Straight-Up Not Having A Good Time At Night Raven College: Chapter 1

Chapter 17: A Rule Slip

Riddle froze.
Then he lowered his head. His shoulders tensed as his hands clenched, starting to tremble visibly.

"...An idiot," his voice hissed, audibly seething with ill-contained rage. "An idiot, you say?"

"H-Hey, whoa-- S-STOP!"
Suddenly, Cater had inserted himself into the standoff. Holding up his hands like Chris Pratt in the velociraptor meme, he looked around frantically.
"Okay, okay-- let's all just cut this out before we all say something we might regret!"

Turning to Riddle, he gave an uneasy grin.
"R-Riddle-kun-- I know you're upset, but please try to remember that these guys ARE just new students! They've only been here a few days, you know? They still haven't really gotten into the swing of things yet... I mean, Prefect-chan's not even--"

"Nah, man. I'm SERIOUS."
Ace turned, shoving the tart box into Kat's hands.
She blinked, looking down at the tart, then back up at Ace as he turned to face Riddle again, crossing his arms.
Somehow, she felt like he'd done that for her benefit... Like he wanted to give her something to occupy her hands so she wouldn't do something she'd regret.

"I mean-- there's a rule for literally EVERYTHING? Even what kinda tart to bring to a stupid tea party? Yeah, right. There's no way-- you've gotta be TOTALLY full of it!"

There was an audible gasp from the scores of frozen students, stepping back as one.

Instead of stepping back with them, though, Deuce moved forward to stand next to Ace.
"I-- I agree with Ace," he declared, squaring his shoulders and staring down the housewarden. "I mean, of course rules are made to be followed, or most of them, at least... But-- but something like this is going way too far!"

Riddle lowered his head, hunching his shoulders even further.
He clenched his hand around the scepter so tightly his whole arm was starting to tremble.

Then he made a visible effort to compose himself, shaking his head and taking a deep breath.
He raised his head, looking at the pair of first-years.
"Are you attempting to debate me? I see... Well, you've got nerve, at least... But very well. I'll humor you for the time being."

Head held high again, he stepped forward.
"Listen carefully-- ALL of you."

He gestured with the scepter again, indicating the whole garden.

"By breaking even the smallest of rules, you are paving the way for even LARGER infractions! Rules are the only thing that separates us from the animals! Without structure, society would collapse into anarchy! Do you understand?! Have I made myself clear enough?!"

"Rrrrr....."
Ace whirled around, flinging an arm out as he addressed the assembled students.
"Hey, you guys! I know you're all scared of losing your magic an' all, but isn't living like this already punishment enough?! I mean, you DO know this is insane, right?!"

There were several startled gasps from the crowd, drawing back again.
There was a stuttered protest from somewhere, but Kat couldn't hear if it was for or against Ace's question.

"Heh... Really?" Riddle asked coolly, that small, mirthless smile spreading across his face again.
"Is that so? How interesting..."

Folding his arms, he turned his head slowly, sweeping his eyes across the garden like a searchlight.
Finally, his gaze stopped on a random, hapless student, who snapped to attention with a shiver.

"F-F-Far from it, Housewarden!" The poor kid squeaked, voice cracking a little. "He's out of his mind!"

"Th-That's RIGHT!" Someone else piped up urgently. "We all depend on your impeccable judgement, sir!"