Academic Magic

by Becky R Jones

  Chapter Seven

  That afternoon, heading for her third and last class of the day, she spotted Josh and Annmarie. She paused. They might be able to help with Declan, but should she involve them? You’ve already had a conversation with them about weirdness at Shelby Hall. Just ask them. Slowing down, she waved at the two students and met them a few feet from the door to the classroom.

  “Hey, do either of you know a kid named Declan Jin? He’s a sophomore and a transfer student, I think. Sociology major.” The beauty of a small college with a mostly residential student population was that they all knew each other or at least recognized each other.

  “Yeah, I know who he is. He’s in my dorm. Why?” Annmarie answered.

  “There’s something going on with him. I’m not quite sure what, but he’s really frightened, and I know he works in Shelby Hall for the provost’s secretary. Which is probably why he’s extra stressed. Can you find out if he’s been acting strange or feeling sick like your friend?”

  Annmarie’s eyes widened at the mention of Shelby Hall. “Okay. Yeah. I’ll see what I can find out.”

  Josh had pulled out his phone and was scrolling through his texts. He looked up at Zoe. “He’s pledging my fraternity. I thought that name sounded familiar. I’ll find out who sponsored him. Whoever did will know him pretty well.”

  “Great. Thanks. Just so you know, his advisor is Dr. Cruickshank. Be careful around her.” It wasn’t protocol to discuss other faculty members with students, but Zoe felt that Meredith’s malicious attitude towards Declan meant that protocol went out the window. The faces of both students registered their concern. They nodded and moved into the classroom, with Zoe following. Standing in the hall discussing weird happenings on campus raised images of bad spy movies. She choked back a nervous giggle.

  Somehow, she made it through class without incident and it was even a good class with a lively discussion on what sorts of natural phenomena could make somebody believe that magic really worked. She floated around the classroom observing and eavesdropping on the small discussion groups. The conversations in a couple of groups were moving toward the speculation of the actual existence of magic. Slightly panicked at the thought that this might somehow reveal unusual information, Zoe glanced up at the clock. Good. Only ten minutes left in the class period. She could shut down the discussions and wrap up class before anything went too far. She started her closing spiel and out of the corner of her eye, glimpsed Mark walking past outside her classroom.

  She gave him a small wave and mouthed “Wait.” He complied and leaned against the wall, taking out his phone.

  “Okay, guys. That’s it for today. Don’t forget to turn in your paper drafts,” she said in dismissal.

  After her students had trailed out and merged into the growing flood of students leaving the building, she joined Mark in the hallway.

  “I was just going to stop by your office. I need to talk to you,” she said by way of greeting.

  “Okay. I don’t have anything right now, let’s go up.”

  As they stepped into the flow of students and headed for the stairs, Zoe practically danced with anxiety until they reached the relative safety and quiet of Mark’s office. He unlocked his door and walked inside. Following him in, she grabbed the door handle and pushed the door shut behind her. While Meredith was not in this building you never knew who might be eavesdropping casually or on purpose.

  Mark noticed the stress and concern on her face.

  “What’s up? You, “Okay?”

  “Meredith wanted to know how well you and I know each other. Why would she ask me that? And a student, Declan Jin, was sitting my office when she knocked on my door. He heard her voice and vanished! Went invisible! In my office! Just pop! And he was gone. Well, not gone, he was still there, but invisible.” Her words tumbled over each other in her desire to get everything out before she forgot any of it.

  Mark’s eyes widened. “I don’t know him. What’s his major? What year is he? How the hell did he go invisible?”

  “You mean, you don’t know how he turned invisible? I mean, it’s magic. How do you not know? Could he be a witch? He’s a sophomore, I think he’s a transfer. He’s a Sociology major and Meredith is his advisor. That’s why he went invisible he said, and I can’t blame him, but how did he do it?”

  Zoe had depended on Mark for an answer to the invisibility thing. His response shocked her. There was more than just mage magic and witchcraft in the world? Why did everything have to be so complicated? She was having trouble taking it all in. She didn’t even want to think about what else could happen for fear of triggering Murphy’s Law.

  Mark shrugged his shoulders and answered her spoken and unspoken questions. “There’s a lot more magical beings and magic users than just mages and witches. I just haven’t run into much of anything else. I’ll be honest, I mostly just focused on my own magic and other mages. Witches a little bit because they’re non-magical people who can work magic. But it does something to them. Twists them somehow…” he trailed off then shook his head. “But back to Declan, I think there are more types of magical beings in older countries, like in Europe and China or India. George probably knows. You guys are the historians.”

  “Yeah, but…I mean…I didn’t think…like, crap. I mean, yeah. I hope George knows something.” Zoe was having a difficult time thinking straight. Declan’s invisibility trick and Mark’s lack of information severely rattled her.

  “Should I call him? Or are you going by there on your way back to your office?” Mark asked.

  “Who? Oh, George. Right. No, don’t call. I’ll swing by and see if he’s there. Can you come or are you busy?”

  “Sure, I’ll come with you. Suddenly things are getting weird.”

