his swift reaction, for as he drew near, the whole motley crew of aristocrats seemed taken aback. As if they didn’t know what he was getting at.
‘Draco!’ The cry rang out through the stairwell, which had fallen into sudden silence. The boy stopped at the sound of the familiar voice and glanced over his shoulder. A mop of red hair appeared amongst the onlookers standing on the stairs leading to the fourth floor, and a moment later, Aiden, grinning from ear to ear, came tumbling out onto the landing. ‘I’ve been looking all over upstairs for you, and here you are,’ he blurted out, paying not the slightest attention to the scene unfolding around him. ‘You could have let me know where they’d assigned you; I told you where to find me, after all,’ he added, feigning a touch of embarrassment with some energetic gesturing.
‘Sorry, I didn’t have time earlier. I was going to look for you after class,’ the dragon replied almost automatically. As he spoke, he turned slightly towards the redhead, inadvertently revealing the sword hanging at his side.
‘Good luck,’ Aiden laughed. ‘Unless, of course, you knew which residential hall to go to.’
‘Don’t tell me you’re that hard to find. There’d surely be someone there who could at least point me in the right direction.’
‘By the way, I heard your master’s back from some mission.’ Aiden quickly changed the subject. The redhead’s eyes lit up with curiosity. ‘Tell me about it.’
‘There’s not much to say.’ Draco shrugged. He was telling the truth, though he knew full well that many people wouldn’t believe him. ‘He came back, submitted his report at the Palace, and is still working.’
‘You must have heard something.’ Aiden wouldn’t give up.
‘I’m telling you, there’s nothing interesting about it.’
At that moment, from behind him, the dragon caught a few hurriedly whispered words, of which he understood only one: Bleist. This was immediately followed by a stifled curse and a flurry of movement tinged with mild panic.
‘Right, right, sure.’ The boy waved his hand dismissively, showing a
