Worlds Collide

Earlier that day in the Magic and Mystery universe…

Hermione had called an emergency Hell’s Hounds meeting in the library before lunch.

As Blaise took his seat, the last one to arrive, they proceeded with the meeting.

“Now that everyone is here, I will begin. I found an interesting book titled “When Worlds Collided.” It goes into detail about the theories surrounding our current situation. I shall read my findings to you.”

Hermione went into detail about the spheres and rope analogy that’s been used several times now.

“I see…” Blaise hummed.

“That’s not the worst part.” Hermione took a deep breath and prepared herself for the news. “There is no way to open a rift ourselves. They open at random. We won’t be able to open one up in order to bring Dazai back home.”

The mixed group of Slytherins and Gryffindors looked overcome with grief.

“So, we won’t be able to get Dazai back?” Fred asked.

“Surely there’s another way.” George suggested. “…right?”

“If the magic is still unstable around the school, then a rift can open at any point. We just have to hope that the magic in the air stays unstable until Dazai is able to come back home.” Ron leveled them all with a serious stare.

“Given that he’s able to sense magical energy, he should know when one opens up. Let’s put our trust in him for now.” Draco added.

“Our boss always comes through for us.” George reminded them.

“That’s very true! He hasn’t failed us so far. I’m sure he will be home before we know it.” Fred gave a reassuring smile.

“You’re right.” Blaise pushed out of his seat. “Let’s figure out what we can do to support him in the meantime. I’m sure that Boss has a plan.”

They all nodded in unison.

“This concludes our meeting since the bell is about to ring for lunch. I’ll come back to the library during my free time and try to find out more.” Hermione dismissed.

As Blaise walked to lunch, the only thing he thought about was Dazai. ‘I wonder how he’s doing over there. I wonder if there’s a way for us to help him somehow…?’

-

Back in present time, in the Harry Potter universe…

The boy that fell through the portal shifted to a sitting position and looked around the room.

“What just happened?” He said as his eyes caught his bandaged friend. “Dazai!” He quickly jumped to his feet.

“Draco!” Dazai called out happily.

Draco ran to his friend and wrapped his arms around his neck, forcing Dazai’s face onto his own shoulder.

“We’ve been so worried!” Draco said desperately as he held him close.

“Draco… you’re squeezing me!” Dazai groaned.

“Oh, right.” He pulled away. He cupped Dazai’s cheeks and moved his head around to check him over. “You ok? You’re not hurt, are you?”

“I’m fine!” Dazai whined.

“Thank goodness.” Draco sighed. “So, this is the alternate universe? It looks exactly the same.”

“Trust me, it’s got its differences.”

*Ahem* Snape cleared his throat. The boys looked at him with full attention.

“Professor?” Draco asked.

“Another one of you.” Snape stared down at Draco with disgust. “Give me your robe.”

“What? Why?” He glanced to Dazai and noticed his was off as well.

“So we can tell the difference between yourself and the Malfoy that belongs to this universe.”

“Another me?” He turned to face the class, only to spot a duplicate of himself sitting in his chair, wide eyed.

“Sometime this year.” Snape rushed with his hand held out.

Draco pulled off his robe and handed it to Snape, who folded it and set it on top of Dazai’s folded robe.

“Both of you take your seats so we can finish up with class. Mr. Malfoy, you can partner up with Mr. Dazai since class is close to being over with.”

“Yes sir.”

They approached Blaise who looked at Draco like he had grown two heads… actually, that’s not too far off from the truth.

“You look just like the real Draco.”

“What are you talking about, Blaise? I am the real Draco.” Draco (MaM) gasped, offendedly.

“What are you talking about? I’m the real Draco!” Draco (HP) gasped as well.

Maybe they are similar after all…

“As amusing as this is,” Dazai held his hand up. Draco (MaM) settled down immediately while Draco (HP) continued to look pissed off. “I think we should probably finish our potions. Poor professor Snape over there looks like he’s going to blow a gasket!”

Their eyes turned to Snape who gave them all an angry glare.

“Draco, pull up a chair and I’ll show you exactly why my potion is so perfect.”

“Alright.” He obeyed without making a fuss.

Draco (HP) watched Draco (MaM)’s behavior like it was something mind boggling.

Him listening to the orders of others? Never!

Just what was this Dazai guy’s deal, anyway?

Pansy looked like she was witnessing a horror movie… which also wasn’t too far off from the truth.

Dazai was relieved to have one of his subordinates there with him.

“Draco, how is everyone in our universe?”

“They’re all worried sick.” He winced. “Blaise took command of our gang and came up with a good plan of action. Unfortunately, we hadn’t figured out how to get you back yet.” He said ‘gang’ quietly.

“Gang?” Blaise asked, equally as quiet.

“Oh I didn’t tell you?” Dazai smirked. “I started a gang, and all of my friends are my subordinates, including you.”

“I see…” Blaise raised a brow. The ‘second in command’ thing made a bit more sense to him now.

“Nevermind that for now. I think it’s a good idea to update you on the information we’ve gathered, boss.”

Pansy gasped at hearing ‘boss’ and Draco (HP) stared at him with a gaping mouth.

“Please do.” Dazai responded seriously.

-

A few minutes before Draco (MaM) fell through the portal, he was in his normal universe, sitting in Professor Snape’s potions class.

“Over there is where Dazai fell through the portal, so I think it’s safe to say that the magic in this room is still unstable. Let’s make that one of our possible rifts.” Blaise stirred his potion. It was complete and almost perfect. The blue liquid swirled lightly in the cauldron.

