Chapter 32 - CATs

Characters – 

Felix Sutter: Poor boy living in Sacramento, recently found out magic existed. Hard worker, knows the price of everything.

Christopher Mau: The black cat. 3rd year Dragon student. Possibly has nine lives. Unusually lucky and dexterous.

Beatrix Brynwyll: 3rd year dragon student. A little uptight.

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 Still, the nobility struck where they could.
They severed rents and claims in the cities of empire:
London, Paris, Lyon -
Choking off income, aiming to starve the beast.

The Saga of Bjorn, Verse 43

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Felix finished waking up in the shower, and hardened his resolve.

They had to work out like that every morning? Fine. He always knew it was going to be a long, uphill road he had to walk. Felix was no stranger to working hard, and this was a way to directly improve himself. His financial situation was still terrible, he didn’t know how to cast a single spell, but he was taking the first step on the path. Bitching and whining about it wouldn’t help. It wouldn’t get him a life.

He could work fast food? He could run in the morning.

He had to walk an hour to get home? He could do push ups and sit ups.

Felix had dramatically more time now that everything he needed was right here. A bit of exercise wouldn’t kill him, and would open the doors and opportunities he needed to… become what?

Felix had the sudden realization that he had no idea what being an adult wizard would be like. What jobs were there? What employment? How did it pay?

He’d been whiny because he was surprised and not all there. Tomorrow, it wouldn’t be a surprise. Tomorrow, he’d do even better. Tomorrow, he’d be first in line, not last. 

Because he wanted it more.

Felix got dressed, still aware that he was in completely different clothes and uniform from everyone else, grabbed his bag, and left. Beatrix and Chris were waiting for him in the common room, and quite a few other students were waiting for their friends.

“Where to?” Felix asked.

“Dining hall!” Chris said. “Great hall’s only for fancy occasions. Come on, we’ll show you.”

Felix’s legs wobbled as he followed the two third-years to the dining hall. It wasn’t terribly far away from the common room, which Felix was thankful for. 

The dining hall was filled with a number of smaller tables and booths scattered around. A pair of buffet tables were near the middle of the room, and a third section of hotter food was along one wall. Trays, plates, and silverware were in stacks by each table. There were a number of entrances, but only Hydra and Kraken seemed to share one. A few students were already eating, in groups or alone, and a number were continuing to trickle in. Felix hadn’t gotten a great look the other day, but the sheer… oddness… of everyone continued to baffle him. One had a full-face white mask on, and was somehow eating through it. A girl had a fox’s tail and whisker-like marks on her face. A boy’s arm was stretching too far, grabbing a choice dessert. 

For breakfast. Honestly, some people.

The permanent raincloud over a boy was just plain rude, and Felix went out of his way to avoid the steadily expanding puddle around him. The only saving grace was it didn’t seem to be intentional - the boy in question had his wand pointed up at the raincloud, and semi-regularly fired a spell into it.

The teachers had their own section, and a private buffet table, but a few of them were happy to raid the general food supplies. There was a burst of fire, and a teacher moved out of what Felix now recognized as a landing pad.

“We can teleport?” He asked.

“Teachers can.” Chris corrected. “We’ll learn how in our adept years. Flaming’s tricky stuff.”

“You bus your trays over there.” Beatrix pointed out. “We traditionally dock points for anyone leaving their mess behind. Don’t be a savage, clean up after yourself.”

Felix nodded. Easy enough to do.

“See any of your friends?” Chris asked. Felix scanned the room.

“Nope, maybe they’re still asleep.” He said.

“Ah, you can sit with us then.” Chris said.

“Is that usual?” Felix asked.

Beatrix shrugged.

“It’s more common to sit with your year mates and friends, than upper classmen in the same house.” She said. “Then again, it is a bit of a free for all, so enjoy.”

