Chapter 6

After the door to the Dean's office closed behind me, I transported to my own office, startling the staff in her outer office by my sudden departure. I did this instead of going directly to my class so that I could listen to what transpired in the Dean's office. Arriving there, I turned on my computer and selected the new file that I had created, so I could listen to what was being said presently in the Dean's office. You see when I cast the spell to cancel the Magic that had been used to keep them from hearing what was on the recording from my encounter with Professor Harrington yesterday, I included a second component in the spell so it would record separately what was said later in the Dean's office.

Unlike my relatives who now resided in the Other Reality and in the Third Reality, all of whom had little need to deal with computers and other electronic devices, those of us remaining here in the Reality of Less Magic did. It wasn't widely known, but my Graduate Degree and Master's Degree were both in computer science and its related equipment. Oh, I had my PhD in Magic all right, but that had only required a minimum amount of study.

The people here at Boston University had only done a minimal background check on me with the University of Georgia since I am an O'Connell. They were only interested in learning if I had my PhD in Magic. They failed to ask about my other studies, and the people at UGA hadn't volunteered any other information. It was therefore extremely simple for me to tap into their recording system and to learn what went on without them being aware of it. I just needed to be careful, since too much use of Magic could wipe out their entire computer system.

I was quite surprised by what I heard Harrington confess to the Dean. I had originally thought that she might be in league with him, but from what I heard, it didn't sound that way. When I had heard everything that occurred following my departure from the Dean's office, I closed the recording and moved it to a separate file at another location in the computer's memory. One that only I knew existed.

Feeling somewhat better about things, I left my office after turning off my computer and walked up to the classroom where my class was in session. I found Alisha teaching the class and Ryan there assisting her. I stopped in the hall to listen for a few minutes before entering the room.

Everything came to an abrupt halt when I appeared in the doorway. There was a long pause before anyone said anything.

"Is everything all right?" Alisha finally asked.

"Certainly!" I answered. "I just needed to meet with the Dean for a short time this morning. There isn't any problem."

"So you are still teaching here?" Ryan asked, but I could sense that a number of other students had the same question on their minds.

"Of course!" I answered with a grin. "You didn't expect to get out of any of my exams that easily, did you?" I asked -- to smiles from a number of the students and frowns from others.

"Do you want to take over the class now?" Alisha asked in a worried voice.

"No! You were doing a fine job before I entered. Go ahead and continue. I'll just sit in the back and listen," I told her. I could see the nervous look on Alisha's face on hearing this. It was one thing to teach the class on her own, but quite another to teach it when there was someone important there watching what she was doing and saying.

I felt like telling her, 'just pretend that I'm not here, ' but thought that might make her even more nervous. Instead I just sat in the back of the room and closed my eyes. I'm sure that I appeared to be asleep, but I heard every word that was spoken, and could easily imagine the look on the speakers' faces. I did cheat just a bit and used a spell to see exactly what was going on during one exchange during the class, but no one noticed.

I took over and taught the next class, which was a lab and was held in a different room; one that was protected by special wards that my Relatives had developed while teaching Magic. Ryan went to study, but Alisha stayed to assist me. Following the conclusion of the second class, we adjourned for lunch, but didn't go to the cafeteria as usual. Instead, I transferred the three of us to the restaurant where Leila and I had eaten several times. Ryan had rejoined us near the conclusion of the lab class. We were seated and had ordered before the questions started.

"Now, tell us what really happened!" Alisha demanded. I smiled at her.

"We didn't believe that bullshit that you put out for a minute," Ryan added.

"Neither did a lot of your other students!" said Henry as he joined us at our table. He was one of my other PhD students. "It's out all over campus though," he added.

"I was stopped by two campus cops when I stepped out of my office this morning," I began, and ran through what had happened from there. I did not, however, mention my monitoring of what had occurred in the Dean's office after I had left there.

"Do you think that he will accept your challenge?" Ryan asked when I had finished.

"I don't know. He wasn't happy about the challenge, and I don't believe that he could pass the Master's Level exam as given by those in the Otherworld. His Talent just isn't sufficiently strong," I told them.

"But we all passed that examination!" the three candidates objected.

"Yes, you each did. All three of you have much stronger Talents than Harrington has," I assured them to looks of surprise from them.

"If you are careful, one of you could check his level of Talent while passing him in the hall or in his office. Just open your Magic senses while you are around him," I told them. "But keep your wards ready when you do this," I also warned them. There were smiles around the table at this. We quickly finished our meal following that, and I transferred the four of us back to the classroom for the start of the next class, which was also a lab. Henry remained to assist me for that one. Later that afternoon, I met with all of my PhD students for our regular session in yet a different room.

