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Spellbreaker

It had been a quiet year at the Australian University of Magical Studies. Few, if any, mishaps had occurred during the student's experiments in their specialised feild of magic. Out of the dozens of fields, there were several that were always popular; Summoning, Enchanting, Energy Casting, which is an offensive spellclass which few manage to master, Geomancy, Holy magics, and Time Magic, which was extremely dangerous despite it's popularity. Matthew Anderson, an aspiring young student, and his friends were out at lunch. He had brought one of his brightest teachers along, for today he was planning something different.

Though it was rumoured to be Dark Magic, a schooling which the university would not teach, Matthew was going to attempt to summon his Familiar animal. He had been going over it with his teacher for weeks, and had everything ready. He knew it was. He had memorised the spell to the letter; place a drop of your own blood on the pentagram, light the black Runewax candle and cast an untargeted summoning spell above the symbol; do not touch the page under any circumstances or the spell will be forfeit. He had even chosen the perfect place to cast, inbetween the Summoning block and the Timecast block, where the magical ley lines were strongest.

The 178 CM tall 69 kilo boy, his long chestnut hair and bright green eyes sat down at the courtyard. His school jacket left unzipped and his face constantly smiling brightly began his ritual, completley unaware of the student down the other end of the courtyard losing control of his own magic. Matthew's blood dripped onto the page which he had drawn a pentagram on and began to glow. He held his hand above the page, closed his eyes, lit the candle and began to cast. He had almost managed to identify the creature he would have as company for the rest of his life when his eyes flicked open and he spun his attention to the other side of the courtyard. He narrowly dodged an unintentionally cast spell, his hand narrowly missing the page.

"Oi!" he yelled. "Cancel your casting, you're going to kill someone you idiot!"

With his attention elsewhere, his hand lowered further, his teacher noticing a second too late.

"Matthew! Don't touch the paper!!" he warned as Matthew's hand connected with the sheet on the table.

Matthew's face contorted into pain, magic and lightning spun and crackled around him as he tried to concentrate on what he was doing. Images of destruction, hatred, fear and grotesque monsters flew through his mind, distracting him.

"It hurts!" He yelled over the roar through gritted teeth.

His teacher grabbed his friends and held them back. "Don't get too close or you could contamintae the magic!" He said to them. "Matthew! Break off! Dismiss the casting!"

Matthew nodded heavily, diverting his focus to breaking the bond. The paper started to let his hand go, almost breaking the spell before another spell flew across the courtyard and hitting him smack in the face. He felt his whole body freeze. Stop?! His eyes flicked across to the student who had been wrestling with his own powers, who simply stood with a smug look on his face.

"Call me an idiot will you?!" he yelled.

Matthew's teacher dashed to the student, trapping him in a binding magic. "You retard!" he yelled at him.

The paper on the table vanished underneath Matthew's hand as another shock of pain shook his body. His panicked eyes dart between his teacher and his friends before the magic holding him still breaks and he writhed, letting out one final scream of absolute torment before his body exploded into millions of motes of light, his fading voice echoing eerily in the now crowded courtyard.

As the students are rushed to their homerooms, the staff congregated in the immediate area, the Headmaster teleported in. Despite being only 42, the headmaster, Master Greywell had silver hair and beard, although it was only short and well trimmed. They bickered amongst themselves for a few minutes before the headmaster hushed them into silence.

"I believe the first thing to do is to call his parents here." he said slowly. "And we shall also be needing another pentagram. I shall bring the required items for what must be done." he finished, shooing them away. He turned and faced the sky. "I know you are still there, Matthew." He mumbled. "You are going to have to wait a few hours, but don't worry, I shall bring you back."

The scream that had long since faded rang out once more and the headmaster smiled.

"Hold on to that last thread of reality;" he continued "all that keeps you alive is at stake."

Later, after his parents had been told what had happened, the teachers lead the Andersons to the spot that their son had last been seen. The headmaster had a pentagram etched into wood on the tabletop, three pitch black Runewax candes lit and was sitting with his outstretched hand over the wood, the pentagram and candles glowed lightly in the dark of the night. Glowing motes spun in the air around him.

