Seventeen Stones (8 page)

Sarah’s
description of life in a home occupied them all the way back to the dorms and
through lunch.  She was the only one who could remember living in one of the
elite warehouses for magically gifted progeny.  Her colorful descriptions had
the girls desperately trying not to laugh at the wrong moment. Lizzy zinged
one-liners every once in a while Sarah’s wicked irony had Mia holding her sides
before lunch was over.  It was hilarious, and yet…it wasn’t.  Mia privately
thought that her mother had been correct to send her to Emma’s: even milking
the goat was better than being trapped in a Home. 

When
she wasn’t laughing, Mia enjoyed the meal, and watched in quiet awe as each
girl was served perfectly prepared luncheon on delicate china that floated
through the air.  As they finished each course, the plate was whisked away and
replaced with the next.  How much magic would it take to set that spell?  The
most amazing thing was that it was accepted by everyone in the room as a matter
of course.  Ella was eyeing the plates out of the corner of her eye, but none
of the others seemed to find it odd in the least. 

Mia
and Ella left the dining area for Creation, but not before Ella had snagged an
apple from the basket piled high beside the doors.  Mia giggled.  “You can’t
still be hungry!”  Ella shook her red curls.  “No, but I might be after
Creation.”  Mia ran back and quickly grabbed an apple for herself as well. 
Magic was hungry work.

Creation
met in building four.  The room had the smell of a place that had been empty
for some time.  A window was open on the far side of the room, and Mia made a
beeline for it.  She’d spent too many years in the open air to feel comfortable
in such a musty dusty place.  Most of the students filling the room were second
year boys. 

Ethan
Fain entered the room as the chimes sounded.  He was wearing a crisp new suit
and a spotless white shirt and cravat.  He looked a bit more formal than the
other professors had, more like a young lordling than a teacher.  She supposed
that it must be difficult to teach third year students when they might well remember
you from school.

“Welcome”
he said in a quiet voice.  “Put your wands away please.  I believe that there
are a few things I should explain before we begin.”  He waited until every wand
was stowed in a pocket before he continued.  “Creation is perhaps the single
most difficult class taught at this college.  Application and study are
imperative for even the most talented person to excel.  The process of Creation
is vital to the continuation of the City as we know it, and for those who have
the talent and perseverance to learn this skill set, the rewards are well worth
the time and effort.  For those who make mistakes…”

He
turned to his desk and tapped a book with his wand.  A tiny tornado whirled
over the book for a few seconds, and then a series of shimmering pictures were
projected onto the whirling partials of dust.

At
first the students giggled.  It was hard not to.  One man had accidentally
created a waistcoat made of moss.  Another had a wig that was a ghastly shade
of puce.  The images soon became more graphic, depicting messy transformation
and more blood than even Mia was comfortable with.  Ella was hiding her eyes. 
The Professor tapped the book again and the tornado faded back into the book,
taking the grisly images with it.

His
dark blue eyes scanned the class.  “Mistakes in this class can be deadly.  If I
ascertain that a mistake was caused by a lack of the proper focus, the student
will leave this class and will not return.”  If some of the young wand wielders
had been hoping that he would take it easy on them simply because he was so new
to teaching, they didn’t harbor the same illusions after that speech.  Satisfied
that most of the students believed his warning, he padded to his desk and sat
down.  “Turn to page six in your books.  Can anyone give me the definition of Creation?”

Mia’s
hand was up almost before he finished the sentence.  There was no class she was
more determined to do well in.  He gave her a ghost of a smile before nodding
in her direction.  She took a deep calming breath and ignored Martin Ainsley in
the back, exaggerating her movement to the quiet twittering laughter of his
friends.  A sharp look from the professor and the class was perfectly silent
again. 

“Creation
is actually an advanced form of Transfiguration.  The phrase most often used is
‘out of thin air’ and it gives us a hint to the magic’s true nature.  A wand
wielder with the proper focus can actually cause the particles in the air to
rearrange themselves into the newly created object.”  Her answer was nearly a
perfect quote from the third chapter in the text book.

A
persistent tic in the corner of the professor’s mouth led Mia to believe he was
fighting off a full grin with difficulty.  “Aptly quoted, Miss Rusticov.”  He
flicked his wand at the desk and produced the peculiar focus required for Creation. 
A small crystal goblet appeared.  He used the multiplying charm and soon had
enough for each student to have one.  Creation was the subject that most fully
integrated every aspect of magic.  The students carefully levitated the goblets
to their desks. 

The
professor gave them a detailed explanation of the exact wand movement necessary,
demonstrating with his own wand in slow motion.  “I want you to concentrate on
filling the goblets with created water.”  A hand went up in the rear of the
class.  The boy asked “Professor, is this the same thing as a water charm?”  He
jumped at the look the professor shot him.  “That is the sort of question that
should get you expelled.  It shows a complete lack of understanding of the
magical laws that govern our world, and an almost willful ignorance of the very
nature of magic.” 

He
glared at the class.  “What is the difference between a water charm and created
water?”  It took most of the class a second to realize that this wasn’t a
rhetorical question, so Mia’s hand was up first again.  “Miss Rusticov?”  Mia answered
with a little trepidation. “The water charm pulls water out of an existing
water source like a river, well, or cistern.  It can even pull water out of the
air if you’re in a humid area.  It’s an advanced summoning charm with a very
specific application and defined radius.  If there isn’t any water within the
radius, then you cannot use a water charm to get water.  Created water is the
act of transfiguring the molecules around you into the water you need, and can
be created anywhere as long as the wand wielder has the focus and energy to do
so.  You can create water in the middle of the desert or on the lip of a
volcano.  The results are similar, but the process is on opposite ends of the
magical spectrum.”  She watched his face anxiously while she gave him her
explanation.  She hoped she hadn’t left anything out.

