The Tidefall Spring Fair was the first time Jasper saw the academy deliberately become ridiculous. Banners crossed every courtyard. The dining hall served food outside. Older students ran stalls using approved magic that would normally earn them detention in corridors. Someone from Velmor had enchanted a line of paper fish to swim through the air above Founders' Courtyard. Calyx students sold tiny pots containing flowers that changed colour when watered. Nocten ran a puzzle tent with a sign that said NO REFUNDS IF YOU GET STUCK. Brannor had built an obstacle course. Harper nearly vibrated apart.

"We are doing that first."

Ava held the fair map.

"The queue is longest now."

"Exactly. It must be good."

"That is not how queues work."

Jasper took the map before it became a debate.

"Food first."

Both girls agreed. They bought sausage rolls, fairy bread and cups of lemonade. Harper spilled half hers within thirty seconds. A student magician made the puddle climb back into the cup. Harper stared.

"Teach me."

"Year Five fluid shaping."

"I can wait."

Ava nearly choked. The fair lasted all day. Jasper threw rings at floating targets. Ava solved three Nocten puzzles and refused to pay for the fourth because the clue was grammatically ambiguous. Harper ran the Brannor obstacle course twice. Mia beat her once. This became a crisis. Soren spent forty minutes at a used-book stall and emerged carrying eight books tied together with string. Theo volunteered to demonstrate a shield game and accidentally sent a foam ball into a tray of cupcakes. Professor Ward caught the tray with magic before it fell. Theo said, "Sorry." Ward said, "At least your aim is consistent." He refused.

Even Thorne seemed less like a Headmaster during the fair. He stood near a tea stall talking to parents and former students. Harper tried to convince him to enter the obstacle course.

"Coward," Harper said after they walked away.

Jasper stared at her.

"You just called the Headmaster a coward."

"Not to his face."

"He was three metres away."

Ava said, "He heard." Thorne, still behind them, said, "I did." Harper walked faster. Nothing exploded. Mostly. He felt happy. Simple happy. No mystery solved. No danger avoided. Faint. Jasper almost groaned. Because timing felt rude. He stayed seated. A sense of distance. Then something new. Sound. Not heard through ears. Three beats. Pause. Three beats. Pause. Jasper focused without reaching. The rhythm remained. Ava noticed his face.

The fair ended at sunset with lights along the western wall. Students gathered to watch older years perform controlled aerial spells over the inner courtyard. Jasper sat on the grass between Harper and Ava. Just full from food and tired from walking. The Titan-presence appeared then. Not because he hated it. The pressure touched his chest. A rhythm like waves against stone, but slower.

"Now?"

He nodded. Harper looked toward the dark sea.

"Bad?"

"No."

Jasper listened. Three beats. Pause. Three. Then an impression. Wood striking stone. A rope snapping tight. Water moving through a narrow entrance. Gone. Jasper's stomach tightened. The lower harbour? He stood. Harper and Ava stood too.

"What?"

"I don't know. Harbour maybe."

Ava said, "Tell staff." Jasper described the impression. No emergency. The second held. Jasper stared at Elowen. They found Professor Elowen near the fair lights. She did not dismiss it. A dock check was sent. Ten minutes later, a staff member returned. One old mooring rope had frayed almost through where a maintenance dinghy sat in the lower harbour. The boat was tied with two lines. Staff replaced the damaged rope.

"It warned me."

"Maybe."

"The rope was real."

"Yes."

"It showed me."

"Possibly."

Jasper almost argued. Then stopped. The impression had matched something real. That was evidence. Why it had sent the impression remained unknown. Ava added the event to facts. Harper looked out at the dark sea.

"So it notices boats too."

Jasper thought of scale. Maybe the presence noticed everything in the water. Maybe the academy was simply one tiny thing along a coastline it had known longer than people existed. The thought made him feel small. Not unimportant. Just correctly sized. The fair lights reflected on the waves. For the rest of the night, nothing strange happened. Jasper was glad the warning had ended with a replaced rope instead of a disaster.