Chapter Thirty-Three

Contemplating Perspective

Quintin was rather glad that Tuesday was the first full day of classes, because he was more than eager to meet with Ambrose after his writing class.

"I fixed the errors on my source page over the holidays like you asked, and now I'm ready to get started on Rowena and Icarus Ravenclaw!" Quintin declared confidently.

"Congratulations on getting the easy parts done," Ambrose offered.

"Nothing about that was easy," Quintin protested. "You have no idea just how many people had to step in and help me with sources. Even Dad had to lend me some blueprints and stuff..."

"Yeah, keep those handy, you'll need them again," Ambrose recommended. "I do know how much help you needed, because I was practically going door to door banging on different Professors' offices when I worked on mine. And since I have some idea what is and isn't in this castle, I can tell you this; finding out basic written information on Rowena Ravenclaw will be relatively easy. Finding out anything written about Icarus Ravenclaw before his death... practically impossible," he warned. Quintin frowned. "There is nothing written about him other than a handful of potion formulas that were used to develop modern ones. Most of what's written down about him was written after he died, and none of that is even remotely positive until after he arrived here from Azkaban; you may be able to talk your grandfather into declassifying some of his Azkaban documents, if you're lucky. Even as a ghost, Mad Ick was considered a blight on the school in the founders' days, being a reminder of a past that the school didn't want to acknowledge. Dusthorn had no choice but to move him before she left."

"Wait, Dusthorn did? That doesn't sound like her, she was extremely loyal to her friends," Quintin frowned.

"I think that played a part in her decision, actually," Ambrose replied. "I don't think it was the pressure coming from other professors about getting him moved that worried her; I think she was more worried about what happened to him when she retired. They might have scattered his bones, catching the spirit in a state of perpetual limbo, stuck in his own despair... never ascending, never in a state where his soul could even attempt to find peace. So, my theory is that she did it in hopes that it would someday lead him to a second chance, or at least preserve his soul long enough to see if his efforts of the school would pay off. As much as she might have wished it were otherwise, Ick's too condemned for that to trigger an ascension," Ambrose explained quietly. "Even so, her act did save him in the end. His bouts of insanity slowly ebbed away until they've nearly stopped altogether, and now he's even a senior faculty member and probably always will be. And I know from talking to him that he's pretty content with that."

"Everyone talks about wise old Ravenclaw, but everything I've been learning about Dusthorn makes me feel like she was wiser than anybody," Quintin admitted. "But then, I'm sure the research on Rowena Ravenclaw will change my mind, right?"

"Maybe, but I doubt it," Ambrose said, then scribbled out some books on Rowena that Quintin could get started on.

When Quintin went into the library with a list of books, he quickly pulled out the ones in the main section before going to the Herbology side of the Restricted Section to look for the one he was missing. Hermione Weasley had paused to read in the Charms section further down the row, looking up curiously and then smiling when she saw who it was.

"I see you're back to your research already," Hermione commented.

"I thought I ought to take advantage of the fact that all I need to do in class this week is to turn homework from over the holidays," Quintin explained. "I'm starting on Rowena and Icarus Ravenclaw now."

"Oh, I see! What book are you looking for?" Hermione asked.

"This one; A Wizard's Guide to Roots and Their Properties. Rowena wrote it," Quintin said, and Hermione looked amused.

"Well, you're not going to find it in that section. It's over here in Charms, I think... let me see... here we are," Hermione said, pulling it out.

"Oh, it is? I thought it'd be in Herbology for certain," Quintin said with surprise.

"I think the problem is with the modern translation of the title. In this case, it doesn't mean roots as in plants, it means roots as in words," Hermione explained, handing it to him. "In fact, most of the book is about the use of language in modern forms of magic and the significance of different root languages we use, especially Latin and Greek, and the modification of Charms by altering the language itself... just like we can drastically alter the meaning of a sentence in regular language just by adding the right prefix. Rowena loved words and wordplay... which is probably also why she liked riddles so much. She was known as the most brilliant witch of her time, and she was self taught, driven by her love of learning," Hermione went on, tapping the book on the top of this stack. "Not only that, but this book in particular is very important in understanding modern magic in and of itself. In fact, the abridged version of this book is recommended reading for those who are planning to go into teaching. Personally, I found it dull and I much prefer the original," Hermione decided. "It lacks the personality of the author and just sticks to the important points that you need as a study guide."

