Upon reaching the Magic Department's Dormitory, Dorin, Sebastian, Prof. Dupont and a still unconscious Johan got off the truck and waved at Gen. Muller and Margarette in front.
"I'll see you tomorrow at lunch time!" Margarette called back as the truck went on its way.
"We'll try to call!" Dorin shouted after them.
[I still don't know where my cell phone is] wrote Sebastian. [I think perhaps someone stole it.]
"Well, we can borrow someone else's phone," said Dorin.
"Lost your cell phone?" Prof. Dupont asked.
[Yes.] Sebastian told the professor, [They found our bags, and the cameras were ok, but my cell phone was nowhere in sight.]
"Do you mind?" asked Dupont, shifting Johan's weight on his shoulder. "Help me take Johan to his room first..." he said with a grunt.
They brought Johan to the second floor, where the general dormitory rooms were located. Here, as many as 50 students stay in bunk beds inside a large room. Johan's bed was at the furthest corner. The students they quickly moved aside when they saw them with Johan.
They noticed that the sheets on Johan's bed were soiled as they came near it. It looked like boot marks. Even his pillow looked filthy. Dorin pulled at the sheets as the professor lowered Johan on the bed. A glint caught Sebastian's eye, then. He held the professor's arm. As Dorin looked closer, he noticed tacks hidden in the sheets.
There were snickering at the background.
Dorin looked at the direction of the sound as several tacks raised from the bed and whizzed over to the small group of boys near the door.
A whistle pierced the air.
The tacks fell to the floor, and the group of boys ran out of the room in alarm.
"Don't let your temper get the best of you," said the professor.
He raised his hand once more. The dirt and grit on the sheets removed itself and formed a small round ball.
"Vengeance is a never ending cycle," he told Dorin, "the best way to stop it is by stopping yourself."
Prof. Dupont placed Johan on the now clean sheets and covered him up to his chin with the thin blanket.
[Will he be safe like that?] asked Sebastian.
"He will be," Dorin replied.
He raised his arms and moved it into an arc, drawing a magic circle in mid air, but the sparks were thin and fading.
Dorin suddenly stomped his left leg, surprising Sebastian and the professor.
The circle became brighter.
He mumbled words of power and clapped his hands once, then pulled them apart, drawing thaums of mana out of thin air.
"Let this barrier take one body in and keep everything else out..." he mumbled as he stretched the thaums of energy and touched the two posts at the end of the bed.
There was a flash of light and seven pentagrams surrounded by runes appeared on the bed – four at the corners and three aligned in the middle. It sank into the sheets and seeped into the wood itself.
[What does it do?] Sebastian asked, looking at the bed closely.
"Yeah, what does it do?" Prof. Dupont asked wide-eyed.
In answer, Dorin picked up a chair from a corner and hurled it at the sleeping Johan with all his might.
Prof. Dupont yelped. The chair burst into pieces as it slammed into an invisible barrier around the bed. Sebastian clapped his hands in amazement.
"It's also sound proof, water proof, fire proof, and bug proof!" said Dorin with a grin. "Try getting in the bed," he told Sebastian.
[I won't get electrocuted or something, would I?] the other asked.
Prof. Dupont went ahead and tried to jump on the bed. He slammed on the invisible barrier with a thump.
"Ouch. That's pretty solid..." he complained, rubbing his chin.
"Only air can pass through," Dorin added proudly. "Now, no one can bother him while he sleeps, or put stuff in his bed with malice in their minds when he's away."
"Stops malicious intent?" Prof. Dupont said thoughtfully, his hands still touching the invisible barrier. "That's good thinking..."
[And now I think we need to get back to our rooms.]
"Ah, then I'll be seeing you next time?" Prof. Dupont sounded disappointed. He held Dorin's hand and pulled him into a tight bear hug. "In behalf of Johan, thank you for thinking about his well-being." He faced Sebastian. "I'll take a rain check for that talk," he grinned. "In the meantime, you can have this." He took out a cellphone and gave it to Sebastian.
[Professor, I can't possibly take this!] Sebastian wrote as he saw the phone. {This is the latest model, with a built in library and resource network that's only available to higher rank wizards and faculty members!]
"It's fine, I actually planned to give it to Johan, but then he said he had no idea how to use one and would probably just toast it," the Professor said with a laugh. "I know you can put it into better use, particularly in teaching these two."
[Thank you, Professor!] Sebastian wrote in bold print. [I'll do my best to reach your expectations!]
"You always do!" Dupont laughed his hearty laugh once more. "Now go on and don't let me keep you."
Back in their rooms, Sebastian hummed as he busily checked the new cell phone. Dorin sat by his side, watching every swipe and tap he made.
