"Of course. You will have to visit, with Lord Ambrose perhaps, in the holidays. And-"

He can't help but glance at Ophel. 

"Do not worry. The world is far larger than the ton."

She smiles happily, relieved. “Oh. Good. Not that I do not have other friends, of course.”

There is Penelope, and… do her siblings count? Maybe she will make some more at Silvermoon– no, she is getting ahead of herself.

She looks at the wizard. “What do you suggest?”

He ponders. “I suppose the first step is identifying which field of magic you connect with the most. I myself am a wizard of the School of Abjuration, though I dabble in all schools when the need calls for it. Actually, is there a quill and a large bit of parchment anywhere? It would help to make a diagram, and the dragon can pay attention too.”

Once the quill and parchment are received, he begins to scribble various strange signs and symbols. With this as visual aid, Ambrose explains the different schools of magic one by one. He manages to keep it relatively digestible, by some miracle.

This is all quite overwhelming, but she listens in fascination. Her ears prick up at the mention of Evocation.

“So I could learn to master the elements? I could– conjure flame, or part water at my will?” Her eyes are large.

“…Yes.”

Great, another Pyromancer. Ambrose is both disappointed and concerned. 

“But, as you know, the other schools of magic have their merits, for example Abjuration is–“

“No, I like the fire thing.” She grins.

“The ability to magically put out flames does seem useful when one is raising a dragon.” He has at last joined them on the floor, intrigued by Ambrose’s little presentation.

"If he takes after his sire, he does not so much breathe fire as - unmaking. I am told the noise of its breath was the wind rushing in to fill the space where the air itself was unmade-" he coughs. "I am sorry. You were explaining, Wizard." He has absolutely no idea what any of those moon-runes mean and he doesn't want to.

“Unmaking?” He eyes the dragon like it is the most fascinating research project he has ever encountered.

She glares at Ambrose protectively.

Oh. Yes. Child, not research project. 

“Right, yes – with your blessing, Miss Bridgerton, I will get in touch with a colleague of mine in the Pyromancy department to see if there are any vacancies.” He pauses. “I am afraid this may take some time, however. Perhaps not until September, when the term officially begins.”

“September? But we are due to be married this month!”

“It is the best I can do.” He seems apologetic.

There is precedent for beginning studies outside of the ordinary commencement in the Adonical Term, but the last such case, that of Millirian the Mystic, involved the direct intervention of the then-Headmaster after an ill-advised snorkelling expedition.

It's a long story. 

They all are. 

He massages his temples. "Perhaps you could become an apprentice to a wizard outside the Academy's terms, in expectation, and then begin formal studies in the autumn?"

She is beginning to lose heart again. “But who? Nobody here would take me on. Need I remind you all, I am not a man.”

Ophel raises a handsome eyebrow in Ambrose’s direction.

“…Me? I am sorry, I am not ready to take on apprentices yet.” He is barely out of being an apprentice himself, but he isn’t about to tell his very important employer that. “I am rather preoccupied with… matters, but I will at least ask around. I promise you that much.”

He frowns. "I thought you were fully qualified. Wizards traditionally take on apprentices at Fifth Circle, do they not?"

“Well– yes, technically.” Ambrose responds, flustered. “But I have research projects to work on, and I do not yet have a professorship, and I am still adjusting to my new position here in your court, and… well, there is the matter of Miss Kreel.”

“Oh, how did that go, by the way?”

He makes a face. “She is flawless. Her father, the opposite.”

“Lord Kreel?” He hums, leaning back on his hands. He stretches like a cat. “Yes, he has made some rather hateful remarks about me in the past. He has a rather sinister energy. Does he stand in the way of your courtship?”

“…Not exactly, per se. It is… complicated. I am midway into figuring it out.” He returns to his liege lord. “I am sorry, but if I were to take Miss Bridgerton on as an apprentice, I would have no clue where to begin. I would not be able to guarantee a good standard of teaching whatsoever.”

"Lord Ambrose, your position includes my protection along with your service. If you require assistance in dealing with Kreel, you must say so." That came out rather sharply. "Frankly the man makes my skin crawl. And Lord Ambrose - I am sorry to require this of you. But ill-prepared or not, if we have no other choice before our wedding, I may need you to take Eloise as your apprentice. I hope you can come up with some other option." 

He turns to her now. 

"As I told you once, I will not suffer you to be forced to marry me, inconvenient though the alternatives may be."

He needs a drink.