Free Schooled in Magic by Christopher Nuttall

fourteen back home, but she had a feeling that people aged faster in this world, considering that it had no technology. The girl looked surprised to see Emily, one hand coming up in a defensive stance, before realizing that Emily had to be a third roommate.
    “You can call me Imaiqah,” she said. Her voice was low, almost as if she didn’t want to attract attention. “What would you like to be called?”
    Emily blinked in surprise as she realized what she’d been missing; names! The Grandmaster–that wasn’t a name, that was a title. And he had never asked her name, which was quite odd, once she came to think of it. Neither had anyone else, not even Shadye. Or Void.
    She wracked her brain, thinking hard. Void had told her that it wasn’t a good idea to ask for a sorcerer’s name, which made her wonder if she shouldn’t tell anyone else her name either, for fear it could be used against her. She couldn’t understand how an entire school operated without anyone knowing their real names, but this was a whole different universe. Things worked differently here.
    “Call me ...” She stopped, shaking her head. What could they call her? Could they call her Emily, without her surname? Or should she pick a nickname ... surely, Madame Razz had to be a nickname too. And Imaiqah sounded vaguely Arabic. “I’m honestly not sure.”
    Imaiqah smiled, brightly. “Your tutor will help you decide what you want to be called. First day?”
    “First day,” Emily admitted. Madame Razz had said that Imaiqah was a first year student too. “How long have you been here?”
    “Seven months,” Imaiqah said. She stepped over to the bed and held out a hand for Emily to shake. “I’m an herbalist and a mirror magician, or so they tell me. Herbs I understand; mirrored magic isn’t working so well. What will you specialize in?”
    Specialize? Emily didn’t know what, if anything, she could specialize in. Void had given her the book of spells, but he hadn’t said anything about specializing. Remembering some of the role-playing she’d done before being transported to a different world, it was easy to see that Void had probably taken it for granted that she would specialize in something–and that she would know more than she did about magical talents. He might not have understood that her world had no magic at all and therefore also had no specialized magicians as this world knew them.
    Imaiqah saw the book on the bed before Emily could answer, her eyes going wide. “You’re a sorceress,” she said, astonished. “How many spells do you know?”
    Emily hesitated, and then admitted the truth. “None.” She knew nothing about casting spells, let alone tapping her magic, the magic she didn’t quite believe she had. “I only just discovered that I was a sorceress.”
    Imaiqah stared at her, as if she suspected that Emily was lying. “How is that even possible?” The surprise in her voice was obvious. “I thought that all students were tested for magic.”
    And then her eyes narrowed. “Where do you even come from? I can’t place your accent.”
    “A long way away,” Emily said, unsure how much she should admit to Imaiqah. The truth, that she came from another universe, or a vague statement that wasn’t quite a lie? “It’s my first day at Whitehall.”
    Imaiqah nodded in sympathy. “I remember my first day too,” she said, turning away and walking over to her bed. “Mistress Irene will see that you are properly set up for your studies, then assign you to classes. Maybe we’ll share a class or two.”
    The door opened again before Emily could say a word, revealing a tall, dark-skinned girl with a scowl on her face. “I swear I will turn that fool into a toad,” the newcomer said, one hand clutching a wand as if she intended to start firing off spells in every direction. “How dare he try to ask me to walk out with him on the grounds?”
    Imaiqah ignored the question as the door banged closed. “Aloha, this is our