[center][h2]Monday 7th September - 8.35am[/h2][/center]

The time for the assembly had finally arrived. At this point most of the students had made their way into the hall and were now just waiting for someone to come out and talk to them.  At the far end of the rectangular room, on the opposite side to the kitchen, a stage with a podium had been set up with 5 chairs. Though in the room opposite, something was going on…

“What do you mean you have to take it?” Spoke a male voice, clearly agitated.

“Well, it is clear you were too busy swinging swords around every morning to actually bother preparing for the assembly.” replied a female voice, both irritated and smug at the same time. “I even took advantage of my free time to write down a speech.” She held the speech she had written up over her head, only for another taller male to walk past and snatch it, looking through the notes while the female protested.

“Not bad actually.” The male remarked handing the papers back. “Though despite your bickering, it will be me who is presenting to the new students today. Given the headmasters ‘predicament’ the most senior teacher; the one who has been teaching here the longest takes charge. That person would be me.” The male took a moment to adjust his large black trench coat, rolling his shoulders until he felt comfortable. “While I find your enthusiasm for getting dug in admirable Alyx and Li, We have to keep House Fire and Ice somewhat impartial. I saw the dig you took at Ice house in your notes Alyx.” With that the male went off into the hall.

“Trust Derwin to notice that” Alyx grumbled to Li as they and the remaining staff followed suit.

The five staff made their way onto the stage, Derwin taking front and center, flanked by both Alyx and Li. The remaining staff filled out the left and right. Derwin simply stood at the podium for a moment, waiting for everyone to quieten down.

“Welcome students to Estermere academy. I know that for a lot of you the journey here was long and rough, so i will keep this short. My name is Professor Fuller and I am the Military Tactics teacher here at Estermere. Normally you would be subjected to a long and arduous speech about the history of the academy and the honour it is to even be within these walls. However, I think most of you already know that, or you wouldn’t be here.” He took a moment to inspect the students, looking left and right, just to see how much attention they were actually paying.

“1st year students study five subjects here: Magic, Weapons, History, Military Tactics and Magical Creatures. Each member of staff you see here teaches one of those subjects, and tomorrow you will get to meet them properly. Classes here at the academy start at 8am and finish at 4pm, each lesson lasts roughly an hour. You will have time for lunch and a few breaks between lessons. You are officers after all, not soldiers.”

“You may have also noticed that there are several red and blue banners hung over the hall and various other places in the academy. Those represent our two houses: Fire and Ice, led by Professor Cox and Professor Ling respectively. However for now you don’t need to worry about that. House selection happens after the exams in October. Right, I think I have waffled on enough about things, the best way to learn is by doing. You have no classes today, so today is all about getting acquainted with one another. You will find your dorm assignments on the board next to the kitchen. Feel free to drop off your luggage and explore and mingle.” With that he dismissed the students and led the staff away from the hall.