Chapter Two

First Day at Ravenwood

I woke up early at 7:40am so I could get ready for school quickly. I slapped on my uniform and started eating some Wizard granola, which tasted much better than granola on earth. Around that time, Kayla came downstairs dressed in her uniform. Hers was just like mine, but green replaced light blue, yellow replaced white, and Life symbols replaced Ice symbols. I noticed that she had left her gleaming staff next to the light switch.

"Hey Emily, Luke is upstairs helping Cody get ready," Kayla said sitting down.

"How can Cody already start school if he's only 7?" I wondered aloud, finishing the granola bar and making a perfect shot into the trash can.

"Cody won't be starting school, but Ambrose is letting our future roommate take care of him."

"Wait, when did you say we were getting a new roommate?"

"Sorry I forgot to tell you. Our new roommate is a Magus Diviner and her name is Iridian ThunderHeart."

"Iridian is nice right? Cody really doesn't appreciate meanness which is the exact reason we've had to be really careful around him."

"Yeah, I remember she tutored me 3 weeks ago, she was really nice and helpful."

"So Kayla, what rank are you?"

"I'm a level 18 Journeyman Theurgist."

"Wait, how did you get to Journeyman that fast?"

"I'll explain it at the Bistro. Remind me to call Luke and tell him we're gone also."

*Emily*

The Bistro was amazing. Smells of breakfast foods invaded my senses, putting me in a mesmerizing trance. I noticed lots of bread, and the small shop reminded me of Panera Bread back on Earth. There was a medium-length line in front of the register. Kayla was in the front of the line ordering us some coffee and a little breakfast.

Kayla returned to our little table with coffee and some blueberry muffins.

"So, how are you Journeyman?" I asked, taking a sip of the hot coffee that burned my mouth and throat instantly.

"Well, Ambrose came to Luke and me and told us that you would need training, so he privately trained us to protect you when you got here."

"Well, that makes sense. So, when is Iridian moving in?"

"If you can, drop by Balestrom's office at the end of seventh period and we can get her moved in."

"That's okay; I have him for seventh period."

"SCHOOL STARTS IN ONE HOUR, SCHOOL STARTS IN ONE HOUR!" Merle's voice boomed over the P.A. system.

"Oh, we better get you a broom rental so you can later get a better mount."

"Could I get a Horned Sweeper?"

"Yes, you can have a Horned Sweeper, and remind me to ask Cody if he wants one later. Just saying, the best mount to get in the future would definitely be an Ice Pegasus that Ambrose only gives to top students. I would have the opportunity to get a Centaur."

"Oh, I also wonder if Ty will have to go through changes."

"Yeah, I think you have to turn him into a hound, but keep the name if you want."

At that moment, I decided that after school, Ty the golden retriever would become Toby the Ice Hound.

*Emily*

Kayla was really generous, because the broom rental cost 10,000 gold.

"Thanks for the broom," I said with an everlasting grin.

"No problem, I got the thing I was saving for anyway," she replied, smiling as much as I was.

"So, what WERE you saving for?"

"Oh, I finally got my Viridian Cyclops pet, which I named Charlie. Also, after we help Iridian move in, we have to get our level appointments so we can go to Marleybone."

"Anything to say about Cyrus Drake, because I heard we start with the Celestian Gods and Goddesses."

"Cyrus used to be strict and mean, but after he found his daughter Kayla, he became pretty soft-hearted like Professor Wu. Oh Bartleby, we need to get going!"

I noticed many wizards running through the cobblestone streets and then looked at my watch, which said 8:30. At that moment, we ran fast.

*Emily*

"Welcome to class everyone. I am Lydia Greyrose, professor of Advanced Novice Thaumaturgy, which is where you will learn spells ahead of your rank. You will start with learning Snow Serpent. Would anyone like to cast their Ice Beetle before we start?"

Several hands shot in the air, but I wanted to let someone else take the heat.

"Miss IceHeart, may I see your Ice beetle?"

Greyrose had called on Christina IceHeart, the sister of a legendary wizard Kayla JadeSong, and daughter of Chris JadeHeart and Kayla IceSong. Christina had shoulder-length snow white hair that bounced behind her as she bounced up the steps. Before casting the spell, she winked her sea-blue eyes and gave a romantic glare out the window for a second.

Christina readied her wand and then muttered, "Coleoptraglacies."

A small Ice Beetle shot out of her wand, knocking over someone's thermos with its tusks. Then, it lunged and landed on my desk, shining its babylike eyes at me before disappearing.

"Very impressive Christina! Now, we are ready to begin learning about the Snow Serpent. Please take out your Theory of Thaumaturgy textbooks and turn to page 308," Lydia piped, flying over to her desk and picking her tiny teacher's edition and flying back to the middle of the classroom.

"The Snow Serpent was the so-called pet of one of the Ice Titan's minions, the Colossus, which we will learn about in Master or Advanced Magus classes. He was created when the original Colossus was trying to make his sword, something you'll learn with Professor Drake in a bit. After throwing out many old copies, the Snow Serpent was formed and was an everlasting companion of the Colossus until its death in 1803.

"When the Colossus died, the Snow Serpent met with the current founders of Ravenwood and taught the Ice professor, Elaine FrostHelm, the incantations of Colossus and Snow Serpent, finally completing the roster. Ice was in fact, the latest school to start teaching at Ravenwood. While others started in 1774, Ice wasn't able to begin until 1804, 30 years after the other schools. Balance was admitted in 1802. Without the Snow Serpent, Thaumaturgy would not be taught at Ravenwood, so let us give a round of applause to the original Snow Serpent, Nixa Erpentis."

The class didn't erupt into applause like Lydia must've thought, because she threw the book down on her desk and grabbed her wand that must've been the size of an index finger.

"The incantation for Snow Serpent is nix erpent. Would anyone like to try this spell?"

I decided to be "daring" and raised my hand.

"Miss WinterSong?"

I walked up to the middle of the classroom like Christina, not nervous at all. I gripped my wand and muttered, "Nix erpent."

Instantly, an Icy, silver-cyan snake shot out of my wand, baring its fangs at the blue, simmering scrying pool. Then the serpent actually JUMPED into the scrying pool, a little of the potion splashing in each direction.

"Very nice Miss WinterSong, you may sit down now."

*Emily*

The rest of my day was pretty similar to that. In all of my classes, we learned the rank 1 and 2 spells and talked about their histories. My favorite part of the day was in Myth class when we got an introductory paper on our Celestian Deities unit in our textbook. Its kinda weird, but I was really happy about finally starting that.However, the actual best part of my day had to be meeting Iridian.