There was a small commotion going on outside when Theo left the alchemy lab building after finishing his classes for the day. Several students were standing on one side of the walkway, looking up at a nearby building. He couldn’t see what they were looking at because of the trees lining the walkway, but as he moved closer, he could hear them talking.

“What’s it doing up there?”

“Do you think it’s lost?”

“It’s not full grown, is it? Is it okay to just leave it? Should we get a professor?”

“What’s that floating green thing?”

Finally reaching the edge of the group, Theo looked up and saw what the fuss was about: A kitten-sized black dragon was perched on a windowsill two stories up. Its face and front paws were pressed up against the glass, and its long tail was waving energetically. A small, bright green ball was hovering in the air behind it.

Theo made a face. There were probably a lot of little black dragons in the world. But how many of them turned up randomly around the campus of the Royal Magic Academy and were accompanied by a flying rubber ball?

It was definitely him.

Theo briefly considered sneaking off before the dragon noticed him. Their last meeting hadn’t exactly gone well….

No, he shouldn’t. He reminded himself that he was prepared this time. And he needed to make up for that careless mistake before it came back to bite him.

“Iggy?” he called out.

Everyone stopped talking and turned to look at him. The dragon also turned its head and looked down for a few seconds. Then it abruptly leapt off the windowsill and dove straight at him, green ball trailing behind.

“Theo!”

He barely had time to brace himself for the impact. But tiny dragons, it turned out, are very lightweight. Iggy landing on his shoulder felt like someone had tossed a towel at him. It didn’t hurt at all.

“See, Theo? See? I told you I would remember you. And I did!”

“Yes, you did. Very good.”

Theo actually was a bit impressed. He and Iggy had only met once before, and that was almost two months ago now.

“Oh, he can talk. He’s a familiar, then?” The girl who had suggested getting a professor was looking curiously at Iggy. “I was sure he was just a baby. I guess he’s an unusually small elemental breed?”

“I guess? I know he’s fire element, but I’m not sure what breed he is.” Theo glanced at Iggy, but unlike his usual chatty self, the dragon didn’t seem to want to contribute any additional information. He was avoiding Theo’s gaze. “But yes, he’s a familiar. I know who his contractor is. He’s probably just taking a stroll around campus while his partner’s in a boring meeting. You don’t need to worry about him.”

This seemed to satisfy the group. They dispersed with only a few more curious looks at the little black dragon. Theo was grateful for that. He hadn’t lied — he did know who Iggy’s owner was. But he’d never actually met the man before, so further questions would have been awkward.

“What were you doing up there?” Theo asked when the others were gone.

“Looking for Aria and Cecily. You know them? Cecily goes to school here. And Aria is my cousin. She gets to come to school with Cecily because she’s training to be a familiar.”

An academy student with a pet elemental dragon? Theo didn’t recognize the names, but there were very few students whose families could afford to buy them such a luxury.

“I don’t know them, but I think I know who you’re talking about. Is Aria a Violet Flare?”

Violet Flare dragons were a rare, top quality elemental breed, considered by many to be the best of the fire element dragons. Getting one required spending years on a waiting list, not to mention an astronomical sum of money. It had caused a huge stir when a student actually showed up with one for a pet. That was the year before Theo started at the academy, but he’d heard stories.

“Wait, you said she’s your cousin? You’re not a Violet Flare, are you?”

Iggy’s scales were definitely black, not violet. But the very thought that he might have a creature worth a king’s ransom sitting on his shoulder made Theo’s blood turn cold. He definitely needed to stay on this dragon’s good side from now on.

Iggy’s ears drooped. “Aria is a Violet. I’m…different.”

“You’re a hybrid?”

“No,” Iggy said testily, his ears flattening even further. “My egg came out the wrong color.”

“Oh.” Theo was far from being an expert on dragons and had no idea what it meant for an egg to 'come out the wrong color.' Was it some kind of disease? A mutation, maybe? It was obviously a sore point for Iggy, whatever it was. “Well, black is a nice color, isn’t it? It’s very elegant.”