"Your son has not died, Mr. and Mrs. Anderson." he said calmly. "He is in the air all around us. Struggling to keep even that strong a form. I can bring him back, however he shall be unlike he was before. The spell has bound him to his familiar and he is... Different. If you wish it, I shall bring him back, however not doing so will probably kill him for sure."

Matthew's parents nodded. "Do it." his father said.

"As you wish."

the headmaster was surrounded in a powerful light. Wind blew through the courtyard to the table, sinning into a vortex which shone with the millions of motes of light which Matthew had evaporated into. The headmaster rose his hand into the spinning light and grabbed at it, catching a hand which promptly rematerialised the rest of Matthew's body behind it. The candles extinguished and the teachers gasped. Matthew was now covered in a coating of fur, his face had been distorted into a muzzle, ears now atop his head. He had a tail roughly as long and as thick as his arm, brown stripes curving across his body from the middle of his back to the middle of his tail. He panted heavily, smiling brightly as his clothes rematerialised on his body. He grinned, sharp pointed teeth in his mouth bared for all to see, said hello and collapsed. As he fell, his body glowed and transformed, arms grew shorter, his hands turned into paws, and his legs and feet changed more canine. He grew smaller, to about the size of a dog, and landed in a heap upon the table.

"What the hell is this?!" his mother screamed. "You said I'd get my son back!"

"I also said that the spell had changed him, merging him with his familiar." The headmaster said. "This is your son."

Matthew's father, a respected zoologist, simply walked over and inspected the sleeping creature carefully, his mouth open wide.

"Thylacinus cynocephalus, commonly called a Tasmanian Tiger." He mumbled. "Human kind has been searching for this species for years, since we believed we had hunted them to extinction, and yet here, my own son has been transformed into one."

The headmaster walked away, taking the candles and pentagram with him. The teachers followed suit, all except the teacher who had been with Matthew at the accident. He held out a small box.

"When he wakes, give him this. The symbol on them was inscripted by the headmaster and will help him to control his transofrmation. When he wants to become more humanoid, tell him all he needs to do is concentrate hard on that task."

Matthew's mother took the box as her husband lifted their son and they walked to their car.

Matthew awoke the next day, his eyesight blurry. His mother was sitting in his computer chair, watching him intently. She smiled when he noticed her.

"Welcome back to the land of the living." She said sarcastically. His father walked into the room and sat at the foot of the bed.

"I have the strangest urge to tell you to get off the furniture." he said. "But that could be because of how you look. C'mon, get up and get ready for school."

Matthew tried to stand up, but fell forwards and off the bed. He looked down at himself before yelping loudly. His father knelt down next to him.

"Hey, c'mon, don't be like that. Try concentrating on how you used to look and we'll give you a gift."

Matthew sat on his haunches, closed his eyes and focused. Magic shone around him as his form changed back into a more human shape, still retaining the tail and canine like head. His clothes returned to him, appearing like the fabric was being woven around him. his long hair pulled back and his hair tie formed around it, tying it behind his head. He opened his eyed and grinned, happy that he was again high enough to grab books off the bookshelf, but that smile quickly faded when he saw his reflection in his mirror. He pulled his jacket and shirt off and took another glance, letting out a low whine. He twisted to see his back, pulling at his tail, checking the stripes. He sighed heavily.

"I knew that something would go wrong if I touched the pentagram, but..." He scratched behind his ear, subconsiously kicking his leg. "I only thought it would rebound like other spells, not... This. I spent forever planning that spell and another student went and screwed it all up."

He rooted around in his head for solutions, something that would fix this, anything that could fix this as he pulled his shirt and jumper back on. Surely he couldn't life like this for the rest of his life! He'd be outcast! Shunned and hunted by those freaks from the High Energy Magic quarter, pobrably ending up suspended in their lab as some sort of an experiment! He fell to his kness just thinking about it, almost driven to tears.

