Out of the darkness of the platform, a figure nearly bowled James over, calling his name. "James! You big genius, you! A knockpoint win! How'd you do that!?"
"Zane!" James laughed, struggling to stay upright. "I don't know! I didn't even know what a knockpoint was until it happened! How'd you get up here?"
"Me and Ralph came up ten minutes ago when we thought you were just going to tie the match," Zane replied excitedly.
"Wood said we could watch the rest of the match from up here," Ralph added, grinning. "What a party, eh?"
"First victory in over a decade," Gobbins announced, clapping James heartily on the shoulder pads. "Thanks to our new magic coach, James Potter! Come on, everyone! Victory party at the Kite and Key in twenty minutes! Let's see if we still remember how to do it, eh?"
With raucous whoops of delight and a great tramping of feet, Team Bigfoot clambered down the steps to the locker cellar, singing the Bigfoot House anthem and virtually carrying James and Jazmine on their shoulders.
It wasn't until an hour and a half later that James remembered his intention of asking Lucy about getting a tour of Erebus Castle. He was just leaving the Kite and Key when he spotted her at a table populated by a gaggle of morose-looking Vampire students. He didn't think anything of it— after all, Vampire students made quite a show of being morose at nearly every moment—until she got up and met him near the door.
"Congratulations, cousin," she said a little stiffly. "You wanted to talk to me about something?"
"Yeah," James nodded, remembering that he had asked her to find him after the match. "Er, are you heading back to the castle now? We could walk together."
Lucy studied him for a moment, and then nodded somberly. James pushed open the back door of the Kite and Key, letting in a gust of wintry air and sand-like snow crystals.
"Er," he said as the two of them walked into the darkness of the campus, "this is a little awkward. I hadn't exactly expected to win tonight, you know."
"You did very well," Lucy said coolly. "A knockpoint. The Vampires say that that hasn't happened in forever. They say you just got lucky, but I stuck up for you. I told them you're very talented in a lot of ways."
James was glad that they were walking in the darkness. He felt extremely awkward all of a sudden.
"Thanks, Lu," he said. "I wanted to ask you a favor, like."
Lucy stopped walking and peered up at him, her eyes narrowed suspiciously. "What?"
"I—" James began, and then swallowed hard. "Er, I was just thinking. Ralph and Zane and me, we're really interested in checking out Erebus Castle. We've heard some stuff about it and we thought it'd be neat to give it a once over, you know? But according to the house rules, we can't get in unless we're accompanied by a Vampire student or a real-life vampire. So, you being in Vampire House and all…"
"Why are you so interested in Erebus Castle all of a sudden?" Lucy asked, her eyes still narrowed in the darkness, watching James critically.
"It's nothing, really. I mean…" He stopped, gulped again, and then decided, on the spur of the moment, to change his tactic. "I thought you'd like to go to the Valentine's dance with me?"
Lucy's face looked pained for a very brief moment, but she quickly hid it. "This has something to do with Petra Morganstern, doesn't it?"
James blinked, stunned. "What…?" he stammered. "I mean, how…? No, of course not, don't be silly."
"I saw you two talking over Christmas, James," Lucy said, looking away. "I don't know what it is you're planning or what it has to do with the castle, but you could at least have paid me the compliment of being honest." She shook her head slightly, and when she looked up at him again, there were tears standing in her eyes. "Really, James? The Valentine's dance? Like I'd want to go with you to that anyway."
She glanced away again, swiping a hand angrily across her face.
"Look, Lu," James said, taking a step closer. "Sorry. It was Zane's idea. I'll tell you the truth if you really want to know. It isn't what you think it is. Really."
"I don't think anything at all, you big git," Lucy said, her voice thick. "And I don't want to know, either way. Whatever it is you're looking for in Erebus Castle, you can find someone else to be your ticket in."
She turned and stalked away before James could respond. After a dozen steps, she turned back again, barely a shadowy shape in the darkness.
"And just so you know," she called, "there are loads of people who want to take me to the Valentine's dance. What, do you think I've just been waiting for you to come along and ask? You're my cousin, James. Don't be such a creep."
Having delivered her final salvo, she spun on her heel again and nearly ran into the trees, making black scrapes on the snow-crusted footpath.
James watched her go, feeling utterly foolish and miserably angry at himself. He considered chasing after her, but some deep wise inner voice told him that that would only make matters worse.
With a disconsolate sigh, James turned around himself. Much more slowly, he trudged into the darkness, heading for the distant, blocky shape of Apollo Mansion.
Over the course of the following week, a sudden warm snap descended over the campus, melting the ice and snow from the footpaths and reducing the campus' freight of icicles to steadily dripping crystal nubs. James, Ralph, and Zane spent most of their free time trying to think of another way into Erebus Castle, but encountered no success whatsoever. Their final effort had been to sneak away after Thursday afternoon's Cursology class, which was held in the castle's smoked-glass moonroom. This had failed almost immediately, however, when a small portrait of a very stern wizard with a pointed goatee had cornered them on the landing of the main staircase.
"Halt right there, gentlemen," the portrait pronounced as they crept past. "Where do you think you're going?"
"Shh," Zane hissed, turning back. "We're just looking around a bit. Don't get your widow's peak out of joint."
The portrait smiled a little disconcertingly. "Only residents of Erebus Castle are allowed upstairs, my friends," it said in a suddenly silky voice. "But what can I do about it? Me, a mere painting. Do as you wish, but consider yourselves warned."
"That's more like it," Zane muttered, turning back toward the stairs. The boys made it halfway up to the second landing when the risers suddenly shuddered beneath their feet. With a loud thunk, the step immediately above James' feet retracted sideways into the wall, leaving a gaping black hole in its place. The next step down followed, nearly pitching James forward into the darkness beneath the steps. He scrambled backwards, bumping into Zane and Ralph, and the stairs began to retract more quickly, chasing them back the way they had come. The three boys clambered wildly back down the stairs, falling over each other, until they reached the main landing once again and crashed, panting, to the wooden floor.