Actually, with Iggy’s size, the effect was more cute than elegant, but Theo knew better than to say that.

Wait. Wouldn’t a mutant Violet Flare dragon be even more rare and valuable than a regular one? The weight on Theo’s shoulder suddenly seemed even heavier.

“Really?” Iggy’s ears lifted hopefully.

“Of course. You’re a very handsome dragon.”

Iggy gave a happy little wriggle. Then he suddenly jumped off Theo’s shoulder, spreading his wings to swoop around behind him. “Alfred! Theo says I’m handsome!”

Theo turned in time to see the little dragon flutter down onto the outstretched arm of a man standing a short distance away.

“I couldn’t find Aria and Cecily. But I found Theo! And I remembered his name! And he thinks I’m elegant and handsome!”

“Does he?” The man — Alfred — gave an amused smile and lightly rubbed Iggy’s head in between his tiny horns. “Well, he’s right, of course. You’re very elegant and handsome.” Iggy’s tail swished enthusiastically at that. Alfred avoided being hit by it with what was clearly a well-practiced move. “Cecily and Aria are out doing a field study today. I asked at their dormitory. They won’t be back until tonight. So we’ll have to do fireworks with them another time.”

“Aww….” Iggy wilted with disappointment. But he quickly brightened again. “Let’s ask Theo to come do fireworks with us!”

“Oh? You want him to come?”

“Yes! Theo’s my friend!”

“Didn’t you two have a fight the last time you saw each other?” Alfred shot Theo a wry glance. “About whether or not I’m a proper wizard?”

Theo felt his face turn red. He’d been wondering when that would come up. “I didn’t know…” he stammered. “I mean…I wasn’t trying to….”

Iggy came to his defense. “I told you, he was just all grumpy and worried because his homework was too hard. He didn’t really mean it. And just because we had a fight doesn’t mean we can’t be friends.”

Theo looked at him in amazement. He’d been trying not to let on how stressed he was about his schoolwork during their last conversation. But Iggy had still picked up on it?

“Besides,” Iggy continued, “Theo smells nice.”

“I — What?”

“He means your magic, not your physical scent,” Alfred explained. “Don’t get weird ideas. Iggy’s very sensitive to magic power, so he can detect the low level magic emissions that people and magic beasts let off all the time. Just that he usually describes it as a physical sense, like a scent or a color. You know everyone has their own unique magic signature, right? Some are more pleasant to him than others. Yours is apparently one of the pleasant ones.”

“Oh.” Theo didn’t know what to say in response to that.

“And since Iggy likes you, we might as well get along.” Alfred moved closer and held out his hand. “Alfred Denifort.”

Theo shook hands, feeling awkward. “Theo Ranoa. It’s an honor to meet you, sir. And…um…about the things I said before….”

“Don’t worry about it.” Alfred waved his hand indifferently. “I know my approach to magic is a bit unusual. You’re hardly the first person to be skeptical about it. And don’t worry about the ‘sir’ part, either. I’m really not into that kind of thing.”

His tone was calm, but a bit distant. Was he normally like that? Or was he actually still upset, in spite of what he said?

“Oh!” Iggy suddenly interrupted Theo’s nervous analysis. “I remember! Theo was making a toy! I said I would come see it. Did you make a good one? Can we see?”

“Even if he made one, he’s probably not carrying it around with him, you know.” Alfred patted the excited little dragon.

“Well, actually…I am.” Feeling grateful for his own foresight, Theo opened his school bag. “It turned out to be pretty useful, so I made a few to keep in my bag.” After a little rifling, he pulled out a piece of paper covered in faint, silvery writing. “It’s not exactly a toy. But you can turn it into one. Hang on a minute.”

He got down on one knee and set his bag sideways on his leg to form a makeshift desk. He put the paper on it and started carefully folding.

