With the capture of Verandi Farley and several high-ranking Trossach members, the British wizarding world has finally caught a break. The rate of rogue werewolf attacks have started dropping at a steady rate and, hopefully, things will stay that way. The Ministry is starting to loosen some restrictions, like not arresting werewolves standing on the street for loitering, however there’s still an obvious power imbalance between wizardfolk and werewolves.
The Cotswolds pack are continuing to advocate for the rights of werewolves and petitioning to change the legislation that has been set in motion by the current Minister for Magic, whilst the remaining Trossachs members are trying to stay out of the spotlight and keep a low profile… for now.
Whilst the British wizarding world seems to have calmed down, the same cannot be said for over in Northern Europe where a rebellion of magical creatures has risen. The state of things has gotten so bad that the European Ministry has enacted protocols to protect those under eighteen whilst their adult witches and wizards fight to keep control of their countries.
Students from Durmstrang have been sent to Hogwarts to keep them safe and those not old enough to attend school have been sent to live with relatives or designated British Ministry officials outside of Europe for the time being.
Will the low rates of werewolf attacks in Britain continue? How long will Durmstrang students stay at Hogwarts? Will the creatures usurp the wizardfolk in Northern Europe? Only time will tell.
SEPTEMBER 2019 It's been a very long, eventful summer in the wizarding world. A baby was stolen, several high ranking Trossach members were imprisoned, and werewolf attacks have drastically dropped as a result. What will happen now school has returned?
MAY 2019 An attempt to capture the beta of the Trossachs has been launched. Were the Aurors successful in their mission? Go read more here!
Screw festives and screw this school. Why the hell would he attend something so long daunting and annoying. Any detention would be better than hearing all that mindless blabla of those hypocrite teachers. The entire school was probably better off without him being there anyways. After recent summers it became all the more clear to him. This fake protection and happiness was not one where he belonged. His mother had made that clear to him. Their entire family was messed up and worked better in the shadows of society. Yet Vito had him return to this forsaken place. Probably only to have the shop to themselves again that jerk.
The ride back was terrible. Because of his mother’s ‘kind’ lectures, Dio found himself riding a train with a severe concussion. Merlin help the poor soul that had to clean a carriage covered in puke. At least he had been able to find a place all to himself. However it might be due to the dark aura scaring other students away. He had avoided Alex since boarding. While other students would probably make Dio’s bruises and injuries as a street fight the angry boy got himself in, Alexander would know better. They’d been through this during last winter and Dio was not in the mood for another lecture from sweet auntie Alex.
Once he arrived at the castle, he managed to sneak from the crowd. Finally he’d be able to relax. The lone Slytherin made his way to the towers where he would have his own start of the term feast. Walking the stairs made him sick but he went on. Dio had no clear plan, he just went with whatever he carried with him or his mind set him too. Some time was spent broodingly staring out of the window while sipping cheap vodka straight from the bottle. Half down he felt like it was a good idea to take out his knives and play with them for a while. Inside his bag he found some pictures he’d gathered over the years. One family picture with his mother and a younger Dio, a newspaper cut out with his dad pictures on it and last a bad shot he made himself of his half brother. These would suit perfectly well for target practice. At first it was relaxing but the more he got into it, the more underlying anger came out. The throws became more intense with each one to the point he no longer carefully pulled his knives back from the wall. The blades cut in his hand palms but Dio pressed on.
That was when he heard footsteps. Dio was on instant alert mode but just incontrol enough to throw the knife just in front of the person’s feet instead of at the person. Was the feast over already? “Stay there,” he growled as he stumbled back to the bottle he left near the window. Over his shoulder he glanced at the person who stood there and noticed a familiar face. Tsk, if it weren’t for the look on her face, Dio would’ve resorted in making a jackass comment and sending her away. After taking a large swing, he screwed the lid closed again and rolled the bottle to the otherside of the tower and pointed towards it. “You can sit there but don’t think of getting close.” While he had calmed down a little, Dio felt like he could hurt someone if pushed the wrong button.
AGNES CLEARWATER Note: I thought it would be a nice hook if it took place after the Start of the Term Feast which Dio didn’t attend. However if you had plans with Aggy that same night I can easily change it to after another night dinner.
