Rose, Zachary, Oliver, and Mrs. Magistra appeared in front of the silver limo parked in front of the school. Mitoam School of Magic was in purple lettering across the sides. Rose felt breathless, as if she had just run a marathon.
"I CAN NOT believe this is happening!" She squealed.
"Oh just wait Rose, we haven't even left Westmist yet." Mrs. Magistra smiled.
"Mrs. Magistra, you're... a Mitoam teacher?" Oliver gaped in amazement at her.
"You kept that secret well!" Zachary commended.
"We don't have all day!" The driver at the front of the limo shouted.
Mrs. Magistra opened a door near the front and ushered them inside. Four large, dark leather lazy-boy chairs sat bolted to the floor near the windows. Each had a side table with an empty glass and plate on them. Rose felt like the limo was heavily enchanted.
"Your trunks have been stowed in the back." Mrs. Magistra told them. "Be prepared for a long ride." Rose grabbed a chair and settled in.
The four of them chatted excitedly for about an hour, absorbed in conversation about Mitoam. Mrs. Magistra told them more stories about her time at the school and leaked a few more details about the school sports.
"The Team Competitions have five teams, each represented by a color and an animal. The members of each team change every year, but the team names and colors only change every hundred years or so. It's up to the Headmaster to decide when teams are divided, but usually it's within the first few weeks. Knowing Headmaster Collings, he's already divided the rest of the school into teams and they are just waiting on the Level One students to be decided at the Welcoming Ceremony tonight. The competition may even start right after dinner."
It wasn't long before Oliver got hungry.
"Do you remember the aluminum squares you ate during the Tests?" Mrs. Magistra asked.
"Sure! Do we have some of those?"
"No, but the plates and cups have a similar enchantment to them. Make sure you are touching them and then ask for what you want. There's a mini kitchen in the back, where the luggage is."
"Oooh a filet mignon sounds real good right now!" Oliver patted his stomach.
Rose laughed, "Oliver make sure you have room for dinner tonight!"
"But we're missing lunch!"
"She's got a point Oliver." Mrs. Magistra nodded, "it may do you good to skip lunch all together. The banquet tonight is going to be fantastic!" She lapsed into a memory, telling the three of them all the crazy things she had to eat while a student at Mitoam. Rose's mouth started to water.
"Alright, I give up!" Oliver flung his hands in the air and then grabbed his plate. "Give me that steaky thing Mrs. Magistra just talked about."
"You have to be more specific Oliver." She smiled. "How about you wait until you have it in these next eight years. I'm sure you'll have it at some point."
"Fine. A PB&J sounds good too." About a minute later a fresh peanut butter and jelly showed up on his plate. "Sick!" Oliver exclaimed before eating about half of it in one bite.
Zachary then took hold of his plate and asked for bacon. They heard sizzling behind them in the back room and a mouth watering smell of greasy bacon frying in a pan wafted up to their noses.
"Aww man Zachary you may have just done us all in." Rose groaned. She felt her belly rumble. When a large pile of bacon appeared on his plate, Rose lunged and grabbed one off the stack.
"Heeeey get your own bacon!" he grinned. They both took a bite at the same time.
"Oh my goodness." The bacon was crunchy but it fell apart in her mouth and the flavor washed over her tongue.
"Ok my turn!" Oliver grabbed some bacon off the plate. "Woah this is the best bacon I have EVER had!"
"Mrs. Magistra, since this seems to be a free for all would you like some?" Zachary asked.
"Sure Zachary, thank you. Mmmm this is some good bacon!"
"I could eat this all day!" Rose said as she picked up some more bacon. "I could also use something to drink." She wrapped a hand around the cup on her side table and asked for ice cold water. "That's much better."
"Make sure you enjoy the countryside out there students. We're between cities right now."
Rose looked out the window at rolling green hills. "Are those...?"
"Travel beans." Mrs. Magistra nodded, "faba voyager." There must be some really heavy enchantments around that field. The beans are expensive."
"Couldn't we use those to get to Mitoam?" Oliver asked.
"Technically we could but we would need some pretty big faba for that. And, it's tradition to go by Mitoam limo."
"Tradition." Oliver huffed, resting his head on a hand and staring out the window. "How long is this drive?"
Rose shook her head, "We'll get there for dinner Oliver. It's barely lunch time!"
"So, HOURS. I'm gonna take a catnap. Wake me up when we get there."
Finally, the sun began to set. Oliver was snoring loudly. Rose had a hard time staying awake. She stared out the window as one city after the next blurred by. It had been miles since they saw the last civilization. They had been driving through a dense forest for about an hour when Rose spoke.
"Mrs. Magistra" she said groggily, "is it true, that Mitoam is in the mountains?"
