The Prytaneum lacks the labyrinthine weirdness of the Library or the sheer enormity of the Atrium, but it's still the largest and fanciest mess hall Alex has ever seen. A square room surrounding a massive central hearth and solid stone chimney, it is filled with long tables marching in four cardinal directions from the hearth, with more tables in the corners. 

There's visible sorting by status and Order, with apprentices in purple trim occupying the tables closest to the hearth, chattering students farther out, and scholars and administrators in more complex arrangements among the corner tables. Serving-tables around the edges of the room hold a spread worthy of the Festival of Asteron. 

There don't appear to be many magi present, though Alex spots a couple of purple robes near the hearth. Nor do there seem to be tables for servants. 

Okay maybe that earns having a fancy name. He will do his best to determine where he's supposed to eat and simultaneously collect a reasonably balanced meal. Maybe a bit larger than usual, it has been a long day.

He can find a table in the student section where the kids will only somewhat point and giggle at his still-muddy clothes.

Oh right he had forgotten about that. He probably should have changed before coming. Not that any of his clothes as perfectly laundered after spending so much time on the road.

Well, worst case he can just eat. He'll give a little wave and say "Hello" to anyone at his table.

Hi! Some of them want to know if he is a servant, or a new student, or an apprentice, or a dragon in disguise. "That only happened the once!" "No it didn't, Parcius was making it up." "Was not!" 

"Well, you would only know when they were caught. It could have happened several times. I'm just a new student though."

"There could be dragons everywhere!"

"Don't be dense, dragons can't shapeshift."

"They could get a mage to help!"

"Why would anyone help a dragon?"

"Otherwise it'd roast you alive, RWAR." 

"I'm not scared of no dragon." 

(It may go on like this for some time.) 

Yeah that's reasonable. He won't get involved further. Is the food as good as it looks?

It's tasty and varied, though a bit bland, and more Herbam than Animal, as his textbooks might say. One enterprising apprentice seems to be taking bronze coins to cast flavoring spells. 

Huh, something to keep in mind, that seems in line with the Order of Dreams specialty maybe he'll learn to do that.

This fellow's robes are green rather than silver-white, which matches what Alex knows of the Order of Sustenance from his brief trip to Isvos. The spell he's casting does seem reminiscent of Imaginem, though. 

A few minutes into Alex's meal, his next sip of water tastes utterly foul. 

He spits it out. Does it look like the fellow in the green robes did it? It would be rather a coincidence if not but also it would be convenient to frame him.

The fellow in the green robes seems preoccupied with customers and pretty far away; he'd have to be really subtle about it. 

(He's also not the only apprentice who seems to be doing a bit of magic on their food, just the only one who's advertising the service.) 

Whoever's responsible seems to be doing a decent job of hiding it. 

He will cautiously take another sip. Is it still unpleasant?

No, seems fine now. 

His next bite of food is repulsive, though. 

Well... he has a new priority for his research. Maybe it's out of reach until he's awakened but he would really prefer to avoid this if he can.

He will take small bites and small sips and mostly try to manage as best as he can. If this continues he's going to get pretty frustrated by the end of this.

Well that's just boring. It happens a few more times for unpredictable durations, but when it fails to provoke a more blatant reaction it eventually stops.

Oh good. He's not a fan of bullies but it seems that Jen's advice was right this time. And this way he doesn't make a bad impression on his fellow students. Well... not worse than wearing dirty clothes already has.

He is not further disturbed at dinner by anything more distracting than inquisitive ten-year-olds. 

Then he will make his way back to the dorms and try to remember the instructions for washing up.

The washrooms are fancier than back home, but still pretty intuitive. The water in the baths and washbasins is remarkably clean, despite having no obvious source. Contaminants sink to the bottom quickly.

The privy also seems to be magic; there's a rune-traced circle and waste just vanishes when it passes through. It barely even smells.

That's neat! He wants to know how all of this works.  He tries to observe it as closely as he can. Does it look like people launder their clothes here or is there another place for that? Regardless, he'll wash off and put on some clean clothes.

Several washbasins are large enough to double as clothes-basins, yep. Conveniently, the water...doesn't seem to want to leave its container? His hands dry instantly when removed from the basin, and even clothes do the same. 

Alex has enough of a basic understanding of magical theory to at least guess about the Arts involved here. Creo Aquam can make and purify liquids, and Rego Aquam can control it in various ways. The rune-circles probably serve as casting aids for a spell that lasts as long as the circle does, though Alex has heard such spells are finicky and prone to failure for unclear reasons. The privy is likely...Perdo Corpus? Products of human bodies generally have the Form of Corpus, and Perdo can make things no longer exist. There must be some trick to getting it to work on things that enter the ring.

Magic is amazing. He hopes it never stops being exciting.

He will wash his clothes and then make his way back to his dorm and see if there's a nice place to read.

It's more of a sleeping-place than a reading-place, really, but there's a window and the sun's not yet set so he can read in his bunk if he wants. (The library or some kind of common room might be a better bet if he wants to read later into the night.)