Disclaimer 1: Most of this is fanfic. That means I do not own any of it. I just borrow it to play with for a little while and let people see the pathetic results if they really want to.
Disclaimer 2: I'm not making any money from it. It's just for fun.
Disclaimer 3: What isn't borrowed is all made up. None of this is real or most likely at all realistic. Please don't trust any of the information in here. Most likely you know more about whatever I'm writing about than I do.
Disclaimer 4: Attitudes, views and opinions expressed by the characters or in the story are not necessarily those of the author. Even when writing Science Fiction or Fantasy I do not tend to attempt to create perfect/better worlds in which everybody gets a happy end ... or whatever is best for them. Please accept that some characters will have a bad ending or be unhappy.
Disclaimer 5: I intend no insult to anyone. If I offend anyone I'm very sorry. Please understand that it was an accident as I tend to be very clumsy in these things.
Rüdiger Zweigl And The School In The Mountain
Chapter 3: The Emperor's Seal
The landing brought another jolt and then they were rolling through the big city. Now Joachim was excited about the view as well exclaiming at the sight of buildings and people so much that Lord von Raifburg had to admonish them not to point or whisper at non-magicals once they left the coach.
"I don't mind you looking at the buildings like tourists, but with people it's not just undignified, it's insulting. They don't point and whisper about our robes either."
Rüdiger nodded. "Why aren't they staring at the coach, though? That isn't bad manners, is it?"
"The coach is charmed not to attract attention, of course. If they notice it at all, they'll remember it as a car, or one of the tourist horse carriages they have here."
And indeed a carriage pulled by two blond Haflinger horses clattered past them only a moment later.
"Aren't you going to make us look like non-magicals, Papa?" Joachim asked.
"No, that won't be necessary here," Lord von Raifburg replied to Rüdiger's disappointment. It would have been a cool piece of magic to see. "There are many opera houses and theatres around here and it's festival season. People will just assume that we're actors in costume. Now we're about to enter the Getreidegasse where all the tourist shops are. It will be overrun with people so make sure you stay close to me and don't get lost."
Indeed the alley was full of people talking in all sorts of strange languages Rüdiger couldn't identify. You had to walk carefully to avoid running into people who stopped suddenly to take photos or to admire the work of artists drawing and selling pictures right there in the middle of the street.
Rüdiger almost forgot that he wasn't supposed to point at people when they walked past a group offering to count the number of hairs on their customers' heads.
Lord von Raifburg led them past it all as if he saw it everyday.
"There," he announced finally pointing at a small and dusty looking stamp shop. "See the seal above the door?"
"The double-eagle," Rüdiger confirmed. "Like on my letter."
"The Seal of the Emperor," Lord von Raifburg corrected. "The double-eagle was also used for the Austro-Hungarian double-monarchy, but then it held a golden apple in one claw. The Emperor's eagle has a wand instead. The difference is easy to spot, if you know what you're looking for. If the eagle is holding a round object, the building isn't one of ours. If all the objects are long and thin, you're in the right place."
"So all magical buildings are marked like this?"
"All the public ones. Private households are more difficult to recognise, but then your friends will give you their mirror addresses when they invite you. Shops on the other hand are hoping to attract random passers-by."
The shop was even dustier inside. Rüdiger had to force back a sneeze when they entered. With all three of them in here, the front room also seemed tinier than it had from the outside. Every available surface was taken up by glass displays of stamps or rare coins. Whatever school supplies could they buy here? It certainly didn't look like they had sports clothes or penholders.
"Good day, Mylord," the old man behind the counter greeted Lord von Raifburg with an insincere smile that made Rüdiger want to turn around and leave. He didn't mind that the shopkeeper ignored Joachim and him at all. "What can I do for you?"
"My young guest here wishes to buy Gulden," Lord von Raifburg explained. "Show the good wizard the money you want to trade, Rüdiger."
So this was the magical bank? Somehow Rüdiger had expected something more impressive, but then it was probably safer to hide a bank behind a poor-looking front. He took out the envelope Mama had given him and held it up over the counter. The bank wizard accepted it with a sneer, counted the money inside and then slammed several round little sacks onto the counter, money-bags like they had on TV in films about knights and Bible events.
