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noble in reason
Graysons in Quintessence
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London, September 1843

The Clarendon Academy of Magic, in London, is widely acknowledged as the foremost educational institution for young mages, not only in Britain but across the globe. Founded almost two centuries ago in 1645, it also has the privilege of being the oldest.

Today, its imposing halls and impeccable courtyards are buzzing with even more activity than usual, as more than three hundred new students, most of them around the age of nine, arrive to be registered. Many have parents with them, and are engaged in tearful goodbyes or sudden bouts of anxiety at leaving home. Others have arrived with servants, siblings, or sponsors. 

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Some students are bouncing with excitment.

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Others are keeping their family dignity intact.

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While some are looking like they'd really rather be anywhere but here.

This particular new student stands out for being a couple of years older, and therefore taller, than most of the other first-years. She seems to be trying to make up for it by taking up as little space as possible in the chaos. She seems to have come alone, and looks a little lost.

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This student doesn't occupy much space at any given moment, but she can't hold still so she is occupying a lot of space by dashing around.

She is searching for her new roommate. "Are you Katherine Dyer?"

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"...yes?" Katherine Dyer is, apparently, the tall girl in black, who looks like a crow in a flock of hummingbirds. She looks slightly alarmed to be addressed. 

"Um...why?"

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"I am your new roommate! Temperance Greenshore!"

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"Oh."

Katherine seems a little dazed by everything happening around her. "Um, it is a pleasure to make your acquaintance." She speaks very precisely and deliberately, pronouncing each word with great care and little emotion. 

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"Likewise! My affinity is ice, I was told your is fire. Maybe they paired us on purpose." She speaks very fast and excitedly. "Are you excited to learn magic? I am! What do you want to learn? I want to learn to make unmelting ice, that moves, and flies so I can go everywhere and sell them!"

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At the word fire, she flinches noticeably.

"I suppose? That does sound nice." Her voice is very quiet, barely audible over the noise of the crowd.

"Um, maybe we should, uh, register? And find our room?"

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"I already did! But I can help you through the process if you want!" Gosh is she chipper or what?

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"That would be useful. Thank you." Katherine seems to be speaking and moving somewhat mechanically, but she makes it through registration and lets Temperance lead the way to their dormitory.

Each hall of residence has a mixture of ages, so they can learn from older students, but they're segregated by gender. Katherine and Temperance are in Nightshade Hall, an all-female dorm built in the early eighteenth century. Their assigned room is on the ground floor.

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She looks around like she isn't expecting to have to live here for the next several years. Any obvious signs of magic? How many people are out there in their hall?

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Aside from the occasional burst of accidental magic from some of the more nervous new arrivals they pass on the way, Nightshade, and Clarendon in general, seems no more obviously magical than the rest of London.

Nightshade has six new students moving in, and can house 72 students at full capacity. Most of the older students will move in tomorrow, but a few have arrived early to help the first-years settle in. Temperance and Katherine are the first pair of roommates to arrive, and their hall matron promptly comes to greet them. 

"Welcome to Nightshade Hall. Misses Dyer and Greenshore? Excellent, excellent. I am Mrs. Crimple, and it is my job to look after all you girls here in Nightshade. Please let me know if there is anything you require." She points out her rooms, just off the entrance hall, and leaves them to unpack.

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Which Miss Greenshore promptly does.

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Miss Graywood arrives shortly after and introduces herself to Mrs. Crimple.

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Miss Dyer unpacks as mechanically as she has been doing everything else. She doesn't seem to have many personal possessions - a few dresses in browns and greys and other drab colours, various other clothing, toiletries, hair-ribbons. 

Buried at the bottom of her luggage are a well-read Bible and a prayer book. These, she places with care on the little table beside her bed, fussing with them as though the world will end if they aren't positioned perfectly. 

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Temperance is definitely not mechanical. "Hey, you never told me what you wanted to do with your magic."

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"I have to learn to control it." Her face is blank and pale. 

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"Well, yes." Temperance says a bit confused with Katherine's reaction.

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"I don't want to do anything with it. Not - " She cuts herself off.

"I just need to learn how to not do magic. That's all I want."

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"But... you could do stuff with it."

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"I did." 

And that seems to be all she wants to say on the subject; she turns away and begins arranging her stockings in a drawer with military precision. 