Iggy jumped down to watch more closely, his front paws on Theo’s knee and his tail twitching.

After a couple of minutes, the paper had turned into a shape resembling a frog.

“Almost done.”

For the final step, Theo put his finger against the paper and sent a small amount of magic into it. The silver writing glowed briefly and then faded to a dark grey. This indicated that the reinforcement enchantment had activated, making the paper resistant to any physical damage. Though it was hard to say how well it would hold up against a little dragon who had a history of accidentally making his toys explode….

“There.” Theo set the paper frog in front of Iggy. He pushed down on the frog’s back with his finger and then let go, sending it flying into the air.

“It jumped! It jumped!” Iggy said excitedly, jumping up and down himself.

“Here, you try it.” Theo retrieved the frog and put it on the ground next to Iggy. “Hold down right there. Um…try using the side of your claw, so it doesn’t catch on the paper. Right. Like that. Now slide your claw quickly off the back end. Oh, almost. Try it again….”

It took several attempts, but Iggy finally managed to make the frog jump high in the air, as Theo had done.

“I did it!” the little dragon crowed. “Alfred! Alfred! Look! I can make the frog jump!”

“Well done, little guy.” Alfred chuckled as he watched Iggy chasing after the frog and making it jump again and again. Though Theo noticed his eyes were focused on the paper frog, not the dragon. “Iggy and I are here to teach a special class for the senior enchanting students,” he said after a pause. “You’re welcome to join in, if you’re free right now.”

“We’re going to make fireworks!” Iggy added, without looking up from his new toy.

“That’s…well, I am free,” Theo said, a bit uncomfortably. “But I’m only a second year student. If the class is for seniors….”

Naturally, he’d be thrilled to have a chance to learn from Alfred and to try to mend their awkward relationship. But he’d just make a fool of himself if he got in over his head.

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“You’ll be fine.” Alfred was still gazing intently at the frog, but now he turned and gave Theo an encouraging nod. “If you designed the enchantment matrix on that paper by yourself, you shouldn’t have too much trouble with the project we’ll be working on. Like Iggy said, it’s just making fireworks. Basic stuff.”

“You’re teaching senior students basic enchanting?” Theo was perplexed.

Alfred gave a sly smile. “You’d be surprised at what you can do with the basics. Magic is a lot more than just technical skills, you know. Why should I bother coming here to teach a class on something you could simply learn from a textbook?”

Theo wasn’t quite sure what he was getting at. Maybe other branches of magic were different, but your enchanting ability was mainly based on your knowledge of magic formations and your scribing skills.

Wasn’t it?

“Anyway, if you want to come, it’s fine. I’d better head over there now to get things set up. Come on, Iggy. We need to go get ready to make fireworks.”

Iggy, who was in the process of pouncing on the paper frog, froze and turned to look at Alfred. Then he looked back at the frog under his paws. Then he raised his head and stared meaningfully at Theo.

“Ah, you can keep that if you want it,” Theo said quickly, realizing what the little dragon was asking. “I made it for you. It’s even fireproof.”

Iggy’s expression immediately lit up. He carefully scooped up the frog and flew with it up to Theo’s shoulder. “Thanks, Theo! You made a good toy!”

“Really?” Theo glanced at the green ball, which was still floating dutifully behind Iggy, in spite of him ignoring it while he played with another toy. It looked simple enough, but Theo knew it had an absolutely ridiculous number of enchantments on it. “I thought it would be pretty boring compared to the sort of toys that Alfred makes.”

He was actually quite happy that Iggy approved of his creation, but he reminded himself to stay humble. He was just a student, and Alfred was a certified wizard and Grandmaster rank enchanter. Their abilities couldn’t even be compared.

“Alfred’s toys are fancier,” Iggy agreed. “But he’s never made a toy out of paper. And I never had a toy that Theo made for me before! So it’s special because of that!”

“Oh…well…I’m glad you like it,” Theo said, embarrassed.

