The Magnolia Hidden Among Wolves [IC]

[Hitomi Forsyth]

Sitting in the back Dallas felt really bad for the boy who had come rushing in like a hurricane and with a sigh he stands up and picks up the backpack that he hadn't bothered to return to his room, well it was a good thing he hadn't. Ryan looked about his size so this should work. With a raised hand and a rather polite nod to Mr. Humfrey he starts talking in a kind manner. "Um sir, I know it's probably not going to help but I have some spare clothes I can give Ryan if you would give him a chance to change properly and maybe bandage that wound right." Dallas didn't particularly wait for Mr. Humfrey's response before getting up, walking to the front of the class headphones still sitting on his head looking rather silly. "Hey, here you go." Dallas says to Ryan with a smile and hands the messy kid the backpack. "There's clean underwear and bandages too, can't ever be too prepared honestly so take those and keep them I don't mind." Dallas was a good guy by nature and hated to see someone struggling like this which is probably why he was so good with poems, he was sensitive to other people. Dallas quickly returns to his seat hoping Mr. Humfrey wasn't too angry at Dallas for showing some mercy.

 

[York]

Petrus still sat in the back, tuning into the conversations the students were having until the teacher walked in and introduced himself. Then as someone came in late, he observed Mr Humfrey unleash his wrath on the tardy student, already feeling pity for the irate teacher's first victim, then when another burst in, he one really took the cakewhen it comes to being felt bad for. He was injured, bleeding, and burst into the classroom quite clearly having rushed to class and attempted to arrive on time in vain, Petrus was about to step in to help him out of his current predicament when another student beat him to it. He loe, oked at Mr Humfrey, wondering what his reaction would be, preparing to throw himself in the fray if things wen't downhill...

 

[Vinyl]

"Um sir, I know it's probably not going to help but I have some spare clothes I can give Ryan if you would give him a chance to change properly and maybe bandage that wound right."

Ryan perked at his name and looked like he was about to say something but found, rather embarrassingly, that he'd run out of breath. The guy who'd spoken was about his size and traveling towards the front, a pair of headphones hanging around his shoulders. Ryan's eyes lingered particularly long on the headphones - seemingly more interested in them than in the boy himself. He'd always believed you could judge a person by their shoes, their tech, and what they wore around their neck. Kind of rhymed, even.

"Hey, here you go." The kid said to him with a smile as he finally reached the front.
"There's clean underwear and bandages too, can't ever be too prepared honestly so take those and keep them I don't mind."

...Huh.
Well thank God for boyscouts.

Even while accepting the backpack, the soaking wet man was at a loss as to what to say. It wasn't everyday one came across a peer so generous, though that might have also been because no average guy kept so much stuff on him. Hell, most times half a class would forget a pencil. Not to mention Ryan was significantly more used to giving snark and sass than thanks. The words did come, at length.

"Thank…you. I'll repay you sometime. Swear by it".

He thought he might say more but his classmate had returned quickly to his seat – for a reason probably understandable, of course – Humphrey. Err…Mr. Humphrey.
Speaking of Mr.Humphrey...

Ryan lowered both his voice and his head, sending a flurry of water droplets across the teacher's papers.

"When I was younger, I-"

He stopped short, apparently rethinking what he was about to say.

"I have Costochondritis and collarbone trauma".

He shuffled his feet and winced inwardly. His friends sometimes told him if he ever swallowed his pride, he'd choke. But even though it brought him a bit of pain to admit his own shortcomings, breaking in front of a classroom would be infinitely more embarrassing. With a slight shudder he remembered the first time he'd made that mistake – the teachers doting over him, kids flashing him looks of concern whenever he so much as coughed….and he wasn't a wimp. He wasn't. He could do anything anybody else could do, as long as said thing wasn't 100 pushups.

Just for good measure Ryan brought his already wavering voice down a couple notches more.

"So when I exercise it feels like I'm having a heart attack".

Short silence.

"I think I sent in a note ahead of time. Uh...sir."

 

[Xylime]

Julius' eyes flicked to the side as he saw movement. There, taking a seat next to him was the blue-haired youth from the hall. An amused smile formed as Julius turned to face the boy. Well, that was fast. I wasn't expecting a...friend so soon in the school year. The boy spoke, and Julius flicked his wrist nonchalantly. "Comment away dear. Flattery will get you everywhere with me." The blonde tardy boy started handing out the planners and Julius gave him a nod. "Thanks dear." Returning his attention back to the blue-haired boy, Julius rested his elbow on his desk. He placed his cheek on his limp hand and smiled. "Julius by the way. Julius Johnson. A pleasure dear." Julius quietly awaited the boy's name and was about to speak again when a very wet figure barged into the room. Julius' focus was turned fully to the boy in the doorway and a slight pout came with it. Oh my. He certainly stole the spotlight. How saddening. And I was on a roll too.