5'11 | dangerous outside soft inside | single | hetroflexible
Aggy had only just manage to barge her way out of the Great Hall before she'd found a bin, retching the contents of her stomach up into it, the touch of Evan's large hands still burning through the material of her shirt. Why couldn't he understand that he... he couldn't just do that? Not anymore. She didn't want anyone to do that. They didn't have the right to touch her as they pleased, just like... like he hadn't back when...
Her thoughts jumbled, breath still escaping her body raggedly, Aggy let her feet guide her. It wasn't until she was standing in the doorway, Dio Greyback (that was him, right?) growling at her, 'You can sit there but don’t think of getting close,' that she realised she was in the Astronomy Tower. "I... okay," was all that escaped her, voice oddly soft, as she sat down where he'd told her she could, body curling inward as she drew her knees to her chest. It wasn't often she was so... submissive, but she didn't have it in her to argue. It felt like too much effort and she was tired of fighting.
Sniffling, Aggy swiped at her nose... and that was when she felt the wetness coating her cheeks. When had she started crying? She didn't know but... it didn't really matter. The sound of a bottle clinking against the floor had her blinking and leaning forward, she wrapped her fingers around the glass. Vodka, the label said. "You're not trying to poison me, are you?" she asked half-heartedly, already twisting off the cap. "Maybe you'd be doing me a favour if you were." With that out in the open, she took a swig that was longer than necessary. "Speaking of murder... do you have any cigarettes? Just in case the poison doesn't work, I'll take the long route of dying instead."
Good she was staying there. Alright he wouldn’t hurt her if she stayed out of his range. His eyes shot in her direction. Something about Clearwater was off. Even an intoxicated Dio could notice that. The fueled anger part in him was disappointed he didn’t get an usual sharp remark back. Because Merlin could use a good brawl right now. All the energy around the Gryffindor was different. The little bit of sense left in him chained himself to the window still opposite of Agnes’. Agnes’ timid response gave him enough time to realize he shouldn’t get near her for her own safety. He wasn’t in the power to send her away either. If anything he was grateful for the change of setting because at several points he had been ready to use one of those knives on himself or open the window for some ‘fresh air’.
He left the knife he’d thrown where it was. That was a good mark of separating the room in two. Another knife came out of his pocket which he used to poke the dirt away from under his nails. Quite a relaxing activity. Just then he noticed he’d cut his hands several times, making a messy work. It was better to just leave it like that. Dio brought his knees to his chest and stared at Agnes through the window reflection, fearing that direct eye contact would trigger something in him. Something that even he feared.
The half hearly attempt of a joke brought a painfully bitter grimache on Dio’s face. “Well, if I accidentally took the wrong bottle with me… I’ll likely drop to the floor before you do. If that happens, please leave me be. I’ll see you on the other side,” he attempted to sound funny but the tone of his voice was filled with dread. The mention of cigarettes was a very welcome reminder. “You know, that sounds like a bloody good idea.” Dio managed to find his pack albeit it being a little dent but none broken. He took one for himself before throwing the pack to the other side of the room. After lighting his cigarette, his head calmed a little further down. “Life is biting you in the ass too, huh? Fuck you world,” he said as he rose his middlefinger to the sky.
As Aggy sat there, wiping at her eyes, she couldn't help but notice the knife sticking out of the wall. "What are you? Training to be Norman bloody Bates? Do I need to be uber careful when I shower now to make sure you're not getting ready to stab me? Do I need to practice my scream so it's pitch perfect?" Aggy's words weren't quite as sarcastic as she intended them to be... in fact, they were deadpan, if anything, but... she didn't really care enough to put much effort behind them. She was just speaking to fill the quiet space, to try and distract herself from the misery she was currently feeling.
"Plus side of drinking poison is that I'll fulfill my eternal wish of spending the rest of my life with you," Aggy said, voice weak yet again before she leaned forward to grab the cigarettes that landed on the ground after being thrown. Her catching skills were absolute shit even when somebody had perfect aim.
Sliding a cigarette out of the carton, Aggy stuck it between her lips before grabbing her wand from her robe pocket. Then using the tip and a muttered spell, she lit the end. "I don't know what you're talking about. Life is going swimmingly and I definitely didn't just... just..." Run out on my best friend. Letting out a frustrated sigh behind gritted teeth, she confessed,"I just wish people would stop being so... people-like. Not that I want them to be like animals, but - I don't get why they always have to insist on touching. Do you know how many people tried to hug me today? Then they look offended when I have to try and dodge them. It's... not everyone likes being touched. It's normal, right?" As soon as the question left her lips, she regretted it. 'Right. Good job, Aggy. Ask Dio Greyback to be the authority on what's normal,' she thought, grimacing.
