Though, looking in, he wondered just how much magic he'd be learning.
Honestly, Isaac didn't know what he was imagining when he walked in, but it wasn't this. This was supposed to be his Alchemy 101 class, and yet, just by looking at it Isaac thought he had stepped right back into Chemesty.
Taking a tentative step back, Isaac double checked to make sure that he hadn't been transported back home.
Nope, still at Garden. He could just make out Luci down the hallway through the crowd. So at least he knew that he wasn't being pranked. Walking back in, Isaac felt himself get a little irritated.
Sure, it's nice to know he wasn't wrong to think that alchemy was a magical science. But really, did the magical school in another dimension really need to have their Alchemy class look exactly like a Science lab from Rain Wilde?
He thought he was leaving all this normal stuff behind, not going back to it.
Look, they even had beakers and microscopes. The microscopes were made out of brass and looked a little steampunkish, and that was a little cool, but still. Couldn't they just learn a spell instead, why do they need microscopes?
Personally, Isaac would have preferred something like a monocle that'd let them see individual cells over a microscope, but that's his preference.
Even the desks were the same.
Two rows of workstations leading towards the front. Sinks at the end with bar stools instead of chairs. And little wooden cabinets full of supplies underneath.
The only thing this classroom needed were posters of the periodic table and some pictures of Einstein, and he'd think he was right back on earth.
Isaac sighed, he felt like he was being robbed.
Shoulders slumped, Isaac went towards one of the front workstations and took a seat. Dropping his bag right beside him, Isaac plopped his elbow down on to the table and rested held his head. Man, he was getting bored just looking at this stuff.
Where were the demon summoning circles and the dar- well, no, this was supposed to be Alchemy, they wouldn't have stuff like that here.
Fingers crossed on the demon circles though, mainly cause he always thought that it'd be hilarious to summon a demon, slap him in the face, and then desummon it right after …Desummon? Was that a thing or was it unsummon…ah, whatever.
Point is, this was Alchemy, there should be eyes in jars, plants and herds on the shelves, boiling cauldrons with smoke and weird liquid inside of them. Oh, wait, Isaac just saw the cauldrons over there, they were tucked away in a closet off to the side.
But that's even weirder. Why have both science beakers and witches' cauldrons? Those aesthetics don't mix. Pick one and dump the other.
The only other thing that looked slightly interesting were the two large wall-to-wall barn style doors closed shut at the front. A little weird, but maybe the teacher liked to take them outside for Alchemy, or maybe it was meant for the giant animals they would get to dissect.
Man, he really hoped so. He never got to do that in school, he had always heard that some classes let you dissect a frog or a baby shark, but not his. When he learned that they weren't gonna be doing that, he got so disappointed that he threw a bucket of paint on Mr. Soliz his science teacher. But maybe this could be the year that he finally dissected something. Oh man, now he's got his hopes up. If this new teacher didn't let them dissect something they he didn't know what he was going to do.
…He wonders if they had magic paint here. Surely they do right, they have a magical art class, so they must have magical paint.
Taking out his notebook, Isaac made a note to remind himself to try to pick up some magical paint. Maybe they'd have some weird magic colors that he can check out, like Seraphin white or Dragon's blood.
He wouldn't be able to bring it home, not with his Dad breathing down his neck. But maybe he could hide it in a janitor's closet or whatever they had here.
While Isaac made plans involving paint, a balloon, a couple of elastic chords, as well as springs and a tarp, everyone else was taking seats and making friends, already forming groups on the first day. He could hear them talking behind him as he worked.
Some of them were friendly.
"Hi, I'm Gabe Hait, I'm from Tennessee."
" Really? I'm from Wisconsin."
Others were like the group of girls crowding around one table as they talked. Some of them brought their chairs over so they could sit down.
" What did you do when you found out?"
"My parents nearly got a heart attack when they found out."
" My grandparents knew, yeah, but it was because of my Aunt. Mom never got it."
And then there were the skeptics. Whispering to each other, too afraid or too stubborn to let the knowledge that magic was real really settle in.
"I still think that I'm dreaming."
"I think that it's all fake."
Isaac shook his head at that. What was the point in believing that everything was fake? He'd rather believe everything was real, more fun that way.
Putting the finishing touches on his paint launcher Isaac heard the stool next to him squeaked as someone placed their bag on top of his workstation.
Looking up from his notebook, Isaac was surprised to see that anyone would want to sit next to him. He was always used to having the whole place to himself. No one wanted to be near him just in case he got bored.
The girl quietly sat down without a word, reaching into her bag she pulled out her own notebook. Pulling out a pick, she put her bag on the ground as she started fixing her black curly hair.
Looking over, she saw that he was staring at her. " What?" She snapped, glaring at him she dared him to say anything as both of her hands were busy working on her afro.
Isaac laughed as he waved his hand at her. " Nothing, just didn't think anyone would sit next to me."
Scoffing, the girl faced the front and put her pick back.
Isaac smiled. She seemed fun.
Opening his mouth Isaac was about to introduce himself when the clock turned to ten o'five. Out in the halls, the Golems started playing their music again, starting second period.
