Heath's first thought upon hearing the commotion was that the professors were rounding them up to die, and he instinctively sidled over to Claudine. If they wanted her, they'd have to take him too! He blinked, taken aback as one of the professors handed him his wand and nodded his thanks. Half-expecting that it could be taken back at any moment, his grip instinctively tightened around his wand until his knuckles turned white. Now that he had it back, he would never allow himself to be wandless again!

All he could do was listen in stunned silence as the professors explained what was happening. He wasn't sure what to believe! Certainly not that they had acted in the students' best interests all along. In what way was it in their best interest to be abandoned to this room for months on end?! But he didn't voice his question for two reasons. There was nothing they could say to justify their inaction, and more importantly, fighting each other was wasting time that could be better spent fighting Rosier.

The news of impending war was the one thing they said that Heath did believe. If it wasn't true, they would've just left the students alone to rot in this room. So yes, he would do what they said, but not because he trusted them. The only professors left that he trusted were the two who'd been locked in The Room with them!

He contemplated the possibility of fighting and of potentially dying, weighing his options. All his life, he’d gone out of his way to avoid conflict, but now doing that seemed wrong. He tried that nearly all term, and it didn’t accomplish anything. He was done bowing down to Rosier and all the other zealots who would never see him for anything but his blood status, no matter what he did to placate them! He wanted to make them pay for the suffering they caused. Conflict was the only option.

If his mind wasn’t already made up, Claudine’s words cemented his decision. “Then I’m coming too,” he said, nodding emphatically. A look of fierce determination burned in his dark eyes, one that said it was useless to argue with him. Looking back at her, he whispered, “Whatever happens, I’m not leaving you.”