"Can you do that again?" Dorin requested.
"Which one?" asked Sebastian.
"That thing where the map of the school came up blinking."
"Ah, that's our location. See here? that's where we are right now – at the Magic Division Dormitory."
"Then, can't you find your missing cellphone the same way?"
"Actually, that's exactly what I'm doing right now." Sebastian tapped several icons then swiped the screen. "Problem is, the phone is either broken or turned off, or even under a hiding charm, that's why I can't pin point its location. Besides, it can only point to the general location, not the exact place."
"Then, can I try finding it for you?"
"Can you?"
Dorin smirked. "I've searched for smaller stuff in the mountains."
Dorin went to Sebastian's desk, took his laptop, and smelled it.
"Are you gonna look for the same scent?" asked Sebastian.
"Hmm... something like that..." Dorin stomped his foot again. The bracelet on his left ankle fell off, to Sebastian's surprise. He then raised his right hand, holding a small mirror in front of his nose and whispered at it.
"What? What are you saying?" Sebastian asked impatiently. "I want to hear your spells!"
"I'm just dictating commands," Dorin said distractedly. "Find this scent and show me the location of an object that is made of circuits. If it is in possession of someone else, show me the face of the person nearest its vicinity. If it is discarded somewhere, show me the place where it is." Dorin clapped his hand and pulled out thaums of mana. "Search for 5 kilometers round. Now."
A small magic circle glowed golden on top of the small mirror. The surface then wrinkled and turned a milky color. When the color settled, the mirror showed an image of a big nose.
"Someone is in possession of it," said Dorin.
"Can you blow it up?" asked Sebastian, his voice dead serious.
"What if someone just innocently picked it up?" Dorin asked, surprised at his friend's request. "It might be a kid, or a janitor, or something..."
"I know that nose," Sebastian said dryly. Just then, the image moved back, and they saw very yellow hair. "It's a good thing I had spells over spells of protections on my phone."
"But, isn't that whats-his-name from next door?"
"Just blow it up a bit, okay?"
Dorin snapped his finger and the mirror went black.
"What did you do?"
"Well, you said blow it up..."
Sebastian fell quiet.
He forgot just how dark Dorin's personality can be.
He stood up, went to the door, and looked through the peep hole.
There where no people on the hall ways, then suddenly there came a streak of yellow, running past their door and heading for the staircase.
"He's still alive."
Dorin laughed. "You really hate him that much, huh?"
"I have no mercy for people who betray me," Sebastian stared at Dorin, though deep inside, he felt relieved a little.
"Tell me, Sebastian," Dorin asked, "why did you change your whole class into lizards? And how did you pull it off?"
Sebastian looked away.
"That guy, Leonard Luther... When I first came here, I was naive and stupid. Margarette was my only friend and she was in another division. So I thought he meant well when he befriended me."
Sebastian paused.
"I showed him my charms and taught him how to re-create most of them," he continued, "but then he took my notes and passed them to Professor Raevers, saying that they were his own creations. He then sold most of them to the rest of the class at a much lower price than I was asking. I actually lost a lot of money then!"
"So you were short on money even when you were a full scholar?"
"I had several... projects... in my room... spells that I was experimenting on... and the books and ingredients were not exactly cheap, you know."
"Didn't you tell Professor Raevers about it?"
"I did. But Leonard was an older, outstanding student who cannot possibly have done what I claimed he did," Sebastian snorted. "So, on one of our charms classes where we were supposed to make a concoction to give us 'honey voices', I changed the ingredients and turned them all into lizards."
Dorin laughed. "And no one noticed you changed it? Not even the Professor?"
"Well, I might have whispered something then."
Dorin continued laughing.
That evening, Johan was not in the kitchens.
Sebastian and Dorin took a quick supper after duty and went back early to their rooms. They heard from the grapevine that Leonard from next door went to the infirmary after a little accident with his hand.
Sebastian was in high spirits when they returned to their room. He was humming as he prepared to pack his stuff for their move.
"You look happy," Dorin sat smiling on his bed. "Aren't you going to sleep yet?"
"You go on ahead, I've still got a lot of stuff to pack."
"Okay, goodnight."
Dorin climbed into his bed and pulled the covers. Later, Sebastian could hear him breathing softly, already in deep slumber.
Sebastian stood up and dusted himself.
He touched his closet door, turning it twice to the right and once to the other direction. When the door opened, the closet was pitch black.
He stepped inside and closed the door behind him.
And as for Johan's bed, legend came out, years later, that a powerful fire mage cursed his own bed so that only he could lay on it. It is still somewhere in the university dorms, and they say that only very powerful fire mages can sleep in it, when in fact, it was made to be a refuge for persecuted students to rest in.