself can do about it tonight." She had a strange look on her face. However, everyone decided that she was right and their elder and that nothing could be done tonight. Very downhearted, they all went up to bed with their tails between their legs.

The last thing Zoe said to Sarah before she drifted off to sleep was, "I expect my howler in the morning."

Sarah looked up at the ceiling, "Oh man, I bet mom's going to make me come home," she thought and then she drifted off to sleep