Rüdiger reached out to take them, but Lord von Raifburg caught his hand.
"Count it out," he demanded of the shop wizard who frowned, but opened the first bag and counted the coins into a new one.
It was a slow and boring process and Rüdiger really wished Lord von Raifburg hadn't asked for it, but finally all the coins were counted.
"Fancy that," Lord von Raifburg said. "You miscounted."
The shopkeeper shot him a glare and added some more coins from a bag he kept under the counter.
"Always remember to make sales-wizards count out the money they give you, boys," Lord von Raifburg lectured. "They are supposed to do it automatically, but with large amounts they are often too impatient and as you saw it's very easy to make a mistake. Never just assume that a moneybag holds the correct amount."
The moneybags took up a lot more space than the envelope had and Lord von Raifburg had to charm Rüdiger's pockets so he could carry them all.
The shopkeeper's greeting as they left sounded even less friendly than the one when they'd entered. Hopefully there was another magical bank somewhere near the school. Rüdiger didn't like the thought of returning to this one when the money he'd just bought ran out.
Their next stop looked a little more appealing. The plaque with the Emperor's Seal seemed strangely out of place above the colourful modern logo of the Libro chain.
Rüdiger had visited a Libro once before when he'd visited Papa in the city, though it had of course been a different store. This one didn't look all that different. The colour scheme and furniture were the same, even if the shape and layout weren't. Like the other Libro this one offered books, records, CDs, videos, office and school supplies, but when he headed in that direction Lord von Raifburg once again held him back.
"This way," he said and pointed at a sign reading 'personnel only'.
A storeroom? What were they supposed to do in there?
Only when they reached the door did Rüdiger realise that the double-eagle on the advertisement next to it was definitely the Emperor's eagle and not that of the double-monarchy despite the Sissi book under it. Magical shopping trips apparently required a lot of attention for well hidden clues.
The door led into a short, dark corridor full of cleaning tools, but there was another door at its end and through it they walked into what reminded Rüdiger a lot of the paper shop at home. Except that this one looked a bit more old-fashioned with all the ink bottles and …
"Penholders!" he exclaimed. "It said we'd need a penholder on the list."
"Take several," Lord von Raifburg recommended. "They tend to roll off desks and get lost and you're not allowed to use a fountain pen. If you have spares, you don't need to worry about that and you can help out your friends when they lose theirs."
Rüdiger nodded. He remembered very well how Kurt had gotten in trouble with the teacher in second grade when he'd lost his fountain pen and written the school exercise in pencil. Neither of them had been entirely sure what Kurt should have done in such a situation, because ball point pens were forbidden entirely, and not writing your exercise, or even not writing all of it earned you the same scolding and punishment as writing it in pencil had earned Kurt. Maybe this explained it. Maybe they'd been expected to have a spare fountain pen for such emergencies.
The cheapest penholders were very pretty ones decorated with multicoloured swirls. Rüdiger picked out three that looked particularly interesting while Joachim eyed some more expensive pure black ones.
"Are you sure you like those?" Rüdiger asked him.
"They're probably better quality than yours," Joachim pointed out.
That might have been true, but Rüdiger was used to having cheap things. Usually they were fine as long as you were careful with them so there was no need to waste money.
"It's not worth it, if we're just going to lose them anyway," he pointed out. "Besides the cheap ones look much better."
"It doesn't really matter," Lord von Raifburg said. "Take whichever you want."
"What will the other children think, if we show up with the colourful ones?" Joachim asked. "Isn't that childish?"
Lord von Raifburg shrugged. "They were very popular when I was in school, but then they also were new then. I think most of your classmates will have them."
Joachim nodded and grabbed a handful of the cheap penholders without choosing or counting them. "Okay then. Penholders done."
Lord von Raifburg nodded and called: "Heinzelmann!"
"Good morning, your Lordship. What can we do for your Lordship?" What looked like a younger version of Putz ran up to them right away.
