No, Professor Amethyst replied. But as the headmaster at the school, its my responsibility to assign all Seers a guide. He was perfect for you but the timing was unfortunate. Ive checked all the timelines, Oliver, pulled on a lot of dimensional threads. Those few days you had with him were the best I could manage.

He looked downcast, as though it were a personal failure that Armando had died so soon after coming into Olivers life. Oliver wasnt sure whether he was supposed to comfort the old professor, so ended up just sitting there in the awkward silence.

Finally, he spoke.

Was Armando supposed to tell me about my destiny? Oliver asked. Because he didnt get the chance, really. It was all so fast, my time in the factory, I mean.

Professor Amethyst nodded. His role was to start you on your journey. Becoming a Seer is psychologically taxing. Im sure youre aware of that. Its not easy to accept the fact that the physical world can be bent and manipulated, or to experience time travel and contrasting versions of events. These things are beyond usual human comprehension. The guide is there to help you onto the first step, so to speak. To give you parts of the puzzle that wont make your brain melt.

Oliver nodded solemnly. Clearly, things were more complex than hed ever anticipated.

Can you tell me? he asked. Now that Im here at the school? Because people keep saying things about specialisms. And my powers seem to come when I dont mean them to, and not when I want them. Then I have these visions...

Oliver, Professor Amethyst said gently, interrupting his tirade. No brain can take everything in at once. Trust that you are learning everything at the pace you can handle. If we tell the wrong person the wrong thing at the wrong time, things implode. Whole timelines can collapse when mistakes are made. If I told you everything I knew, for example, your head would pop like a balloon. Its taken me centuries to absorb all the knowledge I have. Everything must be taken slowly and steadily.

Centuries, Oliver thought. Did that mean the headmaster had been alive for hundreds of years? How old was he really?

He was about to ask when Professor Amethyst spoke again. Lets start at the beginning. What we can do right here, right now, is find out your specialism.

The test! Oliver exclaimed.

In all the drama, hed forgotten about the test that would tell him his specialism and eer type, whether he would be cobalt or bromine. When hed gone to sleep last night the thoughts had been consuming him. But throughout the day, he hadnt thought much about it at all. Hed even forgotten about his timetable telling him where to be and when. He checked it now and realized he was in the exact place and time for his test. This was where it was meant to take place all along.