Chapter Seven

Intersecting Corridors

Ant woke the next morning with no clear memory of returning to his room. I must have been dead tired, he thought. He was still dead tired. He hadn't gotten much more than four hours of sleep.

After dressing, he trundled down to the Dining Hall to eat breakfast. The school's standard fare was back on display, and there was a dreary air in the hall as many students realized this to their disappointment, Shaun among them.

"I think you were right, Lunetta," he grumbled over his scrambled eggs. "It was too spicy at first, but I'll admit this seems bland now."

"Ya tellin' me," she grunted back. "Definitely asking Momma to send me a bottle of hot sauce." Lunetta ate quickly, explaining, "Got Quidditch practice. I might actually be playing against Great Horned Serpent next month, so I gotta up my game."

Shaun sighed. "I have lots of homework to do. I'm not really falling behind, but… it's piling up, y'know?"

Ant nodded his agreement. "I get it, believe me." He was happy not to have any homework this weekend but knew the weeks ahead would be miserable. Technically, he had a meeting with the Professors later where they would tell him the results of his most recent exams, but he knew the results. He had aced them. They would certainly set him up with fourth-year classes for the upcoming week.

Shaun watched Lunetta inhale a mixture of egg and potatoes before blandly stating, "I hope you're doing okay."

Lunetta, mouth full, pointed at herself inquisitively, then gave a thumbs-up.

Shaun shook his head. "Ant." He looked his friend full in the face. "You look like you barely slept last night," he pointed out, concern edging out his attempt at an emotionless appeal.

Ant paused. He was sure he did look tired. "I'm great," he said. "Really. I'm going to have a relaxing weekend and catch up on lost sleep. No homework for me, remember? I just took finals."

"Okay," Shaun said. "But if you want to hang out while I do homework, I'll be in the Transfiguration classroom." They finished eating and started heading their separate ways.

Ant felt bad about not spending time with his friends. Before Shaun got too far away, Ant called out to him, "I'll join you after my appointment with the professors!" Shaun's face lit up in a smile as he waved to Ant.

While Ant didn't have homework, he did have access to the fourth-year booklist, so he went to the library and gathered the books he needed. He had purchased, outlined, diagrammed, and tabbed Chadwick's Charms, Volume Four months before, so it was not one he would need to bother with now. Indeed, he had also finished Intermediate Transfiguration, which was supposed to last him until fifth year, and he would not need new History or Potions texts. All that remained were the texts for Herbology – Goshawk's Guide – and Defense, for which there were two texts, as there had been for second year, as well. Ant patrolled the library shelves and quickly found Goshawk's Guide to Herbology, the third volume of Berthilde Roche's Practical Defensive Magic, and The Dark Arts Outsmarted by Guozhi Chang. He knew Peter or Felicity would share their old texts with him, but he was sure he'd get bored of having no homework to do and figured it was for the best if he got started now rather than later.

Ant had always been a good student, but he had quickly grown bored of his Nomaj classwork. He had sped through all Reading, English, and Math classes put before him with ease, but his old public school was not the sort to accelerate students' coursework. One of his teachers had once given him placement tests and found that his level of mastery was at the same level as Nicole, his eldest sister, senior to him by five years. That teacher had attempted to get Ant elevated to his sister's grade and been rebuffed, although repeated attempts had been successful enough to let him skip one grade, still leaving him one year behind Marie. Ant reflected on that as he returned his finished library books and checked out the new ones and was thankful that he would probably never grow bored of learning magic.

Ant started with the shortest of the texts, (Practical Defensive Magic, Volume Three) and was four chapters in, or about a third of the way, when he felt the first pangs of hunger. He checked his watch and, seeing that he had half an hour before lunch, decided to stop by the snakewood to check the potion's water level.

When he arrived in the bright, sunlit courtyard, he flicked his wand at the base of the tree and muttered, "Finite." The Disillusionment Charm hiding his makeshift Potions workstation shimmered and dissipated. He settled down and uncovered the cauldron. The water was still at a safe level. It took a considerable amount of heat or exposure to evaporate Styx water, which was likely why the potion required it. Ant added a couple ounces from the jug to get it to the maximum fill line he had marked per Rionach's instructions. He covered it back up and leaned against the tree to enjoy the warmth of the sun, which was less enjoyable outside of this courtyard, where the weather was a blustery February chill. He recast the Disillusionment Charm on the workstation and settled back into the comfortable spot, ignoring the mild hunger that he would have to wait until lunchtime to sate.

It had begun snowing again, he noticed as he looked back up. The snowfall was amusing to watch; as it neared the height of the walls surrounding the courtyard, it was wicked away quickly to the nearest wall. Ant watched it, wondering what enchantment on the courtyard could cause this, before something occurred to him.

He couldn't feel the sun on his face.

He looked at the sky more discerningly. When he had sat down, the sky had been mostly clear above him, the weak February sun angling a little north of the center of the southern wall of the courtyard, with a bit of cloud in the north. It was now nearly in the southwestern corner of the courtyard, the blue sky totally obscured by the clouds from which the snow was falling. Ant's stomach rumbled as if he hadn't eaten all day. He looked again at his watch. It read 3:45. Lunch had ended three hours ago.

