The first-years saw the Choosing Basin for the first time in late spring. They were not choosing yet. This was orientation. Professor Crowe called it familiarisation. Harper called it seeing the crime scene early. Ava asked what crime. Harper said future crime against personal choice. Brannor. Velmor. Calyx. Nocten.

The basin sat below the Great Hall inside a cavern open to the sea through a wide stone channel. Unlike the lower docks, it was ceremonial rather than working space. Four platforms stood around a broad circular pool. Each carried an Order crest. At low tide, the pool was shallow enough to see carved channels in the floor.

"During Choosing," Crowe explained, "the incoming tide enters through the central channel. Academy magic shaped into the basin guides the flow. The ritual is older than most surviving buildings above it."

Jasper's skin prickled.

"Academy magic?"

Crowe looked at him.

"Yes."

"Not... the sea thing?"

Nobody else in the class understood the question. Crowe did.

"Choosing Tide predates our understanding of the phenomenon you've sensed. It is a constructed ritual using natural seawater, tidal timing and old enchantment. We do not assume the presence itself assigns every student."

Jasper relaxed slightly. Harper whispered, "Good." Ava asked, "Can outside marine magic interfere?" Crowe's expression said she had considered exactly this.

"The basin has been inspected. We have no record of interference."

"No record is not impossible."

Crowe almost smiled.

"Correct."

The first-years walked around the dry edges. Harper stood in front of Brannor's platform.

"Mine."

Mia said, "You do not know that."

"I know myself."

"The Tide doesn't care."

"Rude."

Jasper stopped at the centre channel. Even at low tide, a narrow ribbon of seawater moved through it. He felt nothing. No Titan-presence. Just old magic in stone. A faint tingling on his skin, similar to ward boundaries. Good. Then he stepped one pace closer. The water stopped. Only the narrow ribbon. For less than a second. Jasper froze. The current resumed. Ava had seen. Of course. Harper had not.

"What?"

Ava whispered, "It paused." Crowe turned.

"What paused?"

Jasper told her. Crowe approached the channel. She checked the ward lines. Nothing visibly wrong.

"Did you feel the presence?"

"No."

"Pressure?"

"No."

Ava said, "Could be basin magic reacting to a student." Crowe nodded slowly.

"Possible. The ritual may register students before formal Choosing."

That explanation was boring enough to be comforting. Harper looked at Jasper.

"Imagine it picks Nocten because you made the water weird."

"That's not how it works."

"You don't know."

Ava said, "Neither do you." They continued the tour. Students learned safety rules. Enter only when called. Walk, do not dive. Do not intentionally resist. Harper raised her hand. Do not grab platforms until the current carries you into the marked zone. Do not attempt spells during the ritual.

"What happens if you do resist?"

Crowe closed her eyes briefly.

"The current continues."

"What if you're a strong swimmer?"

"You are seven."

"Everyone keeps saying that like it answers things."

"In this case, it does."

Jasper laughed. Crowe added, "The ritual is not a competition. Fighting the current does not earn another Order." Harper looked at Brannor again.

"Fine."

Ava whispered, "That was not agreement." After the tour, first-years spent the week speculating even harder. Jasper tried not to. Choosing was months away. The Sea mystery remained more important. Yet every time he thought of the basin, he remembered the tiny pause in the water. No pressure. No presence. Just a current stopping when he came close. He added it to unknown. Not because everything needed to become mystery. Because pretending it did not happen would be another kind of mistake.