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Thorne
In Thorne's opinion, the worst part about being blind wasn't that you couldn't see, but that all your other senses worked just fine. He could still smell the steam of brewing potions, could hear students giggling in the hallways, could feel the crackle in the air after he cast a spell, could taste the food served at mealtimes, and it all reminded him that there was a whole world around him, a world full of colour and life, and he couldn't see any of it. If he didn't have any of his other senses, being blind might be bearable. For example, he wouldn't have to listen to adults shouting at each other all morning when he was trying to eat his lunch in peace. Honestly, people could be so inconsiderate sometimes.
"How could you let this happen?" One woman shrieked hysterically.
"We weren't prepared for a werewolf attack madame." Came the more patient tones of Professor Torin's voice.
"How could you not be prepared?" The woman shrieked again, "That thing is one of your students! You should have kept it in a cell, if you had to have it here in the first place!"
""That thing" is a young, unlucky boy who only wanted to receive an education."
Thorne snorted. Did Professor Torin really believe that was why Wolf was here?
"Besides Madame," the teacher continued, "we are very careful with our werewolf students, but our security measures are only applied on the full moon, the only time the students are a threat. How could we prepare for a werewolf attack in the middle of the day?"
"Only dangerous at the full moon?" The woman yelled, "It's a werewolf! Those things are dangerous no matter what the moon is like!"
"It has been proven otherwise Madame on several occasions." Torin replied, a slight strain running along his voice.
A derisive snort was the only response.
"That woman seems very angry." A soft voice murmured beside Thorne.
An involuntary smile twitched across his lips at the sound of Cress's voice. Over the weeks she'd been helping him get around the castle without embarrassingly bumping into walls, Thorne had started to find her presence comforting. He always found it easier to relax when Cress was around to be his eyes, even if she had a tendency to get hung up on details like the colour of the grass, and besides Thorne found that rather cute. More than anything, what Thorne wanted to properly see was Cress. He was already forgetting the exact shade of her blue eyes, and the shape of her face. Instead, he had to content himself with the smell of vanilla clinging to her hair, and the sweet, lilting sound of her voice. If he was really lucky, she would start singing. Aces and spades, Thorne loved her singing.
"Who's the banshee screaming her head off?" Scarlet's familiar voice grumbled.
Thorne frowned. He was enjoying just having Cress to himself.
"I think it's Roland's mother." Cress murmured back.
Thorne chuckled. "Makes sense. She's definitely loud enough."
"And rude enough." Scarlet added.
"Well, Wolf did kill her son." Cress reminded her.
"That wasn't Wolf's fault! He's not in control when he's in werewolf form! Besides, what did Roland expect, walking up to a werewolf and poking it on the nose?"
"To be fair, he did think that it was a prank by Thorne." Cress said.
Scarlet snorted. "Please, Thorne doesn't have the brain capacity for a prank like that."
"That's not true!" Thorne argued, "I have plenty of brain capacity. I just don't use it for school."
"Got that right."
Cress cleared her throat awkwardly. "Well, at least Wolf's not here now, right?" She said with fake optimism, "He can't hear what Roland's mother is saying about him."
"Wolf was locked in Sybil's office as soon as he turned back to normal." Scarlet told her. "I tried to visit him to see how he was doing, but no-one's allowed to see him. Because I guess Wolf turns into a werewolf every hour."
Thorne raised an eyebrow in Scarlet's direction. "You seriously think the school's keeping him holed up for our safety?"
"No, that's just the reason they gave for not letting anyone see him."
"Well, there might be some logic behind that reasoning." Cress said thoughtfully, "After all, who knows what caused him to suddenly transform in the middle of the day."
"I know." Scarlet told her, "I was there."
"Well, we weren't." Thorne reminded her, "Care to enlighten us anytime soon?"
"It was that dumb mission to find the school's stash of moonlight." Scarlet spat, "Wolf and I found it alright, but we couldn't find a way to get to it, so Wolf decided the only solution was to absorb the stuff."
"Wait, he chose to become a slobbering monster?" Thorne asked incredulously.
"He wasn't slobbering!"
"Hey, I call it like I don't see it."
Cress giggled quietly, and Thorne grinned.
"This is a truly devastating loss to our magical youth and families, and I offer my most heartfelt condolences to those parents grieving for their children whose lives were cut off far too early."
Thorne frowned. That voice, that pathetic attempt at sounding poetic, that underlying-but-oh-so-obvious smugness… he knew that voice. But what was he doing here?
"I can assure you that the Ministry of Magic will be launching a full inquiry as to why and how a werewolf was able to transform in the daytime. Unfortunately, in my current position at the Ministry, I'm unable to personally ensure that this issue is given all the attention it deserves."
Ah, trying to nick Kai's dad's job. Yep, that sounded about right for Kingsley, a.k.a. Thorne's father, a.k.a. a real pain in the butt.
"The Ministry will be taking the werewolf in question into custody, and our resident magizoologists will attempt to figure out what enabled the beast to murder so many young witches and wizards in broad daylight." Thorne's father continued, adding with a mournful sigh. "I can only thank Merlin that my own son, who was present at the attack, was not injured by the monster."
That was about as much as Thorne could take. He suddenly burst into raucous laughter, drowning out whatever comments the assembled parents and teachers might have made to his father's show of parental love. Wiping a pretend tear from his eye, Thorne smirked in the general direction his father's voice had come from. "Oh, you care about me? First I've ever heard of it."
"Carswell." Thorne's grin widened at the strain in his dad's voice. "Shouldn't you be resting after the attack?"
"Why would I need rest? After all, I got away totally unscathed. No scratches and, more importantly, no bites. Bet you're relieved about that, huh?"
"Of course I am, you're my son, and I want you to stay safe."
"Really? Wow, you learn something new ever day. No, I was referring to how shameful it would be for you to have a monster for a son. But hey! Maybe if I had been your sorry act would be more convincing. You'd actually be upset for one thing. What a hit to your reputation!"
Thorne imagined his father gritting his teeth with the effort of suppressing his rage. "Carswell, don't you have a test to study for?"
"What, on the holidays?" Thorne laughed, "Of course not! And besides, I'm learning plenty right here. Like you actually care about all those kids that died. Who knew that the man who thinks that young wizards should only be given wands at the age of 30 would grieve so much for the loss of so many irresponsible teenagers?"
"Son, this is a very important matter we're dealing with here so could you please show some respect-"
"Oh, sorry. "If only I was elected Minister of Magic,"" Thorne wailed theatrically, ""then I could avenge all of your children's' deaths. Alas, I am only the head of Magical Law Enforcement and am currently running for Minister of Magic. Oh, the humanity!""
Scarlet sniggered, but that sound wasn't nearly as gratifying as Thorne's father finally losing all semblance of self-control and shouting, "CARSWELL THORNE IF YOU DON'T STOP THIS DISRESPECTFUL BEHAVIOUR THIS INSTANT I WILL PERSONALLY SEE TO IT THAT YOU WILL NEVER GO OUTSIDE YOUR ROOM AGAIN WHEN YOU GO HOME FOR THE HOLIDAYS!"
Dead silence filled the hall, and Thorne smirked triumphantly. Mission accomplished.
A/N: I had so much fun writing this up. I'm definitely going to write more interactions between Thorne and his dad in future.
Please review!
