When I entered the great hall, my attention was immediately drawn to the table where the founders sat. They had multiple letters placed all over the table and were heatedly discussing something. Just when I wanted to go over to take a glimpse, I ran into Bernhard. I cursed my bad luck, but greeted him friendly.

“Good, you are on time. My brother should arrive at any... Oh, he is there. Let’s get over to him.” I said and went towards my brother, but not without taking one last look at the founders papers. I could definitely see faces on these papers. Were they victims? Bounties? The traitors? I didn’t know. Damn, I wanted to know. Why are they so secretive about it?

"Hey, sis, do you want to eat together?” said my little brother, seemingly in a good mood.

“Yes, sure. But I also want to introduce someone to you.”

"Please, sis, don’t. If you plan to introduce me a girl my age, I will leave.” What? That’s not what I had planned, but the idea is good. But I guess the girls his age would surely not follow me. Even Bernhard is more of an exception because he really has no one else in Toadwitz. And it’s not like my cute little brother would need to worry about it. The girls will swarm him soon enough, I’m sure. I only hope he has forgotten Helena until then.

“No, no, you misunderstand. I want to introduce Bernhard to you. He is in my aunt's house, and I met him when studying in the library. I thought you could study together, play together… you know, things you do with friends.” Okay, that was a bit awkward. What can one do with friends when one is their age? I have no clue. Taking baths is definitely not on top of the list. Maybe just pranking each other is enough to be friends. Uncle Severin and my other uncle do it all the time, and they could be considered best friends. At least I think they could. Anyway, I pushed Bernhard a little in the direction of my brother. So that they could greet each other.

After an awkward greeting, we began to eat, and my brother carefully started to ask Bernhard about what subjects he liked, what spells he had already successfully cast, and which teacher he liked the most.

I just listened in and learned that my brother had learned a spell to make any surface act like glue for ten minutes. That spell had so much potential to prank someone that even I had learned the spell. Well, the only time I actually cast it, I fell to the floor before my plan could work. I had put mother's underwear into a package and cast the spell on it, but I failed to deliver the package to uncle, even though i had already informed mother to come five minutes later so that she could see uncle. It was one of my poor attempts to make Uncle into my father when I was young. At least now, I think that was the reason I did it. Maybe I just wanted to put him in an awkward situation. Ah, my memories are as fleeting as my mother’s pants. Hehe. It was one hundred percent worth the scolding that followed. Ahh, Simpler times. Now that I was older, mother and uncle wouldn’t let me get away so easily anymore.

While refocusing on what my brother and Bernhard were saying, I realized another oddity. Helena wasn’t there. Not on our table and not in the great hall. Well, it was probably for the better.

After the meal, where he and Bernhard seemed to grow into best friends, my brother asked me for another talk. At first, I thought he wanted to talk about Helena again, but instead, he stared at me like I had done something to him.

“Why me, sis? Couldn’t you find anyone else to take care of him?” Okay, that was surprising. I thought they understood each other well. What was his problem?

“What do you mean? It looked like you understood each other well.”

“He is a nerd. One of the worst sorts, sis. Didn’t you listen while we talked? You could probably throw him into the library and throw the keys away, and he would still be happy. What do you expect me to do with him?” Okey, I really didn’t listen so attentively, but I was sure my brother was just overreacting.

“Pev, he is alone in his house. The others all have someone to talk to after the lessons, and only he is left outside. Don’t you think you are a bit hard on him? I mean, what should he do except study if no one likes him? I did the same when I was his age.”

“But you are… are… Fine. I will take care of him, but I won’t be his babysitter. And if he doesn’t at least become a bit better in the next month, he can grow old in the library for all I care.” What did he want to say about me? I have the tingling urge to beat his ass, but I guess I promised mother that I would never hurt that little rascal. Still, as long as he gave Bernhard a chance, I was satisfied.

