30

Freddie shakes your hand enthusiastically, then starts unpacking books from a battered leather satchel, not asking your name. They tuck an errant strand of hair behind their ear.

"The summer reading was so interesting," they say. They touch the thickest book, the Philosophical Considerations of Lady Françoise Renaldt, and the key text of Gallatin College. "Did you enjoy it?"

Since Lady Renaldt is the Headteacher, it's not surprising that she featured her own book in the summer reading. It's a doorstop of a tome with the Gallatin crest embossed in gold on the cover, dealing with delicate topics of etiquette.

I shrug. I didn't bother doing the reading, but I'll figure it out.

I pretend to have done all the reading.

It was interesting, so I brushed up on everything.

I didn't exactly enjoy it, but I stayed up all night poring over the textbooks.

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