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It dawns on Temperance a bit too late. "Sorry."

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"It's alright," she lies.

Since she's facing away from Temperance, the tears she fails to blink back won't give her away.

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A few minutes later. A girl comes in, she is vaguely surprised by Temperance being there, "Hi, Temperance." Then she turns to the other girl. "Hello, I am Meghan Graywood."

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Katherine jumps slightly when the door opens, but is ready with a passable imitation of a smile by the time she turns around. "Katherine Dyer. It is a pleasure to make your acquaintance." 

After a second, the rest of Meghan's words register. "You know Temperance already?" she asks timidly.

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"Yes, we have the same dad," Meghan says this watching for Katherine's reaction.

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"...oh."

That sure is something that would get a reaction if Katherine's emotions were working properly right now. As it is, by the time she's processed the implications enough to have a reaction, the vague flicker of emotion has died.

"Are you in Nightshade as well?"

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"Yes, two rooms down. Haven't met my roommate yet."

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"That's nice for you, then." The smile is a little more genuine, this time. "It's good that you'll be able to see each other." 

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...

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"Well, how about you? Any family here?"

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Katherine shakes her head. "I'm the first mage in my family for...I don't know how many generations." She's probably descended from some mages, through their descendants marrying into the family, but the Dyer line is clear back to the Turning, and they don't marry anyone with a mage parent or grandparent. 

"I must make do with friends, instead. The roommate system seems like an excellent way to start with at least one, don't you think?" She smiles at Temperance.

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"Absolutely!"

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"Yeah, dad said it's going to be good to have more mage friends."

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"Well, I...can't promise that I'll be an especially great mage," Katherine admits, "but I can try to be a good friend. I've had more practice with the second, after all," she adds, with a hint of an actual smile. 

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"Well, this is the place to learn on how to become great mages."

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"I suppose it is," she concedes, without much enthusiasm. 

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The next day, the rest of the student body arrives, and classes begin. Before that, all the new students are gathered in the Great Hall and officially welcomed by the headmaster. 

Even though they have different affinities, and will be expected to specialise later, all the first-year students have at least some of the same classes. The major difference is that there are hardly any boys in their practical magic lessons; male students spend the first three years getting a rounded education in other subjects instead. 

Katherine and Meghan have their first class of the year together. It's a mixed-gender subject, History of Magic. Aside from splitting the classroom down the middle, with girls on one side and boys on the other, the teacher does not assign seats. 

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Meghan sits in the second roll in the middle (a boy to one side), if Katherine wants to sit by her other side she is free to do so.

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Why yes, Katherine would like to sit next to the only person she knows in this class! 

She's wearing black again, but seems to be in a slightly better frame of mind this morning, and is capable of striking up a reasonably animated conversation with the girl on her other side before the lesson begins. 

They are starting, the teacher explains, not with the history of magic itself, but with the earliest known writing about magic, beginning in Late Classical Greece in the 5th century BC. Katherine takes diligent notes in beautiful handwriting.

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Meghan's handwriting is not elaborate but it is precise and readable.

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That will be useful if Katherine ever needs to borrow Meghan's notes, which does not seem likely. 

The lesson goes by, covering Ancient Greece and Rome and the fruitless speculation of academics on why there was such interest in magic between Rome's rise and its fall, but not in the centuries before or after.

Does anyone have any questions?

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Meghan politely asks if people know anything about magic before 5th century BC.

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No, is the short answer. Everything before that point which refers to magic-sounding events or actions is always attributed to deities or monsters, not to humans. But around that time, one starts seeing references to works of magic performed by otherwise-ordinary individuals, not blessed by the gods, and within two hundred years Aristotle is formulating his theory of the elements (which they will be taught later!) and there are accounts of the great thinkers teaching magic along with philosophy. 

One theory, which is rather outlandish and not taken very seriously, is that 500 BC was an earlier Turning, at which point magic started to become available, and that at some point around the start of the Dark Ages, it retreated again until the fifteenth century.

But that's far too advanced for first-years to be worrying about, are there any questions on the material covered in the lesson?

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Well, not from Meghan. Thank you.

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Then they can go. 

Katherine and Meghan are in different classes for the next hour; Katherine is in Magical Theory with Temperance, and Meghan has her first meditation lesson. 

"Hello, Temperance. May I sit with you?"

