Freddie followed Snape down the wooden staircase feeling nervous and also curious about the other Potioneers she was about to meet. Would they all be like Karkaroff and Andrei? Would they be mean or nice? How should she act?
She kept her Occlumency in place as they crossed through the lobby where the witch named Renee still sat at the check in desk. Renee smiled at them as they walked towards the dining room. Freddie smiled back reflexively then worked to keep her face neutral as they walked through the double doors.
The dining room was spectacular. There were a half dozen candle chandeliers hanging from the ceiling, casting a soft light over the four tables in the room. Each table was covered in an elegant white tablecloth with a red Christmas flower pattern. There was a candle in the center of each table, green place mats, empty wine glasses and china plates.
A large ornate fireplace took up the majority of one wall and the fire in the hearth kept the room comfortably warm. Across the room from the fireplace was a large Christmas tree, decorated with twinkling fairy lights and various colored ornaments. A buffet style table laden with covered dishes stretched across the wall next to the tree. There was a set of glass doors at the other end of the room through which Freddie could see a patio with twinkling lights and also the lake beyond. There was a band set up in front of the door to the patio, a string quartet playing classical songs she didn't know.
"Bienvenue! Welcome, welcome," said Monsieur Benoit from where he stood next to the door. He wore the same periwinkle robes from earlier with a blue, white, and red name tag – the colors of the French flag. "Mademoiselle Gray, you can sit at the table with the other competitors. Professor Snape, over here. We are just waiting on one more."
Freddie glanced at Snape and he nodded almost imperceptibly before going to join the table of teachers where Karkaroff looked happy to see him. Freddie walked over to the table of students, all of whom looked to be about her age. She recognized the unhappy-looking Durmstrang boy from earlier. His name tag read Andrei Petrov. There were two empty seats next to him and when he saw Freddie approaching he stood and pulled her chair out for her.
"Thank you," she said, sitting down.
Keep your enemies close, she thought as he sat down next to her. At least this way I can keep a close eye on him.
"You are welcome," he said. His words had a thick accent she thought might be Bulgarian. "Hogwarts?"
"Oh, um, yeah," she said. She mentally berated herself for sounding nervous. That stops now, she thought determinedly. "My name is Freddie Gray."
"It says 'Winifred'," he said, his eyes locked on her chest. She was pretty sure he was looking at her breasts and not her badge.
"Freddie is the name I go by. I dislike being called Winifred," she said stiffly.
"I'm Andrei," he said.
"I remember," she said, glancing over to the other table where Snape and Karkaroff were talking. "Karkaroff is your headmaster."
"Yes," he said sourly. "Professor Aleksov was supposed to be here with me. He is Potions Master. We have been training for this for years."
Freddie subtly checked out the other two students at her table. A pale, blonde boy and a dark-skinned girl. They had been having a polite conversation of their own. The boy's name tag identified him as Dimitri Putin, Koldovstoretz. She knew Koldovstoretz Wizarding School was somewhere in Russia.
The girl looked a few years younger than the rest of them. Freddie guessed she was 15 or 16. She was thin and her black hair hung around her face in beaded braids. Her eyes were light brown and complimented her dark skin beautifully. Her name tag read Akinyi Barasa, Uagadou. Freddie had never heard of that school but if sounded African and the girl's accent confirmed her suspicion.
"Does anyone know who we are waiting for?" Akinyi asked, looking around the room. Freddie quickly decided she liked the sound of her voice. "I am starving."
"I have not seen the fifth competitor," Dimitri said, shaking his head. "I think they are from Beauxbatons."
"If they are French they should not be late," Andrei scoffed. "This is their country."
Freddie glanced at her watch. It was 7:05. Whoever he or she was, they weren't that late. While they waited she tried to check out the other Potion Masters sitting with Snape, but she couldn't see their name tags from where they were. There were two other wizards sitting with the teachers who had the same blue, white, and red badges that Benoit had.
"They must be the other judges," she said aloud.
"Yes, from the French Ministry," Akinyi said, following her gaze. "I met one of them earlier. Master Mwangi said they will be our judges, along with our teachers."
"Mwangi is your Potions Master?" Freddie asked her and the girl nodded.
"Yes, that is him," she said, pointing to a tall brown-skinned man sitting on the other side of Karkaroff. He was bald with several tribal tattoos decorating his scalp and face. "He is a very good teacher. My favorite."
