After speaking with Sheila the previous evening, Liam had first considered handling the matter in the most direct way available.
Sheila's concern about Chris had not sounded foolish. That alone made it worth more attention than Liam wanted to give it. If she had been anxious over nothing, he could have dismissed it, given some practical statement, and gone back to avoiding the entire leadership problem.
But Sheila had not been worried because of pride or insecurity alone. She had been thinking ahead. She understood that the second-years' surface unity could break under pressure, and she understood that Chris still had enough influence among certain students to become useful or troublesome depending on how the practical exam unfolded.
