Chapter 95 - Final Exams, Feasts, and Farewell (Patreon)

The difficulty of final exams were all over the place.

Magic Theory and History was one of the most grueling written exams. There was no practical portion to the class, and the professor made up for it by doubling the time needed for the exam. Instead of three hours of exam and three hours of practical, Felix and the rest of the first years sat through a grueling 6-hour final exam.

Just to catch anyone who had studied too hard or would blaze through the material too quickly, the exam was absurdly long on top of it. No matter how it felt like Felix was on the second-to-last page, there was always another page behind it. He couldn’t flip forward to see more questions, but he could go back. The questions got steadily harder, and by the 4th hour Felix was praying the exam was on a curve.

Mind Magic was almost all essay as well. It wasn’t like they could have people come in and attack their minds to check how well they were doing.

No, for Mind Magic, after a modest theory exam, there was a large essay to detail and diagram ‘theoretical’ defenses for a mind. Felix dutifully wrote down the list he’d made for himself - Professor Mistvale had edited and corrected his submission earlier in the year, and he figured that was good enough.

Then she shuffled all the papers around, and a new sheet was attached, where each student needed to study a random diagram another student had made, and provide feedback on theirs.

Felix felt pretty good about the exercise. There were only a handful of Light students who had enough contact with the mundane world to know what a spaceship was. Utterly baffling someone? Well, if they couldn’t work out a way to break through his defenses, all the better for him and his grade. It was considered ‘fair’, since if an attacker was confused by what he was doing, all the better for his defenses.

At the same time, he was utterly baffled at the exam he received. It looked something like an overly spiky sea urchin, or something. Just long nacelles and radar towers and all sorts of scanning and attack diagrams. The ‘build up’ section was all industrial as well, hinting that whoever wrote it was from the mundane world as well. The description was equally poor. The best defense is a good offense.

Felix looked over the diagram again, disagreed, and started writing. Just because they only wanted to attack, attack, and attack more, didn’t mean they could completely disregard defense. Had someone just made this up for the exam on the spot, instead of detailing their own defenses? That made sense, from a certain point of view. Could easily be Kevin, the dude was from the Light faction and enough of a dick to think he only needed to attack, never defend himself.

Charms was mercifully easy. A written exam, followed by a three hour practical portion. Except Professor Runeblade had to check all of the students, giving him about two minutes per student. Felix entered the room.

“Cast the spell on the paper.” Runeblade said, sparing no time on politeness. There were about a hundred students to grade and examine, and simply getting people into and out of the room took time.

Felix studied the spell in question. It wasn’t the simplest spell he’d ever seen, nor was it the most complex. He swished his wand through the motions, noting again that he really needed to replace it. Except that meant dealing with the Brynwyll family, and whatever mess that was going to cause. 

He carefully moved his wand through the motions while saying the words to the spell, all while prodding his magic to move along. It was moving a little quicker, but like slightly more runny mud, instead of thick mud. Could be his wand, causing all the problems. No matter the reason, he failed to cast the spell on his first try, and started to sweat.

Who even managed to cast a spell their first time!? It took practice!

“Good wand work. Strong pronunciation. Keep going, two more tries.” The Professor said.

Felix had to tamp down the part of him that was trying to be frantic, and slowly, carefully moved through the motions. At the end of it, he still wasn’t able to cast the spell, and hung his head in defeat.

“Mmm. I can’t see anything particularly wrong you were doing. Chin up, you earned a Djinn on the practical portion. Get out of here. Next!”

Felix hurried out of the room, his head swirling in modest confusion, but happy. He’d managed an A on the practical portion? He guessed the professor might’ve been looking more at methodology and accuracy, versus actually casting? And some bonus points - or rather, the last few points - were probably for successfully casting the spell. Well, he wasn’t going to miserably fail the exam, at the very least. 

Natural World was almost as difficult as Magical Theory. They had studied four different disciplines this year, not one like most schools did, and just last week they’d had the physics final exam. The test was thick, but not endless, and Felix managed to complete it with fifteen minutes left on the clock. He spent the time reviewing and editing his answers, while most of his peers were still furiously scribbling as time was called.

