Sanders Grey

This page contains spoilers!This information has the ability to potentially ruin elements of the plot for the reader. Proceed with caution if you have not read this book. The page will not be written in a way to avoid spoilers, rather it is written in an in-universe chronological manor.

### Residence

Academy

**Sanders Grey** is a sage major from the mountains, and is Jack's roommate at the Academy.

> *"I stayed up late last night finishing this tome on beekeeping - which, like, good decision, would do again - but..."*
> — *Remember the Dust* chapter 1: *Idle Hands*
>
>

## Appearance and Personality

Grey is dimunuitive, often being mistaken as several years younger than he actually is. He has dark hair and grey eyes, with a snub nose and long-fingered hands that are both usually smudged with ink. Snarky and blunt to the point of insult, Grey routinely denies being good with people or perceptive of other's feelings and well-being, though this is something he grows out of through the event of the series.

## History

Born as **Samuel Graves**, Grey is the son of Mayor Graves, a man who drains mages of their power in order to generate electricity. Sam's older sister Sandry helps him to hide what he is from their father, and eventually helps him escape from the mountains. It is at this point that Sam chooses a new name, becoming Sanders Grey. He applies for the sage major at the Academy, and travels to Rivertown to begin his studies while hiding that he is a mage from everyone he meets.

Grey does not speak much about his childhood, spending his holidays at the Academy and not providing any information that would reveal who his family are. He becomes friends with his roommate Jack over the course of their first year, and their group of friends expands to include Rupert Hammersfeld and Laney Jones after their study group is part of a hold up at Sally-Anne's fish shop.

Despite repeatedly stating that he just wants to read, graduate and become a librarian, Grey gets caught up in vigilante work in Rivertown after his friends bring him a curse diagram to untangle. Later, Grey (tailed by Jack) returns to the area to warn the mountainborn woman who passed the diagram on to Sez that she needs to be more careful about hiding her child, who Grey has correctly deduced is a seer.

Soon afterward, Grey is kidnapped by mage slavers when they see him using magic to warm his hands. When Jack and Laney track him down to rescue him, Grey is forced to tell them that he is a mage who escaped the mountains with his sister's help.Rupert later reveals that he had guessed this when Grey first arrived at the Academy, but decided to let him be.

The full truth of Grey's identity is not revealed to any of his friends until the end of their adventures in the mountains, when Jack discovers that Grey is the son of Mayor Graves and Cassandra's younger brother. Grey confronts his father, explaining that he knows his father loves him but that what he does is wrong. He has a similar interaction with Sandry before leaving the mountains with his friends, telling her that he loves her but that she made him believe he was a monster.

In Remember the Dust, Grey achieves his ambition of becoming a Librarian at the Saint John's Port University, and shares an apartment with Jack until they flee the city after angering the Bureau. During this time and subsequently in Rivertown, Grey works with Laney and George in an attempt to figure out a way to make his father's machines work by accessing the Elsewhere directly, instead of burning up mages to gain power. Laney is not aware at the time of Grey's identity, only discovering who his family is when they leave Rivertown.

While in Rivertown, Grey struggles to balance his new life and developing morality and his affection for his sister, with whom he has been reunited. Grey ends up revealing to increasing numbers of people that he is a mage, using his power to help in the battle against the Bureau. He decides to stay in Rivertown afterwards, requesting Sez allow him to work on opening up the Academy library to the public to make it a wider resource.

## Abilities and Attributes

An unusually powerful mage, Grey doesn't have to try in order to summon power from the Elsewhere, setting him apart from other mages who have to wring it into existance. Highly academic, he has excellent factual recall, particularly of things that he has read, and is quick to link facts together. Thanks to his father's influence, Grey also has a strong grasp of basic engineering.

## Relationships

Cassandra Graves
Grey's elder sister, who tried to protect him during their childhood and helped him to escape the mountains.

Mayor Graves
Grey's father, who loved him but who did not realise he was a mage.

Jack Farris
Jack and Grey are roommates at the Academy, and become close friends.

Laney Jones
Laney and Grey become friends when they are put in the same study group at the Academy, though they get off to a rocky start when Grey bluntly observes that Laney has low sensitivity for the Elsewhere.

Rupert
Rupert and Grey become friends when they are put in the same study group at the Academy.

George
George and Grey become friends after they meet in the mountains, though George is initially suspicious about his motivations for being there.

## Trivia

* Grey is a Ravenclaw Primary, Slytherin Secondary

## Notes

1. ↑ *Echoes of a Giantkiller* chapter 5: *Samuel Graves*
2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 *Echoes of a Giantkiller* chapter 25: *What the Seeress Saw*
3. ↑ *Echoes of a Giantkiller* chapter 29: *Homeward in All Things But This*
4. ↑ *Beanstalk* chapter 2: *The Best Fish and Chips in Town*
5. ↑ *Beanstalk* chapter 8: *Test Scores*
6. ↑ *Beanstalk* chapter 10: *Just Don't Get Caught*
7. ↑ *Beanstalk* chapter 12: *Taken*
8. ↑ *Beanstalk* chapter 15: *Where Are You Going, Hero Boy?*
9. ↑ *Remember the Dust* chapter 8: *Of His Best Use*
10. ↑ EJL's Sorting Hat Chats post about L&L