In the Defense Against the Dark Arts room of Ilvermorny—Jeremiah and Theo just finished assisting Professor Raven Knightingale with her task.
The room was shaped similarly to the Hogwarts one, though the walls were another color, fashioned from different stone, and the windows resided along the right side of the room, her desk at the front, and the tables spread out evenly across the rest of the space, bookshelves in the back—and now, sheet-covered cages hung from the ceiling, hovering above her desk and occasionally thumping around, as the creatures inside them were rather agitated.
Raven stood by, her arms folded, smirking up at the many cages. She had straight black hair, short and evenly-parted down the middle, the front a little longer than the rest, her eyes a beautiful bottle green, and her cloak a deep pine color made of velvety material. She let out a laugh, waving Jeremiah and Theo away from the cages now that they had all been hung.
"Okay… okay, good work," Raven said. "You two can go now… just watch for any venom dripping on your heads on the way out."
Jeremiah paused, glimpsing up at the cages, then at her. "How likely is that?"
Raven made a halfhearted shrug, holding up her hand and making a 'just a little bit' gesture.
Theo snickered, pushing Jeremiah quickly under the cages and heading toward the exit.
Just as the two students marched out the door to the hall—they passed by another man standing in the doorway, wearing a dark purple overcoat, a hat and goggles, and holding a cane. They paid him no mind as they left the room, but Raven was eyeing him rather intently, only just having noticed him there.
"Venom…" Arius murmured, upturning his head and eyeing the hanging cages, seeing one of them shaking around. "Well… that's rather curious. Interesting choice of decoration, although I'd certainly be the last to judge."
Raven narrowed her eyes curtly at him, adjusting her crossed arms and giving him a look.
"So." Arius faced her, offering her a smile as he tucked the cane beneath his arm, clasping his hands and nodding once at her. "I hear you're the head of Wampus House now. Do the houses here have official colors? Refresh my memory—though it looks to me like you're sporting Slytherin green."
"Well… you're the one who told me I'd be a Slytherin if I'd ever gone to Hogwarts," Raven replied, making a smooth stride toward him. "And… what about you? Head of… what was it… Hufflepuff House?"
"I'm actually the headmaster now," Arius replied, breathing out a laugh. "And that wasn't a mistake or an oversight, believe it or not. I suppose the other options for headmaster must've simply stopped replying to their owls."
Raven chuckled, stopping just in front of him.
The two of them fell silent for a moment.
"And… while following in the footsteps of the headmasters before me is an exceptionally difficult thing for me to so… I am certainly trying," Arius added, his tone softening. "Which… brings me… to this. Do you still make family trees? Do you happen to have a kit for one?"
Raven tilted her head at him, surveying him rather intensely now.
"You only came to ask me for a favor?" she mumbled.
"No… actually, no," Arius replied, raising one of his gloved fingers. "Honestly, I really wouldn't come straight to you for this and this alone, but… it… does happen to be important."
Raven stared at him. "How important?"
"Extremely," Arius sighed. "It's a hunch I need to put to rest."
"Involving…?" Raven asked.
"Xyler," Arius told her. "And the Seal of Shadows."
Ravan let out a heavy breath, glancing down and nodding mildly. "Well… yeah… yeah, that is important. I might have a kit for one in my storage closet, here…"
"Oh—brilliant—thank you," Arius grinned.
"But," Raven sharply added, jabbing a finger at him. "You need to follow the instructions to the letter, Emmett—and remember, it's not gonna happen overnight. These things take a long time to actually produce any real results."
"I remember," Arius assured. "That's why I thought I'd get it started as soon as possible. And it's also why I thought you'd… maybe… help me to do so."
Raven paused, squinting curiously at him.
Arius intertwined his leather-covered fingers, shrugging and making a sideways nod.
"We have a lot of catching up to do," he mumbled. "If… you like."
"Emmett," someone else called out.
Arius and Raven turned—seeing Crowley leaning on the doorway of the classroom, cocking his head and glaring fixedly at the headmaster.
"We were mid-conversation," Crowley grumbled, straightening up and striding toward him. "You don't… run off… mid-conversation. For the millionth time…"
"He still does that?" Raven laughed, shaking her head at Arius. "Wow… you still haven't grown up at all, have you?"