Dio was brooding by himself when Agnes started speaking again. He noticed her eyes were looking at his knife work. However, since he didn’t understand muggle stuff, her words greatly worried him. The lack of a sarcastic tone made him believe it was true. “Oi, who the hell does this Norman think he is? Is he stalking you? You should definitely go to the aurors about this. Hell, the aurors better find him before I do because I’d make him wish he never was born,” he said in all seriousness. The expression on his face told her he was ready to hurt whatever bastard tried to murder her. At least then he had a good reason for violence and mayhem. Agnes might not be a friend of his and he stopped pursuing her since the rejection at Valentine. But she was one of the more decent people in this rotten school.
"Now doesn't that sound romantic," he mumbled trying to keep with the jokes but his tone lacked all emotion. He would have laughed if he was in a better mood. Dio watched her miserable attempt on catching the pack. "I bet your house is glad you don't play for their team."
"Yeah I can feel the joy just radiating from you," he scoffed and took a drag of his cigarette watching the trail of smoke from the tip. Dio listened to Clearwater's rambling and fell silent till her question hit him. "Not sure if I'm the advocate for this job but hey," he shrugged. He thought of the many times his mother had hurt and touched him to the point he would lash out if a friend only tapped on his shoulder. "… I hate being touched without warning. Sometimes it's fine but at times it can just… Ruin everything. And I never know before it happens what it is. You probably gain nothing by knowing you're on the same level as a guy you despise. Can't make it sound prettier than it seems." Dio's attempt to smile failed he didn't even manage to twitch the corners of his mouth."If you want people to stay away you can try to be an awful person . That has worked well for me." A little too well because at some point he had actually become that person. However most was probably due to his mother's influence.
Shit, well maybe Aggy should have put more effort behind her sarcastic pop culture references because suddenly, Dio was demanding to know who Norman Bates was and saying he intended to hunt him down and - "Okay, firstly, the fact that you don't know who the legendary cinematic horror lord Norman Bates is, is a crime against humanity. All wizarding folks should get an assigned list of muggle movies to watch in their lives and Psycho should be near the top. If people understood what I was referencing, they'd find me funnier rather than just bitchy." Shaking her head, realising that maybe she should calm Dio down in some manner before he tore out of the owlery to hunt down a movie character, she decided to explain, "He's fictional. Not real. I was asking if you were training to be him because he stabs people in the shower and you're hanging about, playing around with knives."
Knowing that she had something in common other than very healthy self destructive tendencies wasn't all that weird, if Aggy was being honest. Different people had similarities all of the time. But... it was nice to hear that she wasn't alone in the Don't-Like-To-Be-Touchd Club. Before she could have the chance to comment on that though, Dio was making a remark on how she despised him. Aggy's eyes narrowed because being accused of something she'd never even said was grating on her. "Just because I don't fawn and coo over you doesn't mean I despise you," she said firmly. It didn't mean she liked him either, but Dio reminded her of Hannibal Lector sometimes - which he couldn't bitch about given he gave her literal rat bones for Valentine's Day - and she wasn't really inclined to be friendly with someone who drew comparisons to a fictional cannibal.
Dio went on to say that to keep people at arms length you had to be an awful person and Aggy blinked at him. She wanted to ask when this had become self-deprecation but tampered down on the urge, instead saying, "You probably don't remember me before third year, do you?" Most people didn't - instead of being prickly and loud-mouthed and all of those pleasant adjectives used to describe her now, Aggy had been... quiet. She'd been meek and mild-mannered. She'd been afraid of being disliked intensely by everyone. But when it had happened... everything had changed, and she'd done a complete 180 in every single way.
Of course, it was a reference to a muggle mover or whatever those things were called cinemats. Dio groaned and bit his nails, trying not to burst out in anger because he didn’t understand a reference. He had been seriously worried just now. Damn you Clearwater. “You and your muggle movers,” he huffed and shook his head. “Perhaps you should try to talk wizarding English if you don’t want people to misunderstand. I don’t know why but I got the feeling you’re doing it on purpose. Is that right, Clearwater? Having a little sadistic fun confusing simple wizard folk,” he teased back, trying to safe a little dignity if he had any left. The blonde crossed his arms when accused of a terrible crime. “Hmpf, where am I supposed to watch that. I can’t just blend in with muggle London. I’ve been living on the streets of Knockturn, heck I don’t even blend in with the common magic folk.” At least standing out in the magic community won’t get him in trouble. It’s be a matter of time before muggles would find out he was a wizard. Trigger happy Dio would pull a wand in no time.