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"Of course! Golly, I am so excited for this class."

Temperance said this about every class. Multiple times.

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Katherine finds this both adorable and highly amusing.Temperance is so enthusiastic about magic!

She's not so excitable, but settles in happily enough to learning about the way magic is divided into elements. She freezes up again when the teacher wants them all to say their elemental affinity if they know it.

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Temperance is quite eager to say that she has an elemental affinity for ice!

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Various other students raise their hands and say their affinity: Ice, Nature, Water, Air, Stone...Fire.

Katherine flinches. She doesn't raise her hand.

She isn't the only one; about half the class don't know yet, mostly the boys but at least a quarter of the girls. 

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The teacher assures them that they'll all find out before the end of the day. She goes back to talking about the structure of the elements and how they're arranged in a spectrum, not a circle or a square or a pentagram like the ancients thought. 

She draws a diagram on the blackboard, a horizontal line with the elements arranged along it. Fire is on the far left, followed by Air, Water, Ice, Stone, and lastly Nature. The elements next to each other are more similar, and most mages should be able to work with the two on either side of their affinity by the time they graduate.

This is useful because the elements can do different types of magic. Does anyone know what their element is used for?

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Temperance glances at Katherine when Fire is called, but doesn't comment.

Also, she knows Very Well what the Ice element is used for. Does the teacher want examples of famous works and edge cases, Temperance knows many.

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With some varyingly enthusiastic contributions from the rest of the class, the following picture emerges:

Fire magic, Katherine's affinity, deals with fire, emotions, and energy transfer. Professions this is useful for include firefighters and therapists; energy transference is mostly the realm of theorists at the moment but researchers are claiming it's going to replace steam power. The ethics of using emotion magic in warfare are hotly debated. 

Air magic deals with air, minds, and communication. Air-based communicative telepathy is used to let groups of people talk to each other without speaking out loud or even being in the same room, and illusions are a favoured tool of entertainers. The use of mind magic in warfare is very unethical and very very illegal. 

Water magic deals with water, divination, and far-seeing. Past-watchers can be hired by someone investigating a crime; future-seers help to prevent crimes or disasters before they occur. Far-seeing can stretch much further than telepathy and is used for long-distance communication across continents, but it can't convey sound.

Ice magic, Temperance's affinity, deals with ice, defence, and time manipulation. It is used for preserving food or corpses, firefighting, combat, and security.

Stone magic deals with earth, metal, transmutation, and magic items. Stone mages tend to be either combat mages or manufacturers. 

Nature magic deals with living things: plants, animals, and healing. Accordingly, it is used for farming and medicine. Some monarchs hire nature mages to keep them young and stop them dying of illness or accidents. 

There is also Aether, which is not so much an element as a category of non-element based magic. This type of magic is all about magic itself. One example is magesight, which can be used to tell whether someone is a mage and how much mana they have.

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Temperance will gladly write everything down. She highlights the bits about Fire and Ice.

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Katherine takes half-hearted notes on everything but Fire. She goes into a little more detail for Nature, seeming particularly interested in the healing aspects, but this does not appear to cheer her up.

The teacher goes on to talk about how the ancient Greeks thought there were only four elements, plus Aether: Earth, Air, Fire and Water. It wasn't until the seventeenth century that people started to notice the differences between Stone and Nature, Water and Ice. And now they're thinking about splitting Stone again, into Stone and Metal!

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If-slash-when it's okay to ask questions Temperance wants to know if Metal is going to stay in the Ice-side of Stone or the Nature-side of Stone? And what this means for Ice users that want to enchant objects.

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It is definitely okay to ask questions! This teacher doesn't know many details about these issues, since it isn't really her area. She's an Aether mage, not a Stone mage. She thinks Metal will be on the Ice-side, but doesn't know whether it will cover transmutation or enchantment. 

However, since this is just a theoretical division representing a better understanding of existing concepts, it won't make any difference to how easily an Ice mage can use Stone magic. Nothing about the magic is changing, only the way they talk about it and teach it. Excellent question, Miss Greenshore. 

Does she have any other queries?

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Nothing specific to the topic, thank you, Professor.

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There are a couple of questions from other students, mostly clarifications of aspects that were mentioned but not really explained.

