Warning: this chapter contains corporal punishment.
Written listening to Imagine Dragons- Who We Are.
This song in particular strongly influenced this chapter.
August 5, 1933
"Listen up, everyone!" called Martha. She had assembled all of the six-year-olds in the playroom, not telling anyone anything more than that she had to make an announcement. They all sat sprawled around the room. Tom was commandeering an old, sturdy dollhouse as a seat while Harry sat on the floor next to him, studying his hands with an interested expression. Must be looking at his magic, Tom thought, fidgeting impatiently. They had been waiting for over fifteen minutes while Martha rounded up the stragglers.
"Most of ya probably know this, but on September 1st, ya will all be starting school. And everyone is going," Martha said, giving everyone a stern look.
"That's gross!" John Padmore called out.
"It's necessary," Martha replied with a smile.
Tom was a little excited. He and Harry had bribed quite a few of the other children into teaching them some basic things, but he personally couldn't wait until they were finally in school and learning substantial amounts rather than the piecemeal education they had managed to acquire. Harry had perked up some, but he continued watching his hands.
"We will all be going on a large trip in a few days to pick up school uniforms. Ya will all be enrolled at Kellinger's Primary School. Now, I think I've kept ya here long enough! You may go."
With Martha's words, everyone shot up and dispersed rapidly, as if being in the same room as the terrifying prospect of education was going to deal them grievous harm. Tom snorted at their silliness; they all looked like a bunch of fleeing rabbits. He slipped off the large wooden dollhouse, tapping Harry's shoulder. As Harry slowly unfolded and stood up lazily, Martha started making her way over.
"Harry," Martha said. "Mrs. Cole and I thought it would be easier for ya to attend the same school as everyone else. There is another school an hour away, but we ya'd thought that ya'd like to go with everyone else." Tom gave Martha an evil eye. For some reason, she didn't seem particularly sincere. Perhaps taking Harry to a specialized school would be too much work. In any case, Tom was sure that he could help Harry in school. They'd work something out.
"That's fine," Harry said, glancing at Tom. "Anything else?"
Martha shifted a little bit. "The school's looking to find ya some help with blind-people things, ya know, but it may take a while to find someone. I'm sure Tom'll help ya, though." She had stopped giving Tom pointed looks some time ago, having seen enough evidence of Tom's behaviour around Harry that she had stopped worrying for 'poor' Harry. However, she still had a tendency to make remarks that made Tom feel like spitting in her face. Not that he would do anything so uncouth, of course.
"Of course he will," Harry said, giving Tom a look, a smile twitching on his lips. Tom pursed his lips. Harry would probably find a way to blackmail him into helping him if Tom was being unhelpful. Or he wouldn't help Tom with his little hobby. Ever since Harry had joined in on their 'shopping' exploits, Tom managed to get a large hauls nearly every time. Well, as large at Tom could stuff down his underwear at a moment's notice. Harry still made fun of him for his most successful hiding place. What a git.
"Alright, that's wonderful," Martha said. "I'm gonna go and help out Jo in the kitchen. Don't get into trouble!" With that, Martha left in the direction of the kitchen, probably looking to snatch a few bites while helping. That was the only explanation Tom could find for her portly figure, as Martha lived at the orphanage and as far as he knew, consumed all of her meals there as well.
"So, Tom," Harry said mischievously. "You'll help me in school, right?"
"Of course," Tom insisted. "Why wouldn't I?"
"With everything?" Harry asked. He was looking positively gleeful. Appropriately, the scent of winter in the air appeared.
"...Yes," Tom said hesitantly. He had walked right into a trap.
"So if I happen to need to read a baby book for school, you won't complain?"
"Not this again!" Tom whined. "I'll read your stupid baby books."
"Of course you will," Harry said confidently. "What do you think school's gonna be like?"
"I don't know," Tom mused. "I heard Bobby and Robert talking about a few months ago. I guess we'll have to see."
"I'm sure it's going to be fun!" Harry said cheerfully.
"I hope so," Tom said. "Let's go back to our room. I want to read that book about physics. I think it's actually an old textbook."
"You're boring," Harry complained, but latched on to Tom's arm anyway. "We can go if you agree to play Crup with me in the yard later."
"Fine," Tom agreed sulkily.
September 1, 1933
The morning dawned slightly chilly. Harry was awake for ages before Tom, humming with excitement. His magic was more active than usual, literally dancing in nervousness. Harry watched it as Tom slept, trying to calm himself by following the familiar loose patterns, the green of the magic glowing brighter than usual. Birds began chirping, and Harry listened absently to their morning chorus as he examined his magic closer. It wasn't his imagination. His magic was changing slightly.
