Lady Renaldt's dark gaze drops to Blaise's chair, and, trembling, Blaise sits back down. "What exactly did you mean by that, Mx. Marechal?" Lady Renaldt says in a quiet, dangerous tone.
The silence stretches out unbearably. Blaise shifts in their seat.
That will be all," Lady Renaldt says in freezing tones. "Thank you, .. You are no longer under investigation. You may return to your class."
While Blaise remains seated, you are dismissed.
Whispers and gossip follow you around all day, but you see no sign of Blaise. When you return to the dormitory that evening, Blaise's belongings are gone and their bed has been neatly made.
They've been expelled," Max says wonderingly. "We haven't had an expulsion since second year, when we were twelve—do you remember, Hartmann, when that girl broke her locker with her cricket bat?"
Hartmann is very busy adjusting their bedsheets. "It's not being expelled," they snap. "I wish you wouldn't make light of it that way. If Blaise has resigned, it's for their own good, and for the good of the college."
Max mouths "expelled" at you, and whirls away to wash.
It all feels like it happened so fast, and now Blaise is out of your hair. Maybe they deserved it; maybe they didn't.