Time to eat.

Hanging out in Brice and Noah's room, you and your friends spend some time chatting about classes, fellow students, and even the various professors around the school. The consensus is that Professor Dove is by far the hottest teacher, even though you make a strong case for Professor Solomon.

"Yeah, she's pretty cute but you've seen Dove." Noah protests.

"And she's a gnome. Wouldn't that be kind of weird?" Lee adds.

"I suppose so." You concede without mentioning your personal experience on the matter.

"Are you guys done drooling over women you will never have a chance with? I'm hungry." Brice teases the group.

"Me too. Let's go grab some dinner." Lee agrees

The four of you exit the room and head for the dining hall. A sweet yet spicy aroma wafts from the kitchen to fill the House Phoenix dormitory.

"I know that smell. We're having griffin!" Lee exclaims, running ahead to get in line.

The dining hall is packed and a line is forming to place orders. The short man behind the counter and his staff are all rushing about to get food out to feed everyone. Looking for a table, you and Noah move quickly to claim seats for your group while Brice checks to make sure Lee is ordering for everyone.

"Oh, by the way. I looked into that potion you asked about." He tells you. "The magic nullification.

"Yeah?" You respond.

"Most of the ingredients are easy enough to come by. There is one, though, that I have never heard of before." Noah explains. "Protakin residue, ever heard of it?"

"No." You admit. "What's that?"

"I'm not exactly sure myself. I'll keep reading, maybe I'll find something about it." He assures you.

"About what?" Brice asks, joining you at the table.

"Protakin residue. I need some for a potion but I don't even know what it is." Noah informs him.

"Never heard of it. Maybe you could ask Professor Schwartz or Alliro?" Brice suggests.

"Yeah. They probably know something." Noah agrees.

"What's it for?" Brice inquires.

"A potion of magic nullification. It's for an artifact I'm curious about." You hesitate to tell Brice exactly why you are curious.

"Oh, well now you've piqued my interest." Noah leans forward.

"I found a book in the restricted section of the library that talks about it. I can show it to you sometime." Your offer leaves the young potion maker nodding his head in fascination.

A moment later Lee excitedly joins the group, rubbing his hand together in anticipation of the upcoming meal. "We're eating good tonight boys."

"What about this house meeting tomorrow? Do you really think it's just a meet and greet? We already did that at orientation." Noah ignores Lee's excitement.

"Yeah, what else would it be? Orientation was Hellgrave's chance to speak to the school as a whole. This going to be more house specific or something." Brice stands by his earlier assumption.

"You don't know anything?" Lee directs the question to you. "You're always helping Ophelia out with paperwork in her office. She didn't mention anything?"

"Only that the house seniors are planning a dance or something in two weeks. Should be flyers posted by the end of the weekend, she said." You inform them.

"So wait? Not only do you hang out with that hot pegasus girl but you also spend alone time with Ophelia?" Noah slumps in his chair defeated. "Fuck my life."

Brice and Lee both start laughing while you instead turn a little red in the face.

"The privileges of having a 108 aptitude score." Lee teases. "Don't worry though bro. Now that he hangs with us, I'm sure you'll catch some runoff."

"Like you're one to talk." Noah waves his hand at Lee dismissively.

"Don't be so quick to judge, my friend." Lee sits up proudly. "The one and only Rhoslyn Eldric has been chatting me up."

"Bull shit." Noah's mouth twisting into a skeptical frow. "There is no way a girl like that would even talk to you."

"She was impressed with his performance in Illusions class the other day." You stick up for your friend. "You should go for it."

Before the conversation can continue, one of the servers brings your meals to the table. Steam rises off the chunks of roasted griffin covered in a dark sauce that smells like it has a kick, a side of corn on the cob completes the meal.

"Oh, I know what I'm about to go for." Lee says as he immediately begins to dig into his dinner.

The table goes silent as the three of you join Lee in devouring the meals before you. The griffin is both sweet and spicy and quite delicious while the corn compliments it well, you now understand Lee's earlier excitement. Looking around the room, your attention no longer held by the conversation, you gradually realize your fellow housemates stealing glances at your table. Their attention quickly returning to their hushed discussions when you notice them.

After finishing your dinners, the four of you say your farewells for the night and exit the dining hall. All the while, the other phoenix students continue to occasionally peek at you.