***
Moving to the square in front of the majestic castle, Cassius looked around in surprise. Next to him, a large group of children stood in the same state of amazement. Everyone was turning their heads in different directions, some gasping, some swearing, but the majority stood with their mouths open, watching the majestic waterfall that plunged into the abyss, seemingly right from under the castle itself. Wherever the observer looked, there were wooded mountains interspersed with tall snow-capped peaks, and it all seemed unreal. It was as if the castle was floating in the sky among the mountains.
Finally, the tall stone doors opened and a huge, completely bald black man came out to meet the crowd of children. He was dressed in a festive cape called a "bubu" with large, wide sleeves, sewn from a very bright and magical fabric called "toghu," which brought tears to the eyes of almost all the children. The fabric, embroidered with orange, gold, red, green and white threads and decorated with patterns resembling the sun, the moon and various crabs, revealed his natural Cameroonian origins.
"Hello, children!" he introduced himself in a deep, resonant voice. "My name is Pierre Ngono and I am the acting director of the Ouagadougou school, which you are lucky enough to visit today. In a couple of minutes, you will all go into the large hall, where the old mask of the prophet Ngana Difomba, according to the teachings of Nzambe Mpungu, the sun god who gave life to all things, will assign you to your new homes for the next seven years.
The children cheered enthusiastically. The headmaster smiled at their reaction and continued:
"The faculty you will be assigned to after the distribution will play a crucial role in your development as magicians. You will learn to summon rain, extinguish fires, transform into birds and animals, and much, much more. When a person takes on the title of mage, they also take on the responsibility of helping the people of our land. If there is a drought or a plague in a tribe, a mage must always come to the aid of their neighbours.
The young magicians nodded eagerly in agreement. Drought was a natural disaster for many people in Africa, and the ability to fight it was valued more than physical strength.
"Our land is as beautiful as it is harsh," he continued seriously. "It is not easy for ordinary people to live here, so your task as future wizards is to learn everything that will help you and your fellow tribesmen survive in the future. In most countries of the world, a universal law has long been adopted — the so-called secrecy statute. Under the terms of this global agreement, magicians are not allowed to reveal any information about magic to the Muggle community. The exception is when a child with magical gifts is born into a Muggle family," he said, looking sternly at the children. "And it often happens that parents, fearing their child's ability to cast spells, give them up to magicians to be raised. So, this law only applies in the cities where we and the newcomers live," Pierre Ngono smiled. "In villages and tribes, no one makes a secret of the fact that there are wizards in the world. The whole tribe or village knows about us and uses our power. In return, the wizard always has meat on the table and the respect of all the inhabitants.
As Director Ngono spoke quietly, the children entered the castle through a wide corridor and slowly began to pour through the huge entrance door into a large, bright hall, where four sectors of different colours were arranged in a semicircle in a spacious room with ceilings so high that they seemed to disappear into the darkness. In all sectors there were tables for the magic faculties. Each course had its own place. The first ones from the wall, which were also the longest, were occupied by little wizards: first- and second-year students. The furniture for the third-year students in each sector was behind the first two, and there were also many children behind them. Closer to the centre were smaller tables with fewer seats. Behind them sat the older children — fourth-year students.
With each year, the number of wizards decreased. By the seventh year, there were no more than five or six people left. Every year, five hundred to six hundred children enrolled in the school, but they began to drop out, and by the third year, no more than half of the students completed their education. Therefore, by the time the seventh year came around, rarely more than thirty students from all faculties made it to graduation. Most finished much earlier. Only the first two years of study were free, and the children who completed them were fully qualified as village sorcerers. They already knew how to use their gift a little, had learned many useful spells and curses for everyday life, could brew the simplest potions and cast spells on their enemies. In addition, many of these children were gathered in Ouagadougou by their entire tribe.
After completing their studies, the young wizards returned home and became assistants to the tribal sorcerer. And when one, and often in the company of other children, continued to study the magical sciences directly under their master. Naturally, those children whose parents or tribal councils were more well-off paid for their children's education in the third and subsequent years, depending on the need.
The fact is that the last two courses were usually completed by young people who had chosen a particular field of magical science as their path and were ready to study under masters. Not everyone wanted to study magic, so most graduates of "Wahagu" finished their studies after the fifth course. From the fifth year onwards, fully trained representatives of the main disciplines of their faculties graduated. The future battle mages, farmers, and healers never stayed for seven years. It was simply a waste of time and money.