While before, his magic was a dark green with occasional flashes of gold and seemed to be sometimes shadowed with blue, his magic was now a little different. It had a few thin strands of gold, and had a few hair-thin strands of dark blue magic of a shade that matched Tom's. Additionally, sometimes it would flash pale green as well as gold. Harry couldn't understand why it would be changing. Maybe that happened as people got older? Tom's magic wasn't unchanged either. But his was filled with pale green strands now, and a few dark green ones like Harry's own magic. And if Harry really strained, his vision would grow impossibly clear and he would see thin strands of gold draped around Tom's magic like the glint of sunlight against water. Harry wouldn't be so baffled if their magic changed into different colors. But no, it seemed like it was progressively growing more similar!
Maybe it was a side effect of living near each other. But that couldn't be. Harry thought back to the first magic he saw: that of that nurse in St. Mungo's. It was a plain gold color. Maybe his sight wasn't advanced enough then to see the threads of different colors?
Whatever the reason, he couldn't help but be proud of their magic. It was so pretty! It swirled around in dark colors, glittering with other colors in a way that made it amazingly three-dimensional. He could honestly look at their magic all day. In fact, Harry found himself doing that quite often. Tom would always shoot him exasperated looks when he looked at his hands. However, Tom didn't shoot him looks when Harry was admiring his magic. It probably made him feel all special. Pompous git.
Harry jerked a little bit as Martha pounded on the door. "First day of school! Wake up!"
Tom sat up with a huff, rubbing his eyes. Harry snickered as Tom's hair was as messy as his own.
"Good morning," Harry said, smirking. "You look like a right mess."
"Thank you for such a brilliant greeting," Tom snarked, sliding off the bed and plodding to get dressed. "How long have you been awake, Happy Harry?"
"Long enough," Harry said, scratching underneath the collar of his shirt. "I've been watching our magic all morning."
"As usual," Tom said, pulling on his pants. "Seen the future yet?"
"Don't be silly, Tom," Harry chided. "You know Divination is bollocks."
"Do you need me to help you with your tie?" Tom asked, walking over. "I see the practice we did yesterday didn't help at all."
"I tried!" insisted Harry. "But this is what happened!" He brought out the tie from the where it was stuffed into the pocket of his blazer. He tried to put it on a million times that morning, but gave up when he eventually knotted it so tightly that his fingers hurt trying to pull it apart.
"Harry!" Tom said in despair. "What am I going to do with you?" He grabbed the tie from Harry's hands, staring at it in shock. "How did you do this?"
"It was an accident!" Harry said. "I tried putting it on but then this happened and I hurt my fingers trying to undo it."
Tom gave Harry the evil eye. "And how do you propose I undo it?"
"Magic," Harry said. "You're still better it it than I am. I tried but I swear it was laughing at me."
"Of course it was; this is a disaster." With that, Tom stared at the tie in his hands, lit to Harry's vision by the twitching of Tom's magic as he began pulling it forward. After a few moments, Harry watched enviously as a wave of magic wrapped itself around the tie, slowly tugging it apart. After a few seconds, the tie was unknotted, although it looked terribly wrinkled. Tom inhaled sharply, and his magic quickly jumped into the tie, expanding. As the magic inside expanded, the tie straightened out until it looked like it was ironed. With that, Tom's magic drew back, which caused Tom to exhale slowly.
"Now don't move," commanded Tom, stepping up to Harry and wrapping the tie around his neck. With a few deft twists, Harry was officially prepared for school. Harry waited patiently as Tom finished getting ready. When he finished, Tom walked over to Harry, grabbing onto his arms. "Come on, we don't want to be late," Tom said as he pulled Harry out of the room.
They ventured down the stairs, the sound of scrambling emitting from the hallway behind them. Harry suspected that his classmates also were having trouble with their uniforms, as they didn't have a genius Tom to do it for them. Harry was just lucky that way.
They walked into the dining room, Harry sitting at their usual spot while Tom headed up to retrieve their food. As Harry waited, Alyssa came up.
"Oh, Harry!" Alyssa squealed. "You look so grown up now!"
"Do I?" asked Harry. It would be convenient to be older. Maybe if he was older he'd be able to kick Billy's arse properly instead of defending himself and Tom all the time.