Mr. Humfrey didn't seem pleased with this entrance, and demanded the drenched Ryan do push-ups to make up for his blunder. As Ryan walked towards the front of the room, Mr. Humfrey told the class what they were to do, or at least pretend to do. Doing as he was told, Julius opened up the planner to a random page. However, instead of reading it, he pretended to read it as he instead focused his attention on the wet boy who was doomed to a physical punishment.

One of the boys from the back with oddly placed headphones stepped forward, offering dry clothes to the soggy man. He even offered underwear. While still paying attention to the front, Julius' mind pondered on why a boy would need to carry around an extra pair of underwear...and bandages. This thought led to blood...which connecting that to underwear led to... Julius shook his head violently to stop himself from continuing that train of thought. Sheesh...that was awkward. And almost gross. Curse you middle school sex ed. Returning his mind to the scene before him, Julius, being in the front row, was able to hear Ryan's mumbling, or at least the part about collarbone problems. That doesn't sound like a condition that blends well with push-ups.

Julius wished to take pity on the soaked lad, but knew that Mr. Humfrey wasn't going to let him off easy. There was only one thing Julius could think of to get Rainy Ryan out of a physical penalty...but it would mean putting him into a possibly far worse situation. However, better mentally scarred than dead, so Julius decided on his course of action. He intertwined his fingers together and placed his chin atop them while his elbows, like usual, were resting on his desk. "Mr. Humfrey. I think you should make an example of our Dewy Dear here. I say send him to the headmaster's office. That will teach him a lesson he'll never forget...or so I hear." With apologetic eyes, yet a devilish grin upon his face, Julius looked to the damp young man standing at the front, trying to judge whether the boy would forgive Julius, or hate him for all eternity.

 

[Cassette]

A quick search on costochondritis led Mr. Humfrey to realize that it was a legitimate condition. "I presume it's chronic?" Mr. Humfrey inquired, still scanning the medical website, "Fine, instead of two hundred press-ups you can just do ten. And I suppose after that you can go to the toilets to get changed." For Mr. Humfrey this was being super lenient. Admittedly the only reason he was letting the trouble maker get changed was to be rid of him for a few minutes, but that wasn't really the point. What mattered was the fact that this was the best deal Ryan was getting, as revealed by Mr. Humfrey's stern glare. Arguing with Mr. Humfrey was pointless, which Ryan would hopefully pick up on. As for the other boy...

"Since your so eager to relieve your class mate of his punishment," Mr. Humfrey reasoned, turning to face Julius, "How about you do the other one hundred and ninety for him. Unless anybody else would like to contribute and take a share of the press-ups?" Mr. Humfrey prayed that the idiots wouldn't answer the rhetorical question, especially not the spare-clothes boy. What sort of person carried spare clothes around school with them? Certainly not any normal boy. Then again, nobody at this school was exactly normal.

 

[York]

Petrus finally found a way he could help, after listening in to what his classmates told Mr Humfrey, and he devised a less harsh punishment for Peter before turning over to Julius for trying to help. He told Julius to do the rest of the pushups Peter had been excused of before asking if anyone else would like to take a share of his pushups. He thought about Mr Humfrey's request; he figured it was more of a rhetorical question, but he wondered if he'd actually allow students to do what he ironically enough asked them to do. Then, taking a deep breath, he raises his hand "I will, Sir." He said in a respectful tone, thinking to himself afterwards; he could probably take on a good amount of pushups, however he wasn't so sure if he'd be able to do all of them. He hadn't much to lose though, except maybe a little dignity, but it was a loss he could handle, while waiting for a response, he studied Mr Humfrey a little, wondering how he'd react to his question. Worst case scenario, Mr. Humfrey would send him to the headmasters office, but at least then he'd have an idea where the screams are coming from, since there was always the rumors floating around about some sort of secret industry there...

