Decisions

Gideon was taken aback by Mr Middling's admission. Judging by her raised eyebrows, he supposed his mother was too.

'I do enjoy the reactions I get to that news!' the dark-haired man said, breaking the brief silence with a chuckle. Gideon guessed Mr Middling to be in his late forties, but he spoke with the passion and energy of a much younger man, 'Our mission here is to ensure that those with low magical prowess are not left without the tools they need to succeed in the wizarding world.

'I struggled to get where I am today, but it was always within my potential. I decided to dedicate myself to ensuring the next generation doesn't have to work quite so hard to discover theirs. There will always be prejudice, but being a Squib no longer means what it once did.

'The world has progressed, and we have been leading the charge when it comes to education for low and non-magic individuals. So much so, that we have been recognised by the Ministry of Magic. Thanks to the Ministry's involvement, we can now guarantee a place at Middling Academy for any British wizard-born pupils who wish to attend.'

'That's wonderful!' Mrs Maxwell told him.

'Isn't it?' Mr Middling asked rhetorically, beaming from ear to ear, yet not in a smug way. 'Perhaps I shouldn't say anything, but between us, I have it on good authority that the Minister will be announcing new education-based reforms tomorrow. I can't say more than that, but it will only help what we do here.'

'Oh, really?' asked Gideon's mother in surprise. 'I tend to agree with Granger's policies, but more reforms... I do hope these ones will be approved by the Wizengamot?'

Mr Middling appeared to wrestle with himself before replying, 'Actually, I got the distinct impression that they're being pushed through by executive order, like most of the others, but I really can't say anymore.

'Now, where was I? Ah yes, we have an excellent Ministry-approved curriculum and top-notch teachers, our facilities have recently been refurbished, we have on-site mental and physical wellbeing Healers, and a dedicated careers team that specialises in finding placements for our graduates. Ready to go take a look?'

Gideon nodded enthusiastically. Mr Middling showed them out of the office. They viewed several of the rooms in the same corridor, including the Careers Office; which had several one-to-one desks, each setup with an array of reading materials, and the Medical Office; which had several curtained healing bays, a waiting area with magazines, and a couple of private rooms.

Afterwards, they approached the barrier to the lobby, which was transparent on this side. Mr Middling made sure the coast was clear before heading through, leading them around the reception desk and through a second barrier on its left side. 'And this is the teaching corridor,' he announced. 'While most of our curriculum is theory-based, we do have some classrooms with special facilities.'

They viewed a standard teaching room, which was very clean and tidy but otherwise unremarkable. Then, they viewed some of the special rooms. First, a classroom for teaching basic potions. It had long lab-style tables, shelves full of vials, beakers and other equipment, and cauldrons of varying sizes piled at the back.

Next, they saw a room that was empty but for a black ceiling, which Mr Middling told them could be used to display constellations for introductory Astronomy classes. 'Orion's belt!' he commanded, and the ceiling suddenly displayed the warrior's constellation with three stars in the middle shining extra brightly.

Finally, they visited a room, much to Gideon's surprise, full of computers. Mr Middling informed them, 'Our Muggle Studies course is the best of its kind. We don't just teach our students about Muggle life; we teach them how to be a part of it. For many of them, being able to live effectively as a Muggle is a necessity, especially when it comes to gaining employment.'

Gideon considered this. It seemed that Middling Academy had an understanding of how Squibs were potentially torn between two worlds, whether by choice or necessity. He suspected having a Squib headmaster was a big part of that.

The last room to see was at the end of the corridor. When Mr Middling opened the doors, Gideon was shocked to find what appeared to be a small park. The floor below them was grass and the sun shone in the blue sky above, but the high white walls that continued into the distance let them know they were still inside.

Nearby was an area with twenty or so picnic tables, and tall fir trees lined the walls. Otherwise, the room was just a huge, open green space, a hidden oasis in the middle of London. Mr Middling boasted, 'It took quite the feat of magic to set this up, one of the Ministry interventions I mentioned earlier!'

'Having our own recreation space has made a huge difference,' he continued as they walked further in. 'Flying classes aren't an option, of course, but we've had demonstrations. Last year we hosted the Wimbourne Wasps for our end-of-year celebration, and they put on an air show for us!'

