Chapter 185.1: part 1
The 185th chapter "concentrate on the task at hand" (part 1)
Within the magic academy's compound, the former command station has now been completely converted to a three story building and the academy's signboard just so happens to be hanging outside the main entrance.
In recent days, a team consisting of four court magicians, two Imperial scholars, Du Wei, Vivian, and two disciples under Alley have been busy slaving away trying to integrate the newly acquired research results into an organized format.
By the end, the team managed to compile a set of basic teaching materials used in magic, including basic theories and various incantations.
Looking over the materials, Du Wei found the text to be suitable for those in the entry level.
In the first batch of students, 30% of the students were selected from the magic union's side. Most of these teenagers are born under the care of those old fashioned magicians, so their foundations are excellent compared to the rest. However, their education thus far is very backward.
In truth, the early stages of teaching in the academy are still carried out in the traditional fashion.
First is the testing of their talents. Then according to their results, these students will be sent to different faculties to be tutored by several teachers coming from different sources (Court Mages and the Magic Union).
To Du Wei, this approach is no different from changing the soup name without changing the ingredients.
His original plan was to revise the basic teaching materials so all students can learn it. After that is completed, he intended to have several teachers focus on certain subjects so students can pick what they wanted to learn..... His image is exactly like the school model from his previous life.
But his proposal was completely revoked by the magic union. Their excuse was that this format of teaching is contrary to the traditional style of teaching in the magic field.
The establishment of 'The magic society of learning' has already angered Dorgan to no ends. If there are any new suggestions from Du Wei's side from now on, it can expected the union will strongly resist.
However, there's no need to worry.
"Just let the students from the magic union continue their old fashioned training methods." Du Wei smiles wickedly: "They can do what they like and we can do what we like."
Subsequently, a new resolution was brought up in the controlling committee of the academy. With Du Wei's vote and seven court mages backing, the bill was easily passed with only seven against it from the magic union side.
Magic Academy's decision: several branches will be established inside the school and each house will be sorted in accordance to their study. For example: fire element branch, wind element branch, and so on.
At any rate, while a student is studying at their main branch, they can also take on electives within other branches. All courses are open, meaning any student can partake without restriction. Note: when any student graduates from the academy, they must have at least passed three elective courses as well to meet eligibility.
After the sorting ceremony and the initial talent testing phase, the fire department became the most popular branch like he expected. As the mainstream combat element, it's no wonder the student body wanted to join.
Du Wei even made some plans and if possible in the future, he might even pull Joanna and Green robed Gandalf into the school.
Hmm, if really did pull the Green hat in, then he must change the old guy's identity first.
For Du Wei's branch, his main topic is primarily about magic pharmacy.
Of course, his branch title cannot be named "branch of Pharmacy" because in most peoples eye *** the discrimination towards this field is still very strong. If he really did it without minding others, then Du Wei feared there won't be anyone signing up.
So after thinking it over for a whole afternoon, he personally made a name change:
Hogwarts
Hogwarts special feature is that it doesn't have a main topic of study. Any student that comes over to study is only able to take the courses as electives! In other words, this branch doesn't have a fixed group of students.
Surprising thing is that after the establishment of the Hogwarts branch, the student count taking courses in Du Wei's class quickly leapfrogged over the fire branch after three days!
Over 40 students!
30 of them are from the military side. The reason for their enrollment is mainly because of Du Wei's background. Within the military, the Rowling household still had great influence among their peers. Also, Du Wei's reputation is another deciding factor because his fame is propelling the branch to a dizzying height.
As for the remaining 10 students, they are from the royal household's camp without a single entry from the magic union's side.
This point needs some clarification. These students from the military camp were only picked after going through rigorous testing phases. From among all the armies throughout the empire, they are the elites among their peers without a hint of defect that could mark them for blemish. Meanwhile, the students from the royal household's side are all sons of noble families that have no succession rights. Without a future, their only hope is to succeed in the path of a magician.
After all, no person would want to become an odd ball magician if they inherit their family's vast fortune and title.
When Du Wei did a quick background check on these kids, he found that most of them had already served in the army and even had some martial training in their bodies. This came as no surprise to him because the spirit of learning martial arts is still quite heavy on the continent. What did surprise him though is how these kids from the military distinguished themselves apart from the rest of the student body.
In Du Wei's view, these 30 kids from the military is deserving of him to win over. They have no influential family behind them, only the military because they are from poor families. (Who would want to risk their life in the army if they were rich to begin with, right?)
As a youngster hitting the golden age of 18, these kids are just in the right moment of their life where they are highly malleable from outside influences. With a little push from him, Du Wei believes he can incite the blood flowing through his students and make them his!