Professor Tarkovsky stared down at his desk, head in hands, and sighed. “So, let me make sure I have this right,” he said wearily, looking up at the two students seated across from him. “The two of you met in Miss Surn’s dormitory room for a study session.”
“Yeah,” said Susan.
Lilias nodded.
“At half past midnight?”
“Yup.”
“Exams soon.”
“In Elemental Martial Arts, I assume, since that is the only class you are both taking this semester?”
“Uh-huh.”
Lilias nodded again.
“If I recall correctly, the Elemental Martial Arts midterm is a practical exam in tournament format, with no written or oral component, is it not? And yet you were reviewing books and papers in Miss Surn’s room, rather than practicing your movements in the Training Hall?”
“Memorizing forms.”
“Plus uhh, the Training Hall closes at 9pm!”
The Professor pushed up his glasses. “I suppose that is true. In any case – during this study session, you noticed a strange glow coming from the common room outside.”
“Yeah!”
Nod.
“You stepped out to investigate, and found that the glow had set the common room ablaze, forcing you both to evacuate.”
A slow nod, lost in reverie.
“Yeah, everything was on fire, we barely made it out!”
“… Indeed. It does sound like quite a narrow escape, given that most of your clothes were burned away in the process.”
“Yeah, I mean, uh, the fire was right outside and all, we had to just run straight through it.”
Nodnod.
“As the only ones initially awake to witness this mysterious glow, do you have any theories as to what it might have been?”
“Maybe someone left the stove on?”
“The stove in the Remben Hall third floor north common room has, I’m told, been out of order for the past month, as its ignition glyphs need to be re-engraved.”
“Demon summoning?”
“There are three Demonology students residing in Remben Hall. One is on academic leave, one is in the middle of an extended research internship at the Tarenius Chasm, and one has been in the Medical Wing for the past few days recovering from severe blood loss.”
“… Aurora borealis?”
Professor Tarkovsky pinched the bridge of his nose. “As I’m sure you are both aware, Miss Calbach’s probationary period following the Library Incident has not yet concluded. None of us in this room would want this unfortunate disaster to cast doubts upon Miss Calbach’s commitment to renewed care and circumspection in the pursuit of her pyromantic research – Miss Surn, I see you wish to speak, please do not try to take responsibility. This fire was quite clearly magickal in origin, and while I have heard much from Senior Professor Blatchley about your prodigious talents, I do not believe pyromancy is among them. In any case.” The Professor steepled his fingers. “There is one other possibility which occurs to me. I believe that the College of Thaumobiology have been searching for an escaped phoenix which broke out of its enclosure earlier this month. Did either of you perhaps hear a loud bird-like call around the time the fire started? It might have sounded something like ‘Creee-aoooh!’”
“… Uhhhh yeah! Yeah, I heard a noise like that!”
Slow nod.
The Professor nodded to himself as well. “Hm, I suppose that explains it, then. The bird was not found at the scene, but it could easily have flown away, or burned itself up amid the flames. I will let the University Council know of this, and urge them to redouble their search in case the creature is still wandering the campus. Thank you both for helping me get to the bottom of this. You are free to take your leave. I hope that your exam goes well despite the disruption to your studies, and that the rest of your semester finishes without incident. Miss Calbach, I will see you next week as usual to review the progress of your Advanced Studies Project. Miss Surn, it was a pleasure to meet you, although I wish it could have been under better circumstances.”
Susan and Lilias walked out of the Elemental Magick faculty offices and away across the campus.
“You probably oughta find a better hiding place for Mr. Squawky.”
“He likes it in my room.”
“I know, babe. We’ll figure out something good. First let’s get lunch though, I’m starving. Think they got those hot pepper candies today?”