Luna felt more and more alone. Her way of thinking wasn't well received by her housemates; they considered it too strange. For her, they were the odd ones, unable to see beyond the rigid pages of their books. On more than one occasion, she had been left out or had her half-finished work messed with, which had earned her some punishments. That was until she decided to fight back.
Having Ginny as a friend had given Luna a peculiar kind of courage, as had discovering that Harry and Neville were also her friends. They had not only defended her on multiple occasions but had also shown her a respect that very few had ever given her. The repeated mistreatment from most of those in her year and some in the years above, along with the indifference of the rest, made Luna not feel completely comfortable in her common room. Strangely, since the middle of the previous year, Luna had found a source of support and comfort in the Grey Lady. Luna didn't know her name, as the ghost hadn't told her, but she had helped Luna cope with the entire situation. Perhaps this made Luna even stranger, given the Grey Lady's reputation, but it wasn't something that mattered to her. Luna simply felt comfortable with the ghost.
That January, classes had resumed with as much force as the winter weather, which was completely influenced by the Dementors. Luna couldn't wait for those creatures to be removed from the school. She didn't like the feeling they gave her at all. They reminded Luna of the fateful afternoon when her mother died after an experiment went wrong; it had been a very sad and painful memory.
"Earth to Luna, earth to Luna," Colin's voice roused her from her reverie.
"Oh, excuse me. The Wrackspurts must have gotten into my ears."
"Right, let's finish the project," Ginny said with a sigh. "Sensory Enchantments. What do you think of this definition I found? 'Sensory enchantments are those whose purpose is to enhance the perception of the senses, making the information that comes through them finer, more precise, and laden with nuances.' What do you think?"
"It's cool, but I don't really understand it," Colin admitted.
"Well, these enchantments help us to see more and better things, to hear more and better, and so on for all the senses," Luna explained. "That will work well for our title. I think we can include it and then explain that in the main body of the project we'll go on to describe the different spells that can be applied to each sense and how they work."
"I like it. Will you handle the writing, Luna? You have a better way with words than we do."
"Okay. Let's jot down some ideas and do a bit more spell research. Then we can put it all together later."
They spent hours in silence in the library, moving from book to book and taking notes on anything that caught their attention. They would have to combine everything later, but that was for another time—perhaps tomorrow or the next day. There was really no rush, as they had a month to prepare it, but the three of them had agreed to do it calmly and get it done as soon as possible so they could move on to other things.
"It's dinner time," Colin said after stretching and giving a small yawn.
"You two go on. I'll stay here for a bit longer."
"Luna, you can't skip meals just because your housemates are being rude," Ginny said to her seriously. "Come sit with us at the Gryffindor table."
"Yes, no one will say anything to you there," Colin added.
"Maybe that prat Percy, but we can just ignore him," Ginny said.
It didn't take them long to reach the Great Hall, using one of the shortcuts that Ginny's brothers had taught her. They were able to join the others at the Gryffindor table without attracting too much attention. There, they were joined by Neville and Harry, as well as Ron and Hermione, the other girl they had shared a carriage with on the first day of term. Luna considered all of them her friends. In the short time they had been getting to know each other, they had already reached that point.
"I hate Dementors," Harry said, a tense look on his face. "They shouldn't be in a school. No matter how much the Ministry says it's controlling them, it's not."
"You did the same thing Lupin did on the train," Ron said.
"The Patronus Charm," Hermione murmured. "I still don't know how you both did it."
"We'd been practicing," Harry said with a shrug. "I found out Neville had the same idea and, well, we wanted to try it."
"Could you teach us?" Hermione asked eagerly.
"I can try," Harry replied after a moment's hesitation. "I can't guarantee anything, though."
"I want to learn, too, mate," Ron said.
While the three of them were talking, Colin struck up a conversation with some of his other friends. This left Luna with Neville and Ginny. Luna had noticed the change in the shy boy. Now, he radiated a greater sense of security, as if it had been hidden all along.
"How was your day?" Luna asked them both.
"It was good. Aside from working in the library, I was able to fly my new broom for a bit," Ginny commented. "I know my parents aren't very fond of it, but that's their problem. A gift is a gift, and if they think it's wrong to accept expensive presents, they've got it all wrong."
"Especially after accepting the Prophet's prize money," Neville remarked. "What's more, not to be critical, but..."