This disconcerting thought was swept away when Ant realized he was already fifteen minutes late for his appointment with the professors at the Headmistress's office. He yelped as if in physical pain, snatched up his bag, and sprinted inside. He didn't know any shortcuts between here and Professor Hicks's office, so he would just have to get there as quickly as possible and apologize profusely for being late.

As he ran, he swept his backpack around his body, hooking his left arm through it strap to use as a fulcrum, enabling the right strap to catch on his other arm easily. He noticed his hands as he completed the motion: they were filthy with dirt and bore small scrapes. He swept his wand out of his sleeve pocket and cast the Scouring Charm. His right hand filled with soap bubbles. He stuck his wand between his teeth, rubbing his hands together without breaking stride. When he was satisfied that his hands were clean, he wiped his left off as best he could and took his wand, muttering, "Bulla evanesca." The soap vanished, taking the dirt with it. His hands were clean.

Ant arrived outside Professor Hicks's office with a stitch in his side, out of breath, and sweating. He quickly took stock of himself. His uniform was wrinkled and dirty – he couldn't fix wrinkles now but siphoned off the dirt with a charm he had found in Chadwick's. He took deep breaths. As the stitch in his side lessened, he siphoned the sweat off his forehead as well, then put his wand away and knocked on the Headmistress's door.

Mister Spaulding opened it on the other side. "Better get in here," he whispered. "They've been discussing why you're late." He led Ant through the antechamber into the study. Ant looked around it as they entered, eager despite the situation to see how it compared to the Head's office in Hogwarts. It was positively Spartan by comparison: there were a few wooden chairs, lacquered in a cherry finish with thick cushions of cracked navy velvet; a matching cherry desk and larger chair behind it; cherry bookshelves with books bound in navy leather. Ant saw two biographies prominently displayed of witches named Seraphina Picquery and Ruth Bader Ginsburg. A portrait of the Sayre-Steward family dominated the wall behind the desks. The chairs were arranged in a circle with the desk in the middle. Ant looked at their occupants clockwise from the Headmistress: Professors Hicks, Spaulding, Camejo, Sunley, Boot, and Fontaine; Fontaine had pulled his chair over to sit at the right of Professor Hicks. On the desk was a small pot with a delicate flower growing in it. Despite being in the middle of the castle, and not on the top floor, the two walls perpendicular to the ones with the entry and portrait had windows that showed the blustery weather outside.

"Thanks for joining us," Professor Hicks reprimanded, though her expression was not unkind. "Care to explain your tardiness?"

Ant didn't want to explain that he had fallen asleep in the snakewood courtyard, so he lied. "I'm very sorry, Professors. I was excited about the fourth-year curriculum and couldn't wait to get started on the new texts. I lost track of time." He let his usually guarded expression drop away so he would look as guilty and embarrassed as he felt.

Professor Hicks exchanged a quick look with Professor Spaulding, then gestured for Ant to sit in the remaining chair. "Let's talk about that, Anthony. You seem to be running yourself ragged keeping up with the schoolwork."

Ant bristled. "I can keep up. I promise. I just, uh," he said, casting about for an excuse before deciding to settle on the truth. "I've been studying a lot outside of what the professors have set up for me."

"What sort of things?" Hicks asked, concerned.

Ant stood in the Phytomancy stance Rachael had taught him. He pointed his wand at the potted plant and muttered, "Herbivicus." The plant sprouted two more flowers, each as beautiful and delicate as the first. He cast Inanimatus Conjurus nonverbally, conjuring four feet of rope, and charmed it to behave like a snake, complete with a frayed end flicking out like a tongue. He Transfigured it into a pitcher of wine, then vinegar, then grape juice. He moved toward the window to cast another spell, but Professor Camejo, closest to the window, put a hand on his shoulder and steered him back toward his chair.

"I will admit," Professor Hicks stated, "that you never fail to impress. Even so, we're slowing your progress."

Ant thought about protesting but decided it would sound childish. He remembered a film he had seen where a character whined about his mentor holding him back. It had sounded pathetic coming from a grown man; Ant was willing to bet his voice would crack mid-sentence just to spite him if he tried it. He waited to see what the headmistress would say next.

"Your parents sent me a letter, Anthony."

That was not what he had expected at all. He had barely been back at school a month. Had something happened? He decided to ask. "Did something happen?" His voice did crack.

"Your family is fine, but they haven't heard from you since you got back to school. You have an owl, correct?"

Ant squirmed a bit. He hadn't even thought about writing home. He knew that even if his parents knew there was no reason to worry, they would expect to hear about his grades. Even though they had no idea about the content of his classes, they still expected him to perform to a high standard. "The weather hasn't been great, and Theo's an elf owl. I don't want to think about him getting hurt in these storms we've been having."

