Bat Bile Rose in Her Throat: Day 20, and 36,078 Words

Today I went back into the world of Pride and Prejuwitch to get on my way towards one of the most intense parts of the story: the main confrontation between Eliza and Wandstein. I look forward to finishing this scene tomorrow!

Here is an excerpt from what I wrote today. Eliza has volunteered to take Spellberg students on a field trip to Wizarding Parliament.

The first time that Eliza saw William Wandstein, she had been waiting with her students outside of the Minister of Wizards’ office. He had walked out of that office, presumably from a meeting where they were discussing how to best maintain their privileged status as despite the recent “assaults” on the “rights” of “wizards of colour.”

He stepped out through the large wooden door, looking down at the ground as he carried several rolls of parchment. He likely would not have noticed her if his course had not been set directly in her path, and he only saw her when he was mere seconds from crashing into her and he finally looked up and locked eyes with her. Eliza did not understand the look on his face; it might have communicated pleasure, annoyance, or something else. Whatever it was, it was intense.

He had stopped to speak with her, and she exchanged the expected pleasantries with him but would not spend an extra second with him beyond the bare minimum that decorum dictated. She explained that she was on a field trip with her students for a week at Wizarding Parliament and the Grand Supreme Court of Magic. He said that he had been speaking with the Minister of Wizards as part of his role on the task force to address issues in international bat bile trade.

Why everyone all of a sudden wanted to talk to Eliza about bat bile was anyone’s guess, bit it was causing her some angst.

She had been harbouring suspicions that Wandstein had not played an insignificant role in Charles’ sudden reversal with Jeanette. How could he not have influenced Charles in his decision, when he was such an important figure in his life who (undeservedly) commanded so much of his respect? Who was on record in Wizarding Parliament as opposing the proposed legislation that would have made it illegal for schools to discriminate against applicants based on caste? Who was the nephew of the horrible Sorceress de Bergstein, the firmest defender of maintaining the caste system?

Hoping that this would be the last time that they would see each other, Eliza thought witheringly to herself that some things are best left behind. While it may be true that some things are best left behind, there is nothing that says that those things will definitely get left behind.

Left behind, Wandstein was not. He then appeared the next day, at their luncheon with his aunt, Sorceress de Bergstein. Despite Eliza’s subtle attempts to sit far away from him, he somehow ended up sitting at her table and proceeded to awkwardly make conversation with her about the regulation of underage incantations. She had opinions on this, of course, but she was unpleasantly surprised that he was interested in hearing them. His aunt the Sorceress repeatedly came over to listen in on their conversations, and to suggest to Eliza that she spend more time practicing playing the unicorn hair harp. Eliza had long given up the idea that she might play the unicorn hair harp as beautifully as more accomplished witches did at parties, but she kept this to herself. When Eliza asked Wandstein if Charles had run into Jeanette recently, knowing that he hadn’t, he explained that Charles had been sent off on a diplomacy trip to Transylvania and had been gone for some time. Eliza made sure that her face indicated that she thought that this was the most boring news in the world, because Wandstein and Charles were clearly two of the most boring wizards in the world.

The next day, Eliza received a message via Enchanted Post that the Right Honourable William Wandstein had invited the students of Spellberg to tour his office and meet with several other Members of Wizarding Parliament. Given that there was no alternative to accepting the invitation, Eliza angrily sent word back that they would be delighted. While there, one of his colleagues—the Minister of Tourism, Culture, and Brooms, Lisa Manticore—angrily confronted Eliza for pretending that she didn’t know who she, Lisa Manticore, was. Luckily, Eliza was saved by another man who introduced himself as Richard Fitzgriffin, a friend of Wandstein and Charmfinkle, who distracted Lisa Manticore by claiming that he spotted an entitled parent of a special needs child who wanted a government handout.

He was a charismatic man who made her laugh with his impressions of some of the more ridiculous members of Wizarding Parliament. She thought that he appeared a couple of years older than her, as his beard had a few flecks of grey although his stylish short parted hair was still black. Richard had twinkling brown eyes and a kind smile, which made her feel more at ease than she had felt for several days.

Eliza had fully expected Richard to have a funny impression of his colleague, William Wandstein. While Richard certainly did agree that he could be ridiculous, he maintained that underneath his cold professionalism he was a generous and caring friend and colleague. When asked for evidence, he revealed that Wandstein is a great friend to Charles Charmfinkle—“Did you meet him?”, “Yes, we have met”— in no small part because he prevented him from getting engaged to an unpatriotic communist.


Eliza was heartbroken that she had been right. She knew that she needed to mutter something, anything, that would get her out of that room and away from William Wandstein.

“I had too much bat bile with my lunch,” she heard herself say as she stumbled out of the room. In a haze she rushed out of the Wizarding Parliament Building and across the busy street that was full of witches and wizards casting charms to protect themselves from the rain. As a professor of incantations, Eliza could teach her students how to do such a charm in her sleep. Somehow, she could not come up with any of them, and the rain soaked her clothing to her skin.

As she ran in through the large gold doors of the lavish Hotel Golem, where she and the students had been staying, Eliza heard her name being called. The rain was dripping off of her as she rushed the fountain that was surrounded by dancing fairies, a famous fixture at the centre of the lobby. She did not want to turn around the face the person who she associated with that sound.

“Eliza!” she heard once more, with even more urgency.

She closed her eyes and steeled herself, turning around to face the last person in the wizarding world with whom she wished to speak.

“I didn’t actually eat bat bile, if that’s what you’re wondering, so there is no need to take me to the sick bay,” Eliza spat. She wished that she had come up with a better excuse for her hurried departure, perhaps one that would not have implied that she only had a few minutes to take an antidote before her eyes fell out of her head.

“That’s not it,” Wandstein said hurriedly.

He was standing before her, his black velvet robes drenched with rain. He took in the scene around him as if he wasn’t sure how he got there, or even more, why he was there. The alarm on his face made Eliza alarmed in turn; what else might have possibly brought him here?

“I, I need to say something,” he said in a way that Eliza did not recognize at all. He looked uncomfortable much of the time, of course, but she was under the impression that this discomfort stemmed more from his perception that everything around him was inferior to him in some way. This was not that. It appeared as if he was doubting himself and his presence with every step that he took forward.