Christine was equally curious, but not so much as touchy. She did not touch the wand, only looked at it with interest. She then congratulated Cailin on his new step into young adulthood, before she turned around to continue her work for dinner.

"Cay, can I please hold it?!" Sarah asks him for the third time, and the older brother huffs in annoyance.

"No, Sarah. It's mine, and I don't want you to break it.

Ever since they split into different rooms, Sarah seems to be in his room more often than her own. Sarah is always getting into Cailin's stuff, but this will be the object he will guard with his life.

"I won’t break it, I promise! I just want to look at it."

Her brother holds it up. "You're looking at it."

"Cailin, please?!"

"No, you'll get your own wand when you get to eighth grade." He stands up from his bed, walking over to his dresser to open a cabinet. He sets his wand in its case before closing it up. He pushes the cabinet shut when his sister’s back is turned during her tantrum.

"But I don't want to wait two years, that's too long!"

Cailin turns to his little sister, crossing his arms. "Trust me, it'll fly by. I can’t even get it to work at the moment, so it's just a stick. Nothing magical about it."

The brunette is a little worried that his teachers possibly chose the wrong wand for him. Yes, he loves his wand, but it is old. One of the oldest wands that sat in the back of the room. Maybe it has run out of juice? Is that possible? Does this mean he will be stuck without a wand for the rest of his school years?

Cailin does not want to ask Finley, because he has no doubt the blonde has kept himself from trying anything. He is a rule follower. If the teachers say not to use magic, Finley will not use it. Where his teachers are concerned, Cailin would rather not ask them anything tomorrow. He does not want to stay after school. He has his first Rally Duty tomorrow afternoon, and he cannot not be more excited.

"Have you tried saying the magic word?" Sarah asks.

Cailin raises an eyebrow, amused. "The magic word? No, I don't think I have…." He turns back around, deciding to humor his sister. He brings his wand back out of his hiding spot, sitting down on the bed.

Sarah bounces on the mattress to sit next to him, staring down at the piece of wood. "It's pretty. Does Finny's one look like yours?"

Cailin shakes his head. "No, Fin's looks more like the night sky."

"Oooo…." Sarah whispers, kicking her feet up and turning to face her brother. She crosses her legs, sticking her hands out towards the wand. She closes her hazel eyes, wiggling her fingers. "Hocus Pocus!" She shouts, her brother staring at the piece of wood as it sits silently in his hands. It does not move.

Sarah opens one of her eyes, peeking at the wood. She deflates. "Oh…. It didn't work."

Cailin hesitates, before he pretends the wand has yanked him to the floor. He groans as he lands flat on his stomach. "Sarah, what did you make my wand do?!" He sits up, hearing his sister start to giggle. "How did you do that? Do you have some magical powers you haven’t told me about?"

   "Hocus Pocus!?" She shouts again, earning Cailin to playfully throw the wand by her head. She squeals, ducking. She stuffs her head under his pillow, making the older boy chuckle at the sound of her laughs.

   He guesses he will have to wait. He will see what happens tomorrow.

***

The next day, the scholars enter their first real day of magic training. The classroom does not have any desks and is the size of a gym. It is made for magic training and combat, so they never really sit down and do paperwork. The entire classroom is encased with fluffy, yet firm, mattress-like surfaces. The scholars are sitting on them right now as the teachers begin.

"The first thing you have to do before we can work with any sort of magic spells, is to wake your wand up," Ms. Green begins as she stands at the head of the class, her own golden wand in her hand.

Mr. Len sits at the only desk in the large training room, by the window. He is currently an excellent role model. This is proven by him stuffing his face full of popcorn as if he is watching a movie. Finley is highly amused by his magic trainer, but turns back to Ms. Green, determined to make a good first impression.

"As you all know, your freshman orientation gala will be held in a couple of months. You will need your wands to be in working shape by the time orientation day arrives. I am very aware that waking your wands up takes time and effort. Some people will get it in no time, and others not so much. You will have a week to complete this task, and the first person that wakes up their wand, gets a prize."

The students all look at each other in excitement, Cailin turning towards Finley who sits next to him. “Want to have a bet?” He asks, the blonde’s nose scrunching.

“I hate betting with you.”

Cailin scoffs in shock, setting a hand on his chest. "What? Why? I haven't told you to do anything terrible."

Finley passes him a disinterested look. "The last time I lost a bet with you, I had to clean the pig cages for a week."

Cailin grins at the memory. "Ah, that was a nice year."

The younger boy rolls his eyes. "Yeah, I hope it was. So no, no bets."

"Fine. A race then?"

"That's the same thing!"

"No, it's not! I won’t have you doing anything you don't want to after I win. It's just a win with bragging rights afterwards."

Finley smacks his forehead, shaking his head. "Fine. A race. That's it. Only bragging rights if you win," he demands, pointing towards Cailin accusingly.

He nods. "Only bragging rights. Deal."

They shake on it, not realizing Ella and Julian have been watching the entire scene with wide eyes. "Can you guys just get married?" Ella asks, earning a glare from Finley.

Julian laughs. "Do you guys talk like this all the time?"

The blonde crosses his arms. "Considering how much time you have spent with us; shouldn't you have an answer by now—?"

"I surely hope all you brought your wands with you, because if not, you'll be very bored for an hour. Now get to it! Your time begins now!" Ms. Green interrupts, all of the students rushing to grab their backpacks.

The four friends quickly follow. "Hey, Fin, what does yours look like? I haven't seen it yet," Ella states, and the boy grins.

"I'll show you, if you show me yours."

Ella nods. She brings out her wand, which is a plain brown, dusted with green. It shimmers in the light. "Whoa, that's actually really pretty," Finley mumbles, taking Ella's wand to look at it more closely just when Julian gets his out.

Julian’s wand is small and stubby, which is hilarious to Cailin, making him crack up. "Look at yours, what the heck!" He grabs Julian's wand, ignoring the other boy’s protests. The brunette turns it in his hands. "It's made for my little sister!” This makes Julian roll his eyes.

Once Finley gives Ella her wand back, he looks over Cailin's shoulder to take a look at Julian's. It is the plain and normal color brown, but instead of green, it is dusted with gold.

"Smaller wands make for better accuracy, I learned. My mother taught me that before we went searching for one."

"Well, I think it's pretty. The gold dust is a nice touch," Finley states, earning a smile from Julian. Cailin hands him his wand back, finally taking his out.

Upon seeing it, Ella and Julian's eyes widen. They scoot closer to take a good look. "Whoa. Cailin, where did you find that?!" Ella asks, and the brunette shrugs.

"The teachers showed me. They picked two wands out for Finley and me. He has the other one they chose."

The two turn to Finley, who grins. He takes his starry night wand out of his backpack, Ella's eyes almost popping out of her head. "What in dragons?! Both of yours are so pretty, it’s not fair. Where were they placed?"

"Way in the back of the room," Finley responds, handing his to Ella as Cailin hands his to Julian. "I learned from a couple of books I read that the farther the wands go, the more powerful they are. Mr. Len and Ms. Green chose both of the wands from the back of the room."

"The most powerful…." Julian mumbles.

"Nobody goes back there anyways. Oh my lord, if you guys power these wands up? You could be the most powerful in the class!”

Finley and Cailin blink, turning to look at each other. They did not think about that. "And you said the teachers gave these wands to you?" Julian asks, and Finley nods.

Ella squints her eyes. "Any idea why?"

The blonde glances at Cailin. "Yeah, actually. They said it was destined."

The other two friends blink at the two of them, before Ella finally speaks, eyes determined. "We have to get your wands working.”