All four of my PhD students were on time. Boston University had so many students in their PhD Magic program because they were the only school in the area with a PhD program in Magic, and they accepted students from the other universities in the surrounding states. Ryan was the last to arrive but looked like the cat that had swallowed the canary.

"Well!" Henry demanded on seeing him. "Out with it."

"Holy cow, Professor Tom! You were right! Professor Harrington has a less than strong Talent. It's weaker than any of ours and feels just a bit stronger than an undergraduates at Third Level," Ryan said in an excited voice.

"Be more respectful, Ryan," Alisha cautioned him.

"How can that be?" Merriam, my most recent student, asked in amazement.

"Professor Harrington is a very egotistical person, and he somehow convinced those in charge here that he was qualified for the job of Head of the Magic Department," I told them. "They had no independent way of checking on his level of Talent." I wasn't worried about any of this being recorded or overheard, as I had previously used a spell to disable the recording pickups in this area. It was too dangerous for someone who was unqualified to try to duplicate anything that my senior students could do and in any case the amount of Magic used here had fried their pickups long ago.

"Like he didn't have friends in high places, too," Henry said in a suspicious voice.

"Enough about Harry Harrington," I told them. "We need to get back to business. I want a report from each of you on where you are in your studies and then we'll go over any problems you are having. We'll start with Merriam, since she is the newest and finish with Alisha who is the most advanced, and should graduate this year, if she continues at her current pace," I told them, and we spent the next several hours going over their status and problems. Consequently, it was well after 6:00 that evening before I arrived home.

I transferred from my office at Boston University to my bedroom at my Parents' house and received quite a shock. Leila was there and crying her eyes out. I was dumbfounded for a number of seconds before moving over to her on the bed to comfort the poor girl.

"Leila, what's wrong!?" I asked gently, as I reached out for her.

"Oh Thomas!" she moaned and came into my arms and continued to cry. I held her and patted her back for the longest time. She eventually calmed down some and the crying was reduced.

"Tell me what's wrong, Sweetie. I'm sure that we can fix it, what ever it is," I told her.

"Nothing is wrong!" she told me with a sniffle. "Everything is too right!" she moaned and started to cry again. This statement really confused me. If things were all right, why was she crying??

I held her for a further time. She was so soft and warm, and her hair smelled of the herbal shampoo that she had washed it with. Eventually, she calmed down some again.

"Tell me what is so right," I asked her quietly.

"Your Mother and Aunt," she began with another sniffle, "took me to town to buy clothes this morning. I only had a little bit of the money left that you retrieved in Boston and was worried that I wouldn't be able to afford any of the clothes that they showed me.

"We went to several stores in a shopping center and looked at dresses, skirts, and blouses. They were all expensive. Your Mother and Aunt insisted that I pick out some that I liked. When I told them that I didn't have the money for any of them, they just smiled and said not to worry. They paid for all of the clothes! I couldn't believe it!" she finished.

"They said last night that they would take you to get clothes today. Did you doubt them?" I asked, confused.

"In the past, people had told me that they would get me things, but I always wound up having to pay for them. They never bought things for me," she confessed with a sniff.

"What else did you do today?"

"In several of the stores, they met women whom they knew. Apparently they were other O'Connell women. They introduced me to all of them, and told them that you had brought me here from Boston. Some of the women didn't appear happy when Boston was mentioned, but they all treated me well. Later as we were preparing to return, all of them brought me something that they had purchased for me. Most were small things, but it was the thought that was important. None of my Parents' friends had ever given me anything, even for my birthday or Christmas! I've never been treated so nicely before," she moaned, as the tears started again.

I held her to me even tighter and after a time leaned down and kissed her. The kiss lasted a long, long time. When we finally came up for air, Leila seemed better.

"I can't do anything about your Parents' friends, but I can tell you that what you encountered was a fairly typical O'Connell response. The women were glad to meet you and to learn that I brought you here. The ladies here have been trying to get me married off for a number of years now, but I never met the right woman before," I told her and gave her another kiss, but just a short one this time. There was a knock on the bedroom door shortly after that, and my Mother opened the door.

"Are you two better now?" she asked, as she looked in, "It's getting late and dinner is ready."

"We'll be down in a couple of minutes, Mom," I told her, as I released Leila.

"Yes, we'll be right down, Mother O'Connell," Leila said with a sniff.

"All right," Mom agreed, and closed the door.

"You should wash your face before we go downstairs," I told her. She turned and looked in the mirror to see the tear streaks on her cheeks and the red eyes from crying.