Chapter 28: Mistrust
Edie, Dawn, and Corrie exchanged wide-eyed looks. Edie thought her other two friends were probably thinking the same thing as she was--did Professor Strega have the Sight too? Or did she have another reason to be suspicious of Professor Lal? Either way, they probably needed to be particularly wary.
Roe didn't seem to have noticed their startlement. "She asked about the other person in my vision, too," she continued. "I don't remember anything still, but she did say she knows some questioning techniques that might help me remember more details."
"What, like hypnotism?" asked Edie, astonished. She was getting used to the idea that magic was real and was actually taught at this school, but she didn't think of hypnotism as even in the same realm as real magic--just charlatan's tricks.
Roe raised her eyebrows in surprise. "She didn't use the word hypnotism," she said slowly. "But I guess it might be. I have heard good things about hypnotism in therapy, though, so this might be the same kind of thing."
"Well, thanks for letting us know," said Corrie with an encouraging smile. "Will you tell us if anything useful happens in your tutoring session?"
"Definitely," Roe said. "Actually, can we swap cell phone numbers? I'll feel safer knowing we can get in touch with each other."
"Oh, good idea," said Dawn. She took her phone out of her pocket and they all traded numbers.
Roe walked them to the door when they had finished. "I guess I'll see you later. Be careful!"
The three of them were quiet as they hurried, by common accord, to Corrie and Edie's room. (They must have looked worried or frightened--Edie noticed Helene from across the hall giving them an odd look.) When they had reached it, Corrie locked the door behind them, and they all sat together on Corrie's bed, where they could talk quietly. "So do you think Professor Strega has the Sight too?" Corrie asked immediately.
Dawn nodded. "That's the only explanation I can think of. I mean, she actually said she didn't trust her fellow teacher? I mean, that's not something they're supposed to say, even if they don't like each other--they should support each other in front of students."
"I think it's strange that she would say that, even if she does know Professor Lal is a faerie," said Edie, frowning. "Surely she knows about the agreement? I think there must be something else that makes Professor Strega not trust her."
"Professor Lal might not know that she knows," Dawn pointed out. "She could tell I could see her real appearance because I was shocked, but if Professor Strega is used to seeing faeries, she might be able to hide her surprise."
That made sense to Edie, and she nodded slowly. "But just being a faerie doesn't necessarily make her untrustworthy... I mean, Ever turned out to be really helpful, even if it was her fault Annie got kidnapped in the first place."
"Professor Strega might not know that," said Corrie. "The odds seem to be that any given faerie is going to be pretty damn evil--she might think that any faerie is necessarily evil."
"But that doesn't mean Professor Lal isn't evil," said Dawn.
"No, of course not." Corrie sighed. "I really like her as a teacher, so I don't want to think she's evil, but the evidence is hard to ignore."
Dawn shivered suddenly. "If you could see her, you wouldn't have such trouble thinking she's evil. She seems really nice when she talks, but she has those claws and those black eyes... she just looks like she could eat your soul and still have room for dessert."
"Appearances don't mean anything, though, at least not when it comes to faeries," Edie said, remembering the ones they had met in the woods. "There were a few faeries in the woods who looked harmless or nice... there was one who was sort of goatish. And the leader was just gorgeous."
"Not the whole time," said Dawn softly. "But you're right, I don't think appearances mean anything."
"This is so frustrating," said Corrie. "We can't do anything about it, and we don't know when Roe's vision is going to happen, if it ever does."
"If Professor Strega really does have the Sight, though, there's something we might be able to do," said Edie.
"What's that?" Dawn asked.
"You could get lessons with her. There must be ways to learn to use the Sight better, right? And Professor Lal wouldn't want to help because none of the faeries seem to want you to see them better."
"Edie, that's brilliant," Dawn said, grinning at her. "You're just full of great ideas tonight, aren't you?"
Edie was embarrassed, but pleased. "Well, I hope it works."
Dawn stood up and stretched. "I feel better. Okay, I really had better get to that psych reading."
"Crap," said Edie, remembering, "we have Jasmine tomorrow, don't we? I have to finish that stupid essay."
"See you guys tomorrow!" said Dawn as she left.
Comments
Hmm...
Personally, I'm voting that Strega doesn't have Sight, but visions. After all, that's why Roe was sent to her, because she's better at foretellings than Lal.
I agree that teachers shouldn't bad mouth other teachers, but just because Strega doesn't trust Lal doesn't mean Lal is evil. Lal could simply be more powerful than Strega and she's jealous, or that because Lal is a faerie/magically powerful, she might naturally find herself more in the middle of subduing magical trouble. So, it might perhaps look to an outsider/vision-seer that perhaps Lal is causing the trouble, not ending it.
If Strega Was Suspicious
Of Lal merely because Strega has the Sight and knows Lal's a faerie, surely the first thing she would do is voice her concerns to those in charge (she wouldn't be worried about not being believed, given that the school actually teaches magic). Thus it would be brought to the attention of those concerned and Strega would know they would deal with it, rather than resorting to cryptic warnings to students.
I agree that it's probably something to do with visions, since that seems to be Strega's forté, and that cause and effect aren't always clear: just because Lal's associated with danger, it doesn't mean she causes it. And let's not forget that Lal is the one who reccomended that Roe should talk to Strega. Lal, at least, seems to trust Strega and not have concerns about her, and it's likely that she doesn't know that Strega is suspicious of her. Either that or she just doesn't care, because she doesn't think anyone will believe Strega or she doesn't think she's in any danger from that area. We don't know how strong Lal's position is, but it's almost certain that those running the school know she's a faerie and trust her anyway, insofar as teaching goes, so she wouldn't be worried about that being revealed.
I'd still be inclined to be wary of both teachers though, especially as we don't know their motives for anything!
Unless I miss my mark...
I'd be willing to bet that Lal is very aware of Strega's feelings, but just doesn't care. Lal knows her weaknesses, knows Strega's a good teacher, and overlooks the animosity to help those with foretelling magic hone it. I don't think it's a matter of no one believing Strega, but perhaps more of Strega being wrong if her distrust springs from visions. For example, Strega might have forseen say Lal slapping a student and confront her, only to have it be revealed that the student was hysterical which the vision hadn't shown very clearly. While it's not right to typically slap a student, in the case of a hysterical person, it's acceptable. Lal probably has the right of it when context is applied. But that is just my idea, hehe.
I agree of being wary of both teachers until you can get some understanding of the underlying issues. Of course, the girls are pre-disposed to be distrustful of faeries, which might lead them to being easily manipulated by Strega to prove some point against Lal. But we shall see how it goes.
Don't think so
I do not think that Professor Lal would object helping Dawn to train her sight...
and I guess she would be way better in it than Professor Strega - and I doubt that Professor Strega has the sight - she might be a faerie, too, since Professor Lal said there are more of them in the teacher's body, or she might not. I wonder if we learn some teachers soon that are also faeries...
I think Professor Lal is ok. She even told Roe to go to Prof. Strega who obviously does not like her - because she is not good in that field. I doubt she would have done that if she were evil...
mjkj
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