Kapitel 16: A tired Sorcerer and five Fairies

Palladium led Nick through the bright corridors of the school, sometimes pointing out important places for the professors. The sorcerer now knew where several classrooms were. Professor Griselda's – who was in charge of the discipline, Alchemy and basically Battle Magic – Professor Wizgiz's – teacher of Methomorphosymbiosis, a type of magic obscure to Nick, because the only thing he heard about it was its name – Professor Du Fort's – teaching etiquette, of all things – and the classroom of Professor Palladium himself.

The classrooms didn't differ much from each other or from the usual high school classrooms. A couple of dozens of desks standing in front of the teacher's desk, behind which a blackboard hung on the wall. It was a little underwhelming, but it was still a good classroom layout for a lecture.

In addition to the classrooms, Palladium pointed out the paths that lead to the Library, the Simulation Room – which, by the way, was under Palladium's control – and the kitchens. But something made Nick ask one very important question.

"Wait, are you saying that Griselda holds three positions at once, and you hold at least two? Wouldn't it be easier to hire new professors?" One thought that they did not have enough teachers with their numbers sounded absurd. Even in the wizarding community, there were enough teachers for different ages.

Palladium sighed sadly, shaking his head. "Although this is an obvious solution, it's not that simple. Yes, new teachers and new disciplines of magic would help us a lot, but unfortunately, there simply aren't enough qualified people in all of Magix."

Nick looked at him with disbelief on his face, ignoring the looks and whispers of the female students who passed them by. "It doesn't make any sense, there are so few people in the magical world who want to become teachers?"

"No, well, not really." Palladium pushed open the door to the dining room and both men stepped inside. "Most of the fairies in Alfea will end up becoming protector fairies for their worlds. Your acquaintance, Stella, will be the protector fairy of Sloaria, for example. Of course, only if the ruler of Solaria recognizes her as such. Only the best fairies become worthy of such a position, so those who remain, are… incompetent to be professors. Of course, they know enough to give a couple of lectures on very narrow topics, but this is not enough to hold a position here."

"Huh. Considering that I was hired even without a resume, I can assume that the other schools for Fairies do not produce satisfactory results either." Nick sighed as he noticed that they had already reached the professors' table. The arrangement of the tables reminded the sorcerer of the Main Hall at Hogwarts, at least the way he was portrayed in the film. Four long tables placed perpendicular to one large table, at which several professors were already seated. Faragonda, Griselda and Du Fort, if Nick was right.

"Good morning, ladies, gentlemen." Nick bowed lightly, still being somewhat respectful. Acting like he normally does right away would give everyone too much of a whiplash, so for now, he kept up appearances.

"Good morning, Professor Fyre, Professor Palladium." Du Fort replied, sipping her tea elegantly and casually at the same time. Nick didn't fully understand why she wore her red hat indoors, but he couldn't deny that it matched her outfit well.

Griselda and Faragonda nodded in greeting, too busy with their own conversation.

The elf and the human sat down at the table and a couple of menus immediately appeared in front of them. Nick shrugged and ran his eyes over the names of the available dishes. He ended up ordering bacon and eggs, which appeared in front of his seat through a small portal.

Considering that the students had to stand in line to get their food, it seemed like a good privilege. The question remained, who makes the food? House elves or ordinary cooks?

"Interesting system, but isn't that too much of a waste of magic?" Nick asked, taking the fork and knife that were furthest away from the plate.

"Oddly enough, no." Palladium responded, choosing some kind of salad from vegetables unknown to Nick. At least, he hoped they were vegetables. "I'm saying no too much lately. As far as I know, the castle itself emits more magic than it takes to defend and operate the special rooms."

"Your magic output is greater than costs? First world problems, I guess. We usually don't have enough magic to power all the wards." Nick finally looked at his future students, counting how many people he would have to teach in the future. Considering how complex the magic system of sorcerers and wizards is, he didn't expect more than forty students in each year.

Scratch that, he didn't expect more than forty students, period.

"And what form does the magical protection takes on your planet, Professor Fyre?" Faragonda asked with interest, finally ending her conversation with Griselda. "I just can't imagine what else we can add to our defense when you don't have enough magic for yours."

Nick's eyes flashed purple, and the sorcerer was silent for a moment, chewing his food.