The excuse sounded lame to Ant's ears as he gave it. Professor Hicks sighed. "I appreciate the care for your owl, Anthony, but you should have borrowed a friend's owl or paid for the letter to be delivered at the postbox. In any case, you look like you've barely slept in days, you've stopped writing home, and you're sinking deeper into your studies to justify your behavior." She paused as if daring him to contradict her. He didn't.

"Two weeks for the fourth-year curriculum, Anthony. If you need more, you'll get it. If we find you're struggling or ignoring other responsibilities, we'll give you enough time to adjust and grow into the workload. Now go out into my antechamber, sit at the desk, and write to your parents." She waved them all out.

Ant sat at the table and pulled the pad of paper on it towards him. It was thick, fine paper and bore a letterhead with the crest of the school on it. He pulled out the Quick-Quotes pen Lunetta had given him and set it to paper. He spoke, and the pen wrote.

Dear Mom and Dad, and Marie

Sorry I haven't written sooner. They put me on an accelerated track, and I've been super busy. I love it. I'm getting through lots more schoolwork every week than I did in the entire last semester. The pace is a little brutal, but I'm getting enough time to fly through each textbook and prove that I know the material. I've done really well on all my tests, too.

The weather here is great. It's freezing outside, and there's usually snow, but every room of the castle feels like there's a heater, even though there's no electricity here. My friend Shaun told me there's a fire burning under the castle that magically keeps the whole place warm, but I don't know if he was telling the truth or just seeing if I'd believe it.

How is everybody at home? Doing all right, I hope. Sorry again for not writing sooner. I'll make sure to write every weekend at least.

Love you,

Ant

Ant capped his pen and looked over the letter. Professor Hicks stepped out into the antechamber to wait for him to finish it. As Ant noticed her, he folded the letter and said, "I finished it, Professor."

She tapped the letter and a bright red envelope grew around the paper. Ant's eyes widened in recognition. "A Howler?"

The headmistress smiled. "It's not a very loud one. Think of it like…" she trailed off pensively. "I believe the Nomajes call it voicemail?"

Ant chuckled at the pun. "Good one, Professor."

She looked down at him. "We have one other difference to talk about. In addition to the extra week of study for the fourth-year curriculum, I'm assigning you two tutors instead of one. They'll stick by your side for the remainder of the school year."

"Oh," Ant said. "Peter Tailor was helping me with books and things when I couldn't just get them from the library…"

"This goes a little further than that. You know that the different houses of Ilvermorny represent different aspects of a witch or wizard. Great Horned Serpent represents the mind and favors scholars. Pukwudgie represents the heart and favors healers. Thunderbird represents the soul and favors those with a thirst for adventure."

"And Wampus," Ant concluded, "represents the body and favors warriors."

"Just so," Professor Hicks said, nodding. "As such, we tailor fifth- and seventh-year exams to each house and end the examinations for Wampus House with matched duels."

Ant's eyes widened. "I have to practice dueling, then?"

Professor Hicks nodded. "And your tutors will help you with that. Typically, we have the sixth- and seventh-year Prefects of each house help the fifth years prepare for the House-specific aspects of their exams. I'm assigning Jacob Campbell and Rebekah Braun to help prepare you."

Ant blushed as he thought of them. He remembered the night he had met both prefects, when they had found him bound to his bed with a banner, an attempt by Donhold to humiliate him. Donhold's plan would have worked if Jacob and Rebekah hadn't been out of bed in those late hours and heard Ant struggling to break free. He had an idea of what they had been up to. Jacob had been wearing nothing but loose-fitting sweats. Rebekah, a sheer nightgown that exposed all but the very tops of her thighs. Neither's garb had left much to the imagination.

Ant nodded wordlessly. He was pretty sure that if he spoke, it'd be gibberish.

Ant met with Jacob and Rebekah twenty minutes later in an empty classroom at the end of the Defense corridor. He took a few deep breaths before entering the room and knocked for good measure. Inside, the two seventh years sat side-by-side on the teacher's desk. Jacob looked away from Rebekah as Ant came in.

It was easier not to picture them in a state of undress with bright sunshine pouring in, Ant decided. Jacob still had perpetual stubble. Rebekah's dark hair was in tight, shiny curls. "Hey, Ant," Rebekah said with an embarrassed smile.

"Hey, kid," Jacob said. "Professor Hicks told us you're getting ready for some big exams."

"Hi," Ant responded nervously. "I'm supposed to get some dueling practice with you guys?"

So, it began. At first, Rebekah inspected and corrected Ant's stances. "Stand sideways," she advised. "You're already a pretty small target, but you want to do anything you can to avoid getting hit."

When she was satisfied, Jacob adjusted how Ant held his wand. "Be firm, but don't squeeze. The more you tense up, the more rigid your motions are. You want fluidity." He touched Ant's hand to soften his grip. Goosebumps sprang up the length of Ant's arm. Jacob demonstrated a few stance changes, each accompanied with a different casting motion. Jab, wave, swish and flick. Ant watched as he completed the set twice, then followed along. Rebekah gave him a few quiet words of constructive criticism – "Feet closer together after that movement. Keep your knees slightly bent." – and then watched as Ant matched the motions of the older student.