"I know what you mean," Ginny said gravely. "A family with limited resources shouldn't be spending prize money like that. Things just got a bit out of control."
"Everything will get better," Luna said in her dreamy and slightly mysterious voice.
---
It was already past midnight when Godric and Salazar arrived at the Room of Requirement, covered by Salazar's Invisibility Cloak. Helga was waiting for them there, a glass of wine between her fingers, with the map they had created of the soul fragments laid out. Now there were only two left. They were making excellent progress. Both Godric and Salazar took a seat in armchairs almost identical to the one Helga was occupying.
"Ron is practically inseparable from the rat," Salazar reported with a grimace of disgust. "However, Hermione's cat tends to harass him quite a bit. It seems that he's realised Peter isn't what he seems, nor is he trustworthy."
"Hermione?" Helga questioned.
"A book-loving Muggle-born girl," Godric summed up. "That cat is her new pet. It has Kneazle blood."
"If there was a way to make his abilities manifest in a controlled way, we could use the cat. That way no one would point the finger at us."
"Just Kingsley and I," Helga said, looking at Salazar, following his line of thought.
"I don't like it, but it's our only option. Neither Godric nor I can be directly involved in this operation," Salazar said.
"I'll be fine, so you don't have to worry. I know how to take care of myself," Helga assured them.
"I don't like it when we act separately either," Godric said. "Our true power has always been in our ability to work as a team, to get along. Separated, we are more vulnerable."
"And yet, the narrow minds of the Ministry won't accept testimony from two thirteen-year-old boys. It could even cause the opposite of what we intend. I'm sorry, guys, but it has to be done that way."
"For my part, I've begun to test Lupin," Salazar reported. "Sirius informed me that they were friends at school. If I get any concrete proof of the rat's appearance..."
"You can go to Kingsley, Helga's intimidating Auror companion, by playing the scared boy," Godric summarised. "Then, when I'm ready, I can play clumsy and bump into Ron so that the rat escapes in front of Kingsley."
"Bear in mind that Kingsley was a Ravenclaw," Helga warned them.
"I'm a good actor," Salazar retorted.
"You could never fool me, Salazar," Helga said with a slight smile.
"Well, it's not that I wanted to deceive you, either," Salazar replied.
"If you want, I'll ask the room to be transformed into a hotel," Godric said jokingly.
Helga softly shook her head, composing an amused smile, drowning out the comment that had just crossed her mind. She had thought it best not to transform the room. As much as she wanted to, to truly enjoy it would require another dose of Ageing Potion, even if it was a standard one and not a special one. She did not want Salazar's body to suffer the pressure of the potion's effects. Anyone who thought that potions had no side effects was simply an idiot.
"If you're going to plan it like that, you'll have to protect your partner," Helga said.
"Ronald Weasley will be safe at all times," Salazar guaranteed. "The biggest problem may be the Dementors."
"Or if Ron wants to play the hero," Godric muttered, earning a somewhat surprised look from the other two. "Don't look at me like that. He's a good boy, but he's eager to have a fame of his own and stop being in the shadow of his brothers."
"With the talent he has for chess, he could be a professional," Salazar commented. "Maybe I'll suggest it to him."
"This summer there's a magical chess tournament," Helga mentioned. "My father is one of the organisers, and people from the age of fourteen can apply."
"Ron turns fourteen in March," Salazar looked at her reflectively. "It would fall within the deadline."
"If he turns fourteen before the end of the thirtieth day, yes."
"Then I'll tell him. It's time for him to do what he likes and stop being under family expectations," Godric said.
"Hey, I was thinking of telling him," Salazar protested. "But that's okay. I still don't want my cover to be blown completely, that I know nothing about this world."
"That would be troublesome," Godric agreed.
"Salazar, won't it be problematic for Sirius if the Animagus thing comes to light?" Helga asked.
"It's a lesser evil. Besides, in a context of war with suspicions within the Ministry, who in their right mind would give something that can be turned against them?" Salazar replied.
"After what they did to lock him up without trial, at most they'll give him a significant fine," Helga said, taking on a more legal tone. "Not only is denying someone a trial questionable and illegal, which in itself would warrant good compensation; but also, Black is a Lord. That implies an even greater grievance."
"And if the case didn't come before the court, but was a decision of the court's own ruling triumvirate, as I suspect it was," Helga murmured. "The fine will come out of their pockets instead of the Ministry's."
