The Halfwolf (Year 1)

Who is Mr. Nott?

Matt stared from Teddy to Zach as he sat in the middle of the floor of their shared dormitory. They, mostly Teddy, had just finished recounting the events of the evening leading up to their dismissal from the Headmistress's office half an hour ago. Zach was unconsciously rubbing his forearm again, while Teddy was watching Matt tiredly from his vantage point laying out on the floor. He had pulled one of his pillows off his bed and was leaning his elbows on it, holding his head up. No one spoke. Finally, Matt fixed Zach with a hard stare and spoke.

"You've been talking to Cedric instead of us?" he asked reproachfully. Zach looked up at him in confusion, and instantly recoiled at the expression on Matt's face. "Your best mates were in the same bloody room, and you never thought to talk to us? To talk to actual people? To your FRIENDS?!" Matt was on his feet now, towering over the sitting Zach, who looked extremely taken aback by this sudden change in Matt's demeanor. Teddy was also a bit shocked at the outburst. Zach, however, seemed to recover from this momentary shock quickly and went instantly on the defense.

"You lot didn't give a damn how I felt! You never even bothered to ask!" He was on his feet now, dwarfing the still enraged Matt by at least 4 inches. The two continued to shout back and forth at one another, Teddy staring back and forth between the two like he was watching a badminton match.

"We did so! But all you wanted to do was shout at everyone any chance you got!"

"Because I didn't know how else to react! I can't talk about it you bloody lunatic!" he ripped off the jumper he had thrown on with his pajama bottoms and thrust out his arm to Matt, which was covered in bright red lines. "It burns if I get too close to talking! It reminds me to keep quiet!" Matt grabbed ahold of his wrist and yanked him forward, their chests only inches apart, still shouting up at him.

"You pompous moron! I still would have helped! I'd done whatever I could!" About that time, Teddy heard heavy footsteps running up the staircase outside the door from his spot on the floor. The door flew open, and Tyson flung himself into the room, wand raised and looking around frantically. The two shouting boys were oblivious to his entry, but Teddy gave him an exasperated expression as he stood and made his way towards him. Tyson dropped the hand holding his wand to his side and gave Teddy a confused look. Teddy shook his head.

"Shut that will you? And fix it so they don't wake anyone else up? They're going to be at this for a while." Tyson, still looking confused, shut the door and cast a quick silencio on it, then joined Teddy on the floor against the wall beside the door, looking up at the arguing first years.

"What the bloody hell are they on about?" he whispered out of the corner of his mouth to Teddy. Teddy nodded towards them.

"Listen to them for a few and you'll have a pretty good idea." Tyson sat forward, elbows on his knees, and listened to the shouting first years.

"For the hundredth time, Matt, there is nothing you can do! I don't want to talk about this anymore, alright?" Zach was rubbing his arm almost feverishly now as he stared pleadingly at Matt. But he was too angry to care. Tyson watched him for a moment, and in the midst of his rubbing on his arm, he inadvertently pulled up the sleeve of his jumper and the bright red lines stood out against his pale skin. Tyson's eyes widened in understanding.

"I can ruddy help! You can talk to me! Maybe not about exactly what's going on, but you could have told me something was wrong. We're supposed to be best mates." Matt swiped his hand angrily across his face.

"What does it matter? Why does this bother you so bloody bad?" Zach shouted. Matt stood very still as he stared at Zach. Teddy felt a prickle of unease settle into his stomach. He cared about Zach, too. But Matt was losing his mind with fury over him not confiding in him. Was this what he wouldn't tell him all those weeks ago when they were in the Hall of Heroes? Is Zach...? Teddy's thoughts were cut off as Tyson spoke allowed, drawing the other two boys' attention to him.