“No! Come back here!” Sora cried out as her exam flew across the room exactly as time was called, slipping out from under her quill and leaving a long, black mark on it.

The practical portion was three labs in a row. Biology, Chemistry, and Physics, with the scientific method being in how they studied it. 

Felix was convinced the final question on his Divination final was a prank, or otherwise had layers of jokes he didn’t understand.

For 50 bonus points, predict your final grade for the class.

Which looked fairly reasonable. Just be a diligent student, know what grades he was getting, and calculate them. Diligent students get a freebie, students who weren’t doing well got further punished.

Except anyone right at the line of a grade, which Felix suspected he was at. If he put down ‘Djinn’, he’d be correct, but the test was worth so much, and the question’s bonus was so large, that could easily push him to ‘Unicorn’ as a grade. Which would then make the question wrong, lose him the points, push him back to ‘Djinn’ again, making the question right, and…

Devious.

Felix eventually put together that the answer box was much larger than a single word, and got to writing. The practical exam was almost as nasty. They had to scry objects inside a wall, and fill out a paper.

Of course, they weren’t told where the objects were, if it was just the walls of the current room, if there was a temporal element to it - Felix had noticed a few blank nooks in his search, and included those for completeness - along with one paper that said ‘Don’t write this one down in your exam book’. Felix eventually wrote it down, after waffling a bit. 

The Combat class theory test was only scheduled for an hour, and Felix finished it in fifteen minutes. Even Sora managed to hand her test in by the thirty minute mark.

Then came the practical part. Professor Cold held Felix back before the start.

“Eh, reckon with all that I saw at the Dragon House duel, you’ve got a Unicorn. No need to try and show off, or waste everyone’s time. Congratulations. I’ll think of something trickier for you next year.”

Felix didn’t like the sound of that. Except the Unicorn grade part. A perfect on his final? Strong showing, and he hoped he’d be able to help Dragon House sweep the entire Combat Class rankings. 

Rituals had a final project on top of a written exam. There was extra work for anyone who hadn’t formed a Coven, but given how important they were, there were only a handful of students who needed to do that, including Hazel.

Languages was similar to Charms. Felix labored over a thick but finishable exam package, translating to and from various hieroglyphs, and identifying the time period of several more. Then the practical exam was a few sentences with Professor Logue, before they ran out of time and needed to swap.

And with that, they were gone. Gloriously free for a few days while the Professors frantically graded and got the class lists together. The only rule seemed to be ‘Do not disturb the Professors for any reason’, and Vivian had heard some interesting rumors, which she happily shared at the leaving feast.

They’d all gone up to the Great Hall, which was beautifully decorated in black and gold, with dragon motifs along every wall. The perpetual unicorn salt and pepper shakers that Felix had gotten so used to had been replaced by miniature black and white dragons, that breathed out their respective spice when used. Dragon House was swaggering and preening, and Leona had insisted that Felix sit in the seat of honor at the head of the long table. Which had the rest of the houses staring curiously at him, rumors flying, and Dragon House barely suppressing their giggles over the whole thing. 

“Did you hear about Silvermoor?” She asked in an eager whisper, clearly hoping everyone would say ‘no’ quickly and let her spill the beans. Everyone was gossiping, sharing summer plans, and generally being kids.

“No, what happened?” Erik dutifully asked.

“She got detention!” Vivian said.

“Oh no. Detention. Whatever will she do.” Sora said in an unimpressed monotone, having gone to one or two herself over the year. Vivian waved her hands.

“No, no, not like that! She got so much detention she’s going to have to serve it next year!”

“That’s in like, a month.” Alexandria whispered. Camelot wasn’t one for letting students ‘rest’ too much. There was no reason to spend an extended period of time between years. The only concession to the ‘new year’ was the extra time so people could both do their Summer Solstice rituals, and go shopping for new supplies. Four weeks, instead of two. 

“Still!” Vivian sounded scandalized. “I didn’t know things could roll over like that!”