"Well, considering what I'm after is some insight into Rowena herself, it's probably why Ambrose recommended this one," Quintin decided. "I don't suppose you know of any citings of Icarus Ravenclaw anywhere? Something not in the addendum or Janus Craw's journals, I mean? Something that confirms dates but isn't so biased or controversial."

"I do know one," Hermione replied. "And to be honest, considering his illegitimate birth, it's probably the only one you'll find."

"Oh, where is it? Can you write it down for me?" Quintin asked.

"It's not in the library," Hermione said with a smile, and Quintin realized what she had in mind. "Come, let's check our books out and I'll show you."

"I'd love to see it," Quintin said enthusiastically, and the two of them went to the front desk.

"Let's take the main staircase when we go up," Hermione suggested, and Quintin followed her out and down the corridor.

It was in some respects the long way around coming from that direction, but the reason for it became clear when Hermione paused at the bottom and gazed up at the moving stairs.

"Have you ever stood here and watched them move?" she asked.

"Not really. Not after I realized I couldn't time them to use them more efficiently," Quintin explained, and Hermione sighed at him with exasperation.

"I think that sometimes growing up in the castle has rather dulled your sense of wonder about it all," Hermione told him. "Those things that cause wonder and awe in most students is nothing but commonplace from your perspective. But once you've graduated and gotten out into the world, perhaps there will come a time when you can return to this magnificent castle and finally experience it with a less biased eye," she said. "At least, I hope you'll be able to," she added, then looked up again, pointing so that he would look up at the staircase himself.

"I'm fairly sure you've already learned by now that the foundations and waterworks of the original castle were mostly done by Slytherin, just as Gryffindor had a lot of input on the defenses, and Hufflepuff on its gardens, food supply, and maintaining the Dark Forest," Hermione said. "But some of the most interesting pieces of the castle in my mind came from Ravenclaw, including this very staircase," she explained. Quintin stared at it.

"Just why did she charm it to behave this way, anyway?" Quintin asked. "Surely it didn't need to be this chaotic."

"Well, when the castle was first built, there were a lot of restrictions on where you were allowed to go based on job, house, social class, if you were a witch or a wizard, and so on... a great many more restrictions than there are now," Hermione explained. "So the stairs were originally charmed to make sure that everyone use the stairs would only go to floors and areas of the castle that they were permitted to go," she explained, then took a couple of steps onto the staircase, waiting for Quintin to do the same. "Watch," she said, gripping the railing firmly.

Immediately the staircase began to move, and Quintin watched with interest as the staircase slid over to the corridor closest to her office.

"Wow, can I learn how to do that?" Quintin asked. Hermione chuckled at that.

"Not unless you ever become a Deputy Headmaster, no. As it is, I can only get it to move to my office, and only if the Headmaster isn't overriding it, so it's a mere convenience," Hermione said, leading him to her office. "But back in the day, anyone's hand on the rail would determine where the stair went next, assuming no one of higher status was using it first. Sometimes first year students with no title had a long wait if anyone else was using the staircase. Not only that, but the back stairs were reserved for castle staff only, so students had no choice but to go this way."

"Then I'm glad it doesn't work that way now. When did it change?" Quintin asked curiously.

"I'm not sure, it isn't really written anywhere. My guess is they did it when they integrated the houses and made them co-ed instead of separating witches into their own quarters," Hermione replied. "I think that the restrictions simply either became outdated or impractical, so the majority of them were taken off, and in so doing, it made the stairs move in a more random fashion. Now the only person in the castle who can control them completely is the Headmaster," she said, opening her office door. "Come on in," she added.

As Quintin stepped in, she went over to the school registry, heaving it off its stand and putting it on the table, flipping it to the front.

"It's here in the very first pages of this book," she explained, and Quintin stepped over to get a closer look, amazed at the list of names. "These first few pages don't just include the first students, you see... they include all of the apprentices that the four founders had while the castle was being built and after. In a way, their apprentices were the very first students at Hogwarts," she explained, tapping their names. "And most of them stayed on to help teach after their training. You see? Here is Icarus' name... one of the few places you'll see it written down."

"Wow! Well, it doesn't get much more official than that, I suppose, not that anyone doubted that he was one of the first students here," Quintin said. "Is this in chronological order?"

