“You did well,” Master Hathaway said. “Would you like a reward?”
Gennady blinked. A reward? He’d never had a reward before, not even when he’d picked more mushrooms than anyone else. Punishments, sure. Rewards ... a flicker of suspicion shot through his mind. A reward might be a punishment in disguise or ... or simply snatched away, the moment the giver regretted giving. He was scared to clutch at the promise, fearing that it might be a trap ...
“Yes, My Lord,” he said, carefully.
Master Hathaway smiled. “I’m going to teach you a very basic spell,” he said. “Watch and learn.”
He held up a hand and muttered a handful of words under his breath. Gennady sensed a flicker of magic—and his own magic, responding to it—as a surge of ... something flashed past him. The walls lit up with an eerie shimmering light, which faded into the background, leaving only a handful of ... he swallowed as he turned to see glowing light pulsing around the doorknobs. The magic called to him, but—at the same time—it pushed him away. He wasn’t sure what to make of it.
“It’s beautiful,” he breathed. “What is it?”
“It’s a spell to detect magic,” Master Hathaway said. The remaining glows faded into nothingness. “You will learn to sense magic, as time goes on, but ... you may find it useful to be able to spot magic without walking into the field and getting stung. It’s quite easy to hide a transfiguration hex on a floor, keyed to trigger when someone puts their foot on it. By the time they sense the magic, it’s too late.”
Gennady swallowed, hard. “That happens?”
“Students practice their magic on each other,” Master Hathaway said, dryly. “You know what they do here? People enchanted? People humiliated? It’s worse in school. Believe me, students are jockeying for position all the time. You’ll have to fight to maintain your boundaries if you want to get anywhere in life. Believe me ...”
“I believe you,” Gennady said. “Teach me the spell.”
“Yes, My Lord,” Master Hathaway said, with heavy sarcasm. “Right away, My Lord.”
Gennady flushed. “I’m sorry.”
“Don’t do that to the tutors at school or you won’t be sitting comfortably for years,” Master Hathaway said, dryly. “Listen carefully.”
Gennady listened, mouthing the words as he sensed the magic building and shaping itself around them. The glow flared up, then faded away before he could make out the spells surrounding the room. He knew where they were, but he couldn’t tell what they were. One of them was probably designed to keep intruders out. The others ... he couldn’t tell. They were just ... there.
“We’ll be covering how to take spells apart to study later,” Master Hathaway said. He was watching Gennady’s spellcasting with some amusement. “It’s a rare magician who can untangle and rewrite spells on the fly.”
Gennady cast the spell again and again, grinning to himself as the walls glowed with light. It was a pointless light show, yet ... it was his. He was casting the spell. It was his spell, his magic, his ... his everything. Power bubbled around him, through him. It was all his.
“Don’t work yourself too hard,” Master Hathaway advised. The bell rang again, louder this time. “Go eat. Stuff yourself. Tell the cook to give you an extra portion if you need it. And then go straight to bed. I want you here bright and early tomorrow morning.”
Gennady stood and bowed. He’d done it. He’d learnt how to read! He knew ... he knew it wouldn’t be easy, even now, but he’d taken a first step towards becoming a powerful magician. He smiled as he headed out the door, his power crackling around him. His head started to hurt, again, but he ignored it. He had power. For the first time in his life, he had power. Real power. No one would ever be able to humiliate him again. He’d be a man of significance when he returned home. He had power ...
And he loved it.
Chapter 4
“Welcome to Whitehall,” a grim-faced woman said, as Gennady and two of his fellow boarders scrambled out of the carriage. “Make your way through the door and into the Grand Hall, if you please.”
Gennady barely heard her. He was too busy staring. He’d heard so much about Whitehall, over the past few months, that he’d thought he’d known what to expect. He was wrong. Whitehall was massive, a structure that seemed to change every time he blinked ... white walls, topped with glowing towers that seemed to shift in and out of his view ... his head swam as the crowd of students pushed him into the building, down a long corridor and into the Grand Hall. He’d never seen so many people in all his life. Magic hung in the air, crackling with power. His hair tried to stand on end as he clasped his hands behind his back, bracing himself for ... he wasn’t sure. It felt as if everything was going to change.
An aura of power flowed through the chamber as a small man took his place at the podium. Gennady stared. The man was short, with a cloth wrapped around his eyes, but there was an aura of power around him that suggested he was someone to respect. Gennady felt a flash of envy, mingled with a grim determination to equal or match the man’s power himself. He wanted—he needed—to be respected. It was the only thing that would make his life worth living.
“Welcome to Whitehall.” The man spoke in a soft voice that somehow echoed throughout the hall. “For those of you who don’t know me” —there was a hint of amusement in his voice— “I am the Grandmaster.”
He paused. “Whitehall has a long history of teaching magic to students, dating all the way back to the days of Lord Whitehall himself. By entering the building, you join some of the greatest sorcerers and wizards in recorded history. You become heirs to traditions that put us above the common herd, charged with maintaining those traditions and passing them on to the next generation. The school can and will offer you everything. You just need to reach out and take it.”
Gennady felt a thrill of excitement as the speech continued. It was hard to follow some of the Grandmaster’s words, but it didn’t matter. He still felt as if he’d been singled out for something special. Waves of magic drifted through the air, brushing against his newborn senses. Master Hathaway had taught him well. The handful of spells he’d mastered were tiny, he’d been warned, but they were a beginning. He’d do well, he promised himself. He’d make everyone—particularly Primrose—fond of him. His heart ached as he told himself, once again, that he’d be able to go home in the summer. He’d be a sorcerer. They’d all bend the knee to him.
The Grandmaster's speech finally came to an end. He nodded as the new students raised their hands in salute, then stepped through a door and vanished. A taller man stepped up to the podium and peered at them, his eyes cold and hard. Gennady knew, instinctively, that the newcomer wasn’t someone to mess with either. The man looked as if he was permanently on the verge of administering extreme violence to anyone who got in his way. Gennady knew the type. He’d met too many people like that already.
“I am Housemaster Fredrick,” the man said, gruffly. “Tonight, we get you settled into your rooms. Tomorrow, you attend your classes. Try and make this easier for all of us by keeping your questions to yourself. We’ll sort through such matters later.”
He paused, then continued. “Girls, accompany Housemistress Ethel,” Fredrick said. He pointed to an older woman with a nice smile, standing by a large door. “Boys, accompany me.”
Gennady joined the throng as Fredrick stepped off the podium and marched through a separate door without looking back. His fellow students looked either nervous, utterly unsure of themselves, or strikingly confident even though most of them would never have visited the school before. They all wore the same drab robes, covering themselves from head to toe. Gennady wasn’t sure quite what to make of the outfits—they reminded him too much of dresses for his peace of mind—but no one was going to mock him in Whitehall. They all wore the same clothes. The sense of magic grew stronger as they walked up a long flight of stairs, climbing higher and higher until it seemed as if they were on the verge of walking onto the roof. Whitehall was the largest building he’d ever seen. His tutors had told him it was bigger on the inside too.