"Not really, no," Alyssa said, causing Harry to sigh in disappointment. "But you look really handsome. Except we need to fix that hair; some teachers don't like messy hair."
"I can't, remember?" Harry reminded. Tom had tried to fix it before with little success. The closest to being neat that it had ever been was when Tom had snuck a whole bottle of hair gel from Robert and dumped it on Harry's hair. Alyssa had then remarked that it looked like Harry had never washed his hair throughout his whole life. Tom didn't try again.
"Maybe I can-"
"No. Absolutely not," Harry interrupted.
"But Harry…," Alyssa said, leaning in closer. "I'm worried that a teacher might cane you for it!"
Harry winced. "Why would they allow teachers to do that?"
"It's discipline," Alyssa said in a tone that implied that she had been in subject of such discipline before.
"That sounds horrible," Harry breathed with a shudder.
"We'll just have to stay out of trouble," Tom said, walking up. He placed a plate in front of Harry before settling down himself.
"Easier said than done," Alyssa said. "You'll see." With that, Harry heard her footsteps fade into the distance.
Harry dug into his food after investigating it closely with a spoon. It was porridge, but it had a sprinkle of sugar in the center! Harry gave a little yip of happiness, digging in. Tom sighed.
"Harry! Eat neater; you'll get it all over your uniform."
"Blergh," Harry said through a mouthful of porridge, hunting for a drink around his plate. After taking a sip of milk, Harry swallowed and replied, "I am neat."
Tom simply gave him a very unimpressed look. Harry pouted, but complied, slowing down some. Tom had been very mad at him in the beginning for getting all of his clothes dirty. After being forced to wash them all by hand with icy water in the bathroom by Tom, Harry had decided to listen.
In no time, Harry had completely finished his breakfast. He sat bouncing in his chair as Tom continued eating at a sedate pace. After five whole excruciating minutes, Martha called out into the dining hall.
"Everyone out in the hall!"
Harry smirked as Tom stuffed in a few more mouthfuls in a rush. They both stood up, and they walked out into the hall. Martha was there, lecturing the older children.
"Ya'll walk all the little ones to school, alright? Just for the first week. No pranks, or ya all will be on kitchen duty helping dear Jo."
A murmur of assent echoed throughout the room. "Now go!" Martha said. "School will be starting soon."
Harry and Tom began to trail after the others, Harry fighting the urge to skip from excitement and nervousness. Although Tom was trying to hide his excitement, his magic gave him away, excitedly dancing in the air along with Harry's magic. Harry was again struck with how similar their magic looked. Though ultimately different, having such similar colors made them seem like they were part of the same set.
They walked for twenty minutes, during which Harry's nervousness grew and grew. Tom eventually had to whisper reassurances into his ear. But finally, they arrived at school! Harry perked up when he heard the sound of a lot of other children in front of the school. There was laughter, giggling, yelling, and all manner of sounds. It sounded like some were playing a game with their hands, and Harry heard a few pounding steps race right by him, followed by several other sets.
It sounded absolutely brilliant.
Right as they neared the school, a harsh sound rang through the air. Harry turned to look at Tom, who was looking back.
"Ready?" Harry asked, tense with nerves.
"Of course," Tom said confidently, but Harry heard him take a deep breath anyway before he pulled Harry forward.
Tom was so utterly bored that he wished he could look at his magic some. That would keep him from having to listen to the disgusting drivel that their headmaster was spouting.
Next to him, Harry was blankly staring forward, fighting the urge to fall asleep. Tom had to periodically nudge him to keep him mostly upright. It wouldn't do to get in trouble the very first day of school. Of course, it was only to be expected that Harry would be falling asleep to the dull voice of the headmaster. He was younger than Tom, after all.
The headmaster seemed to be wrapping up his tedious speech. He had blathered on about so many rules that Tom rather thought that the school wished for them to turn into soldiers, following a pre-approved set of motions. Tom wouldn't put it past them, anyway. He had heard some troubling news last time he had went into town. He wasn't sure if Harry had heard, but there was a drunk across the street who had been yelling about an upcoming war. That was utterly ridiculous! Tom thought that he had a fairly decent knowledge of current events, and nothing had even begun to hint at war. But it still made Tom uneasy. Something was off.
He thought back to the newspapers he had been reading. Nothing seemed too suspicious. But then there was that one thing...someone worrying had been elected chancellor in Germany. Tom couldn't remember much. He also distinctly remembered reading about a speech by someone named Churchill worrying about Germany. He had brushed it off in favor of reading other articles. Perhaps it was time to pay more attention to the international news. It wouldn't do to forget that a whole other world existed outside of their little section of London.
