The entire way out, and even as Draco spoke, Matt tried to explain himself. Stammering through apologies and fumbling his words, he never seemed to be quite coherent. He tried to answer the question. "Studying!" He blurted out. "For the O--" but he just nodded, seeming to shrink into himself when the the points were taken away, properly shamed. When he was dismissed, he just nodded and bolted down the hall. Later there would be a fair bit of silent boasting about what a fool Draco was for buying any of it.

The creature was gone from the library before anyone could check on it, having escaped through some hidden passage not accessible to the average student. The next day, Jackson was back in his classes, looking more sullen and distracted than usual, but no different than that. He made no waves, and didn't even speak up. He just stayed huddled with his friends, who seemed to be continuing their mild tolerance of Matt.

A few days later, the students were all in a tizzy over the latest news. Someone in a nearby town had been murdered. Well, some said murder, the way rumors went. But the official story was that a rogue creature, the specific nature of which was still unknown, had attacked an unfortunate wizard, his torso all torn up by claws. The direct impact this had on the school was that the wizard was the father of one of the school's less than fortunate students. Jackson didn't seem to care. Even when pulled out of class to talk about it because he happened to know the family.

Draco would be involved in some of these conversations, someone mentioning that the wizard had been paralyzed before being torn apart.