Professor
Fain looked somewhat mollified.  “Very well put.”  He pointed his wand at the
goblet on his desk and easily produced the focus to create a stream of cold,
clear water.  He tipped the goblet in Mia’s direction and said “To your very good
health.”  He nodded and the students began.

Mia
had watched the professor intently, willing herself to produce the same odd
focus that he’d used.  Even with her careful observation and a good theoretical
knowledge of the process, it took her most of the class to manage it.  Ella,
sitting beside her, suddenly widened her eyes in understanding, and quickly
filled her own goblet.  Shortly afterward the professor said “That’s enough class;
let’s see what we have here.”  He walked to the opposite side of the class and
nodded to two young men for completing the assignment before he said in a low
voice “Did you or did you not hear the long discussion that we had about
created water being a different process from summoned water?  Either you are so
obtuse that you do not understand the difference between the two, or you think
that
I
can not tell the difference.  I want six pages of parchment on my
desk by the next class detailing the process, or don’t bother showing up.”  He
was much less harsh to those who had failed to produce a single drop, merely
advising them to practice before the next class. 

Three
other students were praised for completing the project before he came to Mia’s
desk.  He grinned down at them as the chimes rang.  Ella was included in his
general goodwill.  Mia ignored a few dirty looks from across the classroom. 
Martin had also managed to create water, but the professor had only nodded and
given him a quick ‘well done’.   

As
the other students hurried away, Professor Fain handed her a stack of books
from his black satchel.  “These are a pretty fair version of what probably
happened here in the City for the last thousand years as opposed to the blatant
propaganda they teach in those village schools.  Enjoy.”  Again the corner of
his mouth twitched.  “You’d better head out.  Wait, I have a free period next,
I’ll walk with you.”  As they walked to Charms, he questioned them on their
first day of class.  Ella volunteered the information that Mia had earned special
classes in her first two classes.  Mia corrected her again on the matter of
helping Professor Cavendish.  “It’s just helping out instead of taking the
class…”  Professor Fain grinned.  “Watch out who you show up.  These old blood families
stick together.  Then again, it’s good for them to eat crow every once in a
while.”  He grinned as they walked up to the Charms building.  “And with that
conflicting advice I leave you.”  He waved slightly and walked toward the
library as they climbed the stair to meet the rest of their dorm mates, who had
saved them a seat. 

Vivian
had been looking out the window and whispered to Mia “Professor Fain walked you
to class?”  Mia shushed her friend as best she could while the Professor, a
very old wand wielder named Professor Randal called roll.  He moved like a
statue would if it came to life, slowly, as if every breath were unnatural.  He
waited several minutes before he said “This is Charms.  Open your books to page
one and read the chapter.”  Then he sat down and stared unblinkingly at the
class while they nervously turned to page one.

Mia
finished the chapter in twenty minutes.  Even the slowest reader finished well
before the chimes rang.  Forty-five minutes after class began a boy raised his
hand and was promptly ignored.  He put the hand down after a few minutes and
the noise level in the room rose slightly, but the professor took no notice of
that.  Ten minutes before the chimes rang Mia stood up.  She’d had a bad
feeling ever since the Professor had ignored the boy entirely.

He
made no sound as she walked to the front and didn’t so much as blink when Mia
picked up his hand and felt his wrist.  It was cold and stiff, but she didn’t
know if that was the way a really old wand wielder might feel normally.  She
looked at the other students and said “Can someone go get Mrs. Bennett from the
infirmary?”  One of the more active boys hopped out of his seat and ran.  She
could tell that a two mile run was, in his mind, a less daunting prospect than
waiting in the room with a possibly dead professor.  The chimes signaled the
end of class and the end of the school day, but the students stayed in their
seats, ignoring the certainty of dinner at their dorms.

The
boy who had ran after Mrs. Bennett eventually returned with her in tow.  She
was a tall woman, but she moved slowly, showing that she was older than she
appeared.  The boy hopped and gambled around her, running circles around her
dress like an ill-mannered dog; persistently begging to move faster than the
pace of a dying garden snail. 

“Slow
down boy, slow down.  Happens every year, Professor Randal falls asleep
somewhere and someone comes dragging me out thinking he’s dead.”  She frowned
at the professor’s sitting form, and dug a small diffuser out of the belt pouch
she wore, and waved it under his nose with a sure movement.   She frowned slightly
when it elicited no response.  She took his pulse, two minutes passed, then
three, four, and five while the students watched solemnly.  Suddenly, she began
to shake and wail.  The girls rushed forward to comfort her, Mia quietly asked
the boy who’d fetched her to get the headmistress. 

Professor
Cavendish (drawn by the woman’s cries) walked in a few minutes after the boy
left.  Mia detangled herself and explained what was going on.  The professor
quickly sent three of the boys on various errands and convinced Mrs. Bennett to
drink a potion he summoned from her stores.  The headmistress walked in as two
burly footmen carried Mrs. Bennett out of the room.  Two more entered directly
afterward and quickly removed Professor Randle’s body. 

Headmistress
Villanova raised an eyebrow.  “Well, Professor, what happened?”  He quickly explained
what the situation had been when he found it.  He indicated that Mia should
tell her part in it.  There wasn’t much to tell.  The headmistress sighed. 
“How long was he dead before Mrs. Bennett came?”  Mia admitted that she wasn’t
sure.  “He told us to read the first chapter right after he finished taking
roll.  After that he didn’t speak or move.  I took his pulse a few minutes
before the chimes, and sent the boy for Mrs. Bennett.”