The headmaster started calling for prayer. Oh no, not more of that codswallop! Tom had heard enough about religion from Martha, who had thought that making him read the Bible was going to 'fix' him. Needless to say, he had read some of it, and it didn't impress him very much.
Tom waited, twitching with irritation, through the headmaster's final words. Harry seemed to have fallen asleep sitting up. Tom jabbed his elbow harshly into Harry's side. He bit back a snicker as Harry's eyes flew open, trying to hold back a yelp. Harry then turned slightly to glare at him.
"That wasn't funny!" Harry hissed under his breath, glancing in the direction of the headmaster.
"It was," Tom whispered back. "You should have seen your face. You looked like a frog."
"That's gross!" Harry said, wide-eyed.
"Shhh!" Tom said. "It's time to go to class. I still don't understand why we're starting school on a Friday."
"Probably because that means that we have one day to suffer before we get the whole weekend to recover," Harry said, standing up. Tom stood up as well, and began to lead them after the other children. The large hall was rather drafty, and he didn't want to stay there any longer than he had to.
"Who is our teacher?" Harry asked, looking around curiously.
"What are you looking for?" Tom asked, listening for some sort of direction. Half of the students had begun to funnel away. Tom noticed Jack Gullinger and Paul Santino standing near a group of children around their age. He began to make his way over to them, Harry holding onto the edge of his shirt as he kept swiveling his head.
"I can't see anyone," Harry said, disappointed.
"Oh. You were searching for others?" Tom asked as they drew near.
"Yeah. Nobody, though."
Tom felt a little satisfied. He would be the only one for Harry. It would be absolutely terrible if Harry made another friend with magic. This saved him from finding a way to deal with a possible problem.
"It's okay. You can just make friends with the others here," Tom said gratuitously. He knew nobody could replace him.
"Hello!" Harry said, with fake cheer. They had reached the others.
"Hey, Harry," Jack said warily, shooting a slightly fearful look at Tom. Tom sneered at him, feeling satisfied when Jack twitched noticeably.
"Hello," a girl with blond hair said. "My name is Janice."
"Hello!" piped up a girl with wild red hair. "I'm Agatha, although I like being called Athy more than my real name because it's a little ugly in my opinion and aren't you excited to start school?"
Tom instantly took a disliking to 'Athy.' He resolved to call her Agatha just to irritate her.
"Nice to meet you, Athy, Janice," Harry said, stepping forward to shake hands. "I'm Harry, and this sour-faced git is Tom," pointing his thumb at Tom over his shoulder. "Are we supposed to head to class?"
"I heard that we're supposed to wait here for our teacher to pick us up," Janice said quietly.
"If that's the case," Tom asked, irritated, "then how come we are the last ones here, with no teacher in sight?"
It was true. Outside of their small group and a few others of children their age, spaced around the hallway, there was no sign of an adult presence. More adult negligence, Tom thought sourly. This wasn't how he planned for his education to go.
"Tom," Harry said quietly, stepping back to tug on his shirt.
Blast it all! How could Harry read him so well?
"I'm fine," Tom said, masking his disappointment with nonchalance.
"Sure," Tom heard Harry whisper under his breath fondly, before he turned away to talk to Agatha.
Tom sighed. "So, are you excited for school?" he asked Janice. She seemed alright so far, although his opinion of her would vastly depend on her answer.
"Yes, I am," Janice said. "I need to learn Maths most to help out my family."
"Family?" Tom echoed. Oh yeah, people existed who had actual family. Tom had forgotten for a moment.
"Oh," Janice said. "Are you from an orphanage? I thought you and Harry looked like brothers."
Tom simply glared at her. He stalked over to Harry. He was about to grab Harry and lead them to stand separately from everyone else, but then he heard a curious thing. Turning around, he stared as a -was that a human being? - stumbled closer down the hallway.
Harry turned in the direction of the sound, and Tom was suddenly glad that Harry couldn't see it. The creature - for humans simply didn't look like that - was a disgustingly fat, yellow-clad monstrosity, that gave off the reek of something that Tom could tell was alcohol. The hair was a brown mess, and the yellow clothing was terribly stained. The thing smiled a broken smile, and Tom could see missing teeth and brown spots. Tom shuddered, stepping backwards slightly to the side, in front of Harry.
"Squirts!" the thing said, stopping a few meters away. "Git over here."
