"No!" He tried to shout, but the word came out in an angry rasp. "I would... I would not let that happen...."

It was a lie: with so little known about his condition, he was strictly proscribed from physical violence in case he lost control and tried to bite someone, and fellow first-years frequently took advantage of his apparent disinclination to fight back. But he honestly felt that he would never let anybody go this far in harming him. That privilege was his alone.

Close to panic for fear that this might be the end of his secret, he blurted, "I... I snuck into the Forbidden Forest, and fell over a root into a, a nest of ghouls, and -- and Professor Fish found me just in time, and... and if I get detention, it's no better than I deserve...."