Clear?’
‘Yes, sir,’ they replied in unison.
‘In that case, here are your amulets.’ One of the assistants opened a large chest and began pulling out crystal medallions on thin chains, glinting in the light. ‘Once everyone has theirs, you’ll begin your mission. Good luck,’ he added, pulling a map from his pocket and tossing it to Cedric. The instructor then turned and walked off towards the ravine.
They were left with a few assistants. The cadets moved forward and lined up to collect their protective artefacts. Draco found himself at the back of the queue with his team.
‘If we’re not to set off the alarm, we’ll need to disguise ourselves somehow,’ he pointed out, looking at the students’ white clothing.
‘Don’t worry,’ Zane fortunately decided to allay the dragon’s doubts. ‘You’ll see in a moment that it’s not a problem.’ He gestured towards the front of the queue.
And indeed, it turned out that the dragon had needlessly worried about the matter of camouflage. The first members of their group had just received their amulets and were putting them round their necks. Almost immediately, the crystal pendant flashed with a bright light, and when it dimmed, all the white parts of the cadet’s uniform turned dark green.
‘Another advantage of forming up in the crater,’ muttered the elf. ‘Ours are green, and the defenders’ are grey,’ he added, anticipating the questions that were sure to follow.
Draco merely nodded, watching as the colours of the others’ outfits changed. He was genuinely fascinated by it. The magic he’d seen so far had been somewhat different, as whilst preparing for his exams he’d focused on combat magic and hadn’t devoted his free time to studying other varieties and types of spells. Now, the display unfolding before him encouraged him to explore the vast arcane depths of knowledge more fully.
However, the dragon did not have much more time to marvel at the workings of spells unknown to him, for his turn had come and he himself received an artefact. Suppressing the tremor in his hand, he slipped the chain round