“Of course.” Erik said, cutting a steak and spearing it with his fork. “Otherwise, there’s no mechanism and leverage to punish students who are misbehaving at the end of the year.”“But that’s so unfair!” Vivian protested.

“What would you propose as a better alternative?” Erik asked, offering the bite to Alexandria. She shot him a death glare, then turned her wand to her own plate, masterfully cutting her own food with a spell. It took her all year and way too many awkward moments, but she’d mastered the skill.

“Err…” Vivian trailed off.

“Exactly.” Erik took his own bite.

“Felix, you’ve got the shopping list, right?” Sora asked.

“Yes?” Felix said.

“Are you going to get all of it?”

“No.”

“Awww, please?”

“No, I’m not dealing in that.”

“Oh come on!”

The two bickered as the feast was replaced by desserts. Hazel scurried over, sat down, and immediately seized the entire silver bowl of ice cream and shamelessly put it on her plate, bowl and all.

“Aren’t you supposed to be at your House’s table?” Felix asked.

“Better food to people ratio.” Hazel shamelessly answered. “I can get away with this here. My housemates would string me up on the rafters if I tried that over there.”

“Winslow, as happy as I am to see your face, please return to your table. You can bring the ice cream with you.” Thorne ordered.

“Eeep!” Hazel activated her invisibility necklace, grabbed the ice cream, and skedaddled. 

Groaning under the weight of good food - what was hunger? Had Felix truly ever known it? Could he ever say again, in the future, that he was hungry after eating so well - the Headmaster stood up.

“Once again, it is that sad time of year where we must all say goodbye. But first! The awards!”

There was a lot of cheers and cries.

“For the first ranked graduating adept. Will…”

A number of prizes and awards were given out, and Felix started to squirm as the ones he cared about were coming around. Best grades, best spellwork, most points in the grade, there were a dozen little prizes he didn’t care about. To be fair, the seniors probably didn’t care about the freshman rankings either.

“... for the first ranked freshman. Will…”

Erik nudged Felix, and Vivian gave him a dazzling smile with a thumb’s up.

“Su Song please stand up?”

Kirin house dutifully cheered as the girl stood up, quickly waved, and sat back down.

“Ugh. Unfair! You got robbed.” Sora pouted and slouched.

“I mean. Whoever got the best grades got the best grades. I’m not surprised, I knew nothing coming in, and didn’t Song try to go straight into Unicorn House? Doesn’t that mean she came in having practically memorized the entire year?” Felix said.

At the same time, the headmaster had been speaking, and Felix jolted to hear his name. He frantically thought back to what the old man had been saying.

“Now, for a number of awards, will Felix Sutter please stand?”

Felix stood up, and immediately discovered that, yes, he had stage fright when the entire school was staring at him. He tried to discreetly wipe the palms of his hands on his robes, while mentally bemoaning a stain on his front.

“Mr. Sutter here successfully completed the Vault challenge. Yes, none of your protections were able to stop him, and he’s amassed around 60,000 points. As a natural result, he’s the Most Scoring Student, and everything he’s in has won in their respective group. Congratulations to the 1st years, to the boys, to Dragon House, to his Coven, Morsin’s Monsters, and to the Initiates. In the spirit of fair play, Mr. Sutter will not be rolling over his points, so you all have a fair shot at the cup next year.”

Dragon House started off cheering wildly at the headmaster’s announcement, but then rapidly switched to booing at the ‘no roll over’ part. They quieted down when the headmaster turned his withering stare on them.

“It’s not too late to take points and revoke the cup entirely, you know.” 

That shut up the last of the protests. Erik looked smug.

“Congratulations once again to the winners! Class rankings are all posted in your common rooms. This year, we have an anti-tamper charm on them, to prevent the chaos of last year’s class rankings. I’ll see you all in a few weeks for the start of term. Dismissed.”

Felix and the coven stayed seated as most of the school stampeded out, trying to squeeze through the overlarge doors. Then they got up, said hi to Hazel, and went to their common room. There were 10 class rankings around the common room, which made it easy enough to crowd around one.

