Sieglinde Adlen tapped her pen against the desk impatiently. Professor Archibald was running about five minutes late and everyone in the lecture hall was getting restless. He was never late. Ever. Normally she wouldn't think too much about it but she had skipped breakfast that morning just to get to class on time, only to have her professor turn up late. Just her luck. Her eyes scanned the room and found Waver sitting between two boys on the other side of the room.
In being late to class she had also lost her prime seat next to him. She sighed and buried her head in her arms on top of her desk. Wake me when he gets here... she thought to herself and closed her eyes, readying herself for a small nap.
"My apologies for being late, class. I got caught up in grading papers and lost track of time. I assure you all it will not happen again." Came the voice of Kayneth El-Melloi Archibald as he walked into the room, stack of papers in hand. A silence filled the room as the students quieted down to listen. "Now, to start off today's class I would like to review that in the world of Mages a long and distinguished lineage is everything. Nothing else matters. This is because magic will not yield up her secrets in a single generation. A parent passes on the fruits of a lifetime of magical training to his child, thus the older the family of mages the greater their power ultimately becomes."
Sieglinde groaned. He seriously was going over this again? Every time someone even questioned "magical lineage" and stuff like that Professor Archibald would go into a boring, drawn out lecture about how "lineage is everything" and the ideas against that were "preposterous."
"You are no doubt wondering why I begin today's lecture with something so basic. It is because a student from this class submitted a fascinating paper to me yesterday." He lifted up a huge ream of paper held together by a clip and slapped it with the back of his hand. From where she was sitting Sieglinde couldn't read the title. What could have been so interesting about it?
"How Wizardry Should be in the New Century. It attempts to make a case objecting to the long standing traditions of which I just spoke. It claims that if one were to achieve a deep understanding of the techniques and the precise control of mana application it would allow one to overcome any difference in inherent ability." As soon as he mentioned that students in the room started to whisper amongst themselves.
"Pssst, Lindley! Do you agree with that?" a girl sitting above Sieglinde asked in a hushed voice.
"I mean, it's possible? Anything is possible, if you think about it... sort of?" Sieglinde answered, looking up at her classmate. "After all, magic exists. That's pretty impossible in itself."
A sigh came from her classmate, a sign that she wasn't impressed with her answer.
"That's such an insult to your family, Lindley. How would they feel if they heard you disrespecting all their hard work? Isn't your family very proud of their accomplishments? The Adlen family has been passing down their magic for over thirty generations, isn't that right?" she asked angrily.
Sieglinde turned around and glared at the girl.
"Emma, shut up. You know my older brother inherited my family's magic crest. My family's lineage doesn't help me at all. I've had to work for my abilities up until now."
"You should be lucky your family had the means to allow your self study!" Emma snapped back, leaning over the desk.
"Students, please. Silence." Professor Archibald called out, instantly quieting everyone in the room. "In short, even someone with diluted blood could, through his own efforts, become a master mage. To be honest I've learned something from reading this paper. I will be perfectly frank. This paper is nothing but immature, juvenile fantasies." He slammed the stack of papers on the desk. "Blood determine's a mage's powers and abilities. This is a hard and unchanging reality of this world."
The sound of someone standing up and slamming their hands on a desk brought everyone's attention to one side of the room.
"Even for you, Waver Velvet."
Sieglinde stared at her friend who was having a stare down with Archibald at the front of the room. Oh no, Waver. You didn't write that paper, did you? How stupid could you be?
"I am very, very disappointed that one of my students would be involved in this moronic nonsense."
"But, sir. I was only trying to raise a question the Mage's Association has become too reluctant to address" Waver said, attempting to explain that his paper wasn't meant to insult.
"Mr. Velvet, if I recall correctly your family has produced mages for only three generations. Isn't that right?"
Ouch. What kind of a teacher calls out his students like that? Sieglinde thought as she listened to Professor Archibald completely demean Waver in front of the entire class. To the students at Clock Tower, their family's lineage was kind of a big deal. People with more established mage families definitely looked down upon those who were new. To out a new mage family's history like that was a total insult.
"Listen to me. Compared to the Mage's Association's long and illustrious history your family is no more than a newborn baby. Don't you think a baby should learn to speak before it voices an opinion?"
The entire class erupted in laughter, but Sieglinde just looked at her friend with pity. He hung his head and she could tell he was embarrassed.
"Oh my gosh, that's rich! That's awesome of Archibald to put him in his place. Don't ya think?" Emma busted out in a fit of laughter and had to cover her mouth so she wasn't too loud.
Sieglinde turned and glared again. "Are you serious? That is so rude of him! That is not how a teacher should act. He's like a thirty year old man, he should handle himself better."
"Jeeze, it was funny. Lighten up. I didn't mean to piss you off." Emma stopped her laughing and waved her hands at Sieglinde.
The sound of an opening door turned Sieglinde's attention to Waver who had hastily picked up his books and fled the room as quickly as possible. The door shut behind him and Professor Archibald walked to the chalkboard, picking up Waver's paper and dropping it casually into the trash on his way up.