Firetail explains about Barbara Torch but enchants you to not tell

"She didn't say," you tell the Housemaster. "I mean, she said she had enough fruit to give her a new start if I just let her go." You wrap your hands round the mug of strong tea.

Fergus Firetail frowns and strokes his short black beard. "Tell me anything else you remember," he says.

"I jumped up through the mists and Barbara Torch seized my wrists. When I struggled, Sapienta bit her and she let me go. I didn't really see anything. I suppose she was floating on an enchanted cloud, or something hidden in a cloud. I could smell ripe fruit, but I couldn't see anything," you recount for him.

You take a deep draught of the tea. It warms you as it goes down and tingles inside. Where the Garden is in eternal summer, Boarbristle is in early winter in the interval between terms. The Housemaster's office is only indifferently heated, though your draconic fires keep you comfortable. And the tea, which spreads a wave of warmth over you.

"What do you remember about Barbara Torch?" Firetail asks.

"Surprised. But she hoped I would decide to help her," you say. Barbara Torch's face, a dark silhouette against the night sky above the Garden. "I could feel warmth from her face, and..." The scent of fresh-cut grass. "...and, and I could smell a man's seed on her breath."

"Curious," Firetail says. "Likely part of the enchantment, but..." He sighs, scratching his beard. "Possibly she ate of the fruit, and had a companion with her." He nods. "Libido is a strong source of magical energy, so that would be the first. And the fruit does raise lust, so that would be the second." He blinks. "You're crying, Miss Redmoor?"

"Sapienta," you say, looking down into your tea. "My familiar. She woke me. She broke Barbara Torch's grasp. But now she's gone." You look up at the Housemaster. "I should tell Miss Wormwood. What can I tell her?"

"Miss Wormwood is Staff," the Housemaster says. "You may tell her. You should refrain from telling your suitemates about Barbara Torch. Rumours spread quickly, and they will not serve us well."

You notice he didn't actually forbid you. You take a deep breath. But he's probably right. Among Marina, Andrew, Rebecca, and Peter... yes, almost certainly one of them would pass it along..

You blink slowly. A question bubbles up to the surface of your mind.

"Housemaster," you say. "I take it that Barbara Torch was dismissed. After the night she saved Dorothy in the Fifth House. But why...why would she be stealing fruit from the Garden?"

He raises his wand and traces a symbol in the air between you. You hear voices pitched high in argument. The Headmistress and Head of Minerval argue for immediate dismissal with public condemnation. Mistress Beeblossom advises referral to the Outside Warders.

"Barbara Torch was dismissed with public condemnation," Firetail says. "I have my suspicions about why that was the case. You shan't repeat it, but I suspect that it was to make anything she should say about the Academy easier to discredit." He grins. "So, tell me why I think Torch was dismissed the way she was."

"Headmaster, mehek pabaffal kelekek peh greh..." You trail off as you recognize you're babbling nonsense.

Firetail laughs. "That's all right, then." He reaches out and cups his hands around yours. "Well, given what you saw, perhaps our action was correct. And now that I know more about how the thefts took place, I'll strengthen the wards around the Garden, and hopefully we've seen the last of Barbara Torch."

"I hope so," you say.

It's not until you're halfway to the Infirmary that you realize the Headmaster never answered your question about what Barbara Torch might want with the fruit of the Garden of Delights. A test of sorts.

Roll +BRAVERY(+4) (+3 Bravery, +2 FRIEND, capped at +4) to ENCOUNTER Miss Wormwood and talk about Sapienta.