Rüdiger had expected Heinzelmännchen to be smaller. Hadn't Nils Holgerson caught one in one hand? But then maybe Nils Holgerson was just a story made up by non-magicals who didn't know any better. At the very least the cartoon probably had been made by non-magicals.
"Two baskets," Lord von Raifburg ordered. "One for each of the young masters."
"Of course, your Lordship, right away," the Heinzelmann promised and indeed returned with two shopping baskets almost before Rüdiger realised that he'd left.
He held one out to each boy and they carefully placed their penholders inside.
"Thank you," Rüdiger said a little awkwardly. Usually he was the one carrying the shopping basket for Mama. He'd never had anyone do it for him before.
"No need," the Heinzelmann returned beaming with happiness. Apparently he didn't get a lot of thanks for his services.
"You'll need pens to go with the penholders," Lord von Raifburg reminded them. "I suggest you take at least one of each tip size and several of the usual writing pens."
The pens were kept in a large wooden box with compartments for different sizes. Next to the box there was a stack of little paper bags to put them in.
"Do we really need that many?" Rüdiger asked a little worried. He wasn't supposed to spend too much money after all.
Lord von Raifburg shrugged. "Probably not, but the list doesn't specify the size and they're only one Kreuzer each."
"Kreuzer?" Rüdiger was confused. He'd only ever heard that word in a song before. "I thought we're paying in Gulden?"
Lord von Raifburg laughed. "We are. Sixty Kreuzer are one Gulden."
"Oh!" Well, that really sounded cheap enough and with a little luck the pens would last him through all four school years.
Next they bought little pots of ink in several different colours. The most frequently used colour according to Lord von Raifburg was black and not blue like they'd used in primary school.
"But will my Killer even work on that?" Mama had said that it only worked on the boring old royal blue ink cartridges that everybody used.
"Your what?" Lord von Raifburg asked sounding slightly alarmed.
"My Tintenkiller," Rüdiger explained, but the wizard looked as puzzled as before. "You know, that little pen that looks like a felt pen and makes ink disappear when you write over it."
Apparently the von Raifburgs still didn't understand, but the Heinzelmann smiled.
"No need to worry about that, young master," he said. "You will be able to erase it with your wand now. Much more useful."
Ah yes, the wand. He'd been looking forward to buying his wand, but Lord von Raifburg's little stick didn't look as impressive as Rüdiger would have expected. Were they all like that?
"Okay, then I won't need a Killer and I already have pencils," he reported.
"They have to be lead pencils," Lord von Raifburg corrected. "With real lead. I doubt you have one of those. The non-magicals don't usually sell them anymore, because they are poisonous." He handed each of the boys two normal boring looking pencils. "Do not lick these, or chew on them, or put them into your mouths."
"Yes Papa," said Joachim.
"Yes, Lord von Raifburg," said Rüdiger.
"Good," Lord von Raifburg stated sternly. "Now, rulers."
"Will a nonmagical one do?" Rüdiger asked more carefully this time.
"Not unless it can show you the length of an ell."
Rüdiger shook his head. At least he didn't think those strange things called inches that one side of his ruler could measure had anything to do with ells. He wasn't sure what they were, though. Bigger than centimetres obviously, but that was all he knew.
So he got a magical ruler. Lord von Raifburg demonstrated how to tap it with one's wand and state the desired length to make it light up on the scale.
There were only three different kinds of notebooks available, differing in size, but not thickness and all of them blank. Maybe, Rüdiger thought, this was just because it was too early. Nobody knew what notebooks they'd need yet so the shop wasn't expecting anyone to buy them.
"Take two," Lord von Raifburg recommended. "You'll need to write down what notebooks to buy and you'll also need a Mitteilungsheft. Those are always A5 sized."
So Rüdiger bought two blank A5 notebooks and clear plastic envelopes for them even though he much preferred writing on lines.
After Libro they went to a small souvenir shop that sold what Lord von Raifburg referred to as magic supplies in an actually slightly larger backroom.
A girl in a frilly pink robe was trying out wands when they arrived. Her mother only glanced at Lord von Raifburg's robe then turned away with an haughty sniff.
