After Little Bruce left, the atmosphere in the field fell silent for a moment. At this point, Shiller cleared his throat, bringing all eyes back to him. Everyone suddenly began to feel nervous, deeply worried that the professor might vent his anger on them.
"Excessive humility will make you a lamb in the eyes of villains. This is the first lesson you must learn at Gotham Magic Academy," Professor Shearer began. His voice calm, he continued, "In the realm of magic, pride isn't necessarily a bad thing. In this place, excessive obedience to authority might jeopardize your life. Respond passively to those powerful existences and you risk offering both your body and soul."
Leaning against the back of his chair, Strange nodded in agreement with a stately air. Professor Shearer, agreeing with this perspective, added,
"But it is also essential to distinguish between friends and foes. You must realise who stands with you and who you need to stand with. All your efforts for knowledge and skills will be worthwhile only if you can strike your enemies hard and respect and care for those of your kind."
At this, Constantine nodded too. He joined Zatanna in leading a round of applause, which was quickly followed by the rest of the crowd.
Shaking his head, Shiller continued, "I know this is not the place for a sermon, but I must remind you all to treat your teachers and professors with a certain level of respect and not to randomly attack and insult your classmates. Our academy has a punishment system."
At this point, all of the children perked their ears up. They were indeed impatient with the sermon but they were also afraid of punishment.
"We have different penalties for different degrees of violations, ranging from community service punishments, such as cleaning the common room, trimming fences and bushes, sweeping corridors and aisles in the morning, to stricter punishments like being grounded, parents being informed, suspension and expulsion. You all must have heard about this in other schools."
The children underneath nodded, and Shiller continued, "Different academies have different school rules. You can consult your class president for details... Oh, did I mention this? Our academy runs with a strong system of class presidents. The class president is the leader of the class."
There was suddenly a whirl of excited chatter. The system of class presidents had practically been abolished in modern schools, where at most there would be a student council president, but some schools had even stopped electing class captains.
The reason for this is evident: excessively decentralised power can lead to too clear a class distinction among students. Many children of this age don't understand how to use power adequately. Once a child has too much authority, they might easily form cliques or towers of domination. That's why many schools in Europe and America, especially the lower grades, have completely abandoned the selection of class officials.
However, the situation in the Magic Academy is different. The children should learn how to use power and face authority at an earlier age. Simply put, if you can't handle the class president, how can you deal with angels and demons?
The objective of traditional public education is to ensure fairness as much as possible, but the goal of Gotham Magic Academy is precisely to let students understand the cruelty of the magic world in advance. Therefore, a certain degree of oppression is necessary. Flowers grown in a greenhouse and the amiable living Buddha will merely hand over their education to those who are powerful.
Shiller once again glanced at the students below. They were much younger — most were only eight or nine years old — and appeared apprehensive. His gaze lingered on Barry Allen's face for a moment before he continued speaking.
"You are younger, so you'll be treated as a separate group. Next, you can write down your choice of academy on paper. Once the academy allocation is completed, we will elect the class president for your year."
"That is why I say that you should maintain a certain degree of respect for the dean and professors. There are many things that only we know about. We don't mean to oppress the students, so if you don't humble yourselves and learn, we won't object. However, there won't be anyone to make up for the things you miss due to ignorance and backwardness."
After saying this, Shiller broke into a smile. Along with the other professors, he stood up and began to distribute slips of paper to the students.
The younger students accepted the slips and began writing, quietly discussing with their companions. Most of them were enjoying another's misfortune. Little Bruce's derogatory comments weren't targeted at only Barry. Even the children from wealthy families were repulsed by his attitude that suggested he was the only one with money.
Now that Little Bruce had left early, he wouldn't be partaking in the choosing of the academy or the election of the class president. One crucial aspect of the system is that the class president has authority over all the other students, ruling the entire year, so it seems that the annoying blue-eyed boy will have to keep a low profile in the future.
Thinking about this scenario, the students quickly wrote down their choices. Since they were late enrollees, they knew a little about the reputations of different academies. Although they hadn't experienced it yet, they chose the one that aligned with their interests.
In the end, Barry Allen chose Rodriquez College. He didn't actually give heed to the advice or swallow his pride; he simply still found magic theory quite fascinating.
Ever since he was young, he liked reading fantasy novels and fantasized about becoming an invincible mage in the stories. However, the magic he was interested in was based on its quirky requirements, not so much in waving a magic wand to fight others.
After the sorting was finished, the deans took their leaving students to their offices. Shiller's office was at the highest point in the floating tower in Rodriguez College, on the same floor as the students' dormitory and common room. Because there were too few students in the college at present, no one was occupying the dormitory in the tower, so there was only a dean's office in that entire level.
