The Grand Sorcerer 3 - (Sofia the First, Cedric!SI)

Sofia was having issues with magic.

As a future princess, taking lessons on the topic felt a bit unusual, but Miss Fauna told her that she had to do them due to her magical potential. To a child that was quite sure of not having magical relatives, this was big news. And when the girl asked her mother more about it, the woman was just as puzzled as she was.

Luckily for her, the King had been already asking for two tutors, one for Amber and one for Sofia. Mr. Paul was... odd. In a sense, he took all those unpleasant traits she imagined teachers having such as 'strictness', easy to irritate and would give her snide remarks when she was asking some well-meaning questions.

The brunette grew to dislike Mr. Paul almost instantly, and, just after a single day spent trying to learn the three spells needed for the first big test of Magic Class, Sofia was already plotting to find another teacher. She thought about asking her parents, or her step-siblings but... what if they thought she was going a bit too far? What if they alerted Mr. Paul and she got punished for it?

No, Sofia knew she had to act on her own about it and thus she snuck out of her room around the early evening and strolled until she found the door leading to her destination. It came as a surprise when she considered how Mr. Cedric had not offered his service to help her and Amber, but the king said that he was busy with his own things.

A bit odd for her to imagine, but Sofia still knocked twice by the door and then frowned as she saw the door being already open. The girl thought she was given permission, thus she passed through and-

"You can't do this to me, Cedric!"

The loud voice of an unfamiliar woman suddenly had Sofia's tiny frame tensing up. Did Mr. Cedric have guests? That could explain why he had been busy but... when did they come? And how come she didn't hear more of this?

With her wide eyes soon aimed at the source of the loud yell and, with some nervousness, Sofia marched up to the corner to see what was going on.

"I am not doing anything, Cordelia."

"You told our parents that I was ill or- or whatever makes them convinced they need to take Calista from me!"

Those names didn't ring any bells in Sofia's mind, but soon she was standing by the corner, peeking as she saw Cedric speaking to a person appearing from a crystal orb by his central desk.

"Cordelia, for Merlin's slippers, I just told them what anyone could see. You are not doing anything to help her with the issues you left her with."

"I did nothing-"

"She is growing to be a kleptomaniac, for Gods' sakes!" Cedric snapped, his fist slamming on the desk and making Sofia jump in surprise at that outburst. "Cordelia, you may hate me for what happened in the past, but you can't just pin all the blame on me. I am not the one that had refused to seek help when your husband had offered before leaving after you snapped at him being 'plotting' with me, I am not the one that isolated myself to try and 'ignore naysayers'. You have a problem, and Calista doesn't deserve to mimic you on it!"

The harsh rebuttal soon saw the woman crying on her palms, but Cedric didn't seem moved by the sight. In fact, Sofia could see he looked even more irritated by the sight of the tears.

"Still, this isn't my decision. If father thought fitting to alert authorities and demand custody of Calista, then he has a right to do so. If the authorities think its a fair demand and ask for compliance, then you will let her go."

"I- I can't just-"

"Years. You had years to work on this mess you call a life, and you decided to roll with the messes you make. I am not your punching bag, and I can't help you if you don't want to help yourself," Cedric interrupted again, sighing dryly. "Alas, I have no further time to spare for this conversation. I have a guest to deal with."

"Cedr-!" The image of the woman vanished and the crystal orb lost its bright aura.

Sofia tensed up once more as she saw Cedric now turning to look at her.

"Young lady, I was not expecting a visit from you. How may I help you?"

He gestured to her to approach, and Sofia did so with a little bit of fright. Despite coming closer, the little princess didn't speak, and Cedric was quick to notice that something was gnawing at her mind after what she saw.

"I suppose you first have questions on what you have seen with your eyes and heard with your ears."

Her cheeks reddened at being called out for eavesdropping, but Sofia merely nodded as Cedric conjured two chairs for them to sit.

"Well, what you have seen was an unpleasant discussion I was having with my sister, Cordelia. She is in the process of having to give up her daughter's custory to our parents."

Sofia frowned. "W-Why?"

"She has done a few things due to a nasty thing she developed during her teenage years. Kleptomancy is not magic, but rather a bad compulsion some develops that pushes them to steal anything that is their fancy. It's not their fault, but she never took the chance to fix that issue."

"That's really bad," The little girl agreed. Stealing was bad for sure, and this Kleptomancy thingy sounded somewhat sad since it pushed people to do this bad thing without truly wanting it. "But... is it fair to take her daughter from her?"

Sofia still couldn't help but dread about being put in that spot. Being taken away from her parents because they did something wrong. But Cedric had an answer ready for that.

"If my sister had asked for help before isolating herself, divorcing her husband because she refused to be helped, and actually stealing a few important things, then yes. But as you may have heard in that talk, Cordelia refused to be helped for years now, and refused to see that this bad attitude was getting to her daughter too. Children take a lot from the behaviors of their parents, and I am sure you behave politely and nicely because your mother taught you this, yes?"

