On the following day, magical realms echoed with the news of the formation of the wizard council. Strangely, it captivated people more than the inconspicuous column about a missing American wizard. While wizards flooded the streets discussing the newly formed power structure seemingly out of nowhere, Asmodeus and his companions busied themselves with letter distributions, student selections, and explaining to parents the enchanting details of the magical world. Though they weren't the sole contributors, they yearned to partake in this significant event – the enrollment of first-year students in the revitalized magical realm.
As Asmodeus and others attended to these tasks, they vigilantly ensured no errors occurred during the student admissions process. The Muggle world is on edge, and Grindelwald recently recounted a tale from one of his concealed subordinates at Ilvermorny School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.
It's worth noting that, just like at Hogwarts, letters are delivered to Ilvermorny students by owls. However, due to recent events, the entire world is on edge, and Americans often harbor beliefs in global conspiracies.
Now, the father of the girl who awakened magical talent, upon hearing an owl's tap at the window, instinctively fired his pistol without hesitation. Fortunately, the owl was wounded but not dead. Later, the professors explained the situation to the man and healed the owl. Thanks to druidic magic gradually spreading across the world, healing spells became more effective. Druids may not share all their crucial knowledge, being a distinct group of wizards and even a race to some extent, but by sharing specific healing magical abilities, they propagate their reputation.
______________________________________________
Somewhere near London, almost on the outskirts, stood the village of Alfriston in East Sussex.
The young man, a vision of beauty at perhaps 20 or even younger, leisurely strolled through the city streets of Alfriston. The town, situated in the enchanting Cuckmere River valley with the South Downs Way passing through, remained relatively untouched by the "magical surge" due to its modest size and the absence of airplanes.
Heading towards the outskirts, the man approached a well-kept farmhouse by the river, relishing the scenic views. Upon reaching the door of the old yet well-maintained house, he gently knocked. A not-so-young but not old female voice was heard.
"Margaret, please open the door. This must be Joe's lad bringing us milk from his farm. Guide him to the living room, I'll finish the laundry and join shortly."
A soft childlike voice, much quieter than the first, responded, "Yes, Mom. I'll open the door now."
"Sound of footsteps descending the stairs."
The lock turned, and the man saw a little girl, perhaps 10 or 11.
"Mom! This isn't Uncle Joe; there's some other man here."
"I'm coming, dear."
While the little girl called out to her mother, the man observed her.
"Hmm, interesting... the wind..." he thought to himself, but his musings were interrupted by the voice that had earlier asked the girl to open the door.
"Good morning. You are...?"
"Hello, madam. My name is Asmodeus Morningstar. I presume your daughter was supposed to inform you of my arrival in advance... but, as I can see, that's not the case," said the man, shifting his gaze to the little girl.
"Are you sure? Perhaps you've got the wrong house? Margery didn't say anything to me," the woman questioned.
Shaking his head, the man knelt down and asked the girl, "Little one, your name is Margery Torbils, right?"
"Yes, mister..."
"Then, have you recently received an unusual-looking letter?"
The girl didn't respond verbally but nodded.
"In that case, may I ask why you said you didn't want to attend Elysium School?"
"Margery, were you invited to go to school? Why didn't you tell me?"
"Apologies for interrupting, madam. Perhaps you'll allow me to sit. This conversation seems like it's going to be lengthy."
"Oh, where are my manners! Please, come in, sit on the sofa. I'll brew you some tea; we have excellent tea. Margery, while I make the tea, bring down the letter that this mister is talking about! I really want to read it!"
"Okay, Mom..."
The girl ran upstairs, and the woman headed to the kitchen. The man sat on the sofa, surveying the house. As he had noticed earlier, the house was well-maintained but clearly not suitable for the size of the family. Judging by the size of the living room and the exterior, at least four people must live here to justify its space. Especially since this quaint cottage clearly wasn't the villa of some wealthy individual.
A few minutes later, the woman returned from the kitchen with two tea cups in hand. She handed one to the man and kept the other for herself, sitting in the armchair opposite the sofa.
"A large house, doesn't seem like I can maintain it, huh?" she remarked.
The man nodded, slightly embarrassed, realizing his observations hadn't gone unnoticed.
"Don't worry; I know we probably need to move soon..."
"Miss Torbils, your husband..."