Nobody moved. Tom could practically taste Harry's confusion on his tongue. He didn't understand what was quite so horrid.
"I said, git over here!" the thing repeated. "I am your teacher, and you squirts will listen to me."
Agatha took a hesitant step forward. A few others followed. Not willing to be the last one, because standing out in this case would be a supremely horrible idea, Tom pulled Harry forward with him.
As Tom had predicted, the thing had latched on to the last person to draw near.
"Is the itty-bitty squirt afraid?" the thing asked, stalking nearer to a trembling Paul. "No matter. You'll see that I'm very nice. Follow me," the thing commanded, grabbing onto Paul's blazer and pulling him down the hallway.
Tom, shaken, began to follow, Harry pressed close to his side.
"What is going on?" Harry whispered so quietly that Tom almost doubted that he really heard something.
"...That thing is our teacher," Tom said, in horror. "I think I understand what Alyssa meant." No matter how much it stung to admit it, Tom realized that perhaps they were out of their league here.
Harry had listened with winces as Paul cried out repeatedly. Their teacher had caned him for something. He was pretty sure that everyone else had some idea of why, but Harry couldn't fathom what he could have done. He remembered Paul; he was one of the children in the neighboring rooms of the orphanage. Paul was one of the few who had never been mean to Harry. Surely he couldn't have done something terrible before class even started?
Fear was bitter. Harry felt the coldness start in his belly, and he knew that all of his muscles were tense, as if he was going to run away any second. He knew that wouldn't work out, though. It would be anticlimactic if he ran into the wall instead of the door, and he didn't have the time to make sure he was going in the right direction.
For the first time in a long while, Harry cursed the one who had done this to him; made him helpless and weak in the darkness. At least Tom was a light that Harry could cling to; a linchpin to Harry's stability that he could hold onto always.
Harry felt Tom squeeze his hand. They were sitting next to each other in the exact centre of the classroom. Harry knew that being so centered made Tom feel uneasy; his magic was literally fidgeting.
Harry held back a sigh of relief when the sound of wood hitting skin and Paul's cries ended.
"Let this be a lesson to you," the teacher said. "My word here is law."
The classroom was deathly silent.
"Now," the teacher said, "my name is Mr. Anderton. Let's begin."
To Harry's horror, and quite certainly Tom's, Mr. Anderton started out with the basics. Basics so basic that Harry felt the urge to bang his head in frustration on his desk.
Days of the week. Counting by ones. The class was completely silent, unless
they were called on.
The whole class went by in this silence so profound that it seemed almost tangible. Harry watched the magic around him dance a mirror to his and Tom's emotions, and imagined that they were back in their cold, small room at the orphanage.
"Now," Mr. Anderson said, "time for lunch. Follow me."
Everyone scrambled up at a truly impressive speed, bags thrown over shoulders
loudly, and feet scrabbling against the floor. Harry got up quickly, grabbing onto the bag that Tom thrust into his hand, and grabbing onto his shirt. Harry sped after Tom as they left the classroom in a hurry, Harry knocking his legs on a few chair legs. He heard Tom mutter an apology. Harry didn't care. He understood.
Lunch turned out to be a surprisingly loud affair. After saying prayers (well, Harry and Tom only mouthed them because religion hated magic) the lunch room swelled with laughter, loud talking, and the clink of utensils against plates. The table that Harry and Tom sat at, with their classmates, however, was almost completely silent.
"I can't believe that was allowed!" Athy said.
"Neither can I," Janice agreed. "Hey, your name is Paul, right? Are you okay?"
Harry listened carefully, but he didn't hear anyone say anything. That wasn't a
good sign.
"We just have to stay out of his way," Harry said. "If we don't draw attention to ourselves, then we'll be fine." Harry didn't believe his own words, but he heard a few people slump. Perhaps that did help some of his classmates.
"I doubt that will work," Tom said, which made Harry scowl. Tom was such a
downer. "He seems to be the kind that enjoys picking on someone. The only thing that will change is who is the target."
"Why do you speak like that?" Athy asked. "You sound like a grown-up."
Harry laughed. "Tom likes to read dictionaries for fun." He smirked as Tom's magic curled in irritation.
"Do not," Tom said coldly.
"That's what you want everyone to believe!" Harry said sweetly. Harry bit his lip as everyone around them started laughing as well. While cheering everyone up was certainly a good thing, he didn't think doing it at Tom's expense was a good idea. But it was too late.