He also felt a little guilty. No sane magic student would pass up a chance to get on a Grandmaster’s good side. A connection like that could have huge advantages, both now and in the future. But it still left a bad taste in his mouth to know that he was basically using Iggy to make Alfred have a better impression of him. Especially when the little dragon seemed so sincerely pleased by the attention.

“You should come do paints and fireworks with us!” Iggy’s tail was waving enthusiastically again, hitting against Theo’s back. “It’s fun! We’ll go splish splash and then boom boom!” A few sparks flew out of his mouth on the 'boom's. “Are you coming?”

“Sure.” Theo gave a slightly forced smile. “It sounds great.”

Iggy’s description sounded a little bit ominous, actually. Did all fire dragons enjoy blowing things up as much as this one seemed to?

He couldn’t help but wonder what exactly he was getting himself into.

----------------------------------------

The class was held in one of the academy’s enchanting lab rooms. It was a large room with several rows of individual workstations and a long demonstration table at one end. Alfred went over to the table and set his bag down on it. It was an unassuming, worn leather bag — not too different from Theo’s school bag.

Or it looked that way. Until Alfred started to pull out box after box of enchanting materials. Far more than a bag that size should have been able to hold.

Well, of course. Why shouldn’t the owner of an insanely expensive dragon also own an insanely expensive space compression bag? Theo didn’t know why he was surprised at this point.

Grandmasters were something else. Seriously….

Theo sighed and set his cheap, non-magical canvas bag down on the nearest workstation. Then he went over to help arrange the items that Alfred was unpacking.

One of the boxes Alfred pulled out was full of folded pieces of cloth. The rest contained glass jars filled with various colors of paint.

This was a bit unusual. Inscriptions were normally done with thin inks and fine-tipped pens, to allow for smaller writing. The smaller you could write, the more magic formations you could fit in a given space. Paints were mostly used for large-scale inscriptions that covered an entire room or building. But that didn’t seem to be what this class was about, since Iggy and Alfred kept talking about fireworks. Unless they were going to be learning to make some kind of permanent fireworks installation, sort of like the enchantments some high-class water fountains had? But how many people would actually use something like that?

Well...Alfred might, for starters. Since Iggy was a fire element dragon, he should be immune to heat, so he’d probably love a fireworks fountain. Theo wouldn’t be too surprised to hear they had one installed in their home.

They had just finished setting the paint boxes out on the table when an older woman came into the room carrying a stack of paper. Theo recognized her as one of the professors that taught advanced enchanting.

“Will this do?” she asked, setting the paper down on the table.

They were sheets of heavy white paper about a foot square. It looked like a thicker version of the practice paper normally used in scribing classes.

Alfred lifted the top sheet and felt it between his finger and thumb. “Yes, this is fine.”

“Was there anything else you needed?”

“No, that should do it. All we need now is for the students to show up.”

They only had to wait a few minutes before people started trickling into the room in ones and twos. They all seemed to know the professor, and most of them greeted her before taking their seats. Theo, the only lower level student present, sat and listened to the exchanges, feeling a bit awkward.

Then he suddenly stiffened as a familiar voice reached his ears.

Glancing over, he saw a confident-looking girl walking to the front of the classroom, where Alfred was leaning casually against the table with Iggy perched on his shoulder, watching the students as they entered.

“Grandmaster Denifort.” The girl smiled brightly as she drew near them. “So good to see you again. I was thrilled when I found out you were teaching a class here.”

Theo gritted his teeth. Of all the…. Why hadn’t it occurred to him that she would be here? He should have realized when he heard the class was for senior enchanting students….

And she already knew Alfred? His hopes of building up a good relationship started to diminish rapidly.

Abigail Perinith. She was the granddaughter of a well-known Master enchanter, who ran the workshop where Theo’s parents worked. She and Theo had known each other since they were young children.

