In Cyrus's School for Magic, there exists a way of sorting students. Much like other ways of sorting students, this method of sorting would consist of "houses". These houses would be categorized by which section of magic the student would focus in. They could change houses, but that would be a bit of a hassle. Norman knew all of this going into the sorting assembly. He was excited to be one of the students in the House of Pearls. The House of Pearls, though sounding glamorous, was more of a "I'll see what I want to do when I get there" kind of house. In other words, it was for students still figuring out. Scarf, however, had different ideas.

"You'll be in Emerald Shack for sure!" Scarf said. "After all, you have a natural talent with animals!"

"First off, it's the House of Emeralds." Norman corrected. "Second off, from what I can read here, it's not up to me but the 'Many Eyed Dragon'. Must be a title."

"Let's hope so. A dragon would eat me for a snack." Scarf feared.

Norman made his way into the assembly hall. Much different from the mess hall, which is where he had a very lovely soup, the assembly hall had a small stage and looked more like a place for physical activity to Norman. After all, there was a track to run around and a banner over the stage that read "Your body's condition is as important as your wand's condition". Norman didn't quite understand what that meant.

Norman took a look around. He was quite early and not many people where in the assembly hall at the moment. A few students, a couple of faculty to watch over the students, and a tree sprouting in the middle of the room.  

Before Norman could see if there was any birds or squirrels to befriend, someone clasped a hand on his shoulder. "Is that thing toilet trained?" an unfamiliar voice blurted out. 

Norman turned around and saw a dark haired, pale skinned, brown eyed lad about his age. He had bucked teeth and a button nose. He was a student, judging from his attire, and he was staring right at Scarf. 

"Scarf here only does his business outside, or in dire circumstances in the bin." Norman explained, brushing off the strangers hand. 

"Oh!" The stranger exclaimed. "That is very posh of him!... it is a him, right?"

"Yes.... who are you?" Norman didn't know if this was a friend or what his tutor called a "bully"

"If it's okay, I would like to pet your rodent!" The stranger was more insisting than asking. 

Scarf immediately hide in Norman's initiate's robes. The robes were black and hid Scarf quite well. 

"I think Scarf doesn't like you." Norman pointed out. 

"Damn right I don't! He smells bad!" Scarf shouted. Of course, the stranger only squeaking. 

"Well, rodent's tend to be cowards." The stranger said under his breath as he wandered off. 

Norman was a little flustered. He didn't like that the first interaction with a student was all about Scarf, nor did he like that he misclassified Scarf as a rodent. Ferrets are not rodents, they're more like weasels and otters. In fact, they're part of the same animal family, Mustelidae. 

"What an ass!" Scarf protested. "There's a perfectly good human right in front of you that you could talk to and you decide to go for me. I would be flattered, if you went to the dentist, ya-"

"Scarf, that's enough." Norman whispered. "Complaining won't get you anywhere."

"You're not my Pa!" Scarf pouted.

"I do feed you though." Norman played his trump card. Norman knew what Scarf liked. 

A laugh rang out close to Norman. He turned around to see another student. A girl this time, looking right at Norman and Scarf. She had brown hair and a button nose, a perfect smile and blue eyes. Black robes again, so another initiate. She quickly turned away as if to not be caught by Norman's gaze.

"She's cute." Scarf pointed out. "Ask for her name."

"Scarf..."

"If you won't, I will."

Norman sighed. Scarf made it quite clear that his entire reason to come along was to get Norman to get a lady friend. Norman had to be taught what the term "lady friend" meant, too. Poor kid. 

Norman thought it would only be worse if he waited so he stepped up and poked the girl on her shoulder. She turned around rapidly, her cheeks flush with embarrassment. 

"I wasn't eavesdropping, I swear!" The girl stammered. She was eavesdropping, though. 

"It's okay if you were." Norman assured her. "Not much going on here anyway." Norman stuck his left hand out for a shake. "I'm Norman Wolf. It's nice to meet you."

