Chapter 9

The Dean was in when I arrived at her outer office. Her door was open, and one of her staff told me to go right in, as I was expected. Virginia Saprio-Hopkins was seated behind her desk when I entered.

“Please close the door and have a seat near the desk,” she requested.

“Did you bring your lady friend with you?” she asked next.

“No. Leila is waiting in my office for me.”

“We need to discuss the future of the Magic Department,” she said coming right to the point. “I don’t believe that Harry will be back here in any capacity. I don’t believe that he could even teach freshmen now that he can no longer do Magic,” she continued and paused for several seconds.

“What I need is an interim Head for the Magic Department. It will be necessary to have someone to run the department while we advertise the position and see what response we get. As the ranking Magic Professor on staff, I would like you to take the position of Head of the Department until we find a permanent replacement,” she told me.

“What about my classes? I won’t be able to teach all of them and run the department at the same time,” I observed.

“Yes, that does present certain problems. Most of the other instructors are only Master’s Level, and that has been sufficient for teaching the undergraduates and some of the Master’s classes,” she told me and paused again, as a frown crossed her face.

“You have a student in the PhD program who is nearly ready to graduate. Could she teach your first class of the day while you deal with the administrative matters of the department?” she asked.

“Alisha has a strong Talent and is nearly ready to take her Senior Master exam. However, she still has work to do before she graduates. Teaching classes daily would be an additional burden for her,” I reminded the Dean.

“I understand that she has a part time job to help pay her expenses. If we were to pay her as a part time professor, she could quit her other job, and that would allow her more time for her other work,” the Dean suggested.

“Yes, that might work. Allow me to approach her on the subject today and see what she thinks of the idea,” I told her.

“All right, that sounds good. The department won’t fall apart in the next few days without a head. The administrative staff can handle things for a time without additional guidance,” she agreed before pausing and looking directly at me for the first time since I had entered the room.

“Will you be one of those applying when the position is advertised?” she asked in a serious voice.

“I don’t know yet. I will need to see what the position requires in the way of time and effort. However, I must tell you that I have been offered the opportunity to run the PhD Program at UGA by my Relatives who will be taking over the Magic Department next year when their Parents retire.”

“I see! The University of Georgia has the most prestigious Magic Program in the country, and some would say the world. It has been run by the O’Connells for a long time,” she said.

“Yes, it was the first Magic Program ever started, and my Relatives have been in charge of it since the first day. Others from our Clan have taught at various institutions, but those with the most powerful Talents have always been the ones to teach there,” I told her.

“So you are saying that we may need to advertise for another Senior Master to take your place also?” she asked.

“I don’t know yet. I will need to see what the job entails, but I have to tell you, teaching with my Relatives is a very enticing proposition,” I told her.

“Do you know them well?” she asked.

“I have known them since they were small children. They are all several years younger than I am. They all attained the Rank of Senior Master before they were twelve,” I told her, and she drew in a sudden breath.

“I thought that you were very young when you claimed to have achieved that Rank at the age of thirteen, and now you tell me that they achieved it at an even younger age? That is remarkable! How many of them are there?” she asked.

“There are four of them who will be taking their Parents’ places at the University. They have four other siblings who also achieved the Rank of Senior Master at the same time, but who will remain in Ireland in the Other Reality to help run their Parents’ estates.

“So there will be five Senior Masters teaching there! That seems like a lot,” she said.

“I don’t believe that you understand our Clan. All of those teaching Magic at UGA are Senior Masters,” I informed her.

“Even those teaching the undergraduates?” she asked in surprise.

“Yes. Even the younger O’Connells who are only assistants are Senior Masters. I was an assistant there for several years while in college and when working on my PhD,” I told a very shocked Dean.

“They have undergraduates teaching in the Magic Department?” she asked in shock.

“They are only undergraduates in whatever subject they are taking in college. They have been Senior Masters for at least five or more years when they started college. Our ancestors straightened all of that out with the University long ago,” I told an amazed Dean.

“Additionally, there is also a pair of Senior Master Mages who will be taking their Mothers’ places as Head of the Agriculture Department next year. They also achieved that rank before the age of twelve, and have twin Sisters who will be remaining on their Parents’ estates in Ireland to help with the crops,” I told her.

“What is it that these Mages do?” the Dean asked puzzled. “I’m not familiar with them.”

