The first few days had settled into routine across the academy grounds.
Admitted students unpacked belongings, explored corridors, and began the delicate process of establishing their place within the institution's complex social hierarchy.
Meanwhile, carriages departed daily, carrying those whose tokens had remained dark back to homes where explanations would need to be made and futures reconsidered.
Morning rays slanted through the narrow window of Room 247, falling across rumpled bedsheets and scattered clothing.
The light crept steadily across the floor until it reached the bed nearest the door, where—
"Aaah!"
The strangled cry jolted Alaric from sleep.
He cracked open one crimson eye to see his brown-haired roommate pacing frantically around their small space, hands tangled in his disheveled hair.
"What happened to you now?" Alaric's voice came out rough with sleep, laced with mild irritation at being woken so abruptly.
Oliver spun toward him, eyes wide with panic.
