The next morning, Aayla quickly walked up the stairs of the Central Administration Building, a golden monstrosity that even King Midas would envy. People in wizard robes of all styles scrambled about to make last minute arrangements for this upcoming semester. With her youth and lack of mana, Aayla clearly stood out from crowd full of older wizards. All sorts of questioning gazes fell on her as she made her way through the ocean of people. Some of them were simply curious, but many of them were rude and disdainful.
Aayla hated feeling scrutinized every step that she took. She fought to quickly get through the halls and finally made it to the stairs. The number of people finally dropped after a couple of floors and she was mostly free from the eyes of others. Several wrong turns later Aayla eventually found herself in front of Headmaster Marin's office.
With Secretary Laraz nowhere in sight, Aayla knocked on the door and waited by the side. A few minutes later some one inside opened the door. She took a few deep breathes then stepped through the doorway. When Aayla entered the office, her ears popped as several waves of pressure washed over her. They were gone almost as soon as her ears finished popping.
This had happened before when Aayla visited Ramona on campus, so she knew that those waves of pressure were actually small detection spells. Wizards are a curious bunch. That someone could have absolutely no mana yet still survive fairly well was an odd novelty to them. Unlike
She calmly scanned the room. Many figures with some of the most elaborate robes that she'd seen so far nonchalantly stood around the room. They stood in distinctive groups and warily eyed the others. Aayla's eyes lit up when she noticed Ramona. Skirting around the groups of wizards, Aayla quickly made her way to Ramona's side.
A few people stood around her. They were mostly older, studious looking gentlemen. Since Ramona remained neutral, most of the other neutral faculty and staff preferred to stand next to her so they could avoid the other factions. Most of Ramona's faction were head researchers and the much older and highly respected faculty who had long tired of infighting. After a few quick introductions Ramona and her colleagues continued their discussions. Aayla quietly stated by her side.
The door opened again, and this time Headmaster Marin and his secretary walked through the door. The atmosphere in the office became formal as the headmaster sat down at his desk.
"Hello my friends and respected professors of Nafriton University. Tomorrow is the first day of the new semester. We have several major changes in place, which we will discuss during this meeting in addition to our normal topics. Secretary Laraz will be in charge of the minutes, as always."
The first hour went smoothly. The five deans and all of the head researchers gave their reports. Aayla couldn't keep up with the magic portions at all, so she tried her best to seriously nod her head and keep her presence as small as possible. When it was time for the deputy headmasters to make their reports, the air quickly filled with gunpowder like the office fell into the middle of a warzone.
In total, Nafriton University had five deputy headmasters that managed operations, security, finance, student affairs and faculty affairs. As deputy headmaster of operations, Ramona was the first to present her report. By the Celestials' grace, all of the new residence halls had been completed by the time of move in day.
"… and due to the distance of the original Nafriton Residence Hall from the main campus, I've arranged a couple of student age helpers with Headmaster Marin's approval. This is a bit of an experimental program to see how well the students can do with some more autonomy. I would like to introduce Aayla Glowery, who will be the resident advisor for this semester and will be mostly in charge of the residence hall while I'm not available."
Surprised murmurs rippled through the room. So, this was the rumored goddaughter. One of the deans sneered.
"Just one little girl? No offense, Deputy Heston, but one person cannot manage so many students all on their own. Especially with her obvious condition?"
"She has experience managing interns and living arrangements on archaeological dig sites. Headmaster Marin personally interviewed her beforehand, and has also arranged for Mr. Daren Forolan and Christopher Vear to assist her and handle the Men's Wing. I will check in from time to time, and Nurse Forion has been assigned as a live-in medic. She also approved Aayla to work with her medical condition, by the way."
Many still had secret complaints and deep frowns. The Deputy of Student Affairs was particularly displeased that Ramona hadn't even discussed this with him beforehand. Her background is dubious, but if the headmaster approved then there should be no issues. Still, they secretly resolved to find out who exactly is this girl that came out of nowhere. Headmaster Marin motioned for Aayla to stand before the group.
"Since everyone has their doubts, then let's give Ms. Glowery a chance to introduce herself and go over the move in."
Ramona's protests were quickly drowned out by the other Deputy Headmasters. Again, the pressure was on. Literally. Aayla could feel her ears pop again as she became the focus of the room. She felt like she was about to speak before Congress. Before she began to speak, Aayla passed the papers in her hands to the headmaster.
"Good day professors. I am Aayla Glowery, current resident advisor for Nafriton Residence Hall. The staff and I are pleased to announce that we have several fun events planned for residents this year. Yesterday, all 600 residents checked in without fail. All waivers have been signed, and the rulebooks have been handed out. Other than an incident with a couple of parents that security had to remove from campus, the day went rather smoothly since the gremlins were quiet. There are several events planned for this year to hopefully keep the residents happy and on campus."
As soon as she finished her overview, the rain of questions began. Everything was questioned from the events to the rulebook. The secretary quickly passed around copies of the handbook and events schedule. Apparently, many didn't even realize that the residence hall still had an artifact spirit. This all-in-one security and housekeeping service made many relieved, and firmly shut the mouths of those who still wanted to protest.
The question-and-answer session quickly devolved into an argument over the incident with the Golding couple. Accusations flew around the room. The Deputy Headmaster of Security felt most of the heat. Feeling unfairly accused, his face turned blue from arguing in his own defense. Before anyone started flinging magic around, Headmaster Marin cut them off.
"Enough! Save the security incidents for Deputy Downer's security report. We'll go over this again when the preliminary report on the issue comes out in a couple of days."
Aayla was promptly kicked out from the room before spells actually started flying. She found a remote corner in a stairwell and just sat down for a few minutes. Aayla grimaced. All of that magical energy and questioning really gave her a headache. Fortunately, it was over now, and all that was left for the day was to prepare for a party!
When Aayla finally made it back to Nafriton Residence Hall, lunch had barely begun. Many students were lounging around the courtyard and cafeteria. She quickly ate a light lunch in the dining hall, then began to prepare for the first event: The Start of School Welcome Party!
Aayla spent the entire afternoon searching through the storage rooms in the basement for supplies. She absolutely wasn't avoiding people's stares and detection spells. The gremlins must have pilfered away all of the silverware, but she managed to find or create some decent decorations.
Aayla and Dormi tracked down the gremlins late into the night, hoping that the silverware still existed. The gremlins bitterly gave up their shiny prizes after Dormi started hurling them out of windows in frustration. Three gremlins in particular caused the most trouble by lighting Dormi's curtains on fire, dousing Aayla in dirty water, and doing many other tricks both petty and not so petty. Yet no matter the strength of Dormi's rage they still evaded capture.
Now named 'Mayhem' by Aayla, the hot pink gremlin grit his tiny little teeth and silently swore revenge for the insulting loss of the Shiny Stabby Things. His hyperactive yellow and grumpy purple companions (now named 'Zap' and 'Grumpy') followed along as he retreated to plot his next moves.
Aayla was too happy getting the finishing touches ready for tomorrow's party and first day of classes. With everything ready, Dormi would do the rest and Aayla could just supervise. Finally, she could just relax for a bit! As long as she could survive tomorrow, that is.