His feet sounded very loud as he crossed the tiles to take his place, sneakers squeaking slightly with every step. Dink-squink, dink-squink. Dread weighed him down. She, on the other hand, seemed to glide. He didn't hear her at all; for all he knew, she hadn't moved from her seat. But when he turned she was there, of course. Motionless. Staring. Wand dangling from long fingers.

Luke drew a long breath, blowing it out slowly through pursed lips, drawing his wand with the languid motion of a swimmer, or a sleepwalker. He had practiced with the new wand as best he could, though of course there had been no more practice duels; at least, not with her. Jackson had helped him to prepare, under Lunsford's watchful eye. For Luke, the hardest part of the aftermath of Asante's visit was being forbidden to tell Jackson and Andromeda the truth. They suspected something, of course, knowing that normal fire could not destroy a wand, but when Jackson's good-natured questioning had begun to upset Luke, Lunsford had stepped in and put an end to it. For a day or two the friendship between the boys had been somewhat strained, but then, while practicing, Luke had deflected Jackson's Disarming hex with one of his own and Jackson had been so impressed that he could no longer be annoyed.

Luke had been impressed with himself. He felt more in tune with this wand, and with pride he attributed this to the kitsune whisker within it. Remembering how the-one-who-reads had rallied the spirits of the Heart Ring to hold back Asante's wrath, Luke imagined that he wielded that same power at the end of his arm. It made him feel quicker and more confident…or, it had, until he faced Dancella Rondell on the third aboveground floor of the Bastion on the day of their final exam.

The large room was absolutely silent. Luke kept his eyes on Dancella, but he could feel the intensity of the stares of the rest of the class, and of Abernathy. This was the matchup they had all been waiting for.

"Begin," said Abernathy, his voice cutting sharply through the expectant hush.

Luke did not move. He had spent a long time nervously contemplating how to handle this duel, but now that it came down to it, he felt paralyzed. Dancella's pale eyes drilled into him. Luke had never met anyone so full of anger, so unreasonably bitter; in particular, her reaction of disgust to Lunsford's touch troubled him. But suddenly, when he was supposed to be concentrating on defeating an opponent, it was Lunsford's voice that came to his mind, along with the memory of crunchy snow beneath his boots and hot chocolate beneath his chin. There are a lot of unknowns to take into account before we can make judgments.

Luke smiled. He didn't mean to, but there it was. Dancella's brows twitched with instant suspicion, but for once he didn't feel intimidated. He smiled, and gave her a little nod, and moved one foot back, relaxing into a dueling stance.

After a few seconds of hesitation, Dancella also took up the proper stance, for the first time accepting the formality of the duel instead of mocking him with flippancy. Luke breathed, counting heartbeats. One…two…three…four…

She moved first, with a Disarming hex. If he had dodged, he would have been too slow, but Luke did not move toward the barrier that he could have used for cover. He dove forward, low, landing on one shoulder and hurling a "Expelliarmus" of his own at Dancella just before he rolled, a clumsy half-tumble that halved the distance between them. Dancella evaded and sent a "Locomotor wibbly!" his way, but again he rolled, moving beneath the trajectory of her hex. It singed the floor where he had been a second before.

As he had expected, she stood her ground. Anyone else would have backed away; close quarters made dueling much more difficult, impeding the proper wand movements, and besides, it was a natural reaction to move away from an attacker. Natural, perhaps, to anyone but Dancella. Never once in practice had she made use of the wooden barrier, and today was no exception.

"Reducto!" he cried, and she spun away from the barrier, realizing too late that he had not aimed at the barrier: he had aimed at the floor at her feet, and the ceramic tile there splintered with a poof of dust and shards. Dancella lost her balance and fell backward, and Luke used those precious seconds to scramble forward, standing over her with a grin. He felt no malice, only the thrill of unexpected success.

Dancella stared up at him in surprise for about a second, and then: "Expelliarmus!" she shouted with a snap of her wand, and Luke fell as though punched hard in the chest. His wand left his hand and Dancella caught it, regaining her feet to stand triumphant.

"Rondell takes the round," said Abernathy blandly. "Excellent form, girl. Points added for exploiting your opponent's hesitation. A."

The class applauded. They had expected no less.

"As for you, Baxter," went on the professor. Luke looked at him with a wide smile. Abernathy seemed taken aback for a moment and then said, "Surprising tactics. Well done finding your opponent's weakness. A."