Felix warily approached the buffet table, but the silverware didn’t get up and start singing. Monsters didn’t come out of the food to eat the student next to him. The plates stayed still, and the fare looked like food he was familiar with. It was a magical world, everything he knew had been turned upside down, so it was nice to have something the same. Keeping Leona’s advice in mind, he heaped his plate up with toast, eggs, bacon, and orange juice, then grabbed a single green celery stick to respect his mother’s wishes.

Felix looked around the room again, didn’t see his friends, and sat down with Chris.

“CATs after this, yeah?” Chris asked.

“Don’t speak with food in your mouth.” Beatrix reprimanded.

“People have said that a few times, but I don’t have my notes.” Felix apologized. “CATs?”

Chris started to answer, but Beatrix swatted at him.

“Chew.” She scolded, then turned to Felix. “Current Aptitude Test. It’s to see how much you know, so they can place you properly in your classes.”

“I’m going to fail it all.” Felix moaned. “First test here, and I’m doomed.”

Chris shrugged.

“Yeah, but isn’t it better to measure how doomed you are and adjust for that, instead of blindly throwing you into classes that you’re absolutely not ready for? Better to have an objective way to test for that.”

Felix paused, his ego warring with his common sense.

“You’re right. I just don’t want to start with a bad grade.” He said. “I spent half the summer studying so I’d do alright, only to find out, BOOM, I’m a wizard! Goodbye trig functions, hello wands.”

Chris and Beatrix traded a quick look.

“You do need trig functions though.” Beatrix said.

“What?” Felix said.

“More specifically, you need to be good at geometry for your rituals class. Your circle is an oval? Ritual goes wrong. Your pentagram isn’t exact? Ritual goes wrong. Runes are poorly spaced? Ritual explodes in your face, and you’re off to the hospital wing for a lengthy stay.” Beatrix said.

“Oh.” Maybe Felix’s studying hadn’t been so worthless after all. “What was up with the girl with wings?”

“Odette?” Chris asked. “Soulbound a celestial. We’ll probably start working on ours this year, finalize it next year. Third, leading into the fourth year is for soulbindings. Fourth year is for the Argentum Anima spell.”

“Soulbound?” Felix asked, starting to tuck into his breakfast. He took one bite and realized how ravenous he was, and promptly turned into a ravenous beast.

“Don’t worry about it.” Beatrix said. “You’ve got a ton to learn, and soulbinding is advanced magic. Just mentally think if someone’s doing something extremely odd, it’s probably relating to a soulbind. Wings, horns, phasing through walls, that sort of stuff.”

The two other Dragons got into a conversation about different soulbindings, then a few of their friends from other houses came over and joined them. They weren’t wearing the standard school uniform, and Felix realized the first week might be more relaxed on the dress code. Thank goodness, otherwise he’d get endlessly dinged. He was politely pushed out of the conversation, as Chris and Beatrix caught up with their friends. Summer break was pretty short, all things considered, but it was still long enough that everyone wanted to talk.

Felix didn’t mind, he was tired and the food was excellent. He kept an eye out for any of his friends. He only saw Hazel shuffle in, still in a hoodie, and pocket several rolls before heading out. He made a mental note that breakfast could be to-go, there didn’t seem to be any rules about it. Just varying degrees of how messy he was willing to get his pockets.

A great grandfather clock helped tell the time, and there was still over an hour before the exam  when Felix and the other Dragons were done with breakfast.

“Now what?” Felix asked.

“Now we drop you off at the Great Hall.” Chris said. “I’d wish you luck on the exam, but…” He trailed off awkwardly.

“I’m going to bomb it.” Felix said, resigned to his fate.

“Oooh yeah.”

While they’d been in the Great Hall yesterday, Chris and Beatrix showed him how to get there again. The castle was a twisty, confusing maze, where things weren’t always in the logical order.

“What makes this extra hard is the landmarks and secret passages move around.” Chris complained. “There’s this one painting that’s excellent for getting around, but the location of it changes every year. We need to go find it, and map the school out again. Real exercise in frustration it is.”

