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Dean Fogg rounded the corner of the L at speed He didn’t look happy

“Do you knoaround in the subspaces like that?”

Professor Coldwater ticked off on his fingers, silently

“Eleven?”

“Yes Eleven” Fogg seeht answer “What the hell were you doing back there? Purchas?”

Pluotten about it She still had Wharton’s stupid pencil case in her stupid pocket It was so utterly pointless Maybe that’s what the ghost was trying to teach her: it’s all pointless Fate is co around, it’s onlyyou look hosts here, you just don’t look like one yet

But she wasn’t having that If that was true then as the point of anything ever? She was going to wriggle a bit longer anyway Who the hell cared how ridiculous she looked

Plum squared her shoulders and lifted her chin

“I was looking for a secret passage to the wine closet,” she said, loud and clear, “so I could play a prank on Wharton”

“A prank” Fogg was unie “I see Coldwater?”

“Dean Fogg”

“You didn’t perform the incursion protocols, any of them”

“No,” Coldwater said “I didn’t There wasn’t ent”

“Did you at least try to ter? Or banish it?”

“I—” He bit so back “No”

“Why not?”

A muscle moved in Professor Coldwater’s jaw

“I couldn’t do that”

“Professor Coldwater saved my life,” Plum put in

“Thank you, Purchas,” Fogg said, “and he also put the lives of everybody else at this school at risk I took a chance on you, Quentin, and it was a mistake You’re fired Be out of your rooms by end of day to”

Coldwater didn’t flinch, didn’t even blink, but Plum flinched for him, the way you do when you see somebody else take a punch

“All right I understand”

“Do you?” Fogg was so angry he was spitting “Do you? Well, you alere a quick one! I would think you of all people would have caught on a little quicker, given that you witnessed firsthand the reason why these protocols were created in the first place Purchas?”

“Yes, sir”

“You can finish out the last three weeks of the semester Then you’re expelled”

Fogg glared at them both in turn, then walked out of the room

Plum so wished she could be cool about it She didn’t think she was going to cry, she just had to sit down on one of the red leather couches and put her head between her knees for a es She really did love Brakebills She loved it so much She really did She really had

She felt the sofa squish as Professor Coldwater sat down at the other end He blew out a long sigh

“Well—”

“I’m so sorry, Professor Coldwater I’er! I didn’t et you fired!”

And now she did sob: once, twice, three ti to turn her out into the cold, scary world She wasn’t ready It wasn’t safe What was she going to do? Hoas she going to live now?

“I know Please don’t worry about it” He said it quietly “I’ve been thrown out of better places than this And you ht as well call me Quentin”

“But what are you going to do? What a to do?”

“You’ll find soer than you realize”

“But I’ot kicked out of Brakebills, for God’s sake!”

The words barely had any ht now it made her lips feel numb just to say theht of having to say theray came back

“So will corees, but how ot kicked out? It’s a pretty exclusive club”

She wasn’t so far gone that she didn’t snort at that

“But if you don’tback there? I sealed that corridor off for a reason Even I couldn’t figure out where it went”

“Oh, I told Fogg the truth I really was pranking Wharton”

“But why?”

“Well, he’s been kind of stingy with the wine lately Plus it just seemed to me like there should be more, I don’t know, chicanery afoot around here Generally High jinks It sounds silly now, but you knohat I hten the tone Because basically who knoe could all drop dead at any moment”