'Really?' Gideon enquired excitedly.

'Some of the team even gave out autographs and took pictures with the students!' said Mr Middling energetically. 'Naturally, that sort of thing isn't a regular occurrence, but you never know... So, Gideon, now that you've learned a little more about us, what do you think?'

Gideon made a high-pitched mumbling noise that Mr Middling took as a sound of approval. Just a couple of hours earlier Gideon had more or less made up his mind. Now he was once again conflicted.

Mr Middling escorted Gideon and his mother back to the lobby where he asked the happy receptionist, 'A lift for the Maxwells please, Carol?' and the far-left set of doors opened with a "ping". 'It was lovely to meet you both, and I do hope we'll be hearing from you,' he said as he shook their hands in goodbye.

'Thank you so much for your time, Mr Middling,' said Mrs Maxwell politely as she approached the waiting lift and the fireplace inside. The flames were already lit, green and ready for her command, 'Maxwell Manor!'

Gideon waited until the charmed fireplace's magical flames reignited and followed behind her. Once they returned home, Gideon thanked his mother for arranging the tours for him and then asked if he could have dinner in his room that night. He could tell that she wasn't fond of the idea, but she agreed anyway, perhaps understanding that Gideon wanted to be alone with his thoughts.

He had a decision to make. Gideon had been sitting at his desk for hours. First, he had made a list of the pros and cons of each school, before abandoning it and turning to some of the more useful materials his mother had brought home. Just as his stomach started to growl with hunger, Tolly entered with dinner and a drink on a serving tray.

Gideon discussed the events of the day with his elf friend while sporadically munching on ketchup-topped chicken nuggets and chips. After he recounted the story about the car journey, Tolly covered his mouth with both hands to conceal his amusement with his mistress's behaviour.

'It's odd, though, Sir, isn't it?' Tolly asked with some confusion.

'How do you mean?' he queried.

'In all my years serving the family, I've never heard the mistress shout in anger. What did the other mistress say to upset her so?'

'Oh, well,' Gideon pondered aloud, 'I'm not sure. Something about me having gone to Muggle school already. I guess I wasn't paying attention.'

They continued to discuss the school tours and Gideon's thoughts about each of the institutions, but every now and then, his mind would linger on Tolly's question. His grandmother had never been shy about sharing her opinions, even if it meant offending somebody, but his mother had never reacted as she did.

After Tolly returned to the kitchen, Gideon lied down on his bed, closed his eyes and thought back to the argument, attempting to recall what had actually been said. His grandmother had argued, "...Now it's time for him to learn about his heritage! One day things might change, and he'll be even more oblivious to what he is—"

That was when his mother lost her temper and even control of the car for a brief moment. '"One day things might change?"' Gideon sounded out, '"Even more oblivious to what he is?"' Was there more to her words than he had realised at the time?

Surely, she had just meant that, should he choose to live a Muggle life, then, later change his mind, he might find it difficult? Or more likely, he thought, it was probably to do with being ignorant of the "heritage" his grandmother spoke of. That had to be it.

Unless it meant something else entirely? Something else he didn't understand? Something else he wasn't being told? 'Pfft!' the silly sound escaped from Gideon's mouth with a chuckle as he considered the absurdity of that thought. Nothing was going to top the revelation of his Squib status.

Gideon's mind returned to the schools he had visited and the materials he had been reading, but his eyes remained closed. Feeling tired from the long day and satiated from his recent meal, he soon nodded off.

***

Gideon awoke with newfound clarity. He sat down to breakfast the next day with his cereal and announced to his mother and sister, 'I've decided! I want to go to Middling Academy.'

'Good for you, honey,' said Mrs Maxwell encouragingly. 'You're certain, though? It's your choice, and yours alone?'

'It's nothing to do with Gran,' Gideon reassured his mother. 'I've thought about it a lot and ultimately, I can't see myself living in a world without magic, even if I can't do any of my own. I just didn't think it was a plausible idea until we met Mr Middling.'

