Page 20 of The Headmistress

“I did not fight for a sixteen-year-old sophomore whom nobody wanted at the school because she was questioning everything Dragons was built upon. Sure, she was starting to mobilize the students and to speak out against some of the most egregious things, but I still did not say a thing. Modern, positive, brave ideas are like birds, once you set them free, they are almost impossible to rein in afterwards. It was easy to dismiss her as a troublemaker and a bad influence on the other girls. But the reason they gave when they got rid of her never sat right with me. Sam, I couldn’t allow the trustees to simply throw children to the curb because they were orphans or came from single-parent households. It seems ridiculous these days. It’s nothing to be ashamed of, it’s something that happens every day. But back then…”

Joanne looked away with an agonized expression on her face and continued, “It was a very big deal in this place at that time. Reverend Sanderson was still at Dragons, we still prayed twice a day… And so I let one child be tossed aside. But when you were found on the steps of the chapel, I couldn’t allow it to happen again. I couldn’t let them put you into an orphanage, simply because you had no parents. Foundling or not, orphan or not, we had to make sure history did not repeat itself. You belonged at Dragons. We went on strike, Ruth and myself and most of the others. To our great surprise, we weren’t fired, and the trustees caved in quickly enough with Alden and Tullinger volunteering to take care of the legal side of things. And so we kept you at the school.”

Sam kept looking from one woman to the other in complete shock.

“Well, this is so heartwarming, that when faced with the massive strike of its faculty, the trustees decided to change the less-than-savory rule of ‘no bastards’ and to finally move the school from the swamp of their religious prejudices of the 19th century into the modern era. So, in a sense, yes, Sam Threadneedle, I crawled so you could run. No need to thank me.” With the parting shot, Magdalene tugged the file from Sam’s hands and vanished as quietly as she’d come in.

To her utter astonishment, Sam observed Willoughby’s tail disappearing behind the corner as the cat trotted placidly behind the Headmistress, apparently forsaking all his usual sleep patterns and the comfort of his afternoon pillow in the library where he should have been at this hour. It seemed Magdalene was prone to disruption of even the most ingrained rituals and customs.

Sam remembered making a wish while standing desolate and desperate on the Amber Dragon weeks ago. Didn’t they say ‘beware of wishes coming true’? What had she started by making that plea? And what would Magdalene finish by returning to Three Dragons?

8

Of Feckless Exes & Injured Limbs

And so, with the truth about Magdalene Nox and her history at Dragons coming to light, Sam focused on the present and not on the memories of their now seemingly long past encounter in Manhattan.

Magdalene Nox was one ofthem. Sam could not really wrap her head around the events of the past couple of weeks. To be truthful, she couldn’t quite wrap her head around the events of the past three months either, but realized she should perhaps set that broader question aside and focus on more pressing matters.

Magdalene Nox had been a Dragonette for six months. She had essentially been expelled for being illegitimate, which, despite its archaic and horribly discriminatory connotations, had still been the rule in the school’s deeply religious charter back then. The document wasn’t updated until after Magdalene had been expelled, Sam realized, and thirty years ago it still reflected the customs and zealous beliefs hailing from 1810 and the school’s very origin. In fact, the same people who founded the school would later expand their ideals and form the Know-Nothing party. The ideology they promoted was backward even then, discriminatory, anti-Catholic, anti-many-other-things that were developing deep roots due to the anti-immigrant sentiment. And while it was much more successful down South, Massachusetts was its cradle, after it first made news because its members burned down a convent and tarred and feathered a Catholic priest.

So it wasn’t a surprise that the school charter included all manner of things that were intolerant and outdated. In fact, if the charter hadn’t been amended thirty years ago, most of its content would be illegal these days, due to how it discriminated against other religions, races, familial backgrounds, and of course sexual orientation. And that change was made because of Magdalene. Even thirty years ago, the Headmistress had caused a ruckus everywhere she went. They threw her out and then were forced to change the rules. And now she was back with a vengeance.