Everyone in that room understood that if the rest of the court had participated in a vote, whether or not there was a trial, they would have staged one. Some to publicly despise him, others to have fun and make something clear, and others because being at that time an heir to an important house would be guaranteeing his right there. In fact, Salazar himself suspected that once Voldemort fell—and at that moment everyone but his followers believed him dead—they would prefer to sacrifice a pawn like Pettigrew, a nobody without political power, rather than someone like Black. If they had played their cards properly, they would have been able to leverage Black, if not to put him on their side, then at least on the side of Dumbledore's opponents. Thus, that triumvirate of the court had ensured that the power of the Black house would disappear.
"Godric, what is the current triumvirate?" Salazar asked.
"Dumbledore, Fudge, and Bones. Dumbledore has been able to handle Fudge for some time, although my grandmother says that he is subtly escaping her control. The bad thing is that he allows himself to be influenced by Lucius Malfoy," Godric explained.
"Who we know isn't clean," Helga added. "The triumvirate of that moment was made up of Dumbledore, Crouch, and Bagnold. Millicent Bagnold always feared the power of the House of Black, and Crouch had a very strong prejudice against everything dark and everything that was outside the law in general. Bagnold retired, and Crouch was discredited after his son's affair."
"Your son participated in the torture of my parents until they were mentally incapacitated, so I don't feel too sorry for it," Salazar said, a cold edge to his voice. "It's not fair that what you do impacts your relatives, but I didn't like that man. In fact, I think he's hiding something."
"The important thing is that he is no longer in the Wizengamot. Fudge, he's a puppet who will do what suits the highest bidder, and I can't imagine Dumbledore making donations," Salazar commented. "What about Bones?"
"She's the Director of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement. My grandmother says she's fair. And it takes the agreement of all three to send someone to prison without trial, so she could force a fair trial, if that's what she set her mind to," Godric replied.
"In part," Salazar looked at Helga, wanting to get an idea of that woman's character. "What can you tell me?"
"She is incorruptible. She runs the department with an iron fist and a silk glove," Helga stated.
"Well then. Now we just need the whole public to know some facts, preferably before Pettigrew's capture," Salazar whispered. "This will make the rat nervous, and may make some people see that it's the way to take power away from Dumbledore."
"Salazar," Helga said cautiously. "With Voldemort alive, don't you think that getting Dumbledore out of the way might make everything easier for him?"
"It's a risk, there's no doubt about it. But I don't think it will get to that point. I'm not going to mention the triumvirate; after all, it's something I suppose only legislators and families who have always been involved in the courts know, am I wrong?" Salazar responded.
"Not to mention that Dumbledore was the one facing Voldemort on the front line," Godric commented. "That alone might have made him too tired to reason properly at a time when everything was utter chaos."
"The Quibbler won't publish something like that," Helga warned, then smiled. "But it is a publication that the vast majority considers a joke or mad. And the three of us know that there are three types of people who tell the truth: children, drunkards, and madmen. The Quibbler accepts writings from anonymous people."
"Will they publish it?" Salazar hesitated.
"They publish quite mad things; a conspiracy like this makes a lot of sense. In addition, just because of the rumours, its circulation would increase. Which of you two is going to write the article? I can't, the Aurors can ask for that information, and they might notice my hand," Helga explained.
"I will," Godric offered. "I am the least involved in this situation."
---
With the beginning of February, the castle was flooded with girls looking for a date to celebrate Valentine's Day in Hogsmeade. It was true that the dates did not coincide precisely, but that wasn't of great importance next to showing off a partner. Salazar and Godric found this behaviour childish and superficial; Helga found it amusing.
"Many girls find it nice to do something special on those specific dates," Helga said.
"Do you expect something like that?" Salazar asked with a small smile. Personally, he thought that one day a year wasn't important, but that every day was.
"I'm over that stage. Besides, from what I saw as a student, many of those couples end up arguing like 'here's where you brought your ex'."
"It's a stage they have to get through, and we have to take care of ourselves," Godric observed. "The Longbottoms and the Potters are important families, and right now you and I are appetising little treats."
"The usual thing among old families," Salazar murmured annoyedly.