“So, you’re comparing me to a guy who stabs people in the shower?” The Slytherin gave a deadpanned look. His eyes shot to the knives in the wall and the pictures of his family. “I haven’t killed anyone but sometimes I wish I had. I’m not brave enough to actually take someone’s life.” His mother would be so proud. Perhaps that was why Dio kept resisting the urge, he didn’t want to become the monster she was trying to make him into. He’d realized it now, that what they were doing was wrong. Was it too late to change?
The Slytherin pulled a face at Agnes’ word choice. Fawn and coo? “Please don’t ever say those words again,” he begged and shuddered in disgust. But aside from that there was still a lot of confusion left. “You don’t despise me even if I acted like a total creep, thinking I was in love with you. Perhaps you are crazy after all,” he joked, admitting his behavior was toxic and disgusting. He’d stopped acting like that a little after Valentine, realizing he was just horny and not actually in love. Shouldn’t bother a girl with his horniness.
An eyebrow was raised. “Remember you before third year?” Dio thought, noticing he really had to dig deep. It was a harder task than he had imagined because it was true; there were rarely no memories of Agnes before that time. Dio traced his memories, all the faces in class and what they did. He had been studying people so he should know, right? “I do remember a quiet, well behaved redhead … but… she, wait… Was that you?”
"You're cursing the movers now, Greyback? I'm sure those poor moving folk will be offended. They're just do their job, helping people move houses after all," Aggy said, before smiling sweetly as she was accused of purposefully trying to be confusing. That was precisely what she intended whenever she fused pop culture references into her sentences. "Is it really that sadistic though? I mean, us muggleborns get thrown into the very confusing wizarding world at eleven after growing up and being told magic is make believe, and we have to learn a whole different world completely. Is one or two references really that much of a hardship to endure? Not so convinced it is."
As Dio started proclaiming he couldn't just fit in with the muggle London, Aggy just raised an eyebrow at him. "Okay, you realise that apart from the robes, you don't look like a wizard? I mean, if you looked like some bizarro version of Elphaba, then maybe I'd tell you not to go into the muggle world but..." Aggy shrugged, before her eyebrows raised as he not-so-casually dropped the fact that he was living on the streets of Knockturn, quickly followed by how he was too weak to kill someone. She may as well been standing in the middle of a fireplace with a national-wide blaze happening, that's how loud the alarm bells started sounding. "Okay, one, I don't think committing murder makes you a brave soul - no matter how bad the person you want to kill is... doing that makes you stupid and it makes your arse end up in Azkaban. Two, why are you sleeping on the streets?"
"It really is self-deprecation hour, isn't it?" Aggy groaned as Dio admitted that he'd acted like a creep. Like, yeah, he had but... she didn't hate his guts for it. "You really think you're the first guy that's acted like that towards me? I'm a teenage girl, the size of a goblin... guys being creeps are a given.Like, sure, the rat was a bit much, but at least you've never leered at my non-existent chest or groped me without..." Asking. The words died half-way in her throat and Aggy's eyebrows furrowed as she glanced away. As creepy as Dio had been at times... he'd never tried to put his hands on her, never went to grab at her where he wasn't allowed. Not like he had, all... all grabby and insistent and...
Aggy took a deep inhale of her cigarette, noting it was approaching the end of it's life. She'd have to snub it out soon, but for now she'd let the smoke burn at her lungs as Dio tried to remember her before third year. "I was the quiet little redhead who always kept her mouth shut," she said, nodding in agreement. "And then... then, I stopped caring what people thought. I became quote-unquote awful, like you suggested I do, but it hasn't exactly made people stay away, now has it? So maybe your theory doesn't work all that well, or at least it hasn't for me."
