Beaming with delight, she leans over, exchanging high fives with H before rising up to say hello. “Welcome, you must be Natalie, I’m pleased to see you’ve joined us here at the University. I’m Mathilde, the bibliothecae praefectus.”
I breathe a sigh of relief, thrilled to see another human being acknowledge the existence of magic. “Hi Mathilde, I am really, really pleased to meet you. Please call me Nat.”
Mathilde laughs and pats me on the shoulder. “Worried you were losing your mind?” I nod a yes. “Happens to all of us. Our prefect team is small but critical. We’ve been busy preparing for your arrival.”
She spins around, leading us over to a framed scroll work displayed on one wall. “Nat, before I can take you any further into the library, I need you to recite the library oath. It’s been a requirement for entry since the 1400s.”
I squint, struggling to make out the faded writing on the yellowed paper. Mathilde gives the gilt-edged frame a sharp rap, and magically the words come into focus. I clear my throat, “I hereby undertake not to remove from the Library, nor to mark, deface, or injure in any way, any volume, document or other object belonging to it or in its custody; not to bring into the Library, or kindle therein, any fire or flame, and not to smoke in the Library; and I promise to obey all rules of the Library.”
Mathilde smiles in approval. “I know it seems old-fashioned, but it is ceremonial habits like these which help reinforce the connection with the magical plane. Now, why don’t we go to my office, make ourselves comfortable and get to know one another.”
We wind our way through the stacks and up an old stairwell. Once we’re seated in a tiny office, I ask, “Now can someone explain what it is a prefect does? Is there a guidebook?”
“Ha! I wish.” Mathilde shakes her head. “Kate, she’s the third prefect, you’ll meet her soon. She moved to Oxford four months ago, and I’ve only been here for about three weeks myself. Our predecessors were nearing the mandatory retirement age and had been looking for someone to inherit their positions. Lillian was meant to stay on for a while and be our mentor, expecting to be here for another decade. Her diagnosis was sudden; I can’t say I blame her for choosing to leave so quickly.” She shakes her head before giving me a small smile, “We were lucky to have the handover period we did. I’ll tell you what I know, and then we can all work together to fill in the gaps.”
Smiling, I nod my head in encouragement. “I already feel better knowing that I’m not alone. My grandfather told me stories about a magical Oxford, but learning that those stories were real is a lot to take in.”
Mathilde sits up in her chair. “Magical stories? Your grandfather? There hasn’t been a prefect in my family for several generations, same for Kate as far as I know. It seems there are enough families with magic in their blood that it skips around. I’d love to hear what he told you, if you’re up for sharing.”
“Absolutely,” I reassure her, “We’ll consider it as comparing notes. You must be patient with me. He died nearly 20 years ago. I need to sit down one evening and fish them out of my childhood memories. I’ll write everything I can remember and then share.”
H thumps his tail, reminding us he’s here to help. “I’ll fix wot tha missie gets wrong. I spent tha first three ‘undred years as a carvin’ on tha side of this very buildin’, so I don’t know them in much detail. But fer tha last sixty, I’m yer expert.”
Mathilde inclines her head in a gracious nod and says, “Thanks for that, H. Unfortunately, I don’t know that much about the beginning, either. Lillian said legend has it that a few hundred years ago, a group of researchers had an experiment go awry on them and somehow they accidentally uncovered the existence of the earth’s magical plane.”
Blinking, I struggle to make sense of her statement. “The earth? Like the whole planet? But I thought H said that the only places with magic are Oxford and Cambridge?”
Mathilde stands up, slipping into lecturer mode. “The magical plane wraps around the entire planet, but…and this is the important part… you can only access it under the right conditions. This is what the researchers discovered - the conditions you need in place to bring it into alignment with the earth’s magnetic field. They did several experiments, eventually building up an infrastructure here in Oxford and over in Cambridge. By bringing the magical field into alignment, they turned the two university towns into safe havens.”
I consider her words before asking for a clarification. “What do you mean by safe haven?”
Pacing around, Mathilde explains, “In the early years, scholars were subject to the whims of the rich, dependent on them for funding. The magical field increased the attraction to the universities. More scholars came to study, the wealthy felt compelled to leave behind donations. New colleges sprang up around the towns. From the outside, Oxford and Cambridge’s success looks like the result of a self-fulfilling prophecy. But to those few of us on the inside, we know the truth.”
“Magic?” I ask.
Mathilde winks back her confirmation. “Magic.”
I lean back in my seat,
