| The Austere Academy |
"Truth be told, within the chapters that make up this dreadful story, the children will face snapping crabs, strict punishments, dripping fungus, comprehensive exams, violin recitals, S.O.R.E., and the metric system." So, the Baudelaire orphans are sent off to boarding school in the fifth volume of A SERIES OF UNFORTUNATE EVENTS by Lemony Snicket. Here they encounter a horrid little girl who likes to rat on them, and they are sent to live in the "orphan shack," which is populated by snapping crabs and a really disgusting fungus. They use their resourceful minds to remove these problems, and then the most delightful thing that has happened to them in a long time happens: They meet Isadora and Duncan Quagmire, the remaining two of a set of triplets. The five orphans become fast friends, and when Olaf begins posing as the new gym teacher and forces the Baudelaires to do laps all night, the Quagmires watch out for them in case Olaf decides to do something horrid to them. They are subjected to the boring violin recitals of their headmaster every single day, and with the laps every night they begin to get very tired. And then Olaf, unable to capture the Baudelaires, takes the Quagmires instead, and they are left with only a mysterious clue: "V.F.D." The Baudelaires pursue this secret's meaning, and their newfound friends, in the next volume.
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