They were sweating before Jacob stopped. "You're a quick learner, kid."

"Thanks," Ant said. He opened his mouth to ask if they would teach him more dueling spells when his stomach gave an almighty growl.

"Have you eaten today?" Rebekah asked, raising an eyebrow.

"I… think I skipped lunch?" Ant checked his watch. It was almost five, and the Dining Hall wouldn't open for dinner until about 5:30.

"Let's all go get something to eat," Jacob suggested.

Ant pointed out the time. "We have half an hour before the Dining Hall opens."

Jacob chuckled. "We won't go to the Dining Hall, then."

Jacob and Rebekah led Ant out of the classroom and down a flight of stairs. Jacob counted stones in the wall as they went, then placed his palm flat upon a particular stone and applied pressure. The stone depressed an inch or so into the wall, then Rebekah walked straight into the wall beside it. Ant watched as she vanished.

"Is this similar to the spell on Platform Nine and Three Quarters that lets wizards pass through it?" Ant ran his fingertips across the wall. They met no resistance.

Jacob looked blank at the question. "Nine and three…? Oh, at the train station where Hoggies go. Yeah, same spell, just without Nomaj repellant."

Ant fixed the wall in his mind. He wanted to be able to find this secret door later. He looked at a painting of wizard watching a thunderbird soar in circles over the Grand Canyon, then noted the stone Jacob pressed was eight stones to the right and two below the bottom right corner of the frame. Confident he could find it again, Ant walked through the stone wall.

On the other side of the wall was a narrower hallway with a low, sloped ceiling. The stone here was a light, warm shade, like orange but gentler. Ant could see other hallways intersecting with this one at impossible angles – they should have gone right though the corridor they just entered from. Ant saw Pukwudgies walking at a brisk pace through the halls. His head spun a bit.

"What is this?"

Rebekah lip twitched up in a brief smirk. "Did you think a magic castle wouldn't have secret passages?"

After Jacob came through, bending slightly so he wouldn't bash his head on the low ceiling, Rebekah led the way through the maze of corridors. She walked as confidently as if she were following a map. Ant tried and failed to find identifying marks on the walls, floors, even the ceiling. There were none. He whispered to Jacob.

"How does she know which hallway is which? Everything looks the same."

Jacob recognized that Ant's question was born of awe, not doubt. "There are more kinds of magic than just wand-waving, incantations, sparks, and noise. This is one of those things."

Rebekah held out an arm to push them closer to a wall. A Pukwudgie passed them, giving them a curt nod as he did so. "It takes training to sense the traces of magic, but once you can sense them, it's like…" She paused and turned to face Ant. "Have you ever woken up in the morning and you instantly knew not only that someone was cooking breakfast, but what they were cooking?"

Ant nodded. Rebekah continued.

"It's like, you can smell some things, but you can also hear clatter and feel the movement as someone walks around the kitchen. Those senses work together to make up for the fact that you can't see what's happening. This is like that. I can't see the way. There's no smell guiding me, it's not hotter or colder. But there's this magical sense deep inside me that just feels right when I follow it. It feels like walking on a sandy beach barefoot, or static electricity, or –" She looked at Jacob and smiled – "butterflies in my stomach. I just follow that sense, and it leads me to the other end."

"And in this case, the other end is…?"

Rebekah touched the blank wall beside her, and the stone seemed to shimmer faintly. "The kitchens."

As it turned out, Ilvermorny did have elves working in the kitchens. They bustled to and fro. There was so much food moving through the air that Ant briefly felt like he was watching a slow-motion food fight. It became clear that the elves, all wearing modified versions of the school uniform, had everything under control, however. As he watched, he saw that while the kitchen looked somewhat chaotic, it was following a complex rhythm. As an elf walked past them, another elf stepped from seemingly nowhere while they looked on.

"Cinti!" Rebekah exclaimed. "Glad to see you back!"

"And you as well, Miss," the elf responded in a high, wavery voice that held a distinct Boston accent. "My daughter is well, as are my new grandsons." She peered closely at Ant. "You seem to have been busy. But no, this one is too old to be your own."

Rebekah laughed. "Cinti, this is Ant. Ant, Cinti." Ant offered Cinti a hand. She took it with both hands, inspected it briefly, and released it, nodding appreciatively. "Cinti and her family used to visit my family's land every year."

"And may well begin to do so again, Miss," Cinti said. "In a few years when my grandsons begin to itch for work. For now, I remain on the east coast, where my children chose to settle. Have you come in for food?"

"Ant skipped lunch," Jacob answered. "We figured we'd introduce him to the kitchen staff."

Cinti came closer to Ant and looked up into his face. "Anthony Acklin. I have heard tell of you. The first-year boy, born of Nomajes, who rises against adversity like a kite." After a moment of silence, she asked him, "How do you feel about spicy food, hmm?"

Ant blinked. "Love it," he said without confidence. His voice cracked again. The elf chuckled and gestured for them to follow.

