Reactance | James Potter

Chapter 25

THE STUDY HALL bristled with activity. Almost every table was taken by a group of students, all ages and houses, dressed comfortably in lounge clothes while the enchanted fire roared bright and fierce in its hearth. Its stifling heat filled the hall, competing well against the chill currently whisking through the castle.

Olivia was quite cozy in her long-sleeve shirt, a plush throw blanket strewn over her lap and inching onto Marlene's beside her. Marlene sat tucked flush to the wall, her cheeks pink, blonde head leant against the stone for a bit of cool relief. Across the table were Alice and Dorcas; Alice's nose had been buried in a Muggle fantasy novel for the greater part of twenty minutes while Dorcas flipped through her Quidditch playbook, lips miming as she memorized in preparation for the upcoming weekend's match against Ravenclaw.

Feeling content with her belly still full from lunch, Olivia was focused on her schoolwork — thankfully. She'd already breezed through both her Transfiguration and Alchemy assignments, and was now finishing up History of Magic. Pausing mid-paragraph to dip her quill into Dorcas' ink pot, she glanced sideways at Marlene's parchment; it was as blank as when they'd arrived.

Alice's sudden sigh captured the attention of the entire table. "Wonderful," she cooed, delighted, as she closed her book with a dull snap and set it down politely. "My favourite yet."

Olivia knew the title without needing to check: Sign of the Unicorn by Roger Zelazny, book three in his series The Chronicles of Amber. Alice discovered his work during their first term at Hogwarts, and had since waited semi-patiently for sequels to be released. When Zelazny took a lengthy hiatus between books two and three, Alice was quite perturbed. But luckily, that spring past, he'd finally picked up where he'd left off and was right back on schedule, it seemed, with annual releases.

"Is your mum mailing the next volume?" asked Olivia curiously, scrawling her name at the bottom of her essay with an accomplished flourish before finally raising her chin to meet Alice's eye.

"No," whined Alice solemnly. "She's checked every bookshop in Liverpool, but none have gotten it in yet. I'll find it when I return for Christmas."

"Speaking of Christmas," cut in Marlene swiftly, using their conversation as the perfect opportunity to roll up her sheet of blank parchment and set it aside. She ignored Olivia's sharp glance, "what're our plans? Olive and I usually meet after New Years at Lily's."

"Cokeworth!" exclaimed Dorcas, exasperated. "It'll be a day's travel there alone!"

   Dorcas' mum, a Muggle, was strongly against all methods of magical transportation, believing them to be positively unsafe. Dorcas' dad had to drive her to and from King's Cross station each term in a Muggle car, on the promise that the train to Hogwarts wasn't — in any way — unusual.

   Best her mum never finds out that Quidditch involves flying on a broomstick, higher than 30 feet above ground. Dorcas told her they play on foot. . . .

"It's hard for Lily to travel, too many Muggles around — Petunia." Marlene raised a brow at Olivia, and they shared a knowing look. Dorcas blinked heavily.

Alice too seemed displeased, shaking her short hair. "I've promised to visit my grandparents over the new year."

"Alright well," frustrated, Marlene rubbed her knuckles against her forehead. "You give us a hard time for not inviting you yet, each time we do, you never come! What's the purpose here? Please enlighten me!"