Trial By Fire (Schooled in Magic Book 7) by Christopher Nuttall Read Free Book Online Page B

quite useful, if you ask the right questions. They won’t expect you to be certain of what you want to do in life.”
    “I want to be a researcher,” Emily said. “Or a tutor...”
    “I wouldn’t put you in front of a class,” Lady Barb said. “You’d have to maintain control of a whole crowd of louts, brats, snobs, and ignorers without turning them into toads...it isn’t easy.”
    “You make it look easy,” Emily said.
    “A one-on-one tutoring job would probably suit you better,” Lady Barb added, slowly. “You did a good job with Frieda, although you might have done better to curb her more...rebellious instincts.”
    Emily had to smile. Frieda had invented Freeze Tag, gleefully taught it to the other First Year students and played it through Whitehall’s corridors. It might have worked out fine, she thought, if they hadn’t accidentally caught a pair of tutors in the game. Weeks of detention hadn’t curbed Frieda’s sense of playfulness in the slightest.
    “I’ll be discussing prerequisites for Healing in class,” Lady Barb said. “The other tutors will be doing the same. Take their words to heart, consider them carefully, then choose wisely.”
    “The Grandmaster said I would have to choose a major,” Emily said.
    “He was right,” Lady Barb said. “I know you’re interested in everything, Emily, but you do have to choose a major for your final two years at Whitehall.”
    She looked at the trunk. “Have you packed everything?”
    “Just about,” Emily said. “I haven’t moved my letters yet.”
    “Do that now,” Lady Barb ordered. “You’re in Room 4-01. I’ll take your trunk down; you can go down later, at five bells. Your roommates should have arrived by then.”
    Emily hurried to obey. “I can take my trunk myself,” she said, as she hastily stuffed the letters into the trunk and the chat parchment into her pocket. “You don’t have to do it...”
    “Tradition must be upheld,” Lady Barb said, sternly. Her blue eyes twinkled with amusement as she hefted the trunk with one hand. “Go to the library, Emily, or wander around the school. You shouldn’t get an edge on your roommates.”
    She left, closing the door behind her. Emily sighed, made sure her dirty clothes were clearly marked for the maids, then stepped out the door herself. A handful of early arrivals - all boys - were walking down the corridor; they stared at her as she appeared, some with fear in their eyes, others with frank speculation. Not sexual, she knew, but something else, something hungry . Using the battery had made her a far more desirable match for anyone who wanted to infuse power into their families.
    And it’s a trick , she thought, as she walked past them towards the library. I couldn’t muster that sort of power on my own .
    She pushed the thought aside as she entered the library. It was open, but almost completely empty. Lady Aliya was standing behind her desk, looking through a colossal pile of newly-printed books, while a pair of younger students were standing in the stacks, frantically looking for reference material they’d need for their projects. Emily didn’t blame them for wanting to get ahead, not when she’d had to work through the holidays to get up to speed. It hadn’t been easy.
    “Emily,” Lady Aliya said. “Have you come to help?”
    “I could,” Emily said. She hadn’t had time to help in the library last year, when she’d been trying desperately to catch up with her friends, but now...she had time. “What would you like me to do?”
    “These new textbooks all need to be charmed,” Lady Aliya said. “They’re going on the shelves for the First Years.”
    Printed on my printing presses , Emily thought. What would it do to Whitehall when books were no longer scarce? Each and every one of the First Years could have their own copy, if they wished .
    She worked her way through the pile of books, charming them one by one and then adding them to the trolleys to be put on