The way he visibly bristled when Archie said his full cursed name. The sound of the sirens kicked up something tense inside him, and he was looking on the ground again. His hand on the cane suddenly tightened -- an anchor when things began to turn round again, otherwise he might have toppled out of the chair just then.

At this point he couldn't tell if he felt numb because of what was coming over him, or purely from it sinking in that what was about to happen was just going to happen.