"This feels… weird."

Lyra looked around the Texture classroom. The early morning sunlight pouring through the windows did little to ease her sense of wrongness.

"What's weird?" Caramelle followed her gaze. "The room looks just the same as always."

"Professor Puff doesn't strike me as someone interested in redecorating often," Boysen said. "Or ever. Certainly not 'weirdly.'"

Lyra shook her head. "It's not the room. It's being in the room first thing on a Monday morning. Doesn't it feel strange not to be starting the week with Flavor?"

"I'll say." Mac had entered the classroom with the air of one marching to his own execution. Now he slumped dejectedly into the stool behind the front right counter. "And Texture lab all day tomorrow. No Honeycomb break between Puff days, like last year."

Caramelle arranged her books neatly on the front left counter. "No need to be so dire about it. The first-years are following our schedule from last year, so of course ours has to shift. We're on a second-year schedule now. We get to begin every week with Texture. And for pastry! That doesn't feel weird to me. Feels like a dream. Like… like cupcakes!"

Mac groaned and buried his head on the counter.

"One baker's cupcake dream is another's stale muffin nightmare," said a friendly voice from the door.

They all turned to see Apprentice Baker Rye Galette striding into the room. He walked right up to Mac's work-station and gave the boy an encouraging tap on the shoulder. "But don't worry. We'll get everyone on the same balanced recipe page eventually."

"Rye!" Caramelle hopped down from her stool and ran around the counter to give her cousin a hug. "Sweet to see you. Truly."

"Same." Rye returned the hug, then held Caramelle at arm's length, as if studying her. "I wondered… When I saw you at the reunion over the summer, I thought you seemed different. Happier. I was afraid it was just a fluke."

"Not a fluke. Whole new Caramelle" She smiled brightly, turning to indicate the other three students. "Thanks mostly to them."

Rye turned his friendly grin on Boysen and Lyra. "That's what I thought. Salts, I've been looking forward to meeting all of you. Officially."

"Likewise." Boysen extended his hand for a shake. "Thanks for all your support at the welcome feast."

"It's sad that you even have to mention it, but sure. You're welcome." Rye sighed. "Honestly, looking at my classmates… it can be hard not to get discouraged. About baking." He gave Caramelle a dry half-smile. "Even my own family can be rough sometimes."

"Extended family," Caramelle corrected. "Your parents have always seemed lovely. At least, they drive my parents into an overspiced anger-swirl, so they must be doing something right."

"Oh yes. Mom and Dad are both fully on board with Enjoyment." Rye offered his hand to Lyra. "They're going to be in an overspiced envy-swirl of their own once they hear I met THE Lyra Treble."

Lyra shook his hand enthusiastically. "I'd love to meet them. Any baker on our side is a huge encouragement."

"There are more of us than you might think," Rye assured her. "Trust me. Even amongst the first-year class… You should have seen the trouble Florentine had with them yesterday."

"Oh, the tour! I didn't get to talk to Marzy or Arch about it last night. How did it go, from your perspective?" Lyra asked.

"Deliciously. Florentine and Eclair were both laying it on thick, trying to slather those first-years in anti-Enjoyment frosting." Rye's grin took on a mischievous twist. "And the first-years were having NONE of it. Most of them, anyway."

Mac sighed. "Most of them… let me guess. Joconde?"

Rye gave his shoulder another bracing pat. "She's your cousin, right? Don't worry. She's still young. If there's hope for Caramelle here, there's hope for anyone." He winked at his Meringue cousin. "No offense."

Caramelle bristled, then melted into a sigh like Mac's. "None taken."

"Sweet." Glancing at the clock on the wall, Rye turned quickly towards the classroom's many supply cabinets. "Best get ready. The professors are all with the first-years at the moment, but Puff will be coming up here soon."

The second-years scrambled to their work-stations while Rye produced various bowls and ingredients from the cabinets. He had them all laid out tidily on the teacher's counter well before Professor Puff appeared at the door.

"Greetings, Aspiring Bakers."

The Texture headmistress's calm voice washed over Lyra like a comforting blast of steam from a warm oven. She felt herself settling more securely on her stool as the professor crossed to the platform.

That voice, in this room, with these classmates… even with all the changes, this was the royal academy Lyra remembered.

"I see you have already made the acquaintance of Apprentice Baker Galette," Professor Puff went on, her gray eyes casting Rye a fond glance before surveying the second-years. "That is one task accomplished. We have much still to do, even on this first day, but I am sure you have questions after the welcome feast. I assured my colleagues I would address as many of those questions as possible, that you may be able to focus when you enter their classrooms later today."

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Boysen's hand shot into the air, and Professor Puff nodded at him.

"Yes, Aspiring Baker Berry?"

"You said it would only be us developing Enjoyment. The second-years. What is that going to look like?"

"We are not entirely sure," Professor Puff replied. "We have some ideas, but this endeavor lies in entirely unknown territory. The responsibility rests partly on your shoulders. We will be crafting the experience together. Suffice to say, this year will look very different for you than for the second-years who have come before you."

"Does that mean no pastry?" Mac asked hopefully.

Caramelle made a frightened squeaking sound. "No pastry?!"

"Oh, there will be pastry," Rye assured her.

Professor Puff smiled. "Plenty of pastry. My colleagues and I are in firm agreement that this new adventure must not diminish your traditional education."

"It didn't last year," Boysen said stoutly. "It helped. Even before we knew what it was… just the idea of Enjoyment enhanced everything else we were learning. At least for me."

"Same," Mac agreed.

Caramelle simply nodded, apparently weak with relief about the guaranteed presence of pastry in her near future.

