Magiana Imperial Academy - Volume 1: Path to Greatness
Chapter 13: March: Confirmation

Phillip and Dominique had made no progress in their little investigation since the emergence of the rumor. Most people have begun speculating as well, but none of them seemed to bother looking into the matter at all. The teachers continued to persist that there was no problems for the students to be talking about. Just like when it first gained popularity, Professor Draut was the strictest with those who spoke of the rumor.

The anniversary house competition, which had been widely forgotten (with many people being preoccupied with the school’s potential money problems), had been thrown out of balance. Houses were losing points much faster than they were earning them, solely because of Professor Draut. Phillip rarely heard good things about Professor Draut, but the things he heard in the last month alone were much worse.

“This is really weird, don’t you think?” Luna had torn herself away from her friends in House Lychester to spend time with Phillip. It appeared that she tried to spend more time with him to make up for St. Einhart’s Day.

“Yeah, it is.” Phillip sighed. “I wonder if the staff is looking into it if they’re so against us doing it.”

“They would have to. The teacher’s salaries come from the treasury, after all.”

“You’re right. They can’t just ignore it. Even if they don’t care about the students, this affects them as well.”

“I wonder how much longer we’ll have to wait until this is over. If we’re being robbed that is. The only things we have to go off of still is the heat and water.”

“Well, I’m convinced that we’re being robbed.” Phillip said. He didn’t mention the meeting between Draut and Windsor he overheard. “I’m going to figure out what’s going on. Hopefully I’ll uncover the truth soon. Things could end badly if this goes on for too long.”

There was a resounding cheer in Professor Acre’s classroom one day in March. She had just announced that the class would be starting to study the sleeping spell that so many people were excited about.

“Now, now, everyone,” Amelia said. “Unless you calm down, we won’t be able to start our work.” Victoria’s hand went up just as soon as everyone calmed down. “Yes, Victoria?”

“Aren’t you worried about people using this spell to play pranks on each other?”

“Not that much. After all, if something happens, the list of suspects can be narrowed down quite easily.” She looked at Miles, Reginald, and a few others.

She produced the two rubber gloves that she always used to pass out the wands. As the gloves passed out the last two wands she reached into her bag and began tossing out more gloves and bouquets of roses.

“Distribute the flowers among the thirty students!” She said, pointing at each of the gloves. At the last two she said, “Hold up the bouquets!”

Before the bouquets hit the ground, two of the gloves grabbed them while all of the others picked out the flowers, dropping them in front of the students. By the time the bouquet wrappers were empty, all of the students had small piles in front of themselves.

“Now, let’s skip the notes today and get right into the actual spell casting!”

“But professor,” Victoria’s hand shot up again, followed by several agitated complaints. “Won’t we be more likely to screw up if we don’t take any notes on the spell?”

“Calm down, Wallace,” Reginald said, twirling his wand. “We’ll be better off actually practicing. There are probably some people who actually need to look at notes to use the spell, but they’re definitely in the minority.” He threw a glance in Phillip and Miles direction. It appeared that Professor Acre noticed.

“Well, we’re going to need someone to be subject to their classmate’s spells during the day’s class. Reginald, how about you?”

He seemed taken off guard by her words and blushed when the others began chuckling and talking. He slammed his wand down on the table and shoot up, making Luna sigh.

“I’ll do it, professor!” He exclaimed, walking to the front of the class next to her desk.

“Thank you, Reginald! Now, you might be a bit scared-”

“I’m not scared.” He grumbled.

“-but you won’t be harmed at all.” She placed her chair behind him asked him to sit down. “Who would like to go first?”

Several people rose their hands right away, including Phillip and Miles. Professor Acre looked around, but it seemed that she was doing it to avoid suspicion. She looked at Miles right before she scanned the hands, and ending up choosing him.

“Yes! Wish me luck, Phil. Now like I’ll need it.” He grabbed a few of the roses and headed to the lane between the panels of glass separating the groups of desks.

Reginald glared at Miles where he sat; Miles was totally elated. Miles tossed the roses towards Miles, and they began falling towards the ground. He pointed at the flowers and said, “Have a good sleep, Reginald!” The white light that shot from the wand passed the roses. The roses glowed as the light passed by and turned red. The light hit Reginald. One moment he was scowling at Miles, the next he was drifting to sleep. Before anyone knew it, he was sleeping in the chair, his head against the chair’s back.

Miles cheered, as did their classmates. Professor Acre shook Reginald, who woke up with a start.

“What was that about some people needing their notes?” Miles asked, tossing his wand.

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He stopped at once. “Sorry, Professor Acre.”

Reginald wasn’t the only one who was put in the chair to be put asleep. To prevent being unfair, Professor Acre cycled out the target every few trials. She even allowed Reginald to put Miles to sleep, which very much pleased him. Reginald proved himself to very skilled with the spell, even though it was the first time he ever used it. He put Miles into such a deep sleep that Professor Acre needed to use smelling salts to wake up him. Victoria, Luna, Dominique, Trevor and a few others were able to do the same.

After class, Miles seemed upset. Not because Reginald put him to sleep, but because he showed more prowess. He swore that he’d get Reginald back one day, which Phillip brushed aside, still disapproving of Miles’s obsession with wanton rule breaking.

They made their way to the dining hall for lunch. The food was set out and Phillip had just began to cut into his steak when Miles doubled over next to him, coughing profusely.