"And not so old," Helga warned. "In a harsh world like ours, in which many are considered inferior because they are not families existing in these territories for a long time, the alliances that can be formed, the commitments... they are very important." She sighed. "The Middle Ages may have expired, but the games of the powerful are still in existence. The Ministry is the clear expression of them."
"Either you know how to play the game and play it well or you're nothing," Godric summarised. "I don't usually have much patience for such things."
"Between the four of us, we constituted an important balance."
"We will recover it, and save the world from its greatest imbalance," Godric said.
"The biggest threat is Voldemort, but I don't think he's the only one. She is not the only one."
"We know," Helga admitted. "Well, I've got to leave you. I must make the rounds with Kingsley; apparently, Black can attack these days, taking advantage of the holiday," she added sarcastically.
On Valentine's Eve, right at midnight, a wave of magical energy swept through the castle. It was a positive energy that signalled that its four owners were already there and under the same roof. At that very moment, a second-year girl who had just turned thirteen on February thirteenth woke up, feeling both restless and surprised. Then she smiled. She understood now why, despite the attitude of most of the students, she felt comfortable in the castle. She was Rowena Ravenclaw and had been reborn as Luna Lovegood.
She got up and, after putting on her robe, looked out the window at the lake. In silence, she reflected on how the values of intelligence and wisdom could have become a certain snobbery of intolerance to different ideas. She didn't understand it when she herself, at the dawn of Hogwarts, had encouraged those who thought differently. It was something she had to find out and solve, but the first thing was to find the others and face the threat that she herself had seen in a diffuse way in the past. Her intuition told her that they were already there and that they had been waiting for her.
She felt a presence in the room, the sound that a ghost makes when moving. She had gotten used to it, as her greatest friendship until she had the friends she had now had been the ghost that inhabited Ravenclaw Tower, Helena, her own daughter. She didn't know what had happened, only that Helena must have died at about the same age she ran away. Rowena held no grudge against her; Helena was more important than any object or knowledge, and it had been Rowena's mistake not to realise it in time.
"Thank you," Rowena said to Helena before turning to look at her with a warm smile full of recognition.
"I was hoping it was you. There were certain traits that made me think you were," Helena replied.
"Would you tell me about the situation?" Rowena laughed after seeing that her roommates were still sleeping and that they could not, even if they listened, get anything more out of it than the idea of a strange conversation.
"I don't know much. Only that the one who calls himself Voldemort sullied it because of me. I told Lord Gryffindor and Lord Slytherin. They are now juniors," Helena explained.
"And Helga?" Rowena asked. The diadem was worrying, but she wasn't going to take the path of reproach. She knew that when others told her, she probably wouldn't like it, but that object had already caused too much damage between them.
"She was the first to return. She did it years ago. She is an Auror," Helena said.
"The one I call Professor Sprout out of," Rowena looked meaningfully at her daughter, remembering how months ago she had been attacked by fifth-graders from her own house. "And they... I guess it will be Harry and Neville. Helga wouldn't have allowed them to fight if she didn't know they could handle the situation. I think I'll go and get some rest."
The next morning, Rowena entered the Great Hall with a dreamy air. It was an expression she had even had in the past. An intellectual air of seeing beyond the rest. That had made many consider her strange; in the past and now. Only now she had weapons to face them. Very few had been able to see her above those peculiarities. Godric, Salazar, and Helga had been her friends; and in this present, she had gained two others apart from them. She passed the Ravenclaw table and sat down at the Gryffindor table, opposite Salazar and Godric.
"It's a fine day today," Rowena greeted, smiling.
"I'm glad to see you," Salazar said.
"Is she lunatic with us again?" Ron asked, hurrying to breakfast. Hermione followed him exasperated. "My sister is over there," he pointed to a distant point on the Gryffindor table.
"I know. But I'm with my friends," Rowena replied as if this were not an unusual event. It was rare to see students from one house at another's table, but in her case, it was common to see her with Ginny and Colin.
"What friends?" Ron scoffed.
"Ron!" Hermione chided him with a disapproving look.
"We," Godric said, pointing to Salazar and himself.
"I'm glad you have more friends, Luna," Hermione said. "I hope we can get to know each other a little better, though I admit that you make me a little uncomfortable sometimes."
"I want to get to know you better, too, Hermione. I like to make real friends."
