Card Counting | Katherine

[Verisimilitude St. Clair]

September 1973
Evening
Veri sat perched on a plush chair like a meditating crane as the fire lit the table in front of her. Not literally lighting it, on fire, because that would really mess up her activity. Her lips were pursed as she stared at the cards, counting up the numbers again, then making a little note on the sheet beside her with a pencil.

Yes, a pencil, she wanted to be able to erase things, which a quill just couldn't do.

In front of her was an array of cards set up like a blackjack game, with multiple 'hands' as well as a dealer. With all the numbers counted up, she then called for a 'hit' for one of the imaginary players, and leaned over and dealt them a card. A face card, which put them over 21.

Well, at least it wasn't her.

Veri glanced up from the game to see one of the older students - Dankwhere? Dankwhat? Duckworth? No, not the Duck, Dankworth. Imagine having a duck based name - now that would be ridiculous. She glanced down at her game, then back up at the older girl.

"Do you want to join in? I'm learning how to count cards."

[Katherine Dankworth]

Katherine was reading some book at the Slytherin Common Room, but she couldn’t quite pay attention to what the words were saying. Her mind  felt like it was elsewhere, revisiting what had transcurred in the last weeks, especially during the ball her father had hosted.

So when Veri addressed her, she didn’t give her the cold shoulder, or whatever mean response it could be expected from her. She seemed grateful, actually. Whatever it helped her to take her mind off things, she said to herself.

She stood up, walked towards Veri, and sat beside her. “Count me in. How do you it?”

[Verisimilitude St. Clair]

And this was why she wasn't in Ravenclaw. Not because she couldn't have done it - Veri was very certain she could have. They were just such bookworms that if she had asked them to join in an illegal card practice they would have said no.

"It's all maths." Veri gestured to the table in front of her and one of the open seats. "Basically, there are only so many cards that can be in a deck, right? So, if you know what cards have been played, you can guess what cards would be next."

That's what the little numbers were for.

"It's easiest to do with points. High number cards add points, low number cards remove points. If you have a high negative number, that means you're more likely to get a high card, and when you have a high positive number, you're more likely to get a low card."

"There's only one rule." Veri paused for dramatic effect and gathered up all the seriousness her small body could muster. "No magic. Especially Divination."