Chapter 29

Evening came before he knew it, and he arrived at House Primordium just after dark. The students were already gathered in the kitchen, helping the catering staff unpack the food. They’d dressed up a bit for the party—not quite Winter Ball-formal, but fancier than they’d worn for their private House holiday dinner a few days earlier.

“Is Aurum here yet?” Alastair asked.

George Redding shook his head. “Haven’t seen them. We told them seven and it’s now 7:15, so—”

He was interrupted by a tentative-sounding knock on the door.

“That’ll be them,” Alastair said with a little hop-step. He smoothed down his robes, put on his most welcoming smile.

Sebastian Shelley stood outside in the garden with a small gaggle of students arrayed behind him. They looked pale and nervous, as if they were attending a funeral rather than a dinner party.

“Welcome!” Alastair said brightly. “So glad to see the Houses coming together. Come in, come in.”

He stood aside and let House Aurum file into the common room. They each looked around curiously. It was rare for students to see inside other Houses, and a few of them pointed to the kitchen and whispered to each other urgently.

“Should we sit?” Sebastian finally asked. “Discuss—things? School life? Does your table have room enough for all of us?”

Alastair had forgotten about that.

“Oh, whoops! Just a sec.” Alastair quickly cast an Enlarging spell on the dining table and shoved the far wall about ten feet back into magical space. “There we are. Alright! Let’s sit. We’ve got—well, pasta. Garlic toast. A great dessert.”

“Dining hall food,” Sebastian said without enthusiasm.

“Well… yes.”

“I love garlic bread!” an Aurum third-year with round black glasses and messy hair squeaked.

The Primordium students seemed encouraged by this. They brought the trays of food from the kitchen and set them on the table, then took seats. Naturally, the students had segregated Primordium to one side of the table and Aurum to the other—which wasn’t ideal. Felt a little too much like a face-off for Alastair’s liking. If they ever did this again, he’d have to arrange seating differently so the Houses were intermingled.

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“So,” Alastair said, helping himself to a big spoonful of tomato penne, “how’s life in House Aurum?”

The students eyed each other, uncertain.

“Good,” a tall girl with freckles said.

That was all the conversation for a few minutes while everyone filled their plates. Finally, the same boy who’d been so excited about garlic toast said, “Why’d you invite us here?”—though it sounded muddled from his mouth full of food.

“What do you mean?” Alastair asked.

“I mean, don’t our Houses hate each other?” the young man said, taking another big bite. “Why would you guys want us to come hang out with you?”