An elbow jabbed into his side, in the exact same place as before. Harry bit back another yelp.
"You deserve it," Tom hissed under his breath.
"Sorry," Harry whispered.
"You can read?" Janice asked. "That's amazing! I don't think anyone knows how to do that yet."
"Yes," Tom answered shortly.
"How about you, Harry?" Athy asked. "You look like his friend."
"No," Harry said. "Being blind makes it a bit difficult to decipher the letters."
"You're blind?"
"I couldn't tell at all…"
"What does des...eye...fur mean?"
Harry sighed. "I was in an accident when I was small and now I can't see anymore. Decipher means to understand."
The rest of lunch continued with Harry being bombarded with questions, and Tom's increasing irritation. After lunch, everyone headed out to the front of the school. There, Harry was dragged away by Tom to stand underneath a tree some distance away from the others.
"Do you want new friends?" Tom asked angrily.
"No?" Harry said. "Why would you think that?"
"You were answering their questions and joking and laughing about me," Tom said. "I thought that meant that I wasn't important to you anymore."
"Tom!" Harry said. "I'm sorry! I just forgot we weren't home."
"Don't call that place home!" Tom said. "You know it's not."
"Sorry," Harry muttered.
"You better be!" Tom said. Harry leaned against the tree to his back, closing his eyes. Seeing Tom's roiling magic made him feel too guilty. After a few minutes, Tom whispered, "You know, it really made me upset when you practically ignored me during lunch."
"I'm sorry," Harry said. "It's just...everyone was talking and I thought I had to answer…"
Tom was silent for a while longer. "We're still best friends, right?"
Harry opened his eyes. Tom's magic was still...hopeful.
Harry grabbed onto Tom's hand. "Of course we are. The bestest friends ever."
They stood there for a few moments before Tom said, "You know, 'bestest' isn't a real word…"
"Shut up!" Harry said, Tom sniggering.
Their afternoon lesson didn't go as...quietly as the first.
Tom watched Harry's hands get rapped repeatedly with that blasted cane, feeling cold. The air tasted like cold despair. Harry was biting his lip, eyes closed, and the creature was grinning smugly as he kept bringing that cane down. Harry hadn't yet made a sound, and Tom felt a little proud of him for it. That creature would just enjoy the sound of Harry's pain even more.
Tom was fighting down the urge to jump on that creature and break his neck. He was sure that he could manage it somehow. Maybe if he put his whole weight behind it…
Every slap made Tom wince internally, and the sight of that creature's leer pulled a roiling rage out from deep within. Tom felt like he was fire and ice at the same time. Harry was his. Why was this happening?
It all started with a simple question.
"You, squirt, tell me what one plus one is."
Harry didn't know that the creature was asking him. Tom quickly nudged Harry, who glanced at him in shock before turning back to the front.
"Me?," Harry said.
The creature's face turned dark. "Yes, you, squirt. Are you blind?"
Tom felt horrified when he heard Harry reply clearly, "Yes, in fact."
"Are you making fun of me?" the creature had asked. The face had twisted.
"No, I really am," Harry insisted. "Didn't they tell you?"
No, no, no! Don't imply that the creature doesn't know something, Tom screamed mentally. But it was too late.
"You dare to question me?" the creature questioned, a note of what could have been shock in his voice. "That is simply unacceptable."
A few minutes later, they were in their present situation.
Harry was simply not careful enough. That creature was constantly searching for someone to dominate over. Tom decided to look for some books on human psychology the next time they visited the library. It wouldn't hurt.
But Tom had to do something. It was the first day. The ones who had brought attention onto themselves were no doubt going to be remembered; would suffer in the future. So...Tom decided that he would give that creature the others on a silver platter, if only he could keep himself out of it and keep Harry safe too. He had to.
Notes: Although there were schools for the blind for ages, during the 1930s many blind children still attended their residential schools with additional educational support. During the 1930s the use of the white cane became popular. Braille and a type of writing called New York Point were popularized in the 1880s: I assume that by the 1930s British schools would teach Braille. Before that existed a few writing systems which dealt in embossed letters.
I have found a few primary sources on British education during this time period, so I'm hoping to at least get the essentials correct. However, I will be extrapolating on the information and tweaking it a little bit, so take everything with a grain of salt! I am making up a school to use, as I don't want to incorrectly portray an actual school that existed in this time period!
Corporal punishment was definitely allowed and encouraged during this time period, unfortunately. Also, most schools had a definite religious leaning.
