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He squirms, and I set him down on the chair I just vacated. It seems as good a place as any for a kitten.
"Let me look?"
She shuffles on the bed, causing Felix to lift his head sleepily. He doesn't look particularly concerned about the two of us working above him. I bet Daphne could even lean the book on him and he'd be okay with it.
"It's here, linked to the academy's honour roll." She points to the screen where I can barely read the tiny writing.
"Why are the names blacked out?" I ask.
"Just one name," she replies. "But I think you can request your name to be redacted after a certain amount of time."
My eyebrows knit together. Why would someone want to be taken off the honour roll? I'll admit that I don't know much about it, I don't need to as a first year, but even I know that it's a big deal. And something that can completely transform a career after graduation.
In other words, it's something Daphne will be going for.
"But why?"
She shrugs. "Who knows. Do you think that matters?"
"Yes." The answer falls from me before I can even give it any consideration. I'm not sure why I'm so sure, or what it is about the book that's so important, but something in my gut tells me that it is. There may even be some answers inside it.
"Then I guess I'd better keep digging. One thing did strike me as odd, though."
"Other than a nameless author and a co-author who isn't properly credited at all?" I ask.
She chuckles. "Yes, other than that."
"Are you going to tell me? You're being very cryptic this evening." I study my best friend and try to work out what it is that's different about her. It's something, but I'm not sure I can name it.
"That's because I'm an international woman of mystery," Daphne announces.
A snort escapes me without me even realising it.
"You don't believe me? I'm going to become the next James Bond."
"He's not real."
"People used to say that about witches," she points out. "And yet here we are, with wands and black cats and everything."
"Only one of the kittens is black. And he's not even completely black at all."
Felix stretches out his white-socked paw as if to prove a point, before doing the most adorable yawn I've ever seen.
Daphne scratches his head, affection filling her expression. "Don't listen to mean-old-Mona. You're a black cat to me," she croons to the kitten.
I look away before she can see the sappy smile on my face. It makes me so happy to see her acting like this around the kittens. Not long ago, she'd have been too sad even for this.
"You still haven't told me what you noticed about the book," I point out once I've regained my composure a little bit.
"Oh, right." She flicks through some of the pages, then turns the book to face me. "Recognise this?"
"Huh." It's the spell a lot of people our age play at parties. They turn their faces into different animals and make noises. I tried it once, and just after that was when I started the whole making-kittens thing. "What about it?"
Other than which spell it is, there's nothing remarkable about the page. Especially because I've always known that someone had to invent it before we could all start using it.
"It looks like something was stuck over the top of the page."
"What?" I look closer, trying to see what she can.