“Second! Not bad!” Erik clapped Felix on the back. 

“It’s amazing!” Vivian took the chance to jump-hug Felix, who tried very hard not to think about how nice her chest felt pressed up against him. It was a shame she didn’t seem interested in him that way.

“I passed!” Sora pumped both of her fists back and forth.

“At 78th!” Vivian said. “That’s the worst of us!”

“Hazel’s one of us.” Alexandria said. “How’d she get 98th? She’s smarter than that.”

“That is weird.” Erik said.

Felix tried to commit the list to memory.

Felix Sutter - 2nd

Alexandria Renard - 8th

Erik Morsin - 15th

Vivian Merryweather - 37th

Sora Park- 78th

Hazel Winslow - 98th

Well, the only ranking that really mattered was when he graduated. It was good to know that he was doing well with his studies. 

Friends, magic, good food, his family at home - what more could he want?

===============

Felix boarded The Prydwen along with everyone else. He sat down in a room on the lowest deck, along with his five closest friends, and stared out the port window into the sea. He noticed Hazel was also staring out, seemingly fascinated by the water and the waves.

It had seemed like just yesterday he was boarding it for the first time, thrust into the world of magic. Now he was sailing back home, to briefly see his mom and Tiny again. Then he’d be back.

So much to do, so little time. Felix wondered if-

Erik nudged him out of his contemplative funk.

“Monsters and Magic?” He asked, offering Felix the strongest deck.

“Sure.” Felix said, grabbing the cards and starting to shuffle up.

Vivian sniffed.

“Well. Some of us have better things to do than play games. I am off to help poor Beatrix. A word from you could really help the situation, you know.” She said, giving Felix a pointed look.

He shrugged.

“It’s awkward, you know? ‘Hi, I know you’re two years older than me and mentored me half the year while playing footsie with Chris, but we’re totally supposed to date because of a custom I had no idea about and sorry your relationship got blown up because of it.”

Sora winced.

“Dude, I felt awkward just hearing that.”

“Humph. Well, some of us appreciate all the help they gave us this year, and some of us will do something about it. Alex?”

Alexandria rolled her eyes.

“Yeah, I’ll come help you.” She whispered.

The two girls got up and left. Erik stood up, went over to the door, and put something that looked like a piece of chalk across it.

“What’s that?” Felix asked as he drew his opening hand, keeping it close to his chest so Sora couldn’t cheat.

“It keeps the door closed.” Erik said drily.

“Alexandria has a secret knock that she can use to get into Erik’s room!” Sora waggled her eyebrows as hard as she could.

“Wait, really?” Felix asked, barely noticing what he’d drawn.

“No. Sora’s messing with you. We live in the same suite! You’d know if Alex was knocking to get in.”

“Oh right, yeah.” Felix said.

Sora cackled like the gremlin she was.

“I got you. I got you good.” She said.

“Yeah, yeah, just play.” Felix said.

“Can I play?” Hazel asked.

“Yeah! What deck do you want?” Erik asked.

“Do you have mermaids?”

“One mermaids, coming right up!” Erik handed the deck in question over.

“How do we play again?” Hazel asked.

“She’s sharking us.” Sora announced. “She’s absolutely going to shark us.”

Felix didn’t want to believe it, but the sly grin on Hazel’s face all but confirmed it.

“This is why I don’t play for money.” Sora announced.

“The game isn’t played with money!” Erik protested.

“Exactly. That’s the other reason.” Sora sagely nodded.

“And you don’t have any money.” Felix hoped it came out as teasing, but he knew how sensitive the remark would’ve been for him. Still… at this point, he hoped he had a good read on his friends.

Sora nodded the same way.

“The other reason I don’t play for money. But if I did, I’d just use Erik’s.”

“Why did I have to get saddled with you as my treacherous lieutenant?" Erik moaned, playing the first card.

“Cause I’m not treacherous, and that’s why I’ll be your strong left hand!”

“I’m pretty sure the expression is strong right hand.”