 

[Demaryu]

Trevor payed close attention to the scene the played out in class as he finished handing out the papers with the schools layout in them. It pleased him to see all these strangers coming together to help someone in need at the cost of themselves. The headphone boy impressed him further by helping the other boy with a change of clothes. He finished handing out the papers and went to the seat he first saw when he entered in the front row next farthest from the door next to a window. He witness the Purple haired youth called Juilus attempting to intervene only to be punished as well. Then another boy volunteered to help him out after Mr Humfrey ask what could only be a rhetorical question. Since he was late too and felt he got off easy Tyler felt honor bound to do the same. " Sir i too would like to take some of the share of the push-ups. I was also late i should take the same punishment." Tyler said while standing up from his seat waiting with the other boy for Mr. Humfrey's reply.

 

[Cassette]

Seemingly Mr. Humfrey had been hoping for too much. All Mr. Humfrey wanted to do was give out the punishment to get on with the lesson. He had masses of sheets to give out before anything else, and he was eager to make a certain announcement. It wasn't quite as interesting as the news in assembly, yet it should still stir the class up. But no. Instead they made it so they had to linger on the punishment of press-ups. "Fine, have it your way," Mr. Humfrey snapped, "All three of you can one hundred and ninety press-ups each. I never said I'd divide out the one hundred and ninety press-ups between, so get on with it without complaint, unless want it doubled! The last part includes the boy who's doing ten. Now, get started already!" After giving the four of them a final glower, Mr. Humfrey turned back to his computer, tapping away. Once they'd finished their press-ups he'd get onto giving out timetables. For now though, he'd take a moment to relax, and sort things out. In reality he was eager to hand things out, but Mr. Humfrey forced himself to take a break. Navigating the class room with those four imbeciles on the floor would prove rather difficult. No, instead he'd wait a moment, and try to enjoy the anticipation up to revealing the revelation.

 

[Demaryu]

When Mr. Humfrey finished laying down the law Tyler dropped to the ground and started doing the push-ups. Every since he was young he went through training for martial arts and sword fighting so he was used to harsh physical training. He focused on nothing else except his constant up and down rhythm. He did not wait and see if the other boys had joined him he had just begun. He finishes the push-ups in in a short one minute and thirty seconds. He stands up, dust his uniform off and takes his seat. He begins looking through the planner as Mr. Humfrey had said early. He begins to wonder if the other boys had done the push-ups as well and looks up to check.

 

[Mundane Monster]

Everything was happening so fast, but Ross wasn't worried or the slightest bit concerned. Instead he was just scoping people out, etching their mannerisms into his mind for later. Nobody seemed to be...girl like. But really, what was girl like? Air headed? Giggly? Lustful? Ross didn't have much experience dealing with girls that weren't on tv. It was fair to say that his assumptions were completely off the mark and blatantly sexist. But he didn't really give a rat's ass. The sooner he found the girl, the sooner he could go home and bake to his heart's content.

Leaning back in his chair, he pushed off of the ground until his feet were few inches off the floor, and the chair was balancing on it's back legs. This class was so boring! Other than the few weirdos that had entered, the class and the teacher were horribly uninteresting.

Leaning forward, the chair slammed back onto all four legs, and then rocked back to it's former position. Back and forward, back and forward. Baaacc-- "Ahh!" Ross let out a strangled yelp, as the legs of the chair slid forward and he slammed onto the ground. The boy groaned, and rolled to his side, getting to his feet and rubbing his back. "Guhhh..." He moaned. "Can I go to the nurse?"

 

[Xylime]

Julius' attention snapped away from damp Ryan to Mr. Humfrey as the man declared that Julius would take 190 of Ryan's press-ups. The boy's eyes were wide for a moment as he took in this information, wondering what in the world could have possibly happened to their teacher to make him so fickle. After asking if others wanted to share in the punishment, Julius heard a young man from behind him offer, as well as the tardy blonde boy who had to pass out the planners earlier. Yet again, Mr. Humfrey surprised Julius as the man declared that the three boys would all do 190 push-ups. The purple-haired youth chuckled once before rising from his chair. "My my. It really does seem that no good deed goes unpunished." Julius shimmied his shoulders lightly as he took off his red blazer. He smirked as he draped it over the blue-haired boy's shoulders. Julius leaned closer to the boy's right ear. "You'll watch this for me dear? I would hate to rip it." Julius walked to the front of the class and took a spot next to dark-haired Ryan. Before beginning his task, Julius leaned in as close as he could to Ryan's ear and whispered quietly, so softly that only Ryan would be able to hear what was said.

