Chapter 9: I Ain't Troubled Yet!
Art by Crash X Fusion: That's right! They can be taught!
Luz and her fellow troublemakers attempt to handle their new teacher, who's determined to teach them a powerful lesson.
Tropes that appear in this Chapter
- Armor-Piercing Question: As Luz declares nothing will stop her from becoming a witch, Anu Bist asks if it means harming her friends to do it.
- Benevolent Genie: Along with being the son of a djinn, Anu Bist is a trickster demon which thrive on causing mischief and chaos. However, he genuinely wishes to teach his students, encourages their mixing magic and wants to help them find their inner strength.
- The Bet: The first original one of the story: Anu Bist challenges the troublemakers to a battle where if they beat him using their mixed magic skills, he won't tell Principal Bump about the Secret Room of Shortcuts. It later turns out he was bluffing.
- Bitch in Sheep's Clothing: Ms. Torigore, the former Healing track teacher, turns out to be one as she pretended to be supportive of Luz when the reality was she hated having a human in her class and would have loved to kick her out of school if she had the chance. As it stands, she only acts nice to students but really, she hates her job.
- Blatant Lies: Luz tries to hide her interest in using voodoo to contact the dead.
- Broken Pedestal: Ms. Torigore for Luz upon learning how she really saw her.
- Continuity Nod:
- The "Choosy Hat incident" is brought up again, and even explained this time.
- Skara mentions the piranha plant fiasco and Willow's role in stopping it.
- A Day in the Limelight: The A-plot may be localized on Luz, but the troublemakers and Anu Bist all get subsequent focus.
- Exact Eavesdropping: Luz unfortunately learned Ms. Torigore's true opinion about humans when she hears her talking in the teacher's lounge.
- Flashback B-Plot: The chapter's flashbacks explain how Luz ended up in the Detention track and met the troublemakers.
- Foreshadowing: Ms. Torigore's statement about Eda being a show witch holds a bit more merit than you'd think.
- The Ghost: Amity doesn't appear, but she is still mentioned by Luz.
- Gilligan Cut: In the first flashback, Eda proudly says Hexside is ready for another Clawthorne. Cut to Principal Bump saying the exact opposite.
- Given Name Reveal: Each one of the troublemakers' last names is revealed by Anu Bist: Viney's is Potts (ironic since she's not the one interested in the Plant track), Jerbo's is Jeepers, and Barcus' is Barkowski.
- Interspecies Romance: Anu Bist's parents were A. Nubist, a jackal-like trickster demon, and Anput, a djinn.
- Laser-Guided Karma: Once Luz learns that Ms. Torigore doesn't actually like her, she unleashed the Choosy Hat on the teacher, which forces her into retirement.
- Noodle Incident:
- Mr. Roacher, the gym teacher, is going through a divorce, which forces Eda to sub for him.
- More of Luz's crimes in school are revealed: graffiti in the bathroom, scamming kids out of their lunch money, and profiting off a civil war between Bard students on slide-whistles and kazoos that she started!
- Anu Bist arm wrestled against a Yule Cat, a Cerberus, and The Sphinx. He also fought Emperor Belos at some point but lost because the Emperor knew his weakness.
- Out of Focus: King, Hooty and Amity (who gets a mention) don't appear. Notable in that it's the first time outside/other than the prologue where King's absent.
- Retcon: The first chapter mentioned that Luz was in the Potions track when she started school. Here, Principal Bump placed her in the Healing track as it was the least destructive.
- Resolved Noodle Incident: The events behind the "Choosy Hat Incident" are given in great detail.
- The Reveal:
- Luz was originally in the Healing track and put in the Detention track for siccing the Choosy Hat on the former teacher, Ms. Torigore, after she learned her true opinion about the human.
- Anu Bist once faced off against the Emperor.
- Running Away to Cry: After hearing what Ms. Torigore thought about her, Luz speed walks away trying not to cry but ultimately doing so once she's alone.
- Shock and Awe: Luz has glyph cards that produce electric shocks, an advanced technique of the light glyph.
- Shout-Out:
- Jerbo's last name is "Jeepers", i.e. the catchphrase of one Daphne Blake.
- Before his battle against the troublemakers begins, Anu Bist dresses up like Ken and shouts "It's time to duel!" (exactly like in the dub theme song, no less.)
- The ending flashback is basically transplanted from Tarzan, in which the mother figure (Kala and Eda) sing "You'll Be in My Heart" to their new human baby (Tarzan and Luz.)
- Twitchy Eye: Boscha's third eye seems to have developed one, either as a result of getting her eye patch removed or a sign of envy towards everyone realizing how strong Willow is.
- Two Lines, No Waiting: Besides the Flashback B-Plot, the chapter shifts between the Troublemakers dealing with their new teacher and Eda teaching gym class outside.
- Voodoo Doll: Anu Bist creates one of Luz as a demonstration of voodoo magic and proceeds to control her with it.
- What Happened to the Mouse?: Mr. Bloosky, former teacher of the Detention track, is said to have been eaten for answering the sphinx's riddle correctly.
