Early August 1792. Nurcan is summoned to the Bab-i Humayun's offices in Constantinople after having received a letter from the head of wizarding diplomacy, Saleh.

  When she arrives at the Ministry's offices, she gets to Saleh's office, trembling. Oh boy: I feel like it's a very sensitive matter if the Ministry wants to meet me in person. Maybe an extradition request from France over alleged breaches of the Statute of Secrecy stemming from the leak of cahiers de doléances, or my actions during the Estates-General three years ago. Then again, if they waited so long, they had bigger issues.

  "Hi Saleh..."

  "I wish we met again under better circumstances, since you might think France requested your extradition. However, rest assured that you didn't do anything you could get extradited for!"

  "What is it then?"

  "My predecessor resigned after the Treaty of Iasi was signed. And, while the Sultan implemented tax reforms, as agreed upon to maintain secrecy of the Nizam-i Cedid reforms from the yeniceri, their early implementation proved a little piecemeal!"

  Better piecemeal reforms than no reforms. As much as I was called Miss Irad-i Cedid for the last 3 years among wizards, I have no role in its implementation among Muggles, Nurcan seems a little disappointed by how piecemeal the implementation of the Irad-I Cedid has been.

  "You seem to be implying that there might be something I could do about tax reforms!"

  Post-Iasi, the Sultan convened the kubbealti to advance tajdid (renewal) and deeper fiscal reforms are being implemented to finance military reforms, such as bringing in French military advisors to carry them out. Here's to hoping that the wizards' fiscal reform plan will actually be implemented, even though the Sultan doesn't know Nurcan is the one who had the biggest role in drafting it!

  "No, Nurcan. It's about the Nizam-i Cedid exchange program. One of the original students died from splinching in an accident while learning to apparate..."

  "Poor student!" she sobs.

  "It might be a little late, but since your parents already signed the release form, it should be relatively straightforward to enroll you at the host institution!"

  "Damn it! Couldn't there be anyone else?"

  "No. It seems that some people already paid their own way on exchange!"

  "Wasn't the Nizam-i Cedid supposed to be non-renewable?"

  "That rule has changed. Under Abdulhamid I, it wasn't renewable. Currently, a student can go twice on exchange under Nizam-I Cedid over their career, and in non-consecutive years!"

  "Did the Sultan change the rules because of the Treaty of Iasi?"

  Speaking of which, why would the Treaty of Iasi, which is a Muggle treaty, get the head of wizarding diplomacy to resign? Then again, there were crazier wizarding articles put into a Muggle treaty than forcing changes on a wizarding school exchange program! Like the Partition of Poland turning the Grodzisk Goblins, a professional Quidditch team, into a Prussian state-owned enterprise, Nurcan starts thinking about what influence Muggle treaties could have in wizarding affairs, beyond territorial changes.

  "No, the Treaty of Iasi only caused changes to the wizarding world that you would normally associate with a territorial change. The Sultan believes that, to return to the pre-Statute glory days, international cooperation must be obtained by any means necessary!"

  "Students on exchange are a two-way street. They come to us wanting in on, say, divination and arithmancy..."

  "The Ministry might be willing to let you take the final spot for this year. However, it might do so with one caveat: that you attempt to enter the Triwizard Tournament!"

  "Why me?" Nurcan's tone of voice leaves no doubt as to her surprise, which gives way to confusion as she rolls her eyes.

  "It feels like our best shot at winning the Triwizard Tournament is, well, you!"

  "Why do you suddenly talk about how I'm seemingly the Empire's best shot at winning the Triwizard Tournament? On top of that, what even is the Triwizard Tournament?"

  "Oh, there's a lot to unpack about it. For starters, it tests champions' magical abilities, intelligence and courage..."

  "Why does the Empire suddenly want to have one of their own win the Triwizard Tournament? Maybe I'm a little out of the loop..."

  "Last time, before you departed, you were concerned about whether you'd be able to serve the Sultan well while on exchange. You remember how your exchange went: the Irad-I Cedid, the cahier, the Estates-General!"

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  "That doesn't answer my question!"

  "First, even though we were lucky to have lost only Yedisan in the Treaty of Iasi, remember what I said about going back to the pre-Statute glory days!"

  "Who actually competes at the Triwizard Tournament anyway?"

  "One champion each from Hogwarts, Durmstrang and Beauxbatons..."

  I feel like the Ministry is about to set a trap for me, but it's a trap that I might not even spring, Nurcan starts running arithmantic calculations in her head about whether she would wind up competing. So while I grew in power, I feel like my brains, on which I still rely a lot, won't suffice. But because I'm Muggle-born, Durmstrang is off-limits. So this leaves me with Hogwarts and Beauxbatons.

  "Might want to try Hogwarts this time around..." Nurcan sighs. "The big concern about Hogwarts is that I might be too close to French Revolutionaries, and the British MoM might turn me away!"

  "Why would you be deemed too close to the French Muggle Revolutionaries by the British MoM? The Irad-I Cedid is an internal Ottoman matter, and is solely about fiscal reform!" Saleh retorts. "Never was the Irad-I Cedid leaked in Britain!"

