Being the devil's son had never been easy for Lucifer Devil, Jr. Because of his father's name and reputation, everyone expected him to be this thoroughly evil, ugly creature. So it was a big shock when a fair-haired, shy boy, who also happened to be genuinely nice, showed up for his first day of school at Hell International School.

The staff at the school had seen a lot of antics and put up with even more. The other students were the offspring of demons, monsters, wizards and basically every villain that had been sent to hell and had started families there in the last 2,000 years. But when the chauffeured limousine arrived at the main gate of the school, Mr Blackbeard, the principal of the school and grandson of the infamous pirate, stopped dead in his tracks.

He had prepared meticulously for the arrival of this special transfer student: After all, one didn't get the chance to teach the son of the big boss everyday. So he had not only put on his best outfit, but also taken great care that every hedge on the school campus had been trimmed to infernal perfection and that the students in the school band knew how to play the national anthem without getting in a physical fight or destroying half a dozen instruments in the process. He had threatened to expel anyone who misbehaved, and since he ran the only state school in hell, they were not about to risk their education for this.

And now this. Lucifer Devil Jr.'s first day at his school couldn't have started off any worse.

Of course, the students who were in the band noticed what was wrong, and nasty rumours about the new transfer student were already rampant.

"Are you sure he is really the devil's son?"

"Well, perhaps he was adopted."

"I heard his mother had an affair with an angel, but I don't remember which one."

"Since he doesn't look like his father at all, it is either that or the devil stole him from his real parents when he was a baby."

As a matter of fact, young Lucifer, the devil's only child and heir, had been kept out of the public eye ever since his birth. Until the moment he first laid eyes on the boy, Mr Blackbeard had thought that had been due to the fact that his parents were afraid he could be kidnapped or even murdered by one of his father's subjects. But now the principal suspected that the boy must have been a huge embarrassment because he looked like an angel. In fact, he was so gorgeous that mere words could hardly express it: Blonde locks, blue eyes, rosebud lips - the full package. He even spoke like an angel, and Mr Blackbeard had come across one or two of them in his lifetime, as he walked up to the principal and extended his hand.

"Excuse me, sir, I'm Lucifer Devil. Are you waiting for me?"

"Yes, as a matter of fact, we all are, young master. I'm Mr Blackbeard, the principal of Hell International School, and we are happy to have you here," Mr Blackbeard replied in a very formal manner and signalled the band to play the national anthem, which it promptly started to play with as much grandeur as the band could muster.

The boy was evidently shocked. "Wow, thank you! I didn't expect that when I told Mum I wanted to go to school!"

If there was a word that had never been said at Hell International School before, it was a plain and simple "thank you", so the boy's reaction shocked the principal. "I believe your mother said you have been homeschooled by tutors."

"That's true. But none of them stuck around for more than a few weeks because my Dad either fired them or had them killed... I'm sorry. I didn't want to suggest that you might die because we don't live with my Dad anymore."

"Well, that's good to hear!" the principal blurted out before he managed to pull himself together. "I mean, it's nice to hear that the teachers who are teaching are not risking their lives! Let me give you a tour of our school before we do anything else."

Hell International School had countless buildings, and some of them were more important than others. The school had been established in the year of the Emperor Nero's death, and every time a building had become too old or old-fashioned, a new building had been added to the school. That was the reason why the campus was basically a maze, and there were students and teachers who used a navigation system to find their classrooms. Mr Blackbeard didn't need one as he had taught here for over fifty years.

Young Lucifer seemed to be genuinely impressed when he was handheld device with a navigation system and was told why he needed it. "So this place is as big as my Dad's palace?"

"Not quite as big, sir. But it is the second-biggest building in hell," the principal stated proudly. "Let's start our tour with the chemistry building. It's that building on the hill."

"You mean the one that has no roof?"

"That's the one. It has no roof because the last one blew up in an explosion 100 years ago, and my predecessor decided replacing it just wasn't worth it because explosions happen there all the time."

Lucifer was impressed. He was even more impressed when he saw that the building contained a lab in which the students were allowed to experiment. At the moment, they were trying to make snowflakes.

"You might think that hell is the only place on earth where the weather is always hot and sunny. But our annual Christmas celebration is coming up, and it is the only day in the year when we are legally allowed to change the weather and have faux snowflakes in hell," Mr Blackbeard explained.

The boy was all ears when Christmas was mentioned and could barely hide his excitement. "So you really celebrate Christmas here? That wasn't just a story my father made up?"

"Well, we do. It is a traditional event in our school year. We have celebrated it here ever since the Middle Ages. Is that a problem?"

"I think it's awesome!" the boy stated. "And that tree over there in the center of the square is your Christmas tree?"

Mr Blackbeard nodded. The boy's enthusiasm frightened Mr Blackbeard, who was aware of the fact that not all parents agreed with the school's decision to celebrate Christmas in hell. The devil was a shrewd politician who usually avoided touching upon controversial topics, which is why he had never taken a public stance in favour or against the Christmas festivities.

That is why he tried to distract young Lucifer and showed him other buildings on the vast campus such as the rest of the science wing, the music building with the auditorium, the two computer rooms, and the gym, which was always undergoing a renovation of some kind because Mr Blackbeard's students liked to smash the place during their P.E. classes. The tour ended in the cafeteria. "It is more than just a place where you eat your meal: It is a popular meeting place as well," Mr Blackbeard explained.

When Lucifer saw the huge hall that fitted 1,500 people, he was not that impressed as he had seen bigger halls. He seemed to like the place nonetheless as soon as he saw that the cooks were preparing tacos for the students today.

They were about to leave and introduce Lucifer to his new class when a boy with three eyes and a reptile tail came running towards them. "Hey Lucifer!"

Mr Blackbeard found this behaviour irritating. The boy was George Schneckenhaus, the son of a fellow teacher.

As soon as Lucifer saw the boy, his face broke into a smile. Then he himself ran towards the boy and embraced him. For a second, it was as if everything that was bad on the planet had been erased, as if all that counted were these two boys who were obviously best friends.

But young Lucifer didn't seem to care. "I'm so happy! I've been looking for you everywhere!" he explained. "Mummy said you might be here, which is why I said I wanted no Christmas gifts this year. I just wanted to attend a normal school... But how have you been?"

"Well, it wasn't easy for us at first after your father had fired Dad..." George Schneckenhaus admitted. "But Dad teaches German and Latin here now. So does this mean you will go to this school permanently?"

"Yes, I will."

"Cool!"

Whereas the two friends couldn't have been happier about their reunion, Mr Blackbeard was worried. A close friendship was the sort of behaviour that was normally not tolerated in hell.

But then again, there was nothing normal about the state the world was in now.