Facing his classmates, Julius got down on his hands and toes. For the first ten press-ups, he went slow, acting like it was difficult for him to do them. He locked his arms at ten and looked up at the students before him. He gave a wink and began executing them perfectly without any difficulty. After many years of playing every kind of sport imaginable, Julius had attained a strength few knew he possessed. He did the push-ups at an even pace until he reached the hundredth push-up, which was when he decided to have more fun. He did twenty push-ups as fast as he could with only a little less form than his regular ones. For the next twenty-five, Julius placed his right arm behind his back and did them with only his right. For the twenty-five after that, he switched arms. For the last twenty, Julius pushed himself farther off the ground, clapped, caught himself, and repeated until he was done. It took him far more time than tardy boy, but he hoped nonetheless that his fellow classmates would find his show impressive.

The red-eyed boy stood up and gave a bow before returning to his seat, leaving his blazer with his neighbor until Julius cooled down. He was trying not to show the fatigue he felt after showing off. He did his best to keep his body still as he breathed heavily, and the only people who might be able to tell he was tired were any who might still be at the front of the class and his blue-haired neighbor. Julius wanted to make a comment about the task being a piece of cake, but knew that speaking would give away his weariness. Finally when his breathing had returned to normal, he turned to his new acquaintance. He opened his mouth to speak when a loud thud came from near the wall. Julius' eyes were led to a dark-skinned guy who was by that time standing and rubbing his back. The young man asked to go to the nurse's office and Julius turned to the teacher. What will Mr. Humfickle do I wonder? A hint of a smile spread on Julius' lips at the new nickname he'd given his teacher. It wasn't the most clever one he'd come up with, but it was good enough for him. This time, Julius decided to keep his mouth shut. Though showing off had been fun, Julius was worried that the teacher might start experimenting with punishments until he found one that would actually be negative in Julius' opinion.

 

[Hitomi Forsyth]

Dallas had been paying attention the whole time to the show put on by Julius who stood out more than the others now normally that showing off would have made Dallas scoff and ignore them but it was an impressive feat. Although Dallas didn't show the feeling of being impressed for fear of drawing Mr. Humphrey's extremely cindictive attention. He was the type to avoid showing off, being the youngest son of his family he was actually tough mostly from the abuse his brothers had put him through. Fighting and arguing as siblings often did.

After Julius finishes his show Dallas turns his attention back to the planner on his desk. He made a face of annoyance, while he was intelligent he didn't feel a need to keep track of everything. Sighing his attention splinters again as somebody falls over and requests going to the nurse. Well what the heck... This room is full of weirdos, did I end up in the stupid class on accident...? He sighs and tears a piece of paper from his note book, he writes something in it and turns it into a paper airplane that he tosses at Julius hitting him in the back of his head. There isn't anything important or embarrassing inside the paper just an "I'm impressed." Scribbled inside.

 

[York]

Petrus sighed, getting down to do 190 pushups, it wasn't anything he couldn't handle, he liked to keep his body in decent shape, however the most he'd done is 90. In his head he began to count the number of pushups he had done, while pondering which one in his class is that girl, there were quite a few individuals who have the possibilitiy of being her, at the same time, they might just be different from your average male. A sudden loud BANG! caught his attention as one of the students slammed into the ground, it looked quite comical if it wasn't for the fact that he might be seriously hurt. "Perhaps that's the result of a class that takes ages to start." Petrus thought to himself, he was up to 68 now, just 122 more to go, who knows, this might actually be beneficial for him some day...

 

[Cassette]

It took Mr. Humfrey all of his will power not to roll his eyes at Julius' little show. Show-offs were Mr. Humfrey's least favourite type of person, to say the least. But Mr. Humfrey appreciated the fact that Julius had actually finished all of the press-ups, alongside of Tyler, rather than just delay or complain about them. Petrus was taking longer than the other two to get on with his press-ups, although it was a difficult feat, and at least he was still getting them done. The real problem was Ryan, who was yet to start. However Mr. Humfrey decided to allow a prolonged preparation time in this case, considering Ryan's injury. Mr. Humfrey's job wasn't just to bully the children, after all. Overall then, that incident was finished, meaning that Mr. Humfrey could move on.

