Beatrice gasped and balked on hearing what the talking cat professor said, but Nova met the news with confused silence. An excited whispering had started among the students who were close enough to hear, and the rumor began to spread through the front courtyard.

The tech witch, on the other hand, remained unbothered. She shifted her weight to her other leg as she stood. "Okay? Why is that so important?" she asked.

"Nova, Hawkswood!" Beatrice said, lowering her voice. Meowstaff's ears were swiveling as the whispering of the rumor spread. "Coming here!"

"Yeah, so? Let me guess, this Circe's related to the founder of Hawkswood?"

"Yes, exactly!"

"And that's my point, Bee. So?"

Beatrice smoothed down the front of her dress, more to work out her nervous energy than anything. "She's the youngest of the Hawkswood family, descended from the great wizard Amadeus Percival Hawkswood. Not only did he found the school, but he also structured and legalized the teaching of magic. He literally wrote the book on how to run a magic school and was the first one in the whole world to begin teaching others magic. Their family is ancient, and... and..." Beatrice flailed her arms, unable to articulate just how old and important the Hawkswood family is. And to have one of them come here!

Nova looked back at her roommate with the same unbothered, steely gaze. "So?" she said again, slowly and clearly, hoping to impress upon her nearly hysterical roommate just how unimpressed she was over the esteemed lineage of the Hawkswoods. "Professor, what year is Circe in?"

"Oh, she's a first-year, same as you two." Meowstaff meowed again in that way cats do that hinges their entire mouth open. He licked his lips once he had closed them. "I suspect that you might even be able to play against her in the Games."

"There." Nova looked at her roommate. "Circe's a first-year like us. That's even playing ground as far as I care."

"Nova, she would have had centuries of magical knowledge behind her! Top-class training from before she would be of school age!"

"Knowledge and training still isn't drive or motivation," Nova answered coolly. "Besides, what are you so afraid of? She's coming here to compete in some school games, it’s not life or death. She's a teenager same as us so what are you so worried about?"

The earth witch took a few deep breaths. Nova had a point, what was there to worry about? But the more she thought about it, the more she was able to answer Nova's question. There was quite a lot to worry about. "Well, for one thing, her family is important and well-known. So is mine."

"Yeah, the Oakendale Gaias. I've heard that enough in the first month of being your roommate."

"Yes, exactly. And as an Oakendale Gaia, I have to live up to certain standards." The earth witch looked helplessly up at her roommate, trying to find some sympathy in those dark eyes. "People talk, Nova. And parents will be disappointed. We have a reputation to uphold..."

"They have a reputation, you don't," Nova said, and while her voice was as strong and cold as it always was, her eyes softened a bit. "You're not your parents, Bee. You're not your family, so cut yourself some slack."

Beatrice blinked, and only then did she realize that tears had started to blur her vision. She looked to Nova and saw the taller witch smiling.

"Just play the games because you want to. You don't have to be fighting for honor or whatever, it’s just a game. So." The Asian witch slightly leaned back, one hand in her pocket and the other offered to her roommate. "Why not just have some fun? Let's get out of here."

Beatrice stopped and stared at Nova's hand. Her face began to feel a bit hot. She smiled and took her roommate's hand and nodded. "You know, what? You're right."

"I always am." Nova laughed.

Meowstaff shook himself briefly and the earth witch stopped to scratch the professor behind his ears. "Why, that's delightful. Run along now you two. Headmistress will be done with construction soon and then there won't be anything interesting to watch in the courtyard. And don't forget your Botany homework, I am expecting your essays in the next two days."

"We won't, professor! Thank you!" Beatrice giggled, and the two roommates walked back into the castle, holding hands. They passed under the stony gaze of the large raven statue, standing still at its fountain, and disappeared into the cool interior of Ravensburl.

"So..." Nova started as they passed the main hall. It was significantly longer and wider than it was before, and the usual crowd of students that crammed inside for meals looked so spread out and thin. They walked past it and continued down to the east courtyard. "What do we do now?"

Beatrice shrugged. "What do you mean? I was thinking of maybe going to the library and studying."

"Why? Do we have homework other than the Botany essay and Abjuration reading?"

"Oh no, no, I just meant, well... Studying in general."

"Did you sign up for the Wisdom Check game?"

"I didn't put it on my form, but I'm thinking about it."

"Then let's head to the library. I'll help you study. I used to write notes on index cards and my cousin would quiz me on them. Might help for you."

Beatrice beamed and squeezed Nova's hand. "You'd really do that? Thank you!"

"Welcome." The tech witch answered shortly. Nova, slightly taller than Beatrice, pointed turned her face away from her, and pretended to look very interested in the material that was used to stick together the stone blocks that made up the first floor hallway. From Beatrice's perspective, she could have sworn a blush was climbing up her roommate's neck.

The two young witches took their time walking through the castle. When they finally turned into the gloomily lit library, a few more groups of students and students that preferred to study alone had taken up the tables close to the windows. The tables farther from the weak sunlight were all lit with their own candelabra of magic flame which never grew hot and never caught paper or parchment on fire. Still, these were less popular than the tables bearing friendly sunbeams.

