Chapter 50

“Sebastian. Sebastian!” Alastair called.

Sebastian slowed, but didn’t stop. He was very obviously ignoring him.

“Sebastian!”

Some students working on their Alchemy sets in the Main Hall flagged him down. “Hey, Professor Shelley! The headmaster’s looking for you!”

“I heard,” Sebastian staid stiffly—and at this, he stopped. Alastair trotted over to catch up.

“Suppose you couldn’t hear me over the racket,” Alastair said.

“Sure,” Sebastian said. “What can I do for you, Meade?”

“What say you we do another dinner party? Primordium, Aurum—and Eloise and Amaryllis can come too.”

He didn’t want to admit this was his attempt at a double date without the baggage.

Sebastian gave him a look. “What, are we bringing all of House Invocation and House Augury as well?”

“That hadn’t been my first thought,” Alastair admitted. “But we can, if you prefer.”

“I don’t know where you’d put them all.”

“I’ve gotten pretty good at Expansion spells since coming here. I wouldn’t worry about it.”

Sebastian scowled. “Alright.”

“Alright?”

“Another dinner,” Sebastian confirmed. “But can you serve something better this time?”

Alastair bit his tongue. “It was from the dining hall. I’m sure you’ve had it before.”

“It was awful.”

“Fine,” Alastair said, trying his hardest to keep up his new attitude of kindness toward Sebastian. “Do you want me to order in from a restaurant? Would that meet your standards?”

Sebastian’s mouth quirked as if he was trying not to smile. “A restaurant would be fine, thanks.”

“Great.”

“Great. No pasta.”

“What’s wrong with pasta?” Alastair asked. “The kids love pasta. It’s cheap and easy to serve.”

Sebastian shook his head. “I’m tired of it. They serve it here every other day. If we’re ordering in, we should get something… nicer.”

Nicer sounded more expensive. Alastair ground his teeth and said, “Fine.”

He’d have to think of something good that students would eat and could be served to four Houses at once. Something that also didn’t break the bank.

“Any suggestions?” Alastair said, deciding he didn’t have time to try to read Sebastian’s mind today.

“Pizza.”

“Pizza is nicer than pasta?”

That was the last thing he would have expected. Sebastian wasn’t the “pepperoni pizza and a beer” type.

“I never have pizza,” Sebastian said earnestly. “They don’t serve it here, and my father hates it, so we never have it at home. And, you know, I don’t really go out to eat much. No time.”

Alastair shrugged. That was certainly not prime rib and lobster. Pizza, he could afford. “No problem with me. I’ll order a few pies.”

Eloise and Amaryllis were more enthusiastic about the idea than Sebastian.

“Fantastic,” Amaryllis said when he issued the invitation. “We should be doing this more. Create unity between the Houses. I’ll have you all over to Augury sometime.”

“Really?” Alastair had always been curious about House Augury. Even as headmaster, he’d never been inside, but he’d heard stories about the odd and ancient Scrying tools that hung on the walls instead of paintings. Not to mention the permanently charmed mirrors said to peer into far-off places.

“Of course. Not four at once, maybe.”

“Pizza alright?”

She made a face. “Seriously?”

“Blame Sebastian,” he said.

“I usually do.”

They laughed.

Eloise, on the other hand, gave a whoop of excitement when he told her what they were having. “Yesss! This is my deepest shame, but can you get anchovies?”

“What? No.”

“C’mon. Even half a pie!”

“Putting anchovies on half infects the whole thing,” Alastair said sensibly. “Get your fish pizza elsewhere.”

“Even a small size,” she said. “A personal pie.”

“Fine. Fine! I’ll get you one. But for the record, it’s disgusting.”

“Noted,” Eloise said with a grin. “Can my kids bring their familiars? They aren’t allowed outside of their House, but I feel like this qualifies. They’re going to ask about it.”

He sighed. “I mean, it’s probably a bad idea.”

“It’s definitely a bad idea. But can they bring them?”

“I’ll think about it,” Alastair said. “Don’t bring Asmodeus. That thing freaks me out. And I don’t want House Primordium to catch fire.”

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“No fire elementals. Got it.”

“Or flood. Or blow down. Or—be buried in a rockslide. Just for the record.”

She didn’t respond, just grinned and returned to her grading. That settled nothing. For all he knew, he was going to have an influx of elemental spirits in Primordium on the day.

His students all grinned when they heard the news.

“Pizza? Invocation?” George said. “We never get pizza. Are they bringing their familiars?”

“Were you listening in?” Alastair asked.

“No! Does that mean they are? Yes! Maybe they want pizza too!”

“Most of those spirits don’t eat corporeal food,” Alastair said. “And if they did, I’m not sure what they’d want.”

“Probably human,” Rachel said.

“They don’t eat people,” Lavinia argued.

This continued for what felt like hours until Alastair took his leave and returned to his quarters.

Hopefully, he wouldn’t regret this idea.

* * *

On the day of the dinner, Primordium all came together to clean the common areas—albeit by magic—and the older students helped Alastair expand the dining room and kitchen to a size that could hold all four Houses.

“Good work, Onyx,” Alastair said as he corrected a seventh-year’s rough Expanding spell. “Can you do the same in the living room? If they want to join us for a little music after dinner, they’ll need a place to sit.”