Richard Avalon was, any one would freely admit, a very handsome wizard indeed. His golden-brown hair fell in curled waves to the bottom of his neck – an acceptable length for such a wizard – and his smile was ever pleasant, and filled with bright white teeth. (A feat anyone had to admire considering that magically inclined people did not eat often eat food that could be considered to the benefit of dental health). His robes were made of the finest material, and seemed to gleam even in the dimmest light. All in all, it was very little wonder that many of the Cackles' girls gave out happy sounding sighs just at the sight of him.
Of course, in the staffroom, Miss Hardbroom raged about this distraction. "He is here only to lecture the girls in advanced magic they might not even have the chance to see until well after their education is done!" She fumed over her marking, ticking and crossing with a particular rage in her motions. "He comes only to share and advance their knowledge, and all they can do is swoon because he happens to be a little good looking. Honestly. I set them all Treasures of Sorcery to read, and not one of them has finished it yet." Mildred indulged in a secret mirthful smile over her cup of tea. It was nice to see that, while everything else around her could change, Miss Hardbroom would remain as she always had been.
"Well, the girls will be girls, Constance," Miss Cackle said simply. "We can't expect them all to appreciate the advancement in knowledge that they will be receiving." The look on Miss Cackle's face actually suggested she knew that this reaction was going to happen, and simply knew to wait it out. Well, she had been Headmistress of the school for some time now, she had seen through many a handsome visitor to the school ground – Mildred remembered signing the school up for the Witching Hour just for a chance to meet Icy Stevens with a slightly guilty pang in her stomach. "Surely you can remember being easily distracted at that age yourself?" Miss Cackle appealed to Miss Hardbroom, who gave a contemptuous sniff at the idea.
"Well, I still say it's a jolly good experience for the girls," Dee pipped in with a cheery smile. It faltered a little. "Though I have had to give a few into trouble for trying to peek into his classroom windows during Games," she admitted. "Still, at least it shows they're eager!" Miss Cackle and Miss Hardbroom shared an identical look at this information. Clearly they had their own opinions on what this mattered showed. "What about you, Millie?" Dee turned to Mildred. "You're still the new girl on staff, the students all chat to you. What do you make of this Avalon fellow now he's here? Certainly has tidied himself up since that lecture we went to, hasn't he?"
"Well, he has had a couple of books published since then," Mildred said fairly, "maybe he's able to afford better looking robes." She sipped at her tea, and put the cup down. "The girls are all excited, though I think each year does have different reasons for being excited. The first year girls I've taken really are looking forward to seeing the magic he has to offer." She wasn't lying about that. It had taken her a good 15 minutes to get the girls to settle down from their discussions about what marvels they might get to see in his classes. "I just hope they're able to understand what it is he has to offer them. Even at Weirdsisters, his lectures were a little hard to understand."
"So!" Richard Avalon came into the room, his robes swirling behind him, leaving trails of stardust in their wake. "You girls are the future of magic! Everything you learn here, you will go on to perfect, improve, and create new things out of, and it all start here, in this little school, in this little classroom, and today." He reached his desk, and turned round to face them with a blinding white smile. Those who were so inclined swooned a little. Hettie Hubble found herself sitting up straighter in her seat, leaning forward on her desk, ears straining to take in everything that she could. "But where do we start? What do we start with... Yes, Bindweed?"
"Well," Belladonna put down her hand, face flushed, "my Uncle always says that the best place to start with any type of process is at the beginning." There was a pause. "Of course, Mother and Grandmother say he's a disgrace to the family so I don't think..." she stopped mid-rant, and the flush of her face took on an entirely new shade, for a different reason that it had appeared for in the first place. Richard Avalon laughed.
"Disgrace to the family or not, your Uncle has a good point." He addressed the class at large. "The beginning is always the best place to start with any type of subject. Now, we could go through the history of this school, but let's look at it in more abstract terms, shall we?" He waved his hands, and a complicated diagram appeared on the board behind him. "In the beginning, there was power." The board glowed bright. "There was those who saw the power, and fled from it, scared of what it could mean." The board showed people fleeing from the glowing ball. "And then there were those – our magical ancestors – who look at the power and did not fear it, but saw the potential that could come." The board showed people walking towards the glowing ball, hands outstretched. The glow grew, and the people walking towards it were enveloped in its light. "It is the search for power that sets magicals apart from non-magicals and if I can teach you anything here, girls, it is to never stop searching for power. Now.." he turned his back to the board.
The glowing ball of light left the board unnoticed. It hovered over the class of girls, floating near each ones head as if searching for something. Some it stayed near for longer than others, but never more than five minutes at the most. The girls slumped in their seats, eyes heavy as the slight perfumed smell of the room seemed to grow stronger. The ball floated through the door, making its way down the corridors of the school. It went in and out of classrooms, leaving girls slumping in their seats, feeling unexpectedly tired for the time of day.
As it floated along, it grew, the light growing or dimming depending on the direction it went. If it dimmed, it retraced it's movements, until it could find a direction in which it would brighten. Following this pattern, it still continued to move throughout the school, somehow never being noticed by anyone. Well, except Kitty who barked it at ineffectually. Kitty rather despaired of the fact that no one listened when he barked, and just assumed he was barking to be annoying. He tried to follow it down the corridor, but found himself promptly being stopped by the angry looking lady who always gave his Mistress into trouble. She pointed her fingers at him, and he found himself sitting back into his Mistress' room. He let out a soft growl. This wasn't good.
Unheeded, the glowing ball stopped outside one room, and the light grew to an unbearable level of brightness before it exploded. It left sparks over the ground, sparks that wouldn't be noticed unless someone was really looking for them.
Richard Avalon smiled at the board.