Was this what said vengeance looked like? Was this what she was doing at the school by summarily dismissing every single faculty member including resident faculty, every janitor, and Mess Hall worker? Reviewing the curriculum and throwing out half of its more progressive classes? Closing down three-quarters of the extra-curricular clubs and activities? Looking into cutting scholarships to save funding? Was this her way of getting back at the institution that hadn’t wanted her because of the circumstances of her birth, no matter what bullshit they’d chosen to put down as justification for her dismissal in her file? And what did she mean, ‘among other reasons’? Were there other grounds for her removal from the school? Joanne seemed like she was firmly convinced it was because Magdalene was an illegitimate child and felt extremely guilty for not standing up for her at the time, but was there something else?

Sure, the 80s, and even the 90s to some extent, were brutal in terms of religious prejudice among certain communities and in select enclaves, like Dragons. In fact at that time, pretty much the entire world had not yet caught up to the winds of change and the World Health Organization only removed homosexuality from the list of mental diseases in 1990. The thought made Sam swallow thickly at how many people were subjected to atrocities simply for loving whom they loved.

In those years, the stigma that came with being different, illegitimate, gay, was felt even more greatly. Throw in Dragons’ antiquated and obscure eye color preference, and you had the perfect storm for discrimination. Sam had felt it, growing up at Dragons, and only Orla’s tenure had lessened the oppressive intolerance despite the amendments the charter had undergone earlier. So change happened, at times slowly.

But at other times it happened quickly and could be devastating in effect and proportion. From her usual perch on the Amber Dragon Cliff, Sam could almost feel that change, embodied by the object of her thoughts, approaching. The graceful gait and the subtle scent mixing with the now almost wilted wild jasmine were both familiar. What wasn’t familiar was how a big, fat cat had suddenly become a constant companion to the Headmistress. Willoughby slunk towards Sam for a brief sniff at her hand before quickly padding back to the one he’d started to surreptitiously follow wherever she went.

“I spent my evenings here on the cliff during my short stay at Dragons, Professor Threadneedle. Tell me, was it my knowledge of the best hiding spots that gave away my history with the school?” The voice, the quiet, husky and inquisitive tone of it, stroked Sam’s senses like silk.

“You have a way of speaking about Dragons, both the place and the Academy, in precisely the correct terms. It’s never ‘The Dragons’ with you, rarely ‘The Three Dragons’, despite it being the official name, it’s almost always just ‘Dragons’. And yes, you know of Rowena’s and of the perfect hiding spot on top of this cliff. Plus, Joanne talked of you in ways that one doesn’t unless they know the person at least in passing.”

“My, you are a veritable Jessica Fletcher and Miss Marple all in one, Professor.” Magdalene finally came closer and, to Sam’s pleasure, pulled out a blanket. To Sam’s further delight, she sat in such a manner as to leave space for Willoughby, who trotted over and made himself comfortable next to the Headmistress, one of his paws gently and unobtrusively touching her thigh. He was asleep within seconds.

Magdalene rolled her eyes at Sam’s obvious mirth at the situation.

“I tried to dissuade him. But he seems to have made up his mind and refuses to stop stalking me.”

“Oh yes,” Sam laughed. “The poor, almighty Headmistress is powerless to stop a cat from following her and from obviously adoring her. Not only does he shadow you, breaking his infamous routine, he also allows you to touch him, which was anathema for this ginger boy just weeks ago. You must have a magic touch.”

Realizing what she’d said, Sam promptly shut her mouth and turned away from Magdalene, who’d regarded her with something like mischief in her eyes.

“What is it about you that I find myself willing to endure your total rudeness and all this jumping to conclusions and expecting the absolute worst from me, and yet I still enjoy your company?”

Faced with such complete and utter honesty, Sam had no other choice but to answer with some honesty of her own.

“This school is the only home I’ve ever known. It wasn’t always hospitable, or kind, or even welcoming to me. But Dragons was always there. And it raised me, through thick and thin.”

“And does this love and adoration of a brick and mortar place prohibit you from seeing that Dragons requires massive changes to allow the school to keep pace with the times?”

“You talk about modern times yet you ordered the restoration of the chapel which was quasi-abandoned for years. You talk about reform yet you closed down half the clubs—”

“Three-quarters of those, I believe.” Magdalene’s mouth twitched, and she shivered in the evening breeze. As if sensing her chill, Willoughby moved closer to her, his whole back now warming her thigh.

“If he wasn’t so cute, I’d regret all the scraps I’ve fed him from the faculty table. The traitor.” Sam tried for humor, but she knew she wasn’t really pulling off the softening of the blow.

---