CHAPTER FOUR #2
“Mmm, that’s an interesting bit,” Louis remarked after swallowing. “The North Pole is a magical place. Quite literally. The ground, the air, the sky: all full of golden, sparkling magic.”
Avery looked around the room.
“Erm—it’s usually invisible, unless being wielded or contained.” Louis clarified.
“Right, sure,” Avery said, pretending to follow. “Go on.”
“Christmas Magic,” he continued, “has many fascinating properties. It can deeply affect the human brain. It’s been known to act unpredictably in the presence of strong feelings.
True love. But to your question, it has the ability to heal and protect.
Because it’s all around us, everyone reaps the benefits, even if they can’t wield the magic themselves.
It doesn’t eliminate all bad feelings. It—gives you a softer landing.
It’s one of the reasons for the rather over-the-top NDA, and why this place, and how it operates, must remain a secret.
If a pharmaceutical company got a hold of it, well, let’s just say I’m guessing they wouldn’t make it freely available to the people. ”
Avery nodded, understanding immediately how powerful this kind of magic could be.
She recalled her lack of panic upon waking up in a strange bed this morning.
Under other circumstances, the news about the bar exam probably would have left her crying in the fetal position, and she’d already fully recovered.
And if it meant she could eat dairy and gluten with reckless abandon, she could get used to this.
She could also get used to the sound of Louis’ voice in the morning.
“You’re an excellent dining companion, Louis,” she said, glancing up as she added more syrup to her plate. “Dinner and breakfast.”
“If you think that’s impressive, you should see me at lunch,” Louis said.
Avery laughed. “It’s a date,” she said with a wink before she could stop herself.
“Oh. Yes.” He cleared his throat and adjusted his posture. “We mustn't neglect your studies. Wouldn’t want you to get distr—fall behind.”
“Of course not,” she said, returning her focus to her plate. The magic left her with only a pale shade of embarrassment. “So, tell me how this exam works.”
“It’s simple, really. You’ll study until you know the material. There’s no formal 'test' that you sit for, exactly. You won’t be writing essays. Rather, each time you achieve a milestone, a bell will ring to signify that you’ve met one of the qualifications.”
“A bell,” Avery repeated, adding some powdered sugar to her plate.
“That’s right. It’s sort of a rolling examination. And you keep going until the last bell rings.”
She picked up her fork and paused. “How long will that take? How will I know it’s the last—?”
“You’ll know,” Louis preempted with a smile.
Avery began sawing at a waffle. “And what’s on the exam? What jurisdiction are we in? Where do I find the rules of civil procedure? How do I know what to study?”
“You’ve been assigned a tutor,” Louis patiently reminded her.
Avery set down her silverware. “Let me guess,” she said.
“It’s a giant owl? A sentient snowman? A talking glass of warm milk?
” The questions came out harsher than she intended.
She appreciated a whimsical moment more than most, but her career was on the line.
There was only so much of this she could take.
Louis turned in his chair to face her. “I hope this isn’t too much of a letdown,” he said, “but it’s me.”
Without thinking, she threw her arms around Louis and wrapped him in a hug. “Oh, thank goodness,” she breathed.
Avery felt the rumble of a small, satisfied sound in Louis’ chest vibrate against her as his hands found her back. An instant later, he tensed and withdrew.
He stammered and trailed off.
“I’m sorry,” Avery said, letting go. “That was so unprofessional of me.”
As she sat back, a flicker of motion above Louis’ head caught her eye. A green, swirling cloud appeared, the size of a Christmas ornament, slowly expanding and branching into small shoots of green leaves.
Louis followed her gaze and quickly swatted at the greenery materializing over him, which vanished into green dust.
“Oh, dear. That’s, uh—” He hastily rose from his chair. “Books!” he shouted. “Let’s go look at your books.” Louis dashed out of the dining nook and back toward the fireplace.
She followed him at a respectful distance. Turning the corner, she found him standing tall, adjusting his suit jacket, straightening a stack of already-orderly books on a shelf near the fireplace.
“There,” he said to the shelf. “Good—um—good books. Yes.” He patted the volumes, took a deep breath, and turned back to Avery.
“Okay, Ms. Hoarfrost, let’s begin,” he said.
She stood on the other side of the desk, hands clasped in front of her.
“How do I begin?” she asked earnestly.
“I’ll supply an overview,” Louis suggested. “And you can take notes.”
She looked around. “Do we have a notebook? A whiteboard?”
He merely inclined his head toward her breast pocket.
“Oh, right, magic,” she said, retrieving the enchanted pen.
He clasped his hands behind his back and began walking in a slow circle around the fireplace. “The good news is, I believe it’s safe to say you’ve already spent much of your life studying for this exam.”
“Really?” she asked, confidence rising.
“Yes, but let me back up. The North Pole doesn’t operate the way the American legal system does,” Louis explained.
“Or any legal system, for that matter. Given that there’s magic, there are many things we don't have to contend with that would drive mortals— more...to...file lawsuits. No one is building a fence that mistakenly goes over someone’s property line, because everyone shares the land.
No one’s getting in a car accident because no one’s using cars. Follow?”
“No cars? How do you travel?”
“We fly, Ms. Hoarfrost.”
Avery’s eyes were big as saucers.
“Oh!” he said, apparently registering her expression. “I mean, the reindeer can fly, of course, and Santa’s sleigh with it. But neither you nor I can fly on our own. Please don't try to jump from any great heights.”
“Right...” she said, now uncertain.
“To get around, we usually take dogsleds or the underground train, but these things don’t crash into each other, and nobody gets hurt.
The point is,” Louis lectured in a practiced way, “we don’t need to concern ourselves with a million cases about little fights between people.
Our system is more about making sure everything operates in line with the spirit of Christmas.
Things haven’t always worked exactly as they do now.
There have been changes in technology, changes in leadership—”
“Leadership?” she asked.
He quickly turned to face her. “Certainly. While the spirit of Christmas is infinite, it has inhabited various Santa Clauses over the centuries. And with those transitions come challenges, as you’d see with turnover in any organization.
Especially apprehension among the elves.
They’re very sensitive. And they take their work very seriously. ”
Now, it seemed to Avery, they were getting down to business. She choked up on her pen and started making a few notes in the air beside her:
Stakeholders:
Spirit of Christmas (∞)
Santa Claus
Elves (workforce)
Louis observed her notes, made an approving “hmm” sound, and continued his slow walk around the fireplace.
“It’s important to the elves—to all of us, to Christmas—that the North Pole’s executive leadership understand the basic principles of Christmas, believe in them, and practice them. It should be second nature. First nature, really,” he said.
“And what are those basic principles?” she asked, holding her pen aloft.
"That’s what you’re going to tell me. Your task is to review what you know about Christmas and formulate the principles you derive from it. I can’t give them to you, unfortunately. You have to feel them, know them, inside you. It must be just part of who you are. That's when the bells will ring.”
She nodded. She brushed her chin with the feather at the end of her pen as she considered the task before her.
“I see you’re ready to get to work,” Louis observed. “I will let you get settled in. This space is yours. You can alter it however you wish.”
Avery snapped back to attention.
“Alter it?”
“But of course,” he provided. “Just as I created our breakfast and the room it was in. If you were to stay here, with enough practice, you would eventually be able to do the same.”
“How?” she asked.
“Is ‘Christmas Magic’ too unsatisfying an explanation?” he asked.
She laughed. “A little bit, yes.”