There was an area off the kitchens with a single round table, identical to all the ones in the Dining Hall. The table was set with plates, bowls, and cups. "Seat yourselves," she said. "Food will come."

As they waited for the food, Jacob started describing his fifth-year exams, which had culminated in a dueling tournament among the highest sixteen members of Wampus. "I wrecked everyone that came in front of me. They all went for flashy spells that telegraphed their movements. When you know what your opponent is going to do, you're halfway to victory."

Rebekah chuckled, then pulled a hot, fresh roll out of a visibly empty basket. "And yet you lost the finals," she said teasingly as Ant felt around in the empty basket, finding nothing.

Jacob put on a tone of mock offense. "My opponent cheated! No way I could have countered someone who studied ahead, practiced Legilimency, and learned how to cast nonverbally." Ant turned the basket upside down. It was still empty.

"Your opponent didn't cheat; she just knew how to beat you." Ant raised the empty breadbasket over his head and was immediately pelted in the face by four warm, buttery rolls. He scowled and caught one before it rolled off his lap onto the floor, and bit into it savagely.

"Because we practiced together!"

Ant looked between them. This seemed like a topic of discussion they often used to rib each other. "What spell did you use?" he asked Rebekah.

She smirked at Jacob. "A single stunner, straight to the face. He was too busy thinking about what my plan was to counter the most obvious strategy of them all."

Ant finished the rest of his roll and realized with a shock that the plate in front of him had filled itself with a large serving of a pasta dish with light red sauce. He dug in. It had a sweetness to it undercut by an acidic tang. He appreciated it for a moment, wishing it were spicier. No sooner did he think that than he noticed a glass shaker of crushed red pepper flakes. He gave it a gentle shake over one area, tasted the dish again, and then sprinkled a liberal helping of it over the dish. After mixing the food up thoroughly, he tasted it again. It was perfect.

They continued talking about dueling strategies, stances, and forms while eating, and before long Ant felt full, warm, and more than a little tired. "I think I need to get back to the dorm," he said, stifling a yawn. "I barely got any sleep last night."

"All right," Rebekah told him. "We'll give you tomorrow as an off day, but we'll check in with you every day for an hour of practice in your free period after lunch."

Ant made his way out of the kitchen, thanking elves for the food and accepting the snacks they pushed upon him, excepting the massive turkey leg one of them presented to him like a bequeathed sword. I'll check on the potion, say hi to Rionach, and then get to bed, he thought as he set off for the snakewood courtyard.

He rounded a corner and found himself, inexplicably, a few doors down from the library, which was several stories higher than where he had been a moment before. Had the trip through the secret passages in the walls disoriented him? He turned back at the corridor he had just come from. It was not the basement-level hall where the kitchen's normal entrance was.

Ant stood in the intersection of those hallways for a long moment while the back of his neck prickled with confusion. Something was wrong.

The sky outside the window was pitch black. Ant looked at it as if desperate to perceive something on the other side. Was there something out there? Was that why a sense of alarm was building up in him? He moved closer to the window despite a voice in the back of his head whispering, That's how idiots end up dead in horror movies. Ant stood in front of the window, apprehensive, seeing only his reflection and the grey stone corridor behind him. He reached up to touch his reflection's hand… and jumped about a foot in the air when a hand came from behind him to grab his shoulder.

Ant gave a yelp of terror before realizing it was Spaulding. "Oh god," he gasped. "You scared me!"

Spaulding looked at him, confused and tired. "Why are you out of bed?"

Ant looked back at him, also confused. "It's only a little after sih-" he raised his watch to show Spaulding the time and froze. His watch read 2:32. "I have no idea," he said instead. "I'll go back to bed now?"

Spaulding rolled his eyes. "You do that. And stay there. No wandering the school at night, you know that. But," he said, quieter, "if you're gonna do it anyways, at least use your cloak, okay? You don't need detention right now. Go." He steered Ant towards the stairs. "And be quiet about it. No more loud noises like the whatever you just did to wake me up."

Ant slipped off his shoes to move more quietly in the stone hallways and sped off to Wampus lounge. What's happening to me? he thought.

Ant walked into the Dining Hall the next morning and found Shaun and Lunetta already halfway through their meal. "Hey guys, what's the rush?"

Shaun gave him a dark look. "We have a lot of homework to do, remember?" His tone made it clear that he was annoyed with Ant.

Ant bristled. "Are you mad at me?"

"Just frustrated. You were supposed to join us for dinner last night, remember?"

Ant froze. He had completely forgotten.

"You've been ignoring us. Forgetting we're here. I get that you have stuff going on, but that doesn't mean we have to give you a free pass for being a bad friend."

"A bad friend?" Ant repeated numbly. "A bad friend?"
Shaun held position stubbornly. "We've been there for you when you needed us. We still will. But you haven't been there for either of us lately. It's all…" He looked around as he remembered they weren't alone. "It's all the other stuff you're doing. Stop running yourself ragged and spend time with us."