"No, not even remotely likely, because Janus is thirteen years older than Icarus, and yet their names are right next to each other. I think the book was started after the school had been completely organized... see how everyone here has not only their name but their house listed?" Hermione pointed out. "That goes on for a dozen pages or so... here's the end," Hermione showed him. "This is where the charm in the book takes over, and likely the Sorting Hat as well. Everything before this point was in different handwriting... where here, on the page with just names, is in the same handwriting as what's written in by the charm," she said, putting it back on the stand.

"Do you suppose it's Rowena's handwriting?" Quintin asked.

"Well, let's see... open that book on magic language, Quintin, there is a note section in a back and I believe she might have written a correction in it herself," Hermione said, and they opened it, comparing them.

"It doesn't match," Quintin said.

"Yes, I think you're right. Which means it's probably Gryffindor's handwriting. As school administrator, that'd make sense," Hermione decided. There was a knock on the open door, and the two of them looked up.

"Did someone interesting just have a baby?" Jennifer asked hopefully.

"No, nothing like that," Hermione replied. "We were just looking at the school registry to check the handwriting to see if Rowena wrote it, but she didn't."

"Professor Weasley saw that I was looking up Icarus and Rowena, and she found his name on the first page of the book," Quintin explained.

"Oh, that's right! I'd forgotten all about it!" Jennifer admitted.

"I didn't. I remember peeking in the front of this book in my seventh year, when we were looking for the Forbidden Tomb," she explained.

"Yes, that's right, and then the three of you went down in that hidden room the apprentices built behind the Slytherin status and got trapped in there," Jennifer recalled.

"I didn't get trapped in there! Harry and Ron did!" Hermione protested.

"Yes, but you helped," Jennifer teased.

"We were just checking to see if it was Rowena's handwriting in the book... the one the charm uses to write names in, but it doesn't seem to be," Hermione said.

"It doesn't matter, really. Mainly I was just curious to see if Icarus was mentioned anywhere," Quintin explained. "And the first few pages are written in someone else's handwriting anyway, so I suppose it doesn't really matter who charmed it."

"Perhaps the Sorting Hat might know," Jennifer suggested.

"You're right, he might. I'll ask him later," Quintin replied. "Can I get a copy of the names on the first couple of pages, Professor Weasley?"

"Sure, I'll do it now," Hermione said, getting out some parchment and tapping it so it'd copy the names down.

"So I take it this means that you've started researching Icarus now," Jennifer asked him.

"And Rowena Ravenclaw too, of course," Quintin agreed. Jennifer brightened.

"Would you like to see our family tree on Rowena's side of the family? I have it updated all the way up to Dawn now," Jennifer offered.

"I would," Quintin agreed readily.

"Here's the list of names that you needed, Quintin," Hermione said, handing him the scroll.

"Thanks for all the help, Professor," Quintin said sincerely.

"You're welcome," Hermione said with a smile.

"Let's go upstairs, Quintin, it's in my sitting room. Have a good evening, Hermione!"

"See you tomorrow," she replied, and Jennifer led Quintin towards the Doorlift.

"So if you have the family tree for Rowena's side of the family, do you have her death date written down as well?" Quintin asked.

"Yes, I believe it is on there," Jennifer replied. "Most of it is directly out of the school's records. If you want to see the original, it's in the Research Library. I can put it on your shelf if you need it."

"I'd just need to see it long enough to get the information I need for the reference section... maybe when we're both in there together," Quintin suggested.

"Yes, alright. Saturday then," Jennifer offered. "After lunch."

"Sure," Quintin agreed.

"So... now that we have a moment, I was wondering what you were planning to do about... well, the other person you are researching," Jennifer said. Quintin gazed at her thoughtfully, but she had her spectacles over her eyes.

"Ambrose already warned me there isn't much written material that would help outside of Janus' journals," Quintin replied. "He said I'd have to rely on interviews for a lot of it."

"Yes," Jennifer said thoughtfully. "Are you sure you are up to this? What I mean is... well, I suppose you already know from family history that Icarus did some unspeakable things..."

"Yes, I know, Mum. But so did a lot of other ghosts in this castle, that's how a lot of them got that way," Quintin said. "I've heard them all at one time or another."

"Perhaps, but I'm sure you heard very simplified versions of those tales, Quintin, to spare you from the sordid details," Jennifer said, Quintin frowning at her. "Just promise to take someone with you when you're conducting your interviews, and speak to me or one of your advisors if you and your house feel overwhelmed because you found out something that you don't feel you can handle."

