Closed That Witch

[Victoria de Lacey]

The Hospital Wing had managed to fix her up really quickly, which she wasn't surprised about at all as it was the beauty of magic, so her hand was only wrapped in a bandage more to held keep it tight and to remind her not to be stupid than it was to actually help heal it. But she was still annoyed about it. She didn't really regret punching Demi in the face, well, she did kind of, but not in the way people probably wanted her to. She looked up at Professor Edogawa and then watched him knock on the door, before glaring up at him. She could have probably got in another good punch if he hadn't interrupted her. Her scalp still ached from where Demi tried to tear her hair out, but she did wait, patiently, silently, to see what Mr. Cade had to say.​

 

[Professor James Cade]

James had heard rumblings of a physical alteration the same any news travelled through the school, gossip. Teenage boys always got excited when two girls fought, he didn’t know why he just knew he had been the same when he was their age. James didn’t know who the girls in question were until Conon showed up at his office with Tori in tow and suddenly it all made sense. The start of the year had been too quiet so he was about due for trouble. Gryffindor had clearly been getting too comfortable in their house points lead.

Once Conan had filled him in on what happened he closed his office door with Tori inside and sat behind his desk, leaned back in his chair and ran his hands over his face. “Okay, talk,”

 

[Victoria de Lacey]

Tori watched Professor Edogawa leave as Mr. Cade shut the door, and she at least had the decency to look a little ashamed of herself, though maybe not enough given the circumstances. She couldn’t believe that she was going to get the blame for this when it wasn’t even her fault! “It’s not my fault! That stupid b*tch was lying about me and Eoghan! She tried to make Lili not be friends with us anymore and now she’s spreading things about us and trying to get us in trouble!” She said, letting her thoughts and feelings loose and stomping her foot in distress. “She deserved to be punched in the face! She didn’t have to do that and now she’s hurt Lili and Lili doesn’t wanna be in the same room as her! It’s all her fault! She said mean things to me and she wouldn’t even apologise she just kept saying more and more lies!”​

 

[Professor James Cade]

James listened to Tori as she laid out her case where the pinned all the blame on the other girl. He had some sympathy for her if what she said was true but nothing she said justified her actions, there was little that would truth be told. Kids said things, they said things to each other and sometimes people liked to stir the pot and create drama. James had no clue why the Ravenclaw wanted to cause drama between Tori and her friends but she didn’t deserve a punch in the face for it. “All I’m hearing is you overreacted, there is never any excuse to punch someone else in the face, no matter what they’ve said, violence is the cowards way out and I expect better from you Victoria,” Using her full name felt strange, but if ever a situation called for it, it was this one. James weighed up his options before deciding what he would say next. He didn’t think he would have to keep her there long. “Here’s what’s going to happen, you’ll serve detention with Professor Edogawa, I’ll be writing to your mother to explain all of this, and…” The last part would hurt him just as much. “I’ll be taking fifty points from you for a serious lack of judgement and for not controlling your emotions,”

 

[Victoria de Lacey]

Tori’s shoulders stiffened when he addressed her, and she already could tell he wasn’t pleased simply by his tone. A tone she wasn’t overly familiar at hearing from him. This was gonna suck. She could feel it. Her jaw tightened with each word as he spoke it, and she wanted to argue, to defend herself, but the use of her full name, made her hesitate. She hated how small it made her feel, like a child who had been caught doing something dumb, even if she knew, deep down, she had messed up. It reminded her of her dad, and the unpleasantness of that made her skin crawl. She didn’t like being reminded of her dad, because it only made her sad that he didn’t care about her. She knew Mr. Cade did, which was why this hurt so much. If this was her dad talking to her, she didn’t think she would have cared.

Her fists clenched at her sides as he continued. She thought about saying something snarky, something to justify her actions, but the truth was… she knew he was right. That didn’t mean she had to like it, though. “Fine,” she muttered, looking down at her shoes. Her voice was tight, holding back the frustration that threatened to bubble over. “I’ll take the detention, and you can take the points, but she deserved it. You weren’t there. You don’t know what she did.” Her eyes flicked up to meet his for a moment, a flash of defiance there before she looked away again. “But whatever. Do what you have to do.”

She crossed her arms over her chest, her stance still defensive, but there was a hint of guilt behind the anger in her tone. A part of her hated that she’d let the other girl get to her, but she wasn’t about to admit that out loud. And honestly, somewhere underneath it all was the guilt at making Mr. Cade upset with her, because she didn’t like it when she messed up, and she didn’t like that it reflected on her mum and on him. She loved her mum and she liked Mr. Cade. She would try to do better… if that stupid Ravenclaw didn’t get in her way.​