Ant could feel his heart pounding in his ears. He knew that Shaun was telling him not to focus on Rionach's potion, but he was doing that to be a good friend to the spectral woman. Ant straightened up and stood as tall as he could. "If I'm a bad friend," he whispered levelly, "it takes one to know one. I have more going on than just homework, and it'd be nice if my friends were there for me instead of being an asshole about me forgetting to hang out once." He turned to walk away, and after a few steps, said back over his shoulder, "You can come find me when you're ready to apologize."

Chapter Eight

Empty Mind, Empty Hands

The week seemed simultaneously to drag on eternally and to rush by in great dollops. Ant attended classes, he studied, he practiced with Jacob and Rebekah. He tried to balance homework with the work he did on Rionach's potion, but time seemed to slip away from him. Once he had come to the snakewood courtyard to check the Philter's water level and found it inexplicably full.

"You filled it naught but an hour ago, Anthony," Rionach told him, concerned. "Are you certain you're well?" He wasn't certain. He didn't remember coming to the snakewood courtyard an hour before. He tried to shake away the itch in the back of his mind that something was seriously wrong. He had explained everything to Rionach, but she had just lamented that she had no training as a Healer to help her find the root of Ant's affliction.

On Friday afternoon, Rebekah had pronounced Ant proficient enough with casting most dueling spells nonverbally to warrant moving forward. Ant was excited, though he had no idea what Rebekah meant to teach him next.

By the end of the week, Ant had still not spoken with Shaun or Lunetta. He regretted snapping – and cussing – at them, but he still grew angry when he remembered Shaun calling him a bad friend. A bad friend wasn't who forgot once to hang out. A bad friend would lure you to the office of your most hated professor and try to kill you.

Friday night, Ant made his way to the Dining Hall as soon as it was open and ate quickly. He had been pleased to find that wherever he had sat to eat since the dinner in the kitchen, he had always found the food seasoned to his taste. I wonder if Shaun's food is this spicy, he thought, and he turned to ask Shaun before remembering that Shaun wasn't next to him, and would probably sit on the other side of the Dining Hall if he saw Ant when coming in. After finishing, he returned to Wampus Lounge and went straight to his bed.

Ant had barely gotten any sleep in the past week, he was sure. He didn't remember having any sleepless nights, but he would wake in the morning feeling as though he had just climbed into bed moments before. In Potions today, they had brewed Potion for Dreamless Sleep. Ant had bottled his sample for grading but had also taken a second phial of it for his own use. He changed into pajamas as soon as the door shut behind him. He pulled the tiny bottle from his bag, climbed into bed, and unstopped it.

As he raised the potion to his lips, he whispered, "Bottoms up." He had just enough time to drop the bottle into his bedside table's drawer before darkness took him.

It felt as though he woke instantly. The sun was shining merrily through the dorm window. Ant grumbled at it. He still felt no more rested than he had the previous morning. He looked at his watch. It was nearly lunchtime. At least it's Saturday, he thought. Wouldn't want to miss a class to catch up on sleep.

Ant decided to take the book he had picked up at the library the day before – a dusty old treatise on jinxes and dueling spells, which ranged from harmless and humiliating to potentially fatal – and practice some of the wand motions in the lounge. It was a common practice; when Ant arrived in the lounge, a group of fifth years were already doing the same. Most of the fifth years left him alone, but Peter came over, clad in Quidditch garb, trailing the boy Ant knew as Kowalski.

"Oof, I went through Fowl and Funke last semester," he said, looking over the tome Ant had in front of him. "Definitely a good one to get through early. We're off to Quidditch, but let me know if you need help later, okay?"

"Sure thing, Peter," Ant said, feigning enthusiasm. He liked Peter well enough, but there was a real chance he'd have to duel him or Felicity at the end of his fifth-year exams. He didn't want either of them getting a solid grasp of his abilities, or worse, the abilities he lacked. Even with his accelerated studies, he had no doubts that they knew more magic.

He practiced some of the more complex spells' motions, the ones that required him to perform a certain gesture with his wand while he shaped the spell with his off hand. Within the space of two minutes, Lunetta came out of the hall that led to the girls' dorms, also wearing Quidditch garb.

She spoke bluntly and without preamble. "I know that you and Shaun both have reasons to be frustrated with each other, but y'all gotta stop. You're best friends; this dumb squabble can't wreck that." She stepped closer and grabbed his right shoulder. "The next time he apologizes," she whispered, "just accept it. Blowing it off like you did this morning was just mean."

Before he had had a chance to respond, she was already out of the lounge. I haven't seen Shaun today, he thought, annoyed. Unless I did and forgot it?

He went down to lunch after a further half hour of practice. Shaun was nowhere to be seen in the Dining Hall, so Ant ate his lunch – a salad with thin cuts of chicken breast glazed with a red sauce spicy enough to make his eyes water – and departed quickly.

Rionach had lamented that she didn't have the Healing skills necessary to determine why Ant was suffering memory loss, so he decided to consult the one person he knew could do so: Healer Oxendine.

