SWNOVELS Chapter 24 - I’m a Gnom.. Not an Stone-Elf
The girl was dressed and ready for school, but she didn't expect anyone to knock so early at her door. She looked at the books for the school day she was supposed to take with her, also prepared by someone, after which she opened the door.
“Finally ... I am so excited. Come on!”
It was Johnny. The boy quickly took her hand and pulled her out of the room.
“Where are we going?”
“You'll see.”
“I’ll take my books though,” she managed to get rid of the boy's hand grip and enter her room. In the blink of an eye, the girl came out with a pile of books she needed for her classes. She was in a hurry, because whatever made Johnny so impatient was of great interest to her as well.
Reaching the marble stairs, Elizabeth recognized some children who were colleagues with her as well as other students in the other classes. They all ran on the steps, some faster, some slower, some of them about to push her, others not greeting back.
But, the girl did not get upset about this. She smiled starting to hurry up with Johnny and even ran like the others. They climbed down the stairs only ... one, two, six, eighteen ... forty. Of course, while they were talking.
“Can you tell me why this rush?”
“What's the first class, you know?”
“Yes. Creative workshop.”
“And what do you think we do at this Creative workshop?
The girl shrugged slightly walking at a fast pace.
“I don't know, do we create things?”
“Exactly! Let's create one of the most important things for a wizard ...”
What an answer. This boy had the impression that he gave her the clearest possible explanation? That was the explanation in his answer. They will create the most important thing for a wizard ... Which of them? because there are many important objects, necessary for any wizard.
Elizabeth eventually quit asking for more clarification. When she arrived with Johnny in front of the door, where many students from the primary class stopped for wizard training, she managed to see from where she was a huge room, where many things hung in the ceiling.
All kinds of inventions one wittiest than the other. All kinds and sizes of brooms, who knows who used them long ago, when the old magi, as wizards were called back then used to travel great distances with such transporting objects. There were many types of pairs of wings, which also used to move from place to place, all kinds of magic weapons, watches and magic mirrors, various objects smaller or larger; if someone had questions, it would probably take a week only to mention their names.
There was even a huge carriage hanging from the ceiling, covered here and there by other smaller objects, hanging too, which probably not even the one responsible for this room remembered how or why they got there. Or ... what many of them could use for.
When they finally entered the room, the girl and the other students were amazed. They had never seen a room so big and full of things before.
And not just because in her life, the biggest area she entered was the small shoe factory near the orphanage. A small facility that smelled of oil and paint all the time, with at most 30 workers ... and where most "employees" were older children in the orphanage. Without earning much money, as most of it was taken by Mr. Harp. Still, children from the orphanage worked there with some workers.
But the imposing room they were in now was probably the largest room of all ... because one could barely comprehend everything inside, as there were so many things there.
There were so many things there ... Lots of worktops, surrounded by magic devices and numerous workshops, so that probably half of the students at Elmbridge magic school could attend the creation Workshop at the same time.
And above these worktops, at a great height, there were ... all sorts of things. Including that huge dragon skeleton, hanging in all its glory from several points in the ceiling, leaving the impression, as it was so scattered, that at any time it can grab someone in the room, running off.
There were also, among others, hanging from the ceiling or placed on shelves, human skeletons and ... of many other kinds. Some whole ... and on the worktops even just pieces of them, such as various animal skulls or from more or less known creatures, some of them being used even as a container for various magic famous liqueurs and potions, but unknown to many of those beginners. There were phosphorescent green potions, red or even black and viscous potions in those skull-bowls.
That workshop was full with lots of inventions, many unfinished but some that seemed to be far from the project stage, were almost completed. There were various representations of our solar system ... and other solar systems, as they didn't seem familiar to many of those who saw them.
Needless to speak ... There were, among others, many strange things, thousands in number in the workshop. And the guy who finally welcomed them ... seemed just as strange.
“Hello. I'm Smart.”
“I am smart too. Me too ... me too,” more students answer.
But the professor started to smile and added:
“No ... That's how my colleagues call me. Actually, that doesn't mean I'm not smart, but that's how the others call me. Actually my name is ... Just a second ... what is my name?”
Even stranger was that this professor seemed to forget completely what he meant, as he took an object in his hand, looked at it like a brother who saw his sister after more than ten years and was very happy.
“The compass of happiness ...! I have been looking for it for almost two months. I have to return it to ...:
But the professor's eyes stopped again on the crowd of students.
“Oh, yes ... you came to the creation Workshop. Of course you came. It's just ... Today is ...”
The professor looked at a device taken out of his pocket, which seemed to be some kind of compasses or something to help you navigate, but which answered his question: What day is it today?
“Of course, Tuesday.”
He invited the children to sit at the various work tables near which boiling cauldrons were prepared, glasses full of all kinds of sticks and twigs, dozens of jars with various things in them, all of which looked strange.
Like the famous phoenix feathers, which, held for more than a few seconds in hand, became ashes.
Or dangerous werewolf fangs, which could hurt, as some said, and the next night with full moon you could howl at the sky and become a real beast, cursed to run through the forest all your life. Of course, it is not always possible to take into account what some people say ... I think.
There were also unicorn hairs, thin, dried poplar roots, troll ears, tiny spider's legs, spider's eyes of all sizes, even as a tennis ball and more ... so many that a huge room would be necessary to store them. A room about as big as a palace, because that huge number of shelves where all this was stored did not fit anywhere.
There were also different dusty books, parchments, as if nobody read them since Merlin's time and a lot of jars filled with everything necessary for a wizard.
What was in there? I think that only if you wiped the thick layer of dust off them, you could really see what weird stuff was kept in the many jars on the shelves.
Finally, obeying to the professor's request, the children sat down in pairs at the work bench.
“So it's Tuesday today ...” he checked that object again as if he wasn't so convinced.
“I think he’s nuts,” Alexander whispered to a friend of his.
"My nuts are all right, I’ve got only one ear," he said, smiling at the child, then showing his only ear. Instead of it he had a brass funnel stuck, which seemed to be once a piece of an alembic or who knows what cauldron, probably used to boil various liqueurs in it.