"Might I see it? I typically handle registration for new students," she gestures at the ledger on the desk, "so you'd likely have wound up here eventually."

Cossus is looking increasingly uncomfortable at the prospect of having probably pissed off an actual Gifted. 

"Sure." He goes through his bag and pulls out the letter. He made sure it was close at hand.

Pellia returns to her desk, spreading the letter out in front of her and reading it over intently. After a minute, she offers a single sharp nod. "This seems in order. Cossus, Theve, you may return to your duties. I will take matters from here."

Cossus and Theve don't need to be told twice, and make haste for the door. After they've left, Pellia turns her gaze on Alex again. "Master Alexandr, was it? Magus Lilian writes well of you. I would nonetheless appreciate a more...detailed account of how you came to be in the service courtyard without, apparently, passing through the gate."

"The gatehouse looked unattended and there was a sign that seemed to direct new students to follow the wall towards another location..." Alex begins his story and then goes over the hedge maze, the strange moat and boathouse, and the corridor with it's mathematical pattern and the way he used the rods to let him move the floating pillow unhindered. He leaves out a lot of details including the fact that he kept the sponge.

Pellia listens patiently, seemingly unfazed by his description of events. When he gets to the pillow, Alex hears her mutter, "So that's where that went," and sees her make a note in her ledger.

When he's finished, she thanks him without fanfare. "Your letter seems in order, so we can proceed to registration and placement testing. Maga Lilian indicated you wished to enroll as a future apprentice to the Order of Dreams, that you had a passable but not comprehensive education in liberal arts* and magic theory, largely self-taught, and that you have not yet been opened to the Arts. Is this all correct?" 

*Here referring to common academic subjects like grammar, logic, geometry, and astronomy.

"That's all correct to the best of my knowledge."

"Good, then our next steps will be to contact the Order of Dreams and schedule your placement tests." Pellia is brusque but thorough, explaining that Grawtosh tests incoming students on their knowledge of Petronian and Imperial law, magic theory, written and spoken Miezan, and liberal arts, all of which must meet a certain minimum standard before a student is opened to the Arts and formally apprentices to an Order magus. "You will need to present yourself to the Order of Dreams for induction and to receive your scholarship stipend, and you will sleep in the Picus Wing dorms they share with the Order of Device. There is some...hostility, between the two Orders, so I warn you now that any dueling, magical or otherwise, among students will not be tolerated. You seem old enough to know better than to engage in petty squabbles, but nonetheless. 

"After your placement tests, you will be assigned courses to correct any deficiencies in your education before your apprenticeship begins. The current Order of Dreams head, Primus Centho, has been looking for apprentices, but it will ultimately be up to the Order to decide on a master for you. Once you've demonstrated basic proficiency, Grawtosh has advanced classes in some magical subjects as well, for those apprentices whose masters work near the school and are not presently teaching them or using their labor, or for certain focused specialties such as Aetherics war magic or Wrath metamagic." 

Pellia also covers the basics of student conduct, which are mostly unsurprising given what Alex has read of Petronian law but also includes things like "don't assault or enchant the servants"; and how to get around Grawtosh, which mostly boils down to "the Atrium is always down and to the left", "ask a resident if you get lost" and for some reason "don't ever go more than nine floors up without an escort." She also gives directions to the Picus Wing (or rather, directions to the Atrium from here, and to the Picus Wing from the Atrium.)

Meals are in the Atrium thrice daily; magus laboratories and other Order wings are off-limits without permission, the library is three flights up from the Atrium, don't go in the sealed corridor on the fifth floor, storage rooms are locked and She Will Know if anything is taken from them, any damages of school property will be reported and charged to his sponsoring Order, bring any maintenance issues to her or her staff (they wear grey).

"I don't arbitrate disputes between magi or students, that's Order business, but if you are damaging or disrupting a space I will see you removed from it. Questions?"