It was odd to say it, but the firm grasp of someone’s hands around him was comforting rather than terrifying. And so was the grunted comment, spoken more to a feral pet hedgehog than a man; Aubrey, in spite of all his tingling limbs and all the eyes on him in the Great Hall, almost relaxed fractionally.
By the next moment, he was blinking in confusion again, as he squatted on the floor and Foxwood got up. (The blanket’s unceremonious dumping onto him was a warming, familiar sensation too, and Aubrey was half-tempted to pull it over his head and shoulders and hunker down in a dark little ball until he got to grips with the odd body he was in again.)
But there was still too much buzzing background noise and a sense that he needed to get away, so when Foxwood spoke Aubrey tugged the blanket around himself, a cloaking mantle where his spines had used to be, and gave a long, staring nod to profess his agreement.
Warily, barefoot and gripping the blanket awkwardly tight around himself, he waddled gracelessly after the professor, as trusting of him as a newborn babe might have been – but also more than ready to scratch and bite and snuffle angrily if anyone else dared to cut into his path.
By the next moment, he was blinking in confusion again, as he squatted on the floor and Foxwood got up. (The blanket’s unceremonious dumping onto him was a warming, familiar sensation too, and Aubrey was half-tempted to pull it over his head and shoulders and hunker down in a dark little ball until he got to grips with the odd body he was in again.)
But there was still too much buzzing background noise and a sense that he needed to get away, so when Foxwood spoke Aubrey tugged the blanket around himself, a cloaking mantle where his spines had used to be, and gave a long, staring nod to profess his agreement.
Warily, barefoot and gripping the blanket awkwardly tight around himself, he waddled gracelessly after the professor, as trusting of him as a newborn babe might have been – but also more than ready to scratch and bite and snuffle angrily if anyone else dared to cut into his path.
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Formerly known as Davis, Elijah Urquart's pet hedgehog.