"What do you think of our training today?" Janice asked when the gang
stepped out of the Defence against the Dark Arts classroom.
"Oh, it was... okay." Amelia mumbled.
"You okay? You sound a bit moody." Janice remarked.
"Yeah, I'm fine." Just fine. Amelia added silently. Apparently, she's
still thinking about the about what Professor Orbanaz had told them about the
Test earlier.
As it was almost midnight, the gang hastily hid themselves under Janice's Invisibility
cloak and returned to their common room.
"Bao Lien Tern." Janice whispered to the dozing Cheongsam lady.
"If you say so." She mumbled and let them pass through.
Back in their dormitories, Janice, as usual, fell asleep the moment her head
hit the pillow. However, Landy, Zoya and Amelia stayed awake, thinking of the
Test. Even though none of them spoke about it throughout the night, they were
all thinking the same question; how the heck is Janice going to pass the Test
when she couldn't even handle a stake properly? Eventually, they still fell
asleep anyway.
"You… You... guys look horrible." Janice remarked to the three
girls the next morning. The trio looked as though a hooligan had punched them
in the eye. They had deep dark circles under their eyes and were very pale.
"We... look terrible? " Zoya whispered. With that, she rushed to the
bathroom mirror and within seconds, screams could be heard from the bathroom,
loud enough to shake the whole CuiHua common room. Before they knew it, there
was a rush of flurry before them, which was actually Zoya, who rushed to the
bedside mirror and stared at her reflection again while shrieking " I'm
such a freak!" over and over again and rummaging around her wardrobe for
something.
"You okay, Zoya?" Janice squeaked.
"Obviously I'm not! Now where's that- found it!" Zoya shrieked, as
she held out a tiny bottle with the words 'Miss Haslinda's Magic Concealer-
conceals everything like magic!' and quickly tipped some of its contents out
of the bottle and rubbed it vigorously around her eyes.
When Zoya's work was done, they quickly hurried down to the hall for their Breakfast,
as classes were about to start in half an hour's time.
"Hey you guys had dark circles too, eh? " Lawrence remarked when the
girls reached the CuiHua table. The boys too, had deep circles under their eyes
and looked as though they could drop dead at any time.
"Take this then, it works for me." Zoya said, as she fished out the
bottle of concealer and handed it over to the boys, who gratefully took it and
rubbed it around their eyes. Landy and Amelia also took some from Zoya with
permission.
"What did you guys do last night? Play chess? I don't think so." Janice
remarked.
"We were, we were just thinking of the Tes- just thinking about something."
Lawrence mumbled, not looking at Janice in the eye when he said that.
"What do you guys know that I don't? Spill it! " Janice hissed, furious that her friends knew something important and left her in the dark.
Left with no choice, the gang had to fill Janice in about what Professor Orbanaz
had told them about the Test. When they had finished, Janice merely kept quiet
and continued eating her breakfast.
"You okay, Janice? " Landy said, worried about Janice's behaviour.
Silence.
"Janice?"
It was then did Janice wake up from her trance and looked around like a lost
child.
"What?"
"You okay?" Landy repeated.
"Yeah, I'm fine. When's Defence against the Dark Arts?" She replied,
taking a mouthful of Porridge.
"Last lesson." Boon Kee said, as he checked his timetable.
With that, Janice made a mental note to meet up with Professor Orbanaz after Defence against the Dark Arts. Hurriedly, she finished her porridge and quickly dashed to the dungeons for Potions.
***
"Professor Orbanaz? Can I talk to you for a while?" Janice said when
Defence against the Dark Arts was over.
"What is it, Janice? Is it about your training?" Professor Orbanaz
replied, as he tidied his desk.
"Actually, I was wondering... why didn't you tell me about the Test?"
she blurted.
Janice expected Professor Orbanaz to deny everything about the Test, telling
her that everything he had told the gang was just a joke. But he merely sighed
and replied. "I should have guessed that your friends will tell you about
it, because you're not supposed to know it until two weeks before the test,
but never mind about that, we now have to focus on your training, which is the
most important thing now. For the moment, we'll just focus on the basics, like
handling the stake. You still need a bit of help in that, and of course, you
know, you don't have to come back for training on Thursday next week because
you'll have to go back home to celebrate Chinese New Year, which I believe you
knew about? "
"We'll be going back next week? When is it? "
"Why don't you check your house notice board? It has more details because
I'm not the head of any house so I don't really know much."