  "They have no desire to see Muggle wars brought into the wizarding world! However, the positions advocated for in the Irad-I Cedid do get me closer to the Revolutionaries!"

  "Closer in ideas, but you have no access to anyone significant among the Revolutionaries! Ideas aren't enough to make a Revolutionary, and I don't think the British MoM really care that much about Muggle political positions of inbound wizards!"

  Saleh gets a flashback from his early days working for the Bab-I Humayun, fifteen years ago. About how MACUSA and the British MoM stayed out of the Muggle American War of Independence. That, even though their Muggle counterparts, and their allies, mostly French and Spanish, fought the Brits around the world.

  "And yet, Muggle wars will often find their way into the wizarding world, albeit indirectly. In the past... five years or so, the main concern of the Bab-I Humayun was about ensuring the safety of wizards in Serbia and Yedisan!" Nurcan keeps pushing that line of thought.

  "Enough of these Muggle geopolitical considerations! Do you want to become more than a policymaking prodigy?"

  Saleh's words start to scorch Nurcan's mind. Do I want to be remembered as "Miss Irad-I Cedid", knowing that policy can change at any time? And then my mark on the wizarding world would be at best a footnote in Muggle-wizard relational history the day the Irad-I Cedid is repealed! But that's already more than a lot of wizards can say.

  She's also reminded of historical examples of wizards whose most significant achievements were earned in their formative years. Like the youngest Galluran member of the Sardinian subcommittee in 1289, who's also a cautionary tale about how coasting in life on these kinds of achievements can be dangerous to a wizard. His arrogance became his undoing later in life, even though he's still best known today for his role in the ban on basilisk breeding.

  "Fame is fleeting. While it doesn't decay uniformly across sources, what makes you think that victory at the Triwizard Tournament would make me leave a more durable legacy than the Irad-I Cedid?"

  "Because Ottoman wizards never won it!"

  "It's not like our own folk at Durmstrang aren't trying. How do you know I stand a better chance to win than any Ottoman student at Durmstrang, or anyone else on exchange at Hogwarts or Beauxbatons?"

  "Just think of the magical power and intellectual levels of high-achieving classmates at home. Assume they're no different..."

  "I feel like just competing is going to be a long shot at best for me!" Nurcan is reminded of power differences between her and the others.

  "What do you mean, competing is a long shot for you?"

  "I never did anything special to prepare for it, because I never heard of it before. But why is it so important that we finally win it?"

  "Do you understand anything about soft power?" Saleh asks a rhetorical question.

  "How would an Ottoman wizard winning the Triwizard Tournament mark some semblance of return to the pre-Statute glory days?"

  "You're asking too many questions, Nurcan!" Saleh's face turns red. "That said, if you do make it, please be advised of the danger it poses..."

  "I guess, Beauxbatons it is..." Nurcan sighs.

  After all, France seemed more friendly to Revolutionaries, even my kind, than Britain is. But Saleh seems fixated on the idea that what a country's wizards achieve on the international stage might be of diplomatic value, Nurcan ponders about why she feels cornered into going to Beauxbatons once again.

  As Saleh prepares her travel documents, he has his subordinate at the international education office make arrangements with Beauxbatons so that she could be enrolled there on exchange for what would be her sixth year. Once the travel documents are ready, the international education office staffer tells her about one more opportunity:

  "Under the International Confederation of Wizards' rules, inbound exchange students may take the host country's tests, as recognized by the ICW, before the start of the year, on a per-subject basis, with the permission of the host country. Before we request permission on your behalf, are there any subjects you're confident in taking at either the BUSE or ASPIC levels?" the IEO staffer asks her.

  "I'd say divination and arithmancy!" Nurcan answers while the staffer scribbles down.

  "At what level?"

  Memories of arithmancy and divination courses during her time at Beauxbatons resurface. About how, especially in Arithmancy, she routinely achieved Optimal grades even though everyone else was at least 2 years older, and the same in Divination. However, as they resurface, her memories also contain elements of how her Arithmancy prowess overshadowed her Divination prowess. If the material follow the same learning curve, at home and at Beauxbatons, then I should be able to get ASPICs in both.

  "Tentatively at the ASPIC level..."

  "Please be advised that, if you choose to take an ASPIC that way, you need to take the corresponding BUSE first!"

  "One more question: if I decide, after having taken the BUSE, that I might not feel confident taking the ASPIC, would I be able to back out of the ASPIC then?"

  "Usually, for these extraordinary test administrations, the results come out later the same day. Arithmancy is a half-day test, while Divination is a full-day test"

  The mere mention of test scheduling makes even more memories resurface in her mind, especially since she took the Siradan Buyuculuk Duzeyi (or SBDs), as all fifth-year students at Karakalem do, not even two months ago, and scoring As (the highest grades at Karakalem) in all of those she took. About half-day tests being written only, and full-day ones having a practical portion.

  If I want to take ASPICs in both, I need to budget for 4 days at Place Cachée, one day devoted to Arithmancy, two to divination and the final day for shopping supplies, she checks against her budget for that aspect of the trip upon receipt of the authorization to sit for an extraordinary administration of BUSEs and ASPICs, a few minutes later.