"Oh!" The girl was surprised by this boy. Normally people are mean to her, but this one was different. "Um, Joy. Joy Heart!" She reached out her right hand to shake. There was an awkward moment there until she realized that she needed to stretch out her left hand to shake Norman's left hand. "Oh! Sorry!" She exclaimed and corrected herself. 

Norman smiled at her. He was glad that she was being as awkward on the outside, as Norman felt just as awkward on the inside. 

"Scarf would like to meet you, actually." Norman exclaimed. In truth, Norman just wanted Scarf to do some of the conversation bit, as Norman had no idea what he was doing. 

"Oh, um.... ok." Joy stammered. She realized she was saying "Oh" a lot and it was getting on her nerves a little. 

Scarf came out of Norman's robe via his left sleave hole. Scarf poked around a little and made some cute squeaky noises. He wasn't really saying anything, just making animal noises. 

Joy was scarred. Normally people keep to themselves and don't bother her. She was, in fact, an only child and didn't really have friends. She had people who she considered enemies though, and she feared that she was about to make another one. Scarf, being the mysterious ferret that he is, sensed this from Joy. Scarf made another squeak which Norman heard as "Come on, I don't bite." Joy didn't hear those words in the common tongue, but sensed what they meant. She reached her arm out for Scarf to get a sniff. 

"Why is their name Scarf?" Joy asked. 

"Because his favorite spot is around a person's neck, specifically the back part of the neck." Norman explained. 

Joy thought that was too simple. It was a perfect explanation, but it was simple. She wanted there to be a deeper meaning. 

Scarf continued to sniff Joy's hand, and eventually reached out his own paw to put in Joy's hand. This scarred joy for a little bit, but she let Scarf do her thing. After two more seconds, Scarf was done. Scarf looked up at Joy and promptly said "May this be a start of something great!", in Ferret of course. 

However, Joy understood that perfectly this time, as if the ferret was speaking common. 

Joy pulled her hand back and let out an audible gasp. Norman was confused. 

"Did he do something wrong?" Norman pondered out loud. 

"He!.... he talked to me!" Joy exclaimed. "He speaks Common?!"

"No, actually, that just means I trust you!" Scarf explained. "Trust you enough so you know what I'm saying! It also means you have a natural talent for Emerald magic. If you didn't know that, congratulations! You know that now!"

Joy was flooded with many emotions. Shock and disbelief were one of the many more patient emotions, but she eventually calmed herself down and nodded. "It's nice to actually meet you, Scarf."

"And nice to meet you too, Joy!" Scarf said, wiggling his butt like a happy dog.

There was a moment of silence. Joy took a quick inspection on what just happened. For starters, someone approached her. Joy normally gives off a mean demeaner, or tries to, so this was new. Maybe it's because her back was to this Norman fellow, or maybe Norman is a simple fellow. He certainly looks simple. Second, Joy noticed that Norman offered his pet to her. Not to the strange rude boy from before, but her. What made her different? Was it because she was a girl? That must be it. This boy is flirting with me, Joy thought. Joy now felt a little disgusted. She could not believe she let her guard down to this boy all because he could talk to a ferret and the ferret could talk back. Lastly, the ferret trusted her.... she could speak to the ferret and that was the first sign of magic she could use since-

"Well, I'll see you later." Norman said as he didn't want to be a part of this conversation much longer. "It was nice to meet you Joy!"

Joy was about to respond with something rude when that strange rude boy before grabbed Norman's shoulder and turned him around. 

"Just who do you think you are?" The rude boy shouted at Norman. 

Scarf went on the floor. He wasn't ready to be flung to the ground like that, but he quickly got up and assumed attack position. Scarf knew he didn't like this stranger and now he's got all the more reason to not like them. 

Norman looked at the rude boy and simple said. "I'm Norman, Norman Wolf". 

