As he finished, Thion stepped back from the pulpit with the same controlled calm he always carried and returned toward his seat.
The movement drew attention toward Assistant Lucia Greydon as she rose from where she had been seated near the front. Sir Kaelen stood beside her, formal and composed despite the battered students before him, while Sir Regulus rose as well with his new usual measured seriousness.
The three made their way toward the pulpit together, their presence immediately shifting the hall's attention into something sharper.
Lucia stepped behind the pulpit first, adjusting her glasses slightly with one hand while holding her enchanted clipboard in the other.
"Good morning, second years," she said, her voice clear and steady. "And welcome back."