'Don't panic.' a voice called out. 'I'm here to suffer along with you, so how about we get up off the floor and go get some breakfast?'

He spun around. "Dad, did you say something?" His father shook his head.

'Oh great!' He thought, 'Now I'm hearing things too?!'

'Nope.' the voice replied. 'You summoned a familiar and you got one, albeit differently to how we used to be summoned.'

"Dad, don't freak out-" Matthew started, slowly rising off the floor "But I think I have a bit of a problem."

His father chuckled. "You don't say."

"No, I mean... A different sort of problem..."

His father looked perplexed. "I'm pretty sure we went over the birds and bees before."

The voice in Matthew's head sighed. 'You might want to go over them again with your new... Anatomy. But I'd be more forward about this if I were you.'

"DadIthinkthereisavoiceinmyheadberightback!" He blurted out, rushing to the toilet and slamming the door behind him, things on shelves in his room rattling. Matthew's father turned to his wife and shrugged.

Matthew, however, was frantically undressing to see the full extent of the changes.

'If you're expecting what I think you're expecting, you had better prepare for a shock.'

Matthew finally got himself completley undressed and looked down, then, almost too afraid to look again, hid behind the door and called his father in.

"Dad, you're a Zoologist and all, could you come in here on a purely scientific state of mind please?" Matthew called through the door. His father opened the door and stepped in, closing it shut behind him.

"what seems to be the trouble then?" He said, turning to face his son.

"What's the problem?!" Matthew retorted, "Look at me!"

His father looked his son up and down. "I see nothing wrong here." he said "although it has been years since you've been naked infront of me, I must admit."

Matthew growled, so did the voice in his head.

"I'll spell it out for you then!" He said through gritted teeth. "I've. Got. No-"

His father grabbed him round the muzzle, holding his mouth shut. "Shhh, you don't want your mother to hear, do you?" Matthey shook his head what little he could. "Good." his father continued, releasing his son's face. "Look, this is how it works, the Thylacine male has a pouch in which its privates were hidden inside during most of its day. Obviously it's a trait that has followed through into you." He finished.

'They're also upside down compared to yours.' The voice said, slyly. Matthew's face twisted into shock embarrassment.

"The voice in my head says that they're upside down too!" He panicked.

"Yes, that too." His father replied. "This voice is strangely knowledgeable, what's its name?"

'I've never had a name.' the voice said in Matthew's head. 'But I was male, if that helps you in any way?'

"He says he never had a name." Matthew said aloud.

"He?" His father asks. "If it's got a gender, he'll need a name. But I'd also like to know where this voice is coming from."

'I'm already here, in your head. There is so much knowledge packed here that it's hard to get a foothold, but I'm wedging in nicely.'

"He said before that he's my familiar." Matthew explained, pulling his clothes back on. "I'd go and have Wheat Brix for breakfast, but I'm not sure how my new anatomy woul react."

'Wheat? Ugh, Badly. Trust me, you need something meaty. Don't settle for dogfood, get something worthwhile. Jerky is really good, and with your anatomy screwed up like it is you could probrably manage fruit or vegetables, but Wheat will make you sick.'

'Are you my familiar?'

'In as few words? Yes, I am. I am, however, also you. When you turn into your animal form, my natural instincts and senses replace yours. You'll find yourself seeking out small enclosed spaces when you're scared, wagging your tail when happy, and other things that I would do naturally.'

"And how do I go about turning back into the animal form, huh?" Matthew said aloud without realising it.

'Simple, just focus your energy on the shape of a canine animal and you should easily transform back.'

"Before you do that;" His father blurted out "The teaching staff wanted you to have these." He gave a pair of fingerless black leather gloves to Matthew, a golden image stitched onto the backs of the hands. "That image is no orinary stitching, it's golden Runeweave inscription. The runes in the thread word out an enchant that supposedly will allow you to control your shapeshifting better."

Matthew pulled the gloves onto his hands, the fur underneath shifting uncomfortably before settling back into place.

