Silence had settled within the listeners' hearts. The weight of the word 'Frye' was bearing down on them. Aston had his eyes opened wide as if he wanted to capture this moment in his eyes, while Angela, with her mouth wide open, looked like she had seen a dead person come back to life.

"F-Frye?" Angela struggled to speak before gulping down her saliva.

"As in The House Frye?"

Sirius looked at the baffling situation unfolding in front of his eyes. He couldn't understand why these two people were making such a big deal about it.

"Yes, The House Frye. So, are we allowed in?" Sirius asked in an inquisitive tone.

"Of course sir, I-I mean, Mr. Frye. Please." Angela stood up from her seat abruptly. Her chair had fallen down from her sudden movement and she looked at the boys with embarrassment.

"It's okay, Miss Angela. You can just call me Sirius, and he is my friend, Mehr. He can go in too, right?" Sirius inquired with an innocent smile on his face.

"Yes, of course, Sirius. Please go in." Angela took a moment to calm down her racing heart and sat back in her chair. She signaled to Aston, who still seemed a bit out of it, to take Sirius and Mehr inside. Aston, still reeling with the shock he had received, asked the two boys politely, to follow him.

As soon as they entered the hall, a plump middle-aged man blocked their path. He looked at Sirius with curious eyes as he rubbed his chin thoughtfully. He was wearing a white long robe that had the insignia of the Academy inscribed over the heart. He had his glasses hooked on his forehead, while his face closed in slowly towards Sirius. His black beady eyes studied Sirius for a moment, and Sirius stared at the strange plump man uncomfortably. The strange man circled Sirius, looking at him with scrutiny, while also stopping and touching Sirius’ wrists from time to time. He stopped in front of Sirius and started mumbling something under his breath.

“Professor Willem.” Aston greeted the strange man while bowing his head.

“Hmm.” Professor Willem nodded back at Aston and continued to look in the eyes of Sirius. “A Frye in flesh. How wonderful. The blood descendant of The Sword God himself.” Professor Willem’s eyes twinkled with every word he spoke.

“Weren’t you sitting all the way over there? How did you hear him say his name?” Mehr inquired while pointing at the seat allotted for the professors who were examining the aspirants. From where they were standing, to where the seats were placed, it was a distance of around 200 steps. And yet, not only did this strange plump man hear Sirius speaking but also showed up in a moment in front of them.

“I’m known for having the sharpest ears in the Mainland. No secrets escape my grasp, you see.” Professor Willem’s eyes shifted from Sirius to Mehr and his eyes widened in surprise. He took quick steps and ended up in front of Mehr. He looked, with his twinkling eyes, as he mumbled something to himself. The professor’s eyes looked deep into Mehr’s eyes and in admiration, a few words left his mouth unwittingly. “Fascinating…”

“In the night that covers the world,

Black as the hearts of men,

Nothing, the heavens may see

Apart from his unconquerable soul.”

Mehr, Sirius, and Aston, all three, listened to Professor Willem’s ramblings before Aston spoke up, “Professor Willem has a habit of saying strange things whenever he finds someone interesting. Don’t mind his demeanor.”

“Cough. You have beautiful eyes, child. Are you also a Frye?” The professor inquired.

“No. I’m apparently a commoner.” Mehr answered without missing a beat.

“Hmm?” The professor looked at Mehr for a moment before turning to Sirius and asked, “Is this child your slave, by any chance, oh Heir of Frye?”

Sirius looked baffled at the question posed towards him. “No, why would he be my slave? He is my friend.” Sirius answered sharply, humility leaving his tone when his friend’s status was being questioned.

“Hoho, magnificent. Heir of the most prideful family in the mainland, justifiably so, and a commoner are friends. This is a situation you can’t imagine, even in your wildest dreams.” Professor Willem looked quite pleased for a moment before turning back to Mehr.

“What is your name child?”

“Mehr.”

The professor, lost in his thoughts again, mumbled to himself for a moment. “What an intriguing name. Are you, by any chance, a traveler?”

Silence lingered between the party for some time. Mehr and Sirius looked at each other, not understanding the question that had been asked, while Aston, who had been starstruck by Sirius this entire time, shifted his gaze to Mehr for the first time in a while.

It was the professor himself, who broke this silence by gently laughing off, “Hoho, do not listen to this old man. I have become prone to memory loss after getting old. Travelers haven’t been seen for hundreds of years, after all.” The Professor, who didn’t seem older than 50, said with a half-smile on his face. “Let us go now, I’ll take your beginning trial first. We can’t let the young lady wait for more than she already has.” Professor Willem laughed while looking at the other professor who had been looking at them for a while now. Professor Willem started walking in the front and asked the rest of the party to follow behind. Every step that the professor took was as light as air, and Sirius even thought that the professor was floating under his long robe. They soon reached the seat, where Professor Willem sat beside the lady professor while apologizing to her. Aston gave the name slip to the announcer and went away to save some seats for his friends.

“Professor.” Mehr asked the professor, “What did you mean by Traveller, exactly?”

Professor Willem, still wearing a half-smile on his face, answered simply without lifting his head, “Someone who has crossed the worlds.” The professor, after saying these words clearly, mumbled a few more words to himself. Those mumblings, while inaudible to other people, traveled straight to Mehr’s mind and rang clearly inside it, “And I know you have, oh Traveler.” Mehr looked at the professor who was sitting in his seat comfortably while looking back at Mehr, smiling like a mischievous child.