Blackwell Academy had the ambiance of a cathedral that had been commandeered by a military commander. The walls were gray and imposing, the floors gleamed with a polish so intense it could blind an unsuspecting passerby, and the air carried a faint whiff of disinfectant, as though fun itself were a contagion to be eradicated.

Headmistress Agatha Blackwell, the self-proclaimed savior of the institution, saw to this order personally. She had taken over Blackwell Academy twenty years ago when it was, in her words, “a jungle of chaos and mediocrity.” With ruthless efficiency, she had turned it into a bastion of academic rigor and moral discipline. She didn’t just run the school; she embodied it.

Her office was a shrine to her success. Plaques and awards covered the walls, alongside framed photos of her shaking hands with local dignitaries. The only personal touch was a single photograph on her desk—a black-and-white portrait of herself as a young woman, gazing pensively into the distance.

It was to this office that she summoned Mr. Daniel Bright one Monday morning, ostensibly for a routine performance review.

Daniel arrived ten minutes late, though not out of defiance. He simply hadn’t heard the bell over the sound of the whoopee cushion he was demonstrating to a group of delighted seventh graders.

“Good morning, Headmistress!” he chirped, his hair slightly tousled and his tie askew.

Agatha folded her hands on her desk. “Mr. Bright. Punctuality is a cornerstone of professionalism.”

“Oh, I know,” he said earnestly. “I tell my students that all the time. ‘If you’re early, you’re on time. If you’re on time, you’re late.’ Isn’t that a great saying? I think I saw it on a coffee mug once.”

Agatha’s lips pressed into a thin line. “Be that as it may, we have more pressing matters to discuss.”

As Daniel took a seat, still smiling as though he were in on a joke no one else had heard, Agatha felt a pang of something she could only describe as destiny. Here was a man brimming with untapped potential, a diamond in the rough, just waiting for the right hands to polish him.

“Mr. Bright,” she began, “have you ever considered the importance of mentorship in personal and professional growth?”

Daniel tilted his head. “You mean like Yoda and Luke Skywalker?”

Agatha blinked. “Not… quite.”