  “No shit. If it’s suddenly weird for you, think about how I feel! Talking squirrels, talking cats, mages, witches, and vanishing students. It’s been a surreal couple of weeks!” Zoe could feel panic rising and took a deep breath to stop herself from laughing hysterically. Going crazy was definitely damaging to career advancement. Well, she seems to be a good teacher, but she has a tendency to break out into mad giggles in the middle of class.

  As they left Mark’s office Zoe nearly ran into a small, rather round man with a receding hairline and round, wire rimmed glasses who was standing in the hallway just outside Mark’s door. He was dressed in a fashion reminiscent of the early twentieth century, with in a brown suit with a high-collared shirt. The vest and tie provided the finishing touches.

  “Oh! I beg your pardon,” he exclaimed, skipping out of her way.

  “I’m so sorry, Simon,” Mark apologized on her behalf. “Zoe, this is Simon LeGrande, my department chair. Simon, I don’t believe you’ve formally met Zoe O’Brien in the history department. We started at the same time.”

  “Very nice to meet you.” Simon’s handshake was one of those sort of limp, half-handed handshakes that many people use with women; sort of an odd cross between raising the woman’s to kiss the back of it like some old-fashioned aristocrat and a real handshake. Zoe stopped herself from snatching her hand away. Simon let go of her hand and gave her a sideways glance. He turned to Mark.

  “I haven’t seen you in a while. How are things going?”

  “Well, thanks. We’re just on our way to see George Wardmaster. He and Zoe have invited me to be part of a project they’re working on.”

  Simon smiled. “That’s great. We need more interdisciplinary projects around here. You’ll have to fill me in later.”

  “Okay, will do.”

  “Great. I look forward to it.” Simon gave a little wave and hurried on down the hall.

  Zoe shook her hand to get rid of the lingering feel of the limp handshake.

  “Ick. I hate when people shake hands like that. It feels all wrong.”

  Mark laughed. “Oh, that half-hand limp kind of handshake? He always does that. I don’t know why. But handshake aside, he’s a good guy and a good department chair.”

&
nbsp; “Okay. I’ll take your word on him as chair. It’s still an icky handshake. Back to Meredith. Why would she care if we are friends? Does she know you’re a mage?”

  Mark shrugged. “I obviously never said anything. But Morgan knows somehow, and Meredith was at the provost’s office hour the other day so I wouldn’t be surprised if Morgan has told her. I don’t know how Morgan knows I’m a mage, but I know she does. She’s dropped several hints like she’s bragging about it. It just occurred to me…I should ask George about that. I didn’t really worry about it until she started making comments. Whatever the president and provost are doing, I’m betting that Meredith is deeply involved.”

  “That’s what I was afraid of. Did you notice the look on Declan’s face yesterday when Susan Barker grabbed him and pulled him out of the provost’s office? He winced like she’d hurt him, but it didn’t look like she’d grabbed him hard enough to hurt him. He’s scared of her. But, then, I think he’s scared of everything.”

  “No, I didn’t notice. Why did he go invisible when he heard Meredith’s voice?”

  Zoe glanced around making sure nobody was walking near them. Life really was turning into a bad spy novel.

  “He’s scared of her for sure. He said as much. But she’s his advisor and I think he feels trapped. He also works in Shelby and after being in there the other day, I’m surprised everybody in that building isn’t running around feeling paranoid and afraid. That place was toxic!”

  Mark nodded. “Yeah, it was. George said it was witchcraft creating that toxic feeling…shit. I don’t know.”

  “Meredith’s friends with the provost – or at least they’re on the same side – have you already pissed off the provost so much that she’s trying to get dirt on you through Meredith?” Zoe tried for a laugh, but then it wasn’t all that far-fetched. It was clear that the president knew Mark was a mage and that meant the provost most likely knew also. Would they come after her next? Should she avoid Mark? Zoe dismissed that thought immediately. You don’t abandon your friends in the hopes that witch bullies wouldn’t come after you.

  Mark was watching her face. “I don’t know. But if anything does happen, I think that between David and I, we can handle it.”

  They entered Harper Hall and the conversation died. George was in his office and for once, he wasn’t meeting with any students.

  “Hi guys, how are you?” He smiled at them.

  Zoe and Mark walked in and Mark shut the door behind them. George looked quizzical but didn’t say anything. Zoe decided to get right to the point. She took a deep breath.

  “George…can mages…I mean…is it possible…can you become invisible?” Zoe blushed, embarrassed to ask the question, but reminded herself that magic was real.

  “No. Not really. An Air mage like Mark could shift light and reflections so that it would appear he was invisible, but he wouldn’t really be invisible in the common understanding of it. Why?” Now George looked even more curious.

  “Well, earlier today I had a student in my office – Declan Jin. The kid who came into Melanie’s office hour by accident yesterday? He’s in my survey course and he said he came to talk about that. Anyway, he asked me if I thought magic was real.”

  George’s eyebrows shot up. “A mage wouldn’t ask that question. Why did he ask you that?”

  “Well...right after he asked that question, Meredith knocked on my door – it was closed – and said she had a question. The second he heard her voice Declan vanished. Just, poof! Gone. One second he was there, next second the only thing I could see was his backpack on the floor.” Zoe recounted the rest of the incident in her office.