There was further applause, and Luke gave a little bow, feeling both silly and exceptionally lighthearted. He turned to Dancella and saw her holding out his wand. "Thanks," he said, accepting it. She did not reply, but he had not expected her to.

"That was amazing," said Andromeda with feeling, some time later as they exited the building into the warm spring sunshine. "Hitting the floor! No one else thought of that. That wand really suits you."

"You did great, too," he said, and it was true—Andromeda had won her round against Wynne Ackerman and earned a B (points had been deducted for her refusal to Disarm Wynne after he had been incapacitated by her Jelly-Legs hex).

Andromeda inclined her head in gracious acknowledgment of the compliment. "Well, we're done. You've made it through one whole year of wizard schooling, Luke. How does it feel?"

She held an imaginary microphone in front of him as they walked and Luke grinned. "I dunno," he said. "It's been…a pretty great year. I'm kinda sad to be leaving."

"You're not going right away, are you? Aren't you staying for graduation?"

"Well, yeah." The seniors' graduation ceremony would be held on June 14, a full nine days away; no students other than the graduates themselves were required to attend, and normally few did (besides those with older siblings graduating), but since the announcement had been made that Doctor Yancey would be delivering the commencement address, it seemed that almost everyone planned to stay the extra time. Lunsford had confided to Luke and Jackson that this was quite a hassle for the House-Elves, but since these were special circumstances, Zander had agreed to pay double-overtime to those willing to work the extra days.

They wandered into the Joining Glade and sat in the shadow of a spread-winged gryphon. "Have you talked to her yet?" Andromeda asked.

"No." Though she had been visible about campus, Doctor Yancey had not returned to her classroom since the incident in May. Luke had been a little disappointed that she hadn't been there at least for the final exam, to see his perfect transfiguration of a sneaker into a stone. Every time he saw her, she was surrounded by students and professors clamoring for her attention, and he had given up on being able to speak with her before heading back to Kentucky. "That's okay, though. She's got a lot to do. And I'm pretty sure Sky Kitsunes will be in her Transfig class next year, too."

He gave Andromeda a knowing smile, and she laughed. "Such intrigues, Mister Baxter! I'd better stick with you next year if I want to know all the secrets on campus."

"Andi, baby, I'm hurt," said a new voice. "I thought I was your number-one source."

Andromeda plucked a half-rotted cherry that had fallen from a nearby tree and lobbed it at Merwin Hyatt, who had sauntered over while they were talking. "You're my number-one source for blustering bullshit, Merwin."

Luke looked at her with an open-mouthed gape; Andromeda's cheeks pinked but her smirk was proud. Meanwhile Merwin was crowing with laughter, and flopped onto the grass to put an arm around her shoulders. "Andi! I didn't think you had it in you! You're my kind of gal."

"Hands off, Hyatt, or I'll take them off for you!" This shout, from halfway across the Joining Glade, was from Jackson, whose robes hung open lackadaisically. He broke into a sprint and Merwin scooched away from Andromeda just in time to meet Jackson's headlong charge. The two scuffled in the grass until Jackson banged an elbow on one of the gryphon's bronze paws and they called a truce while he recovered.

"How'd it go?" Jackson asked Luke, rubbing his elbow briskly. There was grass in his hair, and a cherry had stained one shoulder of his robes. "You didn't hurt her, did you?"

"Who, Dancy? Jack, I don't think I could hurt her if I tried."

"Well, what did you do?"

"Knocked her down by blowing up part of the floor, but she Disarmed me and won."

"Are you talking about Dancella Rondell?" Merwin adjusted his glasses, which had been knocked askew in the wrestling match. "You pal around with her?"

"I don't," said Luke. "She doesn't like me. Jack does, though."

"Seriously? Man, that girl is a closed book. Kinda scary, too."

"Aw, that's not very nice," said Jackson. "She's just…different, that's all. I like her. And I'll pound you if you say anything mean about her."

Merwin straightened his robes primly. "Jackson, my good man, I would be thrilled to teach you a lesson at your earliest possible convenoof!"

Jackson had tackled Merwin again, and Andromeda and Luke leaned back, enjoying the sunshine and the free entertainment.

