Silver's memories of the next few days were very scattered. It was as though he had been through too much to take in anymore. The recollections he did have were very painful. The worst, perhaps, was the meeting with the Jules and Bernadette that took place the following morning. They didn't blame Silver for what happened, in fact both thanked them for bringing Sonic's body back to them. Jules sobbed through most of their meeting. Bernadette's grief seemed to be beyond tears "He didn't suffer then? I mean, after all, Jules, he died just when he won the tournament. He must have been so happy". Once it was over they both rose to their feet "You take care of yourself, dear". Silver took his bag of winnings "I thought…You should have this. Sonic's the one who should have gotten it" "Oh no, dear, it's yours. We-We couldn't".
Silver returned to Shinobi Tower the following evening. From what Coral and Razor told him, Locke had spoken to the school that morning at breakfast. He had merely requested that they leave Silver alone, that nobody ask him questions or badger him to tell the story of what had happened in the maze. Most people, he noticed, were skirting him in the corridors, avoiding his eyes. Some whispered behind their hands as he passed. He guessed that many of them had believed Breezie's article about how disturbed and possibly dangerous he was. Perhaps they were formulating their own theories about how Sonic had died. He found he didn't care very much. He liked it best when he was with Razor and Coral and they were talking about other things, or else letting him sit in silence while they played chess. He felt as though all three of them had reached an understanding they didn't need to put into words; that each was waiting for some sign, some word, of what was going on outside Soleanna and that it was useless to speculate about what might be coming until they knew anything for certain. The only time they touched upon the subject was when Razor told Silver about a meeting Mari-An had had with Locke before going home "She asked if you could come straight to ours at the summer, but Locke wants you to go back to Penders' Drive at least at first" "Why?" "She wouldn't tell me. She said Locke has his reasons".
The only other person besides Coral and Razor Silver wanted to spend time with was Big. Since they didn't have Defence classes anymore, they had a free period and would spend it going down to Big's cabin. The first time they came down Big pulled Silver into a one-armed hug "Good ter see yeh, mate. Good ter see yeh". Big brought them inside and poured them some tea "You alright?" "Yeah". Big shook his head "No, yeh're not. Course yeh're not. But yeh will be". Silver said nothing, "Knew he was goin' ter come back". The three looked up surprised he knew. Big nodded "Known it fer years, Silver. Knew he was out there, bidin' his time. It had ter happen. Well, now it has, an' we'll jus' have ter get on with it. We'll fight. Migh' be able ter stop him before he gets a good hold. That's Locke's plan, anyway. Great man, Locke. 'S long as we've got him, I'm not too worried. No good sittin' worryin' abou' it. What's comin' will come, an' we'll meet it when it does. Locke told me wha' you did, Silver. Yeh did as much as yer father would've done, an' I can' give yeh no higher praise than that". For the first time in the last few days Silver smiled "What did Locke ask you and Windermere to do, Big?" "Got a little job fer me over the summer. Secret, though. I'm not s'pposed ter talk abou' it, no, not even ter you lot. Windermere might be comin' with me. I think she will. Think I got her persuaded" "Is it to do with Finitevus?". Big flinched at the sound of the name "Migh' be. Now, who'd like ter come an' visit the las' Plasma with me? I was jokin', jokin'!" he added hastily at the look on their faces.
It was with a heavy heart that Silver packed his trunk up in the dormitory on the night before his return to Penders Drive. He was dreading the Leaving Feast, which was usually a cause for celebration, when the winner of the Inter-House Championship would be announced. He had avoided being in the Great Hall when it was full ever since he had left the hospital wing, preferring to eat when it was nearly empty to avoid the stares of his fellow students. When he, Razor, and Coral entered the Hall, they saw at once that the usual decorations were missing. The Great Hall was normally decorated with the winning House's colours for the Leaving Feast. Tonight, however, there were black drapes on the wall behind the teachers' table. Harry knew instantly that they were there as a mark of respect to Sonic. The real Striker was sitting at the staff table now, reunited with his magical eye patch, gold claw and trident. He was extremely twitchy, jumping every time someone spoke to him. Silver couldn't blame him; Striker's fear of attack was bound to have been increased by his ten-month imprisonment in his own trunk. Benedict's chair was empty. Silver wondered, as he sat down with the other Shinobi, where Benedict was now, and whether Finitevus had caught up with him. Windermere was still there. She was sitting next to Big. They were talking quietly together. Further along the table, sitting next to Echo, was Infinite. His eyes lingered on Silver for a moment as Silver looked at him. His expression was difficult to read. He looked as sour and unpleasant as ever. Silver continued to watch him, long after Infinite had looked away. Part of Silver did wonder what Locke sent Infinite to do but it was overtaken by a bigger question. What could Infinite possibly have done to convince Locke he was truly on their side. Silver's musings over this question were stopped when Locke rose from his seat. His usual podium for when he addressed the school was not there "The end of another year…".
