The Boy Born With Everything ✔

Year 3

His friends were beginning to get worried.

It felt like the time they saw Shoto being verbally assaulted by his father via Howler was a lifetime ago, but the memory was never completely forgotten. 

When they returned after Summer it seemed most of them had forgotten about Shoto saying he would be travelling for several conventions with aurors from around the world. But, in fact, they hadn't. The Gryffindors found him in a cabin on the Hogwarts Express, looking solemnly out the window at the families waiting to wave their children off. And honestly, he looked exhausted.

His complexion was paler and he looked thinner, his heterochromatic eyes lacking the usual shine at being around his friends and being at Hogwarts. He was the same as ever in conversation, saying little but being an attentive listener, and participated in a game of I Spy when Tsu suggested it.

He didn't eat as much at the feast, and only clapped in relief and not excitement when the Sorting was over. He didn't even notice when his friends from the other houses waved over to the Gryffindors as they all went to their separate houses, missing the concerned glances headed his way.

But whatever seemed to have him in low spirits the night before was gone the next morning, and he discussed their new timetables animatedly over a breakfast of hot porridge and fresh apples. He gave a small smile when somebody said hello, and even indulged in listening to Denki talk about his crush on Jirou that had been developing since the middle of their second year. He excelled in classes, as usual, and was always found doing extra work on advanced spells or potions in the library, and was the same diligent and hardworking student as he always was. But...

Shoto was exhausted.

His father did indeed take him abroad for conventions with other aurors, but not to discuss the rising problem of a group of dark wizards who called themselves the League, but rather to practise physical combat and spell casting with them. To others it would be a once in a lifetime opportunity, but for Shoto it meant long days with little breaks, only short snacks and restless nights where he anticipated a sudden attack from his father. His wand never left his hand, so much so that the ivy pattern around the handle end was indented into his skin.

He didn't get to see his mother, had long since given hope of seeing his siblings, and mourned the day of Touya's death in the solitude of midnight, in his small bed in his plain room, grasping onto a worn out photograph of his family, the only one where they were all together. Smiles were plastered onto their faces, laughing bitterly at him as he knew how fake they were. He didn't know it then, how broken the esteemed Todoroki family truly was, and all he wished for now was to return to that blissful ignorance.

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For Shoto, the days at Hogwarts began to feel as monotonous as his time abroad. Each lesson was full of content he already knew, and the spells were all too familiar in the flick of his wrist, the mutter of an incantation under his breath. They weren't supposed to practise silent spellcasting until their 5th year, when they chose their OWL subjects, but it was something he was taught over summer, meaning it was second nature by now. 

It did come in handy at the start of the year, though, as he could perform spells to ease the ache of his bruised limbs, and to give him a burst of energy, meaning he could make it through the day without passing out from fatigue. He also spent less time hanging out with his friends, and more time alone in his dorm room, curtains drawn as he willed himself to fall asleep, or cramming knowledge into his brain in case his father tested him on it over winter holiday. 

Everyone was concerned, often casting worried glances across the table during meals, and when Shoto declined their offer to spend Saturday afternoon in Hogsmeade together, visiting Zonko's Joke Shop and drinking Butterbeer in The Three Broomsticks. They didn't know that Enji had not signed the permission form allowing Shoto to go to Hogsmeade, saying that it was a foolish waste of time when he could be focusing on his school work.