Click, click, click. The clasps on Luke's suitcases—he had had to purchase a third, larger case to hold his Emerald Hill robes and other things acquired over the course of the year—snapped home. He was all packed. The little cubbies and drawers looked forlorn, emptied of his things. I'll be back, he promised the bed and the shelves and the window.

It was June 14, graduation day. The ceremony was scheduled for mid-afternoon, and that evening the student body would be departing; only the seniors were allowed to stay the extra night (this annual event was nicknamed Flash Night and was notorious for its wild parties, which the staff generally overlooked unless things got violent). The parents of the graduating seniors, and a fair proportion of the student body, were already at the Quidditch stadium, having gone straight there after lunch in order to get the best possible seats. They were all hoping that Doctor Yancey would show her true kitsune form again, though Luke seriously doubted she would, despite the clamor from parents for another demonstration.

He wandered into the hall. There was still almost an hour remaining before he was supposed to meet Jackson and the Day quintuplets outside the stadium. On an impulse, instead of going down the stairs to the Den, he went up. He passed the floor belonging to the second-year freshmen, and the third-year sophomores, and reached the topmost floor, with the names of the fourth-year Sky Kitsune boys. The staircase stopped here, but against one wall there was a ladder leading to a trapdoor that gave the students access to the dormitory's flat roof. Luke had only been up there once before; it was considered the domain of the juniors and seniors, and underclassmen were discouraged from going up, but he figured there probably wouldn't be anyone to stop him today.

The trapdoor was unlocked, and he opened it and climbed out into the cool, overcast day. The roof was a large open space, broken only by the extrusions of the chimneys at regular intervals, walled with a parapet that was as high as Luke's chest with regularly-spaced holes at the bottom to allow water to drain. (During the winter months, the upperclassmen were reported to build spectacular snow sculptures and forts on the roofs, and Luke looked forward to being able to participate one day.) He looked around aimlessly, and wandered toward the front edge of the roof, where he rested his arms on the stone parapet and looked down at the courtyard.

"Hello, Luke."

He jumped, startled; he had just seen the entire roof and it had been empty. But when he recognized the voice, he smiled. "Hi, Doctor Yancey."

She was standing a short distance away, wearing another tweed skirt suit like the one he remembered seeing her in on the day they had met. "I was hoping to catch you before you left."

"It's okay. I guess you've been pretty busy."

"I have, yes, but that's no excuse. You deserve better from me, and I'm sorry."

He shrugged, feeling a little awkward. "I, uh, forgive you."

"Thank you." She approached and stood beside him, and together they looked out at the other dormitories and the mountainside above, which was still black and scorched.

"Is there any news about the phoenix?" Luke asked.

"Nothing yet. Hopefully by this time next year the sphinxes will have given us the go-ahead."

"I hope so. Hey, I wanted to ask you—the-one-who-reads said that your only chance of getting to us in time was if your clan could help you out. Is that what happened?"

"It is. I was still with them when I heard the call. Our business was almost concluded, but it would have taken me several days to return here on my own. In a time of emergency, a clan can summon its collective strength for something important—calling a storm, defeating an enemy, sending a traveler. Thankfully, they accepted my plea without questioning."

"I'm glad it worked."

"So am I. More than you know."

"Is...um, is your brother…dead?"

She looked at him with kindness. "I don't know. It's certainly possible, but I don't know. Luke, may I see your wand?"

"Oh. Sure." Without his robes, Luke was without a good way to carry his wand, and so he had wedged it beneath his belt on his right side. He gently pulled it loose and handed it to Yancey, who took it with reverence.

"I can feel him here. It does me good to know that he will be with you from now on."

"Zander said this is the ninth. Do you know any of the people who have the other eight?"

"Ronald Flax, Trudy Underwood, Ophelia Paulson, Charles O'Malley, Sasha Bronson, Peter Klages, Molly Trask," Yancey rattled off, and smiled at his surprise. "I know their names, though I've only met Mister Klages and Ms Trask. That's seven. The eighth…was given in August of 1939."

A slow grin spread over Luke's face. "Yours?"

"Mine." She drew it, a long wand of pale wood, and held it beside the other. They were different in shape and grain, but all the same Luke thought there was something similar about them, much like the similarity he had seen between Yancey and the photo of the kitsune Singüe. "I was so hoping the ninth would be given during my time here. And I can think of no one more worthy to receive it than you." She returned his wand, but when he took it, she put her hand over his, holding the wand between them like a sacred object. "Luke," she said, and when he looked up, her eyes were green, the green he remembered from the yearbook photographs. Shadows played through that color like the movement of leaves. "I will not let you down again."

