View source for Article 1: Student Arrival

MSF High has stood for 43 years as the most potent and effective training grounds for any would-be saviors of the galaxy, and it's incredibly difficult to call its efficacy into question.  A sizable percentage of the galaxy's most beloved heroes, known or not, either trained at MSF High or teach there in some capacity, and although its existence to the outside galaxy is barely more than an unsubstantiated rumor or perhaps a random story by an unknown author to only the smallest sliver of the population of the galaxy at large(most of them government agents who don't disseminate the information), many who hear of it express a desire to attend.  While even learning of the school's existence as anything other than the subject of an inspired author's life's work is a major hurdle, actually getting to the school is even tougher.

For the first 35 years of the school's official existence within Mahou City, there was only a single way in--through use of a magical entry form sent out personally by Lady Sakura, the school's principal.  Once sent through a portal of Sakura's creation during the school's summer(though when they appeared in the outside galaxy they could manifest literally anywhere or anywhen in the galaxy), they would appear in someplace where the presumed applicant would be meant to find them.  It's said that Sakura has in her possession an artifact which allows her to view the galaxy outside the school, and it was with this that she scouted out potential students.  Though the entry forms were made with a specific person in mind, anyone who fills it out, folds it up and puts it out of sight(at which point it disappears as it casts its spells) finds themselves when next they wake in their new dormitory room at MSF High.  A few forms meant for someone else have made their way to others who have become exemplary students in their own right.  For example, Kaitlyn was given her entry form by an MSF High graduate who had gone through a great deal of effort to retrieve the form from the shadowy criminal illuminati that had stolen it from and killed the original intended recipient.  Tomoyo's form was retrieved from a Watcher storehouse, presumably taken from its original entrant by Watchers who recognized it as a potentially dangerous magical artifact on a planet where such things weren't supposed to exist.  Their abilities to excel in their studies regardless of the fact that the forms weren't explicitly meant for them is evidence of Mahou City's apparent desire to subvert the idea of destiny.

Despite the occasional lost or misplaced form, this method of entry to the school was very successful, and was the only way in for anyone from the school's second year until the summer of its 35th year.  After the appearance of the Trauma Shadows, the strain on the school and its staff was intensified even further thanks to the sudden arrival of students who had not filled out entry forms.  It's been surmised that these events are connected and related to a fundamental change in how Mahou City's ambient magics function, but no one has been able to pinpoint the exact cause(or if they have, they're not revealing it).  However, much study has been done into the processes that seem to be undergone on arrival via the new method, with focus on three areas.

Firstly, it's not certain who or what chooses which students arrive, but consensus is that there is some consciousness making the decision.  Some attribute this to the city itself having developed some sort of consciousness.  This theory is supported by the observation that land in the city allows those with intent that it aligns with to plant their flags while expelling those they disagree with.  Many religious students share a belief that the galaxy itself is sentient, and views Mahou City as a sort of little sister, sending to it those in the galaxy who it feels the school would best be able to nurture.  If this is the case, students sent this way might simply be through a means beyond spellcasting that the consciousnesses of Mahou City and the Milky Way corroborate together on.  Still others believe that newcomers are sent to the school by means of spells cast by third parties.  This is supported by the existence of Inspired(such as myself), individuals who all possess an incredibly rare ability to see the inner workings of the universe broken down into calculations with the occasional bit of randomness added in.  Wraith's own writing, which is mirrored by the majority of Inspired, seems culminate in what is basically the emulation of one of the original entry forms.  However, with the general exception of the Inspired in the school itself, no one seems to remember casting such a spell, suggesting that third-party creation of the "forms" can send in new students from completely disparate periods of spacetime coordinates.  It seems in this case that being able to understand the inner workings of the galaxy invariably leads one to discover the existence of MSF High for one reason or another, and once they do so they can tap into Wraith's writings as he almost certainly shared this ability with them.  In all likelihood, most arrivals at the school are probably the result of one or both these factors.

Secondly, one must consider the means by which one departs from their position in the normal galaxy and arrives within the city.  This is one area that seems to be improved over the form-arrival method.  While they would simply disappear in their sleep(leading Sakura to try and choose ones who would not be missed), arrivals in the last 8 years have been much more well-hidden thanks to the tendency of the arrival to happen at a time when the potential student should be dead or has a high probability of non-survival.  Explosions, building collapses, wildfires, and even the dumping of near-dying or apparently dead bodies into a ravine have all been reported means of arrival, as have uses of experimental devices and spells.  From those that have returned after graduation to their home planets and later reported back to MSF High's staff, there haven't been any suspicions arising from any of these disappearances, which lends credence to the earlier possibility of some sentience being somewhat responsible for student arrivals.

Lastly, there is the issue of altered forms and memories on arrival.  Like with the means of arrival, there seem to be different factors at play that can mix and match to determine what one looks like at the time of arrival, but it largely seems to come down to one of two scenarios.  In the first, the student arrives as themselves and either tends to largely stay that way or is transformed at some point into a form they eventually find preferable(See for instance Ruby or Collette).  Whether this is due to some sort of predestination or serendipity is likely to remain one of the mysteries of the universe.  The other tendency is for a student to arrived completely changed.  When this happens, it seems to be toward a form that suits them better in some manner, and seems more common when it happens to arrivals who are from racially homogeneous populations or who had severe misconceptions about a particular race(Sasha Sunbringer, for instance) or their own identity.  The staff at MSF High tends to view this as a part of the student's learning process, and works to help them understand their changes rather than offering them a magical race or gender swap.

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