So, you know how you wanted to be a Knight and revenge the wrongs done to us?

It turns out that revenge is a dish best served cold – but ordered at breakfast. Rachel discovers Sigfried’s secret weakness and Zoe steps up with the promise of “humiliations galore”. Rachel gets a terse reply from her father and bonds with Gaius Valiant over a shared desire to be in Dee. At lunch it turns out that Rachel’s dad is in a comic book. (Honestly, if you have ever seen the TV show The Librarian, it’s hard to understand why Daring Northwest didn’t get his own series) and Sigfried hurts Wendy Darling’s feelings, but he and Nastasia (now returned from the infirmary) warm Rachel’s heart by promising to get her into the YSL meeting.

Flying class is great except that a girl named Mylene needs to go to the infirmary. Then Mr. Chanson makes the classic blunder of speaking a cantrip in front of Rachel, who now knows “Varenga” to summon her broom. Or will once she has practiced it like a madwoman (which she will). Sakura Sazuki (what story-verse is she from?) cannot get her broom to fly – at all.

The friends gather in the Music room before class to discuss Nastasia’s power to have another worldly vision the first time she touches someone. Her father, the King of Magical Australia has forbidden her to touch either March (Hmmm…. Alcott? Also, oops.) and Von Dread. When she touches Kitten, a deep voice tells her “You should not be here yet”. Meanwhile, Zoe reveals she can travel through dreams, including Kitten’s and Nastasia’s.

After classes and dinner, everyone completely forgets Rachel, so she goes to the library. I am beginning to realize that I am like Rachel Griffin: Libraries are my Happy Place. Sadly, even the most magical libraries sometimes fail one: No blood-eyed Raven books. Or a card catalogue. They must at least have a book catalog system, right? Visiting her favorite deserted practice hallway, Rachel meets Gaius, and he invites her to the Knights of Walpurgis meeting tomorrow night. It is an exclusive Drake Hall club. Bonus: He helps her practice her paralyzing and spell-ending cantrips, and she steals a kiss. Gaius retaliates by kissing her back. Favorite. Deserted. Hallway. Ever.

At bedtime, Rachel revisits her memory of the day and spots a wraith chewing on her classmate Mylene. Nastasia disappoints her by insisting they respect curfew and should save the visit to the school Nurse for morning. Profs and prefects (Tutors and the college resident) are even more disappointing, so nothing for it but to fake an illness. Rachel’s getting awfully good at fibbing in just three days. Wraith battle! The vampire-hunting obsessed Van Helsing fan club and Lucky save the day, but not before both Sigfried and Rachel are wounded. Back in the infirmary, Rachel tells Siggy the truth about her perfect memory.

Discussion

1. Would you want to have your high school schedule done like Roanake’s? And how strange is it that “conspiracy theory” history class is still boring?
2. Now that you know how Science (alchemy) works and Enchantments, which do you think the fake agent’s credentials were?
3. Would you want to be able to travel in dreams? Is there anyone’s you would particularly want to visit (or not)? Would it be virtuous (or not) to do so, even if you could?
4. Guess who: Thwarted by The Wilderman! But did you guess where Kitten’s from? The magic carpet and the Sand Fairy familiar are clues. Edited: Turns out the T.V. trope site (https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Characters/RachelGriffin) while a pretty good cheat-sheet (but spoilers!) does not reveal the alternate story-verse the characters are from. I’ll put the reveals in the Discussion for Friday the 8th (to post this Saturday).
5. Infirmary count: five.