And then it is time for lunch. The first-years have their own dining hall shared with the second-years, and supervised by a couple of bored-looking journeymen. The food is bland-looking and cheap, and several people are heard complaining about the lack of vegetables. 

The friendship groups and cliques look to be forming already: here a group of elegant second-year girls have invited a few lucky first-years to join them; there an older-looking second-year boy is holding court with a circle of impressed firsties around him; over in the corner a mixed group seem to be starting on their homework already...

Where would Temperance and Meghan like to sit? 

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Temperance bounces over every group not sure which to pick... she tries the elegant second-year girls.

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...Meghan tries for that one as well. After she acquires food.

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Katherine is not invited to join the popular group, or any other.

She sits by herself in one corner, eating quietly and mechanically.

 

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One of the girls, who seems to be the centre of the little gathering, greets first Temperance and then Meghan with the same self-composed grace and utter confidence in her own superiority. 

"I'm Millicent Bulmer," she announces proudly, as if she expects them to know exactly who that is. "And you are...?"

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"Temperance Greenshore!"

(It does not occur to Temperance to consider the possibility that the girl's family name would be of greater significance besides "can pay her child to go to magic school".)

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"Meghan Graywood, pleased to meet you Ms. Bulmer," Meghan says far more composedly than Temperance.

(She totally got that this girl expects her family to be treated as important and is acting accordingly.)

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"Likewise, Ms. Graywood." She inclines her head with the grace of a queen.

"Do come and sit here," she says, gesturing to the space next to her. A disgruntled girl, who Meghan might recognise from History of Magic, shuffles her chair along to make room for Meghan. "And you may call me Millicent."

Further down the table, a couple of other girls grudgingly make room for Temperance.

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"Thank you," Meghan sits politely like a lady.

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Temperance goes over where the girls made room for her and asks their names and their affinities and what they plan to-

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The other girls are a little nonplussed but quickly warm up to Temperance once they realise she genuinely is that friendly and isn't just fishing for information.

 "So, Ms. Graywood - may I call you Meghan? - how are you liking the Academy so far?" Millicent asks.

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Temperance is genuinely friendly! Also, major magic nerd.

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"I'm enjoying it, so far has lived up to the reputation of a good place of learning."

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"Oh, it's the best in the country, if not in Europe," Millicent assures her.

With perfect complacency, she states, "My parents wouldn't have sent me here otherwise."

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"I believe. I must say the presence of children from good families is reassuring."

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She smiles.

"I can just tell we're going to get along marvellously, Meghan."

Meghan is invited to sit with Millicent and her entourage again at dinner, if she would like. But for now, it's time to get to afternoon classes. 

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Meghan is honored to accept.

(This is great.)

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More importantly: Afternoon classes?

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Afternoon classes commence. Katherine heads off reluctantly to a group session with other first-year Fire mages, mostly girls but with a couple of boys who started late like she did. 

Meanwhile, Temperance and Meghan have the first in a series of classes dedicated to the study of a particular element: all students have to study the uses and workings of every element, even the ones they don't have an affinity for and might never be able to use effectively. Today's class is on Air magic, which Temperance might be able to use and Meghan, whose Nature affinity is at the other end of the spectrum, probably won't. 

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Temperance is predictably excited!

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Meghan is neutral amounts of curious-but-not-hopeful over the possibility of using Air magic.

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Well, none of them will be using any magic today. Their first lesson is an introduction to the subject, starting with the same overview that came up in Magical Theory.

Air magic, they are told, is divided into three strands: illusion, telepathy, and aerokinesis. Generally, only mages with an affinity for a particular element can get much of anywhere with direct manipulation of the physical element itself, so they should not expect to be able to use aerokinesis for anything beyond simple tricks to demonstrate the ability, and even that will take a lot of practice for anyone more than one step away on the elemental scale and will probably be impossible for Stone and Nature mages. However, they still need to know about it so that they can work effectively with - or against - Air mages. 

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Temperance finds this very interesting!

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Telepathy is also known as "mind magic", a catchall term for anything to do with reading or affecting thoughts. There is an important distinction here between thoughts and emotions, with the latter coming under Fire magic, although many Air and Fire mages can be skilled at both since they're only one step apart on the spectrum.

The teacher explains that, as well as using communicative telepathy - speaking mind to mind, sometimes across great distances - Air mages can also alter people's thoughts and memories, if they know how.

Several students are alarmed by this! 