Lord von Raifburg and Joachim bowed to her anyway and Rüdiger did his best to imitate them, though he doubted it looked anything near as graceful.
"Let's pick out your mirrors and cards first," Lord von Raifburg suggested. "The purchase of a wand takes time and the first one is particularly hard to choose."
He led them past two shelves full of bottles with strange liquids in every colour imaginable and jars full of powders and unidentifiable objects. Rüdiger was torn between fascination and disgust when he realised that some jars on the lowest shelf contained living maggots.
The mirrors and cards were on a different shelf, though, alongside lucky pendants and enspelled wristbands.
"Do those really work?" Rüdiger asked.
"Of course," Lord von Raifburg assured him. "These cheap pendants aren't grand life saving magic, but they'll give you little strokes of luck, like finding a lost coin or getting the last one of a sold out item in a shop."
After having bought all his writing utensils for much less than that amount Rüdiger didn't think that one Gulden really was that cheap, but on the other hand it was a lot more than his guardian angel actually did and he still had a lot of money left. Mama wouldn't have to know that he'd bought anything more than he'd had to and this was a perfect gift for Papa.
Lord von Raifburg picked two sets of illusionist's mirrors off the top shelf for them, but told them that they had to pick their tarot cards themselves.
As Rüdiger and Joachim looked at the different designs of the various card sets trying to make up their minds he bent down towards them as if trying to see the cards as well and lowered his voice to a whisper. "The girl getting her wand will be in your class. Can you identify her, Joachim?"
"Margarete zu Dunkelbrunn," Joachim replied without hesitation or a glance back in the direction of the girl. "Niece of the Duke of Salzburg, but not likely to inherit anything as there are several male heirs. She'll try to gain the favour of the princess and aim to marry high?"
"Very good," Lord von Raifburg praised. "Try not to antagonise her. The family is influential and doesn't like us."
"An actual Duke?" Rüdiger asked wide eyed.
"We should be Dukes as well," Joachim said. "If only …"
"Hush," Lord von Raifburg admonished. "Never hold ambitions above your station. It doesn't end well. You will inherit the family castle and fortune and that's quite impressive enough. Be grateful for what we've got."
"I'll inherit Opa's farm," Rüdiger commented. "It might not be as big and impressive as a castle, but it's home and our family has lived there for generations."
"There you see," Lord von Raifburg said. "Be humble and treasure what you've got. Farmers understand that."
Joachim started to say something more, but was interrupted by a shout from the front of the room.
"Yes!" frilly Margarete zu Dunkelbrunn cheered. "Bullfeather, just like Papa! Didn't I tell you I'd have a wand just like his?"
"Margarete!" an outraged, but not nearly as loud, voice stated. "Stop this noise at once. That is no behaviour for a frail young lady of rank."
"I'm not …"
"Margarete," the voice insisted with a threatening undertone.
"Yes, Mama. I'm sorry, Mama," Margarete intoned, not even trying to sound sincere.
The boys exchanged an amused glance. Maybe Margarete zu Dunkelbrunn wouldn't be nearly as annoying as she looked.
Rüdiger hastily chose a card deck that appeared to have some kind of animal-theme and hurried towards the front desk. There they had to wait until the zu Dunkelbrunns had paid for their purchases, but then finally it was their turn.
"Your birthdays?" the shop-wizard demanded a bit gruffly and without greeting them first.
"23rd May 1980," Rüdiger said. Was there an age limit for owning a wand?
"9th March," Joachim answered, but the sales-wizard didn't ask for a year.
Instead he turned around and pulled out two large and flat drawers from a cupboard behind the register and put them side by side on the counter.
"Chestnut," he said to Rüdiger pointing at the one on the left "and weeping willow," to Joachim. "Now, why don't we try the schabbockbristle cores first," he suggested handing each of them a wand and ignoring Lord von Raifburg's frown. "Powerful wands for those inclined towards Stabkunde and Spruchkunde."
Rüdiger hesitantly accepted the little stick. Was it safe to touch them, if you had no idea how they worked? "Um … what do I do to try it?" he asked. "I don't know any … er … Stabkunde or Spruchkunde, yet."
