“How surprising,” Madame Morrible said in a droll manner when Elphaba walked in half an hour later. “I had expected Miss Upland to be late and you to be on time, Miss Thropp. It ended up being quite the opposite.”

“There was a commotion in my history class," Elphaba said nervously. Quietly she added "I think I had a hand in it." She spoke up louder, somewhat more confident than before "I’m late because I needed to collect myself.”

Morrible moved her piercing glance over to Galinda. “Forgive me if I'm wrong, but are you not in the same class, Miss Upland?”

Galinda gave a nervous smile, surprised she became the center of attention after enjoying Elphaba struggle a bit. “I am. I was just so excited for this class that I ended up forgetting about it. I’m sorry. I won’t miss any more classes, Madame Morrible.” The apology seemed tacked on.

Morrible waved her hand dismissively in a way that neither of the two students were sure that she even heard anything other than the last few words. “Apology accepted,” Morrible replied in the same manner as her wave. She changed her tone to a more authoritarion one as she changed the topic. “Now, where did we leave off last time, Miss Thropp?”

“Shrinking spells, Madame," Elphaba said very obediently. Galinda did a double-take, never hearing Elphaba sound anything like that before. But then again, she never paid attention to her roommate unless she felt like teasing her.

“Ah, yes, of course. Thank you Miss Thropp.” Elphaba and Galinda both knew that it was just Morrible testing her to make sure she was keeping track of what was going on. Morrible was that transparent at that moment.

Morrible briefly explained the theory, incantation and motions to cause the spell to work, showing it on a prize teapot she had and then asked the girls to preform the spell on its teacups.

Elphaba preformed flawlessly, Galinda struggled. “It figured,” Morrible said quietly. Elphaba looked up at her.

“No wonder you’re not doing well, Miss Upland. You have so much pressure. Ignore the world around you. That always works with me.”

Galinda smiled. “That sounds like a nice idea, Miss Thropp.” Galinda took the information and managed to show proof in managing the spell, although her results were not as dramatic as the other girl’s. “I could do it. Elphaba! I’m doing it!”

Elphaba smiled. “I knew you could.” Elphaba didn’t have the heart to admit she messed with the item and used it only a little. As much as she idolized Madame Morrible, she couldn’t stand the patronizing treatment she gave her roomie. Even Galinda didn’t deserve it. Then it sunk it. “Did you just call me Elphaba?”

Galinda nodded. “It’s your name, isn’t it?”

“Yeah, but your friends will get upset if and when they find out you used my first name.”

Galinda shrugged nonchalantly. Even her nonchalant shrugs had some of her usual flouce and hair flips. “I won’t use it in front of them, then.”

Morrible cleared her throat with a high-pitched hem-hem. “Pardon me young ladies, but I believe this is a class and not a social hour.”

“My apologies,” both said.

“Accepted,” Morrible said in the same dismissive tone as before with the same gesture. “I expect a paper from each of you about the theory behind the spell in a week. Until our next meeting, farewell.” The two girls turned to leave. “Oh, Miss Thropp, I would like to talk to you for a moment. Can you stay for a while?”

“Yes, Madame.”

Galinda looked back as she stood in the door frame. “Bye Miss Thropp, I suppose I shall see you in our room?” Elphaba nodded. That reassured Galinda enough to leave the room. Elphaba closed the door behind her.

“What is it you wanted to talk to me about, Madame?”

“The Wizard has requested to see you.” Morrible gave a small smile as she handed Elphaba an emerald green envelope with the seal of the Wizard holding it shut. Elphaba opened it, half expecting it to be a dream. True enough, it was a message from the Wizard requesting her presence as soon as possible.

“How soon is preferred?”

“I’ll give you enough time to pack. You can leave next weekend.”

“But Madame Morrible, what about my classes?”

“If you want the truth, I don’t know if you’ll even return. If you please the Wizard, he’d likely want you to stay.”

The idea made her happy for a moment, but she realized it was an “if” statement “But what if I don’t? And if I do, who’ll take care of Nessa?”

“If you don’t, I’m sure you’ll be able to catch up in your classes easily enough. And if you do, I’ll make sure Nessarose has a first class caretaker.”

“Thank you Madame Morrible. I’ll try not to disappoint you and Shiz.”

“My dear, you never could.”