“Oh, I know what you do with your right hand, and I want nothing to do with it.” Sora said. Felix and Erik did almost identical spit takes, while Hazel’s eyebrows were furrowed as she looked at her cards. 

“Vivian’s rubbing off on you.” Erik complained.

“No, it’s not funny if you make a ‘that’s not all she’s rubbing off’ joke.” Felix immediately said. Sora turned to him with a malicious, mischievous grin.

“Ooooh, you do not want to go there. I will crush you.”

“She really will.” Hazel said. “It’s pretty funny.”

“Wait, what?” Felix asked.

“NOPE. Not telling you. Sworn to secrecy. My lips are sealed.” Sora mimed zipping her lips, showing all the cards in her hand as she did so. 

“Erik, help, they’re bullying me.” Felix said.

Erik laughed helplessly.

“Dude, I am staying so far out of this you’ll need a telescope to find me. Everyone draw two.”

A polite knock at the door was soon met with rattling, then angry pounding. Felix started to get up, only for Erik to motion him down.

“Do we really want to spend the next seven hours getting into petty disputes with everyone? Or do we just want to enjoy good friends, good food, and a good time?”

“Oi! If you’re going to say good snacks, at least bring the snacks out!” Sora complained.

Erik chuckled and went digging in his bag.

The hours passed by, an upset Vivian returned, being pulled by Alexandria, and in the middle of all this, Sora convinced Erik to pull out his violin to ‘serenade his wonderful lady before trying to get in her knickers’.

Which got her roundly hexed to pieces by Alexandria, but Felix was practically wheezing with laughter. Vivian was outraged, and extra outraged when everyone pointed out that it sounded like her.

“I might say something that crass to somebody I didn’t like!” She shrieked in protest.

The boat sailed on, and Felix just couldn’t stop smiling.

If only the moment would never end.

==========

He ducked out of the archway, his pupils expanding as he went from bright daylight to the middle of the night.

“Hey kiddo!” Tiny boomed, as the enormous man waved to Felix. “Glad to see you made it! Ready to head home?”

“Yes. Yes I am.”

========

OMAKE - Where Selkie earns the ‘Pure Evil’ badge

He ducked out of the archway, his pupils expanding as he went from bright daylight to the middle of the night.

There was nobody here. It was 1 am, of course the place was deserted. Felix hauled his luggage up, not even bothering to curse the buses not running at this time of night. Four weeks was just long enough for his sleep schedule to get all out of whack as he adjusted to the new time zone, just in time for him to get wrecked when he went back home.

He started off at a brisk pace towards home, rolling his suitcase behind him. It was considerably emptier than the start of the year, the students being allowed to leave most of their belongings behind. Between growing a few inches, good food, and the relentless practice Dragon House demanded, Felix found the hike much easier. He got to the trailer park, carefully avoided his neighbors - at 1:45 AM on a weekend, the people outside were not sober. 

He froze as he turned the corner to home, and rechecked, hoping he was off.

He wasn’t.

Felix walked up and stopped in front of the square his mom’s trailer lived on.

It was gone.=====AN: And that's all folks!I had originally planned Song as a bit of a palatte cleansers/fewer number story, and it worked. I had some really ambitious thoughts about making it a full 8 book series, but it's just plum not panning out. I don't have a strong A-plot, and I don't have it in me to write another 700 slice of life chapters. I just don't. I'm not CasualFarmer or one of the other great cosy writers. If the ideas come, I'll pick Song back up and keep going. I adore the characters - the main coven cast are so strong! I'm def going to be using the same methodology in Shadows for creating characters, and I plan on tapping a trope I've historically questioned, AKA keeping the cast fairly similar. There probably will be some movement, but once we're in the place, the cast should be sticky.Famous last words...Hopefully I've got enough chapters of Shadow of the Phoenix Ring prepared to start off strong! As I'm writing this note (at the start of the month, did some early editing and prep) I already have 4 Shadow chapters done. With a bit of luck, I'm at 10 Shadow chapters now, and can immediately start delivering them!Cheers all, thank you for sticking with me!