"Professor Devin is the best," said the Russian boy dismissively. "He has published 15 textbooks, we use them all in my school."
"Master Mwangi has invented potions that are used throughout Africa," Akinyi said hotly.
Andrei crossed his arms and said nothing. Freddie didn't feel the need to defend Snape to these people so she adopted the same stoic silence. She kept a bored expression on her face as she looked around the room. When the double doors opened she heard Akinyi gasp and Andrei scoff.
"She is a child," Dimitri said with a cold laugh.
Freddie turned to look and saw that the girl who had entered was just that – a girl. She was small, red-headed, and freckled. She couldn't have been much more than 11. She looked like a nervous first year getting Sorted as she looked around the room. She even jumped when Benoit welcomed them in his loud, booming voice. The tall blonde woman next to her put a hand on her shoulder, said something in a quiet voice, then nudged her in the direction of the table where Freddie sat.
"She will not be a threat," Andrei said dismissively.
"She is a kleinding," Akinyi said. "A baby. Why would her school choose her?"
Everyone fell silent as the red-headed girl joined them. She pulled out the empty chair next to Freddie and it scraped the floor loudly. Dimitri chuckled cruelly and Freddie frowned slightly. She thought it unlikely the small girl was up to the competition but that didn't mean they had to be hateful to her. The silver badge on her chest identified her as Adalene Leroux, Beauxbatons.
"Wonderful!" Benoit said grandly. "Now that we are all here-" He waved his wand and the lids covering the food on the buffet table vanished. "-Everyone get your plates and dig in."
"Finally!" Akinyi said loudly, pushing back from the table. There were a few chuckles and then everyone was getting up with their plates. A line formed quickly at the buffet table and Freddie found herself in line behind Snape. She couldn't help but notice Adalene was the last to get up from the table.
"Well if it isn't Winifred Gray," said a voice behind her and Freddie turned to see the blonde woman who had come in with Adalene. She had a gold badge pinned to the front of her green dress – Lady Karen Byrne, Beauxbatons. The name sounded familiar but Freddie couldn't place it. Her accent wasn't french, it sounded more like Irish.
"Yes ma'am?" Freddie asked politely. "Do I know you?"
"You should. You are the girl who came up with the antidote for my Invisibility Potion," she said.
"Oh! You're Lady Karen Byrne, from Ireland," she said. "You invented the Invisibility Potion."
"I did indeed, and I was working on the antidote myself. Imagine my surprise when I opened a copy of Apothecary Now over the summer and saw that a 17 year old had figured it out before me," Byrne said, but she was smiling. "I must say, I was impressed."
"Thank you, ma'am," Freddie said, feeling a blush stain her cheeks. "I had help, of course. My Potions Master-"
"Severus Snape," Snape said from behind her and he stepped forward to shake Byrne's hand. "And it was Miss Gray's potion. We had begun working on the antidote at the end of last semester, but we were unsuccessful. Miss Gray figured it out on her own, over the summer."
"Very impressive," Byrne said, holding on to Snape's hand a little longer than necessary. "You must be quite the teacher."
"I do try," he said with a small smirk. "Miss Gray is a brilliant student. She has a talent and instinct for potions that far surpasses any student I have ever taught before. She is the first apprentice I have taken on during my tenure at Hogwarts."
"It's wonderful to find a young one so enthusiastic about our craft, isn't it?" Byrne said brightly. "My student is uniquely gifted – Adalene!"
The small girl jumped and her face flushed red as she scurried around the line to join her teacher. She had a white-knuckle grip on her empty plate and she looked quickly from Freddie to Snape, seeming terrified.
"Yes Lady Karen?" she squeaked. Freddie could hear the french accent in her voice but it wasn't as strong as Benoit's.
"Ada, I want you to meet Professor Severus Snape, from Hogwarts, and his apprentice, Winifred Gray."
"N-nice to m-meet you, Professor," she stammered. "M-Miss Gray."
"Stop stuttering, girl, and straighten up," Byrne told her firmly. "You've earned your place here, act like it!"
"Yes ma'am," Ada said, her freckled face flushing again. Snape smirked slightly and turned back to put food on his plate as he reached the buffet table.
"You can call me Freddie," Freddie said kindly to the girl. "I don't like being called Winifred."
"I'm Ada," she said shyly, looking down at the floor. "It's short for Adalene."
