Empty Gold • d.meadowes

-35-

Dorcas was on her way to the kitchens when she heard Juliet calling her.

She doubled back and found her sitting on the ledge of the balcony, with her boyfriend, Tristan Chambers standing beside her. They smiled and waved at Dorcas as she made her way towards them.

"I have never really introduced you to Tristan, have I?" asked Juliet, jumping down from the ledge. "This is Tristan. Tristan, I was telling Dorcas the other day about how you think muggle items are better than wizarding ones. Dorcas has a muggle mum, I think she will agree with what you say."

Dorcas smiled and pushed down the feeling of intense envy that was attempting to surface itself. "I do agree," she said. "Pens are so much easier to use than quills."

Tristan clapped his hands like he had made a huge scientific breakthrough. "Exactly!" he exclaimed, looking at Juliet as if he was trying to make a point. "What did I tell you? Pens aren't toys. They are useful, and certainly more efficient than quills."

"I once gave my friends some pens as gifts, and they put them on their desks as display," Dorcas said with a laugh, remembering the time in second year when she had tried to convince them to use pens instead of quills, at least for purposes outside of academic matters. "Maeve somehow managed to leak the ink over her shirt and didn't talk to me for a whole day."

"They carry around freaking inkpots, and they cannot even manage a pen!" Tristan told her incredulously, scoffing. "Wizards, am I right?"

Dorcas scoffed too. "Poor, useless creatures."

"I dread about what the future holds for them."

"I hope they gain common sense one day and accept the fact that muggles are indeed superior and that all along they've tried to separate the two worlds because they know that if we are together, wizards won't stand a chance."

They gasped in unison, revelling in the abrupt discovery that has dawned unexpectedly upon them. Tristan grasped Juliet's arm and shook her dramatically. "Do you hear that, Juliet? We are being fooled. The government doesn't want wizards and muggles to mingle – not to prevent unrest between the two worlds, but to prevent the wizards from going down."

Juliet rolled her eyes. "You guys do realise that you both are wizards, not muggles, don't you?"

"We have the best of both worlds," said Tristan, prodding her on the shoulder. "Unlike you, who has only wizard blood. We are clearly superior. Aren't we, Dorcas?"

It was Juliet's turn to scoff. She crossed her arms in front of her and said, "I have muggle ancestors," rather defensively, which caused the other two to burst into laughter.

"So you do admit that muggles are superior," said Dorcas, slapping her playfully over the shoulder. "Admit it, Juliet. In a war between muggles and wizards, wizards will end up extinct."

"We have magic," Juliet countered.

"And we have guns."

The sentence was uttered by both Dorcas and Tristan, at precisely the same moment. They glanced at each other, and Juliet glanced at them, each of their eyes wide like they have just witnessed something extraordinary. Then Juliet broke the silence. "Our magic can easily defeat guns."

Once again, her remark was rewarded with laughter from her audience, who almost stumbled into each other as they laughed uncontrollably. Tristan took a few steps towards her and hugged her, like a mother would hug her child. "Oh, Juliet," he said, tutting. "It's cute that you think that."

She pushed him away and scowled at the both of them. "I didn't introduce the two of you to start attacking me like this," she said, brandishing her finger towards the two of them. "You two will never talk from now on, at least not in front of me." Tristan placed a kiss on her temple, causing a smile to appear on her face, though it was clear that she was trying to hide it. Then she turned to Dorcas. "Can we go to the library? I had some confusion in Charms. I was hoping you could help me."