Alex had wanted to look at the class list since the moment he received it. Unfortunately, up until this point he did not have the time to think about what classes to take.
"Honestly, I don't think I have enough knowledge about how the school works to make an informed decision." Alex said as he looked at Red.
Red immediately got his hint. "I would be more than happy to answer any questions and make suggestions." He replied with a smile and a polite nod.
'Looks like he still hasn't fully warmed up to me yet.' Alex thought. 'Well at least not as much as he has Tom.'
"Yeah Red, come on now. Don't be stingy with the info." Tom said jokingly as he pulled out his own paper.
'Makes sense I suppose, they are more alike than I am with either of them.' Alex was actually happy with this turn of events. He always felt that Tom should be close with more people than just himself, but between being picked on and hanging out with the strange giant that is Alex set him apart from others. Alex on the other hand was not like them, he did not care about having a ton of connections and friends. He simply wanted a few close companions. That would be more than enough.
"Well, which would you like?" Red said with a flourish. He placed his hands, palm up, on the table. "Answers, or advice."
Alex quickly responded before Tom could. "The former first, then perhaps the latter."
Red's poker face was well made, but Alex noted a slight hint of surprise. Followed by a brief moment of acknowledgement. With a very slight nod to Alex he continued. "I am sure there are many things about the academy and its courses that you do not know yet. Most people come here without any information after all. What questions do you have?" As he said this he only looked at Alex.
Alex knew he was being tested. Not in a negative way, but it seemed this discussion might determine, to at least some degree, how Red viewed him.
Alex took a moment to think, but not too long. "Lets start with, what is the reason behind these two pieces of information?" Alex was pointing at two different sections of the page in front of them. Since they all had the exact same page it was easy for the others to tell what he was pointing at.
Red was surprised for a moment, but only a moment. "Ha, I must apologize to you Alex. I have been looking down on you a bit. After hearing your story earlier I was sure that you were not very experienced, but now I see that it was simply a laps of judgment on your part." Tom was confused by this statement for a moment, until he looked at the page more closely.
The page had three sections. The first was the list of all courses available to all first years along with. The second what the part that held open spaces for them to fill in their desired courses. The last was a section for fine print and rules.
The sections pointed to by Alex were the second and the last.
The second section was actually divided into two parts. One had two classes entered already and there were large Rs in bold ink after each class. The rest was left blank but had large Os at the end of each row. Alex was pointing to the column that had Rs and Os in it.
At first, Tom didn't understand what was so surprising about this. Some classes would obviously be required and some would be optional. That changed once he read the fine print at the end.
"Under no circumstances, may any upperclassmen take a course offered to a underclassmen. All classes may be subject to prerequisites." Red read aloud in a somber tone. "At first I thought I would have to point this out to you, but you noticed it immediately."
"Well, I am not as experienced as you or even Tom. But I do learn from my mistakes. I try not to make them again, if I can help it." Alex responded with a self deprecating smile.
"Then I guess the headmasters trick has worked." This time Red's laugh was a true laugh, from his gut.
The sudden and heartfelt laugh surprised both Tom and Alex.
"What is so funny?" Tom asked, honestly curious.
"Well, there has been some debate over these rules. They did not exist a few years back. That was when the current headmaster was appointed. You see, this rule has angered more than a few students over the last couple of years."
"I can imagine so. So, what is the reason?" Tom asked as he furrowed his brow in reflection.
"In a word, responsibility. In two, responsibility and consequences." Red still had a large grin on his face at this point. It immediately disappeared as he continued. "Have you heard about what happened 5 years ago?"
Alex shook his head, but Tom took a moment to think about it. "You don't mean the red holiday do you?" Tom asked.
"Yes I do."
"What is the red holiday?" Alex was completely oblivious.
Tom rolled his eyes at Alex's question. "You know some times I worry that you spend too much time in the woods." After a moment Tom continued. "Five years ago, during the winter holiday, a large group of students were overconfident and decided to go into the deep woods." Alex looked shocked by this news. "There were 20 students that went into the woods."
"30 actually." Red clarified.
"Either way, the point is none ever came back out." Tom said with a sigh. "Their campsite was found a few days later. They say it was a disaster, blood and body parts everywhere."
Alex shivered at this news. He knew just how dangerous the edges of the woods were, let alone the deep woods.
"It's worse than you can imagine." Red said as he stared directly at Alex. "My uncle was a part of the team that found them. Trust me when I say, they did not die quickly. Some monsters toy with their food."
"Anyway what has that got to do with this?" Tom asked, hoping to move the conversation along.
"Everything. The headmaster of that time was imprisoned by the Pheonix family, for negligence that resulted in the loss of life." Red remarked as rested his elbows on the table and leaned forward. "That is why those rules are there. It is to punish first years who are over confident or who lack an attention to details."
"Simply put, every time you pass up a class a large amount of future opportunities are lost. Who knows what requirements are needed in future years." Alex nodded to himself as he voiced his opinion.
"Exactly. But actually I can help you with the requirements." Red continued when he was sure only Tom and Alex were listening. "Actually, my older brother is a fourth year. He has told me all of the requirements that he knows. It is actually much worse than you might guess." Red took another moment to check the surroundings. "The third year is where things change. The required classes are not a problem, but any optional class that has any type of in depth knowledge or specialization has the same requirement."
"They are the same? All of them?" Tom asked.
"Every. Single. One."
"What is it?" Alex pressed.
"Every single class from first and second year. If you don't take every class available to you for the first two years, you can do nothing but learn surface level material from then on." As Red said this he leaned back from the table.
Alex's mind spun. He knew that there must be a trick or punishment hidden in these rules for students who were not serious. He never thought it would be this harsh though.
"Well, that makes things easier!" Tom said with a self deprecating smile.