The first-year handball final became important by accident. It began because rain had cancelled coastal fieldwork. It continued because Theo had made a scoreboard. It became a competition because Harper existed. By late spring, the central courtyard handball squares had their own unofficial league. No magic allowed. No levitating the ball. No slowing someone else's shot. No arguing that a tiny gust of magically created wind "barely counted." That last rule had Harper's name beside it. The final paired Harper and Mia. Not Room Fourteen against another room. Harper against Mia. Jasper had expected Harper to love this. She did. He had not expected her to be nervous. That became obvious when she retied the same shoelace three times. Ava noticed too.

"You know this does not count toward anything."

Harper looked up.

"I know."

"There is no Order consideration."

"I know."

"No marks."

"Ava."

"No permanent record."

"AVA."

Mia was warming up on the opposite square. She had become one of their closest friends outside Room Fourteen over the year. She was not dramatic. She did not charge into things like Harper. She had a dry laugh, fast hands and an irritating ability to place a ball exactly six centimetres from where Harper wanted it.

"You can lose," Jasper said.

Harper stared at him.

"Whose side are you on?"

"Yours."

"Doesn't sound like it."

"You can still lose."

She stood.

"I am going to remember this betrayal."

The courtyard filled during afternoon free period. Not everyone cared about handball. Everyone cared about watching Harper care about handball. Theo had made a sign. HARPER VALE VS MIA SANTOS, Underneath, in smaller writing:

NO MAGIC. WE MEAN IT. The second too. Harper stopped smiling. Harper reached too far. Missed. Three-zero. Harper's shoulders tightened. Jasper knew the pattern. Mia served. Harper smashed the return. Too hard. Out. Four-zero. Mia waited.

Professor Ward volunteered to referee because, as she put it, "I have survived greater administrative risks." The first point went to Mia. Mia sent a low shot across the corner. The crowd made the sound crowds make when they sense a favourite having a terrible afternoon. When Harper felt herself losing, she moved faster. When faster failed, she moved harder. When harder failed, she usually invented a new category of mistake. Harper stared at the line. Ward said nothing. She inhaled. Then laughed once. Jasper expected Harper to argue.

"That was awful."

Mia grinned.

"It was."

Something changed. Harper stopped trying to win the whole match with every hit. She began placing shots. Waiting. Reading Mia. One point. Then another. Mia took one back. Harper stayed steady. Five-two became six-five. Then seven-seven. Ava had stopped pretending not to care.

"Her back corner is open," she muttered.

Jasper looked at her.

"You're coaching?"

"Observing."

"Very loudly."

The final point lasted longer than the rest. Mia sent Harper left. Harper recovered. Harper sent Mia deep. Mia returned. The ball clipped the line. Harper had a chance to smash. Everyone saw it. Old Harper would have. Instead she waited half a beat and tapped the ball short. Mia ran. Reached. The ball touched her fingers and bounced outside the square. Harper won. The courtyard erupted. Harper stood frozen for one second. Then Mia launched herself across the line and hugged her hard enough to nearly knock them both over.

"You absolute pest."

Harper laughed.

"You were four up."

"I noticed."

"I thought I was cooked."

"You were. Then you stopped trying to murder the ball."

Ward handed Harper a tiny wooden trophy somebody had clearly made in workshop class. It leaned slightly left. Harper held it above her head like an international championship. That evening she placed it on the Bag Bed. Jasper noticed she put it beside Ava's library commendation and his storm-safety thank-you card. Not above them. Beside.

"Growth," Ava said.

Harper turned.

"What?"

"Nothing."

The next day, Harper lost to a second-year during open courtyard. She argued one line call for three full minutes. Growth, Jasper decided, was not magic. It did not happen all at once.