At some distance from the seventh-year students, facing them, was a raised table for professors, assistants and administrative staff. There weren't that many of them today, only about twenty magicians. In the centre of the teachers' table was the director's chair. Its back was higher than the others and covered with a floral pattern carved from red wood. On the right, from the teachers' side, near the castle, the entire wall seemed to be missing. In reality, of course, the wall was there, but the castle's magic made it visually transparent. Therefore, the teachers on the right and the students on the left could see wooded mountains of incredible beauty, snow-capped peaks and clouds racing across the sky.
To the left, as seen from the teachers' table, there were wide double doors through which the students entered the hall. Although the doors did not look huge, there were never any bottlenecks in the passageway. The magic of the ancient castle easily manipulated the space inside the rooms. Therefore, if many students entered the large hall at once, the doors slid open in different directions. This meant that ten or even a hundred people could easily enter the large hall without jostling each other.
Cassius and the other boys, led by Director Ngono, entered the large hall, where all the students of the school were already seated at tables. Right in front of them, not far from the teacher's desk, was a stone column, around which hung the barely visible masks of the spirit of the prophet "Ngana Difomba." As the new students slowly passed the column, each child had to run their hand over the stone. As soon as a new student did this, one of the masks opened its eyes and told them which sector they needed to go to in order to finally take their place at their faculty table. The Faculty of Combat and Dark Magic was located in the dark blue sector; the Faculty of Healing and Potion Making was located next to it, in the emerald green sector; The Faculty of Transfiguration and Transformation was behind the Faculty of Potions, in the red sector, and the Faculty of Nature and Stars was next, closest to the entrance doors and located in the golden sector.
Cassius, feeling nervous, touched the stone column and heard a soft, whistling voice in his head:
"You are worthy, your faculty is Giza, the blue sector." A narrow blue path lit up on the floor in front of the boy, leading him to the blue sector, to the largest table for first-year students.
Sitting down at the table next to the other children, Cassius began to watch the ongoing distribution with curiosity and did not even notice how his clothes began to turn dark blue, and on his left side, just below his collarbone, a crocodile formed in a circle, the symbol of the combat faculty. The children were quickly distributed among the faculties. None of the older students shouted, hooted or expressed their emotions in any other way. The teenagers talked among themselves about their own topics, while some simply waited for the feast.
Finally, when everyone had sat down at the tables, the headmaster approached the teachers' table, climbed onto the platform, and faced all the students at once.
"Hello, students," Pierre Ngono said in a loud voice. "I am pleased to welcome you all to the best school in Africa. Today, we are once again welcoming new students into our ranks, who I am sure will become worthy individuals, and we, the professors, will personally contribute to this. I won't bore you with long speeches, especially since most of you have already heard them in previous years, and the newcomers have had time to listen to me while we were on our way to the great hall," smiled the headmaster. "So I'll just say one thing:
"Let the feast begin!
Immediately, without any visible effects, mountains of different foods began to appear on the tables. Mostly healthy vegetables, corn, rice, and cassava. There were also fragrant dishes made from fish, which is precious in Uganda. There was a lot of boiled and fried meat and, of course, peanut sauce in all possible variations. The tables were also traditionally laden with local fruits, both fresh and prepared in various ways.
The children especially liked matoke, unripe bananas mashed into a puree and fried in oil with onions and tomatoes. Dipping pieces of fresh chapati into chicken lyumbo, Cassius feared only one thing: getting fat. Everything was delicious, even the unpleasant maleva made from young bamboo shoots, a side dish that Cassius had never liked, but which the house spirit Chibuzo Inu loved to serve at the table.
"Well, at least they didn't serve nsva and nsenene," muttered the neighbour on the left. "I'm sick of my grandmother's favourite fried termites and grasshoppers. Yuck. She crunches them like seeds and washes them down with fermented bamboo juice.
Cassius paid no attention to his neighbour's grumbling. Over the years he had lived with his teacher, the boy had experienced first-hand the unusual and varied nature of African cuisine. He had had to try snakes, grasshoppers and termites.
