The more these teachers opposed Zavier, the less suspicions would fall on his true capabilities which was in line with what the student wanted. Galen wanted to maintain the same facade for as long as Zavier intended to stay in the University.
Galen coughed to gain the attention of all the instructors before beginning in a solemn voice that was a tinge heavier than before and produced the dramatic effect that the situation warranted.
"I understand all your concerns regarding this student. You can rest assured about one thing at the very least. I will not let anything or anyone tarnish the prestige of this University whether it be a dishonest student or an overbearing teacher. So use your next words with great caution."
The instructors waited for the following words with great fear and anxiety. The seriousness of the matter could be gauged from the fact that even Harry who had always been nonchalant looked more serious than ever.
Even Harry was busy playing his part to compliment the old man's efforts.
"All of you who claim that Student Zavier has cheated his way into the University and are willing to bet their future on the line for it, please raise your hands. I would like to see who out of you has the righteousness to put their own future on the line before trying to harm the future of a potentially outstanding mage."
Pin drop silence ensued and calm enveloped the whole conference room as the weight of Galen's words fell in its entirety on their feeble shoulders. Breathing grew harder as they began to realize the implication behind those words, especially for Alder who had been gunning for Zavier's expulsion as if trying to avenge a personal grudge or some unresolved past hatred.
Galen had left no doubt at all whatsoever in the fact that each instructor had to be responsible if their claim regarding Zavier turned out to be false.
The facts provided by Alder were enough to give wind to some suspicions but they weren't solid enough for the instructors to willingly bet their lives on it.
Under the screening gaze of the old man Galen, not a single hand rose. Each of the instructors was busy trying to hide his/her face with lowered eyes and shattered confidence.
Eyes of the old man hovered over each individual instructor in a sequential manner for five to ten seconds each as if goading them for answers, taunting them to retort even slightly. His burning gaze seared all the courage that the instructors had gathered from the arguments laid forward by Alder.
The result was as Galen had expected. None of them had the guts to say that they were sure. They could easily ruin someone else without facts but were reluctant to put themselves on the line. Every human being was inherently selfish when it came to self-preservation. There was neither morality nor righteousness before self preservation and survival.
Galen nodded to himself with a snicker and continued addressing the teachers.
"Since, none of you are able to establish based on facts OR confidence that Student Zavier HAS in fact cheated, or otherwise; the matter of his expulsion will no longer be discussed from this moment onwards. We will gauge his performance in the university before deciding on what to do with him. Until then, no one is allowed to harass the student without any reason. He will henceforth be given the same treatment and respect as the other talents of our university are treated with."
Galen gave them a few moments to soak in his words and waited for any voice of dissent that might have arisen despite his careful countermeasures.
Despite how he looked, Galen was a crafty old man who was quite thorough based on his vast experience in dealing with the ill ways of the wicked and the ignorant.
Satisfied with the ending, Galen pushed the arm rests of the chair down with both hands and stood up from his seat. Without casting a second look at the participants, he casually walked out of the conference room with small strides exuding calmness akin to a serene lake.
Harry followed after his teacher while practically prancing like an excited deer. He was obviously happy with the outcome of the meeting.
"I am one step closer to taking in that kid as a pupil. Although he is a little crude and foul mouthed, his talent is first rate without a doubt. On top of that he is a complete bastard full of craftiness, ingenuity and strong mental acumen. Such a pupil is definitely a rare find." Harry was already making plans to take in Zavier without having asked his opinion at all.
Harry had yet to find out that his decision to do so would become one of the greatest turning points of his life.
While Harry was busy making castles on the beach without a care about the raging tidal wave of fate that was about to lay waste to his fantasies, someone else was suffering the tragic pain of their internal organs being roasted on hellfire.
After Galen's exit, the instructors in the conference room all got busy whispering to each other all the while giving pitiful looks to Alder who had borne the brunt of the incident as the initiator.
"That's why he should have kept a low profile." said one of the instructors who had been one of the neutral ones.
He had neither chosen to support Alder nor had he chosen to trust Mabel. He had just wanted to play safe like most of the other instructors who had refrained from giving any opinion of their own.
Neutrals like them never went far in their careers but they could make the work environment hellish just with their existence. Their constant self righteousness that usually made an appearance after the culmination of a crisis situation and their runaway imagination regarding their farsightedness and predictive abilities regarding such situations played a major role in driving people mad. These people liked to justify their indecisiveness and inability to take risks through the end result that had nothing to do with them at all.
Alder looked at the source of the comment and fumed with anger at the thought of how pitiful he must look to the other instructors at that moment.
He clenched his fists and gritted his teeth but the overflowing menacing aura from his body was clearly showing the emotional turmoil he was experiencing. But not a single word of the profanities that were only one step away from being showered unto the world, escaped his mouth even though he had reiterated them thousands of times in his heart in this short period of time.
"What's the use of being angry now? Instructor Alder should not have put forward such a suggestion in the first place." said another instructor in a voice that was audible to all present but still pretended as if he had unintentionally said it in a loud voice and was actually feeling quite sorry for Alder.
"That's right. Not only did he ask to expel Zavier, he also wanted to get rid of a seedling like Sabrina. Just imagine, had the dean listened to him, wouldn't that have made us look exceptionally foolish?"
"Yes yes, thankfully our Dean has a good head and doesn't arbitrarily listen to riffraff, otherwise our university would have really suffered a loss at the hands of an idiot suffering from delusions of grandeur and power." ridiculed a female instructor this time, proving that women were not any less than men when it came to pouring salt over someone's bleeding wounds.
Such pretentious but obvious behavior finally sent Alder over the edge. His eyes turned bloodshot as he engraved this humiliation in his heart.
"If it hadn't been for him…"
"If only he hadn't been there…"
"If it weren't for him, I would still be respected by these idiots who don't even have an opinion of their own but are ready to criticize everyone in their paths to climb a step higher. These lowly mongrels, I will show them that I was right and they should have listened to me."
There was an almost manic look in Alder's eyes that had not been there before. He had turned this into a personal vendetta and all his hatred had gathered onto the one person who he thought was responsible for the humiliation he was suffering.
Throughout this all, there was an instructor who was unable to hide the smile that unintentionally crept onto her face.
Mabel was excited at the thought that she had managed to keep her promise with Val. At the same time she had earned herself an excellent opportunity which she might have otherwise lost, had Zavier been expelled from the university at the behest of Alder.
The smile was an unconscious reaction but Alder, who was already conscious of every single individual in the room, felt as if that smile full of joy was mocking and diminishing every inch of his being.
"What is she laughing at…?"
"Why is she laughing? Is it fun to watch me be humiliated? Is she taking revenge on me because I am weak now?" There was a manic streak in Alder's eyes this time that looked dangerous at the very first glance.
Mabel would usually have been wary of him but she was too busy thinking about her increased prospects to notice something like this.
Her unintentional but brilliantly flashing smile therefore earned herself a lifelong enemy in the form of seething Alder.
"I think he should resign now. There is no future now that he has managed to offend Sir Galen." whispered another female colleague that Alder had a good impression of but had never communicated with.
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