---
Draco nodded at Theo's signal to him in Potions class. It was time to put into action what they had been talking about: to reach a point where both could make their own lives. The risk was minimal if it didn't work. Theo was in charge of taking the opportunity to talk to Potter and select a suitable place to meet. For this, he was taking advantage of the fact that they both needed to retrieve material from the cupboard of rare ingredients in class. That way, there would be no suspicion of a brief exchange of words.
"How did it go?" Draco asked his friend as he added the rat spleen to the potion.
"At seven o'clock, in a secret room in the library, next to the Forbidden Section," Theo replied.
"Good."
They continued the class in silence, focused on their potion and making no movement towards any other student in the class, either positively or negatively. The allure of annoying the Gryffindors was in annoying Potter, and that had no appeal anymore because he was not easily riled, nor did it suit them to make him angry. In fact, Draco actually saw the opportunity to have the friendship he had wanted in the first year, ever since he had liked the boy in the robes shop. Potter had thrown him off guard at the beginning of the school year, and Draco knew he was right about his father; he also knew this was his only chance. It didn't seem to him that the Potter of this year was going to give more than one opportunity to maintain cordiality. From what Draco saw, Potter was not someone you wanted to have as an enemy.
Draco spent the whole afternoon feeling a certain uncertainty, yet he did not show it externally. At seven, he met Theo in the library. He had been able to get Parkinson off his back by saying that he had a pending assignment. That girl was not one to study anything other than the articles of Witch Weekly, and she was merely aspiring to hunt a rich wizard to squander her money instead of the little that was left to her family. It was one of the reasons why his father had bitterly disdained a marriage offer from the Parkinson family. Thus, they were only left with any unwary person with pretensions to prosper in the political sphere, because being related to a family of the Sacred Twenty-Eight could give a lot of status if handled properly. For his part, Draco did not want to think about these shenanigans for the moment, only to ensure his own happiness and, why not, to ensure that his surname was not tarnished. He was going to take that risky bet for those reasons.
He noticed Theo's move to access the secret room. The room looked like a medieval office, with a fireplace lit and torches on the walls, and a crudely carved table in the centre next to several chairs. Not many, not few; just the right amount. Potter was already waiting for them inside. He was sitting behind the table with a serene expression.
"Take a seat," Salazar said to both of them, pointing to chairs in front of him on the other side of the table. "Nott told me that you both had a matter of substance to deal with me." It was a clear statement to get to the point without messing around, but his expression told them that he was going to listen. "Perhaps I can help you somewhat."
"What do you get by helping us, Potter?" Draco asked.
"You have sought me out," Salazar smiled, appreciating their expressions for a few moments. "But anyway. I don't get anything. I won't ask you for anything in return," he said sincerely. They were students at Hogwarts, and students from the house he founded. He had to protect them if they needed to, to the extent that the resources he currently had allowed. "Well?"
"It all comes down to the fact that I don't want to be a puppet of anyone. I hear my father talk about the Dark Lord and serving him. I hear him talk with joy about the punishments received by those who served him badly, and how his right hand was named and what was the fate of the previous one," Draco said sombrely. "I've thought about the diary you mentioned on the train, the one you destroyed last year, and my father's words about what it was. An object belonging to the Dark Lord that would be a weapon to deal the final blow of his seizure of power. But the Dark Lord disappeared, and my father used him for his own benefit with positive or negative consequences depending on the point of view of whoever saw it. The fact is that although on the one hand my father says that he will return, my mother fears that he will do so and punish my family for the diary matter."
"Yes. He will return. He already tried it in the first year when our brilliant Headmaster was kind enough to keep a juicy bait in the third-floor corridor that, curiously, is only forbidden to that year group," Salazar revealed. There wasn't much problem with revealing that. The students knew that something had happened with a possessed teacher. The rest of the information did not reveal much other than the intentions of his legitimate interlocutors. "And the diary was destroyed last year. I did it myself. Now, according to your perspective, is that positive or negative?"
"Positive if it turned out to be such a threat that no one would have been safe, whoever we were. Negative from my family's perspective. If the Dark Lord gave that to my father to guard until he freed him at his order, and it is no longer there, the Dark Lord can consider it a serious offence that not only makes him pay with discredit within his circle but also ends up causing the ruin of the whole family. I know well that the Dark Lord can teach his followers through his progeny."
"You fear for your life and your future," Salazar observed. "It is understandable; self-preservation is present in all living beings, not only in the wizards of Slytherin house. What about your mother?"
