Livvy thought, suddenly, of Dimmet Tarn. She said, “You’ve been here before, to the Scholomance?”

“Yes,” Magnus said. “Many times, over the years.”

“Have you ever been to Dimmet Tarn?” Livvy said.

“Yes,” Magnus said. “A most unimpressive body of water. You must find it a sad change from the Pacific Ocean.”

“Yeah, well, there are stories that it’s supernatural in some way,” Livvy said. “But nobody knows how. Ty and I were trying to see if we could find out anything about it.”

Magnus said, “Let me see. There were stories about it, but I never paid much attention to them. What was it?”

He sat in silence for a minute, and Livvy sat companionably with him. Ty stirred as if he were dreaming in a way that made Livvy think that he would wake up soon.

“Yes!” Magnus said. “Of course. The story was this. That if you went to Dimmet Tarn and looked into the water for long enough, you would see something of your future. That was the enchantment placed on it by some warlock or other. Funnily enough, I believe he was from Devon, actually. Dimmet is a Welsh word. Why? Did you go there? Livvy? Did you see something there?”

“No,” Livvy said at last. She tried to think of what it had been like, sinking into that vast dark nothingness. “I didn’t see anything. It was nothing at all.”

“I see,” Magnus said in a tone that suggested he saw everything she wasn’t saying. “But let us say that there was someone who happened to look into dismal Dimmet Tarn and let’s say they saw something they didn’t like. Something that suggested a future they didn’t want. And let’s say that this someone came and talked to me. Do you know what I would tell them?”

“What?” Livvy said.

Magnus said, “I would tell them this. That the future isn’t fixed. If we see a path in front of us that we would not choose, then we can choose another path. Another future. Dimmet Tarn be damned. Would you agree with that, Livvy?”

He stared hard at Livvy and Livvy stared right back. She couldn’t think of anything to say at all, but finally she set her mouth and nodded.

From the bed, Ty said, “Livvy!” His eyes opened and found her, and he said, “Livvy,” again. This time he didn’t sound despairing. He hadn’t noticed yet that Magnus was there at all.