So he just nodded to show he had heard his neighbour and reached for another sweet treat, coconut mamri, which were almost like the real thing, only triangular doughnuts, which his mother used to give him. After washing it all down with traditional tea with milk, Cassius leaned back from the table, feeling full.
Noticing that the children had already eaten their fill, the director spoke again:
"Now that everyone has eaten their fill, I will tell you what will happen next. You will all go to sleep in the tower of your faculty, in the dormitory, and tomorrow your studies will begin. The faculty elders will now help you get to your bedrooms. Your belongings are already in the dormitory rooms, which will now be assigned to you for the next few years. There are teleporters leading to each tower, located in the arches of the corridor behind the large hall, so go out together and head to the arch of your faculty's colour. Don't worry if you accidentally try to go through the arch of the wrong faculty, nothing will happen. You will simply exit on the other side of the archway and can try again, but this time in the correct one. As you have probably noticed, your clothes have taken on the colours of your faculty, and a special badge for each faculty and course has appeared on your robes," he pointed to the left collarbone. "So even by appearance, you can easily determine where your classmates are. To avoid getting lost in the castle, a glowing path in the colours of your faculty will appear on the floor in front of each student. All you have to do is think about where you want to go. The class schedule for tomorrow morning will be handed out by the faculty representatives before breakfast, and then the course representatives will take care of the distribution.
The children began to rise from all rows and moved slowly towards the doors of the large hall. All faculties had a long-established system for supporting and informing students. The main work was done by the fifth-year representatives, who were assigned in pairs to each course from the first to the fourth. The faculty leaders, also traditionally two in number, were appointed by the director from among the seventh-year students. They supervised the fifth and sixth years and had the most contact with the school administration, obtaining the necessary documents, lists of classes with professors, and so on.
The head students also compiled lists for visits to the magic village on weekends for the older students, lists of children who stayed at the castle during the holidays, and many other matters related to the children's studies and living in the castle. A boy and a girl were always appointed as head students so that the children would not feel awkward when addressing them. Simply stepping through the archway filled with flowing blue light, Cassius found himself in a spacious round living room, whose walls also featured arches with teleporters, only smaller in size.
"Guys! We are now in the living room of the combat faculty, our home, of which you have become members today," the tall head boy standing in the centre of the living room called out loudly to all the first-year students. "My name is Damba Mukhindo, and this is Afia Nangobi," he said, nodding to a pretty black girl standing next to him. "We are the head boys of the Giza Faculty, the faculty of combat and dark magic. Here, in addition to sofas, tables for classes, fireplaces and playgrounds, you can see arches with portals in the walls. Stepping into the centre of the living room, he looked at the children.
"First-year students," Damba raised his voice slightly. "Now listen to me carefully. Near the entrance, there is a large notice board where the daily schedule for each course, lists of additional classes, and other important information about faculty life will be posted. You will need to go to the board and place your hand anywhere on it. This will link you to one of the living quarters in our tower, where you can travel to through any of the portal entrances. The children approached the board, ready to ask hundreds of questions.
"Next time, you won't need to place your hand on the board, just go to any portal and you will be transported to your room," Mukhindo immediately answered the unasked question. "No other students will be able to get to you except for your course leaders," the senior student continued. "You will be staying four to a room, boys with boys and girls with girls. All communication at the faculty takes place mainly here, in this lounge, which is also unofficially divided into zones with extra space for each year so that you don't disturb each other. You can find out more details tomorrow from your year representatives if necessary, but for now, get your room assignments and go to bed," the representative continued with a smile.
Afiya approached the first-year students and began to clarify something else, specifically for the girls. The children moved together towards the wide wall to the right of the living room entrance and, poking it with their hands, hurried to the portals. Finding himself in his new room, Cassius saw a spacious square room with a bay window covering the entire wall. There was a large bed in each corner. Next to them were desks with bookshelves above them. Each bed also had a built-in wardrobe, the doors of which actually led to the bathroom and dressing room.
The bay window was a semicircle with a completely transparent outer wall, like in a large hall, through which the view of the natural beauty surrounding the tower and other buildings of the castle was magically transmitted. Judging by everything, the children were very high up, and if they had to climb up to such a height every time, many would probably have preferred to sleep downstairs in the living room. The wall of the bay window was slightly cool and smooth to the touch, like glass, and next to it, it felt like you were standing on the edge of a cliff with mountains visible all the way to the horizon.