The first time they’d met, Abigail had knocked Theo’s favorite stuffed toy into a mud puddle to distract him while she stole the cookies his mother had given him for an afternoon snack. And making his life miserable had continued to be one of her favorite hobbies ever since. Given the difference in their families’ status, there wasn’t much he could do about it other than avoid her as much as possible.

“Oh? Theo?” And here she came…. “What are you doing here? I thought this class was only for advanced students.”

Her tone was friendly, but there was a malicious glint in her eyes. Theo knew she’d love to be able to call him out as some kind of infiltrator.

“We invited him,” Alfred said. “He’s Iggy’s friend.”

“Iggy’s…?” Abigail looked a bit confused by that, and her smile faltered for a moment. But she fixed it quickly. “I see.”

“You two know each other?”

“Yes, we’ve known each other for ages.” Abigail smiled sweetly. “Theo’s parents are assistants at my grandfather’s workshop.”

She said the word 'assistants' with a slight emphasis, and Theo noticed several people glancing in his direction when they heard it.

He frowned. Stupid elitists.

It’s not like there was anything shameful about being a magic assistant. It just meant that, for whatever reason, the person hadn’t been able to jump through all the hoops that were required to get a wizard certification. But there were plenty of people in the magic community who regarded them as failures and looked down on them.

Most of those same people were also quick to assume that the child of such failures was destined to be a failure as well. Theo had spent his whole life struggling against that kind of bias.

But Alfred maintained his calm expression. “Is that so? What areas do they assist in?” He sounded genuinely interested.

“My mother does alchemy preparations,” Theo said cautiously. “And my father is a scribe. You probably know that the Perinith Workshop specializes in pre-inscribed magic crystals?”

“Mmm.” Alfred nodded. “That explains it. I thought your scribing work on that paper was unusually precise for a student’s. You must have learned from your father. A lot of assistant scribes do really beautiful work. Most certified enchanters could stand to learn a thing or two from them.”

An awkward silence followed these words. It was clear that most of the people listening weren’t quite sure what to think of them. Abigail looked like she’d just smelled something nasty but was trying not to let it show on her face.

Theo was dumbfounded. Had Alfred just…praised him? No, had he just praised assistants? A Grandmaster wizard?

Wait...before that...when had he examined Theo’s inscription closely enough to even know how precise it was? Theo hadn’t seen him using a scribing loupe. All he’d done was to stare at the paper frog while Iggy was playing with it….

What, had he done it then? Was it actually possible to examine an enchanted object in detail from six feet away? Without a loupe? While a dragon was playing with it?

“It looks like everyone’s here.” The professor’s clear voice cut through Theo’s confused thoughts. “Please take a seat, and we’ll get started.”

There were eight students there, apart from Theo. It was hard to believe that only that many people were interested in a special class taught by a Grandmaster wizard who had won multiple awards in the prestigious Roshencroft Magic Competition. So they had probably limited it to only a few of the top enchanting students. Theo was amazed at his luck to somehow get in with such an elite bunch.

And all because Iggy thought he smelled nice….

Determined to make the most of the opportunity, Theo paid careful attention while the professor introduced Alfred as their guest teacher.

“…Grandmaster Denifort has a great reputation in the field for his creative and resourceful solutions to complex enchanting problems. He’s frequently called upon by government and Association leaders to help deal with difficult circumstances arising in the kingdom. We felt that you students would benefit greatly from hearing some of the insights he’s gained through these experiences, and we’re delighted that he was willing to come teach this class today. Please give him your close attention.”

Theo had the impression that Alfred and Iggy were both rather bored by this speech, but Alfred thanked the professor politely before he addressed the class.

“Well, as Professor Nuren said, I was asked to teach you a little bit about becoming more open-minded and resourceful as enchanters. I specialize in custom enchanting work, which requires a lot of adaptability.

"In a workshop, you more or less have control over the enchanting environment. You make designs that suit your capabilities. You order whatever materials and tools you need. Nothing wrong with workshops, of course — they fill a vital need. But they don’t usually demand much in the way of creativity.

