VIOLET LIDDLE

VIOLET LIDDLE Violet arrives identifying herself as the Mad Hatter, then immediately puts a boundary around questions about Wonderland. That is a strong introduction: she isn't hiding the connection, but she doesn't want the other students treating her life as an invitation to ask whatever they please. Her demeanor also sets her apart from the others. She can be blunt, dismissive and absorbed in her own world while someone like Skye is struggling to work out how to approach her. The first dinner shows that distance without needing a major confrontation. Her distrust of Belinda gives the early school material a more direct conflict. Violet brings a history and a set of judgments into the classroom, and being told someone is now a teacher doesn't make those judgments disappear. That creates a difficult situation for both of them. Belinda has to answer for how she behaves now, while Violet has to share the school with someone she doesn't readily trust. Her presence keeps Wonderland's history involved in this new setting, through a person who already has reasons to resist easy reassurance.