It was an unsettling sight, for the first time ever Silver watched Locke struggle for words. He glanced at the Yagyu table "But this year has been met with tragedy and so today…We acknowledge… A really terrible loss. Someone should be sitting here with us enjoying this feast. I would like you all to raise your glasses to Sonic the Hedgehog". The benches scraped as everyone in the hall, Soleanna, Sylvania and Grimm all stood and raised their glasses "Sonic the hedgehog!". Silver caught glimpse of Amy at the Gossamer table, there were tears rolling down her face. As everyone sat back down Locke continued "Sonic the Hedgehog as you all know exemplified many of the qualities that distinguish of Yagu house. Sonic was exceptionally hard working, infinitely fair minded and most importantly…He was a fierce, fierce friend. His death has affected you all, whether you knew him well or not. I think that you have the right, therefore, to know exactly how it came about". Silver raised his head as Locke said "Sonic the Hedgehog was murdered by Lord Finitevus!". A panicked whisper swept the Great Hall. People were staring at Locke in disbelief, in horror. He looked perfectly calm as he watched them mutter themselves into silence "The Ministry of Magic does not wish me to tell you this. It is possible that some of your parents will be horrified that I have done so, either because they will not believe that Lord Finitevus has returned, or because they think I should not tell you so, young as you are. It is my belief, however, that the truth is generally preferable to lies, and that any attempt to pretend that Sonic died as the result of an accident, or some sort of blunder of his own, is an insult to his memory". Locke allowed the crowd another moment before saying "There is somebody else who should be mentioned in connection to Sonic's death. I am of course talking about Silver the Hedgehog".
A kind of ripple crossed the Great Hall as a few heads turned in Silver's direction before flicking back to face Locke "Silver managed to escape Finitevus. He risked his own life to return Sonic's body to Soleanna. He showed, in every respect, the sort of bravery that few wizards have ever shown in facing the Dark Lord, and for this, I honour him" Locke again raised his goblet. Almost everyone in the hall followed suit except this time a few of the Raijus including Rutan, Rough and Tumble didn't touch their goblets. Locke ignored them "Now the pain we feel over this terrible loss reminds me…Reminds us that the Emerald Championship's aim was to further and promote magical understanding. In the light of what has happened, of Lord Finitevus return, such ties are more important than ever". Locke looked to Windermere and Big, to Mina and her fellow Sylvania students and then to Reynard and the Grimm. Silver noticed Reynard looked wary, almost frightened as if he thought Locke was going to say something harsh. Instead as Locke stared at the Grimm students "Every guest in this Hall will be welcomed back here at any time, should they wish to come. I say to you all, once again in the light of Lord Finitevus' return, we are only as strong as we are united, as weak as we are divided. Finitevus' gift for spreading discord and enmity is very great. We must stand together. We may come from different places and speak in different tongues, but our hearts beat as one. We must remember that because I believe, and never have I so hoped that I am mistaken, that we are all facing dark and difficult times. Some of you in this Hall have already suffered directly at his hands. Many of your families have been torn asunder. A week ago, a student was taken from our midst". He paused again, there was a look of great pain behind his eyes "Remember Sonic. Remember, if the time should come when you have to make a choice between what is right and what is easy, remember what happened to a boy who was kind and honest and brave and true, because he strayed across the path of Lord Finitevus. Remember Sonic the Hedgehog".
