“One of the indirect consequences of any magically inclined child being sent to the wizarding university is that they are also the foremost expert on childcare, especially those with a traumatic background. They have made massive strides over the years. Sometimes, the odd noble will even ‘donate’ their children to be raised there.”

~Senior adoption officer Ovn Petrus

Bernin woke up in her own bed. It was a strange experience, she had expected to be away for a few more months and had already prepared herself to sleep in tavern beds. Her own was a lot better in comparison, but it did miss a certain quality. Taverns had some background noise, the noise of people. In comparison, her own room was silent, lonely. Then there was the fact that the cafeteria food wasn’t always great. This early in the year, the chefs still let the new students experiment. They had about a 50/50 chance of making a monstrosity. She still swore that last year's omelet was moving on its own…

No use in waiting, she got out of her bed and moved towards the bath. Over the next half hour she slowly got ready and made her way downstairs. The cafeteria was a massive building. It consisted of multiple stories and was capable of feeding most of the staff and students at once. When it was built there wasn’t a difference between teacher and student, and its original architect kept that promise. Even now there were no separate sections, reserved spaces or floors that anyone couldn’t enter. That is not to say that groups of students didn’t still congregate, that was unavoidable.

Bernin was walking to one of the lines and making a selection when she heard someone call her name and grab her attention away from the soup of the day. She was still wondering whether to gamble on the ‘Desert-skunk bone broth’, especially since the animal of which the soup derived its name didn’t have traditional bones and was notorious for infesting the bunks of new students.

“Ah, Bernin, good that I managed to find you here.”

Finally turning away, deciding that she was more curious than cautious, she spotted a wizard in white coat. A healer. The dark skinned and rather plump wizard managed to walk rather brusquely towards her.

“Frederick the fabulous, pleased to meet you. Thank you for waiting, if you don’t mind, please come find me when you have grabbed your breakfast. I wish to talk about the boy, Kirrin, you brought in last night.”

This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.

She nodded.

“That will be fine, where are you seated?”

“2nd floor, right side. I believe it’s table orange on that floor. Though I must say I am unsure. Every year they decide on a new naming scheme for the tables. They did away with numbers to ‘get rid of the competition to grab table nr. 1’ but I don’t think this makes a lot of sense either.”

“It’s fine, I’m sure I'll spot you, be there in a bit.”

Turning back to her order she saw that it was almost fully assembled. The soup was there already and the eggs were currently peeling themselves. Bernin smiled softly, remembering coming here for the first time and freaking out when the walking bread cat pulled a slice off his face. She was pretty sure that whoever designed that particular spell was a tiny bit insane. Then again, most successful wizards are.

…

“So, what did you want to talk about?”

Bernin had made her way to the table. The open floor plan made it rather easy to spot. Frederick was also easily seen once he stood up and waved at her.

“Kirrin, the child you brought back. He's a very interesting case. I won't go into too much detail, he deserves his privacy as well, but he has certainly been through a lot. We also were unable to figure out the exact form of magic he was infused with. It's all rather perplexing. What we do know and what I can share is that he certainly belongs here now. Even if I'm unsure if he did before this happened to him. I would like your help in explaining the situation. It is likely he will respond better seeing at least one face he recognizes.”

“I'm not staying long I'm afraid. I'm heading out again tonight.”

“While not ideal, I'm hoping you'll still be able to at least make some progress. He's only seen the bad of magic recently and I think it would really be helpful that he also sees the wonderful. A small demonstration and introduction into the college will do just fine.”

“I see, I suppose I have time for that much.”

“Very good. When you're finished here, please make your way to the children's ward. The sooner the better.”

He left her alone with her thoughts after that. Leaving Bernin to consider how to impress a small boy. She had done things like this before. Especially when she was still in her dueling classes. What to show, what to do. Eventually she arrived at an answer. It always seemed to impress both the younger and older groups to show a massive fireball. She supposed massive explosions were great regardless of age and gender.