CRASH! Or maybe not. Seemingly Mr. Humfrey would have to deal with this incidence too now. Nonetheless, Mr. Humfrey was determined not to let this turn into a major occurrence, so he could finally declare his news. "No, you may not go to the nurse," Mr. Humfrey dictated, not even glancing at Ross, "Although in future you are allowed to use a high chair, if that will keep you safer. Otherwise, I would advise you not to rock on your chair." With that, Mr. Humfrey concluded the case was closed. He doubted that Ross would continue making protests, unless he wanted Mr. Humfrey to go into the embarrassing details of how one is supposed to sit on a chair, and the advantages of a high chair. Presumably the boy had enough brain cells to know to put up with it, albeit not everyone in the class did. For the sake of progress, Mr. Humfrey would trust the boy.

Fairly abruptly, Mr. Humfrey pushed his chair back, and stood up. Meandering other to the door, Mr. Humfrey hoped that his surprise was where it was meant to be, waiting outside in the corridor. He'd made a fuss about it being there at the right time, yet the other party's reliability was questionable. There was no use worrying about it now though- Mr. Humfrey refused to wait any longer, and if things were sent into disarray, then he'd simply have to put up with it. Clearing his throat, Mr. Humfrey began, "Now, I have a declaration to make. Usually I'd wait until later on in a lesson to excite a class. However you're all already riled up from the announcement of the competition, plus we have all morning to sort out timetables and the like. So, instead of prolonging it any further I shall tell you all now." Of course the real reason was because of the impatience itching throughout Mr. Humfrey's body, nobody else needed to know that though. "As you are all aware, Belford Academy already has the guest of a female student upon it's premises," Mr. Humfrey continued steadily, "This is not the only guest that Belford Academy is going to be host to. After a deal with the prestigious Stagfire Academy, we shall also be looking after a Russian exchange student, who shall be joing our form. So I would like to introduce to you all, Aki Kagamine." Accordingly Mr. Humfrey opened the door, revealing Aki waiting outside.

 

[Mundane Monster]

Ross sucked his teeth and glowered at the teacher. "Um, wow. At-ti-tu-de." He grumbled putting emphasis on the last part. "You are doing way too much." He said a bit louder, but sat back down in his chair. The pain in his back was fading but he was sure that it would come back as an annoyingly dull ache. That was gonna be a bitch to take care of later.

When Humphrey introduced the supposed Russian exchange student, Ross raised an eyebrow incredulously. "I'm sorry, Aki Kagamine? Are you sure he's Russian, cause last time I checked that was a Japanese name." He stated. He knew that he needed to shut his mouth, but Humphrey was just rubbing him the wrong way. Although technically he was probably going to cause more friction with the student in question but Ross got the feeling that Humphrey wouldn't appreciate his impromptu name origin verification.

 

[Crimson77]

Spoiler

"That is very true, smart boy," Aki stated bursting through the door. "My name and heritage is indeed Japanese." He continued as he slithered to the front of Ross, an aura of confidence surrounding him. " However, I grew up here and come from Russia." Aki stated, a Russian accent slightly revealed in his speech. "I am here now to learn and maybe..." Aki smirked, trailing off. A teasing glint in his eyes, followed by a wink at Ross' direction and he was back to walking to Mr.Humfrey's side.

Aki had a hand in a pocket and the other remained swinging by his side. "Now, as interesting as my history is to the next guy," Aki chuckled darkly, "I am not here to be a teacher, am I?" Aki stated cockily with an eyebrow raised, now by Mr. Humfrey's side.

"My name is Aki Kagamine. You may refer to me as either Aki or Autumn, to which I do not mind either." He stated. "And as Mr.Humfrey has said, I come from Stagfire Academy. Pleased to be making your acquaintance," Aki bowed and stood back upright, the smirk never leaving, neither was the dark shine in his eyes. "While I am here I am hoping to have a lot of..." Aki cocked his head slightly to the side, "Fun."



​

 

[Cassette]

Mr. Humfrey couldn't even be bothered to speak to Ross, let alone scold him. For people who had as much attitude as Ross, or complained as much as him, Mr. Humfrey had learned the easiest thing to do was just ignore them. Arguing with Ross would take too long, and end up with Mr. Humfrey feeling frustrated. So Ross' irksome comments would go unanswered... for now. While Ross was safe to do as he pleased for some time, if he got too out of hand it was be obvious where he would be sent.

As for Aki, Mr. Humfrey was used to such cocky characters attending this school, to the extent that he didn't even register arrogance was any more. The only thing Aki said that Mr. Humfrey actually acknowledged was Aki's final statement - he was hoping to have a lot of fun. Secretly, Mr. Humfrey also hoped Aki would stir things up a bit. Sure, there was the competition, but there was no guarantee that would liven things up within the confines of the classroom. Confident and troublesome characters, on the other hand, could make things rather interesting. A character which Aki seemed to be, even if he wasn't the only one.

