Isla didn't know if it was because he was truly not interested, or because he was just really that thoughtful, but Kaiser surprised her by urging the rest of the group to go first. There were two boys Isla had a challenging first impression of, and Kaiser was one of them. However, both (Curtis being the other one) had surprised her.

By that time, a bird had joined their group, and Isla's excitement was starting to get the best of her. Thank Merlin Claudine decided to go first. Isla watched her, figuring she might get to go next and realizing she needed to know exactly what to do. She wasn't even sure if she blinked at all as she watched the creature eat. This was so much better than watching the Jobberknoll die.

Once the bird had eaten the leaf Claudine had offered, Isla decided she was ready to take a turn. She, just like Claudine, fumbled around with the tweezers and her dragonhide gloves. Pretty soon, though, she had the tweezers just in the right position to collect a golden leaf. She gently clamped one in the tweezers and carefully offered the leaf to the phoenix. It eyed the meal, studying it and deciding what it wanted to do. In another second, it was looking around the general area, completely uninterested in Isla's offering. The first year's face fell. "What did I do wrong?" she asked her group.