'I guess I should come up with a name for you now.' Matthew thought to his familiar. 'I have several names I'd like to give to a pet, why don't you probe my mind and choose one you like?'

Matthew's head stayed in silence for a short while as he ate breakfast and prepared his bag for school before his familiar finally came to a decision.

'Zanobi.' He said.

'Hmm, Zanobi, Latin meaning scaresly alive? Not a bad choice.'

'You know latin?'

'Well, we're supposed to learn another language to call out our chants with, though I've always gone with the silent route and it's always workd for me.'

'Not bad, you've already learned that chants are not required for the majority of spells. However the more powerful of spells do require you to know how to word it well.'

Matthew spent the remainder of his time constantly chatting to the familiar's voice in his head. He learned that, despite there being no such thing as light and dark magic, some spells were considered dark because they could kill the caster, and that light magic, such as the Holy schooling, could heal almost any wound if trained properly. He learned that summoners could weave shadows into fabric and rays of light into almost impregnable armour. Time magic could, if trained properly, stop a bee dead in its tracks without it even being aware of it, or even teleport the caster back in time, even though this was considered dark magic. Energy Casters could create whole thunderstorms, while Geomancers could get whole forests to uproot and dance, or create mountains in plains. Zanobi seemed to be at a los for what enchantes could do until Matthew explained that the field involved housing magic in objects to change their attributes, like making silk as durable as steel, or a bracelet allow you to lift boulders larger than trucks. Zanobie explained that this, to familiars, was called Enhancement and could do really incredible things with the right patterns. His gloves were a prime example, giving him a more strict control over his morphic abilities. It was then that he reached the school's gates. It was about two minutes into Homeroom, where students from each class was split into their own groups and the name roll was called out. He looked at himself in a puddle before stepping underneath a tree.

'What are you doing?' Zanobi asked.

'Tell me how to weave shadows.'

'What?'

'I want to weave shadows into fabric like you said was possible, can you tell me how to do it?'

Zanobi seemed to shuffle his feet in Matthew's head. 'I could, but you have to promise me something in return.'

'Sure. Anything.'

'We will see your principal at first opportunity, and don't start blocking me when I'm giving you advice on things!'

'Alright, deal!'

'Hold out your hand and close your eyes. Focus a summoning spell into your palm and concentrate on the shape of the garment you want, the spell should react ans start pulling the shadow into a denser form, then you simply need to swing your hand through the air and release the spell, it should force the shadows to form into a fabric as strong as burlap but smooth as silk. Dismissing shadow fabric simply requires you to throw it into light, as it cannot keep its form when not in the energetic field of a living being. Brightplate is much the same, only vanishes when you throw it into shadows.'

Matthew did as he was instructed, focusing as best he could on a heavy cloak with hood, finally swung his hand through the air, his fingers closing around the shadows he stood in and pulling a cloak out of the air. He pulled it around himself, pulled the long hood over his face and walked into school.

There was no one in the courtyards, he noticed. It was like walking through an abandoned town. He eventually made his way to his own homeroom, opened the door and stepped in, the chatter of the other students stopping as he stood on the threshold. His name had just been called out as he stepped though the door.

"Here." he said to the teacher.

The teacher, Miss Marble, looked him up and down. She was weedy, her hair tied into a strict bun and her demeanor would scare a grizzly bear. Matthew had always been brave infront of her, almost defiant of her personality, something which the other students found amusing and she found aggrovating. She marked him off on the roll as he sat in the far corner, the light not making it there very well and shadowing him greatly, further hiding his features. Most teachers would allow a student to wear a hat, as a comfortable student can cast easier; Miss Marble, however, had different ideas to the other teachers, and did not like her students to have much free will at all.

"Matthew Anderson," She snapped "You shall remove that robe and place it on my desk immediately. You may retrieve it at the end of the day!"

Matthew winced, but did not disobey. He stood up and walked over to her desk, his hand gripping the pitch black fabric. He stopped infront of her desk and practically ripped the light-resistant fabric from himself, throwing it into her face. It vanished inches from her nose, leaving her flabbergasted. The students laughed at his tail and ears. That hurt a little, but he dismissed it.

