"Well, it wasn't exactly an invention at that point. Would you ordinarily expect to be able to draw from the broken pieces of an artifact?"

"If it weren't doing artefact-y things by then, no, should be spent. Active artefacts are really hard to break, though, even if you like physically fracture its structure the magic will hold it together, although it'll spend mana faster if it has to do that in addition to whatever it does originally."

"Huh! I don't think that's what magic stuff in this world is like but I don't know a lot about magic. It's certainly not how Devisor inventions work, those break like anything."

"Yeah, whole different system here, I shouldn't assume anything in particular works the same way." Shrug.

"So, yeah! Is there anything you think you're still missing?"

Well, if her budget covers one of those phones she wants it, but she also should get, like, clothes and stuff to drop off at her room? And maybe some pretty-but-useless things like pebbles or whatever that she can enchant with various functions later, it's always good to have some of those.

They pick out a phone, and some bedding and toiletries and clothes, and some shiny pebbles from the bin of shiny pebbles that is for some reason on prominent display. Then they check out, paying with Kaede’s card, and head towards her dorm to drop off the purchases.

”You’re in Poe,” Morty says. “It’s a coed dorm, which I guess is how they’re going to accommodate you, uh, sometimes being a boy? A lot of the Poe kids are kinda weird, but they’re nice folks, in general.”

"Weird how?"

“That came out wrong - everybody’s kinda weird, this is Whateley, but the Poe kids are a little more insular, they’ve got way more of a cottage culture than everybody else. It’s probably a really nice place if you’re part of it, it’s just a little weird from the outside.”

"Huh. And it's the only—coed—dorm?"

"No, there's Melville too. And Hawthorne, but they weren't gonna put you in Hawthorne, that's for kids who need really major accommodations. It was probably a coin toss between Melville and Poe."

"And the Melville folks aren't weird?"

“I really shouldn’t have said the Poe kids’re weird, it's unfair, they’re super nice. The Melville kids... the stereotype is that they’re kind of snobby and they think their cottage is better than everybody else’s? That’s where they put a lot of the rich alumni’s kids. People say they have a hot tub, but I feel like that can’t be right.”

"What's a hot tub?"

"It's like a heated bath sized for several people. They're kind of a weird concept and a little bit, uh, sexualized? Which is why I don't think they actually have one, I think it's just a weird rumor."

"...well now I want to find my way into it if it exists."

Morty blushes. "Well, I wish you luck on this daring quest."

They arrive at Poe. Morty knocks on the door.

It's opened by an unreasonably tall man apparently in his thirties, who beams at them. "Morty! And you must be Kaede. Great to meet you; are you here to get settled in?"

"I am, indeed! But I believe you have the advantage of me."

"I do, don't I. I'm Mr. Dresden, I teach Mystic Arts and I'm the Housefather of Poe. That means I'm in charge of roommate assignments, student discipline and morale, and fixing things when somebody inevitably breaks them. Speaking of which, Morty, I'll show Kaede around the cottage, you should go get dinner."

"Hey!" Morty laughs. "Okay, okay. Kaede, it was really nice to meet you - uh, maybe we can hang out again after you've settled in?"

"Yeah absolutely, I'll find you around."

He waves awkwardly and stumbles off.

"Alright. Now I'll show you around and explain the whole Poe Cottage, uh, situation." He starts walking. There's a plaster bust of Edgar Allan Poe in an alcove by the entrance, and a large common room, past it, and a stairway leading both up and down. The common room contains sofas, chairs, a large TV, and several enclosed desks. "Like Mrs. Carson said during your meeting, Poe is the dormitory for students who don't happen to be both straight and content with their assigned sex. The historical reasons for its existence are now almost obsolete - there's less danger now of bullying than there was when I went to school, much less, and most people you meet will accept anyone for who they are. But most people doesn't mean everyone. This is why Poe Cottage's status is, while not the best-kept secret in the world, still a secret. Officially, Poe is just another dormitory. You don't have to stay in the closet - in fact I encourage you to be open with whoever you like - but don't out everybody else. Make sense so far?"

"Sure. And is that why Morty said they're, ah, insular?"