"Moving folk has nothing to do with it. You know, movers. Long photos with sounds," he started but realized he was falling for the bait and groaned. "You little sly fox," the blonde hissed and glared in Agnes's direction. There was still nobody who could play his mind like this muggle based witch. Dio noticed he was in a much lighter head space then before. Sure he was getting annoyed but it was different. "Actually, I've always wondered what it's like for muggleborns. Must have been quite a shock. At least you get to go to a school that teaches you the how and whats, even if Hogwarts is a shit show full of bigots and boring twats. I can only imagine how hellish muggle schools must be if you decided to come to this circus of all places." This topic rose some questions. Dio paused and leaned back against the window. "What will you do after Hogwarts? Will you take a muggle job or a magic one?" He wasn't going to ask what job because honesty was there anyone of their age who really knew what they wanted.
"Not that different, huh?" Dio looked at himself in the window reflection and at Aggy. "I always thought all muggles were goblin sized like you, figured I'd stand out in a crowd of gnomes-people," he teased the Gryffindor with a devilish smirk. Noticing his cigarette was finished, he flicked it on the ground and put it out by stepping on it. Perhaps I should try the reverse psychology tactic. No actual wizard would go out dressed like a muggle image of a wizard right? To them I'd just be some dude dressed up for a party." This was obviously a joke, no way in hell would he go out in a silly costume. Go to the muggle world, huh? He'd never actually considered going there because, well what was he going to do?
At this point he was getting uncomfortable. The tall Slytherin shrunk in a small ball on the window still. The words Agnes said were directly in conflict than all he had learned. More and more Dio realized that the pain and harsh training he endured was based on a lie. A fake world his mother lived in and he was forced to participate. "I don't want to kill," he admitted to himself as he realized this. Perhaps it was something his brother had always seen in him. Maybe that was why he was rejected from joining the pack. Because he was weak. No wait. What did Agnes say? Dio didn't get it. He really had a hard time seeing things differently but he wanted to. He desperately wanted to be something else. "I don't sleep on the streets. When it gets too late I go in and sleep but I prefer not to be home too often because-" Dio cut off his words. He just couldn't get them out of his mouth.
"Ah… The towers seem to be a popular spot for that. Perhaps they're cursed," he said when Agnes called out on the mood. She was right. Dio pulled a face in disgust as Agnes shared stuff that was considered 'to be expected'. She sounded as if… "Can't believe you have to consider that a normal thing. Did those things actually happen to you? Fuck." Hearing this made him almost ashamed of being a man. Honestly he was out of control when it came to anger outbursts and violence. But this stuff… It didn't even make him feel better knowing there were more awful people than him. He was particularly fuming at the idea of people who just touched people without permission.
When Agnes shared her story, Dio looked away. "I have to admit I didn't even notice until you started being awful. There are probably more people like me. If you ask me you aren't really awful. The sarcastic sassy smart ass has its charms. A lot of people hate you but a lot of people like you too."
Aggy nodded very, very attentively as Dio tried to explain 'movers' to her. Long photos with sounds was... one of the most interesting ways she'd heard movies described, but she acted like she was rapt in what he was saying until finally he realised she was playing with him. "You got me. Put me in Azkaban and throw away the key, Greyback, for playing with your wizard mind," she said, thrusting her wrists in his direction jokingly.
As Dio launched into his opinion on muggle schools, Aggy was quiet for a moment - shocker, she knew - before saying, "Muggle school's fine. Is it boring now that I know what Hogwarts teaches? Yeah, but when I went to school in the muggle world, I was thoroughly invested in learning all about graphs and decimals and all that non-exciting wizarding stuff because at least I was learning something, you know? But... choosing between learning about maths and Transfiguration is a bit of a no-brainer. Who wouldn't want to learn magic? How to transform something with a word and a flick of your wand?" It was incredible. It was powerful, and Aggy... would never understand how wizarding folk took magic so for granted.
"I'm going to be a Curse Breaker," she answered, voice certain and sure. She'd wanted to be one since first year, and nothing else appealed to her as much. "Uh, I'd ask you what you want to do but like most of our conversations, I have a feeling your answer is going to be a very happy and unique muttered,'if I'm still alive by then.' I don't really want to help you keep up that whole shroud of mystery, Gerard Way-esque vibe you've got going on. Sorry." She had this tiny inkling that talking about Dio Greyback's demise was going to just make things even more depressing.
"If gnomes are goblin-sized then that's fucking terrifying," Aggy said bluntly. Goblins were small, sure, but they were double the size of normal garden gnomes. She took one more drag of her cigarette before following suite, stubbing it out like Dio had. "Look at you, trying reverse psychology tactics. Maybe I should start calling you Horkhiemer, hey? I'll introduce you too my dad as well. Never can have too many psychologists in one room." It was... laughable that was her father's profession, nearly as funny as her mum being a psychiatrist of all things. They were both bloody headcases. "Be careful dressing up unless you want a swarm of children around you. They love magic and wizards who dress up like stereotypes."
