Only when the school's totem appeared behind the principal did silence fall like a tomb; the children would cut their chatter and quietly head to their classrooms.

This professor inspired awe, and it wasn't just his intimidating appearance, but the entire mythology that surrounded him; how in Albania he single-handedly killed dozens of Italians, during the Occupation he was a terror to the Germans and the traitors, but most importantly, no child wanted to test his hand; if he slapped you, you could lose your head.