Tired after a busy day, Cassius immediately jumped into the shower and turned on the tropical rain setting from the ceiling and walls, relaxing with pleasure, mentally changing the water from hot to cold. Refreshed and changed, he emerged from the wardrobe ready for bed. At that moment, his new neighbours also appeared near the other beds and began to look around curiously.
"Hello," Cassius said cheerfully. "All your things are in the wardrobes, and there's also a bathroom. I recommend freshening up right away, it's a great way to relieve fatigue.
The boys immediately rushed to the wardrobes. Fifteen minutes later, which Cassius spent examining everything he could see from the wide leather sofa in the bay window, the boys gradually began to emerge from the bathrooms. Satisfied and flushed, they too stared at the magical sight.
"Let's get acquainted," Cassius said after a few minutes of awkward silence. "My name is Cassius Malfoy, I am from Kinshasa, a pupil and personal student of the great wizard Chibuzo Inu.
"I'm Julius Mbon, a tall, skinny boy. I'm from the village of Dimako, Upper Nyong, in the eastern province of Cameroon. When I grow up, I'll become a sorcerer in our village, like my father.
"And I am Hassan al Mansur, I am from Marrakesh," introduced himself a dark-skinned boy of medium height. "We are marabouts of the Shur sect. Dark magicians of illusion, to make it clearer to you. My family is one of the most respected in Marrakesh; I even have kings among my ancestors," he said, raising his nose slightly haughtily.
"I am Anbesa Ayele," said the fourth apprentice, a short, fat boy, in a broken Basque accent. "We are Amhara from Ethiopia and live in Debarque. My parents sell jewellery at the market. All my relatives are also magicians and merchants."
After getting to know each other and chatting a little about their impressions of the school, the children dispersed to their beds. After such emotional events, the children could not calm down for a long time, chatting and tossing and turning, but eventually sleep began to come to everyone. As he was falling asleep, Cassius thought that he liked the school.
After sending the boy to the school of magic, his relatives said goodbye to their hospitable host and used the portals to return home. Abraxas returned to France and invited everyone to visit him in the summer. His villa on the French Riviera was hidden from the eyes of the uninitiated, and it was a place where one could relax and spend time on the beautiful beaches. The rest of the family moved to the portal site of Malfoy Manor.
***
Refreshed and rested, Walburga, looking ten years younger, said goodbye and went to Grimmauld Place, while Narcissa and Draco decided to relax a little. Lucius, however, had no time to rest. Sitting at his desk in his study, he sipped the hot, strong bergamot tea brought to him by the house elf and immersed himself in his documents. Everything was going well; his vassals were actively bringing the entire criminal world of England under his control.
The only setback awaited them in the werewolf settlement. Fenrir Grey, who had become the leader of the united packs while Voldemort was still alive, refused to submit to Malfoy's vassals. He said that the werewolves would not submit to the Malfoys, and if Malfoy opposed them, they would quickly make him understand his mistake. Crabbe arranged a meeting on neutral territory, and in a few hours today, in a village near Epping Forest in Essex. Wearing protective medallions and taking his wand, Malfoy apparated to Hastingswood, where he arranged to meet his vassals at the Rainbow and Dove pub.
The old pub, more like a village barn, made the aristocratic Malfoy wrinkle his nose in disgust. Pulling the creaking door ring and entering the rather spacious room, he saw a shabby wooden bar with the same bartender wiping glasses and oak tables with benches standing in the hall, where he noticed Crabbe and Goyle sitting with their backs to the wall. Approaching the table, greeted by the cheers of his vassals, Lucius gracefully sat down on a chair next to them.
"Couldn't you find a more decent place?" he said irritably, brushing some rubbish off the tabletop with his handkerchief.
"There's no other place," Crabbe muttered. "Besides, Greybeard arranged to meet us here."
The front door creaked open again and five men of fierce appearance entered. The first one stood out in particular. His face had clearly animalistic features, and his yellowish eyes, which flashed maliciously from under heavy brow ridges, indicated that he was very aggressive and dangerous. Lucius immediately recognised Grey. Fenrir approached the table, pulled up a chair from the next one, and sat down solemnly opposite Malfoy. The other werewolves remained standing at a distance.
