Adrianna shook her head when she heard that she had to learn how to make potions. The syllabus was becoming more and more tedious for her with each passing week. She wanted to talk to Isidorus to see if she could escape potions classes. However, in her heart she knew that he would never let her escape since he wanted her to be a perfect queen.

"The next class after this will be potions, in which all of you are required to take so that you know what it entails before you can decide whether or not you want to opt out of it or not. Let me tell you, though, Professor Lane is one of the most talented professors in his field. He has specially joined the academy this year for all of you," said Ziu even though he knew that Professor Lane had been specifically called in by Isidorus to teach Adrianna.

​​

Ziu taught them two magic spells: one on how to deflect the "Ponos" spell, and another on how to block the truth spell. Both of them were too difficult, resulting in only four students being able to do it successfully. Although Adrianna had cast the truth spell on others, she didn't know how to deflect it.

Bending the "Ponos" spell was easy because she had done that in the past, but she found dodging the truth spell slightly difficult. She knew how to block her mind as a werewolf, but deflecting it was a different ballgame. Often, it was possible for the wizards or witches to enter a blocked mind if the will of the opponent was low.

The problem was that she had to practice deflecting the spell as soon as possible because if she didn't, others may take advantage of the situation. She had become the target of too many enemies.

Ziu had scolded her a lot for not being able to carry out the task. In the end, he asked her to stay back after class to practice it. Adrianna wanted to protest because that meant that she couldn't visit Dmitri, but Ziu wouldn't allow her to leave.

Before the next class, the students gathered in the gardens of the academy. Professor Ziu came and addressed them for the first time as their headmaster. There were a few ministry people present as well.

"During the first stage of the competition, the students witnessed an untoward incident in which one of our students died unfortunately. She was a good student and we all had great expectations from her. However, once the competition was announced, some things went in an unwanted direction. The ministry has investigated the entire issue and has found that Lia was given entry into the competition arena by none other than Professor Ilsa through a portal that Professor Ilsa created in one of the sealed rooms of the academy. This amounted to a gross violation of the rules. Both Professor Ilsa and Lia have been sent to prison.

After explaining the situation, the winner of the first stage of the competition was to be announced.

"The ministry has judged all of the students who participated in the competition on various scales, and the winner is…" Professor Ziu paused. He could see the anticipation on the faces of the students. "The winner is Adrianna Volkov – the new student who joined us only a fortnight back."

While there was a huge cheering sound from the juniors, her peers gave her weak congratulations. One of them sneered, "How come the ministry cleared her name? She should be behind bars by now!"

Professor Ziu called Adrianna to the stage. "Adrianna, come receive your medal."

Adrianna lowered her head and smiled. This was the first time she had ever received an award. She started walking towards the stage when she heard a student behind her saying "Murderer!" in a low voice as the rest of the students around her started laughing. Adrianna didn't react. Quietly, she walked up to the stage and received her gold medal. The audience erupted into loud clapping and cheering and she bowed to pay her respects. The ministry people and the professors on the stage congratulated her.

Adrianna looked up and for the first time she felt proud of herself. In the distance, she could see Isidorus watching her. He was air borne on his broom.

In the end, Professor Ziu made another announcement. "The second stage of the competition will begin next week."

The event ended quickly and all of the students headed to their classes. Adrianna had become kind of a celebrity in the academy. Almost all who saw her congratulated and greeted her. She was joyous! Liam even had to stop a few students from hugging her.

The alleys guided Adrianna to the potions class. Students had already started pouring in. Some of the eager ones were already talking to Professor Lane. They wanted to know the curriculum. When Professor Lane saw Adrianna, he nodded in her direction. She bowed her head and went to sit on a chair in the first row.

Professor Lane was a middle-aged man with glasses. He wasn't very tall, but he was very immaculate in his looks.

The class started and Adrianna became interested in the way Professor Lane demonstrated how potions were to be mixed to make elixirs; it was just like her chemistry labs in college. She smiled.

After class, Professor Lane noted down the names of the students who were interested in joining the class. The entirety of Zola's friend group registered for the class.