Ember From A Forgotten Flame

Chapter 2- A Very Unusual Wand

"Good morning, class. My name is Mrs. Ashbel, your First Year Fire professor. By convention, your first period of the day is dedicated to your Major. Thus, you are all Fire Majors," Mrs. Ashbel introduced. Even though it was the first class of the day, she still sounded lively. "Our first order of business is introductions. I want to learn all of your names as soon as I can. Let's start from the left and work our way back."

Introductions took a couple minutes. Even though I considered myself good at remembering names, the thought of memorizing hundreds of names every year seemed daunting.

"It's nice to meet you all. It will probably take a couple days for me to memorize all your names, so I'm sorry if I mess yours up," Mrs. Ashbel said once everyone was introduced. "Our next order of business is to hand out spellbooks and wands." As soon as she said the word 'wands' the classroom lit up. A smile broke out on my face, and Hayden and I exchanged an excited look. She silently clapped her hands together with a full smile on her face.

Mrs. Ashbel first passed out the spellbooks. These were simply thick textbooks that stated what each of the Schools of Magic could do. We got Volume One now, and we would get Volume Two during our Fourth Year. Once those were passed out, the main event could begin. Wands. Everyone got a personalized wand. The wand would be designed to show a person's major and minor, if they had one. The process of how the wands were made was mysterious, but it is said it has something to do with The Great Oak in the Commons.

We had been staring at the wands all class actually. They were in wooden boxes that were stacked behind Mrs. Ashbel's desk. Each one had a little card attached with our names written on them. Mrs. Ashbel grabbed the first box from the stacks and started calling names. One by one, peoples' names got called, and they hurried to the front to grab them.

My fingers started to tap impatiently on the desk as more names got called. Halfway through, Hayden's name got called. She shot up from her chair and almost ran to the front of the room. When she got back, I leaned over, encouraging her to open the box. It was medium toned, chestnut wood with shiny, gold latches. Hayden flicked the latches and swung the lid open. Sitting in red silk was a wand that was about a foot long. Orange flames curled around the shaft and blue waves capped the ends.

"Turns out you do minor in Water," I whispered.

"What a combination," Hayden commented, laughing slightly. We turned our attention back to Mrs. Ashbel as she continued to call names.

Name after name. None of them being mine. As more people got their wands, the room buzzed with murmuring. I started going back and forth from bouncing my leg to tapping my fingers.

Finally, Mrs. Ashbel said, "Last but not least, Seraphina Blazewind."

I leaped out of my seat and hurried to the front. Unlike the simple, polished boxes that everyone else had, mine was a deep cherry wood with an embossed, gold framing along the edges. Mrs. Ashbel carefully placed the box in my hands, almost as if it would break. Sitting back down I noticed that my box was about half a foot longer than Hayden's.

Hayden was practically in my lap, eager to see my wand. I undid the polished, gold latches and carefully opened the lid. Inside was a bed of deep purple velvet. It was perfectly smooth and extremely soft. Nestled in the velvet laid my wand. It looked nothing like the other wands I had seen around the room. The shaft was bright gold, popping against the purple of the velvet. Within the gold, there was a silver shimmer that sparkled in the light. On top sat an orb that was filled with a red-orange smoke that shifted and swirled. Gold ribbons encased the bottom of the orb and twisted around the wand before blending into the shaft. It was beautiful. The box itself was already the nicest thing I've ever owned, but the wand. I felt like I couldn't even touch it. Lest my simple touch taint it.