When he arrived in the Hospital Wing, she was tending a belligerent older girl from Great Horned Serpent, who seemed to have tried to Transfigure a Quaffle into a Quod, despite Quodpot not being played at Ilvermorny. Ant gathered that the only real difference was that a Quod would explode eventually, though the girl had clearly not expected it to explode so soon. Ant tried not to eavesdrop as the girl began suddenly shouting. He pretended not to hear her outrage at being told her missing fingers couldn't be reattached.

Healer Oxendine stood her ground, shutting the girl up by speaking in a voice barely above a whisper. "I can reattach the ear if you stop yelling, but your fingers will have to be regrown."

It was only a few moments later that the Healer made her way over to Ant. "Here for more discussion on elves and Pukwudgies?"

"Good afternoon, Healer," Ant responded in his most respectful tone. "I'm actually here for… health reasons."

She looked concerned. "Is this a puberty thing?"

Ant blanched, embarrassed. "No! I'm not – I haven't – I mean, I have, but that's not…" He shut up and silently begged himself to stop blushing. "I think I'm having memory loss."

The Healer's face lit up in surprise. "That's odd. Tell me more." She chivvied him over to a bed with two chairs by it. Ant sat in one of the chairs.

"I keep waking up feeling like I just crawled into bed," he started. "Sometimes I'll go to start doing some of my work, only to find I already finished it. One of my friends was telling me about a conversation that happened, and I was apparently there and part of it, but the first I knew about it was a few hours later when she told me."

"You are under a lot of stress. That could cause you to feel like you're being stretched too thin and make you forget details of your day." She pulled out her wand. "Mind if I do a quick checkup?" Ant stood and held his arms apart from his sides. She gave her wand a flick and Ant felt something invisible swoop over him.

"No recent trauma, and none of the older trauma has resulted in any brain damage," the Healer confirmed. "Considering that most of that trauma is emotional, I can find you someone to talk to about it. It'll help you a lot." Her tone was reassuring.

"If you think this memory loss is magical in nature, I recommend you talk to Professor Hegel. Otherwise, eat well, get plenty of sleep, and make sure you aren't burning the candle at both ends."

Ant did go to Professor Hegel next. The witch that taught Magical Theory to first years was happy to see Ant when she bade him enter after he knocked on his office door.

"I haven't seen much of you this semester, young man," she said. "You've grown."

Ant wasn't so sure of that. He was just under five feet tall the last time he had measured himself. "Thanks, Professor. I was wondering if I could ask you something."

"Of course, Mister Acklin," she said warmly, gesturing him into a seat. "Fire away."

"I've been having some memory loss recently, and I saw Healer Oxendine earlier about it. She said it could have been caused by magic." Ant's anxiety was palpable.

"I have a few methods to find out," she answered. "I'll use the least intrusive of them."

As the Healer had, Professor Hegel brandished her wand. She waved it over him and waited. As the spell took effect, Ant recognized it as a variant of Priori Incantatem; echoes of a few jinxes poured out of her wandtip. "Looks like dueling practice?" she asked him. When he nodded, she continued. "There are no memory charms here. I have another way of finding out, but it is – to use a Nomaj idiom – the nuclear option."

Ant shifted uncomfortably in his seat. "How nuclear are we talking?"

Professor Hegel looked as uncomfortable as he felt. "Have you ever heard of a branch of magic called Legilimency?"

Ant nodded. "From the Potter books," he said. "And all due respect to Professor Snape, but if Legilimency is subtler than 'mind reading', it shouldn't just be called a mashup of the Latin words for 'mind' and 'read'."

Professor Hegel let out a snort of laughter and apologized. "The reason I don't jump straight to using Legilimency is that it's a huge violation of privacy. Anything that you think about rises to the top of your mind. Think of it like bobbing for apples. It's much easier to grab a floating apple than one that's sunk below the surface."

Ant furrowed his brow. "So, that means that Occlumency is like weighting your memories, so they don't rise to the surface?"

"Precisely! If you want to go through with Legilimency, I highly recommend practicing Occlumency enough to protect anything you wish to keep private. Of course, the issue could just be stress. Take a rest this weekend. Practice Occlumency. I'll recommend some books on the subject."

Ant thanked her while she wrote the names of a few books on a slip of paper.

"And, Mister Acklin," the professor called to him as he made his way out the door, "if this memory issue is caused by stress, you should consider slowing your studies to a normal pace."

Ant thought about it. "I'll keep that in mind, Professor."

Ant had one other engagement for the day: practice session with Jacob and Rebekah, though he wasn't sure what Rebekah meant to teach him after she had already pronounced him proficient with nonverbal spells.

When he arrived in the classroom where they typically worked, Rebekah was sitting on the desk at the head of the room, while Jacob stood close to her. Ant flushed, certain he was redder than a tomato, when he realized that they were kissing. He backed out of the doorway quietly, noticing against his own will that Rebekah's legs had worked their way around Jacob's and holding him close to her. Ant brought the door as close to being shut as he could without making a sound and took a few deep breaths to get his reaction under control. When he was ready, he knocked on the door frame and pushed the door open casually. Jacob and Rebekah were a few feet apart when he came back in.

