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Back to School (Italian Ritorno a scuola) is the fifthteenth issue of Arc 9: 100% W.I.T.C.H. and the hundred-and-fourteenth issue of the W.I.T.C.H. comics.

Synopsis[]

Another summer has passed and Sheffield Institute was back in business, but there was something special about the new Geography teacher. The W.I.T.C.H. gang ended up in a detective-like story about Principal Knickerbocher's past.

Plot[]

The story opened with a flashback: a fire had exploded at Sheffield Institute destroying the whole west wing. A student, Donovan, had been witnessed coming out of the fire and was subsequently expelled because he was suspected to have started the fire, which left his friend Katherine, the principal's daughter, heartbroken.

In present day, Principal Knickerbocher, at few days from the school year's start, was caught by nostalgia remembering her days as a student when Gideon came and announced her of the arrival of the new geography professor. Meanwhile, Taranee was at her home with the rest of the W.I.T.C.H. girls, spying on her new neighbour, a boy she was obviously attracted to. Back at her home, Will heard Dean speaking about the new teacher, describing him as a competent professional and a reserved person, but wondering why someone like him, with a history of traveling through the world, would choose Sheffield Institute.

The first day of school, the girls discovered that this new teacher, Professor Drake, and Jason, Taranee's new neighbour, were father and son. Drake's first lesson was in Will and Cornelia's class, where Uriah's behaviour awakened some memories of the man, remembering how the fathers of the present three school bullies were the gang of troublemakers back in the day. Upon the suggestion of Cornelia, Drake chose to take the class in the library, but then he immediately took the wrong direction: this and some other behaviors led Will and Cornelia, who discussed this with the other girls, to conclude that Drake knew the Sheffield as it was in the past. These suspects were confirmed by Irma and Hay Lin while in library for a research, when they found Drake studying the history of the school. Meanwhile, Taranee visited Jason and discovered that he was not her type, being more into physical and trendy fashion.

Thanks to their discoveries, the girls found out about the fire, linked Drake to it and discovered that during the fire Sherwood Sheffield's golden medallion was lost. W.I.T.C.H. suspected him to be the thief and split up to find out more clues: Cornelia and Irma would visit Grandmother Hale, confiding in her "historical memory", Taranee and Hay Lin would go and do homework with Jason (who became unbearably friendly after Taranee's visit) and Will would ask Collins for an extra visit in the school museum, which is where the library once was.

Thanks to their telepathic link, the girls confirmed each other Drake was indeed the same Donovan who was expelled from the school, but the teacher discovered Will, forcing the others to reach her and confront him: the professor admitted he was there just to uncover the truth about that day, so the five Guardians helped him. Using their powers, they located the lost medallion into a wall and Drake told them the whole history: Ulric, Kevin and Larry, the fathers of Uriah, Kurt and Laurent, had hidden the medallion as a prank and ruined their school marks just to avoid failing classes, but their distraction with candles had caused the fire: Donovan was there just by chance and bumped into them, lost senses and the next day the gang witnessed against him, causing his expulsion.

All caught by the narration, none of the six realized Principal Knickerbocker was there with them, hearing everything, and at that point it was confirmed that she is the same Katherine of the flashback, and had a touching reunion with Donovan. In the box with the medallion Will discovered the gymnastic grades of the three culprits, the only class they passed, and offered to expose the truth. Instead, Drake chose to not say anything, because those three changed for better during those thirty years, and instead he promised to keep an eye on their sons; the only thing he wanted was to recover all the lost time, together with the Principal, who was very happy to do so.

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