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Temperance finds this confusing, is not like other kinds of magic can't cause a lot of harm in the wrong hands.

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For some reason this does not seem to be reassuring. They're only first-years, it's not like they can do very much with magic that's dangerous. 

The teacher reassures everyone that one of the first skills they are taught will be how to protect themselves against hostile magic, and that it is very very illegal anyway, especially when used against children. 

While he waits for the gaggle of girls at the back to calm down, does anyone have any questions so far?

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How does the protection against hostile magic works with affinity? Would an Air mage be better to protect against Air mages?

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"Mental defences can be learned by anyone, even non-mages, although it's harder for them, of course," their teacher explains.

"Rather than a direct use of magic, it's more of a...habit of thought, you might say. One learns to distinguish one's own thoughts from those externally imposed. There's a similar trick to discerning illusions...but we're getting off topic," he finishes lamely, remembering that he is talking to a class of nine- and ten-year-olds. 

"Does anyone else have a question?"

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Not in the moment no.

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In that case, the teacher will resume his lecture, explaining aerokinesis next. 

Air mages, and skilled Fire and Water mages as well, can manipulate the air around them through the direct use of magic. This starts off very uncontrolled and difficult to do anything with, but more advanced aerokinesis can make air into blades sharp enough to cut through diamonds, and cause big enough effects that they can change the weather. Weather magic is very slow and imprecise, though. 

The teacher starts talking about how air magic can be broader, and more dangerous than people think. He reminds the class that all of them have air inside their bodies right now, running all through their blood. 

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Why is weather magic so slow and imprecise?

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"Because one is working at such large scales," the teacher explains.

"It's simply impossible to focus in sufficient detail on every gust and ripple of air over an area the size of a storm, so one sacrifices a certain amount of precision in the process."

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"What if they used mind magic to let them focus on more things?"

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He splutters at her for a moment or two.

"That - um - you can't use magic to make yourself better at magic!" 

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"Why not?"

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"Well, because - " 

He stops, thinks, and re-calibrates his explanation for nine-year-olds. 

"Doing more than one type of magic at once is difficult, and so is doing magic to yourself, so it would make the weather magic easier but but it would balance out to be harder overall."

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Temperance finds this explanation satisfactory and interesting.

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Oh good. (This teacher has pegged Temperance as a difficult pupil, and is relieved that she seems to have exhausted her curiosity for now.)

Moving on, the third type of air magic is illusion. This is classified as a separate type, rather than lumped in with mind magic or aerokinesis, because it can be achieved using both, or more commonly a combination of the two.

Illusions, the teacher explains, are when you either make something look or sound like something it isn't, or make people think it looks or sounds different to reality. The first uses aerokinesis, and the second uses mind magic. But the easiest way is to use aerokinesis to get close to what you want, and mind magic so people don't notice the difference.

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She does not have any more questions, but she does pay attention.

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The teachers at this school seem very keen to emphasize the ways magic can be useful to people in everyday life. This one is now asking the class to suggest ways they might use air magic if they could. 

"I'd use illusions to look prettier," says one girl, to snickering from the boys' side of the room. 

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Temperance would want to fly (obviously), but until she learned that, she would use the wind to propel a ship and travel around the world and use magic to communicate with people and see all sorts of things.

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Meghan likes the idea of flying too.

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It's a popular one! 

Other kids suggest things like using telepathy to talk to their friends without anyone overhearing, or aerokinesis to make their paper airplanes go further or their kite fly better. 

One boy enthusiastically describes the haunted house he'd set up with a combination of all three magic types, full of jump-scares and moving parts and artificial spookiness. The teacher cuts him off after a minute or two. Another kid is coaxed into painting a verbal picture of the way they'd use illusions to help tell stories to their younger siblings. This girl wants to become a detective and use mind magic to tell when people are lying; that boy wants to be a therapist. 

The teacher pivots from there to ask about ways adults might use Air magic in their work. 

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They use telepathy for long-distance communication and illusion is used on theaters and to hide things.

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They also use it for therapy or to put out fires (often combining it with Fire magic.)

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Yes, those are all correct!

One boy contributes that his dad is a farmer, and pays Air mages to make sure it rains on his fields. He's still not sure why that's Air magic and not Water magic, though. 

