You need to think

You walk back to your cottage, your mind seething and scheming.

Besides your teaching salary, you have no other income, and with Dogs imposing a tax you'll ned something else. You have a small bankroll and it would be enough to keep him off your back for a few weeks, but you don't like dipping into cash reserves. You need something working, and you need it soon.

There's a lot of money at the school, and where there's a lot of money there's always a way to pry some of it loose. Whatever happened last year sounds like it might have some possibilities, but that's a longer game and you need something quicker. Outright theft is a possibility, although that's not really your style, and you don't have any contacts nearby to fence anything.

Credit cards, you muse. These rich little bitches will all have credit cards, and probably more than one. You've already got Noelle's and it should be easy to scam the information from other girls. You have a broker you can unload the information on for a tidy profit and avoid the risk of using them yourself.

Blackmail is always reliable, and it shouldn't be too hard to trick some of these girls into a compromising situation, one that they'd happily pay to prevent becoming public knowledge.

You could always fall back on old standby short cons like the Flop or the Melon Drop, but they're pretty much one time scams that you'd rather save for an emergency, or for a very ripe target.

You're still thinking as you return to you cottage and find a envelope tacked to your door. Surprised, your rip it open and find a note from Headmistress Naylor.

'Mr Sharp, Mr. Hawkfeather, who was to be your roommate, will instead be staying in the Dean of Student's quarters in the Mellon Building. This means that for the time being at least, you will have this cottage to yourself. If there are further developments you will be notified immediately. Headmistress Diane Naylor.

At least there's some good news, you think as you settle down in a chair and continue to scheme.