Arius glimpsed between the two of them, looking almost defensive. "You—jus—don't team up against me. This is important."
"Yeah, well… you'll have to put it on hold," Crowley told him. "Fontaine and Akamine are up in the headmaster's office, and they'd like you to join them to discuss some things."
"Really?" Arius frowned. "Now…?"
"Yes, now," Crowley griped, shooting him a look. "You're a headmaster, too—whether you consistently forget that or not."
Raven laughed again even louder, quickly covering her mouth and turning away.
"All right, well… I suppose I'll just… come back for the kit later," Arius muttered.
"I'll just take it up to your room," Raven suggested.
Arius stared at her. "How d'you know where my room is?"
"Because it was my room, smart one," Raven said caustically. "That room you're using was my old office—so you're welcome."
"Oh—thank you," Arius laughed, nodding and moving to join Crowley. "Right—I'll just—I'll see you later, then."
"Emmett," Raven called. "Whoever you're doing this family tree for—you'll need a bit of their hair to make this work. Don't forget."
Arius gave her a two-fingered salute, then spun around and followed Crowley out of the room.
Raven stared at the doorway for a moment after they were gone, releasing a cloud of breath.
When Alice and Zander returned to the castle—they met up with their friends in the main hall, all of them enjoying a nice lunch before setting off toward the cottage again.
During all this time—while Lorcan described how magnificent the magical creatures classroom was, and while Tobias excitedly told the story of how he spent his morning with Sakura—Alice didn't say much, and Zander didn't speak at all. Neither of them were meant to repeat anything that Vance had told them—and beyond that, Zander still seemed perturbed, presumably still mulling over the dark possibilities surrounding his father.
However—by the time they were all walking along the dirt path to the cottage—Zander was speaking normally again, trading ideas with James about how and when they'd all sneak off to the American Aisle together in the future. When they reached the cottage, they strolled past it rather than going inside, and Alice and Zander were both pleased to show their friends the new location of their longtime secret hangout spot.
One by one, they all stepped into the blue police box—emerging in the lush, comfortable room of green and gold, James plopping down on the nearest couch, Lorcan and Tobias sitting across from him, Rose turning the desk chair around and sinking into it, and Alice and Zander claiming either of the pine-green recliners.
"Wicked," Jamed grinned, stretching atop the couch. "I can't believe Arius brought this room here—he literally brought a bloody Hogwarts room here!"
"We all know, James," Rose said tonelessly, glimpsing around at the green and gold décor. "We can all see it."
"Yeah… just don't tell anyone," Alice advised. "Arius wants us to keep it kinda secret."
"Naturally," Zander and James said in unison, both of them chuckling after.
"Isn't this a security breach?" Lorcan asked, swapping glimpses with Tobias. "I mean… we can walk right from Hogwarts to Ilvermorny, and vise-versa."
"No. Both of the schools are heavily protected, and the blue box itself is warded," Zander explained. "Arius said only a select few people can pass through it—including all of us."
"So it's a heavily-modified vanishing cabinet," Rose nodded, looking around again. "I like it."
"Yeah, that reminds me… did any of you guys see what all the headmasters were doing right when we left the main hall?" James inquired. "They were all gathering up around the Goblet of Fire and chanting at it until a blue line appeared all around it."
"That's the age line," Rose knew. "They did that last time, too."
"Oooh," James exhaled. "Gotcha…"
"Tonight is the night people are gonna start putting their names in," Lorcan remarked. "That's what I heard… so they had to do the age line now…"
"Yes… and, I think… zere is somezing ve all need to discuss," Tobias said, clasping his hands and raising his brows at the recliners, giving Alice and Zander both an intense stare.
Everyone else followed his trail of vision over to them as well.
Alice looked down, scraping her thumbnail along her robe's sleeve, and Zander merely sighed, folding his arms and returning all of their stares.
"Ve know you both intend to enter ze Triwizard Tournament," Tobias stated in an uncharacteristically serious tone. "And ve need to talk about that now."
"What's to talk about?" Zander asked vacantly.
