Chapter 821: Back to The Beacon Hall
Chapter 821: Back to The Beacon Hall
The second-years reached Beacon Hall in uneven streams, some arriving quickly from nearby classrooms and others entering with the irritated pace of students who had clearly been dragged away from something they preferred.The hall itself had been prepared before the announcement ever rang through the academy. Rows of seats were arranged before the main stage, leaving wide aisles between sections so the students could move in without turning the entire gathering into a crowded mess. Tall banners bearing the academy crest hung from the high walls, their dark fabric still beneath the glow of the overhead lamps. The engraved pillars lining the hall caught the light in thin silver lines, and the great arched ceiling above made every murmur stretch farther than it should.
The atmosphere was familiar, but not comfortable.
Beacon Hall was where the academy made things official. Rankings, ceremonies, instructions, warnings, and decisions that affected entire years were not usually delivered in casual classrooms. That alone made the second-years more attentive than they would have been otherwise. Some still talked as they entered, but the conversations were lower now, their earlier complaints pulled back beneath curiosity and unease.
The upcoming exams had already been sitting over them for days. Now that the academy had summoned them so suddenly, most of them understood that whatever had been vague was about to gain shape.
Liam entered with the crowd and slowed near the back of the seating sections, his gaze moving over the rows in search of an open place. Students were already settling in clusters. Some sat with their usual classmates, others with friends from shared dorm floors, and a few tried to claim seats near people who looked like they knew something they did not. The front rows filled more slowly, as they always did when students were unsure whether being closer to the stage would bring unwanted attention.
He had taken only a few steps down one aisle when he heard his name.
"Liam!"
The voice was unmistakable.
Liam turned his head toward it and found Dylan waving from a row closer to the center-left section of the hall. Maxwell sat beside him, one arm draped over the back of his chair, and there was an empty seat on Maxwell’s other side. Dylan waved again with the kind of energy that suggested he had either forgotten the hall was filling with people or simply did not care.