Luke smiled. "I know."

She laughed then, and he watched the more human color flood back into her eyes. "I must admit, aumenar, I am glad to know you."

"Ow-men…what does that mean?"

Yancey ruffled his hair affectionately. "It means little brother."

They walked together toward the stadium in friendly silence. The campus was almost deserted by now, but as they passed White Hall a voice called out to them, and Luke waved as Zoë came dashing over with two adults in tow. "Luke, these are my parents. Mom, Dad, this is Luke."

"Oh! Hi," said Luke, shaking their hands. Mister Fratelli was tall with close-cropped black curls, much like his daughter, and his wife was a delicate-looking blonde. Luke was surprised that Mister Fratelli, who was a Muggle, had been allowed on campus, but he supposed that Zander had allowed it as a special return for her courage in the Heart Ring.

"We were fortunate enough to meet Doctor Yancey this morning," said Zoë's mother, "but I'm so glad to meet you as well, Luke. Zoë speaks of you as a hero."

Zoë cleared her throat pointedly, and Luke grinned. "I sure wouldn't have made it far without her."

"Please excuse me," said Doctor Yancey, "but I have to make some final preparations. Zoë, Luke…have a good summer."

She headed for the stairs that would take her down to the field-level entrance, and Luke joined the Fratellis in making for the stands. They met the Day children, along with Jackson and Doctor Lunsford, and together found a place to sit, high in the stands on the south side.

At three-o'clock the band struck up Pomp and Circumstance, and the graduates filed out of the western field-level entrance to take their seats in the rows of chairs that had been set up on the grass, looking east toward a low platform that had been erected with a podium bearing the Emerald Hill crest. In chairs on the stage were several adults. The seniors looked grand in their formal graduation robes and mortarboards with long green tassels; each wore a sash reflecting his style and herald.

When they were seated and quiet, Reverend Mickelberg took the stage to deliver the invocation, followed by Principal Zander, who welcomed the crowd, told a few funny anecdotes, and introduced the class's valedictorian—none other than Mandy Kines, who had served as president of the Kitsune dormitory. Mandy spoke of her pride in her class, almost all of whom, when called to action by the staff, had bravely taken to the air to fight the fire.

Then there was the special musical performance, a duet between a sixth-year soprano and Doctor Hurle, a Botany professor, on the cello. When the music had ended and the applause had waned, the crowd stirred, collectively sitting up straighter on their benches, as First Wizard Joel Perlmutter crossed the stage to stand behind the podium.

"Students, faculty, parents," he said, his amplified voice booming throughout the stadium. "You are all, by now, familiar with our commencement speaker. We, your government, ask your forgiveness for the deception you may feel. We felt it was necessary to conceal the identity of this, our ally…not only for your protection, but for hers as well. You see, we feared your reaction. It is so easy to fall victim to fear of the Other. We so easily become entrenched in the mentality of us versus them—the known against the unknown, the comfortable against the different. It is this fear, this flawed mentality, that has been the root cause of every war in the history of our species. And while your government has worked for many years to establish a relationship with people beyond our species—yes, I say people, for I have known kitsunes with more humanity than some men, one of whom is here with us today—we feared that you would not understand, that you could not accept one who is so very Other, so beyond what you have known, so outside the realm of your comfort.

"We were wrong.

"In my long career I have never been so proud of my magical countrymen as on the day it was revealed that there is a kitsune among you. You responded not with fear, or hatred, or horror. You responded with graciousness and warmth. All of my struggles to establish and maintain this connection between our species have perhaps accomplished less than you managed to do in the space of a few minutes. Your acceptance will go down in the history of our country as one of our finest moments. You have my gratitude.

"It is my distinct pleasure and honor to introduce your commencement speaker: your teacher, your ally, your friend, Doctor Alice Yancey."

The applause was thunderous. Luke wondered if they would be able to hear it in Red River. Yancey's heeled shoes tapped across the stage and she smiled down at the graduates, eventually holding up a hand to gently quiet the noise.

"Hello," she said, and the crowd erupted into cheers again. She laughed, waving both arms until the stadium had quieted. "Thank you, First Wizard, for your kind words.

