William laughed to himself as the poor first years went off to their first task, something he had been absolutely petrified of for weeks after the ceremony. After they had left, he was escorted back into his new Year 6 dorm. (As all of the other AK 2y+'s)
Victor raised a large arm and motioned towards another chamber, where all of the shapeshifting potentials would go. Xeno, excited, though very nervous, followed in anticipation.
Dmytro pointed towards the fire before him, once the rest of the dining hall had cleared out. Non Necromancers were not allowed to see the following proceedings, though the teachers were present to ensure nothing went amiss.
"Look carefully at yourself," he spoke very quietly, "You are useful, an individual, and asset to this school. Now that we have promised to give you a home and education, you now must give something to us."
As he spoke, his skin seemed to ripple and ebb in an odd magical way, it melted directly off of his face, revealing a half skeleton, half human face. Only his grin remained the same.
"Place your best foot (hbb: arm, eye, whatever)forward, so to speak, and enter the fire." the boy stepped in, and vanished.
Spike was almost on the brink of tears, usually he was quite calm, but this, this was a bit too much for him. He had just seen a face being melted for goodness' sake! If this what this place had in store for him, he wasn't quite sure if he wanted to stay.
Reluctantly, and concentrating on his arm, he stepped into the blue flame.
Searing pain instantly hit his left shoulder, making its way down to his fingers. It seemed to last for an eternity, he wasn't even aware that he was screaming. He heard others around him, but even their wails couldn't drown out the pain he was in. Looking down, he saw the flesh slowly dripping away, taking its damn time and leaving him with nothing but bone and pain.
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