The wizard laughed. "How cute," he sneered. "You wave it kiddy. If it's the right sort of wand, it'll react."
Rüdiger blushed, ashamed for not having known, even though he didn't see how he could have. Luckily the wizard's attention was focussed on Joachim now, who was waving his wand enthusiastically, but with no result. Rüdiger quickly imitated him, but did no better.
"No," said the sales-wizard. "Apparently the schabbock doesn't suit either of you. We'll need something else. Your grandfather used a nachtkrappfeather wand with excellent results, I believe."
"Joachim doesn't take after my father at all," Lord von Raifburg said.
"But let's try them anyway," the sales-wizard insisted. "If it doesn't suit either boy, at least it's out of the way. Here you go, boys, nachtkrappfeathers for clever enchanters."
Something about the way he said it sounded unpleasant and Lord von Raifburg didn't seem to like those wands either. Rüdiger wondered what could be wrong with them, but gave it his best try anyway. Again nothing happened.
"Ah, you were right, it seems," the sales-wizard declared, favouring Lord von Raifburg with one of his unpleasant smiles. "Maybe the klushundclaw wands will do it for one of them. The wands of the great seers."
This sounded exciting and Rüdiger took the wand eagerly, but once again there was no reaction.
"Not the klushund either," the sales-wizard stated and returned the wands to their places in the drawers. "But then it is a rather unpleasant creature anyway."
Rüdiger almost asked what a klushund actually was, or a schabbock or nachtkrapp for that matter, but he still remembered the man's laughter at his earlier question and didn't dare make a fool of himself again.
Instead he obediently accepted a wand with an arnicastem core, which according to the sales-wizard was very versatile.
"For duelling spells as well as healing, many herbalists and brewers favour arnicastem wands as well. They have a closer relationship with magical plants than creatures."
Rüdiger waved his with no success, but much to his amazement Joachim managed to produce a flash of light and little golden sparks.
"Ah, a dueller," the sales-wizard said.
"Or a healer," Lord von Raifburg reminded him.
"Or maybe a brewer, yes," the wizard allowed. "Excellent, excellent. Now let's see about length and thickness."
Joachim had to try several more wands. The results all looked the same to Rüdiger, but apparently this was more about what the wand felt like to Joachim. As he watched he grew more and more worried. Would he ever find the right wand core? How many different kinds could there be left in the drawer?
Then finally Joachim made his choice and the sales-wizard turned back to Rüdiger.
"So then, not a fighter or a healer, are you," the man said. "Then you're probably the athletic type. Try this bullfeather wand."
But once again nothing happened. Maybe it was all a mistake and he couldn't do magic after all? What would the other children in the village say, if he got transferred back to the Hauptschule after telling Kurt that he was going to a Gymnasium?
"Be patient," Lord von Raifburg said as Rüdiger reluctantly gave back the wand. "Some matches are hard to find and it's more difficult to guess for children of non-magical families. With wizardborn children the talents and corresponding cores often run in the family. Could we see a lindwurmscale wand maybe?" he asked the sales-wizard. "He might have a gift for Formen und Wandeln."
But that wand didn't work either.
"There are some special orders in the back. Unusual foreign imports like dragon heartstring and unicorn hair," the sales-wizard remarked as he got out the next wand. "He can try those, if all else fails. They're reserved, though. I'd have to order another and it might not arrive in time for school's start. And we don't do strüpphair wands."
It was somehow comforting to know that there were still other options besides those in the drawer, though Rüdiger didn't like the thought of having to start school without a wand. Would the teachers understand? And what if he needed a strüpphair wand? What was wrong with those and where would he have to go to buy one?
He almost asked when he accepted the next wand, but when he waved this one a tiny purple spark shot out of its tip.
"That's it!" he cheered. "I found it after all!"
But the adult wizards were just staring at him open-mouthed. Was something wrong? Rüdiger quieted and looked up at Lord von Raifburg fearfully.
"Royal purple," the sales-wizard gasped. "How can that be?"