"It's a pretty name."
"Merci," Ada said and started to go back to the end of the line.
"Wait," Freddie said. "Stay. Here, get in front of me. You can tell me what some of these dishes are that I don't recognize. You're french, right?"
"My maman is french," Ada said with a nod, hesitantly taking the place in line ahead of Freddie. "My Papa is English though. He went to Hogwarts."
"Really? Do you know what house he was in?"
"R-Ravenclaw. Is that good?"
"Yeah, Ravenclaw is great. They're some of the smartest of the lot. My best friend was in Ravenclaw," she said. She felt a pang of sadness, thinking about Daniel, but smiled so Ada wouldn't know.
"You are not Ravenclaw?"
"Nah, I'm a Slytherin. Professor Snape's our Head of House as well as Potions Master. Do you know what this is?" Freddie asked, pointing to a casserole-type dish.
"Brandade de Morue," she answered. "It is fish and potatoes. It's really good."
"Cool," Freddie said and scooped some onto her plate. She added a few small quiches and vegetables as they moved down the line. "What about this?"
"Tartiflette," Ada said as she added asparagus to her plate. "It is very, um...féculente. The English word is-" She closed her eyes for just a second, thinking. "Starch. Starchy. Potatoes and cheese and bacon."
"Yum," Freddie said, adding it to her plate.
"You should try this. It's ratatouille," Ada said enthusiastically. "My maman makes it, it's delicious."
"Okay. It, uh, doesn't have actual rats in it, does it?"
"No!" Ada said, giggling. "That's just the name of it. The word 'ratatouille' is related to the french words 'ratouiller' and 'tatouiller', expressive forms of the verb 'touiller' which means 'to stir up'."
"Wow," Freddie said as she added the ratatouille to her plate. "You really are smart." Ada blushed again but this time she was smiling. "How old are you?"
"12," she admitted. "I'll be 13 in May. I've been taking additional private lessons with Lady Karen since last year."
Freddie looked around to see that Lady Karen had returned to the table, along with Snape. They were sitting together and she seemed to be talking to him while he ate.
"Is she nice?" Freddie asked Ada curiously. "Do you like her?"
"Oh I love her!" Ada declared and quickly blushed again, looking to the floor. "I mean, she's brilliant. Really brilliant. She's only been at Beauxbatons for five years. Our Headmistress, Madame Maxime, is very particular about who she hires. My maman is friends with her," she said in a confidential tone. "And between you and me, maman said that Madame Maxine had her doubts about hiring Lady Karen because she isn't french."
"She's Irish, right?" Freddie asked as she followed Ada back to the table.
"Yes, but it does not matter to me. She's brilliant," Ada murmured as she sat down.
Freddie sat next to her and they both started eating. Ada had perfect table manners that seemed to come naturally to her. Freddie had to make a bit of a mental effort to use her manners, she was so used to eating however she wanted since she didn't have to go back to Gray Manor anymore. Andrei was sitting to Freddie's left and he had good manors as well. He had his plate piled high with mostly meat, no vegetables whatsoever. The Russian boy, Dimitri, was shoveling food in his face like he hadn't eaten in weeks. To Dimitri's left Akinyi sat, casting disgusted looks at the boy next to her. She ate small bites of food and it looked like she only had vegetables and bread on her plate. Freddie wondered if she were vegetarian but didn't know how to ask.
A waiter came around with a bottle of wine and offered it to each of them. Everyone held their glasses up except for Ada. Freddie hesitated for a moment before lifting her glass for the man to fill it.
I saw him open it as he walked over, she thought to herself. Unlikely that anyone could have poisoned it – and Andrei is drinking it. Karkaroff wouldn't poison his own student.
Freddie took a sip of wine as the waiter moved on to Ada.
"Oh, non merci," Ada said, shaking her head. "I mean, no thank you."
"Are you sure, mademoiselle?" the waiter asked. "It is an excellent vintage. It is elf wine, bottled in 1957."
"No thank you, just water please," Ada said again. "I am not old enough to drink."
"But you're french, aren't you?" said Dimitri from across the table, sneering. "Don't the french love wine?"
Ada said nothing but her face flushed and she stared down at her plate not eating. Freddie waited until the waiter walked away.
