Chapter 12
When Sire Luke was talking about the opening remarks of the school, all I thought was some plain, boring welcoming message for freshmen and a ‘good-to-see-you-again’ speech for the old students.
But I was wrong.
We are standing on the edge of the forest when I feel my stomach rumbling in surprise. I look at my fellow Sages to see if we have the same expression, and they are far worse. Their eyes are wide open, stunned and not blinking, and their mouths are half open. They stand still, and I guess they find it hard to breathe, as if everything we are seeing will disappear any second if we release some air.
“Best…, dream…, ever!” says Brian, pausing at every word, rubbing his eyes with the back of his hands.
Mathieu, a skinhead boy with brown complexion, hits Brian hard in the head with his ragged red travel bag.
“Ow! What’s that for?” Brian exclaims.
“I’m making sure that everything is real. You’re not dreaming, bro.” He explains. His eyes glitter with happiness.
None of us move an inch from where we are standing, like something with great force is holding us back from moving. Then suddenly out of the blue, Professor Marvellous Great appears. He steps on the platform, taps the microphone on the podium and a high pitch tone starts to hurt my ears. All the students stop chatting at once. They divert their attention from each other to the Professor who’s about to welcome us, I guess. Professor Marvellous Great scans the crowd and smiles. He taps the microphone again, and the high pitch tone begins one more time. “Good Morning,” he starts, clearing his throat. “I think everyone is already here.” He looks at our group who are still standing on the edges. He waves his hands, ordering us to come closer. Terence leads the group, he walks first, and then we follow him. Above all the other Sages, he’s the ‘experienced one’ when it comes to gatherings like this. He is the mayor’s son, he always go to council leaders gatherings with his father.
“Welcome students,” continues Professor Marvellous Great “to Whitehorn Academy.” He smiles with proud. “I am Professor Marvellous Great, in case you’ve forgotten.” He chuckles as he reminds us of who he is and some introduction of what he does at the school. “Students from six different districts are all here sharing the same desire: to learn. Our ancestors once said, ‘Education is the most valuable thing a person can have and no one can take that away from us.’ And I tell you, they are right.”
He says more things about how important education is, especially now that most works require people with great knowledge. And he’s right in everything, we can survive without education, yes; but it’s harder to be uneducated than looking for a strand of hair in the middle of a dark, vast field. “But now, you are all here. We’ve invited all students to take the exams each year, but you my students are the chosen ones.”
…“Ignorance is often associated with stupidity, and that’s dangerous.” He says in a firm voice, his face shifts from being jolly to po-faced. The atmosphere changed. And he notices it. He claps his hands hard and says, “Well, enough of that! Let me introduce to you all, the teachers and staffs of Whitehorn Academy who are continuing the works of our forefathers in bringing the best education in Ezmer!” he stretches his hands over the big door behind him and it opens by itself, then the teachers walk first followed by the school staffs in a single line, some are greeting us with smile, others are expressionless and scary like Professor Watts. There are at least three hundred of them – professors, librarians, doctors and nurses, chefs, cleaners and helpers, guards and gate keepers. Applauses are everywhere. It echoes like a beating bass drum in an underground cave.
