I'm drawing out a magic circle in my notebook when Virginia stretches and yawns. "Time for another week of the grind!"

Ellen stops her from getting to the door. "Wait."

Virginia wipes her face. "Huh? What?"

"Well… The first big exam is this week right?"

"Sure."

She fidgets. "Who's giving the exam? What are we expected to know? When does it happen?"

Virginia cracks her neck. "Mmmph! That's better. No idea."

I climb down from my bunk, I'm already washed and dressed, but I still haven't grabbed breakfast yet.

Ellen keeps pestering her. "I thought you would know. Your family-"

Virginia waves her hand dismissively. "Secrets. All kinds of secrets. William says if he tells me what's on the test that wouldn't be fair."

That's what he was being so sly about wasn't it?

"It would be wrong for him to tell you the answers, and probably when the test is scheduled too. That's cheating, and William would never do that. But you must know something!"

"Are the exams like writing essays or fighting duels?" I chime in.

Virginia seems agitated. "Look. All I know is that it's about casting spells. That's it! Now come on, we have to pick our schedules for the week!"

I'm playing dodge ball with a small group, and I nail a junior from Falcon Hall in the gut. I hear a foreign "Nice throw!" and I'm greeted by a boy with dark-blue, shoulder length locks and icy-silver eyes. He's tall. 5'11 at least. He has buttermilk-colored skin. I think I recognize him from the Sports Club, he's a sophomore from Wolf Hall. "Thanks. Your name is Kyo, right?" One of the players takes this opportunity to try and tag me while I'm distracted. I catch the ball and he's called out.

"Yeah. Kyo Katsura. Actually I came over here to ask you a question." Kyo's voice hints an eastern accent.

I motion with my hands for a time-out and excuse myself from the game. "Hm? Okay shoot."

He blushes ever-so-slightly. "I have this friend who likes this girl. Only she's never paid much attention to him. I thought since you're a girl, maybe you could help me- I mean my friend- get the girl to like him back."

"Wait, are you talking about me?"

He panics. "What? No!"

"You don't like me."

"I don't like you in that way."

"Why not?"

"I don't know!"

"Do you think I'm ugly, is that it?"

"You're just not her!"

"Gotcha."

He stutters. "H-huh? W-what? How?"

I wiggle my eyebrows. "I was kidding. I'm not into you either."

"Heyyy…" I wait for him to realize. "Oh."

I pat him on the shoulder. "Now you have experience with the awkward parts. Good luck!"

He laughs. "I think I'm sorry I asked!"

He should be. What would I know about romance?

I take black magic, spending my time trying to use the catalysts. I still can't release my mana through them. Confused, I go outside to practice. Why is black magic so hard? It's extremely simple. I feel like I should be better than this.

That night a voice rouses me from my sleep.

"Nngh… William."

Is Ellen dreaming about- No, that's Virginia's voice.

"You can't plant pickles!"

I'm better off not knowing what she's dreaming about.

In green class I learn EARTHSHAPE (manipulates plant and soil to the caster's will). Turns out I'm too far ahead. Some people are just learning Boost Strength! I use that time to keep trying out the catalysts. I end up turning a quartz crystal into quartz powder. Which uh… Was not the assignment.

Ellen approaches me after class. "Hi, Lumina. Professor Grabiner is holding an open review for the exam. Do you want to come?" She looks peeved all of a sudden. "Virginia can't be bothered, she says it's not worth it."

"I'll go."

"Yay! Can we quiz each other afterwards?"

"Maybe." I frown.

The room is slightly too small for the all of the anxious freshman clustering in it. From the whispers I overhear, no one knows what the test is going to cover, only that it takes place tomorrow. Professor Grabiner's entrance doesn't settle anyone's nerves. "Open your notebooks if you have them. This is not a quiz. It is for your own benefit. If you do not know the answers, look them up or ask someone. Do not bother me with your questions. I am here ask them, and I expect you all to answer with common sense, if you possess it."

I scoot over even closer to Ellen to get a better view of her notes.

"If you have paid any attention to your schoolwork up to this point, you should be aware of the broad range of uses for magick within the pentachromatic system." His eyes dart across the room, looking for a target. "Mr. Arias. If I wished to cast a spell that would make a beast's fur fall out, what color magick would I use?"

Manuel winces under his gaze. "G-green sir?"

He grunts. "I should hope that you would know that much without the need to ask for my approval." He scans the room again.

His eyes fixate on me. Not just his, but the entire room's. Students whisper to one another, I hear a few comment about whether or not he's going to try to blow me up if I answer incorrectly. That outburst with the love letter left everyone thinking I'm some sort of rebel. It also left Professor Grabiner with a special place in his heart. Just for me.

"Miss Nocturne. What color magick would you use to transform a lump of coal into a diamond?"

"Blue."

"Is that your final answer?"

"Yes. I would use blue magick to alter the composition of the coal, and transform it into a diamond."

He isn't satisfied. "Why do you think that would work? How would you do it?"

Annoyed by his persistence, I straighten myself and make my voice strong and clear. "It would work. Diamonds do not form directly from coal. Coal can be used as a source of carbon, which diamonds are made of, but a lump of coal would not naturally form into a diamond by itself. That leaves green magic out of the question, since it deals with natural processes. Diamonds are formed under intense heat and pressure over time, and they need significant sources of carbon to absorb, which make up the composition. That's why diamonds could come from any carbon deposit, not just coal. I could use red magic to apply the heat and pressure, and one would assume with the given material, I could produce a small gem. But that does not give me the thousands of years it takes for the atoms to combine. If that were the case, volcanoes would produce an infinite and unending amount of them, given they already apply enough heat and pressure on their own. No. This needs to be done on an atomic level. I need to make the carbon atoms fuse in a rapid amount of time. I need to fuse them manually. Do what takes nature millennia to do. I would have to turn the coal into something else, otherwise it would stay just that. As a lump of coal. The only way to do that would be to use blue. Blue magic is the alteration of essence, as you've said. I would be altering the very essence of the coal itself, what makes a lump of coal- a lump of coal. I would have to make it no longer a piece of coal anymore. When you said transform into a diamond, the only magic you could be talking about is blue magic sir. You did not say look like a diamond, or imitate a diamond. In which case the answer would be black magic. But black magic wouldn't make it into a real diamond, it would give it similar properties. "

The room is completely still. I look to my left and right, and everyone is staring at me slack-jawed, even Ellen! The professor stares me with a blank expression. I wait a full minute. I know, I counted the sixty seconds. "Professor? Am I correct?"

He snaps out of it. "Ahem! Why are you so hesitant? Yes, the magick of change would suffice."

He continues in this vein, putting individual students on the spot to answer questions about the applications of each color of magic. Grabiner's voice cuts off mid-sentence. "Mr. Danson."

I turn around in my seat. What is Donald doing here?

"Yes sir?" He says all-too-innocently.

Grabiner doesn't buy it. "As you do not appear to have need of these revisions. You are excused. You may find more challenging material to occupy you this Saturday in detention."

Donald rises "Yes sir." and removes himself from the room.

Grabiner continues his tyranny. He doesn't go into depth as he did with me, and he doesn't call on me again. I think his attempt to foil me backfired. And boy did it burn!