POV: HELENA IVYRA.
After the first Magical Foundations class, still with the complicated essay topic in mind, I considered what could be said in the text that would truly be interesting.
But I didn't have much time to think about it because the next subject was already around the corner.
I prepared for the next class of the day, History of Literature with the kind and beloved Professor Maria.
This had always been, for me, one of the most captivating classes, not only for the content but for the way she conducted each moment, as if pulling an invisible thread that connected us to past events, as well as her speeches that always helped when remembering something important.
During the brief moment between one professor leaving and the next arriving, the classroom seemed to quickly stir as if a dopamine fire had spread in an instant.
Groups began talking among themselves, one or two got up to put some paper in the trash, and there were also the bold ones who left the room to go to the bathroom.
Something that was against school rules… And they knew it.
However, during this particular interval, no one tried their luck, after all, it was practically a legend among the students.
The case of the student who committed this act, before a class with Professor Maria.
It was like a human who dared to challenge the gods with his rebellion…
And just like Prometheus, who felt the wrath of Olympus when trying to defy Zeus, the young man felt the weight of the consequences.
Since then, the individual was never seen alive again…
'The truth is he moved to another city the following week, but I'm not going to be the spoilsport who ruins the school's lore, right…'
Interrupting my epic and Greek thought, Professor Maria appeared, entering the room; the atmosphere seemed to quiet naturally, which was to be expected…
Everyone had a certain fear of her. She carried that firm, yet welcoming posture that made everyone pay attention.
She placed her books on the desk, took a deep breath, and began:
"Good morning, class. For those who don't know me yet, I am Professor Maria. I will be with you in the History of Literature subject throughout the school year" she said, analyzing the room, as if mentally counting the number of students.
"It's a large class, about 35 students in total, which will be good, because our focus this year will be modern history, especially Brazilian history; we will not just analyze facts, but the forces they caused in posterity. Understood?"
Everyone nodded, promptly.
After a brief presentation about her background and what she intended to cover, she turned directly to me, with a gentle, yet attentive gaze.
"Helena… are you well after what happened at the library?" she asked, concern evident in her tone.
I nodded, even though I felt an involuntary tightness in my chest. "I am, professor. Thank you for asking"
"And… my condolences for Rose." The brief, almost silent pause carried more empathy than a thousand words.
I just lowered my eyes and murmured a thank you, feeling that familiar weight return, if only for an instant.
I knew that eventually, I would hear comments about the incident.
After all, it was a city where information traveled quickly between mouths.
And especially at school, where all the teachers were friends and knew each other.
'Or at least most of them…'
I would receive some condolences eventually, which would be good, but at the same time an irritating reminder.
Moving on, Maria began to introduce the day's lesson.
"Today we will start with a review of Modern History, so that everyone can follow the content throughout the year. Then, our focus will be the review of Brazilian History, which is widely covered in exams and will be our main topic"
She spoke while organizing her books in a corner of the table and picking up the projector cable.
"But before that… let's remember an event that will be having an anniversary soon, by the way…"
Her words brought an interesting reflection…
I deviated from the subject for a moment. It always seemed curious to me how Brazilian history was so often set aside, eclipsed by European or global events.
As if our own narrative were secondary. This thought generated some ideas…
'I'll address them later… Better focus on the class'
"…and that brings us to the Three Great Fires," Maria continued.
"Unfortunately, I cannot make the books that cover this topic available due to the recent price law change. The school will have to figure out a way around this. So, we'll work with slides and texts"
She turned on the projector, and the words began to fill the screen.
The Three Great Fires
During the First Great War, in the European region known as the Middle Earth of the Alamans, one of the darkest episodes in literary and intellectual history occurred:
The Third Great Fire. It was the height of Golf's tyrannical regime, an authorial dominator endowed with the powerful enchantment Psedvis Superior.
This enchantment allowed Golf to create an almost palpable illusion of physical and mental superiority whenever he was alone, an influence so intense that it distorted others' perception of his deeds and words.
Through this false aura of greatness, Golf built an insidious and seductive ideology, which spread rapidly among the Alaman people.
At that time, the Middle Earth of the Alamans had a vast literary collection, but its laws protecting knowledge were fragile.
This paved the way for manipulative ideologies. Golf took advantage of this loophole to seize political leadership, using his powers to control the State and persecute intellectuals, readers, and writers.
Among his opponents, Alberto stood out, a renowned and combative author.
Concerned about the direction the country was taking, Alberto proposed a meeting between writers and government representatives to create new literary laws that would guarantee freedom of expression and protect intellectual heritage.
But Golf had other plans. Under the pretext of dialogue, he organized a deadly ambush. The paramilitary group Gesellschaft für tote Literatur, the Society of Dead Literature, attacked with violence, eliminating almost all the great authors present.
Only Alberto escaped, taking refuge in North American territory, where he lived protected, but always under the threat of capture.
Not satisfied, Golf decreed the Anti-Book Martial Law, prohibiting any literary manifestation outside government control.
In May 1933, the climax of the repression occurred: thousands of books were confiscated and burned in public squares in the Alaman capital, in the event that would be eternalized as the Third Great Fire.
The image of the flames devouring pages, symbols of knowledge and human freedom, shocked the world, and marked history.
For the first time, there was abundant documentation proving that human beings could deliberately destroy their own source of knowledge, just to preserve a petty power that literally did not exist.
'I knew that professor's interview cited something I knew…'
POV: MARIA SOUZA, THE PROFESSOR.
Moving on to the next slide at that moment, which talked about the history of the fires… An event I loved to use as an example, due to its importance.
"Before the tragedy of 1933, two other similar events had already stained history".
"The Second Great Fire happened in the 2nd century A.B. (after the Book), at the beginning of the Golden Age of the Book. Churches and governments of the old continent joined forces to violently suppress access to scientific and literary works, persecuting the Renaissance thinkers, a group of intellectuals who dared to challenge the monopoly of knowledge"
"In all these tragedies, the pattern repeated: the fear of those in power in the face of the freedom that knowledge provides. A phrase, attributed to one of the authors killed in Golf's ambush, summarized the essence of those times" I said as I wrote the phrase on the board.
'It is impossible for humans, in their full reason, to destroy that which provides them intellect. Only the corruption of the desire for power can justify such an abyss'
The room was silent when the text ended.
I remained looking at the screen, feeling an old and familiar weight; it was always an interesting subject to explain, but irritating due to the lack of reaction from the young people…
Trim-Trim.
The bell rang just then; the class flew by.
"Keep these stories well in mind," I concluded, disconnecting the projector cable in parallel.
Not before glancing at the last slide that detailed the first fire, the oldest and most mysterious of them all…
I paused for a moment, and skimmed the text, recalling the mystery behind that case.
The First Great Fire occurred in the 4th century B.B. (before the Book), in the Papyrus era, when the legendary Library of Alexandria was set ablaze by barbarian hordes.
The motivations were never fully clarified, but the result was devastating: millions of papyri, scrolls, and enchantments were lost, erasing centuries of accumulated knowledge.
I hope that one day, we will find the solution to this mystery…
I closed the computer and headed to the next room.