"Of course," Professor Puff said serenely. "We verified those results many times during the third term. Enjoyment has been proven not only to exist, but to be effective. That is why we are in equally firm agreement to develop that discipline alongside the established curriculum this year. We shall simply have to be… creative."

Lyra had been quiet, sorting through all the snatches of melody and questions simmering in her mind. Finally, helped along by the steadiness of Professor Puff's presence, she raised her hand.

"You mentioned… ideas," she said as soon as Professor Puff nodded at her. "You and Professor Honeycomb and Professor Genoise have some plans in place? What are they?"

"Not plans," Professor Puff corrected her. "Ideas. Last year, as Aspiring Baker Berry pointed out, Enjoyment developed on its own. Around the traditional curriculum. Using that as a template, we thought we could each pursue our customary second-year lessons, but with the door always open for 'the Enjoyment approach.'"

Mac visibly brightened. "So… we could just learn all the normal spells? And Lyra could make up songs for them, like last year?"

A hopeful tune blossomed in Lyra's heart. But before she could voice it, Boysen shook his head.

"That's not enough. If we want Enjoyment to be recognized, it can't just be a garnish. It has to be a main dish. With its own spells."

"That's right," Caramelle said slowly. "Otherwise, it could be argued that it's not its own discipline. Just an optional, stylistic add-on to the others. That's what my parents will say."

Lyra's voice sounded very small in her own ears. "We have to create our own spells?"

Professor Puff gave Boysen and Caramelle an approving nod. "Very astute observations, both of you. Yes, we will need discipline-specific spells to justify the addition of a new class to the curriculum. Adding Enjoyment would mean adding a professor, after all. That professor would need something to teach."

"But… I… New spells?!" Lyra stammered, with the strange sensation that she was sinking into a bottomless pot of boiling gravy. "I don't know the first thing about developing new spells!"

"Sure you do," Boysen replied cheerfully. "You write songs. I bet it's pretty similar."

Lyra couldn't even speak. She actually felt hot liquid flooding her throat, choking her, drowning all her internal songs in a flood of terror…

Thankfully, Professor Puff's many years of teaching had given her excellent instincts for when a student in her care was about to implode. She swooped down off her platform and crossed to Lyra's work-station, pulling a handkerchief from her pocket as she went.

"Do not be alarmed, Aspiring Baker Treble." The professor offered Lyra the handkerchief and then placed a hand gently on the girl's shaking shoulders. "I said we will need to develop new spells. That means all of us, working together. And though Aspiring Baker Berry's delivery of the recipe could use some work…"

She shot a severe glance in Boysen's direction. "His logic is sound. You have already crafted many songs that do seem to have magical impact. I think you will find spell-crafting much more attainable than your fears might make it seem."

Boysen sounded absolutely crestfallen. "Sorry, Lyra. What she said. That's all I meant."

"And of course you won't be alone," Caramelle said briskly. "I don't know the first thing about songwriting, but I know a great deal about baking spells. At least, I've spent plenty of time studying and practicing them. I'll give whatever help I can."

"Invaluable help," Professor Puff said fondly. "The strengths represented in this class are strikingly well-balanced. I look forward to celebrating all of your contributions.

"You'll be helping too, right?" Mac asked. "All the professors?"

A rare gleam appeared in Professor Puff's calm gray eyes. "Just try and stop us. And not just us, either. Chef Flax has already begun."

Lyra's eyes widened. "The chant! I mean, the song he performed at the welcome feast!"

"Exactly." Professor Puff gave her shoulder a light squeeze and returned to her platform. "That is certainly an Enjoyment spell in the making, despite the invisible nature of its effect."

"That's going to be an issue," Caramelle said reluctantly. "The lack of light. I know plenty of people in the baking community who won't be convinced until they can see the spell at work."

To Lyra's absolute shock, Professor Puff chuckled.

"Then they haven't read the history books. Such obvious magical impact takes time. Presentation wasn't known as 'purple' until months after the discipline was discovered. Only when a variety of spells had been established and recorded did the purple light begin to manifest."

"But the discipline wasn't added to the academy curriculum until the purple light appeared," Caramelle went on. "Right?"

"Correct." Professor Puff held up a hand to forestall any dismayed reactions. "But this is new territory. As my Presentation colleague has been fond of repeating all summer, we are 'venturing into the unknown.' We cannot depend on any previous experience. Perhaps Enjoyment will not manifest in the same way as the other disciplines."

"You mean… no light?" Mac stammered. "Ever?"

Professor Puff nodded demurely. "Perhaps. We must keep our minds scientifically open, and write the recipe as we go."

From her periphery, Lyra noticed Boysen's attempt to catch her eye. Once she glanced at him, he gave her the most blatantly encouraging Berry grin she had ever seen.

"We'll make it work," he mouthed silently.

She tried to smile. It was weak, and more watery than a horse chestnut, but it was reassuring enough to make him sigh in relief.

"My, my." Professor Puff chuckled again as she surveyed the silent students. "What dejection. Would you believe, Apprentice Baker Galette, that this is the bold group who inspired us to begin this endeavor in the first place?"

Rye smiled. "I do believe it, Professor. I think they're just… overwhelmed. With excitement, of course."

"As they should be." That rare gleam had returned to the professor's eye. "For now, we are coming to the true delights of second year at the Royal Academy of Magical Baking."

The Texture headmistress raised her hand. A piece of chalk rose into the air behind her, writing a single word across the board in the professor's own neat, elegant script. Lyra saw Mac sinking on his stool, like a cake removed too quickly from the oven.

Professor Puff waved her hand, and the chalk underlined the single word four emphatic times before returning to the tray.

"Now, Aspiring Bakers, it is time for pastry."

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