Silver's trunk was packed, Lily was back in her cage on top of it. He, Razor and Coral were all waiting in the crowded entrance hall with the rest of the fourth years for the carriages that would take them back to Spiral Hill station. It was another beautiful summer's day. He supposed that Penders Drive would be hot and leafy, its flower beds a riot of colour, when he arrived there that evening. The thought gave him no pleasure at all "Silver". Mina Mongoose walked over to him and shook his hand "We will see each uzzer again, I 'ope. I am 'oping to get a job 'ere, to improve my Eenglish" "It's very good already" Razor said. Mina smiled at him which made Coral scowl. Mina looked back to Silver "Goodbye. It 'az been a pleasure meeting you, Silver!". Mina rejoined the Sylvania students who were waiting to get into the carriage which was ready to take off. Razor watched the Grimm students "I wonder if they can steer the ship without Benedict" "Benedict didn't steer". They turned around, Reynard was standing behind them "He stayed in his cabin and let us do the vork". He smiled at Coral "Could I have a vord" "Oh…Okay" Coral looked slightly flustered as she followed him. "You better hurry. The carriage is leaving soon!" Razor called after her. They returned very quickly; Coral had a passive unreadable expression. Reynard turned to Silver and hesitently spoke "I liked Sonic. He vos alvays polite to me. Alvays. Even though I vos from Grim…with Benedict" "Have you got a new headmaster yet?". Reynard shrugged and then shook Silver's hand and then shook Razor's. Razor looked like he was suffering some kind of internal struggle "Can I have you autograph!" he blurted out. Coral had to turn away to hide her laugh. Reynard looked surprised but then happily signed a piece of parchment to Razor.
The weather could not have been more different on the journey back to Radical Train than it had been on their way to Soleanna the previous September. There wasn't a cloud in the sky. The trio managed to get a compartment to themselves. They talked more fully and freely than they had all week as the train sped them southward. Silver felt as though Locke's speech at the Leaving Feast had unblocked him, somehow. It was less painful to discuss what had happened now. They broke off their conversation about what action Locke might be taking, even now, to stop Finitevus only when the lunch trolley arrived. When Coral returned from the trolley and put her money back into her schoolbag, she dislodged a copy of the Daily Prophet that she had been carrying in there. Silver looked at it, unsure whether he really wanted to know what it might say, but Coral, seeing him looking at it, said calmly "There's nothing in there. You can look for yourself, but there's nothing at all. I've been checking every day. Just a small piece the day after the third task saying you won the tournament. They didn't even mention Sonic. Nothing about any of it. If you ask me, Max is forcing them to keep quiet". Silver scoffed "They'll ever be able to keep Breezie quiet". Coral then gave the widest smile Silver had ever seen from her "Oh, Breezie hasn't written anything at all since the third task. As a matter of fact, Breezie isn't going to be writing anything at all for a while. Not unless she wants me to spill the beans on her". Razor stared at her looking slightly concerned "What did you do?" "Found out how she was listening in on private conversations when she wasn't supposed to be coming onto the grounds". Silver felt like she had been waiting to tell them this for a while "How did you find out?" "Well, it was you who gave me the idea, Silver. Bugging". Silver didn't understand "But you said-" "Not electronic bugging. You see Breezie the Hedgehog…".
There was the sound of triumph in her voice "Is an unregistered Shifter". She took a glass jar out of her bag. Inside was a few twigs, green leaves and a green winged ant. Silver's mouth fell open "You're kidding!" "I am not. I caught her on the windowsill in the hospital wing after you went to sleep. Look very closely, and you'll notice the markings around her antennae are indigo just like ends of her quills. If I'm not mistaken she was waiting at the Divination window when you had your dream" "And that's what Rutan was talking to" Razor said. He was staring at Coral with great admiration. Coral watched the ant hit angrily against the glass "I'll let her out when we get to Knothole. I've put an Unbreakable Charm on the jar, you see, so she can't transform. And I've told her she's to keep her quill to herself for a whole year. See if she can't break the habit of writing horrible lies about people" "Very clever!". Rutan was standing at the door with Rough and Tumble. Coral put the jar back in her bag. Rutan somehow looked more arrogant than usual "You caught some pathetic reporter, and the Hedgehog is Locke's favourite boy again! So what?". They didn't say anything which made Rutan smirk "Trying not to think about it. Trying to pretend it hasn't happened" "Get out!" Silver shouted. Rutan crossed his arm "You picked the wrong side, Hedgehog! I warned you! I told you you ought to choose your company more carefully, remember? When we met on the train, first day at Soleanna? I told you not to hang around with riffraff like this!". He jerked his head at Razor and Coral "Too late now! They'll be the first to go, now the Dark Lord's back! Mudbloods and Muggle-lovers first! Well…Second, Sonic was the f-". It was like someone set off bunch of fireworks.
