The Sparks Academy of Magic (discontinued)

Two- School Tour

Ziara looked up and saw two ice blue eyes blinking coldly down at her, 'Where were you? I've been waiting for you for ages.'

'Oh...Sorry...'mumbled Ziara, embarrassed, 'I um... I just went down the um... The wrong corridor...' The snobbish girl stared at her with her eyes narrowed into slits.

'You went down the wrong corridor,' she repeated in disbelief, 'How is that possible, you must be stupider than I thought. Well, I'd better introduce myself, I'm Jennifer Dragonflame, great-great-great-granddaughter of Hecate, founder of this school. Ms. Sparkles told me to give you a brief tour of the whole school, then bring you to meet Calypso... Oh, sorry, I mean Principal Starfire, she's a close friend of my mother's.'

'Um... Okay... I'm Ziara Rowan, a new student at SAM, and I am honoured to be here. Also, it's nice to meet you!' Ziara held her hand out, but it was promptly ignored by the haughty Jennifer.

'Whatever, let's get on with the tour.' She drawled, and stalked out of the room in her extremely expensive designer sandals, not waiting to see if Ziara was following. Ziara hurriedly dropped her bag onto the empty bed and scurried after Jennifer.

Jennifer led Ziara to the school cafeteria, the gymnasium, the grocery stall, in case any of the students ran out of toothpaste or papyrus or broke their quill or need an extra secret supply of chocolate or something. Followed were the roof garden, the hundreds of classrooms, the dormitories, the huge library and the teacher's quarters, which was off limits to students.

She threw open a door, revealing a ginormous round room, with shelves on its wall displaying all sorts of wands, spell books, amulets... All the magical equipment you can think of were there on the endless shelves. There were also a pile of soft, fluffy cushions and some dummies next to one of the shelves. And around the tall, gigantic, spacious room were bleachers with rows and rows of chairs.

'This is the stadium, where the competitions, duels and the ultimate magic classes are held. Only the most elite pupils from the advanced magic class can take part in these special lessons; there are only around fifteen of them, and only two of them is in the first form of the school - and one of them is me!' Jennifer boasted.

'Oh, yes, and you'll also get your wand during homeroom.' Seeing Ziara staring at the delicate ones on the shelf nearby, 'I'll bring you to the hall next.'

The hall was a rectangular room with a wide stage at the far end. It was a raised platform with two sets of stairs leading up to it; a glittery podium stood at the centre of the stage. The rest of the hall was lined with chairs floating a foot over the sleek shining floor. The majestic SAM school crest hung over the stage, casting a warm glow over the hall, as the crest was invested with magic from Hecate, the founder of the school.

'It's almost time for you to see Principal Starfire, if she doesn't like you, she might send you packing before you can even unpack your bag.' Jennifer grinned evilly at Ziara. Ziara gulped, I hope I can impress Principal Starfire and attend the ultimate magic classes, she thought to herself.

They headed back through the corridor and down the stairs, stopping right in front of the glowing double doors with the words, 'Principal Starfire's Main Office' engraved on it in a swirly font. It was right next to the counter where Ms. Sparkles worked.

Ziara screwed up her courage and knocked on the door, 'Good luck! Not!' A voice sounded next to her, she turned her head but Jennifer was already gone. The door opened, and Ziara stepped inside.