“Now, Amanda.Do you think the chalk needs to be ground up, or should I drop it directly in as is?”
Amanda’s forehead wrinkled as she considered her options.“As is?That’s how it was used.”She scowled harder.“Don’t you think?”
“It doesn’t matter what I think.It’s your theory.We are now delving into the scientific method of spell construction.For every spell or magical construction, there’s a bit of science involved.There is a little mad scientist in every spell maker.”He grinned.
Laughter filled the room.
Silly kids thought he was making that up.They would learn soon enough if they continued studying spell construction.
“Maybe break it in half and dump half as is, then grind the other half to see if they react differently?”She flashed him an uncertain look from beneath her lashes.
“Excellent scientific methodology.Gather around, class.”He held out a hand.“But not too close.No one should inhale fumes or get wet if it splashes out.”
He was pretty sure that injured students and a possible lawsuit weren’t what Dean Mearson had expected from her rising star when she claimed she wanted him to shake up the department.
Without further warning, Quentin dropped the chalk in the water.The liquid bubbled, and as Amanda had surmised, the water turned a brilliant red, but it emitted gray smoke.
“No sparks,” someone said in the crowd.
“That’s right,” Quentin agreed.“There weren’t any sparks.What does that tell us?”
“That it isn’t proper ritual chalk?”A female student from the back shouted out.
“Possibly, or that it was meant for a different kind of ritual than the one we used it for.It doesn’t have dragon ash, that’s for sure.But what’s the next step in our scientific method?”
The bell rang, and not a single student moved.
“Do it again to verify results.”Amanda’s voice had a firm edge.“If it’s the same, we’ll know it’s made of something other than dragon ash with the demon bone.”
“Now, a vital thing to remember is never to use magic to clean a cauldron.It can react terribly with residue.George, grab another cauldron.Suzie, another bottle of water.”
The items were fetched, and Suzie poured the water into the new cauldron without instructions.
“Good.There is a mortar and pestle on the third shelf if someone can grab them.”
An eager student fetched it and brought it over.Quentin ground up the remaining chalk, not wanting to take up more time explaining grain consistency.He tipped the bowl over and dumped the powder into the cauldron.
Red water and gray smoke.
The same.
“Does anyone know what gray smoke symbolizes?”
“Human bone?”Philip offered.
“Human mixed with something else.In this case, demon bone is most likely due to the red water.”He put the remaining piece of chalk back in the container.
“What do we do now?”Marian pouted.
“I’ll talk to the administration about where the chalk might have come from.How about next time I’ll bring materials from home and show you how to make proper custom chalk?”
A cheer sounded around the room.
Quentin smiled at his chaotic gremlins.“Now off you go to your next class.If any of your teachers give you a hard time, I’ll write you a note for them next class.”
Another cheer sounded before they filed out of the room, leaving Quentin alone with a damaged classroom and worried thoughts to keep him company.He shoved the empty tin in his pocket to deal with later.He’d have to make an appointment with Dean Mearson to find out who had this class before him.
He only made it two steps out the door before he almost ran into Rendell.The department head had a sterner expression than usual.“What happened?An explosion was reported, but when the alarms didn’t go off, I decided to wait until after your class.”