"Shut up!" The boy shouted again. He was going to make a point to Norman, and that point being that Norman was a loser. "Showing your rodent to girls trying to get their fancy? What type of lame trick is that, eh?"

"It's not a trick and I could care less if-" Norman started. 

"I SAID SHUT UP!" The boy pushed Norman. Now a crowd was forming around them, expecting a fight to break out. Strange how quickly the assembly hall seemed so empty before, now filled up with all these people onlooking Norman and this rude boy. 

"First off, you I asked politely if I could pet your disease filled rodent, and what did you say? Hmmm?!" The rude boy demanded an answer. 

Norman didn't say anything.

"Well?!" The rude boy was getting impatient. 

"You told me twice to shut up." Norman stated.

A snicker broke out amongst the crowd, making the rude boy angrier.

"How dare you? I ask you a question, which means you should respond!" The boy yelled. 

"Which time?" Norman asked. "The time you told me who I thought I was or the time you said I was flirting with someone I wasn't flirting with?"

The crowd snickered again. The rude boy was outclassed in wit, but not brawn. The rude boy reached back with his arm to punch Norman in the face, but his arm was caught by a member of the school's faculty. 

"Alright, everybody break the crowd up. This show is over!" The faculty members finally took control of the situation. Everyone was separated, questioned and eventually the truth came out. The rude lad got reprimanded and served a demerit on his zeroth day of school. He was not happy. Norman, got off with a warning after the teacher's learned he did nothing but just outwit his opponent's stupidity. Eventually everyone became calmed down and went back to their normal spots in the assembly hall. 

Norman was a little more than flustered and decided to spend some time alone. Some one else had other ideas though. 

A young lad with a silly smile came up to Norman whilst slowly clapping in Norman's direction. The young lad was applauding Norman. Norman didn't know why. "Fantastic work, dear sir! Richard didn't know what he was up against!" The silly boy exclaimed. 

"The guy's name was Richard?" Norman asked. He was making mental notes. 

"Yeah, right old arse, he is." The jokester whispered. "My name is Jack! Pleased to meet you, Norman Wolf!" Jack put out his hand to shake. 

Norman didn't feel like being mean, so he shook Jack's hand. "Nice to meet you too." Norman said without thinking. 

"Tell me Norman, where did you learn how to counter dimwit's like Richard?" Jack inquired. He loved nothing more than banter and he liked the cut of Norman's jib. 

Norman took a quick assessment of this new person in front of him. He had short, rusty hair, green eyes, a bubble nose and a devilish smile. It didn't take much to figure out who Jack was on the outside, but Norman's tutor always told Norman "There's more to people than their simply exterior". 

"Well, my older brother taught me how to deal with people like that." Norman confessed. 

"I've always wanted a brother. Not sure if I wanted him to be older. They tend to get a superiority complex." Jack laughed. 

"Well..." Norman loved his brother and always looked up to him. While he might of had a "superiority complex", he was older and that made it validated in Norman's eyes. That was the way he was taught, growing up. "... he did teach me a lot."

Jack nodded. "Fair. All I had growing up was my dad. He is my only family right now."

Norman wanted to ask where Jack's mom was, but Scarf came out of hiding. "Oi! Match-stick! What do you want with my human?"

"This is Scarf. Scarf says it's nice to meet you." Norman lied. 

Jack laughed again. "He said that rather angerly." Jack stuck out his hand to Scarf to smell. 

Scarf took this opportunity to jump off of Norman's sleave, onto Jack's sleave, and up Jack's whole arm to get right into Jack's face. "I said, what do you want my human, Match-stick?" Scarf hissed.

Through the magics that be, Jack understood Scarf perfectly. 

"I mean Norman no harm. I just wanted to be his friend." Jack spoke the truth. 

Scarf took a good second to look into Jack's eyes until he was satisfied with his answer. "Well don't get him into too much trouble. Just the normal amount of trouble." Scarf warned. Scarf jumped back to Norman. 

