---
"No," John said. "We are warned. For now!"
Fizz relaxed so much he almost rolled over in the air. "Warned! I can live with it," he said. "Expelled would make lunch taste sad. I have never been to an academy. I want to experience the life of a human academy."
"You will. If I pass the test." John replied.
They walked toward the north table. Master Venn was already there, handing out folded sheets and pointing to times with the edge of his hand. He did not look tired, but the chalk dust on his thumb told anyone who could read hands that he had done real work in a short minute.
The clerk gave John a handout and a small map of the yard with numbers written by the gates. "Ninth bell is the last warning to enter the test room, tomorrow. Oh! My mistake it's not tomorrow. Ninth bell on test day," she corrected herself, tapping the number with her nail. "Do not come early and then get bored and do something foolish like coming late. Also you must be calm."