The brunette nodded at this. Her mom always told her to be a good girl, and while she tended to be a rascal at times, she still knew that the important thing was to still try her best to be a good person. So... that made sense in reverse. Since Cedric's sister was behaving bad, then her daughter was also behaving badly.

"That makes sense..." But it still didn't make her feel well. "So... I needed your help."

"I noticed this much," The sorcerer nodded. "What about?"

"I am... I am struggling with the spells for the first magic test for school," Sofia explained, retrieving the book she had stored in her satchel. "Mr. Paul said I just needed to keep try again and again, but I always fail them."

"And he possibly comments on those. Derides your failures," Cedric guessed, and Sofia nodded. "Well, that may be the issue."

"Really?"

"Let me ask you this. Do you recite the right incantation?"

She nodded.

"And the proper wand movements, yes?" He further asked, and Sofia nodded again.

"Yes, but it always fails."

"What about intent?"

Sofia... paused. Then frowned. "Intent...?"

"When it comes to spells, intent is the most important element. In fact, you can bypass the need of a wand or incantations to produce a change on the item."

The girl's eyes widened at that novelty. Nowhere in the book she was studying with was mentioned wandless magic but... Cedric did use it the first time they met. So it existed and- she was going to do it?

Snapping his fingers once, Cedric created two items from nothing. One was an apple, the other was a ruby. He set them on the table and then turned to look at her again. "Take the gem and study it for a moment. No magic involved- I want you to see what should be the 'end result' you wish to accomplish."

Sofia nodded quietly, retrieving the item and holding it. Cool to the touch, quite sturdy but also soft and it was semi-transparent despite its redness.

"Once you're done studying it, you shall put it back on the table and focus on the apple."

The girl did so shortly after, eyes aimed at the round apple. "What do I do?"

"You shall eye it, then think of this:'I am in control of this apple for I have the power and it does not. I want it to be a ruby, the item I just touched in all its entire traits. Not just 'I want a ruby' but 'I want a ruby that feels like I remember it like from moments ago'."

Sofia's nod was slower than the previous ones, eyes narrowed at the apple as she mustered her magic. Usually, it would feel odd to do so without a wand, but as her mind centered around the words Cedric told her to think and... the apple started to change before her eyes.

Soon it was a perfectly shaped ruby like the one that Cedric had conjured and she smiled widely at the result. That was, however, a short victory. The man picked the gem she had just spelled from the apple, giving it a bit of pressure as if to snap it. The transmuted ruby actually broke with ease under Cedric's effort and he handed one of the halves to the princess.

The girl, albeit perplexed, appeared shocked when he saw Cedric actually take a bite from his half and... munching in delight at the pieces. "Apple-flavored sweet gem."

His words stunned Sofia that, out of childish instinct, took a bite out of her half to test it out. Her eyes widened astronomically at the apple flavor the gem's shards had as they easily broke under the stress put out by her teeth.

"A sweet result," Cedric commented, but then sighed. "But would you call it success?"

Sofia stopped mid-chewing, her eyes narrowed again as she thought about it. While the result appeared to be a ruby... it wasn't a ruby. It tasted like apple and it broke with ease. "No?"

Cedric nodded. "The reason why basic magic is taught through wands and incantations has to do less on 'magical potential' and more on awareness that young students don't have over some spells. Thoughts have to be precise and close to perfection with wandless magic to achieve the wanted result, while incantations serve in channeling the right kind of 'traits' within the spell and wands allow for magic to flow within a more controlled emphasis."

"So... if I do this with the wand and the spell."

"You will succeed as long as you have intent. The moment you think you will fail, then you will. To succeed, you keep on trying until you accept that failure may happen but it isn't your end goal."

Sofia nodded at the advice, and was soon testing out the spells with wand and words. It took her minutes to prove herself capable of the spells, pleasing herself that she could do it and could thus pass the test. Before ending the lesson, Cedric decided to tell her something quite... important.

"Alas, this doesn't mean I am claiming you as my apprentice."

Sofia was shocked by this. "Why not?!"

"First, I am busy and I am not a good teacher."

"Y-You helped me just fine," Sofia whined, confused by what could have led to that rejection.

"And that was fine for the first lesson. I am not going to have you as my student. And that's final."

"Mr. Paul-"

"Is definitely a bad teacher," Cedric confirmed. "Which is why I shall remark this to the king and have him changed with someone more competent in that regard."

Sofia didn't get much of a chance to rebuke, soon walking back to her room and sulking until it was dinnertime.

It was clear Mr. Cedric wasn't being honest on why he didn't want her to be his apprentice. And she will have to get to the bottom of this situation.


AN

What if Cedric had a student close to his age and... she just can't let go of the memory they have of each other?