The School of Bermuda - Volume 1 - The hunter's daughter

-3-

"We're going by car?" 

Lili had just settled into the vehicle after lunch. Donatello was taking the two girls to the wizard market.

"Don't worry, Lili, you'll understand when we arrive," her teacher reassured her. "Buckle up properly."

Lili immediately complied, waving to Madame Tant as the car started.

"Lili!" Ree called next to her. "Guess what? It seems that the prince will be in our class."

"The prince?"

"Yes, the son of the sorcerer king. Can you believe it? The prince! Do you think he'll be nice?"

"I'm not sure... Generally, people who have a lot of power are not necessarily the most generous. We can only judge after we meet him."

Ree just smiled. She was very eager to get to school, and there was still a week before they would board the boat that would take them there.

Lili continued to talk with her "sister" until the car finally stopped in front of ruins in the middle of the countryside.

The ruins seemed to be those of a completely collapsed silo or building, surrounded by a wall and a locked castle gate.

"What are we doing here?" Lili asked.

Without answering her, the adult approached the gate and pointed his wand at it.

"Open," he commanded.

With a creak, the gate opened, but it didn't lead to the ruins. On the other side, Lili could see a huge shopping gallery filled with people. Smiling at her amazed expression, Donatello urged Lili to move forward, with the gates closing behind them. He then took out the list to see what they needed and entered the first shop with the two girls. Lili felt guilty seeing him pay for everything for her too.

"Don't worry," the teacher reassured her, sensing her thoughts. "I'm happy to do it, and I have more than enough for all this."

He took their brooms and crystal balls first, as well as a telescope for each of them and a set of vials.

After that, he headed to the magic wand shop, run by a young woman. The place was brightly lit, and all the wands were displayed on shelves, stacked on top of each other, thousands of magical wands of all kinds. The young saleswoman immediately addressed the two future students of the school.

"Let's start with you," she said cheerfully, pointing to Lili. "Close your eyes and concentrate with all your might. The wand will come to rest on this small stand in front of you."

Lili bit her lip, closing her eyes. Concentrate on what? She tried to figure it out herself, thinking about the school. Were there fairies? Dragons? Or mermaids? She imagined a big white castle with blue roofs like in fairy tales. Suddenly, she heard knocks, as if someone were tapping on a door with their fingertips. She couldn't help but open her eyes. The saleswoman, perplexed, was looking at a hatch in the floor.

"That's strange," she murmured. "It only works on the wands in the store, not the ones in the storeroom..."

She leaned down to open it, a wand flew out, fluttering to settle delicately on the stand. It was beautiful, made of pure silver, about 26.5 cm long, its handle carved with intertwined curves and a sparkling ruby embedded at the end.

"The wands are made of wood," Donatello remarked. "Only the ornaments are sometimes made of other materials. Is this a joke?"

"Oh no," the young woman said with astonishment. "But this wand has been in our storeroom for years, it had never found a master until now. It's not made of wood because it wasn't created by wizards, but by fairies, with the flame of a dragon. It's incredible and surprising. I thought I would never see it resting on this stand."