"You're Russian, aren't you Dimitri? I don't see you drinking vodka," she shot back at him. Andrei and Akinyi both laughed and even Ada let out a small giggle as Dimitri stared open-mouthed at her. A piece of food fell from his mouth onto his dress robes and Freddie smirked as she took another sip of wine.
"You are pretty funny, Freddie," said Andrei from beside her. "For a girl."
"Thank you," she said with a forced smile, trying not to roll her eyes. She kept eating her ratatouille, hoping that would prevent him from talking to her. It worked and Andrei struck up a conversation with Akinyi across the table.
The string quartet playing at the other end of the dining room finished their song and started up another, more rapid-paced tune. Freddie heard Ada humming ever so softly as she pushed asparagus around her plate. She looked at her new friends curiously and swallowed the food she had been chewing.
"You know the song?" she asked curiously.
"Oh!" Ada said softly, looking surprised. "Oui. I should not have been humming at the dinner table, that is rude. Madame Maxime would be furious."
"I won't tell on you," Freddie said humorously. "I love music. What song is it?"
"It's a French Christmas carol called Noël des enfants qui n'ont plus de maison. It's really kind of sad, it translates to A Carol For Homeless Children. It was written by a famous french composer named Claude Debussy in December of 1915. That was during the middle of the first Muggle World War, when the Nazis were occupying France." Freddie quirked an eyebrow inquisitively and Ada flushed slightly as she continued talking. "Music is a required subject at Beauxbatons. Lady Karen is also my teacher in that."
"Really? She teaches Potions and music?"
"Yes, most of our instructors teach more than one subject," Ada said with a nod then hesitated. "...Is is true Hogwarts does not place much emphasis in the arts?"
"Well we have an Art class, but it's not required. It's an elective and the grades don't count towards graduation. I've been taking it since third year. I enjoy it, though Professor Snape thinks it's a weak subject."
"What about music? Dancing? Creative writing?"
"We don't have anything like that," Freddie said, shaking her head. "Well, we do have the Frog Choir, led by Professor Flitwick, but it's more of an extracurricular activity than a class."
"Why is it called a Frog Choir?" Ada asked, wrinkling her nose, her green eyes sparkling in amusement. "Do they sing with frogs?"
"Actually, yeah," Freddie chuckled. "They hold their frogs while they sing and sometimes the frogs sing, too – well, croak, you know, but rhythmically."
"Oh I would really like to see that!" Ada said loudly, clasping her hands together. Everyone at the table stopped talking to look at Ada and she immediately flushed from her neck to the roots of her red hair. She clasped her hands in her lap and looked down until Andrei and Akinyi continued their conversation, with Dimitri periodically chiming it. Freddie didn't pay any attention to them.
"They're interesting to hear sing, that's for sure," she said to Ada and the girl glanced up cautiously.
"I'll have to ask my Papa about them, I wonder if he sang with them while he was at Hogwarts?" she murmured softly, twisting her hands in her lap. "Do you sing?"
"Oh no," Freddie laughed. "At least, not very well. Not well enough to join the choir. I do love music though and I like singing- when no one is around to hear me, that is."
"Me too," Ada said with a quick smile. "Je suis pareil."
"What does that mean? I don't speak french, unfortunately," Freddie said apologetically.
"Oh, just means I am the same way. I do not like for others to hear me sing. ...You came to France without learning French? That is funny, Freddie," she said, grinning again.
"Sev-Professor Snape speaks some. I didn't even know where the championship was being held until the day we left Hogwarts. He likes to keep me on my toes," she said, and this time she did roll her eyes. Ada giggled again.
"How did you travel?" she asked curiously.
"We flew for the most part," she said. "It took us two days. We actually Apparated the last stretch because we flew into a bad storm."
"Oh là là!" Ada said, which Freddie found adorable. "Lady Karen and I flew as well, but it took us less than a day to get here from Beauxbatons. I wish I could Apparate. She quizzed me the whole flight."
"Snape too," Freddie chuckled. "He made these flashcards that we've been going over for the last couple months. There's like 500 of them and they're really detailed. I sort of hate them, but they're also amazing."
"Les relation amour-haine," Ada said with a nod. "A love-hate relationship, yes?"
"Definitely."
"Hey Freddie," Andrei said from beside her, butting into their conversation. "I would like to see your flashcards. Perhaps we could quiz each other?"