The teacher reminds him that aerokinesis can control the weather. Water magic can manipulate water when it's in liquid form, but isn't so good at moving clouds about in the sky. Some weather mages do use Water as well as Air, but hardly ever just Water on its own. 

He tells the class that they'll find out in the next few days whether they'll be any good at Air magic, and which types of magic they will be good at. Whether they can do it or not, though, it's important that they learn about every type of magic, because they live in a world where all of them exist. With that, the lesson finishes.

Temperance has Meditation next, and Meghan has Magical Theory. 

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How exciting! Well, maybe Meditation is not itself exciting, but magic as a whole is!

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Katherine is in her Meditation class. 

The teacher, a kind-looking woman, directs them to sit in a semicircle on the floor. Katherine sits next to Temperance, folding her legs to sit tailor-fashion as if it's second nature. Some of the other kids do the same, while others kneel or curl their legs up beside them. 

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Temperance smiles at Kat and sits the correct way one must sit to meditate.

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The teacher explains to the class that, while there isn't technically a wrong way to sit, that they need to choose a position in which they can be stable and comfortable for long periods of time. Sitting tailor-fashion is the traditional choice, because it distributes one's weight evenly and encourages good posture. 

Those who were not already sitting that way change position. Temperance and Katherine are among those who don't need to move, earning them praise from the teacher.

She moves on to explaining the purpose of meditation. For those who have not already unlocked their magic, this session will let them practice the technique in preparation for doing so tomorrow. Once they have, meditation will let them improve their conscious control of their powers, and help them avoid accidental magic. 

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Temperance pays attention and absorbs all this.

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The teacher wants to know which of them have already awakened their magic, so she can be ready to help them if it flares up while they're meditating.

Katherine raises her hand, as do a scattering of the others. 

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Temperance raises her hand.

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The teacher makes a note of this. 

She then starts explaining how to meditate: clearing the mind, and focusing inward in a particular way. The object is to search for one's magic, or magical potential, and, to begin with, observe it. Notice how it fluctuates, or doesn't. Learn its patterns. 

Any questions?

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Several! They are even topical.

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In that case they will receive answers.

And now they should start trying to meditate for themselves. It might take some people the whole hour to find the trick of it, but that's okay. The important thing is to keep trying, and try different approaches to visualization if one approach doesn't seem to be working.

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Temperance is rather diligent about it. Not spectacular in the concentration department, but she tries and adapts.

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One of the more challenging things about teaching meditation is that it's difficult to tell which students are actually trying, and which are only pretending to try. Katherine, for example, is sitting perfectly still next to Temperance, with her back straight and her arms relaxed, staring blankly into space. Is she meditating? Who knows.

Every five minutes or so, one student or another will excitedly exclaim that they've got it, and describe their experience to the teacher when prompted. Some of them are even right, which gets more common as the class proceeds. 

By the end of the hour, around a third of the students have managed to focus on their magic for at least a second or so, and a couple have managed longer stretches. 

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Temperance managed it, but only briefly and then lost concentration.

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That's to be expected, and the teacher reassures her—and everyone who didn't succeed—that no-one is expecting them to be perfect at this right away, and they've got plenty of time to work at it. 

That was the last class of the day, so now they have some time before dinner. Normally this would be spent doing homework or independent study, but since the first-years don't have any homework yet they're free to play outside, go back to their rooms, or explore. They could go to the library and pick out something to read for fun, but a lot of the more advanced texts on magical subjects are restricted and need permission to access for anyone below journeyman level. 

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Outside she goes!

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Outside there's a yard where a few kids are already playing with skipping-ropes, wooden hoops, and the like. A group of boys are kicking around a ball.

Katherine heads for a grassy area on the opposite side to the ball game. She sits on the grass and picks flowers which she methodically tears to pieces, separating out each petal and leaf. 

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Yes, she will do those.

That's everything everyone is doing.

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Then she will be quite tired by dinnertime! 

Millicent Bulmer is holding court in the dining room again, and Meghan is invited to sit with her. Very few other first-years are, but several of them hang around hopefully anyway. 

The boy who wanted to design a haunted house with Air magic is waving at Temperance from his seat on the opposite side of the dining hall. 

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Temperance runs over to the boy, remember she should act a bit more dignified and then walks more composedly.

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Meghan will sit with Milicent again (and pretend that her half-sister doesn't exist.)