"Right, you may take a seat Aki. I'm not sure everybody here will treat you well, but you can deal with that sort of thing yourself," Mr. Humfrey droned, his monotone voice not revealing any of his inner emotions, "Moving on, I'm going to give everybody a decision to make. Sensibly. The class can either get their timetables next, to see what lessons you have each day, or we can do some team building exercises first. Team building being where you learn people's names, and decide who you're going to be friends with for the rest of the year. Or something like that."

 

[Vinyl]

It seemed that chaos had laid a finger on this form room in particular.
Not that that was a bad thing, of course.
To be honest, Ryan couldn't have been more satisfied. Amongst the falling students and flexing peers and foreign introductions happening almost rapid-fire around him, the sopping wet young man had managed to slink unnoticed back to his seat. Nobody - or at least he hoped nobody - had seen him wheezing and shaking out his eigth (and self-appointed last) press-up like a goob. Nobody had seen him curl up against the wall afterwards to catch his breath, or seen when his soaked sweatpants had fallen particularly low after getting back up.
He hadn't noticed much anyone else had been doing either though, what with the blood roaring in his head and the adrenaline pumping through his veins.
But the way he kept placing a hand over his ear suggested that that had more to do with Julius's whispered message than the exercise.

Ryan dropped the donated backpack of clothes next to him with a small grunt. He'd change later. The wet cloth was starting to feel nice against his body anyway.

Instead, he watched the new guy - the foreign guy - with a sort of amused interest. Foreign exchange students were his favorite - he could still remember his days a newb in the country. And besides - it would be nice to get to know someone who hadn't seen him stumble in like a drunkard.
Though the wet hair plastered to his face and the snarky girl's tee probably didn't help his case.

Regardless, when Humphrey - damn that man - told Aki to take a seat, Ryan raised a hand, shivered as the water dripped down his arm, and motioned to the empty seat beside him. Aki didn't seem to make a move immediatley though, and the teacher was continuing.

"Moving on, I'm going to give everybody a decision to make. Sensibly. The class can either get their timetables next, to see what lessons you have each day, or we can do some team building exercises first. Team building being where you learn people's names, and decide who you're going to be friends with for the rest of the year. Or something like that."

Again Ryan lifted a hand into the air, though he may as well not have because he spoke without being called on.
"I vote for the gam-...Team Building exercises". Since he wasn't as breathless and rushed now his accent pronounced itself a tad more clear, though whether it was Australian or English still remained undistinguishable.

 

[York]

Petrus stood up, finally finishing the pushups, reaching into his backpack and grabbing a towel to wipe off the sweat on his forehead, he swore he'd get himself killed one day with his selflessness, making a mental note to put on some de-oderant sooner rather than later, he wondered if all boys sweated this much or if it was just him... His muscles ached, but he didn't complain, instead he looked at the Russian transfer student whom Mr. Humfrey had told them about while he was doing his pushups with some interest... "Another to add to the list of possibilities..." He thought to himself, realizing how big the list could be considering there's an entire school full of people, but then again, there were alot of fairly obvious exceptions... After a moment of recuperating, Mr Humfrey asked the class whether they wanted to do team building excercises or recieve their timetables. As much as he wasn't really fond of team building at the moment, he supposed it would be for the best if he got it over with first. Plus, this might give him an edge on figuring out who was the one amongst the many....

 

[Cassette]

Realizing that the question he had posed could create utter chaos, Mr. Humfrey quickly amended it. "Right, if you want to pla-...do team-building activities, then put your hands up now," Mr. Humfrey hurriedly added, "If you want timetables, keep your hand down." "And please please please don't shout out your answer," Mr. Humfrey thought to himself. How could he have been so stupid as to pose the entire class a question? It could only result in them all screeching out their answers all at once, giving Mr. Humfrey a headache. Not a good start to the term. It was fixed now though, so the chances were they'd all put their hands up. Unless, of course, they wanted to jeopardize this opportunity to go on a miniature witch hunt, while finding allies to betray.

Meanwhile, Ryan and Petrus had totally escaped Mr. Humfrey's attention. He was losing most of his memory with age, meaning he didn't tend to notice what students did after recieving punishments. Mr. Humfrey's memory was too full up with knowledge of his specialist topic for him to notice such unworthy beings...which gave the said 'unworthy beings' a tiny window of opportunity to get away with blue murder.