"It was just a very small spark," said Lord von Raifburg, suddenly regaining his composure. "I suppose, that it must mean that young Rüdiger is destined to do the Emperor a great service. That is an erdhuhnfeather wand, isn't it?"
"Chestnut and erdhuhnfeather, yes," the sales-wizard replied.
"Erdhuhnfeather for loyal friends and protectors," Lord von Raifburg explained. "You might serve in the Emperor's guard someday."
But he was going to be a farmer!
"What is an erdhuhn anyway?" Rüdiger asked a little later once they'd left the souvenir shop.
"Don't you have one on your farm?" Joachim asked surprised. "I thought all farms have them."
"I don't think so," Rüdiger said. "Our chickens are mostly Altsteirers. I've never heard of Erdhühner before."
"They're not the sort of chicken you keep in your henhouse," Lord von Raifburg explained. "They are extremely shy creatures and rarely allow non-magicals to see them at all. But as far as I know, an old farmhouse like yours ought to have one. They live in dark corners of the living rooms. You can hear them clucking when it's very quiet in the house. Don't try to catch it or even search for it, if you ever hear yours, though. You're more likely to scare it off and it is the guardian of your house's good luck."
"Seeing an erdhuhn is bad luck anyway," Joachim added.
"Now, that's just an old superstition," Lord von Raifburg said. "But you do risk losing your family's luck and that can have terrible consequences. So leave that erdhuhn alone."
"But what does it look like?" Rüdiger pressed. This creature's feather was in his wand after all. He felt he needed to know.
"Well, just like the name says, it's an earth-coloured chicken," Joachim answered. "I bet it looks really boring."
But that meant that he'd never actually seen one either, so Rüdiger remained doubtful.
The next place they came to that bore the Emperor's eagle was a small Kaffeehaus, but Lord von Raifburg marched right on past it and led them to a costume shop instead.
"You have swimming trunks, Rüdiger?" he asked.
"Yes, we only bought them this year."
"Skis and skates?"
Rüdiger nodded, though the skis were old and well used and the skates had been bought second hand. They'd have to do, even if they weren't pretty.
"I don't have skates," Joachim announced.
So the first thing Lord von Raifburg did when they entered the costume shop was to ask a salesgirl to show them skates. Apparently here the wizards didn't even bother to use a separate room from the non-magical customers.
"The boys will also need protective gloves and leather aprons," he added. "House shoes and sports clothes."
"I still have the house shoes and sports clothes from primary school," Rüdiger remembered.
"Those clothes will hardly be appropriate," Lord von Raifburg said. "And neither will your other non-magical clothes. You want to look like a proper wizard, don't you?"
Well yes, he did, but did he have enough money for an entire new wardrobe?
In the end he agreed to buy two cheap robes and a cloak as well as new winter boots which he did need anyway, but he'd keep his old shoes and house shoes. He could replace them with magical ones once he outgrew them.
All the childrens' robes had pretty designs, though those with such elaborate ones as Joachim's lindwurm were rather expensive. Rüdiger chose one with little glittering stars and planets and one printed with winged bulls instead.
To his surprise the sports clothes turned out to be robes as well, though shorter than knee length and worn over tights. They also weren't as loose or heavy as the normal robes.
"And schoolbags of course," Lord von Raifburg announced when the exhausted salesgirl had finally managed to fold up everything.
Again Rüdiger wanted to protest that he already had a schoolbag, but the sales-witch led them to a display of leather bags that could be carried either by a long strip over one shoulder or a grip at the top like an adult businessman's briefcase. No sign of the large, colourful schoolbags worn on the back that Rüdiger was used to, nor the soft backpacks some older children had.
"But they are so small," he said. "Will they really fit all our books and notebooks?"
"Why would they need to? You'll keep most of them in your desk or the class cupboard anyway."
Rüdiger wasn't that sure. In primary school it had been strictly forbidden to leave anything in the small storing place in their desks. The seats of their chairs had to go in there at the end of the last lesson so the caretaker didn't have to lift them when sweeping the floor. And leaving notebooks in the class cupboard where every student - except little Lisa who'd come too late and hadn't found any space left - had had a stack of books had been forbidden, because you'd forget the one you were supposed to write your homework in.