"I don't want to be a weapon to torture my family, nor do I want to be thrown into a path of no return without having decided to do so myself," Draco said. "As for my mother, I want to protect her, but I don't have the means to do it. Leaving her in an environment where, when the Dark Lord returns, is not an option, and I fear that a certain person's payment in exchange for protecting us is the flow of information. I don't think one is better than the other."
"Not in Voldemort's hands, not in the Headmaster's hands. So I'm left with you. What makes you think I won't go to Dumbledore? I might as well be one of his silent agents, if he had them."
"Well..." Draco hesitated there.
"In the time we've been here, you've criticised his way of proceeding, without directly saying that you think it's crazy," Theo interjected. "As for the Hippogriff, you could have let Dumbledore take care of everything, and yet we know that you talked to Diggory, protecting the creature, but subtly questioning the fact that you had an unqualified teacher. We know that you disapprove of Dementors being in school and that the Headmaster did not instruct his staff to teach us how to defend ourselves; not for nothing have you and Longbottom learned to master the Patronus." He paused for a few seconds to take a breath. "And we heard you express your discomfort at not allowing the Aurors to do their full work, since he indicated that they were not there to intercede in school disputes, which gave carte blanche to the bullies."
"You're definitely not a big fan of the Headmaster," Draco concluded. "The previous years you didn't seem very unhappy about him, so we guess you're either a good actor or you're just waking up to reality."
"All right," Salazar agreed. "Nott, your case."
"I don't want to follow the Dark Lord, and I know my father would force me to do so. I also want to take revenge on my father, but that's my business, and I don't expect to involve you. I just want an escape."
Salazar held his gaze for a few moments. The situation had to be very serious for a son to want to take revenge on his father. An important offence either to the family name or, more likely, on a personal level. He did not imagine the motives that Theodore Nott might have, nor was he going to look for them. What the boy did with his freedom was up to him.
"Do you want to be free and not have to answer to anyone? There is a way," Salazar declared calmly. "In the past, wizards and witches were considered of legal age at the age at which they could establish a union: thirteen years old."
"Potter, those rules don't exist anymore."
"Really?" Salazar shrugged. "It may be that the narrow-mindedness of the Ministry has modified that coming of age to have more control over the population, or perhaps because of mimicry with Muggle society. The Gringotts goblins, though, are still true to that tradition. If the family has died and the subject is the only heir, at the age of majority, the goblins transfer control of all their accounts. On the other hand, if his parents are still alive, they transfer to them a tenth of the fortune that is their due, and his parents cannot oppose unless he has been previously disinherited." He looked at them meaningfully. "Of course, so many people have forgotten these things that, as a general rule, you have to ask for the service."
"And how do you know, Potter?" Theo asked suspiciously.
"I am merely kind to every being that weaves the web of magic."
"Is that the solution you offer us?"
"That's the first step. The second is to settle down. Obviously, the Trace is a problem to be taken into account. An important one, unless you're willing to live four years as Muggles."
"That's not an option," Theo said. "It'll shake things up too much and can create a lot of trouble."
"Too flashy, yes, at least for now. A thirteen-year-old boy can't pass for an eighteen-year-old; a sixteen-year-old maybe can," Salazar agreed. "Another option would be to turn to a trusted relative unrelated to the conflict."
"I don't have anybody," Theo said.
"It's not an option for me either," Draco added. "I suppose we will have to wait until the time when we can distance ourselves openly. With our OWLs in hand, we can become independent."
"Two years doesn't seem like a lot," Theo agreed.
"Just in case you find an emergency route," Salazar suggested. "Don't tell anyone, not even me." Then he looked directly at Draco, who shuddered slightly when he met his gaze, having the feeling of being in front of a master who is not easy to sneak a copied work into. "As for your mother, you can suggest that she separate and settle with you; that they do not have to be dragged along with your father. After all, she is a Black. That surname carries much more weight than the surname Malfoy. In the end, it will depend on her."
"I understand, Potter."
"Thank you for your time," Theo said.
The three of them understood that this meeting was over. Both Draco and Theo left the room. They had a lot to think about. Salazar had not given them complete salvation, but the tools for them to save themselves by developing their potential and cunning, along with a couple of ideas on how to proceed and generate a point of comfort. Both felt that the meeting had been more positive than negative.