"Well, you're about to find out." She winked.
They broke out of the forest and a grand, majestic mountain range loomed right in front of them.
"Woah! Where was that when we entered the forest!" Zachary exclaimed loudly.
Oliver woke with a start. "Holy smokes that thing is huge!"
Mrs. Magistra smiled knowingly. "The forest is the entrance and only current Mitoam students and teachers can get through safely. You won't see the mountains from the other side."
"Where is the school?" Rose asked.
"On the other side."
"How long will that be?" Oliver inquired.
"At least another hour."
"The sun is already setting and I'm hungry!" He complained.
"It took us a little longer than expected but stay hungry, it's almost dinnertime." Mrs. Magistra stood up and knocked on the wall dividing them from the driver. "ETA?"
"Just another hour. My dashboard shows we're one of the last ones but Lakemont is well behind, close to 45 minutes behind schedule."
"Tsk" Mrs. Magistra shook her head. "Lakemont never gives themselves enough time." She returned to her lazy-boy chair and refilled her water.
"It looks like we're going straight into the mountain." Rose commented.
"We are."
A few minutes later crashing into the mountainside seemed imminent when a dark, gaping hole opened up and they disappeared into pitch black.
"I hate the dark." Zachary muttered.
Rose kept comments to herself. She couldn't even see the hand right in front of her face! Her heartbeat quickened and she felt like panicking.
"You kids are lucky. Most Level One students travel alone."
"Alone? Like, one person alone? You don't mean that right?" Rose shivered at the thought."
"Yes, I do mean that." Mrs. Magistra confirmed.
"Wait, we're magicians." Zachary said. They heard a slap sound nd Rose assumed he had just pounded his forehead. "Illuminate!"
"Good idea, Mr. Ace, but all light, magic and non-magic, is extinguished in this tunnel. Safety reasons. The patrols can see in the dark."
"Patrols?"
"Dragons aren't the only magical creatures you know."
Rose gulped. Horrific fantasies filled her mind of all the giant fanged, poison clawed, limo ripping monsters that were out there.
"My eyes aren't even adjusting." Oliver whined, "is the entire last leg of this trip gonna be in the dark?"
"Only about half of it."
"The other side is gonna be reeeeally bright!" he sighed.
And it was really bright! Rose had to close her eyes and felt the light burning through her eyelids. When she was finally able to open her eyes, what she saw stole her breath away. They must've been on an upwards slope that whole half hour in the dark because they had just come out high up on the side of the mountain. Rose saw a large valley with lakes, open greens, and forests. Looming across from them was a castle strikingly similar to the Hohenzollern Castle in Germany, but much bigger. It was set high up on the side of the mountain and stretched all the way down into the valley. The limo pulled to a stop at the edge of the valley.
"Welcome to CrystalGrass Valley, students." Mrs. Magistra motioned with her hands for them to get out. "The last leg of our journey is climbing to the Dining Hall."
"Climbing?" Oliver said incredulously. Mrs. Magistra started walking towards the cobblestone step path up to the school.
"Yes. Level One dorm is at the bottom of the mountain, the closest building you see there. Then Level Two, then Three, and so on. Eight is attached to the school."
"We have to climb that every day?" Zachary exclaimed. "No way!"
"That's one of the privileges of getting older. You move closer to the school."
"And farther from the valley." Rose added. "Where are all the sports held?"
"Some are out here on the green, the dueling is inside the mountain." Mrs. Magistra answered.
"Cool! Inside!" Oliver said. "Where?"
"Behind Esterden Falls."
"And there's a huge lake!" said Zachary, pointing at the large body of water.
"We drove right over the tributaries on our way through the mountain." Mrs. Magistra informed. "That's Barrowpond Lake. The two tributaries are Bysnow and Brightsilver."
"I'll never keep track of all these names." Rose lamented with a sigh.
"Sure you will, you're about to spend the next eight years of your life here!" Mrs. Magistra encouraged. "There are two forests, but those are easy to remember. And then off course the crystalgrass field, but that's of limits."
"So much information and we haven't even stepped inside the school halls." Zachary said.
"I'm...already... outta breath." Rose wheezed.
"There's the Level Four dorm." Mrs. Magistra pointed at the dark charcoal dorm with grey shutters. It had a big silver 4 on the side.
"Are all the dorms different? Level Three's was orange and had a fancy roof." Oliver asked.
"Three and six are identical but all the others have something a little bit different about them. Dorm eight especially."
"Who's that behind us?" Rose questioned, looking back down into the valley where they had left the limo.
"Another school's send-offs coming in behind us. There's one student who had just passed dorm Seven when we arrived."