"What do you know, all done," Lord von Raifburg announced after one last check of the school's list. "And faster than I expected."
"Oh, can we go for ice-cream then?" Joachim pleaded.
"Well, maybe," Lord von Raifburg said picking up his share of their many shopping bags and leading the way out of the costume shop. "If there aren't too many people at the …"
He stopped both talking and walking so abruptly that the boys almost collided with him. For a moment he just stood there staring at something across the road. Rüdiger tried to find what it was, but all he could see through the crowds of much taller non-magicals were occasional glimpses of someone wearing grey fabric with some black design on the chest. It looked suspiciously like a wizard's robe, but he couldn't be sure.
"Back to the coach," Lord von Raifburg ordered. "Now!"
"What is it, Papa?" Joachim asked as they hurried through the street back to where Putz was waiting with the coach. "What was there?"
Lord von Raifburg only shooed them into the coach and shook his head at Putz when the Heinzelmann hurried to take the shopping bags off his hands.
"Shouldn't we put the bags in the luggage compartment?" Joachim suggested.
"No time," Lord von Raifburg told both him and Putz. "Get in! Putz, take us back to the farm quickly! And summon Shadowwing!"
"Right away, Mylord," the Heinzelmann said with a deep bow and jumped back onto his bench.
The coach took off the moment they were all inside and it took Rüdiger a minute or so to settle down and sort all his bags into a halfway comfortable position. Meanwhile Lord von Raifburg had produced paper, ink and penholder from somewhere and was writing furiously.
"So what did you see?" Joachim asked again.
"Somebody who shouldn't have been there," Lord von Raifburg replied hardly glancing up from his letter. "Somebody we mustn't be seen around ever."
He tapped the letter with his wand once, folded it up and then dripped a red liquid from a bottle he pulled out of his robe onto it. A complicated movement of his wand followed by another tap sealed it and he finally relaxed, though only for a moment.
"Where is Shadowwing, Putz?" he demanded impatiently less than a minute after finishing his letter.
"On his way, Mylord," the Heinzelmann replied. "It's a long distance."
Longer than the one back to the farm it appeared, because by the time they landed Shadowwing, whatever that might be, hadn't arrived.
Lord von Raifburg handed the letter to Putz. "If Shadowwing comes while I'm still inside, don't waste any time by informing me. Have him deliver this to the Lord Master of the Guard right away."
Putz paled, but nodded.
But that turned out not to be necessary. When Lord von Raifburg took Rüdiger and Joachim to the full body mirror in the corridor to show them how to use magical public transport and tapped his wand against the mirror it only responded with a long, painfully high ring.
"No connection installed," he groaned. "But of course it wouldn't be. I should have realised."
"Then override it," Joachim suggested.
But Lord von Raifburg shook his head. "While there is an override code to use an unconnected mirror to mirror to the nearest public mirror station it is only to be used in emergencies and this isn't one. Besides you need a proper connection anyway. I'll send you the proper form tomorrow. You just need to fill it out and tell Shadowwing to take it to the nearest Magipost office and they'll send someone over to install the connection. Don't forget to keep the receipt. You might be able to get a refund for the installation fee via the school as Rüdiger has no other way to get to school."
And five minutes later they were gone. Rüdiger sighed, but then remembered all his new purchases and went to unpack and show them to his family. It was a pity that Papa had to work that week, but he'd promised to visit one last time before Rüdiger left for school. He could show him all the magical things and give him the pendant then.
Kurt finally showed up again the next morning.
"So," he said sounding very self-satisfied. "Your precious Joachim didn't even come."
"What do you mean?" Rüdiger asked confused. "Of course he did. We went to Salzburg and bought … well, writing utensils and sports clothes and things." He couldn't even tell Kurt what he'd bought and seen, he realised. Well, most of it at least. "There were people there who count hairs."
"He didn't come," Kurt insisted. "You're just making it all up. But I know! I watched the road all day and there wasn't a single car from Tyrol!"
