"Here we are. My email address is glitterspark6852 at gmail, message me anytime!"

"Thank you," he will say, and enter.

He doesn't know what an email address is, but he can learn about what that is later.

Is there someone inside that can help him? Are there signs that describe how the process works?

There is someone inside! Whether she can help him remains to be seen.

She looks to him. "Salve!"

He does not understand what the person said.

"Hello," he says back. "Is this the Hawthorne admissions office?"

"Yes, sir, this is the Hawthorne admissions office."

Great!

"Thank you, Madam. I would like to learn more about Hawthorne – about what life is like here, and how one might enroll in it."

"You are in the right place for learning more about Hawthorne, sir. This office has English-language brochures which cover topics including student life. Students who wish to be admitted to Hawthorne must be tested for aptitude and personality. This doll can administer some of these tests."

Tests. He's kind of ambivalent to tests, but whatever.

"What tests can you administer? Aside from those ones that you can do, what other ones will be required?"

"This doll can observe you completing a set of multiple-choice and written tests relevant to personality and aptitude. This doll can additionally perform preliminary observations of any magic demonstrations you wish to perform, though these demonstrations will need to be repeated for a witch proctor."

"When will the witch proctor be available? If it will be in a long time. I think I will read the brochures and take the written exams first."

"The witch proctor will be available in 6 hours and 32 minutes."

And the doll will hold out some papers. "Here are your brochures, sir. You may take them with you if you wish."

That's soooooooooo loooooooooooong.

"Thank you," he says to the doll, and accepts the brochures.

Probably the witch proctor will arrive in the daytime?

Anyway, he will take a look at the brochures now. What brochures did he get?

There's a guide to student amenities. The basics are that the closer he wants to live (where 'closeness' is measured by travel time by foot for someone who can activate portals), the more likely he is to have to have a roommate, unless he pays extra money. Free meals are served at these cafeterias, and there are also restaurants and food stands on campus, which are not covered. Students with special dietary needs can often be accommodated. Students with special mana charging needs can sometimes be accommodated, but in some cases these accommodations will be contingent on them pursuing an alternate charge method as their first developmental priority.

There's a department overview. There are departments including every ranked magic the last brochure mentioned as well as wandwork, theoretical magic, mathematics, physics, astronomy and astrology, biology, psychology and pneumology, economics, Earth studies, religious studies, language and literature, combat and athletics, and history.

There's an alumnae brochure. A lot of women who have graduated from Hawthorne do cool stuff!

There's a guide to choosing classes. All students will need to take introductory Latin before they can take most other classes. They'll be required to study magic appropriate to their class and affinities at least somewhat. The standard program requires that, in addition to magic classes, students study at least some language, history, and combat. Additionally, academics must take magical theory, warlocks must take religious studies, and sorceresses must specifically take power-control classes.

There's details on finances. Typically, students receive a stipend while in school and are in an income-sharing agreement that's usually quite generous compared to one from Earth, probably because it lasts for 500 years and also is enforced with Covenants. Students from wealthy families may be able to pay up front, and some students are sent to specific classes by other parties, like Lunabellan matrons. There are on-campus job opportunities for students who want extra spending money, but students are expected to prioritize their studies.

There's a guide to the student code. Lots of relatively minor things, such as tardiness, being distracting in the classroom, and so on, are punished with a single use of Sting, which is apparently a rank-2 Curse causing a brief painful experience. Other offenses, like academic dishonesty, are punished much more severely. Hawthorne will outright execute students who intentionally work with Outsiders.

He can use Windkeeping, Witchery, or Metallurgy to travel quickly...maybe not Witchery. But he can get a place far away so that he won't have to have a roommate. He would like to be Alone.

He wonders whether electricity is considered a special mana charging need. Maybe not? But Alphazon is not Lunabella or Hawthorne, so it's possible that they have less reliable access to electricity. He's gotten mana by siphoning the static electricity from Martian dust storms before, with coalesced electronics – if there are storms here, he could do something like that?

Ooooooh. He wants to take physics and Earth studies. He knows very little about Earth.

The cool stuff is Very Cool but he doesn't know whether the amount of Coolness is especially noteworthy.

He doesn't see why Latin is relevant. Actually, he kind of didn't realize that other languages existed before now. He has always only been exposed to English.

500 years seems kind of a Long Time. He should ask whether or not he'll still be subject to income-sharing if their potential Lunabellan patron tells them to come here.

Mmmmmmmmmmmmm. He doesn't like that. It's giving Alphazon. It's giving "no you can't move around freely anymore". He considers just walking out. If Arcadia doesn't have such policies, that will be a huge plus to Arcadia in deciding where he ought to go. He doesn't worry about being executed over working with Outsiders, because he has no plans to do so.

Is there any indication that there are different rules for different students? Maybe if he does well on the exams he can have Not That.

Possibly he should go to Arcadia now and return here later so that the witch proctor will be here and he can do everything all at once. Or would taking the written exams now be better?

"Do you recommend that I return later so that I can do all the requisite exams at once, or that I do the exams possible to do now, now."

"This doll recommends that you take the written exams now and return for magic demonstrations later."

Conrad will request to take the exams now. What is the procedure for taking them?

Written exams are administered in a secure testing room and observed by a Hawthorne doll. Test-takers must commit via Covenants to answering honestly without external help. He may have his choice of writing implements, such as a quill pen, a fountain pen, a pencil, a typewriter, or in the case of severe disability he may have a Hawthorne doll transcribe his answers for him. These tests are intended to produce a rough overview of his personality and capabilities, and testing out of courses can be done once he's enrolled.

He prefers to write on metal but he understands that probably many people do not have Metallurgy and would not share his preference. Can he use Metallurgy to cause his pen to move rather than move it with his hand? Many pens are too small and it's hard to use them.

Approximately how long will all the exams take?

Telekinetically operating a provided pen is fine, and they do have tools for making pens bulkier. It should be around two hours of exams.

How do you define 'external help'. He has an Observer integrated into his body that allows him to record and recall sensory experiences. Does this count as 'external help'? He has had it since his earliest memory and he doesn't know whether it could be removed. If he uses Metallurgy to conjure a calculator and use it to solve math problems, does that count as 'external help'? Even if he conjured the metal from nothing?

"Your case is unusual. This doll will consult a guidebook."

"Your Observer is permitted. Furthermore, it is possible that the code of conduct permits you to conjure your own calculator, and exam rooms are secured against external communication, not against elementalism. However, students are not intended to take their exams using calculators, under most circumstances, and this doll strongly recommends against doing so until and unless a witch administrator explicitly permits it. This doll will now clarify that these exams are intended to gauge your capabilities, and witches may attend Hawthorne regardless of their initial skill in mathematics."

"I understand, Madam. I will use Metallurgy to control my pen, and I will not create a calculator for the exam. Do you have a metal pen available to borrow?" If not, he'll ask whether a mechanical pencil would be permitted. He can make those.

"Yes, we have an array of metal pen types, sir."

He will take a black one and take out his plutonium battery to slurp up some electricity for a minute, and then say, "I am ready to take the exam now."