"Sorry about Scarf. He's protective." Norman said. 

"Nah! It's perfectly fine!" Jack exclaimed. "I wouldn't want to be on his bad side, I'm sure!"

"You're damn right, you don't!" Scarf retorted.

"So Norman, I take it you're aiming for the House of Emeralds?" Jack inquired. 

"I don't know, I'm just wanting to belong somewhere." 

"I get you. Any house is better than no house. Maybe the dragon will be kind to you!"

Norman was scared for a bit. "You mean to tell me the 'Many Eyed Dragon' is and actual dragon?"

"Yeah! It's scary looking, but they're a kind soul." Jack explained. "Speaking of, they should be starting the sorting any minute."

As if on queue, a bell rang out, signaling the start of the assembly. Headmaster DuPont took center stage as the crowd of around thirty five new students grew quiet. 

"Dear Students! Welcome! I am Headmaster DuPont! It is my privilege to be lead you in you academic curriculum for the upcoming school year! It is also my privilege to introduce to you the Many Eyed Dragon which will sort you to your house in which you will most likely specialize in!"

Behind a curtain that concealed them, a dragon stepped forward. He had only three eyes, but according to most people, they had many eyes. This was confusing to the dragon, but no so much so much so that they asked questions about it. 

"Now, if you have any questions about housing or the gemstone magic sorting, feel free to ask them immediately after you are sorted into your house!" DuPont added. "Just because a dragon said you should be Amber, doesn't mean you can't try and be Amethyst!" 

This was all very exciting to Jack. He wasn't sure which house he would be sorted into, but he was confident to excel in whichever field the dragon laid out for him. Norman was nervous, mostly because he didn't exactly know what was in store for him. Joy was indifferent. Joy figured that they were going to be Amethyst for sure. If not, they would make it work.

DuPont then clapped his hands together excitedly. "Well, I supposed we should get started! Who's first?"

Richard "rude boy" Armstrong was first. A couple of people snickered as he was made a fool this morning by a nobody. However, he was certain that was about to change shortly. He was hoping to be placed in the House of Topaz. However...

"I'm seeing a strong sense of Amethyst from this one." The dragon said. DuPont repeated the dragon.

"Amethyst?!" Richard didn't want anything other than Topaz. Richard wasn't used to not getting his way.

"Yes indeed! The stone magic of time, space, and the elementals!" DuPont thought Richard didn't know what the gemstone stood for.

"But what about Topaz?" 

"We can talk about transfers later, but Topaz is usually for people who..." DuPont didn't want to say "Not trouble makers", as Richard was indeed one of those.

"Forget it. I'll be putting a transfer in soon." Richard stormed out of the assembly hall.

Next up were a couple of students who got what they were hoping for. Some got Sapphire, which dealt with physical magic, such as enchantments, runes and golem making. Some got Emerald, which dealt with nature, beast magic and plants. No one got Topaz, which was reserved for mostly holy and "Moral" magic. It was more prestigious in some people's eyes. Amethyst was another one few people got. Many students, including Jack and Joy, got Amber magic, which was the artisanal magic. Baking, music and dance is involved with Amber magic. And lastly Ruby magic. The sinful magic. Thankfully no one got Ruby magic.

Last was Norman. Not many people had a surname after the letter W. He nervously stepped up to the dragon. 

"Now then," the dragon said. "Let the last one be more interesting than the rest."

"Why do I need to be interesting?" Norman asked the dragon. 

Both DuPont and the dragon raised an eyebrow. There weren't many people that could understand dragons naturally, but Norman did. Of course, Norman had no idea how special he was. 

"Emerald. I couldn't be more sure about it. Maybe even advanced Emerald." The dragon stated. 

"Well, my tutor always said I was a quick learner". Norman confessed.

"Then advanced Emerald it is!" The Many Eyed Dragon announced.