Beatrice and Nova settled at one of the tables, and the earth witch disappeared down the aisles to search for relevant textbooks. When she returned, Nova couldn't help but burst out laughing. Beatrice came back to their table carrying a pile of books at went past her head, with two more piles levitating and following on either side of her.

"Will you really be needing all of those books, Bee?" Nova said, an amused smirk on her face."

"Of course! You'll never know what's going to be on the test." Beatrice set the books down one by one, sorting them into piles. "I first thought that the questions might be limited to our first-year classes, Abjuration, Illusion, Destruction, and so on. But then I thought, they might include questions about the history of Ravensburl, then maybe the history of magic itself. Then I thought, what about the history of other kinds of magic? Like voodoo and hoodoo, or the witch doctor practices and herbalism in Asia, or druidic earth magic, or Norse runic magic..." The piles kept getting bigger.

"So what would you call this? Light reading?" Nova snickered.

"A comprehensive education!" Beatrice chuckled back. "What else do you think they might ask? I've kind of hit a roadblock after magical geography."

"Well I can't answer that for you, I have no idea." The tech witch leaned back in her chair. "You know, they should automate the library somehow. Put the information on the internet. Hey, is there a magic internet? I mean the castle has electricity."

Beatrice didn't reply. Instead, the earth witch had gone stock still, one hand still on a pile of books she had set aside for her Destruction studies. She looked back to the dark aisles of the library, still and alert like a greyhound.

"Bee?" Nova said again, growing concerned. "Beatrice?"

"Do you hear that?" The earth witch said quietly. "Listen."

Her roommate fell silent as well, straining to listen. "Yeah... Yeah, it sounds like..."

"Crying. Someone's crying."

"Bee, it's none of our business."

Beatrice looked back to Nova. The usual happy-go-lucky look in her eyes was replaced by the steely determination the tech witch had seen only once before: when they saw the thief. "It might not be, but someone might be in trouble."

"Alright." Nova stood up suddenly, surprising both herself and Beatrice with how readily she moved. "I'm going too. Besides, if this is a trap and it turns out it’s that thief we saw, then I can't let you go alone."

"Well let's hope it’s not." Beatrice nodded to her, and the two witches ventured back between the library shelves.

It was dark and cramped among the aisles, even more so the further into the library they went. Beatrice made a mental note to ask the Headmistress if maybe she could expand the library while she was doing renovations to the castle for Hawkswood. Or at least to tell Mortanius the librarian to add more candelabras. The two followed the sounds of soft sobbing and found the sobs were answered by quiet voices. Beatrice guess there was a group hiding somewhere towards the back of the library. The earth witch rounded a corner towards the N section of the library when she found a group of four students huddled together sitting on the floor. Three of them she recognized as first-years, and the last one must have been an upperclassman. As she came into view all four faces turned up to look at her.

"Oh! Sorry, I didn't mean to interrupt anything." Beatrice said, her hands up in apology. "We just heard someone crying, and..."

"It's alright." The eldest of the group said. It was a tired young man whose eyebags made him look significantly older. "I know you, you're that Gaia, right?"

"I didn't know I had a reputation already." Beatrice looked helplessly to Nova, who shrugged. "But yes, that's me. My name is Beatrice."

"Well, Beatrice Gaia, why don't you sit with us and share our misery."

"Your misery?" Nova asked. Beatrice moved to sit with the group, and Nova followed after her roommate. "I'm Nova, by the way. Sorry."

"It's alright, at this point more people won't change anything." Even the student's smile was tired. "My name is Lee, and I'm a werewolf. All of us here are."

Nova blinked, and Beatrice's eyes went wide.

The first-year that was audibly sobbing saw the two witches' reactions and broke into barely muffled bawling.

"I'm so sorry! I'm sorry, I didn't mean it. I was just surprised." Beatrice said immediately, mentally kicking herself for how she had reacted. Lycanthropy was a touchy subject, and it still wasn't a topic most spoke about. "But, um... Why are you crying?"

The first-year shook their head, unable to stop crying. The other two attempted to comfort their friend.

"Well, you see." Lee started with a sigh. "There's that rumor going around that Circe Hawkswood is coming to Ravensburl."

"Yes, I heard that too," Beatrice said, and Nova noted how she didn't mention that they were at the source of that rumor. "But what that does she have to do anything?"

"Werewolves, vampires, and non-humans aren't exactly welcome in the wider magic community," Lee explained. "It's a miracle that Headmistress Cassandra decided to allow us into the school at all. Ravensburl is a safe place for us, and the only way we're going to get a magic education. And I mean, when it's not the full moon, we're just like any other witch or wizard you know? We can do spells, make potions..."

"But Hawkswood?" Beatrice prompted gently.

"Hawkswood." Lee scoffed. "What we're worried about is if Circe Hawkswood comes here, takes one look at us, and recognizes what we are, we're afraid she might pull strings to have us kicked out."