Silver closed his eyes and when he finally opened them Rutan, Rough and Tumble were lying in a heap on the floor. Silver, Razor and Coral had all blasted hexes at them but they weren't the only ones "Thought we'd see what those three were up to" Ray said matt-of-factly. He stepped on Rough as he entered the compartment. Mighty followed "I don't think they'll be walking for a while". They all pushed Rutan, Rough and Tumble out into the hall and then closed the door. They all sat down and Silver felt like he should ask "You gonna tell us who you were blackmailing?" "Oh…That" Ray said darkly. Mighty shook his head "It doesn't matter. We've given up". The trio stared at them "Alright, alright, fine. It was Barker". Silver narrowed his "Barker? Why?" "You remember that bet we won at the Sky Chase Cup. Got some gold from it. Turned out it was Guardian Shark gold". Ray nodded, the memory clearly pained him "It disappeared by the next morning" "But it must have been an accident, right?" Coral said. Ray laughed bitterly "Yeah, that's what we thought, at first. We thought if we just wrote to him, and told him he'd made a mistake, he'd cough up. But nothing doing. Ignored our letter. We kept trying to talk to him about it at Soleanna, but he was always making some excuse to get away from us". Mighty sighed "And in the end he got very nasty. Told us we were too young to gamble, and he wasn't giving us anything. So, we wanted our money back" "He said no" Ray said. Razor remembered "But that was all your savings" "Tell me about it. Course, we found out what was going on in the end. Manic's dad had had a bit of trouble getting money off Barker as well. Turns out he's in big trouble with the goblins. Borrowed loads of gold off them. A gang of them cornered him in the woods after the World Cup and took all the gold he had, and it still wasn't enough to cover all his debts. They followed him all the way to Soleanna to keep an eye on him. He's lost everything gambling. Hasn't got two rings to rub together. And you know how the idiot tried to pay the goblins back?" "What?". Mighty pointed at Silver "Put a bet on you, Mate" "So, that's why he kept wanting to help me. Did you get your money back then?". Ray shook his head "Turns out those Goblins are just as bad as him. You tied with Sonic and Barker bet you'd win outright. So, he ran for it".
The rest of the journey passed pleasantly enough; Silver wished it could have gone on all summer, in fact, and that he would never arrive at Radical Train but as he had learned the hard way that year, time will not slow down when something unpleasant lies ahead, and all too soon, the Soleanna Express was pulling in at platform nine and three-quarters. The usual confusion and noise filled the corridors as the students began to disembark. Razor and Coral struggled out past Rutan, Rough and Tumble, carrying their trunks. Silver, however, stayed put "Mighty, Ray, wait a second". The twins stopped and watched Silver hold out his Tournament winnings "Take it" "What?" Mighty said flabbergasted. Silver shook the bag "Take it. It's for the joke shop". Ray shook his head "You're mental" "Listen, if you don't take it I'm throwing it down the drain. I don't want it and I don't need it. But I could do with a few laughs. We could all do with a few laughs. I've got a feeling we're going to need them more than usual before long". Mighty hesitantly took the bag and was amazed by its weight "Silver…This is a thousand Gold Rings" "I know. Think what you can make with that. Just don't tell your Mum where you got it. Although she might not be so keen for you to join the Ministry anymore, come to think of it" "Silver…". Silver raised his hand "Take it or I'll hex you. I've learned some pretty good ones this year. Just do me one favour, okay? Buy Razor some different dress robes and say they're from you". Silver rushed out of the compartment and over Rutan before Mighty and Ray could stop him.
Beyond the barrier Uncle Menthor was waiting. Mari-An was next to him, she hugged Silver very tightly when she saw him "I think Locke will let you come to us later in the summer. Keep in touch, Silver". Razor patted him on the back "See you, pal". Coral kissed him on the cheek "Bye, Silver". Mighty and Ray finally caught up "Silver… Thanks". Silver shook their hands before following Menthor out of the station. There was no point worrying yet, he told himself, as he got into the back of the car. As Big had said, what would come, would come and he would have to meet it when it did.