"Yes, alright, I promise," Quintin said. "I think I'll start by going over the family tree and the dates on it. Can I borrow Janus Craw's journals when we meet on Saturday? I'd like to go over them just in case something comes up that I want to ask him about in our interview."

"Yes, we can go over them together," Jennifer said with a smile, and the two of them stepped in the Doorlift.

When Saturday rolled around, Quintin decided that having lunch in the Owl Room would be more efficient, so after their early morning Quidditch practice, Jeremy and Quintin warmed up with hot cups of cocoa in their hands as they rolled out the scroll to take a look at it.

"It's amazing! I've never seen anything like it," Jeremy admitted out of admiration, walking down the length of the scroll until finally pointing at Jennifer's name, dangling off the end while Alicia's name had an asterisk, followed by Dawn's own name.

There was a shuffle at the door as Rus, Sissy, and Dawn came in, followed behind by Penny and Gloria, pulling off their own scarves as they came in from the other half of the Pitch.

"Hey, look at that! Where did you get it?" Dawn asked.

"Mum lent it to me," Quintin said.

"What is it?" Sissy asked.

"Quintin has a scroll of family names across the table, dating all the way back to Rowena Ravenclaw," Rus explained. "Our family is related."

"Are you really? Do you mind if I read it too?" Sissy asked.

"Sure, go right ahead," Quintin said, and Sissy sat down and put on her ear clips so that she could hear the names as she touched them.

"It's absolutely amazing that you can trace your lineage back so far," Jeremy said. "I don't know anyone at all past my great grandparents."

"That's farther than I know," Gloria replied.

"I know a fair few generations back because a lot of them went to school here," Penny said. "But I'd have to ask my father for the whole run down."

"In a way, that's why this family line is so fascinating, because it's one of the lines we don't have memorized," Rus replied. "Grandfather made us memorize the Craw line from Janus all the way down, and Uncle Augustus had us memorize five generations of the Snape family."

"Wow, and I guess the Janus Craw line would be at least as long as this one," Penny said, impressed.

"And just as linear," Rus replied, Penny glancing at him questioningly. "It's a long story, really, but our Aunt Viviane had something to do with it."

"Aunt Viviane? The Lady of the Lake is your aunt?" Penny said in awe.

"Well, she's not our aunt exactly. She's from Aunt Anna's mother's side of the family," Rus explained. "But we all still call her that anyway."

"Still... what a relative... it must be fascinating," Penny said.

"Actually, it's a bit nerve wracking," Rus replied. "I mean... she's always been nice to us, but our grandparents and all of our other adult relatives really get on edge any time she's around."

"Well, everyone except Aunt Anna," Dawn said with a chuckle, looking up as Jay, Jack, and Eben came in, glancing at the table curiously.

"Oh, are you doing a bit of genealogy?" Eben asked, putting his books on a side table.

"Just a bit. My mother gave to it me to check some dates, since I've just started researching Rowena Ravenclaw and Professor Ravenclaw," Quintin explained.

"Oh that's right, Professor Ravenclaw is her son," Gloria said, looking at the far left side of the chart. "But how come his name is just penciled in like that instead of next to her daughter Helena's?"

"Nobody knew it was her son, especially before that addendum came out," Jay explained. "Everyone thought he was just adopted, because Rowena arranged for a surrogate mother... Dame Rachel, one of her personal servants."

"And nobody thought twice about her servant getting pregnant?" Gloria asked.

"No, she was getting shagged by Slytherin anyway," Jay explained, and Gloria made a face at that. "It's in the addendum, if you read between the lines a bit."

"I haven't really gotten into that yet, although I'm sure I will be soon," Quintin admitted. "Mr. Tinker asked me not to research Slytherin directly until last, although what I have learned about him so far isn't very pleasant."

"True, but don't forget what Professor Ravenclaw himself said in that history class his taught us, Quintin," Jeremy put in. "Since there are no perfect humans, there aren't any perfectly evil or perfectly good humans either, and a lot of how we feel about it depends on our own point of view, and not theirs," he lectured.

"That doesn't mean it isn't a bit of a taboo to speak of it," Jay said. "In fact, I think you're on pretty dangerous ground as it is, talking about Slytherin like that. A lot of wizards don't like it when you condemn someone they consider a role model."

