The Academy Of Space And Time

I was welcomed by the greasy smell of bacon and meat pie and I realised the students had just eaten dinner.

It made me feel at home, and, besides, I was craving food. But when I found the Professor staring right at me, and the students' faces trying to look from behind, I found myself unable to speak.

Just like every time people asked me 'how are you?' and I struggled to give an answer. I know the standard reply is supposed to be 'I'm fine' but I don't really want to say it unless I mean it. In conversations, I often couldn't find my way out of a paper bag.

Daniel Winter was a tall man tall with a handsome face, refined features and salt and pepper hair.

"Sit down, Ryan Barnes," he told me. "You have all the time in the world to meet your classmates, later, but right now we have things to talk about."

I tried not to look at Edgar victorious, as if to say, see? The headmaster already accepted me. I had no idea what surprise was in store for me during my talk with Daniel Winter.

"Here," he said. "We study the theoretics of time-changing and space-shifting, though we can also accomodate the students like you who haven't learned their Mudras yet."

I knew about time-changing, the art of turning back time, and space-shifting, the art of shifting from one dimension to another. But a question slid on the tip of my tongue.

"Why the theoretics?" I asked. "Why don't you attempt to do those spells?"

Mister Winter looked angry all of a sudden. "Can you even imagine what would happen if someone messed with time and space? Of course it has to remain purely theoretical! Who would you trust with being possibly able to mess up a timeline?"

"Not myself," I felt the need to say. "But my own team, my own classroom, if I had one? Surely. Why can't we learn everything there is to learn?"

Mister Winter was about to snap at me, when a boy with dusty brown hair and light brown eyes stepped up from his chair. He was tall, and handsome.

"Professor, we should learn to welcome the forward thinkers, those of us who stray from the beaten path," he said with a smile. "This is one of the reasons why not everyone has the makings to study those subtle arts of magic. This is the school where every misfit belongs, and judging from his words, Ryan will feel right at home."

"That's Jake Kingston," Jeff murmured to me. As I greeted Jake and shook his hand, I couldn't believe someone was finally being nice to me. He was the first Enchanter who really looked happy to see me.

"I want to see a show of your magic," Daniel Winter said then. "And then, I'll decide if you can stay. I'm tired, and I want to go to bed. We already finished all our lessons and chores."

I looked at Jeff, panicked. I didn't tell him how uncontrollable my powers were, but he seemed to understand all the same.

"He's a hybrid," he said, as if that explained things. I guess it did. "And he's tired. But I've seen him in action and I know his powers are very strong. He's a air Hierophant, like me."

The following day, Mister Winter tried his best to understand how advanced I was on my magic theory before we started with practise.

"You know about Mudras, the hand movements we use for our spells, and you're also aware that they're not the same set as the Indian Mudras, but other, magical ones," he commented. I always had trouble understanding if I impressed him at all with my knowledge. "What you might not know is why we use them, and history is important.

The Enchanters and their magic were very different and uncontrolled, thousands of years ago. We manifested it with our emotions, like causing a hurricane if we felt upset. Then, through the ages, we came up with techniques. The different cultures joined to decide on an unique, international approach. Like the names of the different Enchanters, those come from Tarot Cards. You've seen Magicae Items' signpost, I gather?"