Kids can go to the zoo! (The greys and purples race around and climb on everything and beg for candy from the vendor carts; the yellows and oranges walk patiently and take pictures and ask questions, even a few of them who look longingly at their racing-around classmates.) 

Kids can go to the museum! (The greys and purples are bored.)

Kids can go to the amusement park! This gets all of them excitable and inclined to race around and plead for snacks.

Castes are weird. She can get them some snacks.

Grey kids get sticks and have swordfights! One of the orange kids shuts this down as irresponsible! One of the purple kids wants to know how to operate the cotton candy machine and gets a lesson from an amused vendor. Everyone goes on a roller coaster except a few kids who think that looks horrifying and no fun at all.

Those ones can skip it, that's fine.

Kids go to the movies! Kids go to the beach! Kids get pretty good with Anitami; many of them are translating for their parents.

Awww.

And eventually they are two and the blues and greens arrive and magic lessons can start!

(They sit ordered by caste; blue and green in the front and then yellow and then orange and then purple and grey).

Did the child-wranglers do that or did the kids self-sort?

Kids self-sorted.

Huh.

There are separate seats by a side door for two red students and an Adamant and an Adamant/Shadow who come in with them. In they come.

Kids stare. Some of them make faces. They collectively scoot farther away.

Maurabel ignores them! The red kids cling to their Adamants' hands.

"There are two class sessions for every class session's worth of material I'm covering," Maurabel says, "after the first day, which is introductory stuff, and after we've checked all your affinities which will be over the next couple days one at a time. You can come to the morning one or the afternoon one - I might start asking people to pick one over the other if they're very differently popular - and if you're having trouble, you can attend both for the extra practice. Any questions?"

Green kid wants to know if there are differences between the morning and afternoon sessions, like, will one of them move faster or go into more depth.

"I'm going to keep them on the same schedule, because that way if you're not sure of yourself you can come in the morning and return after lunch if you need to. If a lot of people are doing that then it's pretty likely the second session will be more review- and depth- focused than the first, which will just go over my curriculum as I first had it in mind."

Grey kid wants to know which session the garbage will be attending.

"I'm sorry, I have no idea what you mean. Anitami is my second language."

He repeats himself, slower.

"Yeah I'm just not quite getting the - I get the 'which session will' part?"

He stands on his desk and repeats the question even slower and louder, gesturing at the reds for emphasis. 

"Are you asking something about your red classmates?" she asks, when he points. "Don't stand on your desk, please."

"Yes, I want to know which session they're going to."

"Your red classmates are welcome at either or both sessions just like you."

He looks at the reds expectantly. "You could at least be decent enough to tell us -"

The reds are silent. They cling to their Adamants.

"I'm sure if you make friends with them they will be happy to tell you about their plans so you don't wind up inviting them to things during their classes," Maurabel chirps.

He rolls his eyes and sits back down.