|
The lessons - entirely theoretical - went on for a week. So many notes were required that Fléin ended up owing the professor a few hundred trees in paper tax.
The Dwarf of Ketchup - Ketchupkin was his/her name - became Fléin's close friend. It turned out s/he actually shared a room with Alli, which Fléin thought was rather coincidental. They sat next to each other and, in the intermittent periods of the professor's relative quiet, talked a lot. The thought of Wilhelmina faded from Fléin's head quickly, and so did thoughts of A Slan. All he needed now was to ensure Ketchupkin's gender, and then... who knows?
The newly forged friendship kept Fléin's spirits up throughout what would otherwise be a very gruelling time. He absorbed none of his notes, and the pair spent much time discussing their respective childhoods at the feet of the Orocarni.
And, all too soon, it was finals day.
Fléin approached it with a brave face. The other Dwarves went first, none of them exactly sure what they were doing. The exam was a practical - against the professor. Nobody even knew any self-defence moves, yet alone how to harm a troll.
The tables were piled against a wall and a fighting arena prepared.
Four broken Dwarves were led away, one by one, each with a big F spray painted into his or her beard. Ketchupkin was up next.
Fléin thought the other Dwarf put up rather a good fight. Ketchupkin managed to get ketchup into professor Trunchbull's eyes, both blinding and enraging him. He staggered around whilst Ketchupkin hacked at his feet, but eventually, the professor stepped on the unfortunate Dwarf's beard and caushed him or her to cry out in pain. Quickly located, Ketchupkin was duly bashed on the head with a stone fist. An Orc assistant sprayed an F on the Dwarf's beard and hauled the body away.
Fléin was so enraged he attacked right away. He found himself yelling strange words that he didn't know before and that he couldn't explain. Afterwards, he deemed himself possessed. While he hacked at the professor's feet, he distinctly remembered yelling "lumos!" and blinding the troll with a flash of light. This gave him a perfect chance to hack the creature in the stomach.
The battle raged on, with Fléin yelling odd words every now and then and swiping with his axe, and the professor staggering around in a blind rage. Then, Fléin yelled "expelliarmus!" - Illamatar knew what it meant - and the professor's arms fell off!
"Okay! I surrender!" he shouted, unfortunately before Fléin could decapitate him. He had an odd urge to find a length of wood and stick it up the professor's nose.
The troll seemed to have no such intentions. He ordered an orc to hand Fléin a card declaring his passing with distinctions, then had him shoved out of the room into the corridor.
|