“It’s worse than that.” Beatrix complained. “There’s a number of rooms and secret passages that only appear when a combination of items are together. My first year here, there was a beautiful museum that only appeared because certain crystals were hitting a mirror at a particular angle, turning it into a portal if you spun around it three times and said a password. The next year? I found the mirror again, but because the crystals were in a different part of the castle, I couldn’t get in again.” She sighed wistfully. “What treasures it had. I should’ve nicked one or two of them.”

Felix boggled.

“Wait, how did you work all that out?” He said.

“Challenge rooms!” Chris said. “They’ll often give you hints on other secrets of the castle. The longer the chain, the bigger the reward.”

“Or you can just descend below the vaults.” Beatrix said. “There’s a persistent rumor that the castle doesn’t actually have a bottom.”

Chris took on a spooky voice.

“Some say, hundreds of levels down, each of the great founding beasts left a treasure of theirs. Great grimoires, rituals of power, forbidden knowledge. Others insist that the founding beasts themselves are still down there in the deep.”

Beatrix swatted Chris.

“Now you’re just making shit up again.” She said.

“No, I really heard it!” Chris said. “Either way, here we are.”

Felix was the second one waiting outside the doors to the Great Hall, Su Song having beaten him there.

“Good luck, we’ll see you after the CATs.” Beatrix said. 

“Want to go to the library?” Chris asked as the two of them walked away. Beatrix shuddered.

“Not this early in the year.” She said. “How about a nice challenge room or…”

Their voices faded away as they turned the corner. Felix thought about striking up a conversation with Su, but the Kirin house girl was nose deep in her books, reading frantically and furiously writing down revision notes.

Felix scooted over a bit and tried to read over her shoulder. The text was so dense and thick that he got absolutely none of it. Given what happened last time he’d tried to talk with the girl, Felix figured he’d keep his mouth shut.

Slowly, more students trickled in. Felix kept an eye out for Erik or any of the other people he’d met on the way over, but never saw them. Hazel slipped into the edge of the crowd a moment before the doors opened. Where were they? What was going to happen if they missed the CAT?

The Great Hall looked completely different from before. The long rows of tables had been replaced by well-spaced exam desks. Two of the professors - Paracelsus and one Felix didn’t know yet - were standing near the front. 

“Please find a seat.” Professor Paracelsus said. Felix found a chair and sat down, plopping his bag next to him.

“Good morning students! I am Professor Rowan Runeblade!” He flashed a charming smile, and his teeth seemed to gleam in the magelight. “There is no passing or failing the CAT exam. We simply want to know where you are, to place you in the proper classes. Don’t worry if you don’t do well! We repeat the exams regularly to see how you’re doing. Cheating only cheats yourself!”

He flashed his grin again. Two of the girls near Felix put their heads together and giggled.

“If you don’t know an answer, do everyone involved a favor and leave it blank.” Professor Paracelsus said. 

“Put away your books, take out a quill, and get ready! You have one hour - begin!”

With a flick of his wand, Professor Runeblade sent nearly a hundred exam packets soaring through the air, one to a desk. A gigantic hourglass at the front of the room was flipped, and the sound of a hundred quills scratching on paper filled the air.

Felix tore off the cover page and stared at the wall of questions.

How many fundamental wand movements are there?

List six.

In what year was Logres founded?

Name the houses of Parliament.

What is Burton’s Law?

What is the source of magic?

Felix’s eyes lit up at having a question he might actually know, but ‘inner core’ was far too short of an answer for the generous space provided for an answer.

Having made peace with the fact that he was going to utterly fail, Felix mostly skimmed the rest of the questions, occasionally taking a stab at a math or natural sciences one. He wasn’t entirely ignorant. He’d just been taught a completely different set of facts and knowledge.

Felix was the first one done, and he ignored the various unhappy looks from members of Kirin house, and the few Thunderbirds that were around. He grabbed his books and strode out of the room. Chris and Beatrix were waiting for him, although Chris was missing half an eyebrow.

“Excellent, you’re done!” Chris said with a friendly grin. “Let’s go shopping! Need to pick up your uniform, and any school supplies you might need.”