What's the Name of That Book??? discussion

So, I read this book in middle school and I can only remember a small number of details. I have been searching for it for years and I made an account here with the hopes of someone being familiar.

Here is what I can remember. I think the main character is a young wizard or sorcerer or something, potentially an apprentice and still learning his gift. I'm fairly certain it's a YA novel. I'm not entirely sure of a date range because it could be a reprint, but I read it around 1998-2000. The things I remember most is that SOMEONE has a staff, that the character rubs and it makes a scent that reminds them of home. Also I know the character travels to a nearby village where chimneys puff smoke into the horizon. I apologize for the vagueness, but my memory of the book is getting worse as I get older and I'm desperate to figure out what it is.

A Plague of Sorcerers?

Google Books has a "snippet" preview of A Plague of Sorcerers: A Magical Mystery by Mary Frances Zambreno - Rainbowheart's suggestion. You might get lucky searching for keywords:

https://books.google.com/books?id=cTz...

Kirkus Review:
- "The weather's gone oddly awry; Aunt Merovice has been cursed in a sorcerous duel; an oily foreign visitor is slipping around offering bribes to all and sundry; and now a mysterious plague is felling the city's magic workers—what's a poor apprentice magician to do? Jermyn has plenty of talent but can't always control it, especially when he also has to cope with his familiar, Delia, an affectionate but overprotective skunk. Fortunately, Eschar, the great Theoretician, has promised to help, and in Eschar's pretty ward Meggan O'Loughlin Jermyn finds another ally—or does he? ..."

Thank you both for trying. Unfortunately, this book doesn't seem familiar to me at all. It's so frustrating because I remember so little, but I feel like it had a big impact on what I read thereafter.

Is the MC a teenager or a younger child?