Rose breathed heavily and felt sweat forming on her back. "We're expected to make good first impressions covered in sweat?"
"Every Level One student does it that way. Even I did years and years ago."
"Why are you doing it again Mrs. Magistra?" Zachary wondered.
"I'm a brand new teacher! We have to follow the tradition too. Almost there students!"
"We're only at dorm Six!" Oliver groaned. "I am going to be super hungry for dinner! I hope it's some good food and not that green slop soup you had at a few meals Mrs. Magistra."
Mrs. Magistra laughed, "No tonight is going to be a grand feast. The other students have probably been eating the "green slop soup" this past week in order to save the best for tonight."
"I'd love a cheeseburger right now." Rose huffed.
"Or a good, medium rare T-bone steak!" Zachary fantasized.
"I'd love me some seafood." Oliver added.
"I'll settle for a fruit salad and pumpkin pie." Mrs. Magistra grinned at the three astonished faces staring at her.
Rose looked around at how far they had come. The two limos parked at the edge of CrystalGrass valley seemed like play cars. There were two people who looked like ants meandering towards the path. "What about our luggage?"
"They're probably already in your dorms." Mrs. Magistra replied nonchalantly. "Here's dorm Seven students! Look up, we're almost there."
Rose looked up and the castle (ahem, school) which had seemed to grow twice it's size during the climb. She marveled at the twinkling lights and warm, cozy feeling that emanated from the windows. The light colored towers and dark spires stood out against the darkening night sky.
"Tonight students you will see more stars than you have ever seen in your lives if you look out the windows." Mrs. Magistra said in a wistful tone.
When the four of them rounded the eighth dorm and climbed the last step, Oliver hooted with victory. Then he stopped in his tracks and scanned the cream brick wall from the left to right. "Where's the entrance?"
Mrs. Magistra only smiled. An idea popped into Rose's head.
"Wait! It must be a faux-wall!" Mrs. Magistra nodded her approval, "and the entrance to the mountains, was that a faux-wall too?" Now Mrs. Magistra looked impressed as she nodded.
Rose strode forwards confidently, straight through the wall.
"Hooooooly Cow." Was all she managed. Rose had just entered a magnificent foyer with ceilings so high she had to squint to see the top. The polished marble floor twinkled and reflected the light of a thousand magic candles floating or attached to the cream brick walls. The beauty of the room stole her breath away. The trim was a dark, chocolatey color wood. A giant mural of the school and mountains behind it was painted on the far wall. Marble statues of all the Headmasters and Headmistresses surrounded the rest of the walls. The room wasn't rectangular, but it wasn't quite circular either. Rose gazed up at a massive crystal chandelier that was sending whispers of color all around the room. To her right was an enormous marble staircase and to her left was a grand archway of dark wood trim. Through the archway she could see the biggest dining space she had every gazed upon in her life! And it was full of grinning students chatting excitedly in their uniforms. The uniforms she realized were a myriad of colors. The golden room seemed to be swimming in color. It almost made Rose dizzy.
"Follow me Rose, Zachary, Oliver." Mrs. Magistra commanded, leading them away from the inviting smell of food and fellowship towards the mural of Mitoam. Rose hadn't even realized the others had entered because she was so absorbed in the foyer. Zachary and Oliver were just as speechless as she was.
As they walked, their footsteps echoed quietly. The three students marveled at everything around them, often spinning in circles to get a good look. Mrs. Magistra, on the other hand, was very nostalgic and had the look on her face of one who had just come home after a long, long journey. She led them right up to the elaborate mural and stopped.
"Students, to your right is a hallway branching off to some classrooms. To your left is the Introduction Room, where you should only be once in your lifetime. Twice if you become a teacher. Maybe more if you are the Headmaster. Ok, disregard all of that, it's not important."
"What's the giant staircase for?" Rose asked.
"More classrooms." Mrs. Magistra shrugged and then led them into the Introduction Room.
There were about 45 students in all in the room. "You said 50 made it in this year?" Rose whispered to Mrs. Magistra.
"Mmhm."
Most of the students stood alone, a few were in clusters of two, three, or four. All of them looked extremely nervous and excited. Some even looked afraid. Seeing Mrs. Magistra walk in, the hushed chatter ceased and they all stared at her expectantly.
"I'm a new teacher, don't look at me." She shrugged. To the three students from Westmist she told them, "Go sign in at the back. I'll be right with you."
The students returned their tense conversation. Rose felt crowded in the dark, low-ceilinged room. It was made of dark polished wooden logs with a few fireplaces burning, providing the only light in the room. At the back there was a thick book of silver paper and an inkstand with a quill sticking out.
