Controlling Destiny - 6 Madame Mavira

An elderly lady sat across from the headmaster. The windows were shut tight with wooden shutters and the rest of the room was lit with candles, despite it being early morning.

“Headmaster Magmus, are you sure this was a good idea?” She asked.

“Of course, of course,” Magmus replied nonchalantly.

“Headmaster Magmus, you do realize that this might not only bring trouble to your Academy but will probably also affect the politics of this nation, correct?”

The headmaster shifted uncomfortably in his seat. The confidence he had earlier had slightly diminished.

“Of course I have considered the politics,” he replied curtly.

“Are you underestimating my Academy’s ability to protect its pupils, madame Mavira?”

Madame Mavira did not reply immediately to Magmus’ question. Instead, she took a long sip of her tea and let out a slow exhale before resuming.

“Magmus,” she said, dropping all honorifics, “Magmus, we’ve known each other for a very long time now.”

“Yes, over 200 years, Mavira.” The headmaster replied.

“Magmus, over these 200 years I’ve seen you do some pretty irrational things.”

“However, I have to hand it to you, that announcement you gave the other day was probably the most irrational and irresponsible action that you’ve done yet.”

The headmaster’s expression instantly turned dark.

“Mavira.” He said sternly. “Do not underestimate me or my Academy.”

“This is NOT about you or your Academy,” Mavira said in a frustrated tone.

Realizing she was getting upset, Mavira quickly calmed herself down again and regained her composure.

“Headmaster Magmus, my point here is that there are bigger fish in the sea.”

“I know just how capable you and your Academy can be, but when faced against the giants in the world, I highly doubt your ability to keep your new prodigy alive for long.”

Headmaster Magmus drew in a sharp breath. He wasn’t stupid. He was the headmaster of an academy, after all. He might have been ignorant at times, but he was no fool.

“Well then, how do you propose I set things straight, then?” He asked.

Madame Mavira sipped on her tea quietly. A slight smile played at the corner of her lips. It was obvious that she had already thought of a solution to such an issue.

Putting down the teacup slowly, Mavira poured herself yet another cup of tea and began to slowly sip it again.

Headmaster Magmus’ face flushed red from anger and frustration. However, he knew that madame Mavira was clearly toying with his emotions. So he remained calm and recomposed himself again.

Finally, after drinking 2 additional cups of tea, madame Mavira redirected her attention towards headmaster Magmus.

“It’s quite simple, really,” Mavira said slowly. “You have a few options.”

“You could either attempt to rely on the power of the Academy to protect this young pupil, or you could send him to a more distant location and train him there.”

The headmaster once again took a deep breath. Both options were not ideal, but he had no other choices.

“I think that my Academy and I are capable of supporting this pupil.” He replied after a few moments of contemplation.

“Thank you for your wise words of advice though, madame Mavira.”

Madame Mavira’s face showed no signs of change. A perfectly composed joker face.

“Well, I kind of expected you to say that,” She responded after a moment of silence.

“The choice is yours. I see that there is nothing else that I can say to change your mind. I simply wish you the best of luck then, headmaster Magmus.”

The headmaster made no reply. He silently got up from his seat and left the room.

Madame Mavira made no effort to move from her position even long after the headmaster had left her office.

Finally, after confirming no sounds from the outside, madame Mavira slowly walked over to her office door and firmly locked it.

She then promptly cast silencing magic on the room’s walls and picked up her identification token.

“Operation relocation failed,” she said into the token.

“Now commencing operation infiltration.”

After a minute of thought, she added “Godspeed.”

Madame Mavira drew a few runic circles on the token and the messages swiftly disappeared.

Checking her surroundings once again, madame Mavira let out a sigh of relief before unlocking her office door once again.

She blew out all of her candles and opened the wooden shutter blinds, letting in the sunlight into the room. By this point, it was already sometime in the afternoon.

Mavira sat back down onto her seat and poured herself yet another cup of tea.

At the corner of her lips, a sly smile was once again showing itself.