Damn! Why the heck did he find out?!

Trying hard to avoid looking at anyone but Kazimeriz, Jake cast his mind back the day he'd been on the 6th floor, minding his own business. "Well... basically, Jack corners me alot since there was an incident a while back, sir," Jake started to explain softly. "And he keeps trying to make me talk to him, and I just want to stay away, because he scares me... I've tried telling him but he doesn't leave me alone..." Jake's eyes glazed over for a moment as he tried to totally retrace the steps in his mind.

"He like... kept standing in front of me... wouldn't let me leave, then he backed me into a corner and pulled his wand on me, so I pulled my own out in case I needed to sheild," Jake added. "And then, I put my wand away and he put his away, and then he backed off and sat down. As I left I said he had good acting, because he started acting totally opposite..."

What came next? Jake thought to himself, screwing up his face in concentration. Ahhh yeah... "He got me with spell that sent me flying backwards, because he had shouted at me and I turned to face him, and I ended up on the floor, yeah, and my wand fell out of my pocket and he kicked it away..." Faltering here, Jake looked up at the old man, a scared look on his face. "He pointed his wand at my neck... then... he held on to mine and tried to strangle me..."

Jake sniffed and looked away, remembering how scared he had felt. The pure panic of not getting oxygen into his lungs... it was intense. "Three people came along and tried to help, they pulled him off... Reese was one of 'em... Then he smacked me in the stomach, like punched, and grabbed my neck again... After they pulled him off again someone told him to stop and he booted me in the leg, real hard... been limping for days..." Jake trailed off, looking at his feet and afraid to admit the final point. "I've been so scared, sir... I haven't slept since it happened... I can't afford to let my guard down..." he whispered.

And after all the stress and emotional turmoil he'd been through over this so far, Jake felt one single tear run down his cheek, and he quickly brushed it away. "That's it, sir... He's been intimidating with his height a few times... but that was around teachers, so it wasn't important."

Holding himself up straight again and composed, Jake looked Professor Kazimeriz in the eye again.