Hogwarts Courtyard, Year 2 {fluff}
It was a Saturday afternoon and Dazai was sitting in the Hogwarts courtyard with his best frien- uh, best subordinate, Blaise. It was a magnificent day, the sun was shining and a slight wind throughout the courtyard.
You would assume that Dazai had something to do, however, Blaise had homework to finish (homework that Dazai himself should be completing).
Surprisingly, there weren't many other students, although Dazai’s presence could be reason enough.
Dazai and Blaise were sitting on a stone bench. The sun was in just the right position, and Dazai should be happy. What more could he want? He has subordinates, freedom, and no homework. But the one thing he has is boredom. Dazai simply has nothing to do.
Blaise is busy focusing and has already told Dazai off twice for disturbing him. Dazai is just sitting, twirling his (almost) useless wand.
Dazai’s mind wanders; “Wizards don’t make sense, all they do is buy an expensive stick and wave it around stupidly. Surely there’s another wizard out there who agrees with me…” Blaise looks up at Dazai, who is clearly in his world.
“Hey… Dazai? Are you good there? You’ve been staring at those birds for the past minute.”
Dazai had grown restless, his fingers drumming a steady rhythm against his leg as he glanced around the courtyard. The warm, peaceful atmosphere, with its quiet chatter and the gentle rustling of leaves, had started to feel almost stifling. The weight of boredom was settling in, a nagging itch that wouldn’t leave him alone. He decided he needed a bit of excitement to shake things up, something to inject a little life into the scene.
His gaze drifted across the courtyard until it landed on a tree, its branches crowded with small birds preening and chirping without care.
They were blissfully unaware of the attention they’d caught. A glint of mischief sparkled in Dazai's eyes, and a slow grin began to spread across his face as an idea started to take shape.
The corners of his mouth curled into a full smirk as he reached for his wand, already envisioning the mischief he was about to unleash.
Just the thought of it sent a thrill through him, and his fingers itched to set his little plan in motion. There was no way he could resist the opportunity for a bit of harmless chaos.
“Hey Blaise-” Dazai’s voice rang out through the courtyard.
“How much do you wanna bet I can make every bird in that tree fly away, with only one spell?”
There was a moment of silence before Blaise rolled his eyes and replied, “Dazai, you can hardly do one spell without almost throwing up.”
Dazai glances over at Blaise, whose chestnut-coloured eyes had not left Blaise’s book.
It's ridiculous really, if someone had told Dazai that in a few years, he would be at a school for wizards and magic he would have laughed in their face. Yet here he is, at Hogwarts, one of the most prestigious wizarding schools in the world, and he has friends (not that he’d ever admit they were his friends).
Blaise’s voice brought him back to reality. “Dazai, you’re not even that powerful. Besides, what's the point?”
Dazai feigned a face of shock, horrified that Blaise would have so little belief in him. Dazai jumped up, landing on the balls of his feet. He was ignoring Blaise’s lack of enthusiasm.
“Oh, ye of little faith. I’m not powerful? Watch me.”
Blaise made a noise of objection at Dazai’s odd wording.
Without waiting for any more response from the other boy, Dazai pointed his wand toward the flock of birds perched on the tree.
“Wingardium Leviosa!”
Blaise’s head snapped up immediately to watch Dazai’s inevitable failure.
The bandaged boy’s wand flicked toward a small stone lying beneath the tree. With a look of pure concentration, Dazai held his breath as he carefully guided the stone upwards, watching it float through the air toward the oblivious flock of birds. He hovered it close to the branch, where the birds were perched, their feathers fluffed as they preened peacefully.
For a moment, Dazai’s eyes glinted with anticipation, his grin widening as he mentally prepared for the chaos he was about to unleash. With a subtle twist of his wand, he gave the stone a small, determined shove, sending it flying just above the birds in an attempt to disturb them.
The birds slightly startled, flapped their wings in response, rustling the leaves around them, but they remained on the branch, completely unbothered by the commotion.
Dazai, unfazed by the lack of results, let out a low chuckle, eyes bright with mischief as he muttered, “Alright then, Plan B!” He raised his wand with newfound determination, his grin grew more mischievous by the second.
With a flourish, Dazai waved his wand more dramatically than necessary, casting a harmless spell that sent a sudden, unexpected gust of wind straight at the tree. The leaves rustled loudly as the gust hit, and the birds, startled from their peaceful perches, scattered in a wild flurry of squawks and feathers.
But it didn’t stop there. The gust of wind carried across the courtyard, flipping the pages of Blaise’s open book and sending a few loose sheets fluttering through the air. Blaise’s eyes widened as he scrambled to catch them, irritation clear on his face. Finally gathering his scattered papers, Blaise sat back with a resigned sigh, glaring at Dazai.
"You could’ve just let them be, you know."
Dazai, grinning ear to ear, spun around to face Blaise with a dramatic flourish, his hands were spread wide like he was taking a bow. Blaise, still bewildered, stared at him with exasperation, his expression somewhere between annoyance and reluctant amusement.
"But I didn’t," Dazai said smugly, tilting his head toward the now birdless tree.
"And guess what? I won."
Blaise gave an unimpressed shake of his head, muttering, “You’re impossible.”
Dazai chuckled and slid onto the seat next to Blaise, leaning in close with a mischievous glint in his eyes.
"And yet, here you are," he whispered, giving Blaise a playful wink,
"still watching."