'That's great, Gid!' Jennifer expressed. 'I was surprised when Mum told me about that headmaster being a Squib, but he's done well for himself, and so can you!'

'It's funny, you know,' he told them. 'It was something that Tolly said that convinced me in the end.'

'Tolly?' asked Jennifer with intrigue.

'He suggested I become the first Squib Minister for Magic!' Gideon said, laughing with them both. '­I'm not sure that's possible,' he added when his mother adopted a tear-filled look of pride, 'but in all the reading I did, I came across non-magical people who had simply given up and slipped through the cracks of society.

'I don't want that to happen to me. I want to create a path for myself like Mr Middling. I don't know exactly what I want to do yet, but I think going to Middling Academy and doing the best I can is the first step!'

'Gran's going to be insufferable,' Jennifer commented dryly.

'Oh, sweetie!' Mrs Maxwell exclaimed as she came around the table to hug her son and kiss him on the cheek. 'This calls for a celebration! I'll take care of the arrangements for Middling while I'm at work and see if Tilly feels up to making a cake!'

'I don't need a cake, Mum, it's not like it's my birthday!' Gideon protested, his cheeks growing ever redder.

'Would you mind sharing one, then?' she asked. 'I've been meaning to do something for your brother, too.'

'Oh,' Gideon said feeling an unexpected sting of jealousy, closely followed by a pang of guilt. He had objected to the cake, after all, although perhaps not that forcefully. Besides, it had been because of all his drama that the family hadn't marked Anthony's Quidditch appointment properly.

'That's a great idea!' he said as convincingly as he could. Mrs Maxwell kissed her son one last time, and then her daughter, before heading out.

Gideon felt as if a weight had been lifted now that he had made his mind up. He spent the day reading in the sunny garden. No pamphlets, no brochures and certainly no Magic for Dummies. Instead, he read a Muggle spy novel he hadn't opened in weeks.

After making a good dent in the book, he took a break and decided it would be nice, and perhaps necessary, if he popped up to see his grandmother and let her know about his school choice before dinner. He hoped that giving her a heads-up might defuse any potential awkwardness at the table.

Gideon knew she was home because he could hear classical music coming from her side of the house. However, as he approached her bedroom door the music stopped abruptly. 'Ludereo,' he heard from inside, 'Ludereo! LUDEREO! Accio! ACCIO!'

Gideon knocked and his grandmother swung the door open with her gem-mounted wand in hand, 'Is everything alright, Gran?' he asked her.

'How long have you been standing there?' she demanded to know.

'I... I just got here. Why?'

Annabeth Maxwell surveyed Gideon with what he perceived to be a look of anger or suspicion, or perhaps even fear. 'Ludereo,' she commanded with a point of her wand. The piano in her large room began to play by itself. She turned back to him, still looking rather strange, 'What can I do for you, Gideon?'

He hesitated before informing her, 'I wanted to let you know that I picked a school, Middling Academy. You didn't get to see it but it's a good school and I do want to have a wizarding education.'

'That's wonderful, dear,' she told him, her odd expression softening somewhat.

'Mum wants to celebrate tonight, mainly for Anthony becoming Captain. Will you come to dinner?'

'Of course, dear.'

After she closed the door, he lingered for a moment and again heard her quietly reciting incantations, 'Finite,' she said, and the piano stopped. Then, 'Ludereo,' and it started again. A confused Gideon dismissed his grandmother's strangeness as a "senior moment".

***

Mr Maxwell was late for dinner that evening. When he finally arrived, Gideon could immediately tell that his father was unhappy. The lines on his forehead were thoroughly pronounced, and his eyebrows were most definitely angled in a way that indicated he was not in the best of moods.

'Sorry I'm late,' he said brusquely as he kissed Sarah Maxwell hello, and sat down at the head of the dining room table.

'What's wrong, Marcus?' his wife asked with concern in her voice.

'You haven't heard?' he replied. 'Where's Mother?'

'Why? What's wrong?' his wife asked again.

'She told me she was going to join us,' Gideon advised.

'Tolly!' Mr Maxwell called. 'Fetch my mother!'

'Marcus, what is it?' demanded Mrs Maxwell.