"That rediculous getup does not fool me." Marble said, unaware of yesterday's fiasco. "Remove it!"

This was what he was waiting for. Matthew went to walk outside, but stopped at the door, grabbed a chair to hold it open and stepped out into the damp morning. He forced a smile, concentrated heavily, almost entirely on a canine shape and magic spun around him. He looked down at the gloves and pushed the image on the back, a cute image of an animal's head, fox like, into his head. The field of magic surrounding him faded and he quickly changed shape, shrinking and reshaping. Now a great deal shorter, he knocked his head against the wall to signal he was coming back in and walked in the door, four legs no less difficult to manage than two. The little animal walked into the room.

"Aaaw, it's so cute!" several of the girls said at once.

'Hop up on her desk to change back.' Zanobi said.

'I've got a better idea.'

Matthew wandered to the desk surrounded in shadow, stares following him, people standing up to see where he was, and hopped up on the table. One of the students stood up to look ouside as to where Matthew was.

"He's not out there miss!" He said.

Matthew took this as his cue, he forced the animal image back into his mind, magic swirling around him. His shape changed, his body reforming to its human shape. His pants and jacket rematerialised as he flung out his hand infront of him, the gloves also being woven around him. The class applauded when his transformation was finished. He opened his eyes, staring directly at Miss Marble.

"Rediculous getup?" He announced. "What getup?!"

Master Greywell suddenly walked in the door, putting the chair back where it came from, Matthew's friends following him in.

"Indeed, that is no costume." He said in a flat tone. "I am here to tell your fellow students about the events of yesterday. Your friends have joined me here to hear this as well."

Matthew hurried through the classroom and stood infront of them, they backed off slightly.

"Now, now." Greywell said to them. "You have nothing to fear, this is still the same Matthew Anderson you knew."

"Headmaster, explain yourself!" Miss Marble demanded.

Greywell walked up to her desk, pulling Matthew to the front of the class.

"Yesterday at lunchtime, Matthew Anderson attempted to summon a familiar, a dangerous spell that has not been practiced for many years. During the spell, a teacher, Mr. Spearbrow and his friends here, watched from a safe distance as he began the ritual. Familiars are animal assistants which gain knowlege of all fields of magic upon the ritual taking place, and then are teleported to their subsequent master. Most familiars can speak english and are very friendly, I myself have a large salamander, though he does little in the winter months. During the ritual, another student from the Time Magic field lost control of a spell we was practicing, and Matthew told him to be careful. This was where things went wrong, and Matthwe lost control of his own spell. He would have broken free, but the Time student stopped Matthew's body at a crucial moment, the two magics combining and ripping Matthew from the coporeal plane. His familiar, in the middle of teleporting here, was also destroyed. The two entities were, during that time, fused together. When I used a similar ritual to recompile Matthew's body, this is how he emerged."

The class sat in silence for a few moments before someone yelled. "He's a Freak!" Matthew's ears drooped and his face became crestfallen as the rest of the students followed this particular comment.

'They're all making fun of us!' Zanobi growled. Matthew bared his teeth and brushed Mr. Greywell off, putting a hand out infront of himself. The light distorted and he swung his hand, a glowing white chestplate with golden detailing forming through the air.

Master Greywell looked pleased, but the class looked shocked.

"What the hell was that?!" One student yelled. "He just made matter from nothing! That's impossible!"

'What'd you do that for?'

Greywell hushed the room into silence. "That was indeed an interesting trick. You have learned Lightweaving, I trust you also know how to Shadowform?"

Matthew nodded. "My familiar is more than just part of my body, I can hear him talk to me in my head. He taught me how to do it." He said. "It's not hard."

Suddenly a voice rang out through the classroom.

"Why am I not dead?"

Matthew's eyes opened wide as the class gasped. The headmaster simply smiled.