"It is so true that our natural reaction is to fear the Other. This is just as true for my people as it is for yours. For many hundreds of years we have shared a planet and yet done our best to avoid one another…because we are different. We are so very different, and I had no idea of the true size of the gulf between us until I came to live among you. I found your actions unpredictable, your motivations nearly incomprehensible. I was easily frustrated at first. Your languages were strange, your habits were strange, your clothing was strange. It has been my life's work to learn your ways, to immerse myself in the Other, to place myself at your mercy. It has been difficult and, at times, painful work. And whether or not it would ever mean anything all came down to you.

"I was sent to Emerald Hill to protect you, to guard against tragedy and catastrophe. And for some years I have felt very alone, carrying this burden. For all that I have learned and all the progress that has been made toward a true understanding between us…still I felt myself superior to you, to this Other in which I have been living. I selfishly clutched this burden, pitying myself for having no one with whom it could be shared. I tell you this only so that I can agree with the First Wizard in saying that I was so wrong. I am not alone. All this time, I have been surrounded not only by allies, but by equals. I think that I truly believe this for the first time. And I'm not only talking about the adults, though they certainly did act bravely when the school was in danger. I no longer consider myself superior to anyone here, not even the youngest freshman. Your country has walked a long road toward equality, and it is a lesson that you now have imparted to me. I am a better person because of it. I think we all are better people because of the night of the fire. We have discovered that our greatest strength is in cooperation.

"Graduates, we send you out now into the world. There is so much strangeness out there, so much Other. You will encounter people with different appearances, different beliefs, different abilities. But if I have learned one thing during my time among you, it is this: our lives are made rich by these differences. You must embrace not only your own uniqueness, but the uniqueness of each person you encounter. And when you meet with people and experiences that are new and strange and shocking, recall your own courage on the day you met a kitsune. You have the power to erase borders, to stamp out hatred, to be a light for all the world to see, and it has nothing to do with your magic; rather, it has everything to do with your humanity. I am proud to stand before you wearing this human skin, because you have shown me the nobility of being a human. Because of you, my life's work can continue, and this new phase of openness and acceptance between our peoples will make richer the lives of both humans and kitsunes.

"Graduates, I salute you. Principal Zander, First Wizard Perlmutter, I present to you the Emerald Hill Class of 1975."

If the initial applause had been thunder, this new applause was an earthquake. Everyone was on their feet, the younger students even standing on the bleachers. Luke certainly was, sandwiched between Zoë and Jackson, but amidst the tumult he leaned back slightly to look around Jackson. Doctor Lunsford was also standing and also clapping, but he wore a complicated expression, the pieces of which Luke could not identify.

It's okay, he thought, and clapped even harder. It's all gonna be okay.

The graduates crossed the platform one by one to shake the hands of Yancey, Zander, and Perlmutter and receive their diplomas. The band played a recessional and they departed, and the crowd began to make its slow way out of the stadium.

"So you guys are still coming over this summer, right?" asked Aristaeus Day, pushing through his siblings to address Luke and Jackson.

"Yeah!" cried Jackson. "I'm sure we can."

"When, though?" asked Theia. "Like in July, halfway through? Ooh, maybe in August and we can all travel back to school together!"

"Give us your address, Jack," said Andromeda, "and we'll write to each other and work it out."

"Here you go," said Lunsford, producing a little notebook and a pen from the pocket of his blazer. He scribbled the address and handed it to Andromeda.

Luke shouldered his way closer as they descended the steps toward the exit. "Do you live here?" he asked Lunsford. "I mean, when school's out?"

"Nope," said Lunsford with a smile. "I have a house in Colorado. Maybe you and Jack can come visit me sometime, too."

"That'd be great!"

"Good. I'd like that. Have a good trip home, boys. See you soon."

Lunsford headed toward White Hall, and Jackson gave Luke a mighty shove. "Come on," he said, "I'll race you to the dorms!"

It was a close thing, but Jackson won.

Dear Mark:

Sorry I haven't written in a while. Again. The school year is over and Jack and I are back in Kentucky for the summer. Maybe you and Kelly can come see us sometime?

School was really great. I think next year I'm going to take band class. What instrument should I play?

I miss you. But I have lots of friends and I'm happy. So don't worry about me.

Luke

- The End -