Being the son to two professors at Galdur’s School Of Magic means that his house is located only a stone’s throw away from the school itself. Just a couple of minutes since Flint stepped out of his home, and he could already see it in all its majesty. The school looked centuries, if not millennia, old. The walls were a dark hue of red brick. It was formed in the by the magicians of old, the founders of the school, who with their combined magical powers managed to build the school all in the span of 10 minutes. This, of course, was without taking into account the previous planning that went into the building of this beauty. The result of the amount of energy used to put the school together was a temporary blackout of the sun for as long as the 10 minutes it took for the school to be completed. Since the school was completed in one fell sweep, the walls were smooth throughout, much unlike the brick patterns the other buildings adopted due to the magicians building them only channeling little amounts of energy at any one time. Being the only building of the entire school, the red building was enormous. It was, however, separated into many different sections inside - or so Flint had heard, since only students and professors were allowed in by the magical barrier surrounding the entire building. Anyone else who attempted entering without authorisation would be randomly afflicted with something from a long list of consequences that ranged from being turned into a kitten for an hour (which isn’t too bad, if you think of all the girls who would want to cuddle you) to being engulfed by an inextinguishable, magical flame for the same amount of time. The magical barrier used to just stop unwanted people walking in, but what it does now was a gag developed by the professors of Stealth Magic a few years back just for laughs. Proven effective, it was never taken down. The school also had four towers with spires on either corner of the main building. Unlike the main building however, the towers are of light green colour and reflects the sunlight as though it was made of liquid. It is said that these buildings are pure magic and no student knows what they are for, much less allowed to walk in.
Flint stepped through the gates of the school without a single thought of the invisible barrier, along with the constant stream of students pouring in. Finally, he was here. The school he had always dreamed to be in. He couldn’t help but stop in his tracks, smile to himself, and take in a breath of fresh air.
“Hey, keep walking, idiot!” an older boy exclaimed as he bumped into Flint. “Pfft, freshers,” he said under his breath, but intentionally loud enough so that Flint could hear him. The boy did not give a single glance back at him. Flint, being of a rather average height of 5’9” noted how tall the boy was, being a head taller than him. He had jet black, close-cropped hair compared to Flint’s dark red. Flint did not get a glance of his face though, and after a few seconds noticed that he was having his compulsions again to take in every single detail of his surroundings. He forced himself out of his reverie by snapping his fingers and walking straight to the school while hanging his head down, avoiding eye contact with anyone else.
When he stepped indoors, he felt an immediate atmosphere change. It was much quieter inside. What was worse is that from the corners of his eyes, he noticed many eyes on him. He dismissed it as him being paranoid and he continued walking straight on. New students were supposed to report the day before to get settled into their dormitories, but it wasn’t necessary for Flint since he practically lives next door. As a result, Flint was the least familiar with the layout of the school. He was walking with the stream of students, hoping to end up at the hall where all the new students were supposed to gather.
Before he could walk through another set of large doors, he felt a force that made his feet feel like lead. A bunch of students bumped right into Flint and yelled out various obscenities. People do seem really grumpy here.
“Can I help you, young man?”
An elderly woman wearing a dark blouse and long black skirt appeared before him without him even noticing, and that is an achievement in itself.
“Ermm, I’m a new student. And well, you see, I may have lost my way” Flint replied, without making eye contact at all.
“Well, if you will follow me then. The new students are all gathered in the East Hall,” said the lady with a swish of her skirt as she turned. Immediately, the force around Flint’s legs eased up and he was able to walk normally again.
Flint trailed behind the lady without a single word being spoken for the entire walk to the East Hall. He was a lot less enthusiastic now as he was earlier in the morning. Nothing seemed to be going right since he got here and for some reason, his head is just in a complete mess.
After what seemed like an eternity, Flint found himself walking through the doors of the East Hall. Despite the hundreds of new students present, the hall was completely silent. Everyone was staring at the two people who just entered the hall. Apparently, he was the last student to arrive since he took a big detour. His cheeks burnt red, like they always do when he gets even slightly embarrassed.
The hall was divided into many round tables. Some large, some small, and some so small that they only seat one. Flint made a beeline for one of those tables, being too embarrassed at the moment to interact with anyone. Once we was seated, he heard a deep voice resonate around the hall.
“As I was saying,” said the voice. This just confirmed Flint’s suspicions that they have already started. The voice came from a man in his forties, wearing a plain checkered shirt and a pair of khakis, who is at a high table at the front of the hall. There were a few other people, lined up alongside this man. “This year, you will only be learning basic magic. Only three subjects are taught during your first year. They are Basics Of Magic, Magical Offence, and Magical Defence. These may sound easy, but be warned. For untrained magicians such as all of you, merely channeling energy can be an extremely difficult task to achieve.”
At the very least, Flint knew that everyone in this hall are on the same boat as he is. The key to magic is the act of channeling free energy. Learning how to unlock that skill without proper training is almost impossible, with the exception of a few cases of people accidentally unlocking their magical potentials outside of magic school. The consequences of untrained use of magic can be highly destructive. A girl once just blew up without warning in the middle of Galdur city because she was soaking up energy around her without the knowledge of how to channel it. The excessive energy overwhelmed her body. Hence, it is against the law to teach magic outside of any magic institutions because of the dire consequences than may follow. Which is why Flint was never taught magic, even though his parents are well-known magicians.
“Before we begin our classes, I’m going to introduce all of you to your professors who will be teaching you for the next two years. On my right is Professor Margaret Ouran, who will be teaching you Magical Offence,” the man said as he motioned to the toughest looking woman Flint had ever laid his eyes on. She looked like she came straight from the military. Class had not even started, and she already sent shivers down his spine. “Next, we have Professor Matthew Fulbert, who will be educating you in the ways of Magical Defence.” A rather scrawny looking man behind a thick pair of glasses waved at the crowd of students. “Last, but not least, the person who will be teaching you Basics Of Magic, Professor Kathy Kalyani, who is standing at the back of the hall.” All the faces in the crowd turned to the back of the hall as he motioned to the lady who escorted me to this hall. Professor Kalyani gave a slight nod of her head. Her face remained stoic.
“Before I end today’s gathering, each of you will be given a timetable.” A flutter of paper erupted as pieces of parchment flew around the hall, falling into the hands of every student in the hall. When Flint got his, he observed it and noticed there was the timetable for a week in the centre of the parchment and his name, Flint Leofrid at the top left corner. There were also alphabets randomly swirling around the edges of the parchment, like the paper was made of liquid. “The timetable varies for all of you, and changes every week,” continued the man, “you will be taught how to use it in your upcoming lessons. Don’t worry about getting lost. All your classes in the first year will be held in this East Wing of the school. That is all for now. For those of you who were tardy on your very first day,” he said while looking straight at me, “I’m Professor Gilbert Gaiane, the headmaster of Galdur’s School Of Magic. You may be dismissed.”
Flint felt his face flush red as everyone giggled while looking at him.
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