“Fine. But don’t just hang out with him when you do your homework.” I didn’t want my brother to just use Bernhard, and I also didn’t want to let him become lazy. He should have quite an advantage compared to other students his age because he lived here, but I don’t think that he can profit from that for long if he doesn’t use the advantage to study ahead.

“Oh, by the way. You should introduce your boyfriend to mom. We talked about it during breakfast, and she is still waiting for you to do it.” Oh damn, I totally forgot about that. I mean, I told her about him, but I didn’t really have time to introduce him yet. Uncle Severin also needs to get to know him. Maybe he can also help Will get past his dislike for dark magic. Would Will even want to get to know my family? They are his professors, so I could understand that it would be awkward for him.

“Yeah, will do. Maybe. Soon. When I have time.” Well, one day more or less would change anything, right? And tomorrow was our second date, where I could ask him. And I also have a lesson to give, so doing it tomorrow would be difficult. I mean, I could just take him over during the meals, but I think we should do it in a more private setting. I don’t want the others to think that Will would get any preferential treatment from them just because of me.

“Also, Dad said he wanted to meet him too. Maybe we could make a family dinner and invite him over.” Well, how do I tell him that this won’t be happening? Not as long as I had a choice. Not for this. Not now. The bad thing was that I felt bad for Percival. I don’t know if he really understands the problems in our “family”, and while I hate that guy, I would never attempt to sabotage Percival’s and his father-son relationship.

“I don’t think we should do that. He is super busy currently, so it might be better to do it at a later date.”

“But I’m sure he would…”

“No, Pev. It’s not about if he would; it's about if he should. What he does is important. And we shouldn’t distract him more than necessary.” Okay, I didn’t even know what exactly he was doing or how important it really was, but my brother didn’t need to know that. And considering how busy everyone was, it was probably even true. Hey, don’t look at me like that. Why does he have to look so downcast? He knows I get weak when he does that. Little manipulator.

“Fine, we will make a family dinner. But with Uncle Severin and Aunt Seraphina too. And Helena too. And only after I introduced Will to mom. I don’t want our family to scare him away.” With so many people present, I could probably avoid Gregor. I know that Percival misses the time we spent together as a family once a week. Now even our private kitchen is no more than a storage room for Uncle's drinks and sweets for Percival. I guess the last family meal was five years ago. How time flies.

“But I wanted…. Thanks sis.” I know it wasn’t the same as eating with just the four of us, but I just couldn’t.

“No problem, Pev, I think we can make it the next weekend. I will ask Seraphina and Severin, and you will ask mother, Gregor and Helena. But wait till the weekend. I want to ask Will first.”

“Yes, will do. Then see you soon, sis. I still have mom’s extra homework to do.” Mom’s extra homework. She could really be cruel when teaching us. That reminded me that she didn’t give me any new herbology homework. She was probably too busy.

After a few more hours in the library I decided that it was to boring and that I still hadn’t chosen what to wear tomorrow. I needed appropriate clothing for the lesson I prepared to give, which was quite easy as I only had three different sets of clothes for the lab. The major problem was the dress for the date. My first thought was to wear the red dress again as I didn’t have any other opportunities of wearing it but I couldn’t bring myself to wearing the same dress on the first and second date. I didn’t want to appear uncivilised or something like that.

The choice was quite difficult. I had so many nice dresses, but somehow none caught my eye. I spent hours dressing and looking in the mirror, only to realize that it wasn’t really the right thing. It frustrated me so much that just before dinner, I decided I needed someone to give me advice. Mom. She was the only one who could help me at that moment.

So before dinner, I went to her. I caught her on her way to the office after her last lesson.

“Ohh Charlotte. Nice to see you. I thought you already forgot about me and only spent time with your little boyfriend; I haven’t met till now.”

“Mom, sorry I… He was ill and tomorrow we have our second date and the lesson and…”

“Calm down. I just wanted to tease you a little. I’m not angry. So, the second date already? So I can assume your little quarrel is resolved?” Quarrel? Quarrel? What quarrel? Oh, that quarrel.