"Well they're up in my room," Freddie said coolly, then remembered she was supposed to be nice. "...But I have most of them memorized. I guess we could quiz each other. ...Would you like to go first?"
"Of course. What is an Oculus Potion used for?" Andrei asked, with a small smirk like he didn't think she would know the answer.
Freddie had to stop herself from rolling her eyes again. The Oculus Potion was something she'd learned in her fifth year.
"Oculus is Latin for eye. The potion is used to restore the drinker's eyesight after injury. Most commonly used to counteract the effects of the Conjunctivitis Curse. The main ingredients in the potion are wormwood, stewed mandrake, and ground unicorn horn," she answered promptly.
"Correct," Andrei said, still smirking but his brow was slightly furrowed. "Now you ask me a question."
"Okay. What are the steps for brewing the Oculus Potion?" she asked. The Oculus Potion wasn't even on her flashcards, but she knew the recipe by heart. It was a healing potion after all.
"What?" Andrei scoffed. "Why would I have it memorized? That is what books are for."
"Anyone?" Freddie asked, looking around the table because Dimitri and Akinyi had finished eating and were listening. Akinyi looked bewildered and shook her head. Dimitri said nothing but crossed his arms, frowning. Freddie couldn't help but feel a little smug.
"You start with 8 ounces of Standard Potion Water," Ada said in a barely-audible voice and they all looked at her. She flushed and clenched her dress in one hand.
"Go on," Freddie encouraged.
"Oh, um...Add five grams of wormwood until the water turns green. Stir clockwise until the potion turns purple. Allow the potion to heat over medium flame until it turns yellow, which should take exactly 9 minutes, 57 seconds. Take it off the fire and add crystallized water, about 4 ounces, until the potion turns turquoise. Shake the cauldron and add another 2 grams of powdered wormwood until the potion turns pink. Stir counter-clockwise for five minutes until the potion turns orange. Add 4 ounces of stewed mandrake until the potion turns green. Sprinkle in ground unicorn horn until it turns turquoise. Add more crystallized water until it turns indigo. Stir clockwise ten times until it turns orange, then place the cauldron back on the fire. When the potion turns purple, take it off the fire and shake the cauldron again. Add another 4 ounces of stewed mandrake and when the potion turns orange it's complete."
Ada's voice had gotten stronger as she recited the recipe with her eyes closed. When she opened her eyes and saw them all staring at her, she looked away. She picked up her water goblet in trembling hands and took a sip.
"That's exactly right," Freddie told her, trying to keep the shock from her tone. This girl knew the recipe even better than she did. "I'm impressed."
"Me too," Akinyi said, amazed, staring wide-eyed at Ada.
Dimitri still had his arms crossed and was scowling. He grunted but said nothing. Andrei was looking surly again and his face looked paler than it had before.
"She could be wrong," he scoffed. "We cannot check her answer."
"She's not wrong," Freddie retorted. "Check your textbook when you get back to your room, you'll see."
"No one can memorize all the steps to a potion like that," he sneered, but Freddie saw a hint of fear in his dark eyes. "And she is a child. She should not even be here."
"Sounds to me like she's smarter than you, Andrei," Freddie said haughtily. "And I am too for that matter."
"I find that highly unlikely," he said disparagingly, then took a sip of his wine.
Freddie felt a surge of strong annoyance, felt the hair stand up on the back of her arms from her magic. If someone touched her they would get a static shock. She exhaled slowly and used her Occlumency to close off her emotions.
"If you don't believe me, ask me to recite a recipe. A hard one," she challenged.
"I am not playing this game with you," he said dismissively. He drained his wine glass and pushed back from the table. He walked away, over to the adults table. He leaned over Karkaroff's shoulder to whisper something, but Freddie was distracted. She was looking at Snape who was smirking as he talked to Lady Karen, who was laughing at whatever Snape had just said. Freddie felt a twinge of jealousy and had to concentrate more on her Occlumency to try and keep her emotions in check.
"He is just scared," Akinyi said and Freddie turned back to face her. From the corner of her eye she saw Andrei and Karkaroff leave the dining room. "Can you really recite any potions recipe, Hogwarts?"
"Well I don't know about any recipe, but I know a lot of them. Name a potion," she said, without a hint of the anger she'd had in her voice when she challenged Andrei to do the same.
"How about...Draught of Living Death?" Akinyi suggested.
