(Author's note: Above is the phoenix.)  

  Earnest felt his cheeks burning again and wondered if he should have stayed well away from the headmaster. However, Earnest was surprised by him again. "It's a pleasure. I've heard lots about you." Earnest's chest unconsciously swelled with happiness. A pleasure? A pleasure to meet him? It had been a decade at least to have someone to be pleased to catch a glance at him. The headmaster smiled and leaned forward. "I know what you want to ask. Believe me, I have no idea what dragon are you," he said. Earnest was confused. The headmaster was rumoured to know everything and even he didn't know what kind of dragon he is. But then the headmaster straitened up and pulled a watch from the pocket of his cloak. Earnest tried not to smile. Not a lot of dragons wear clothes since they have their strong hide. But among the dragons that stood on two feet, for example, the Pixie Dragon, or the Professor Dragon, it was quite common. A Fire Dragon stood on four feet(except when he's flying). "Oh. Time for the Starting." Earnest went back to his seat. He was excited. The Starting was famous among dragons. It happened when a young dragon starts his/her studying at the Dragon Academy. He quickly sat down, not wanting to miss a moment. The headmaster cleared his throat and raised his wings, and the whole hall went silent. "For older students, we gather here again. But there are new, young dragons who are quite eager to join us. I welcome all of you, as all the staff." He made one sweeping look across the ocean of dragons below the stage. Earnest wasn't too sure about that though, as two particular teachers were whispering with their heads together, throwing unfriendly looks at the students beside Earnest. Earnest suddenly realised that they were not unfriendly to the other students, but to him. They were looking at him. Earnest puffed out his chest, attempting to look confident. Bits of the teachers' dialogue made their way to Earnest. "Arrogant......... too confident........ evil........ should be guilty..." Earnest failed to appear to be confident. Then suddenly the headmaster's words stood out again. "Before the feast and the welcoming party, I would like to do an extra event." Dragons murmured. "As far as I know, a new kind of dragon had appeared in the dragon history again." At this, the two teachers Earnest had seen commenting him stood up, and said, a bit defiantly, in unison, "Headmaster, we know that you have a whole library in your head, but we suppose it's up to us and the Dragon Ministry to identify and announce there is a new kind of dragon." The headmaster's green eyes glittered with amusement and fondness. "Yes, of course, Professor Nocturn and Jecnur, but I'd say that you would have no objections once you see the student. Such a dragon was never seen. Why don't you, my boy, stand up onto stage?" Earnest was torn between dignity and obedience. But then he decided to go. Why not? The headmaster would be greatly humiliated if he stayed. So, with a dry mouth and a pounding heart, Earnest walked onto the stage stiffly.

  Everyone gasped when they saw him. As if they had just recognized me, thought Earnest grimly. Dragons have special powers to always recognize someone famous (even in a bad way). There's a way to avoid recognization, of course. But it takes extreme cost and practice, not to mention all the time and Vontres(It's dragon money) spent.  If anybody tries to achieve it, their whole life would be cursed. His father had done it. Earnest couldn't understand. Why would anybody want their whole life to be cursed? It was unlogical. He sighed. He could surely use some at the moment though. The whole hall was filled with grumbles. Nocturn and Jecnur were staring at Earnest wide-eyed, and Earnest suddenly noticed that they were twins. Both were Dark Machine Dragons. The headmaster was observing him, though kindly and respectfully, unlike Nocturn and Jecnur, who were staring at him and stubbornly keeping a distance of ten feet(which is pretty far away, if you consider the 'feet' as an adult dragon foot). Earnest stood awkwardly, waiting for someone to point at him like a shopper criticizing an object in a shop window.

  There was a cheer. A small one, not loudly. But still, a cheer. Earnest scanned the audience quizzically and spotted Dem and Canadrina. They were jumping and cheering as if they had known each other for years. Canadrina was blowing flower petals and nectar everywhere, including on the other students. The headmaster was watching, his eyes far away, remembering. Earnest waited for a teacher to say something, and, to his horror, it was Jecnur. 

  "Mr Wesleton and Miss Joshen, you two had done a great job, but I suppose surely you don't want your Art and Brew subject test to fail? " he said softly but challenging. That horrible monster! thought Earnest. Jecnur had not insulted Dem nor Cana(this is what Canadrina insist them to call her) but had been hinting that he would be the Art and Brew (which is literally just Magical Arts and Potions) subject professor, and would look out a bit more carefully for their minor mistakes and punish them more times and more severely than other students. And Earnest was quite sure that Jecnur would not miss him, too. Dem and Cana exchanged glances and sat down. The headmaster recovered from his deep thinking and said, "Well then, Earnest, let's start," He motioned a teacher from the back: a blue Electric Dragon. "This is Professor Igor (pronounce Ie-ger). He will take a phoenix feather and touch your forehead. The feather... will do something..." Professor Hordron(the headmaster) whispered to Earnest. Earnest, his heart drumming, stepped forward.

  Professor Igor stepped forward and gave Earnest a friendly grin. A few flashes of lightning flew astray and struck Jecnur, who was hovering about eleven feet from Earnest. For a few moments, Earnest could have sworn that he saw the professor's metal bones. Since Jecnur was made completely of all kinds of conductors the problem of electric shock was more... effective than most dragons. In fact, light and electric dragons like Professor Igor don't get it at all. Jecnur looked so dismayed with his sooty metal body(he had polished it particularly for the Starting) that Earnest had to bite his lips to stop himself from laughing. "That is the fifth time you hit me during the Starting, Igor!  Fifth time!" Jecnur screamed, looking as though he would burst with rage. "I won't forgive you if not for David's sake!" Professor Hordron visibly rolled his eyes and said in a monotone, "Alfred, please. You say that every time. Behave yourself." The students were looking entertained by the mayhem among the teachers and Professor Hordron's "Behave yourself" as if Jecnur was a toddler running around screaming for a  hot spicy pepper( Dark Machine Dragons love peppers, even as a childragon). Nocturn soon noticed that and pulled his twin brother, who was leaning forward on tip-toes, shouting nonsense words at Professor Igor back and breathed some mist which wrapped themselves around Jecnur, hiding him from view. Jecnur was frozen to the spot and no longer looked angry by the time the mist cleared. Professor Hordron looked amused. "This is the fifth time everything ended like that," he mused, "I wonder, will there be a sixth time?"

  Professor Igor, holding a phoenix feather, turned to the headmaster. Professor Hordron said, "Now, if you please, Atticus, you can continue." Professor Igor put forward two chests, marked with 'Legendary' and 'Epic'. "Since we had already discovered most of the species of dragons, there can be only Legendary and Epic dragons left," he explained. Earnest noticed that there were already piles of feathers at the bottom of each chest. Professor Igor touched Earnest's forehead lightly. Without warning, the feather split into two and Earnest's forehead felt like it was on fire. Earnest staggered but regained his balance. One of the feathers floated into the chest 'Epic' while the other one burst into flames. Then, in front of everyone's eyes, it changed into the phoenix which flew in circles around the Great Hall and eventually landed on Earnest's back. Then a cry split the silence of the hall, "Look at his forehead!" Everyone peered at him(except Earnest, who couldn't see his forehead even if he wanted to) and gasped. Professor Hordron said with wonder, "Earnest... you have a piece of carved amber in the shape of a rhombus on your forehead. A phoenix is carved onto it... And you're an Epic."