"Yes, everything is fine. But I need your advice. I don’t know what to wear.”

“When is your date? Because I’m really in a hurry, so if it's not today, I can help you tomorrow. I’m sorry. I wish I had more time, but we are in the middle of the preparations for the weekend.”

“Preparations for the weekend? And no, it's tomorrow at eight.”

“It’s a surprise. But I will have time for you after dinner, so that is perfect, and after this week I will have more time again. And then I really want to meet William in person. Outside of a lesson, that is.” I hated surprises. Why can’t she tell me now? But knowing that mom will have time to help me gave me some peace of mind.

“Thanks mom. Oh, and I promised Pev that we would make a family dinner. You know how he is. But I will ask Seraphina, and Severin too. And I will invite Will, too. I just wanted to give you some heads up because Pev should ask you and his father. And can you please tell him that he should behave himself around Will? I don’t want him to be… like he always is.” Mom looked like she had a sudden migraine. Understandable, but I guess we both had to overcome this challenge.

“Fine. I will talk to him after your brother “informs” me about this family dinner.” I knew I could put my trust in mom.

The next day, during lunch, I talked with Uncle Severin. He looked tired, as if he had worked through the night, but he was as cheerful as ever. My three students also looked… well, not as pessimistic as I feared. Augustus even earned himself another slap from Uncle because he asked me for extracurricular lessons. That guy really was weird. On one side, he was talking about shaking the world by reestablishing the great empire, and on the other side, he was the most carefree person I know. After Gregor, that is. It was a weird mix, and I honestly didn’t know how I should handle him. I just hoped that his ambition was great enough to invest some time studying instead of just making several girls unhappy… happy? Morgana said some were “satisfied” so I guess I can’t really put all the blame on him.

When the time for the lesson finally came, he at least behaved. Merlin looked like he hadn’t shaved for two days, which I took as a good sign and hoped that he got my message. But apparently not clear enough, as he didn’t brew himself a beard-growing tincture. Morgana also looked quite more confident than last time. It was the confidence of someone who had studied for an exam and knew that they were well prepared.

Well, I was sure that she would be able to manage it this time. I only increased the difficulty by a little, but she already knew how it worked, and Merline would get almost the same task. They both needed to adjust a fertilizer to a specific plant. So instead of just looking at the fertilizer, they also needed to look up their specific plants and change or add the ingredients accordingly. Calling it potion brewing was honestly a bit of a stretch, but they needed to understand the method. And if they struggled with the mundane challenges, I didn’t want them to experiment with adjusting a potion for a magical being.

Augustus, on the other hand, needed to brew another simple potion that required a lot of different basic procedures. I also gave him the manual I wrote for him and made it clear that we would both profit if he invested some time studying it. But the progress he showed just within this hour was astonishing enough that i had high hopes that it wouldn't take too long. It honestly made me question if uncle ever spent the time explaining everything to him one-on-one. But then I remembered that he had to teach ten times the students at the same time, and even Augustus would be above average. Even with just three people to teach, I almost missed that Merlin seemingly instantly knew what he needed to look out for without further instructions, which was something Morgana seemed to struggle with. I naturally could give her more support, but I wanted to teach them to work as independently as possible. So as long as she didn’t ask, I would try to stay in the background unless she absolutely made no progress, which I doubted would happen any time soon.

At the end of the lesson, everyone achieved the goal I set for them, which felt way better than the last lesson. For me as well, as seeing depressed students was not really motivating. Well, Uncle was satisfied with the lesson despite the fact that I ignored his advice about letting them call me Charlotte. It just didn’t feel right to me. And I think it was good that I was a bit closer to my students. Morgana even asked if I could help her study sometime, to which I happily agreed. I know it was a bit unprofessional, but at the same time I needed to use the fact that I only had three students to teach to the fullest, so individual tutoring was definitely something I could do even if all three asked me.