"A role model?" Rus repeated, staring at his brother in surprise. "Maybe to some who don't know his back history at all, I suppose, but you and I and the rest of our family know better than that, especially after uncovering that skeleton of poor Wuscfrea in Slytherin's Chamber of Secrets."

"Those were different times with different standards than we have now, along with different standards of punishment," Jay pointed out. "If you stole a piece of bread, it might cost you your life, especially if you steal from the wrong person. And didn't Wuscfrea steal Dagda's Cauldron from Slytherin? It's all how you look at it."

"Well, I think that's what Professor Ravenclaw meant by point of views making things seem different, at any rate," Jeremy said, while Rus and Quintin gazed at Jay critically. Jay simply nodded to Jeremy, ignoring the scrutiny. "He has a point, Quintin. We'd have to look into how justice was conducted by wizards in those days to know whether he committed a crime by the time period's standards or not."

"Just because the standards were different, does it really make it right?" Quintin asked.

"Who are we to judge, when we live in a different time with different values?" Jeremy asked. Quintin frowned at that, unsure of how to respond.

"Oh look, here's my name!" Dawn said proudly, breaking up the awkwardness with her bright voice. "Right at the end."

"Oh yes, and there's a star by it," Penny said.

"That's because the Ravenclaw heirs follow the female line," Dawn said. "I'm an heir of Ravenclaw, you see. Both Grandmother and Professor Ravenclaw himself have mentioned it to me before. He says it's important because it's through the female line that he connects with and that extended his visions past his lifetime. Isn't that brilliant?"

"I suppose it would be if that talent hadn't made him go a bit mad," Jay said.

"It's a shame that you hadn't been a girl, Jay, or you would have been the main line," Jack teased him.

"Just as well, you mean. I doubt it's worth the headache," Jay replied. "Rus and I are better off not having to deal without any lineage obligations."

"Then you won't mind if your line dies off then, either, I guess. Very few of these trees other than the main line seem to get very far," Jack pointed out. Jay frowned at it, realizing that Jack had a point.

"Don't worry about that, Jay," Quintin reassured him, seeing his reaction. "The Ravenclaw line is not like the Craw line, where it was intentionally kept linear until now. Mum told me that these other lines did continue, we just don't see them because most of these families became non-magic after a couple of generations. They're probably still around somewhere."

"What?" Jay said in shock. "But that's horrible! That's even worse than those lines dying off!"

"No, it isn't. They got to continue their families, what could be more important than that?" Quintin asked, but Jay's expression darkened.

"Don't worry, Jay, maybe that's just the way it was in the past," Rus said quickly. "I'm sure it doesn't effect us... I mean... the Craw line isn't linear any longer, right? Things are different now. You said so yourself, these are different times."

"Yes they are," Jay said curtly. "But that doesn't mean I'm willing to risk it. If there's even the slightest possibility that one of my children might be Muggle, I'm not having any."

"There's always a chance of that no matter what family you belong to, Jay," Eben informed him somberly.

"All the more reason," Jay snapped, looking between the rest, who had suddenly turned serious. "I already feel like the deck's been stacked against me. I'd be a fool to gamble on an already losing hand. Thanks, but I'd rather stay single than ever condemn someone without magic to a life inside our society. Some cruelties are just best not even attempted," he said, then became aware of the awkward silence that followed. "I think I'm going to study in the common room instead."

"I'll go with you," Jack offered, but Quintin and Rus could plainly see it was more because he didn't want Jay to be alone rather than agreeing with him in any way.

"Fine," Jay said, and the two of them left. Rus frowned at Quintin.

"You're right, I went too far," Quintin replied out loud. "I just didn't want him to get discouraged, that's all..."

"Then perhaps you should have kept the part where the lines turned Muggle to yourself," Rus snapped critically. "You should have just reminded him that just because this happened in the past doesn't mean it'd happen to us."

"Yes, I guess I should have," Quintin said apologetically.

"Just how do you feel about it, Rus?" Sissy wanted to know. "What if this Ravenclaw trait does continue, and your line turns out to be Muggle?" Rus didn't have to ponder it for too long.

"I don't think it'd bother me," Rus decided. "Yes, I'd be sad at first, and perhaps even disappointed. But I'm sure it wouldn't be long before my Snape and Craw instincts kick in that makes family a priority, and I'd turn my full attention to doing what's best for my children no matter what."