"Oh yeah? You had nothing better to do than watch the road all day? For hours and hours and hours? How pathetic."
"Pathetic or not, they didn't come," Kurt crowed.
"Yes, they did," Rüdiger shouted back. "You just missed them." How could he explain that away?
"I did not!"
"They did come, Kurt," Mama said. "Maybe you were eating at the time, or on the toilet."
"Yes, or did you wet yourself right there at the window?" Rüdiger challenged.
"I did not!" Kurt yelled all red in the face, though Rüdiger wasn't sure whether it was from anger or embarrassment. "You damned asshole!"
"That's enough, Kurt!" Mama scolded. "I won't have you using such words in our house. Now stop shouting before you scare off all the guests. Make up and go play outside. There won't be many more beautiful days like this before you have to leave for school. Don't waste it."
They did go outside and play for a while, but somehow it didn't feel the same as before. Something between them had changed and Rüdiger didn't feel as comfortable around Kurt as he used to, though he didn't know why.
"You could have warned me," Karl-Josef remarked glancing across the small Kaffeehaus table at his friend.
"Warned you?" Rudolf continued to absent-mindedly stir his coffee. "Of what?"
"Your poor little non-magical child shot royal purple sparks the moment he touched his wand. So how could that have happened?"
"He what?" Rudolf started upright dropping his spoon.
"Where did you really find the boy?" Karl-Josef asked. Sometimes you had to be patient with Rudolf.
"I told you all I can," Rudolf answered. "Friend of a friend. Maybe I shouldn't be officially involved with him, though."
"So I haven't seen you?" Karl-Josef said straight faced.
"Of course you have. You wouldn't bother me with such things as your son's school-mates, though, would you? Is he really in magic school already?"
"Right," said Karl-Josef and wondered what he was going to say if anyone asked him how Joachim had met Rüdiger.
"You didn't fill the poor child's head with any nonsense about those sparks, did you?"
"Royal purple and an erdhuhnfeather wand. A future royal guard? It seems the obvious interpretation and I didn't see why the boy shouldn't know."
Rudolf nodded thoughtfully. "Erdhuhnfeather. That is good. A fine wand no doubt. Anything else remarkable?"
"I assume you heard about my report."
"I did," Rudolf's eyes were uncharacteristically hard and cold. Karl-Josef hadn't seen that look in a long time.
"He was right there in the open alley, Rudolf, not even trying to hide."
"The community has been alerted. He will find it much harder to move about now."
"He couldn't have been there in the first place, if he didn't have allies in the community."
"There will always be plots and traitors," Rudolf stated calmly. "As sure as the sunrise. He is but one of many players in the game. But let's talk of more pleasant things. Just who is on staff at the school these days anyway? Any of our old teachers left?"
Karl-Josef sighed and obliged. Just what was his best friend up to and was he acting responsibly or irresponsibly by giving him information to support a game Rudolf had already lost too much in? Maybe he should refuse, but if Rudolf wanted to continue despite his handicap, Karl-Josef had no chance of stopping him.
Haflinger – a breed of horses common in Austria
Papa – Dad
Getreidegasse – a street in the centre of Salzburg
Heinzelmann – a male Heinzelmännchen (a magical race, usually benign)
Heinzelmännchen - a magical race, usually benign
Killer – short for Tintenkiller
Tintenkiller - ink eradicator
Mitteilungsheft – notifications notebook, a notebook into which students write messages from the school to their parents that the parents need to sign, teachers can also write messages to the parents of a specific student, but usually they are general messages concerning the whole class (like school ending early or the amount of a 'volontary' donation)
Mama – Mum
Hauptschule – "main-school" – (high school) the form of secondary school open to everybody (grades 5-8)
Gymnasium – (grammar school) the form of secondary school for those aiming for higher education, has certain grade requirements to get in (grades 5-12)
Altsteirer – "old-Styrians" – a breed of chickens
Erdhuhn – "earth-chicken" – a magical creature
Kaffeehaus – "coffee-house" – (No, not Starbucks, a proper coffee house.)
Lindwurm – wyvern