"To be honest, our wizards and witches are paranoid to the core. Our ward masters are working hard to invent new defenses against ever-increasing threats. The most common set of defenses includes identification, hiding, paralyzing, and tracking wards."

The four professors looked at him with interest, waiting for his further explanation.

"Identification wards do what the name implies. They read the magical signature of any creature and add it to a physical database, usually taking the form of a book or a digital screen, creating a list of visitors of sorts.

"Hiding wards conceal a location from the eyes of the selected category of creatures. For example, if I don't want vampires to know about the existence of my house, I can just put the appropriate wards and sleep peacefully.

"Paralyzing wards are the first line of defense against unwelcome guests. I think there is no need to explain how they work.

"Tracking wards are a bit more complicated," Nick put his fork and knife on a plate parallel to each other. "You might think that they track the location of people inside the wards – and you'd be right – but they also monitor the use of magic by notifying the person tied to the wards about the unauthorized use of magic. So no one in my house can use magic without my knowledge.

"You know, I can talk about wards 'till the heat death of the universe, but now I'm interested in something else. Has anyone notified the students of my existence, or are they spreading theories and keep wondering who I am?"

Faragonda hid her smile behind a cup of tea while Griselda muttered something under her breath.

"We are waiting until most of the students come to the hall, then we will announce your position. Also, for particularly sleepy fairies, notifications about the beginning of your subject will appear on bulletin boards in several parts of the school." Griselda said a little louder.

"It would have been much easier to sort out your position if you had arrived in Alphea earlier." Griselda added, adjusting her glasses. "Of course, it's not your fault for being late, but working in such a hurry is never pleasant."

Nick just shrugged, accepting her explanation. Working in a hurry was not a new concept for him, especially considering who his predecessor was.

Faragonda, meanwhile, looked around the hall and nodded to herself, the woman got up from her seat and tapped the already empty cup with a spoon. All students quickly fell silent and turned their attention to the main table.

"Good day to all, dear students, I hope you have had a full rest and are ready for some hard work and new magic," some students made strange grimaces at the words of Headmistress, especially Stella, who groaned openly and dropped her head on the dining table. "Yes, yes, I can see with what eagerness you can't wait to start studying, but it might be important for you to listen to my announcement."

Faragonda pointed her hand in the direction of Nicholas and he rose to his full height, giving everyone a good look at his personality. "This is your new professor Nicholas Fyre, who will be teaching Wixen Magic starting today." They had agreed in advance not to mention anything related to Witches for the first few days, it would have sent the wrong message, so he would teach them 'Wixen' Magic. "Professor, do you want to say a few words?"

'No, I don't want to, please don't.' Nick thought, but instead of saying that, he nodded with a soft smile and started talking. "Well, skipping all the pleasantries, I will immediately warn everyone who wants to choose my subject. This is a completely optional discipline, which is heavily based on mathematical calculations and geometry." He saw how most of the Fairies quickly lost interest, so he decided to put on a little show.

"But don't worry if you don't even know what these words mean," his voice sounded from somewhere above and many looked up in surprise, only to see the second Nick sitting on a crystal chandelier. In his hands was a thick book with a magic circle on the cover, the same Steinman book that Bloom found. "I accept anyone who wants to know more about magic. The only requirement I have for students is the desire to learn."

"However," the third Nick continued, appearing from the floor in the middle of the room like a ghost, which caused the frightened screams of several female students, "this does not mean that I will not have expectations. My first lecture is open to anyone who wants to attend it. It will take place after your classes at exactly four o'clock in the afternoon."

The second and third Nick approached the original – well, or jumped into him from the chandelier – and stepped inside his body, dispelling the illusion. Such a show was a sure way to attract attention, especially among teenagers who want to learn all the cool magic in the world. But it was not his speech that sealed the deal, but the words of one of the students – Tecna, if he was not mistaken.

"I can't analyze the composition of this spell!" She cried out in shock, looking at the ladybug-shaped device in her hands. "It's like he's using a whole new kind of magic!"

A low murmur swept through the hall and the uninteresting glances directed at Nick abruptly changed to high interest. He wasn't going to be a bad teacher or deliberately divert interest from his subject, so he was pleased with such results.

Now he had six hours before the start of his lecture… 'I'm going to bother Palladium. Yeah, sounds about right.'