Magically peep from a safe distance, then head into town the next day

It's damnably tempting to try and see every steamy moment of what's going to be happening in that dormitory room - you didn't specifically ask Master Firetail for permission for that either, but then, a Minerval ought to be an expert at cunningly sneaking about. Since students were allowed to visit other Houses during the daylight hours, someone sneaking off to visit a lover in their room was a lot more likely to be caught after the act than during. However, actually being caught with a member of another house in your room (or coming out of it) after curfew was more serious and would get you some punitive duties.

You kept a collection of books with you as you lingered in the hall near Bertie's room for a couple of hours. To her credit, you never even saw Chen arrive - no doubt she came in disguise or knew a secret way there. When Bertie himself passed by you in the hallways, he about leaped out of his academic gown and stopped to give you another firm, grateful handshake. You act as if you're going to start walking off, but then double back and start lingering outside his room.

Though you can hear muffled talking, it isn't especially fun so far. It would be rude, and inconsistent with what you said, to just barge in while they're at it. But, you think as your fingers slip down to your wand, perhaps there is a solution...

CAST A SPELL: Roll 2d6+CUNNING. Result: ⚅⚃ 6,4+2=12. On a 10+, the spell succeeds with intended effect. Scene will be described in detail in a branch.

You conjure up a little one-way peephole in the door. A silly grin spreads across your features as you casually lean against the door, trying to focus both eyes on the action within without looking conspicuous about it. As if seeing Chen naked again wasn't enough of a pleasure, you of course also get a guilty little thrill from illicitly spying on a pair. Perhaps they should blame your Housemaster for giving you such an idea?

It still turns out to be far from a perfect solution - you kept the magic window small to minimize suspicion, but that also means you don't get a great view of the room once the actual action starts. Sure, you get to see Chen doing a striptease, which is nice, but the moment she finishes, Berthold grabs her by the waist, displaying surprising strength, and leans back, picking her up off her feet and tossing her over on the bed. He spends a while playing with her ample chest before moving on to bending her over a couple of pillows on her hands and knees and ramming himself into her from behind. For the first time you get to see Chen's delicate, beautiful cuntlips being penetrated... the illicit pleasure of peeping sets a fire in your lower body as well, and despite the risks, you reach down and slide your fingers up under your skirt, pleasuring yourself - it isn't a gentle, relaxed masturbation like you might engage in in a nice warm bath, but a hard, fast vibration of your middle finger over your pleasure-button... racing your fellow Leontes to orgasm so you don't have to duck away and leave unfulfilled.

Fortunately, you are able to bite down on your natural cry as you find your pleasure with a gush that leaves your panties drenched. Not a minute too soon, either, as Berthold's novice cock isn't able to endure the excitement of plunging into such a beautiful girl for long, and you hear him give a leonine roar as he shoves himself in up to the base, gripping her amble buttocks so hard it might bruise, and floods her with his pent-up cum. Chen, who'd been taking the whole session pretty well so far and even sounded like she was starting to get into it, wasn't pleased with that and kicked him away immediately, blushing furiously and refusing to look at him as she got dressed. You stick around as long as you dare before ducking around the corner of the hallway, and you hear Chen storm out of Bertie's room and slam the door, muttering, before dashing to the ladies washroom on her tiptoes. As sexy as she is and as much as you like her, you get a delightful sense of schadenfreude from watching, as if you'd seen a more beautiful woman slip and fall down in a mud puddle in the middle of being gawked at by an admiring crowd.

You sleep well that night, taking advantage of Gillian being out late to get to bed early. On sunday morning, you awake filled with enthusiasm. You've got a fair bit of history study to catch up on tonight, but you're sure Gillian will help you out with that gladly - maybe you can even convince her to help spread rumors of your party. In any case, today, you, Berthold, and three other second-years will be accompanying a somewhat doddering instructor of transformations by the name of Professor Codseye . He used 'chaperoning' as an excuse to go about his own errands, so you and the other students would be pretty much free to wander the town. Aside from you and Berthold, the others are a couple of Minerval girls from your conjurations class - Yvonnie and Julia - who are taking the trip as an opportunity to have a date out on the town. The last remaining one is a very shy Leontes student by the name of Kinzie McMullins, a freckled, brown-haired lass who you first met in that awkward encounter in the baths last weekend. She tags along with you but the two of you don't say much.

Turnbuckle is a fascinating little place, rustic on the face of it with homey little wooden cottages and 'ma and pa' shops lining the main thoroughfares. However, a subtle eye would detect the scads of enchantments hanging in the air, keeping the place clean, well-lit, and safe from magical wildlife. Every so often you'd pass by an animate broom sweeping the cobblestones or see a new spell or magic item being tried out by an eager student.

Berthold says that, despite the Housemaster keeping a tight rein over things and not allowing any liquor, you and he need to at least keep up appearances, so he says he's going to buy a couple cases of small beer. He's so thrilled with your 'gift' to him that he's offering to pay for everything himself, but you say you'll chip in and at least get some sexy outfits (you don't mention to him that you mostly mean for the wizards). Aside from that, having saved money by getting the Housemaster to help cater, you decide to get some magical beauty supplies and other assorted arcane components... buying them in Turnbuckle is far safer than accepting them from fellow students who might have made a dog's breakfast of the formula.

However, just as you've finished making all your purchases and are carrying them away in a couple of paper sacks (and looking for Berthold so you can offload the hauling duties), you hear the sound of Kinzie sobbing softly and a man's raised voice shouting at her. Following the sound of the commotion you turn the corner to see Kinzie shrinking away from a thick-necked, balding man in his early forties wearing plain clothes and a shopkeeper's apron. He was saying that if she tried to walk away after attempting to steal some of his wares, he'd go straight to the headmaster of Boarbristle and see to it she was punished as harshly as he could manage.

"B-but... I keep telling you, *sniff*, I were jus' lookin'! I didnae take a thing, I already said I'd leave...!" Kinzie sputtered in a distraught voice.

"WHAT is going on here? You dare to make such an accusation against a student of House Leontes?" you look at the shopkeeper with a scowl. Coming from an aristocratic family, you have always had a certain degree of contempt for wizards of impure blood and low levels of skill looking for opportunities to wield authority over a pure-blooded magician, usually over petty matters like this. Lying about such a thing has consequences!"

The man crossed his arms and turned his weatherbeaten face to you, looking unimpressed. "Oh, so runnin' a little one-two con, are you chickie? Roight then. If you 'aven't taken a thing then there ought to be no problem letting me search you thorough-like, then. Got it hidden under your shirt or behind your skirt, I expect. I lose more bloody merchandise to spoiled little bitches from the academy what think the laws don't apply to 'em. If you PAY, then I might consider lettin' you go without raising the issue with 'Bristle."

You wrinkle your nose in annoyance, exchanging a glance with Kinzie. Neither of you have any money to speak of, you having already spent what you brought. You were suddenly starting to regret the fact that Professor Codseye was never anywhere to be found on this trip. It was certainly a good thing you were here when you were - a petty bastard like this would probably jump at the chance to ruin a young student's term on the flimsiest pretexts.

Perhaps you could intimidate the shopkeep, threaten to say that he had slapped Kinzie or put a minor curse on her. She certainly looked distraught enough to be believable. Or you could just try to reason with him... But your pride told you that the most elegant, straightforward solution was to put your magical skills into practice and put a CHARM on him. One thing was for sure - as eager as he had been to strip-search her, you can't leave a fellow Leontes with this unscrupulous man... can you?

Franziska has 5 XP and may spend them on a character advancement. See Spending XP in the Boarbristle Rules.