"Call me Rachel; I'm not that old. My husband... Three years ago, due to chemical issues on the neighboring farm, a fire broke out. Ray tried to save people trapped in the burning barn..."
"I'm sorry; I didn't mean to bring up your loss. Accept my condolences."
"It's okay; you didn't know."
"About this house..."
"It's my husband's home. He came from a farming family, and my in-laws said he would want Margery to grow up here. I didn't want her to lose this connection with her father. But with the current situation in the world... We're struggling to maintain the house without electrical appliances. I don't know how much longer I can endure."
"..."
"I seem to have poured my heart out to a stranger; I apologize for burdening you. You're the first in the past month who hasn't come with a village assessment after the calamity."
"No worries; I believe I have a solution, but first, you should read what's written in the letter that Margery is holding. By the way, here she is."
*Sound of creaking stairs*
"Here, Mom."
The girl handed the letter to her mother, stealing glances with a hint of guilt in her eyes, as if she was ashamed of not showing the letter earlier. Rachel took the letter and affectionately stroked Margaret's head.
Examining the letter in her hands, Rachel was surprised. To the touch, the paper felt more like an extremely thin sheet of gold, magically bending and retaining the feel of paper.
Breaking away from the sensation in her hands, Rachel looked at the letter. Her gaze immediately fell on a peculiar coat of arms. Earth, surrounded by a massive red dragon breathing fire upwards. The emblem didn't reveal the direction of the dragon's flames, but it was evident that it was attempting to protect the earth by unleashing its fire.
At the bottom right, it was written: "Margari Torbils, Belington Street 12, Alfriston, East Sussex."
Rachel mentally noted this emblem and opened the letter. Unfolding it, she found black text against a golden background, presenting a very official appearance.
"**ELYSIUM ACADEMY OF ENCHANTMENT AND SORCERY**
Principal: **ASMODEUS Noren Morningstar**
*(Knight of the Order of Merlin, First Class, Grand Wizard Researcher, Fire Mage, Chairman of the Wizard Council)*
Dear Miss Margari Torbils,
I am pleased to inform you that you have been admitted to the preliminary assessment at ELYSIUM School of Magic. By receiving this letter, you are entitled to participate in the competition for admission to ELYSIUM School.
We are delighted to offer you a place to take the examination at the elite Academy of Enchantment and Sorcery, ELYSIUM. Please review the attached list of required books and items for exam preparation."
"Exams start on July 15. We await your response no later than July 14. To confirm your participation in the competition, please burn this letter. If you burn the letter the next day, an academy representative will visit you."
Rachel read this and looked at Asmodeus.
"A School of Magic?"
"Yes, Elysium School of Magic."
"Are you telling me that magic exists?"
"Yes!" With a snap of his fingers, the tea cup on the table transformed into a small dragon, flying around for a while before returning to the table.
Rachel was astonished, and even Margaret looked at Asmodeus with surprise. The revelation of wizards to the world was still two weeks away, and people were unaware of the other side of this realm.
"Now, do you believe?"
"Well, after your demonstration and recent events in the world, I'll believe anything."
Saying this, Rachel shifted her gaze to Margaret.
"Why didn't you tell me about this letter?"
"That's why..."
Margaret pulled out three more letters.
Asmodeus: "..."
Rachel: "...."
Rachel took the three letters. One had a coat of arms with four animals – a lion, an eagle, a badger, and a snake. The second had a coat of arms with two crossed wands, sparks flying from them. The third had a strange geometric figure – a triangle inside which a circle was drawn, and inside the circle, a vertical stick.
"Um..."
Rachel saw three names.
"Hogwarts, Beauxbatons, and Nurmengard."
"Is it always like this for you?"
"No..."
After reading the three letters, Rachel noticed something.
"Why do the other schools say she's already enrolled, but in the letter from your school, it says she's admitted to the exam?"
"Our magic academy, unlike other magic schools, recruits individuals with the most exceptional talents, while other schools admit all wizard children. Look at the names. Elysium Academy and Nurmengard Academy, but Hogwarts and Beauxbatons are called schools. Although Nurmengard doesn't have an exam like ours, they divide classes based on the magical talent levels of students..."
"Can you tell me why you conduct exams and others don't?"