  George didn’t immediately respond. He put his elbows on this desk and steepled his fingers together, staring at the large bookcase on the opposite wall. Zoe’s hands started to shake, and her mouth went dry. For some reason recounting the incident made her more nervous than she had been when she was in the middle of it. She exchanged a look with Mark but neither of them spoke. She clasped her hands together to stop the shaking. Finally, George turned and regarded the two of them.

  “I don’t believe this student Declan is a mage. The ability to become invisible means he is, all or in part, some other type of magical entity. I would really like to meet him.”

  “Well, he wants to meet you. This morning he asked me to talk to you for him.” Zoe replied.

  “There are several possibilities that come to mind and I’m not sure I like any of them,” George continued.

  Zoe didn’t like the tone of George’s comment and once again jumped to Declan’s defense.

  “Declan is a good kid. He’s just anxious and not very sure of himself. He told me that when he panics, he goes invisible but that he’s managed to get some control of it. Most of the time. He has Meredith for an advisor and I’m sure that’s not helping things for him.”

  George raised his eyebrows at Zoe’s vehement defense.

  “Okay. For the time being, we’ll just file Declan Jin away under phenomenon to be investigated. But I still want to talk to him, and you said he wants to speak with me. Zoe, can you see if you can get him to come to my office hours tomorrow?”

  Zoe nodded. “I’ll see what I can do.”

  “Great. I don’t want to make any further guesses until I’ve had a chance to talk with him,” George said, putting the discussion to rest for the moment.

  “On a different topic…” George smiled, and turned to Mark. “I just received a phone call from Simon asking me about our purported research project. He said you didn’t have too many details.”

  Mark’s face registered his surprise. “I just mentioned it in passing as we were on our way over here. I’m getting paranoid enough that I’m thinking about how to keep our stories straight and looking for reasons why we should all be spending so much time together. What did he want to know?” Zoe understood the underlying nervousness in Mark’s voice. Living without tenure meant that having your department chair checking up on your research projects was very worrisome. George, sensing the source of Mark’s concern, made a calming motion with his hands.

  “Not to worry. I told him it was a combination of our three research areas, and that it was quite a legitimate project. He won’t object to my telling you…he’s a mage, so he knows the extra pressures you face. He hasn’t mentioned the air around Shelby Hall to me yet, but I’m sure he’s noticed. I expect that he’ll come talk with me at some point in the near future.”

  “Simon’s a mage?” Mark was astounded. Zoe was surprised as well – both at the news about Simon and at Mark’s shock. How come he didn’t know about Simon?

  Mark was still gaping at George.

  “Simon is a mage?” he repeated. “What Element?”

  “Yes, he is. Fire. He’s figured out a means of concealing the power aura that we carry with us, and at the same time, heighten his ability to sense it in others. I’ve managed to do something similar. It’s useful when you don’t feel like walking around carrying a flashing sign that says, ‘Mage here!’”

  Mark made a face. “I never felt anything. I wonder why he didn’t tell me?”

  George shrugged. “Simon is…unique, as you know. I wouldn’t worry about it.”

  Zoe gave a nervous laugh. She was surrounded by people who could control magic. She felt very out of place.

  “Well, I know I don’t have to worry about it, not having any power. I just hope Simon doesn’t sit on the tenure committee.” She was harping on the tenure thing, and that was embarrassing but she was having difficulty processing magic and mages and vanishing students. She took refuge in what was still the more acceptable explanation – this was all connected with tenure somehow, or this was a bad dream, or pretty much anything except for talking animals, bad air, and mages.

  George simply smiled at her. Mark was still focused on the fact that his department chair was a mage and he hadn’t known.

  “How is he hiding it?”

  “I’m not exactly sure. Different Elements mean
different methods. You’ll have to experiment within your Element to find a way that works for you. Also, since Simon has asked about our ‘project,’” George made air quotes as he said the word, “the more I think about it, the more I am realizing that I cannot wait for Simon to raise the subject of Shelby Hall. I will speak with him regarding the aura around the building. If my hunch is correct, we’re going to need all the help we can get from every mage on campus. Simon and I go back almost thirty years at this institution. He will be a significant help.”

  Chapter Eight

  Saturday afternoon, Zoe texted Sarah and suggested they get together for a beer. Their conversation in the Faire Mount Brewery moved through the usual catching up and mutually interesting topics before Zoe steered the conversation towards Shelby Hall and the dread-filled atmosphere she had experienced during her short visit to the provost’s office hour. Conversations about magic and poisonous magical air seemed normal in the Faire Mount’s medieval old-world tavern space. The historical feel of the pub was one of the things that made it a favorite haunt for Zoe.

  “How are you feeling?” she asked Sarah. “How are things at work? Is the provost still wound up about that project you told me about the other day?”

  “I’m okay. Yeah, the project, whatever the hell it is, still has almost everybody wound up. I wish I knew what was going on, but everybody either avoids the subject or flat-out refuses to talk about it,” Sarah grimaced.