Rebekah looked flushed for a moment, but smiled when she saw Ant. "We're gonna try something new today."

Ant watched nervously. He wasn't sure what to say.

Rebekah continued. "Magical children often reveal signs of their magic around seven. Do you remember the first time you used your magic?"

Ant thought about it. He had cast a shield charm that stopped Mae from hitting him the day he had been invited to Ilvermorny. He had cut her once, years before that, while she was beating him; however, he wasn't sure if that had been magic or, as Mae had thought, if she had simply scraped her hand on his watch.

After a moment, he shrugged. "I'm not sure if I remember the first time I used magic," he answered. "I can definitely remember a few times it burst out of me."

Rebekah nodded. "Magic is a natural part of who we are. Don't think of yourself as a balloon that's slowly filling up with magic you have to let out to avoid popping. You aren't a balloon. Your magic won't pop you. You just get surges when you need them."

"These surges can't be controlled, can they?" Ant asked slowly. "That's why we need wands."

"Actually," Jacob interjected, "there are magical cultures that don't use wands, that channel their power through other means. When Europeans colonized the Americas, the wizards among them brought wandlore to the natives, but they already had systems to control their magic."

Rebekah took over when Jacob paused. "Some cultures use complex hand gestures to channel magic." She took a deep breath, closed her eyes, and brought her hands together. It seemed like she was tying her fingers in a knot. When she brought her hands apart, her fingertips clung to each other. There was a loud snap, and for a second Ant was afraid she'd broken a finger. Then he realized that she had conjured a living white dove in the air above him. It fluttered around before darting to a window. Jacob flicked his wand, opening the window and letting the bird go free.

"There are also cultures that use rituals, prepared potions, music… Magic can be in just about everything you do," Jacob said.

Ant thought on that. "I think I did something like that at the beginning of the school year," he said slowly. "Magic from music."

The two seventh years exchanged an impressed glance, then Rebekah told Ant, "You might find this pretty easy, then."

She could not have been more wrong.

By the time they broke for dinner, Ant was as tired and frustrated as if he had been forced to run laps around the school. Far from his usual habit of quickly grasping new concepts, he had struggled to channel his magic without the use of his wand. The only time he had succeeded, Jacob had thrown a water balloon at him. Ant had deflected the balloon back at the seventh years on instinct, but when Rebekah snatched it out of the air and threw back at him, he failed to replicate the feat and was drenched for his trouble.

Ant had copied the various hand gestures perfectly, but still failed despite that. Rebekah had shown him a ritual that could be performed to summon a cool breeze. Ant performed the ritual under her careful instruction, and nothing happened. While Ant grew more frustrated, Rebekah murmured soothing words of patience. "Nobody masters this kind of magic on their first try."

This didn't help Ant's mood. It was not the first time he had been warned he might not be good at something, but he had always made a point of proving those people wrong. And while he could, in a pinch, instinctively call up a shield charm, he had totally failed at consciously calling on his magic without a wand. He kept a straight face, but Rebekah could see some of that anger in his eyes, nonetheless.

"Seriously, Ant," she said sternly. "Don't beat yourself up over this. There's a reason the collective magical cultures of Europe got behind wands so readily. They let focus magic easily, quickly, and reliably."

"Using wandless magic is tough," Jacob agreed. "I struggle with it, and I've been practicing for years. Rebekah and Santiago are probably the only students in the school who are able to cast wandless spells like that." He snapped his fingers for emphasis.

Ant sat quietly, disgruntled. With all the progress he had made in the last two months, he felt it wasn't out of the question that he should be able to outperform Carmela Santiago. Rebekah recognized the look on his face and laughed aloud.

"What?" Jacob asked, disconcerted.

Rebekah pointed at Ant. "Look in his eyes. This kid is gonna leave me and Santiago in the dust. I guarantee by the time he gets to third year he'll be driving Professor Hicks and Fontaine up the walls." To Ant, she said, "You aren't used to failure. It sucks, right?"

She waited for a response. Ant gave a curt nod.

"Then remember this: Don't beat yourself up. Keep in mind that there are qualified wizards out there who have tons of experience, power, and practice but a tenth of your skill. You have time on your side. Use it."

They broke for dinner after. Ant didn't see Shaun when he went into the Dining Hall. He wanted to apologize. He ate dinner with a moderately surprised-looking group of Kevin Kinneman, Basimah Lakhani, Minnie Eckhart, Mayumi Choi, and Isla Santiago. Ant had barely spent any time with them since the semester started, and it was a huge relief that none of them were mad at him for not having had time to spend with them. Ant wished that Shaun had felt the same way, but then immediately chastised himself for thinking that. He was so much closer to Shaun than to the others that it was wrong of him to compare their expectations of him with Shaun's.

Ant listened to the others and chatted when appropriate, but spent the meal mostly looking around for Shaun. By the time everyone at Ant's table had started clearing away, Shaun still hadn't arrived. Ant sighed and left as well, making his way to the snakewood courtyard before heading to bed early.