"It's to find the best talents from around the world. Elysium Academy is several times larger than any other magic school, but our level of professors matches, so we have too many applicants... Moreover, unlike other academies, Elysium Academy teaches not only children but also adults... In simple terms, it's somewhat like a university. In the future, students who have completed their studies at Elysium can continue studying their areas of interest in the academy as researchers. Magic schools don't provide for that."
Rachel nodded and looked at Margaret.
"Don't you want to take the exams??"
"No....." Margaret replied somewhat shyly.
Rachel put her hand on her face.
"Did you hear that, Mr. Morningstar... Most likely, Margaret will enroll in another magic school..."
"Just wait a moment, please. Since Margaret didn't attend the exams, we had no idea about her magical talent, but now I'm here."
"And how does that change anything?"
"The thing is, if I'm not mistaken in my senses, your daughter has an affinity with the magical element of wind. Frankly, if she had come to the exam, she would have been admitted to the study immediately after the assessment stage of magical affinity, and she wouldn't need to take other exams…"
"Um, why is that?"
"May I check something and respond to you afterward?"
"Yes, of course."
Asmodeus took out a device for measuring magical affinity used in academy testing.
"Margaret, please put your hand on this stone."
Margaret approached and touched the device.
"Ding, magical affinity 8.5 points. Extremely high potential!
Ding, affinity with the element of wind registered!
Ding, it is recommended to admit the student to the academy immediately, skipping other exams. Class S! Thank you for using the magical tester 2.0!"
"Haha, excellent! Little one, you'll become a truly outstanding wizard!"
"Um, Mr. Morningstar, can you please explain everything now?"
"Yes, sorry, I got carried away. I'm very excited to see such high potential in wizards, so I react like this.
To put it briefly, this device measures how well a wizard's body conducts magic. It can also determine if the wizard has an elemental affinity. First, let me explain about mana. It's a kind of energy that flows in wizards and floats in the air; it allows us to use magic. Different people have different levels of conductivity for this mana. The levels range from 1 to 9, the higher the number, the stronger a wizard can become. For example,"
Asmodeus placed his hand on the device.
"Ding, registered peak conductivity level of 9 points!
Ding, detected affinity with elements of fire and wind!
Ding, mandatory admission to Elysium Academy! Assign to class S without taking exams!"
Rachel looked at Asmodeus in astonishment. She had heard about Margaret's affinity with the element of wind, and by Asmodeus's reaction, she thought it was very rare. Now Asmodeus had both fire and wind elements, making her briefly consider if elemental affinities were not uncommon in the magical world.
"As you can see, I have 9 points and affinity with elements of fire and wind. Like your daughter, I would be placed in class S without additional exams. Do you know why? Because the average magical affinity level among wizards in the world is 4 points. By the way, each additional level is equivalent to the sum of the two previous levels. So, a person with a potential of 5 points, with the same learning load, would progress twice as fast."
"So, my daughter is a genius?"
"Yes, and I'm thrilled to welcome her to the academy. Besides having very high magical conductivity, she also possesses an element. That's also very important."
"Is the element important? You have two..."
"Miss Torbils, do you know how many people in the world currently have any kind of affinity with elements? Let's not count druids; they can gradually acquire an affinity for the element of nature. But speaking of people with a natural element, you can count them on one hand! Moreover, all these people are the strongest and greatest wizards of all time. For example, the headmaster of Hogwarts also has an element of fire, just like me. The headmaster of Nurmengard has an element of time, or more precisely, prophecy. The greatest alchemist in the world also has an affinity with the element of time or prophecy. Thus, everyone born with a specific element becomes, at the very least, a very powerful wizard without exerting much effort. That's why I would really like Margaret to enroll in our magic academy. Honestly, apart from me, she is the only one I know with an element of wind in the world, and I would be happy to help her in her studies once she gets basic knowledge of magic."
"Do you want to teach her personally?"
"Not in the first year, but after she grasps the basics of magic, I would like to teach her about the magic of the air element. Trust me, no one in the world knows air and fire magic better than I do! Unlike other wizards, I have always focused more on the study of elemental magic."
"What do you think, Margaret?"
"I agree; I just didn't want to take exams..."
"You're lazy, you know that?"
Margaret playfully stuck out her tongue (´ ∀ ` *)
Asmodeus: "..."