"Quill? Ok." Oliver chuckled. "You first, Mr. Ace-man." He gave Zachary a gentle shove forwards.
Rose could see Zachary's hands shaking as he picked up the quill. A blot of purple ink dripped onto the silver paper. He signed his name, the date, and what school he came from at the bottom of the left page. Then he gasped as the words Welcome Zachary Ace of Westmist appeared on the next page. Zachary handed the quill to Rose and she dipped it back in the inkstand. Then she repeated the process, directly under Zachary's sign in. Welcome Rose Benoit of Westmist. The same happened for Oliver when he signed. Mrs. Magistra walked up behind him, flipped through a few pages, and signed in. As she stood up, another student came through the doors. She had black, wavy hair, big brown eyes, and a huge smile.
"Hi there!" She waved at Rose as she walked up to sign in.
Mrs. Magistra looked down at the booklet. "Only one student left. Lakemont." She shook her head disapprovingly.
Rose stood with Oliver and Zachary at the back of the room and they stared at each other awkwardly. They stayed silent, still taking heaving breaths after the long climb.
A few minutes later Oliver said, "Man! And we have to do that climb every day!"
The talking slowly subsided until everyone was quiet and staring expectantly at the doorway. Finally, about ten minutes later, a scrawny boy with sandy blonde hair walked timidly into the room.
"Why is everyone staring?" He asked, face reddening in embarrassment. "It wasn't my fault the driver didn't know where he was going."
"Please sign in at the back. The booklet will alert Headmaster Collings that everyone is here."
The little boy walked quickly to the back of the room and scribbled in his information. As soon as he had put the quill down, the book glowed silver, then purple, then silver again.
It spoke in a deep, but old voice "Welcome, young students, to Mitoam School of Magic! You are about to embark on a great journey! The next eight years of your life will be some of the greatest you have ever had! Be prepared to have your brains loaded with magical knowledge when you graduate as Level Eight students! Now hurry up and line up in alphabetical order, by last name of course. The new teacher can take the rear. The Headmaster will be here shortly to lead the procession. The Welcoming Ceremony is about to begin!"
Rose gaped at the booklet. Zachary said "see ya!" and took off for the front of the room.
"Well Benoit, get going! You'll be up there too." Oliver didn't look too happy about them getting split up. "It was nice knowing you." He stuck out his tongue.
Rose pushed her way through the crowd towards the front of the room. Barkley, Bennet, Benoit. She stood in her place with hands clasped nervously in front of her. She could see Zachary staring wide eyed back into the room. He was first in line. Rose turned to look back for Oliver and found him still wandering around for his spot. She realized in that moment that she hadn't come to Mitoam friendless. She had made two friends on the journey.
Moments later, a tall, young man with black curly hair and bright green eyes showed up in the doorway. His outfit was brightly colored. He grinned broadly, truly happy to be where he was. "Students! It is so good to see so many of you! You ought to know we only had 47 last year! I've already told the others at dinner that this year we have 50! Here's what we're gonna do. I'm gonna lead the procession which is the first event of the Welcoming Ceremony. Stand a few feet apart from each other because the archway announces first timers, aka Level One students. Mrs. Magistra in the back, I'll be announcing you. Students, don't stop walking. Keep going to the front. You'll be lining up at the front of the dining hall. You'll be receiving a few things, I'll talk a lot, give some announcements, then you'll be divided into your teams and we'll finish up so that everyone can eat. They're all super excited to meet you! Now, who are you?" He peered at Zachary.
"Z-Zachary Ace."
"Good! Zachary, follow me! Students, follow single file! Remember, stand a few feet apart. And, we're off! The Procession of Level One students has officially begun!" The Headmaster the marched out of the room and led the procession across the foyer.
Rose took a deep breath and followed the girl, Bennet was her last name, out of the room. No one said a word. They made a wide arc out in the foyer before Headmaster Collings entered the Dining Hall. Rose could no longer hear the talking from earlier in there. She got another glimpse inside the vast room. It was golden with large, circular tables scattered everywhere. Normal candles and purple ones hung pell-mell but they weren't casting the light. Most of the light came from three giant chandeliers hanging from the vaulted ceiling. The other light came from five banners hanging at the back of the room. The banners were purple, green, orange, blue and red and they were glowing. The red one was glowing the brightest.
Rose heard the dining hall announce Zachary's entrance. "Zachary Ace! There was scattered clapping but the students knew to stay quiet if they wanted to hear the other names. Too soon, Rose was two students from entering the large, well lit dining hall. Barkley and Bennet had entered and now it was her turn. Rose squared her shoulders, straightened her spine, and walked as confidently as she could into the room. It announced her entrance, "Rose Benoit!" She smiled, ready to begin her magical education.