When he led the students to the front of the academy, Kane stepped forward and began introducing the campus to the newcomers. As a senior class president, being elected among a group of children from prominent families indicated he possessed considerable ability, hence his introduction was detailed and engaging.
"Please pay close attention to the steps beneath your feet. You won't fall through them, despite what their precarious appearances suggest. Each step, floating in mid-air, is inscribed with runes of wind and levitation, even if you do happen to fall off, you will be blown back up. It just looks a little scary."
"I trust you've noticed the runes are also on the front side of the steps. These runes change daily. The ones on display each day are the runes that will be covered in class. They record some interesting stories and phrases that the professors don't share in class."
"Paying attention to them while walking not only helps you review knowledge but also keeps you focused on your steps instead of causing chaos on the staircase."
The students nodded in agreement, at which point Kane smiled and said, "I certainly do not intend to speak ill of anyone behind their back but Miss Harley Quesell, the one who just left to escort the blue-eyed student, has fallen off them once before. Ironically, she falls an average of three times a week, as if she could never remember to watch her step."
The children all began to laugh, and Kane sighed and said, "So, do not expect her to introduce these things like I have. We can only hope that Mr. Wayne's wisdom and wealth will save him from falling flat on his face."
"Raphael." Professor Shearer called out Kane's name, turned his head and said, "You have a lot to say today, hope you can answer just as fluently when it comes to discussing homework later."
Kane laughed awkwardly, quickly ran to Professor Shearer's side, and then waved back, saying, "Come on, ladies and gentlemen, let's have dinner after finishing the briefing."
Professor Shearer led them to the principal's office on the top floor, which was as spacious and bright as a semi-circle in shape with a half-tower sized arched window. The floor was composed of polished marble and the second-floor was partially open to view making the walls above filled with rows of bookshelves.
On the first floor was a reception area with soft carpets and sofas, an office desk with adjoining bookshelves, an office chair, a staircase leading to the second floor, and some sculptures that shimmered with a magical glow.
"This Star Spirit sculpture is a gift to our principal from Constantine, and the moving painting is a congratulatory gift from Jim, the Master of the Dark Night. This shredder you see was a gift from one of Professor Shearer's excellent graduate students."
"Do not underestimate that shredder. It can shred not just your papers, but also you, so you best handover some decent papers, or else…"
Making a silly face to scare the lower grade students, Miss Spencer rolled her eyes and brushed her hair back, "Don't listen to him, although Professor Shearer may seem serious and strict, he's very kind to his students."
"For instance, we can knock on his office door anytime. If we have any questions, we can ask him directly. He occasionally comes to the common room to see us and hardly mind the small mistakes we make in our daily lives. The precondition, however, is that you need to turn in your homework on time."
"Do we have a lot of homework?" one of the students inquired.
"I won't give much homework." Professor Shearer walked over to his desk and turned back to face the students, "I value the quality of your homework more, thus as long as you complete it according to the designated word count, even if you put in the maximum effort and find all the relevant information, the total time to complete the homework shouldn't exceed two hours."
"Alright then, come over, children. Now I will explain some precautions about the academy. If you do not listen carefully, your upperclassmen will not repeat them for you, as these are very basic rules."
The students walked over to the reception area. Following Shearer's signal, they split into pairs or groups of three and took seats on the sofas or the carpets nearby. The older students automatically gave their seats to the new students and opted to stand behind the sofas or against the bookshelves.
Kane ignited the nearby fireplace and brought over some tea and biscuits. Barry was feeling hungry but he didn't dare to reach for anything. Miss Spencer proactively brought the biscuit plate over to the newcomers.
"No need to be this reserved, we often gather for tea and reading sessions in the common room around two or three in the afternoon. You're welcome to join, there will be lots to learn." Miss Spencer handed a cup of tea to Barry Allen, then moved on to greet the students behind him.
Gripping the cup of tea, which was pleasantly warm, Barry felt a bit at ease. The nervousness in his heart faded away. Taking a bite of the biscuit, he realized it must have been freshly baked in the fireplace. It was extra crispy, and filled with the delicious aroma of butter and cheese.
With food in their bellies, their hearts were at peace. After eating and drinking a bit, the students visibly relaxed and started to mingle in pairs or small groups. Since they all had just met, there weren't many past experiences to share. Most of them were talking about the arrogant blue-eyed guy from earlier.
After a while, Shearer descended from the second floor, holding some uniforms in his hand. Kane hurriedly took them from him.
At that point, the students noticed that Shearer had donned a formal mage robe. While it was still black, it exuded a touch of elegance and grandeur, in stark contrast with his stern black suit.