"That, I trust, was the voice of your familiar. You are not dead because the spell did not kill you, instead integrating you into Matthew's new being. You are not dead because he held on to life as strongly as he could, wearing himself out. There is no magic that can turn you back the way you were that would not kill you both, so you are just going to have to get used to your new lives." Greywell began to walk out. "If you have any troubles, just come an see me at any time, I shall always be there to help. Now I believe your first lesson starts in a minute, so I am going to have to take your friends to their respective classes. Good day." And with that he walked out.

Matthew had spent the next two hours, two slow, agonizing hours, telling people to back off when they asked him how to turn light and shadow into objects. Then, two minutes before first break was to begin, Miss Marble demanded that he show the class how to do it, which he promptly refused. When she threatened to destroy the breastplate he had so recently created, he stood up and took it from her, tossing it into the dark corner, where it promptly vanished. then he walked out, shifted back into his animal form and ran off, hiding underneath the table where he and his friends so often gathered to socialise. He waited all break, even when it started to rain, he simply used what little light there was to create cover to keep himself dry. They never came. Zanobi tried to cheer him up, but cut off suddenly when several boys pulled Matthew out of his makeshift umbrella.

"Teach us how to make objects out of light!" One yelled at him. Matthew looked around the area, his friends were standing idle on the other side of the courtyard, simply watching. Matthew shook his head and the boy threw him across the yard and into a wall. Matthew yelped loudly as his body screamed at him. The punishment was not over, however, and he soon felt another white-hot blow smash into his ribcage as the student kicked him, knocking the wind out of his lungs. Matthew tried to stand, to run, but he could barely move before another of the three students hurled a fireball at him, singing his fur and knocking him firther into the wall. He looked over at his friends, his left paw extending, scratching the ground. They didn't move, but simply turned their heads and looked away. A tear rolled down his face as another blow turned his world white and he lost conciousness.

The students stopped beating him as they leaned in closer. "Is he dead?" one asked.

"Not yet, but we'll stay here and get him to tell us how to do it when he wakes, else we will make him wish he had died." Another said.

The third, who was not paying attention to their currently captive animal, suddenly froze up. His friends turned one another.

"Well, these things are supposed to be extinct, maybe we should help keep the reputation like that?"

"Maybe," Greywell's voice rang out "I should show you what happens to students who use offensive magic on defenseless others?"

The students froze, their eyes moving to look directly at the Headmaster's face.

"Hmm?"

The students seemed to shrink as their faces went white.

"Suspension for a week, all three of you." He continued. "Now go to your next lesson and say nothing more on Lightweaving or Shadowforming."

The students stayed standing still.

"NOW!" Master Greywell yelled, his voice echoing throughout the courtyard, snapping the students out of their trance and sending them running, almost tripping over eachother in their effort to escape. The headmaster sighed and lifted Matthew off the ground. He called the group of people Matthew had been waiting for all break over. "You, as his friends, obviously will aid him, yes?"

The group of students looked at eachother, then back to him. "No." They said as one.

"No?" Greywell parroted. "What kind of friends are you to abandon him when he needs you?"

"We are not friends of a monster." One of them said. "Nor would we help one."

Greywell looked crestfallen. "You know this will destroy him, do you not?"

The students simply walked away leaving the Headmaster and Matthew in the rain. Greywell sighed and walked slowly to the Paladin block. As he pushed the doors open, the students inside all stopped and stared as he lay Matthew onto a table.

"A student," Greywall began, setting the scene, "Has been seriously injured and requires aid. I have brought him here for treatment."

"Why have his friends not helped?" One asked, curiously.

"They are unwilling to assist someone who is no longer completley human." Greywall replied. "Tell me, what is a friend?"

"A friend is someone who will help you when you need them despite not being related by blood."

"Correct. What are the philosophies of the Paladin block?"

"Help when needed and never be unjust."

"Correct. What are the people of the Paladin block?"

There was a pause before one girl raised her hand.

"Miss May?"

"We are Paladins who live by the code."