"Custom work is different. Every job is unique, and you often have to work in unfavorable conditions and make do with whatever resources you have available. So how do you learn to do that?

"There’s the hard way, of course. Just jump in, unprepared, and learn as you go. That does work. You’ll learn a lot if you stick with it long enough. But you’ll make a lot of mistakes and waste a lot of materials. Clients won’t be happy, and they’ll stop hiring you eventually. So I don’t recommend going that route. There’s a better way. A way to be at least somewhat prepared, even when you don’t know exactly what’s coming.

"The process is actually very simple, although it takes time and effort. There are two parts to it: First, get a really solid foundation in the basics of enchanting and scribing. I mean really solid. Don’t just memorize magic formations. Take the time to thoroughly understand the principles involved and exactly how every piece of the formation functions. Don’t worry too much about the fancy, advanced stuff, beyond what you need to pass your classes and certification exams. Just be sure to know the basics. Know them forwards, backwards, inside out, and upside down.”

Theo couldn’t help but wonder how Professor Nuren — whose job it was to teach the fancy, advanced stuff — reacted to this piece of advice. But she was sitting at the back of the room, and turning around to look at her would have been much too obvious.

“Once you have a solid foundation to work from, you can move on to the second part of the process.” Alfred paused and flashed a mischievous smile. “Play.”

A slight rustling went around the room when he said that, and Theo heard a soft “Huh?” from somewhere behind him.

“Yes, you heard that right. Take time to play around. Think of the enchanting fundamentals you’ve been learning so thoroughly as your game pieces. Once you’ve collected them all, it’s time to play with them. Experiment. Make a mess. Set a few things on fire. Use up a lot of cheap materials. Play games with your pieces until you understand what you can and can’t do with them.

"There’s one particular type of game that will help you out a lot with that. Restrictive games. Games where the rules limit what resources and methods you can use in order to achieve the goal and win.” Alfred gestured toward the materials stacked on the table in front of him. “We’re going to try a game like that today to help you understand what I mean and see how you can benefit from doing this.

"The rules are simple: Your goal is to make a magic firework. The design is up to you. Make it as simple or as complex as you like. But you’re only allowed to use what’s on this table. All scribing needs to be done manually. No magic use allowed. Are there any questions?”

Abigail raised her hand. “Sir, what type of brushes are we allowed to use? Are there any restrictions?”

Theo knew why she was asking. Most students would only have the standard set of brushes in their scribing toolkits. But Abigail was studying to be an artistic enchanter, meaning someone who specialized in creating inscriptions that were not only functional, but also beautifully ornate. They were expensive and not very practical, but they were popular with aristocrats, who bought and displayed them as a way to flaunt their wealth. Artistic enchanters worked with a much broader range of paints and inks than other enchanters did. Since Abigail’s grandfather was never stingy with the enchanting supplies he bought her, she probably had a ridiculous number of paintbrushes to choose from.

“Didn’t I just say it? You’re only allowed to use what’s on this table.” Alfred gave another mischievous grin. “Just paper and paints. No tools. No magic. Though there are some cleaning cloths here, since things will probably get a little messy.” He reached up to stroke the little dragon on his shoulder. “These are Iggy’s favorite finger paints. Or paw paints, in his case.”

“Finger paints?” A boy on the front row repeated, looking bewildered. “You want us to draw enchantment matrices…with finger paints?”

Most of the students looked similarly confused. Scribing practice generally focused on producing thin, neat lines. Painting with your fingers was the exact opposite of that.

“This is how you become a resourceful enchanter,” Alfred said patiently. “You practice working under difficult circumstances. I guarantee that what I’m asking you to do is possible at your skill level. You’ll just have to be more creative than usual in how you go about it. Everyone can help themselves to the materials here. We should have plenty, so don’t worry about making mistakes. Just get more paper and try again. I’ll give you an hour to work, and then we’ll discuss the results. Let’s get started.”