Clue had always got the impression that Professor Valenduris operated on another level. After all, old age had not disrupted his life, he brewed potions as if the recipes were tattooed on the inside of his skull, and he'd barely batted an eyelid at Clue's state. Certainly he'd seemed concerned, sure enough, but he had evidently seen children like this before and knew exactly how to lead them back to the light.

The boys who'd forced him into the log box were forgotten, for they were simply not the point. There was a new point: a different life was feasible.

Clue looked up at the towering professor, silent for a good ten seconds as he forced himself to believe that this was happening. The young skeptic was tempted to be suspicious, but there was a casual earnestness in man's eyes that was impossible to miss.

"I... would be interested, yes." An understatement.