"Close. Very close. You almost had it, try looking firther into the teachings of us Paladins and tell me what we are."

She raked her mind furiously trying to find the answer her teacher was looking for. "We are friends to all?"

"Correct." Greywell said. "Now, this creature, human or not, requires aid. As friends to all, should we give it to him?"

There was a chorus of affirmations. "And as individuals, who is ready to give this student aid?" Without fail, the rest of the class stayed quiet. "This saddens me greatly." Greywell said. "You, as paladins, should be ashamed of yourselves. This is no monster to be terrified of! He hides not in the dark because he wants to surprise you! He is as terrified of us as we are of him, and as such should help him to come out of the shadows and step into the light where he will see that we are not going to cause him harm! This entire block was founded for holy knights who believe in what is right and just, and you are simply throwing it away."

The classroom stayed silent as he stood there, rage almost flowing off him. "Now, I want each of you to look within yourselves and tell me if you are truly willing to help this student." The room sat silent for a minute before most of the class said no, they were not going to help Matthew. "Fine then." Greywell said. "Get out. You do not belong here, go to the Holy wing and learn there. Paladins exist to help everyone, not a select few." The students all filed out of the classroom, leaving only three students. Esmerelda May, Fredrick Wesker and Melissa Patrick. "As for you three, I am proud of you. Please, I have taught you holy magics and I'm sure you would like the opportunity to utilise them in a real world situation."

The remaining students stepped forth and leaned over their sleeping charge. Miss Marble suddenly came barging in.

"Three of my students just said that they have recieved suspension from you!"

"Three of your students got into a fight with another student."

Matthew opened his eyes, stretched heavily and quickly transformed back into his human form. Miss Marble's eyes narrowed.

"This student has been sleeping in class and deserves detention!" She snapped.

The headmaster turned around. "Oh, really? Okay, Matthew, you are recieving a detention for being beaten unconscious. Sound fair?"

Matthew's mind was having trouble keeping up, but he shook his head.

"He's right, it's not fair!" Esmerelda said.

"Well then it is equally unfair to my students to get a week's suspension for getting into a fight!" Miss Marble snapped.

"A fight which could have cost Matthew here his life had I not intervened!" Greywell roared back. "Then they would recieve something far worse than suspension, and believe you me, the law would hear about it too! Don't come in here arguing my punishments when you don't have the whole story!" Even Marble cowered from this. Greywell was probably the most easygoing person for miles, but he had never lost a magical fight, knew every schooling of magic and was, by and large, an extremely dangerous man to cross. "Matthew is now well enough to continue his studies and shall be accompanying you back to his classroom."

Matthew tapped the Headmaster on his shoulder and whispered in his ear, the grown man's face seeming even more angry. "And you shall not ask him to tell you how to weave shadows and light! You are the teacher, if there is something you do not know, go and read the grimoires for the knowledge!"

And with that, Matthew and his teacher walked off to class. Greywell turned to his remaining students.

"I would appreciate if you three keep this in mind. I would like this classroom to be a safehaven for him if things get rough, and he's likely to spend the next few days' free periods in here avoiding people. His familiar comes from a skittish species and he's not likely to forget today any time soon." He pushed two tables against a corner and turned off the light above, creating a small pocket of shadow. "Please don't disturb this corner."

"You are going a little far for this boy, are you not?" Fredrick asked.

"He has almost nothing going for him right now. No friends, no security, no privacy. The least we could do is give him somewhere to hide and feel safe. You do not need to interact with him, just don't be mean. He'll probrably Shadowform something that will make him feel more comfortable."

"How do you know all this?" Fredrick asked, raising an eyebrow.

"A friend of mine went through this same thing, only with a different animal, and the least he wanted was somewhere to feel safe. Leave the door slightly ajar so he can nuzzle it open and walk in without disturbing us and he'll be happy."

Sure enough, two hours later, Matthew returned and hid under the table, shadow blankets hiding his pathetic, huddled shape in the dark. He stayed there for all of the next period, his quiet sobs occassionally making it through the muffling blankets.