There are a set of short tests before winter break and Credence has the results back for half a day before he returns to his dorm after lunch and finds his trunk has been searched through.

For a long moment Credence thinks about hiding under his bed but sighs and heads out to meet his (little) brothers.

"What is this?!" Gellert cries, slapping an essay down on the table in front of Credence where the boy is huddled in the library, Tom vanished into the shelves for now.

"It's a pass," Credence tries.

"A pass is practically a failure," Gellert lectures. "No one in my family will be a failure, Credence."

"Didn't Harry drop out of school?"

Gellert needs to take a moment to reassess the argument. "Harry is a man unto his own. Trying to constrain his ridiculousness is an inevitable headache."

"I'm not really a person though," Credence admits quietly, peering up at Gellert with wide eyes. "Is it fair to judge me by human necessities such as the social construct of education?"

Gellert raises an eyebrow. "Has Tom been teaching you how to argue?"

"I don't think I'm very good at it," Credence admits.

"That's alright. Stick around long enough, you'll pick it up." Gellert taps the paper again. "Now, back to your grades. Redo the essay and hand it in to me two days from now. Your teachers might let you off but that's because they're lesser."

"Oh, I don't want to bother you," Credence tries.

Tom steps out from the shelves, arms laden with books from the restricted section. "Credence! We need to talk about how little effort you put into your education – I understand it doesn't affect your horrific excuse for magic but knowing how the common people think is-"

"Gellert just gave me the speech!" Credence protests.

Tom thumps the books down onto the table. "Well I wasn't here so we're doing it again."

It's not just that they go after Credence when he does badly, Tom and Gellert understand the value of positive reinforcement. So after Credence does well on his transfiguration exam two days later (which he's particularly good at by destroying the object and substituting in his dust) they decide to take a little trip

Tom wants unicorn blood for something, Mooney needs a stretch, and Credence needs some time away from the suppressing wards of Hogwarts.

So they head into the Forbidden Forest one night, Gellert and Tom riding Mooney with Credence in a compact dust form bobbing along behind like a balloon.

The centaurs stop them before they get very far, bows drawn and aimed. Mooney growls, muzzle pulling back from his teeth.

"Such abominations are not welcome here," declares the leader, a woman with small bones in her hair.

"That's rather rude!" Gellert laughs, peering down at them over Mooney's giant head, one hand petting the wendigo to sooth him. "Wait, who are you talking about?"

"All three, curses upon this earth," she snarls.

"Oh, that's a new one," Tom admits, leaning around Gellert's shoulder. "I'm impressed, it's not often people understand just how substandard they are compared to us. You may now kneel in the presence of your betters."

Credence phases back beside Mooney's furry bulk and looks nervously between the centaurs and his two brothers. "Um-"

"The stars tell of your danger," hisses the centaur. "The very universe is sickened."

"Stop, I'm blushing," Gellert giggles, one hand coming up to his cheek.

"The hollow one raises the diseases, he shall be purged from this land along with the foul beasts!" bellows a centaur from the middle of the pack.

There's a pause.

"I think he's talking about Harry," Tom says, perfectly neutral.

"I think so too," Gellert answers, voice also particularly bland.

Credence frowns a little bit. "Harry isn't bad, he's really nice and – and you're bad for saying those things."

Five minutes later, the last escaping centaur crumples to the ground, back leg cut to shreds, and he claws at the ground, trying to get up.

"Did you really not see that coming?" Gellert asks in amusement. "I guess even the heavens lie."

A large shadow falls over the centaur, blotting out the pinprick light of stars in the night sky.

They dump the passed-out centaurs into a pile – not a single one dead, but maybe a bit gored. Not life-threatening in any case, because Harry would be upset.

Tom did try to convince the others that this constitutes self-defence, which is an acceptable murder excuse according to Harry's rules but Credence threatened to tattle and Gellert shrugs.

Maybe back when they were nine Harry would get protective but against like a dozen centaurs at most? Who have no magic? Attacked by bows? While they had Mooney and Credence backing them up?

Harry would expect better.

They do hate to disappoint.

.

A/N: Ugh, chapters are getting shorter, sorry guys. Winter break coming up tho~!