Detention: Broom Polishing

Leaving the Great Hall as soon as he was finished eating, Keith rushed over to Bloeddewedd Tower to drop off his books and other supplies. He then walked at a brisk pace toward the Broomstick Bastion, reflecting back on the day and how far along he had come in the short time he had thus far been at this school.

Magic was changing him. He would have been just another scrawny, awkward kid who didn’t fit in where he was to begin with if he had stayed at Livermore. He probably wouldn’t have met someone like Lina, he thought as he smiled to himself.

“Someone’s in Looove!” called out a student from a rapidly conversing group that had nearly walked into. Hiding the embarrassment on his face and neither confirming or denying that statement, Keith quickened his pace as he exited the main castle.

Nearing his destination, he decided that things weren’t so bad, considering his detention. He was starting to become acclimated to the school. Once he was finished with this first week, things would start to look up. His stepdad had told him the same thing when he transferred to Livermore Elementary. Steve was right, more or less. There were a few bullies and a few friends there, but nothing magical like there was here. Overall, that was a good thing.

Professor Salomon was waiting for him just inside the entrance to the Broomstick Bastion.

Well, well, he's certainly looking more chipper than the last time. Victoria had been disappointed to not get Keith up on a broom the last time, but blame the headmistress there. It had only been a few days since that time, and already he was seeing a change in him. Then he'd looked a little out of place. Now... A few days at school can do wonders to a person.

"Hello, Keith," she said. "C'mon, lets get started." She led him back to the Equipment Room and, waving her wand, unlocked all the broom cabinets. "I don't need to go into a lot of detail about what to do," she told him. Victoria showed Keith the cleaning equipment, and gave him a few quick instructions on how to use it, just in case.

As he prepared to start, Victoria added, "You know we're going to allow the students who are interested to buy their own brooms--" She looked around the room. "If you see anything that catches your eye, let me know." She gave him a knowing smile before saying, "You'd be surprised what I know about brooms." Victoria nodded. "I'll be in my office. You can start. I'll check back in a little while."

Keith was pleasantly surprised at Professor Salomon's reception. He thought to himself, That's good. Now this feels more like good old-fashioned work than a punishment. He decided that it was best to continue to think of it that way.

It wasn't so hard, but he found that cleaning brooms was extremely repetitive once he managed to get the hang of the process. At the first broom cabinet, he removed all of its contents and cleaned each broom before placing it neatly back inside. Before closing the cabinet, he stopped to inspect his own work by inspecting and comparing the sheen on each broomstick.

After he repeated the process three times, he began to feel as if he were being watched. "Good job there." said a voice from behind him. It was a man's voice that spoke with a Mainer's accent. Keith could tell because of the omitted the R in the pronunciation of there.

Turning around, he didn't immediately seen anyone in front of him until he noticed a short humanoid with pointed ears in his line of sight. His eyes were large on his head, as was his long nose. "Oh, hello." Keith greeted. "Are you a house-elf?"

"Ayuh." the creature said a-matter-of-factly and nodded. The house-elf snapped his fingers and vanished as Keith blinked.

That was pretty cool. I got a compliment from someone who works here. Keith thought as he continued his detention task.