'It's the Minister!' he said at last. 'That rumour about executive orders that Middling told you about. It was true.'

'Away with you, now,' said the approaching voice of Annabeth Maxwell.

'Yes, Mistress,' answered Tolly quietly.

'Honestly, Marcus, sending the elf to rush me?' she said with exasperation. 'A lady has to look her best when she dines. That takes time, you know.'

Gideon noticed that his grandmother had indeed dressed up for dinner. She was wearing one of her posh tiaras and a pair of long silk gloves. However, he suspected she was only late because she was waiting for her son to arrive, so he could act as a buffer between her and his wife, whom she was undoubtedly still cross with.

'More reforms from the Minister, Mother!'

'Oh?' she said, her eyebrows imitating her son's. 'What now? Do we need permission to cast spells now? Or perhaps she wants us to surrender the house elves?'

A loud crash interrupted the conversation, and the room was suddenly filled with the sound of guttural sobbing. 'No, Mistress! Please! Anything but that!' cried Tilly, who had evidently been bringing in dinner from the kitchen.

'Oh, for heaven's sake...' Annabeth Maxwell said over the sound of Tilly's sobs and Anthony's unrestrained laughter.

Sarah and Jennifer Maxwell helped Tilly to her feet and escorted her into the kitchen while reassuring her it was a misunderstanding. Gideon helped Tolly clean up what was left of dinner from the dining room floor.

'Get off your knees and sit back down, Gideon!' commanded Mr Maxwell angrily from his chair as he fished his wand out from under his robes. 'Stand aside, Tolly!'

Gideon did as he was told, although he resented the way in which his father spoke to him. As Mr Maxwell pointed his wand at the mess he wondered, was it too lowly a task for a wizard to clean up with their hands?

However, the mess didn't disappear, not right away at least. It took his father a few seconds and several hand movements before he silently vanished the broken shards and spoiled food. He then flicked his wand again and instantly removed most of the large stain.

Mr Maxwell sighed, visibly attempted to relax his quizzical expression, and began to massage the crease of his brow with his fingertips. Annabeth Maxwell, on the other hand, was keenly observing Gideon.

'No dinner tonight, but would you look at this?' announced Mrs Maxwell as she and Jennifer returned with a huge triple-layered chocolate cake. In the centre were two shapes made in icing, a red Quidditch ball and a blue Middling Academy logo.

'Tilly really outdid herself,' Jennifer marvelled.

'Congratulations boys! Anthony for your well-deserved appointment, and Gideon for getting into Middling!'

The rest of the family extended their congratulations to the two brothers. 'It's all sorted, then?' Gideon asked his mother.

'Everything was arranged nice and quickly over the Magiphone, and they will be sending a confirmation letter by owl.'

As Mrs Maxwell served each of the family a generous slice of the cake, Gideon's father finally continued, 'The Minister's new education reforms are not going to be well-received. Not only because she forced them through without review by the Wizengamot again, but because they're rather controversial.

'Firstly, all children from wizarding families will now be required to attend Muggle primary schools, or be home-schooled following a Ministry-approved curriculum with a heavy emphasis on Muggle learning.'

Annabeth Maxwell's jaw dropped, as did her fork with a loud clang, 'Merlin's beard!' she declared. 'It's just more of Granger's integration nonsense!'

'And she's not stopping there.' Mr Maxwell told her. 'A Ministry-approved secondary education will now be compulsory, and Muggle Studies will now be a mandatory subject at Hogwarts, and it will follow a Ministry syllabus.'

'Are these really such bad changes?' Gideon asked them. 'I went to a Muggle primary school, and from the things I've been reading, it seems like it would be helpful for wizards to know more about Muggle life. Isn't that what has been advancing our community the last few years, magical inventions based on Muggle technology, like the Magiphone and the Telecrystal?'

Surprisingly, it was his mother who answered, 'There's some truth to that, Gideon. However, there's such a thing as doing too much too soon. The Minister means well, but she is upsetting a lot of people with her new laws and reforms, especially without consensus from the Wizengamot. The decisions she's making are dividing the community after we worked so hard to come together. I worry about what could happen if she carries on this way.'