"Easy," Freddie said with a shrug and a smile. She recited the recipe flawlessly from memory but noticed Ada gave her a funny look.
"What?" Freddie asked her curiously. "Did I get something wrong?"
"Oh...um..." Ada twisted her hands in her lap, unable to meet her eye.
"It's okay, Ada, you can tell me if I messed up," she said, knowing she had recited the recipe perfectly.
"T-there were a few things," she said quietly, glancing quickly up at Freddie then looking away. "You said crush 13 sopophorous beans with a silver dagger, but it's supposed to be 12 beans. And you added a clockwise stir after the last 7 counter-clockwise stirs."
"Oh," Freddie said, realization dawning on her. "Those are Snape's modifications – Professor Snape's. It's how I learned, and I promise you those changes make a world of difference."
"I knew you had to crush the beans instead of cut them," Akinyi said from across the table, digging in her purse for something. "I never thought of adding another bean. What was the other thing?"
"A clockwise stir at the end, after the 7 counter-clockwise stirs," Freddie told her as she pulled out a scrap of parchment. She quickly scribbled down what Freddie said and grinned, her bright white teeth standing out against her dark skin.
"Thanks, Hogwarts. I will try these adjustments when I return to school."
"You can call me Freddie," she told the girl with a smile.
"Freddie," Akinyi acknowledged. "If your altered recipe works like you say, I may be able to impress Master Mwangi...and he is not easily impressed."
She whispered this last part and Freddie chuckled, nodding in understanding. She glanced unconsciously towards Snape, remembering that it had taken her 6 years to really impress him with her potion skills. Or at least for him to admit he was impressed. Her smile faded when she saw Snape and Lady Karen were still deep in conversation. She had her body angled towards him in her chair, leaning forward as she talked animatedly. When she touched Snape's arm, Freddie felt like fire was shooting out of her scalp. A part of her was itching to hex the Lady Karen, but she had to restrain herself.
I can't hex a teacher, and she's one of the judges of the tournament, she thought, keeping her mind guarded from intruders. Besides, I have no room to be jealous. It's not like we are in a real, committed relationship. He's never said we're monogamous. Just because I haven't seen him with anyone else, doesn't mean-
She cut that thought off, because imagining Snape with anyone else was too painful. She knew she was being ridiculous.
Besides, she reasoned. He spends all of his spare time with me. When would he even have had a chance to sleep with someone else? Of course that doesn't mean he doesn't want to...
She realized Akinyi was saying something and she turned back around.
"I'm sorry, I was distracted, Akinyi. What did you say?"
"I asked what your favorite potion is that you have ever brewed," Akinyi said.
"Ooo that's a good question. Let me think a moment," she said, the inquiry effectively distracting her from thoughts of Lady Karen. She thought back over the years, considering the potions she'd brewed by herself and ones she'd brewed with Snape. She thought about saying Amortentia, but she didn't want to name such a 'girly' potion as her favorite. "Honestly? ...I think the Pompion Potion."
"Pompion," Dimitri snickered. "That is a rudimentary brew."
"Yes," Freddie said, trying to keep the edge from her voice. "But it was the very first potion I ever brewed. My very first Potions class." She smiled at the memory, in spite of Dimitri rolling his eyes at her. "I was one of the only ones in my class to successfully brew it and mine was the only one Snape tested." He had tested it on Daniel and remembering Daniel's head turning into a pumpkin made her chuckle softly. "...I remember that first class like it was yesterday. I think I knew even then that Potions was something I wanted to do for the rest of my life. It just felt right, you know? Like something I was born to do."
"I know that feeling," Akinyi said with a nod. "My father is a Healer for the village we live in. I have been brewing potions with him since I was six years old. Now he lets me do all of his brewing during the summer. It is...easy. And fun. I have always enjoyed the work. It does not feel like work, yes?"
"Absolutely," Freddie agreed. "That's cool that your dad is a Healer. I have a job lined up with the brewing team at St Mungo's when I graduate in a few months."
"What is St Mungo's?" she asked.
"St Mungo's Hospital for Magical Maladies and Injuries," Ada piped up before Freddie could answer. "It is the largest wizarding hospital in Europe. It is located in London. Established by Healer Mungo Bonham in 1602."
"Do you know everything?" Freddie asked her, amazed by the depths of her friend's knowledge. Ada shrugged and looked down, but she was smiling slightly. She looked pleased.