"Stars, how I envy all of you," Eben said so out of the blue that he got everyone's attention. He slumped into the chair with a haunted look on his face as he looked between Quintin and Rus. "You feel so strongly about your family out of an obligation of love, instead of an obligation based solely on conditioning. You grow and help each other... even something like Tangerine Spots puts your family on alert."

"That was an enormously large outbreak," Jack protested.

"That isn't the point," Eben said. "All of you have been doing it for so long, I don't think you realize just how special it actually is. Family is a just a tool as far as my father's concerned; a long term investment so that he can get ahead... an investment that he has no problem in liquidating if one of us proves to be a detriment or holds him back in any way. Coming from my perspective, it seems like you're all good at taking family for granted... especially Jay, even if I do understand why he feels that way. He hasn't gotten over the death of his father yet."

"You lost your mother, Eben. Have you ever gotten over it?" Rus challenge him sternly.

"Not really," Eben admitted. "I guess that's part of why I understand his point of view so well."

"No one ever really gets over losing a parent, you know. We just handle it in different ways," Rus replied solemnly. "Although it is true that he sometimes takes family for granted right now... and maybe it's true that we all do, but I have faith that my brother will see his way through it in the end. There will come a day when he's at peace with himself. That's important too, you know. In fact, perhaps that's important even above and beyond how we feel about our families... we have to find peace with ourselves first. How can we really know how we feel about things if we don't accept who we are as people?"

Things grew quiet as Eben pondered that, and Sissy decided to ask how the fundraising was going. Soon, Quintin and Jeremy were rolling up the scroll as they chatted about how to meet their fundraising goals and worked to set up lunch, attempting to salvage the rest of their day.

Quintin's mind had trouble disconnecting the topic completely, so it wasn't long before he went to the research library with the scroll, recounting what happened to his mother. Jennifer listened intently with her spectacles off so that she could read his thoughts as well as his words as he spoke about it.

"Rus is very wise for his years," Jennifer commented with a smile. "He reminds me a great deal of his father. And he is right. Being at peace with yourself is very important; accepting yourself for who you are, the good and the bad. The mistakes you've made and what needs improved on, and learning to trust yourself... despite knowing that you're not perfect."

"How can you trust yourself if you know you might make a mistake?" Quintin challenged her with a frown.

"By trying to always do your best, and learning from mistakes when you make them. And then learning to forgive yourself during times when you failed to do your best for some reason, or when your best just wasn't enough to resolve a situation," she explained gently. "It's not an easy thing to learn. In fact, it's something that most people struggle with most of their lives. Even when we reach equilibrium, there's always something threatening to throw it out of balance again. It's rather like that Newton's Cradle that your father gave you for Christmas."

"You mean that silly thing with the steel balls on wires that tap themselves back and forth when you swing one end?" Quintin said skeptically. "I thought that gift was nothing more than a joke, considering his comments about me swinging like a pendulum."

"Yes, I noticed you weren't too impressed with it, and I probably would have taken it the same way at one point," Jennifer admitted with amusement. "But there's actually a hidden lesson inside. It's about the steel balls in the center which are barely moving, transferring the energy to the other end, despite being stationary themselves," she explained. "Unlike being a clock pendulum that's only still when the clock winds down, he was attempting to show you that such outside influences can be managed, and it's much better to be the steel balls it the middle... moving along with the outside forces that keep smacking against it, but still maintaining its own equilibrium in the process."

When Quintin went up to his room to put away his books and scrolls before dinner, he took a moment to rummage through his trunk and pull out the Newton's Cradle. He carefully untangled it before it on his desk, raising one end to get it going. He watched it for quite some time before there was a knock on the door.

"Come in," Quintin said, and Jeremy opened it.

"Are we going to dinner or what? I'm starving," Jeremy asked, then saw what he was looking at. Hey, I've seen those before. Is that one charmed?"

"No, it's just a regular non-magic one," Quintin said, putting his hand on it to steady the motion. "My father gave it to me for Christmas."

"Really?" Jeremy said, not that impressed as he held the door open for Quintin and the two of them left. "Good thing he got you a new tennis racket too, or you would have had grounds for returning it for something good," he joked, but Quintin simply smiled softly and followed him down the corridor.