"Wait," Nova furrowed her brows. "She wouldn’t have the power to do that, right? She's just a student too. A first-year."

"We don't know what she can do." Lee shrugged. "She's Hawkswood, the name carries a lot of weight. She could cause a scene, and spread the word to her friends from affluent families, to their parents. Then all their eyes would be on us."

"Then the Headmistress would be pressured to do something about it..." Beatrice mused, seeing the path that Lee was drawing. "Other families might withdraw their students from the school and Ravensburl will go under."

"That, and the non-human population of the school will be seen as a menace," Lee said. "Dangers to society. Nothing we haven't heard of before, but still."

Beatrice cast her eyes down, suddenly painfully aware that she was in Mortanius's library. She had said as much about him before, without thinking how it would affect him, or any other innocent non-human.

The upperclassman suddenly paused and looked at Beatrice and Nova. "How old are you two?"

"Eighteen," said Beatrice.

"Nineteen," answered Nova.

Lee nodded and gestured to the others that were with him. "These two are sixteen. The other is seventeen. Not exactly little children, but all shunned. One's an orphan. If not for Ravensburl, where would we go? We can learn skills that we can use to get jobs here. We can learn magic, at least enough to heal our and others' wounds. We can learn to protect ourselves here because chances are no one's going to come to our aid out there."

The group fell silent, with the two roommates suddenly realizing the gravity of the situation. Nova, especially, now understanding why Circe Amelia Hawkswood is such a big deal in the magical society.

"Does she know?" The earth witch said suddenly. In the dim gloom of the library, her eyes shone with determination. "Does Circe know that there's a population of... Actually who else do we have? I mean, aside from werewolves."

"I have no idea what she knows since Ravensburl doesn't make a secret of us really." Lee made a back and forth gesture with his hand. "We're not swept under the rug, but Headmistress doesn't exactly say "Hey we have werewolves." or anything. Aside from wolves, I know at least a couple of vampires in the third year... There was a fae that graduated last year too. What I do know is that we werewolves have formed a little support pack."

"What happens during the full moon?" Nova asked suddenly and brazenly. "I've never seen or heard any wolves in the area before."

Lee shrugged again. "Spells. Spells and wolfsbane potion. Grace and Meowstaff have been keeping the wolfsbane potion supply topped up and ready every month, and we're allowed to run around the south field and mountain area. Its far enough from the dormitories to not bother anyone, but I'm sure there are some Illusion spells in place for the noise. Don't worry about it, we keep to ourselves and Headmistress makes sure we don't cause any trouble."

"That’s actually very responsible..." Nova mused, surprised.

"In any case, Circe Hawkswood is going to be a problem" Beatrice began to pace back and forth in the short stretch between the aisles of the library. We can't let her know about you." She walked a bit, then turned, then turned back to Lee. "But I don't want you guys to be a secret either!"

"So, what now?" Lee looked back at Beatrice with tired eyes that looked just as hopeless as the sobbing first-year. "It wouldn't be anything we're not used to, but if you have any other ideas, that would be great."

"I'll think of something." The earth witch stood tall, as steadfast and determined as a tree. "I'm an Oakendale Gaia, damn it, we protect people! And that will include you guys!"

"You really mean it?" The first-year sobbed, wiping at his eyes with the sleeve of his shirt. As he moved, Beatrice saw the hint of a nasty, raised old scar on his arm. It was in the shape of an animal bite. "I heard what you said when you met the librarian. I was there that day." His soft voice cut through Beatrice, and cut deep.

She winced. "I'm truly sorry about how I acted that day. But...It's good that I met Mortanius and you guys. I know better now, and I want to help you. It's not fair that I acted that way and said those hurtful things without getting to know you." Beatrice smiled and crouched by the crying first-year. "Can I help you now?"

The first-year was silent for a while, looking to the other three for help. Lee nodded, as did the other two first-years after a while. "Um... Yes, okay."

Beatrice smiled and nodded as well. "Then on my name as a Gaia, I'll find a way to keep you all here at Ravensburl. I might not be a Hawkswood, but that's not going to stop me from trying my best to make sure you don't lose your home. Is that okay?"

The first year nodded slowly, thinking over her words. "My name's Bryan. I don't think we met before, you're not in my classes."

"Well, it's nice to meet you now, Bryan." The earth witch said softly. "Do you mind if I stay here with you guys? I admit I don't know a lot about werewolves and non-human people's needs, but I would like to learn."

Lee chuckled. "That's really generous of you. Not a lot of people would spend the time."

"Well, I'm determined to change that."

"Hold on, I'll be back," Nova said suddenly and turned to go.

"Nova? Where are you going?"

"Back to the dorm really quick, going to get my laptop." She glanced back as she took long strides to hurry to the dorm. "You guys need this to be documented and collated, and I volunteer."

Beatrice found herself staring at the empty space of Nova's absence. Did she want to help the werewolves too? Struck by the possibility that Nova cares, actually truly cares deep down past her cold eyes and monotone voice, Beatrice felt her cheeks warm.