What men call accident, is the doing of God's providence.
~ Bailey
Jiya, Ralph and the twins walked past the fountain and onto the lush green carpet of grass. The rotating and twisting buildings drew nearer and Jiya as the vast stretch of flower gardens around them. The ghastly appearance she witnessed outside, was an illusion to keep the Smellons away. They drew nearer to the building which she saw earlier in her mirror. Its structure was similar to the church back in her school. Jiya came to know that the building was considered the main building since it housed the Principle aka Tipsy Whiskers' office on the ground floor. The first floor stationed the classrooms for Years one to three. The second and topmost floor had the library. Classrooms for Years four to seven were in an adjacent building.
Jiya had half-expected the building to have a distinct stink when they stepped through the glass door. Rather, the walls and the floors were polished white marbles, giving it a noble vibe. She suddenly seemed to remember something.
"Hey!" she nibbled her lower lip, "What are Cheese Sheets and Rosewood Ink?"
The others halted in their steps and turned to look at her with disbelief. Stephanie widened her eyes and a corner of her mouth quirked up. Ralph pursed his lips and ran his hand through his hair, "Cheese Sheets are like Notes in your cell phone."
"Notebooks in human language", Stephan twisted his face and gave Ralph a hard look. He grinned back smugly.
"And the Ink?" Jiya creased her forehead.
"A kind of aromatic ink", Stephanie toyed with a lock of her hair, "Tipsy says that it's for heightening one's sense of smell."
"Alex didn't get them for me", Jiya mumbled to herself as she glanced at her feet with her hands at her hips.
"Oh! You can always find them in the library", Stephan said, sadness clouding his features.
"Huh?" Jiya raised her eyebrows as she scratched her chin, "Okay."
"I suppose you have got pence in your Monte", Ralph narrowed his eyes as they continued forward.
"Pence? Monte?" Jiya crinkled her nose as her face twisted in question. Ralph sighed and looked away.
"Alex didn't tell you?" Stephanie sneered as awe transformed her face. Jiya's face contorted and Stephan sighed. Her hands squeezed into fists when she thought about what she saw the moment she entered.
As if hearing her thoughts, Ralph asked, "You don't have feelings for that Alex dude, do you?"
Stephanie widened her eyes and Stephan pressed his lips together. Jiya blanched with shock. She narrowed her eyes, "Are you kidding me?!"
"No, your feelings", Ralph adjusted the lapels of his cloak, "Your feelings… they are complicated." Jiya widened her eyes as realization dawned on her face. Of course, he could smell her feelings! But he was kidding, right?
Jiya scrunched her face and said, "Fact one- We barely know each other, which is great. Fact two- He is a jerk and I know it's cool. And, Fact three- I don't care about a jerk. End of story!"
Stephanie clapped her hands with glee, "That's the spirit!"
"That's your great-grandpa, right?" Stephan pointed at a wall portrait hanging at the end of the corridor.
The group stopped in front of the huge portrait and Jiya stepped a little closer. She tilted her head and inspected it. She gave a slight nod before saying, "Well, he looks like my Gramps. So, I bet he is my great-grandpa. It's not like I had seen him or anything."
"We already wasted too much time", Ralph checked his watch, "And we have like fifteen minutes before the orientation begins."
"Hurry up", Stephanie patted Jiya and dragged her towards the corridor on the left.
After a few twists and turns, they finally reached the office. There was a signboard hanging over the door, which said, PRINCIPAL. Jiya took a deep breath and squared her shoulders.
"You don't have to do that", Stephanie placed a hand on her shoulder. Jiya could say that she was finally acting like a genuine friend. She may act mean but she cared and Jiya knew it.
"He has been waiting for you, like, for years", Ralph said with his usual cocky grin.
"He would be very happy", Stephan gave her a genuine smile. Jiya smiled back. A flush crept upon his face. Jiya nodded with determination, "Shall I knock?" They all nodded in unison. Jiya lifted her hand to knock. There was no response.
KNOCK.
Jiya knocked again. This time, a voice came, "Come… in." Whoever the voice belonged to, it seemed that he was panting. It must be the professor, Jiya thought and pushed open the door. The room opened to an old-fashioned room, with its mahogany furniture. Rows of books covered the backdrop and in the centre was the Professor. The much-esteemed Tipsy Whiskers. When Jiya saw him, she thought he looked a lot like Rudyard Kipling with his permanent frown and pair of rimmed glasses.
The only thing that struck her as strange was that the Professor was sweating profusely. Who would sweat so much in cold weather? She could bet that the others realized it too. There was increasing tension in the air, and it was emanating from Tipsy. But, why? What was he so tensed about?
"What's wrong, Tipsy?" Stephanie asked as she crossed her arms over her chest.
The Professor who seemed to have just cooled down, slammed his palm on the table, all of a sudden. The four of them took a step back at his sudden outburst. Their breath hitched.
"What got into him all of a sudden?" Stephan murmured beside Jiya.
"How dare you address me by my name?" the Professor yelled at the top of his lungs as he pointed at Stephanie. She and Ralph exchanged nervous glances.
"I told her not to do that", Stephan shook his head and sniffed. He could smell it in the air. The first waves of danger.
"Told her what?" Jiya whispered as she saw Professor tremble with rage.
"Not to call him by his name. He never said anything ever. That did not mean that he would bear with her always", Stephan whispered back.
All of them were backing away. The Professor was terribly angry.
"What… what has gotten into him today?" Stephanie whispered.
"I have never seen him so angry", Ralph's voice shook.
Much to their horror, they saw dark tendrils creep up behind him on the bookshelves. Jiya gasped audibly as she reflexively held out the Whisper Wand. It was suddenly activated as Leo shoot up from its head. A dark tendril hissed as it charged at Leo. The collision caused an ear-splitting sound as Jiya tried to raise a shield. The others were trying to cover their ears. A blinding light spread across the room. Suddenly, everything turned dark.