In the room, the symphony broke whatever conversation people were having as everyone quickly went back to their seats and got ready for class.
Chuckling, Isaac put his notebook away as he waited for the teacher to show up. Weird that they weren't here to begin with. In fact…Isaac looked around the room. Where was the teacher's desk?
The only desks were the workstations and maybe the counters by the cabinets, but Isaac didn't think a teacher would grade papers over there.
After a minute of waiting and still no teacher, people were starting to get antsy. A few of them went back to talking to their friends as they waited. Tapping his pen on the desk, Isaac was about to get his notebook back out when he stopped.
He heard something. Something from behind those barn doors.
Thudding, hitting the floor like footsteps. They started off small at first, but then they got louder, like getting closer louder.
Everyone stopped. They could hear it now too. Perking up his ears as Isaac tried to figure out what the hell was back there. Cause it wasn't just the sound anymore either. Whatever it was, it was heavy, so heavy that it made little earthquakes every time it moved.
At the beginning, they started off small. Shaking things in the cabinets and causing a few pencils to fall to the ground. But as it got closer the shaking got worse.
Kids were falling out of their seats as they tried to move to the back, a couple of girls were screaming as they clutched their bags against their chests. Next to him Afro girl was gripping onto the table as hard as she could, screaming some probably not very nice things in another language.
Everyone was scared and worried, they thought that the classroom was about to collapse, or worse. Something was going to burst through those doors and eat them up.
But not Isaac. Isaac wasn't like those other kids. When things got dangerous, Isaac didn't get scared, Isaac got excited.
Holding on to his stool with his bare hands as it bounced around the room, Isaac laughed. Did the teacher actually get a giant animal for them to dissect? He'd been joking earlier, he didn't think that they'd actually get to do it.
What would it be? A dragon? A hydra? Maybe something easier, like some kind of elephant. Forget everything he said before about the room, this was great.
And just as everyone was prepared to watch as the giant barn doors get ripped apart like wet cardboard, the thuds stopped.
Whatever it was, it stopped just right outside those doors. And now that the shaking had stopped, everyone quickly ran to the back, trying to get as far away from the doors as possible. One or two even ran out of the classroom entirely, screaming and crying down the hall as they went.
Everyone besides Isaac that was. Isaac stayed right where he was, eagerly waiting for the doors to open.
On his left, the girl that sat next to him was about to join everyone at the back when she noticed that Isaac wasn't moving. Standing there for a second, she looked between Isaac and the group of kids huddled in the back.
Making a fist, she looked at Isaac again before apparently deciding to stay.
Slamming herself back into her seat, she crossed her arms, glaring at the door as if she was daring whatever was back there to do something. Isaac smiled at her, pleased to see that someone wasn't scared.
Then, from behind the barn doors, a loud voice called out.
"Good morning, everyone, welcome to Garden." The voice said.
No one said anything. Was this the teacher? Isaac wondered. If so, why were they being so loud?
"Hello?...Oh! Sorry, guys, I forgot to open these. It's the first day. Let me just-."
Something on the doors was moving this time. Like a giant metal beam being lifted, it must have been some kind of latch, cause then the doors started to open. And then they saw who was behind the doors..
It wasn't a giant animal like a dragon or an elephant, like he had guessed. No, it was just a giant, a giant old woman with beads hanging off her glasses and a crop of white short hair.
Man, Isaac thought that Unique was tall, but she was clearly taller. It was like looking at a mountain with a face.
Behind him, more gasps and screams came out as everyone saw their first real giant.
"Whoa! Calm down. What's wrong ?" Startled by their screaming, the giant leaned back.
Quickly, though, she seemed to remember which class this was. "Oh. This was 101. I should have had one of the assistants ease you guys into it. Oh well, though looks like a few ran out before I could introduce myself. No matter, I'll tell the office to send them back."
Now that the doors were fully opened, everyone could see that behind the giant lady was another classroom. But this one was massive. Huge in fact, with the ceiling hundreds of feet in the air and windows the size of houses.
At the front, a massive whiteboard dominated the wall, with a dry-eraser the size of a car and markers that were probably taller than his dad. Tucked to the side, there was a wooden teacher's desk with one of those weird, magical computers he's seen sitting on top.
Between them and the whiteboard, two rows of worstaitions rose like apartments, complete with stools made from entire trees and sinks the size of pools.
There were even giant Golems moving inside the wall, waving at them over the giantess's shoulders.
"Well, now that wer got that out of the way, we can start class. Good morning, I'm Mrs. Andre, and I'll be your Alchemy 101 teacher this year."
Too scared to speak, only a few kids said good morning back. Cautiously moving back to their desks, no one knew what to do. Isaac was grinning from ear to ear. This year was going to be his best one yet.
"Mh, no, when I say good morning, I expect to hear a good morning back, so let's try that again. Good morning, I'm Mrs. Andre."
The smile on Isaac's lip dipped a little. Then again, it was still going to be school.
Just in case Isaac was going to enlarge his paint thrower a bit, and get some more paint.