"A game plan, Zander," Rose told him forwardly. "The tournament really tries to make sure you're all on your own—but everyone who's ever been in the tournament gets some kind of help somehow or another. So—whichever one of you end up in the tournament—we all need to agree right now. We are all gonna come here as often as we have to—we are all gonna make a game plan for every task you do—and we're gonna help as much as we possibly can. All right?"
"And that goes especially for you, snake boy," James added, jolting up on the couch and cocking his head at Zander. "Because we all know you'd try to lone-wolf the whole thing—and we're not having that."
"Aye," Alice mumbled.
Zander blinked and turned to her.
Alice met his eyes, sighing deeply. "Well… we all know you're more likely to be picked than me. I'd have to agree with James, too. I know you'd get all proud and try really hard to solve everything on your own… but you'd better not do that, or I might actually set you on fire."
Zander stared blankly at her. "What. Again?"
"Aye—again," Alice taunted, sitting upright in her seat and smirking over at him. "And again—and again—and again. Okay?"
"Whoa—hold—on a second," James said, swatting the air and raising his hands. "When did she set you on fire?"
"It was an accident!" Alice exclaimed.
"I don't think you can claim anything is an accident when you start a giant raging inferno in the middle of a crowded classroom," Zander chided. "You had to know that wasn't gonna go well from the start."
Everyone else exploded with laughter.
From then on, the conversations continued with levity, all of them laughing and joking around until the late afternoon arrived. Eventually, as nightfall drew steadily closer, they all began to leave the Slytherpuff room, Rose heading off first to get an early dinner, and James, Lorcan, and Tobias setting off a while after.
When Alice and Zander were the only ones left in the room, a brief silence fell, and they glanced over at each other, both of them thinking along the same lines.
"I think we might've missed dinner," Zander mumbled.
"Aye," Alice nodded.
They paused for a second longer.
Zander glared off to the side, scraping his finger against the arm of his recliner.
"If we're gonna do this… it's time to," he said softly.
Alice nodded, gazing into him with an empathetic visage.
Zander sighed, then turned to meet her gaze, feeling a slight pain in his chest as he did.
"I still…" he started with some difficulty, stopping and clearing his throat. "I still… don't mind… just doing it for you."
Alice nodded again, a heavy breath escaping her. "I know, I jus…"
She stared down for a moment, fighting with many thoughts and feelings.
"I just have to know I can," she resolved. "I wanna try. If it doesn't pick me, then that's fine… but I still wanna try."
Zander nodded at her, her cerulean stare feeling more disarming than it ever had, almost painful to gaze into anymore.
After all these years, somewhere along the way, the two had grown far past the misfitted friends simply paling around in school together; now, she was just as determined as him, and she had to forge a life path to walk, just as much as he did. That idea alone seemed to make his heart ache. Perhaps he thought he'd always be the one to look after her—but she seemed so very insistent on looking after herself now.
Still—he knew he'd look after her regardless.
Especially by entering his own name in the Goblet of Fire.
"Okay. C'mon," Zander disclosed, reaching his feet and marching past the couch.
Alice stood and followed him. They both stopped at the desk, jotted their names down on a piece of parchment with a quill, then ripped their names off the paper and pocketed them.
The two of them then emerged from the blue box at the water's edge, and they set off up the dirt path, the earliest of the fog just barely rolling in as the sky above began to darken. By the time they passed the rear courtyard and walked past the side of the castle, night had fallen entirely, and they entered the school and strolled past the four statues, arriving at the main hall and finding it surprisingly empty now.
Alice and Zander stood in the enormous doorway, gazing across the room, past the empty tables, past the floating oil lamps, and into the ancient item that stood just opposite them—the Goblet of Fire, burning a luminous blue.
Zander took in a deep, bracing breath, feeling suddenly ambushed by his past—every gleeful memory of he and Alice flooding through his mind as if from nowhere, almost urging him to dive back into it rather than stepping forward, rather than marching toward the blue flames, rather than approaching his very future and leaving that past behind.
Alice swallowed painfully, feeling a similar sensation—but the future seemed to be what washed over her, every thought of solidifying a life for herself, proving her worth, ensuring that her father could eventually retire with comfort and peace, and making certain that she was, in fact, competent enough to live her dream in the days to come.
