The Mad Student of North Pole Christian

      "Knock, knock, knock," The door rattled with each knock, as it was shaken by the power of the fist pounding against it.

      James woke up, startled. He had fallen asleep watching his TV show around three or so episodes in. He grumpily got up, his mind foggy as he tried to wake up. He then remembered what Emma had told him about the illusions and what to do.

      After getting up, he found that his head was pounding because of his rude awakening. He turned the lights on as he looked around the room and looked outside. It was pitch black out, darker than he could have imagined. “I guess that's what light pollution does'' James thought to himself as he looked to the stars.

      The stars were unrecognizable to him, this being a different sky than he was used to. None of the constellations were familiar to him, but at the same time, there were more stars in the sky than he had ever seen before.

      James got dressed and prepared himself for going out into the hallway.

      "I think telling me to wait 30 seconds was a bit unnecessary, did she think I was going to hop up and immediately be ready?" He muttered to himself as he walked to the door.

      He opened the door quietly, looking in both directions. Quietly he tiptoed as fast as his shoes would let him around the hall until he reached the door.

      He knocked quietly, and the door opened to reveal Emma, who quickly pushed him in and closed the door.

      James looked around the room. It was extremely bright, with lime green sheets and furniture. The room also had Harry Potter merchandise and posters everywhere. While most of the decorations were Ravenclaw, there was an odd amount of Hufflepuff stuff too, almost like the owner was having an identity crisis about what house they would be in. “That doesn't make sense though. Who in their right mind would want to be a Hufflepuff, much less own Hufflepuff memorabilia. No sane human would do that.” James thought.

      Next to the window, a group of four people stood. James recognized most of them, Emma, Xercise PhD, and Jimmy, but he did not recognize one.

      She was extremely pale with bright blonde hair. Her electric blue eyes shone at his with direct eye contact. She wore a grey Ravenclaw sweatshirt with jeans that had a Hufflepuff badge on the right thigh.

      "Glad you made it, I have heard a lot about you from Emma," the girl said, full of energy. "I'm Lee," she said, practically jumping in place.

      Emma stepped in before James could respond to Lee’s greeting. "Anyway, glad you could make it." She looked at the window. "Hey, Xerksize, open the curtain."

      "Sure bruh no prob," he said as he pushed the curtains open.

      The outside was illuminated with a giant spotlight from the school building, probability for emergencies.

      James looked out the window and gasped. The first thing that stood out to him was the elves. Several of them, marching in lines, with little green outfits with pointy green hats, shiring in the school's searchlights. Next was the reindeer. They were beside the elves, with jingling harnesses. One of the reindeer even had a bright red glowing nose, that shone brightly in the wintery air.

      He looked back and saw everyone looking at him, smiles on all of their faces as they saw his shocked expression.

      "Bruh, do you like, believe in duh illusions, now bro," Xerksize said, laughing at his astonishment.

      They all laughed at Jame's expression, who was in shock with his mouth wide open.

      "No way, this can not be real," James thought. He looked again and again, with no change. The illusions were still there.

      "Well, I have to give it to you, I was wrong," James admitted while his mind was in shambles, trying to comprehend what he had just seen.

      "It is weird, though; after all this time, we still don't know what causes them," said Emma.

      "Have you ever sent everyone out there to check on them?" James asked curiously.

      Everyone got quiet. Even Lee, who from what James had seen had limitless energy, seemed to lose energy, even if she was still jumping up and down in place, but somberly.

      Finally, Emma spoke up, "Well, we did once..." she said, her voice trailing off.

      Lee picked up where she left off. "It was a year ago, and one of our classmates, Dommy, went out and went towards the illusions."

      "What happened?" James cut in, fully immersed.

      "Well," Lee continued, "he came back, but he was not exactly the same person. He didn't say a single word to anyone and was in his room all day when he came back. These days it's rare to hear him speak, much less see him. He just stays in his room all day and only comes out at night where he gets food, and then goes outside to the illusions every night. Even in the spring, when there are no illusions, he still goes outside somewhere at night. Because of that, we have not sent anyone else out, and the staff doesn't want us to even look at the illusions”.

      "What have you tried? Has anything shown improvement for Dommy?” James asked. He couldn't understand how mystic magic winter illusion things could do this to someone, and why the heck would they allow Dommy to go out in the cold, especially in this weather?

      Emma interjected, "We tried but to no avail. When we tried to prevent him from leaving and going outside, he yelled at us like an animal and fought to get out endlessly. He was mad, and his eyes rattled round in his head, it was terrifying. When that didn't work, he just sat there and stared blankly ahead, not eating or sleeping. After a week of that, we gave up and started the routine we are in now."

      "Bro, do you wanna see him"? Xerksize PhD butted in and asked James.

      James immediately went to say no but stopped before he spoke. He realized that this was a once in a lifetime opportunity, even if this Dommy freaked him out from what he had seen. "Yeah," he admitted.

      "Let's go, dude. Knew you had like no fear bruh." Xerksize PhD pumped his hand in the air in excitement.

      "Hey, Emma," he asked. "Do you have a good time to see him?"

      Emma thought for a moment, "I think that we can be clear of the cameras if we leave around 4:15 a.m.".

      "Cameras?” James asked.

      Lee shot in. "There are cameras all over the school. Luckily for us, Emma has the camera schedule and locations memorized. Why do you think we gave you such specific directions to get here?"

      "Oh… that makes sense," he said. "Wait, you have the cameras memorized"?

      "Yep," Emma said, beaming with pride. "How else am I expected to have fun around here?" They all laughed at her statement.

      “Girl, you are smart!” Said Lee.

      "Anyway, Jimmy and Emma, plan a route to Dom Dom's room, and let's go" Lee jumped up and down while talking.

      Emma walked over to the desk in the room and pulled out a slim silver computer. She and Jimmy pulled up a program and started to talk about finalizing a route.

      "Hey James," he heard Lee say behind him. He turned to see her fidgeting with her hair. "Are you nervous about meeting Dom Dom? You seem a bit overwhelmed," She said with worry written all over her face.

      "Yeah, I'm a bit of a coward for these sorts of things." James joked.

      "DON'T SAY THAT!" Lee shouted, surprising James and making him take a step back.

      "Say what?" he asked meekly.

      "Don't call yourself a coward; that is degrading yourself," she said, anger still in her voice.

      James took another step back. He tried to change the subject. "So anyway... why do you call him Dom Dom?".

      "It just sounds funny, plus he absolutely hates it. Once he gets back to normal, you will see it; it's the funniest thing! Well, if we can get him, NO, When we get him back to normal!” Said Lee.

      James smiled. From what he had seen of Lee, her unparalleled optimism was unbridled. He couldn't help but smile, even if her optimism was a little overbearing at times...

      Just then, they heard a voice from the desk. "We're ready," said Emma.

      Everyone around James got up and surrounded Emma as she explained the plan. After confirming all the details, they sat down and patiently waited for 4:15 to arrive.