“Are you okay, Miles?!”

“It’s the truth; we are being robbed!”

There were some others who had negative reactions to the food, but none of them as dramatic as Miles’s. Phillip looked back at his steak and took a bite. There was indeed a difference in the taste of the food, but he couldn’t see a reason for people to be upset.

“What’s the problem with this?”

Miles stepped up on the bench and faced the staff table. “From kindergarten to fifth grade I had to deal with public school food! I come to M.I.A and for the first time in my life, I eat gourmet! You can’t feed me heavenly food for seven months and then serve me that crap! I demand justice! Admit that someone is taking our money!”

The panel of teachers that were eating didn’t say anything; it was as if they hadn’t heard anything, even though there was a chorus of cheers from people that Phillip could only imagine were once public school students as well.

“It looks like they aren’t here.” Phillip calmly said.

“They didn’t even bother showing up?! You’ve got to be kidding me!” Miles sat down and glared at his steak.

Phillip looked at him and then the others who were angry before continuing to eat his food. After some time, a few of the bothered students continued to eat, not wanting to go hungry.

After lunch Phillip had math with Professor Draut. He was actually a bit afraid of how class would go now that people were riled up. Miles stomped into class and sat down at his desk, tossing his bag onto the ground. Professor Draut scowled at him and the others.

“And what is this about?” He demanded.

“We-”

Phillip cut Miles off. “There were illusions at lunch in place of the actual staff, professor. Some people are upset about that”

“Oh, really?” It appeared as thought he smiled slightly. “And why would they be upset?”

“And the food quality dropped astronomically!” Miles shouted. “It’s a little weird that the teachers didn’t show up when that happened, don’t you think?”

Phillip glowered at Miles; he had stopped him earlier for this very reason. Professor Draut smiled and chuckled.

“Does anyone else agree with Mr. Krenshaw? Does anyone else believe that the others and I didn’t show up for lunch purposefully?”

Just like during lunch, a lot of people agreed with Miles. Professor Draut counted the people who shouted.

“Let’s see… thirty times six and seven. One hundred and eighty points from House Sloane; Two hundred and ten from House Lychester.” It was obvious that the people wanted to protest, but they kept quiet, not wanting to lose anymore points for their houses. “Anyone - and I mean anyone - who I catch speaking about anything unrelated to class without my permission will lose twenty points for their house. Now, let us get to work.” He turned to the board, but stopped when he saw a hand in the air. “Yes?”

“You mean anything, professor?” Asked the girl.

“Yes, anything. It might sound like a normal conversation but could very well be some kind of code. Therefore, no conversations unrelated to work will be had in my class.”

Class was miserable that day. Except for Professor Draut and the student’s writing, there was no sound save for the infrequent cough or sneeze. No one spoke unless they rose their hand, and they made sure that their questions were either related to work or permission to use the bathroom.

When class finally ended, everyone made sure to leave quietly to prevent losing even more points. Once outside and a safe distance from Professor Draut’s class, everyone began to rant. Some people warned their friends to be extra careful in his class.

That night during dinner Miles refused to eat, as did everyone else who agreed with him on the topic of food. The staff table was once again empty. Phillip began hearing people say that the professors were cowards for not addressing them. When he was finally done, he left the dining hall and went on his way to House Sloane. Miles followed after him. They walked inside and heard loud voices coming from the common room.

Opening the door, they saw Isaiah surrounded by their fellow students. He was trying to calm them down, but his attempts went unnoticed. Marianna, Tamara and some others were trying to get the mob away from him. With some difficulty, they finally got them to calm down.

“Listen, everyone,” He began. “I know that you’re upset, but please calm down.”

“So they were cutting the heat early because of money after all, right?”

Isaiah stopped himself from speaking several times, deciding whether or not he should speak.

“Y-yes, grandfather has mentioned that funds have been disappearing from the treasury.”

Phillip felt bad for Isaiah, who looked incredibly guilty. He couldn’t blame him; if what Jon told him about teenagers gossiping was true, this would be spread throughout the entire school in a matter of hours, if not a single hour.

Surprisingly enough, they left Isaiah alone right after that instead of asking him more questions. Instead, they began coming up with all sorts of conspiracy theories, and some talked about trying to figure out what happened. Taking advantage of the situation, Phillip sat next to Dominique.

“This isn’t very surprising.” She said. “But even they haven’t found anything, which is.”

“I know. If the staff hasn’t found anything, I’m not liking our chances.”

“But that’s not going to change your mind?”

“Of course not.” He said sternly. “Even if I have to spend my entire summer looking into this, I’m going to find something.”

“So, what’s our plan? If the others are serious, then there will be a lot more people looking into these thefts. I’m sure that’ll make it easier to poke around then.”

“We might be able to take advantage of this and try to see if Professors Draut and Windsor are actually connected. But even then, it won’t be easy.”

“I’ve heard that Professor Draut is even stricter than usual.” Dominique said. “And Professor Windsor doesn’t know much, if he denied him earlier. I’m sure he’d be even less willing to talk as well.”

“We’re going to need luck for the next little while.” Phillip said. “There’s no need for you to burden yourself too much. If you want leave me to this, go ahead.”

“I’m going to see this through, don’t worry.”

“Thanks,” He said, smiling.

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