Just as she was turning to leave, Constantine stopped her. "Hey, you don't even have a school building for this teaching program? I'm using my house!"
"A school building, huh." She'd indeed forgotten about this. Any other teacher without a magical artifact like the House of Mystery would have come to her ages ago.
Thea thought about it. A magic school was essential—not just for these current people, but future generations of mages would need systematic, scientific education. The old master-apprentice relationship didn't suit modern times.
Moreover, thinking long-term, building the magic school in the New World could effectively intercept high-level attacks. She taught Earth people magic hoping mages could protect Earth, not enslave it.
Magic was talent, but more importantly, it was responsibility. Those who learned magic should have the ambition to protect this world. That's what she thought and what she did.
"How about this—Oliver brought Queen Construction's people to the New World. You know him, right? Have him spare some manpower to help you build a school."
"There'll be more and more students in the future. John, you and Zatanna can both stay here teaching. The age of magic has arrived. The knowledge you possess is extremely valuable to humanity."
Seeing Zatanna somewhat moved—whether she wanted to monitor Constantine closely, Thea didn't care.
She smacked her right fist into her left palm. "I'll also pull in Papa Midnite and Mister E from the Cold Flame cult. You four can each establish an academy within the school. From now on, ten-year-old kids who awaken magical talent can all come here to learn magic. What do you think?"
Thea thought about it more and more, feeling it was feasible. She even had the school name figured out—call it Hogwarts School of Magic!
Giving the two space to resolve personal matters and urging them to seriously consider her proposal, Thea dragged along Batman, who still wanted to observe the magical world's mysteries, and returned to Earth.
The next day, Thea brought Papa Midnite and Mister E back to the New World.
Constantine had been here for over half a month and had long figured out the situation. This place had a slightly higher dimensional level than Earth and would be the first line of defense intercepting all extra-dimensional threats. One could say that holding this place meant Earth could rest easy.
Under his persuasion, Zatanna also abandoned the principle that magic must remain secret. The makeshift team was assembled.
Thea naturally appointed herself headmaster without any objection from the four. Papa Midnite and Mister E were basically her subordinates. Constantine and Zatanna's fists weren't as big as hers either. Moreover, when she opened her mouth it was "Department of Education approval," when she closed it, it was "White House decree"—they couldn't interfere in the secular world and naturally had no confidence to compete for headmaster.
"My plan is to divide into four houses: Constantine's Courage, Zatanna's Wisdom, Mister E's Perseverance, and Papa Midnite's Cunning."
To satisfy her own mischievous tastes, Thea worked overnight to bring in four animal spirits. Possessing the divine position of souls, those animal spirits didn't dare resist her at all. After promising them some small benefits, she dragged them all to the New World.
"This golden lion is Gryffindor, the blue eagle is Ravenclaw, the gray badger is Hufflepuff, and the black snake is Slytherin. They have decent combat power and can normally act as guardian spirits at the school. When you're in trouble, you can also summon them across space to fight."
"Government approval and school construction are on me. Teaching and recruitment are your responsibility." Papa Midnite and Mister E naturally had no objections. Constantine and Zatanna, having received benefits and driven by a sense of mission, also agreed.
All four had deep roots in the magical world. Finding some students wouldn't be a problem. The most critical point was that the air in the New World was rich with magical power. On Earth, meditation was basically running in place—just look at Mister E, who practiced eighteen types of meditation daily back in the day and forcibly blinded his own eyes.
But this continent was different. One meditation session brought noticeably significant effects. This was incredibly rare!
Zatanna knew many children from magical families who could come study. Mister E's Cold Flame cult and Papa Midnite's subordinates could all come to fill out the numbers.
Thea didn't bother with their discussion and teleported over to find Oliver.
Her brother had been one of the first to know about the New World. He didn't know his ten-year-old son had been hidden by his evil mother and devious sister. Hearing that descendants born in the New World would have magical talent, he and Shado had worked hard at baby-making for a while.
After a month of hard work, there were finally results.
To let their family reunite, Moira and Thea simultaneously exerted pressure through both legal and underground channels, getting that certain country to withdraw the warrant for Yao Fei. Old Yao could finally see daylight again, leaving Purgatory Island and even bringing Shado's sister to care for his pregnant daughter.
Old Yao was quite satisfied with his beloved student and son-in-law. When Thea arrived at Oliver's new home, the two were enthusiastically sparring.
Thea only watched for a few moments before realizing Oliver was going easy on his father-in-law. Having received careful instruction from Ra's al Ghul and with his own attributes exceeding human limits, Oliver could be considered a top martial artist of the current era. Even without his bow and arrow, relying only on close combat, old Yao was no match.
Thea naturally wouldn't expose him. She clapped and praised old Yao a few times. Seeing the siblings had things to discuss, Yao Fei left directly.
After chatting casually for a bit, Thea brought up having Queen Construction build the magic school.
Oliver agreed immediately. He knew Constantine too—in fact, their relationship was quite good.
Extensive social connections had always been Oliver's strong suit. In the original timeline, he could become the eighth member of the Justice League's big seven because Green Arrow had friends everywhere who all gave him some respect.
Never mind Constantine and the Flash—even Hal Jordan, who rarely returned to Earth, had deep friendship with him. This was Oliver's personal charisma.
"Give this to Shado. The moment the invasion begins, have her retreat to Earth immediately." Thea handed Oliver a special teleportation gem. Even if Apokolips' mages sealed the space, with the magic stored in this gem, Shado could still teleport away.
As for telling Oliver not to participate in battle and run back early with his wife? She wouldn't say that, and her brother wouldn't agree either.
"How confident are you?" Facing a battle of unknown depth, saying Oliver was fearless would be nonsense.
"I think we can win, but sacrifice is inevitable." Thea thought about it and answered seriously. In the original timeline, seven heroes could win. There was no reason she'd lose after making so many preparations and finding so many helpers, right?
Seeing Oliver show a trace of worry, she promised again: "The sacrifice won't be me. I'm already a goddess. Ordinary concepts of life and death can't measure me. At most I'll be beaten near death. As long as there are still souls in the universe, still wealth, I can't die."
"What I'm worried about is..." Thea wanted to persuade Oliver to stay far from the battlefield, but seeing his resolute face, she swallowed her words back.
Green Arrow had protagonist luck too. With custom power armor plus skilled martial arts, even if he encountered danger, the Flash and Green Lantern could bail him out.