The two of them stood in silence for a moment, facing their every doubtful thought and quietly forcing them all away.
Just when they were about to march onward—
"AH!"
Alice screamed so loud Zander leaped back in alarm, reaching into his robe for his wand—but Alice merely spun around, grasping the back of her head and scrunching up her face at the person behind her.
Arius stood there, holding a few strands of her hair and flashing a smile.
Alice ogled him bizarrely, rubbing the back of her head. "Whaddid you do that for?! That hurt!"
"Aha," Arius breathed, slowly straightening up. "Sorry, I thought I saw a spider in your hair."
"You're holding my hair," Alice griped, pointing at the strands of red hair pinned between the headmaster's finger and thumb.
"Ah… yes…" Arius glimpsed at the hair in his hand. "So I am. My apologies. Goodnight."
At that—he turned and shuffled off without another word.
Alice and Zander both stared after him in total bewilderment.
"What the bloody hell was that about?" Zander muttered.
"I dunno… but he really just killed our big moment here," Alice grumped, patting her hairs back down and sighing.
They paused for a second, gazing across the room at the Goblet of Fire again.
Alice inhaled and broke into a brisk stride toward it.
"Just—wait." Zander grabbed her, halting her mid-step. "Wait."
Alice faced him again, and he let out an exasperated sigh, looking conflicted.
"I just have to be sure," Zander told her, staring into her profoundly. "I just have to ask… one more time. Are you sure you can't just let me do it for you?"
Alice returned his insistent stare for several seconds, then sighed at him.
"Are you worried about me?" she said softly. "Or… do you just think you have to do it for me?"
Zander squinted at her. "Whaddo you mean…?"
"Well… I mean… this is what we always do," Alice tried to explain. "We always pick up the slack for each other. Whenever one of us is bad at something, the other person makes up for it. And I like that that's the way we are… but it seems like… I dunno… it seems like you're trying to do that now. It seems like you think this is one of the things I'm gonna be bad at… so you're trying to just do it for me."
"I don't think you're bad at it—it's just intense," Zander told her. "You could be the best witch or wizard in the world—but this tournament can still kill you. It's killed people who were better than both of us."
"Then why would you wanna do it for me?" Alice asked genuinely. "It sounds like you think it would just kill either one of us."
Zander took a moment, glaring at the floor and inhaling a stressful cloud of breath.
"I guess I…" he uttered, gulping and sighing. "I'd be happier if it was me dying than you."
"Well—I wouldn't," Alice griped, smacking his arm. "Blimey—you've got no faith in either one of us, do you?"
"It's not that," Zander said in a wispy voice, shaking his head at the floor. "It's not that…"
"Then what is it?" Alice asked him honestly. "Because you've never been so hesitant before in your life. You're really not acting like you anymore."
Zander's eyes traveled back up to hers, a sharp pain penetrating his chest as he gazed into her crystal blues, the memory of the Chamber of Secrets visiting him without permission yet again.
Alice stared directly into his painful expression—then spoke as if she'd read his mind.
"Whatever… is meant to happen… will happen," she told him in a slow, clear voice, jabbing a finger into his chest. "You can't let the past weigh us down… because the future's here, Zander. You can't be afraid of every little thing that's not fully in your control… and you can't think that everything has to be in your control in order to be okay. Me and you… we're gonna fight, and claw, and do everything we possibly can. And everything else outside of that… everything that's not in our control… it's gonna work out, because it always does, somehow or another. So, either way… either way… everything's gonna be all right. Besides—I don't remember you being scared of nothing but a bunch of loose what-if scenarios before. If anybody can kick a dangerous situation in the arse, you can. In fact—we both can."
Zander glared into her, taking in a deep, thoughtful breath and feeling a peculiar sensation begin to spark up inside—something that had kept him growing, strengthening, and striding forward for years until now.
Inspiration.
Zander nodded, reached into his pocket, and pulled out the shred of paper with his name strewn across it, holding it upright between two fingers.
Alice smirked, digging into her pocket and raising her own sliver of parchment.
They both spun around and strode across the main hall, stepping across the age line and staring up at the Goblet of Fire.
Alice and Zander traded looks, leaned forward, and flicked the shreds of paper away—watching as the blue flames consumed their names at last.