"What do you want from us again, Malfoy?" Grey asked maliciously, not even trying to appear polite. "I already made it clear to your lackeys that werewolves are now on their own. Your lord is dead and did not fulfil his promise of equal rights for all werewolves. Therefore, we will not cooperate with you, and we will certainly not obey you. Werewolves now have their own lives, and you have yours. How many of our brothers died in your power struggle? How many pups lost their fathers in this war?
Lucius looked hard at the werewolf and clenched his fists tightly, his pale face beginning to turn red. He was deeply offended by the boorish behaviour of a mere werewolf, even one as powerful as Fenrir Grey.
"Have you forgotten your place, wolf?" he began furiously. "You are mostly only good for ingredients and cores for our wands. We promised to ease your lot, to grant equal rights among wizards to those who could keep their beasts under control. Yes, the lord has fallen, and now the Ministry of Magic is run by Muggle-lovers, but some of the old aristocracy remain free and are ready to continue supporting you in your fight for your rights and the ancient laws of the magical world.
"To do that, you must prove your strength, Lord Malfoy," Fenrir sneered. "There is no truly great wizard among your company who could take the Lord's place. Oh, or are you counting on him to return?" The werewolf bared his teeth mockingly.
"Werewolves only understand strength," Lucius thought wistfully. "You can't explain to them that cooperating with us would benefit all the shape-shifters."
Sensing something, Grey suddenly jumped back, but a stool flying from the neighbouring table still hit him on the head. The blow was very strong, and the chair fell apart, but the seasoned werewolf only shook his head in a daze.
"Come on, boys," Fenrir growled, "let's show these stupid aristocrats what real warriors are made of."
The werewolves immediately used partial transformation and rushed at the Death Eaters. Even the bartender, who turned out to be one of them, roared, jumped over the bar and rushed at Lucius. Without changing his haughty expression, Malfoy waved his wand like a whip and sent a deafening spell at the rushing werewolf, which slammed him into the pub wall with all his might.
Crabbe and Goyle successfully held off the other werewolves' rapid attacks, casting one restraining spell after another, while Lucius stared intently at Grey and used one of the spells Chibuzo Inu had shared with him.
Fenrir immediately felt an icy hand on his throat, which immediately began to tighten. The cold seemed to spread throughout the werewolf's body, as if squeezing his heart with bony fingers of death. Grey groaned, his hands clutching his own neck in a futile attempt to loosen the invisible stranglehold. When the air in his lungs became catastrophically insufficient, Malfoy moved his wand with disdain, and the terrible pressure eased slightly, allowing him to breathe in the sweet air. Grey's legs buckled, and he slumped heavily to the floor right next to the bar. The other werewolves, also pinned to the wall by Crabbe and Goyle's spells, could only roll their eyes wildly.
Lucius approached Grey, who was sitting on the floor by the bar, and said solemnly:
"That was Fenrir's first and last warning, and if you don't want to work for me voluntarily, I will sell all the werewolf villages I know to the markets of France and Cairo, where I'm sure there will be buyers for such valuable goods. Or you can start working for me.
All I need is for your forest brothers to gather plant and animal ingredients for potions in the Forbidden Forest, and we will sometimes call on the strongest fighters for special operations. In return, we offer to protect your rights and freedoms," he said with a slight smile. "Perhaps in the future, some of your cubs will even be able to study at Hogwarts, if they possess sufficient magical power."
Crabbe and Goyle lowered their wands, and the werewolves grumbled and moved away from the wall.
"Well, leader, do you accept my offer?" Lucius looked seriously at Grey. "As for a truly powerful dark wizard whom all werewolves would be proud to follow, wait another five or seven years, and he will surely appear in England, I promise you," Lucius said, allowing himself a smirk. "And it will not be Lord Voldemort, but a more powerful dark wizard."
Already disappearing into the fog-filled forest, Fenrir Greyhaired thought that only war awaited them ahead. Wizards would never back down from werewolves, and werewolves had no power to resist truly dangerous magicians. His only hope was that they would eventually kill each other, and then the time of the werewolves would come. For now, he would have to do what that slippery but deadly aristocrat had told him to do.
***
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