Gideon had been sparing with the details when he'd mentioned this outing to Billie. Partly that was because he didn't want her to be unduly nervous, and he wasn't sure exactly whether Ms. Robins had the particular brand of celebrity that might be likely to make Billie nervous. He knew she liked Quidditch, and suspected she had probably not had the opportunity to interact much with professional players of any variety in the past, so it was possible she might be slightly star-struck by meeting a woman who was on the British National team for that year, and who regularly played for the only all-female Quidditch team in the professional league. The other reason he'd held back on telling Billie much about their meeting with Ms. Robins was that he wasn't sure she would even want to talk to her. He knew that she still wasn't feeling entirely secure in her decision to attend Hogwarts as a girl in the fall. Would she be open to talking with a stranger about it?

As uncomfortable as that concept might be, Gideon was aware that he was woefully unequipped to handle many of the fears and doubts that his daughter was grappling with. As empathetic as he tried to be, he didn't actually know what it was like to be a girl at Hogwarts, particularly one who defied expectations and ran roughshod around the castle with the rest of the boys. He thought that she would probably benefit from someone else's perspective on the situation (and on life as a girl in general), so he was hoping this meeting was a productive one. He knew nearly nothing about Ms. Robins except for the barest bones of her career particulars. He was a Quidditch fan when it suited him, but had never gone out of his way to support the Harpies, and would not have had much of an interest in them at all if it weren't for Billie's interest in Quidditch (and her belief that being a girl would prevent her from playing). He might have written to any of them, and had only started with Ms. Robins because she was on the National Team — but it was a good sign, he thought, that she signed her letters Gus.

Gideon had only seen her picture in the paper a few times, but was easily able to pick her out on the edge of the lake by the shock of red hair. "That's the person we're going to meet," he told Billie as they approached. When he reached the Quidditch player, Gideon offered his hand in greeting. "Ms. Robins, thank you again for agreeing to come out. Ms. Robins plays Quidditch for the National team," he explained to Billie. He opened his mouth to continue the introduction, but was stayed by sudden uncertainty. He had already told Ms. Robins in his letter that his ward was a young woman, but to call her Miss now seemed too strange — and it might be viewed as a betrayal, he thought, since he hadn't told Billie that he was sharing that particular detail.

"Go on and introduce yourself," he said instead, putting the ball in her court.

Billie Farrow Elias Grimstone Augusta Robins