Chapter 4

Chapter 4

Reluctantly, Freya followed Elias into the room, who would rather drag her along than let her go herself. There a man was waiting for her behind a desk.

He had a long, white beard and wore a red-gold magician's robe. His gray hair was hidden under a hat, which was also made of red cloth and looked very pompous. He was an eye-catcher so that one concentrated more on him than on the man himself.

„Sit down", he said sternly, pointing to the armchairs in front of his table. Strange, elongated rods lay on it.

His voice caused the young woman to respond to his request without comment instead of contradicting it.

Freya chose an outside seat to sit as far away from Damian as possible. Stealthily, her gaze wandered through the room, which seemed rather bare if you looked away from the wall shelves, which were filled with many things. Books, boxes, and preserving jars were recognizable and sent a shiver down her spine. She felt uncomfortable because of the many new impressions.

„This here", the man began and pushed each of them one of these oblong wands, „are your magic wands.

Curious, Freya looked at her magic tools. It looked like an ordinary wooden wand about as long as her forearm. Inside the wood was a spiral that wound around the wand and had several holes. These were, as the magician explained to them, to hold the magic stones. One stone for each element.

At the top was a beautiful transparent crystal and Freya wondered if it meant anything. Did it glow when she had collected all the stones?

Carefully and reverently she picked it up and was amazed at how well it lay in her hand. It was not too heavy, but its size made it hard to hide. Did she have to hold it in her hand the whole time or was it fastened somewhere?

Although the wand was simple, it also looked noble and Freya could well imagine how pretty it must look when all the stones were in it. Hers would probably never be filled with them all.

If she was having such difficulties now, it was unlikely that she would still be there in the next school year.

She noticed, by looking out of the corner of her eye, that the men's wands were a little longer. Both bars were of different sizes. Were they adjusted to the height of the students?

That would be good because she would hardly be able to handle a staff as long as Damian had. With her clumsiness, she would be able to put someone's eye out if she wasn't careful.

The magician with the long, white beard handed each of them a package wrapped in brown paper and tied up. „Inside it is your school uniforms and the school coat", he explained in a slightly rough voice. „Go through this door, change your clothes and then go through the next one", the magician continued in a calm but strict tone. „Girl, you take this door so you can change", he said, and his finger pointed to another door that was behind him.

The fact that they were getting a school uniform greatly relieved Freya. She had hoped they would but hadn't been sure. So she would be one of many and not be judged by her clothes. She had already feared that she would be teased because of the few clothes she had brought here.

Freya looked at the package and asked in a squeaky voice where she could leave her suitcase. I guess she couldn't take it with her. But she didn't want to leave it here either, where anyone could steal what little belongings they had.

The magician looked at the small suitcase and then shook his head. „Didn't the coachman offer to bring your things up", he asked and didn't seem very enthusiastic. „Leave it here. Someone will bring it to your later room. You won't need him for the journey", the magician explained waving as if he wanted to get it over with quickly and drove himself through his beard. Then he reached for the wand that stood next to him. He raised it, causing Freya's suitcase to float in the air and finally land in a corner.

Nobody had said anything about it. Or maybe Freya had been so overwhelmed that she hadn't noticed.

With a quiet, „Thank you", she stepped towards the door she was supposed to go through. She gave Elias a short, uncertain look before closing the door behind her.

The room was small and simple. There was only a chair and a few hooks to hang the clothes on.

While Freya opened her package, she wondered where she would live at all. Whether she would share a room alone or with other girls. Perhaps if she had one or two roommates, that would be convenient. She would not feel alone and could ask someone for help. She just hoped that they were nice too.

Her thoughts were interrupted when she held the white coat in her hands. Panting, she stared at the soft and silky fabric. In her whole life, she had never seen such a fine coat before, let alone held it in her hands. This made her swallow and hesitantly she pulled out the rest.

There were high shoes that looked more like knee socks. These were black and had a firm sole, but above the feet, they were made of fine leather that turned into fabric. Above the knee, they were held by finely decorated buckles.

The black of the fabric had white ornaments, which looked very elegant.

Besides, there was a skirt, which was worked similar to the boots and reached up to her knees.

The top of the actual dress had a high collar, but no sleeves. Instead, there were fingerless gloves that reached almost to her shoulders. Around the belly, there was a kind of belt, but it was very thick and had several buckles. Probably the staff was also fastened there because there was an extra holder for it.

Everything was soft and silky but also had a magical effect because the fabric shimmered slightly.

For minutes Freya stared at the uniform and wondered why one should wear such a thing when one was a student.

She had to admonish herself to finally change since the men were probably waiting for her. Carefully but quickly she put on the clothes and found that they fitted her body perfectly. This was probably due to the magic that was worked into it. Although she had not yet come into contact with magic, Freya suspected that the fabric would adapt to the wearer's body so that new uniforms were not always needed. If her assumption was correct, it was quite practical. Would she also learn this magic?

Finally, Freya put on her coat and noticed that her hands had become wet with fear. What would she expect now? Swallowing heavily and taking a deep breath, she stepped towards the door, which she had to go through when she was finished. With her magic wand and books firmly in her hand, she opened the door and stepped to the other side.

There she expected bright light and then she stumbled into a kind of jungle, got caught on a root, and threw away everything she had held in her hands in shock.