"Great because as much as I joke about it, I don't actually want to be in the company of a future murderer," Aggy said plainly. But then Dio was confessing he didn't actually sleep on the streets, just... sit there like some weirdo until it grew dark. If he was doing that, then it didn't take Einstein to deduce that there was something wrong with his home life... and hadn't he made that remark about the Cruciatus Curse in DADA last year? "Because... you live with your mum, right? What's she like?" Perhaps she could have approached the topic with more tact, but Aggy was an impatient girl. She didn't like to dance around topics where possible and maybe, just maybe, being forthright would encourage Dio to open up instead of taking a softer approach.
Those things had happened to Aggy, but she didn't want to talk about it anymore and she didn't answer, instead glancing out of the window briefly. When Dio told her she wasn't really awful, it took her off-guard and she blinked before saying, "Thanks... I guess. Sometimes I wish people didn't like me. I wouldn't end up hurting them so much by the way I act. By the way I am."
Fine, since he was kind of drunk and nobody else was there, he could play along. Dio took a stoic Ministry official pose. “Ms. Clearwarter, you’re being charged with the crimes of confusing magic kind, the worst kind of all. How do you plead?” Playing around like kids… Nobody better find out about this, Dio would deny everything.
Apparently, muggle schools were just fine. An eyebrow arched in surprised. “I’ve never actually seen it like that. This stuff is just so normal for me, I suppose,” he realized his privilege. “But you’ve got cars, I definitely want to ride one when I’m older. Flying is cool and all but cars look way more comfortable. Can’t play music on my broom.”
A curse breaker, huh? “I think it suits you. You’ve always been good with spells, putting quite a lot of lifelong witches at shame.” Not to mention she had the brain for the task. Agnes decided to answer his reply but Dio shook his head. “It might be a shock, but I don’t actually plan to die,” he crossed his arms and grinned. That’d be a waste after all this effort. “It’s just, I’ve always thought my future was to join the pack once I was worthy. But now I realize that’s the future my mum wants for me. What I want… I think I want to become a wand maker like Vito, taking over their shop in time,” he said, turning away because he noticed he was smiling. Yuck, smiling was gross. “Or maybe something else, I don’t know yet. But at least I know I don’t want to become a werewolf.” While that sounded like an obvious statement, it contradicted everything Dio had ever said. The blonde Slytherin had always been proudly telling his classmates that one day he’d make the Ministry pay for what they did and yada yada.
“Well, I guess you’re terrifying then because everyone is calling you a goblin-sized gnome,” he teased the Gryffindor with a sly smirk. There was still some of the old Dio inside of him. He pulled a face when Aggy started on the whole psychologist route. “Meeting your dad? What are we? Engaged? Thanks, but I’ll have to decline that offer,” he waved it a way with a queenlike hand gesture. “Kids? Urgh, never mind then. You’ll have me dress up like a normal muggle then, I want to see a mover but I ain’t taking risks.” Neither his mother or Vito would approve of it, which was exactly why he wanted to do it.
Through the evening Dio’s mood had been improving but it all seemed to fall when Agnes asked about his mother. His eyes shot to the floor and his body seemed to stiffen. He wanted to tell Agnes but- “She, eh… My mother is beautiful and strong. She is wonderful, I couldn’t have asked for a better mum. She loves me and I love her,” he repeated what he had been thought to tell the aurors whenever Vito had called them. Usually he sounded a lot more convincing than this. Hopefully it’s be enough because Merlin knows what she’d be capable of if her actions came to light. Even to this day, he still wasn’t strong enough to tell someone what was going on. McCarty knew by now but that was because he’d figured out on his own.
The Slytherin noticed the Gryffindor didn’t answer his questions. He decided not to pry. Silence often said enough, and he didn’t want Agnes to think of those things again if they had happened. “End up hurting them? This them, you’re friends like Wood. You’re afraid of hurting them? But how many times have they hurt you already? By just touching you, thinking it’s nothing? If you care this much about them, then it’s obvious you’re not awful. Nobody is perfect but you’ve got a heart, Clearwater. You’re not as harsh and cold as you think you are,” he firmly told her what he believed.