“They use Green Magic to help plants grow and to remove weeds. They can also heal animals and humans in addition to being able to call red hot lava and fireballs to themselves and launching them for considerable distances. They can be very devastating,” I informed her.

“It’s no wonder that I haven’t heard of them. One type of Magic is sufficient for us, although they could fit in at the Medical School I guess, if they are healers,” she said thoughtfully.

“Speak with your student, and check with the administrative staff of the Magic Department. Let me know something by tomorrow,” Dean Sapiro-Hopkins told me coming back to herself.

“Certainly!” I told her before departing. I had a lot to think about.

In the Dean’s outer office, I sent my Magic senses out looking for Alisha. I soon found her approaching my office. I transferred to my office startling the staff in the Dean’s office and Leila in my office when I appeared there. Alisha was just knocking at the door when I arrived there. I dropped my wards around the office and opened the door for her.

“You are just the person that I need to see!” I told my very surprised senior PhD student.

“I was just coming to see if you were still teaching here, and if you wanted to go to lunch,” Alisha said on recovering.

“Lunch is an excellent idea, and we need to have a chat in any event,” I told her before turning to Leila.

“Are you ready for lunch?” I asked her.

“Yes,” she answered, putting down her book. I transferred the three of us to the exterior of the restaurant where we had lunch previously.

“I’ll take care of the entry fee,” I told Alisha as I dropped coins into the slot to work the door. Alisha gave me a startled look.

“You want something!” she said with a smirk.

“We’ll discuss it over lunch,” I told her, as we three entered the restaurant. The people there still remembered us, and we were soon seated at a table in the corner. Once we had ordered, Alisha turned to me.

“What have I volunteered for now?” she asked in a strained voice.

“You haven’t volunteered for anything,” I assured her first and then went on to explain my conversation with the Dean. Both women looked at me for a time when I finished before saying anything.

“Are you going to take the position as Head of the Magic Department?” both asked.

“I would only be the interim Head of the Magic Department,” I reminded them. “I am going to see just what it entails and will make up my mind then,” I told them.

“What do you think about teaching the first Master’s class each day? Will the pay they propose allow you to keep your head above water?” I asked Alisha.

“I’ve been working for a security company for quite some time,” Alisha began.

“A security company?” Leila interrupted in surprise.

“Yes. Because of my strong Talent, I can install and monitor their wards at various businesses in the Boston area. The pay is very good and the work is easy for me. It’s more strenuous for those with smaller Talents. However, they have been cutting my hours lately and hiring people with lesser Talents to do part of the work. I could easily reduce my hours there to just the weekends and would be able to teach the first class each day with no problem. Weekends pay better anyway, since fewer people want to work then, and there are more wards to monitor full time then,” she told us as our meals arrived. One of my other PhD students, Henry, arrived at the same time.

“I thought you might be here. The news about what happened to Professor Harrington is out all over campus already. From what I heard, no one is particularly sad to see him gone,” he told us before ordering lunch also. We all ate without much talk, and were finished in time to transfer back to the Graduate building together.

I taught the third class of the day as usual. There were a number of questions from the students concerning what had occurred earlier that day, but we eventually got to the work planned for that class. Later, I met with my PhD students. They already knew what had happened, and we were able to finish what had been planned for that day. Alisha would take my first class the next day, Wednesday, while I checked with the Department’s administrative staff. Leila and I were home by my usual time that evening.

Naturally, at dinner my Parents wanted to know what had happened at the hearing, and I needed to go over everything for them.

“The Eternal Flame hasn’t taken direct action in things in quite some time,” my Dad remarked in surprise.

“And He canceled that Professor Harrington’s Talent and ability to do Magic?” Mom asked also in surprise.

“Yes. Harry Harrington couldn’t even remember more than the first few words of any spells. Leila even tried to help him, and he still couldn’t recite the simplest spell,” I told them again.

“Are you going to take the job as Head of the Magic Department?” Dad asked.

“As interim Head, but yes, I will check on what is involved tomorrow, but I have this feeling that I may need to take it whether I want to or not. There just aren’t any others qualified at present. In any event, it will only be until the school year is over, or if they hire a new Department Head before then,” I told them.

I arrived at the Graduate School building at 8:00 the next morning to check on the staff of the Magic Department. It consisted of three women, all of whom were in their late thirties and early forties. There were an Administrative Assistant and two Program Coordinators, one for the undergraduates and the other for the graduate students.