“I’ll check it out.” Draco bottled his own potion.

“I would stay a safe distance from it if I were you. Who knows when that thing could open back up.”

“I’m sure it’s fine, Blaise. The twins inspected it yesterday and nothing happened to them.”

Blaise didn’t push any further, just held his empty bottle in silence, preparing to put his potion into it.

Draco walked over to Snape’s desk to turn in his assignment.

“Here you go.” He handed his potion to Snape who snapped out of his thoughts.

“This is almost perfect. 99%.” He graded out loud.

Draco took that moment to stare at the spot Dazai had disappeared at.

“Don’t do that.” Snape thought he read his mind.

“Do what?”

“Don’t play dumb with me, boy. You’re good friends with that problem child of mine, which means you’re probably planning on following him.

The professors are looking diligently into the situation, so you can remain calm for now. The safety of our students is a priority in this, and if you go after him, then there’s no way to guarantee your safety too.”

“You mistook me, sir.” Draco waved his hands, innocently. “I was only looking.”

Draco definitely didn’t want to follow Dazai into who knows where! If anyone was going to, he’d probably do better with Blaise or the twins.

“Fine.” Snape huffed and shooed Draco away, who turned around, relieved. Unfortunately, that relief was short lived…

The rift chose that exact moment to open up below his feet, and he was sucked into it before he could even register what was happening.

Snape quickly got up and ran to the closing rift, unable to go in after him.

“Dammit!” He growled.

Pansy shrieked with horrified eyes while Blaise looked… Relieved?

-

“That’s the status report.” Draco sighed.

“I see. So everyone is working hard over there. That’s reassuring.” Dazai chuckled.

“What do we do now?”

“The information we’ve gathered so far is the same as what you all found in our universe. We need to keep digging.”

Dazai handed his empty potion bottle to Blaise who looked confused. Once Dazai scooted his cauldron to him, he got the hint: Dazai wanted him to bottle up his potion for him.

“I still feel like there is something we are missing. Once we figure it out, we should be set to go home.”

“Dazai, have you been listening? There is no way for us to open the rift ourselves.”

“That’s only a theory. Something must have triggered it. Why would it send you here at the same time and in the same place as myself? Once we figure out the key piece that we’re missing, then it should be easy to go back, right?”

“…” Draco went deep into thought.

Blaise stayed silent as he finished bottling Dazai’s potion.

“Ah, thanks Blaise.” Dazai took his potion and walked to Snape’s desk to turn his potion in.

“This potion is a perfect brew.” Snape inspected it, impressed. “100%.”

“Whatever you say, sir.” Dazai chuckled. There was no way Snape could actually grade him, so it didn’t matter. He had more important things to worry about than his grade going up.

As Dazai made his way back to his seat, he continued where he left off. “I think it’s best that we keep investigating. Hermione’s book might provide more answers, so I’ll have her look into that. As for us, I’d like to investigate the spots in the school where the magic is the most unstable.”

“Sounds good to me, boss.” Blaise spoke as he stood up. He had just finished bottling up his own potion.

“Boss, huh?” Dazai smirked.

Blaise shrugged with a hum and walked to Snape to turn in his potion. Dazai watched his back with amused eyes.

“So where should we start?” Draco asked.

“The portal in this room was open for a split moment before the magic stabled itself enough to slam it shut. I don’t think it’ll open back up for now. We should investigate other places first.”

“Like where?”

“The areas I’ve sensed to be unbalanced have been in here, in the slytherin common rooms, in the infirmary, in the great hall, in the library, and in one of the girls' bathrooms. 6 places in total.”

“So a portal can open up anywhere in those six- wait, the girls bathroom? How are we supposed to investigate in there?”

“Don’t worry about that for now.”

“What?” Draco raised a brow.

“Anyways, I figured we should investigate the great hall first. Oh, Blaise is back.” Dazai smiled as Blaise took his seat. “The magic was pretty unstable there this morning. Apparently our Professor Snape sent a letter through it which means a portal had opened up.”

“He did? He didn’t say anything to us.”

“Yeah, that doesn’t surprise me.” Dazai giggled, fondly. “We should check after class before dinner starts.”

As both of the boys nodded in agreement with Dazai’s plan, Snape signaled for everyone in class to listen to his next instruction.

“Class is dismissed. I expect you all to brew a better potion tomorrow.”

Dazai let out a “ooh!” As he raised his hand. Snape watched him with irritation, but Dazai didn’t wait to be called on. “Even me sir?”

“While you did brew a perfect potion this time, I do recall you saying you had the capability of changing a potion to make it even better than before. So yes, even you Mr. Dazai.”

“Aww.” Dazai pouted, not expecting that sort of answer. He deflated back into his seat with a pout.

“With that, get out of my classroom.” He huffed and waved his hand around.

Students quickly got their belongings together and left. Dazai took his sweet time, however.

“Hermione.” He stopped the girl before she could leave the room.

“Dazai! Good afternoon!” She beamed. When she noticed Blaise and Draco behind him, she startled a bit and shifted to a more cautious demeanor.

“Hey, mind looking for more clues in your book today?” Dazai asked.

“That’s what I was planning on doing, so sure.”

“You’re the best! Also, I sensed a disturbance of magical energy in the library. Remain cautious.”

“You could sense something like that?”

“He can, so be careful.” Draco walked up to Dazai’s side and gave the girl a concerned look.

“Uh…” she started but couldn’t find the words.

“Malfoy.” Ron and Harry appeared beside Hermione.

“What do you want with her, Malfoy?” Harry snarled.

“We were asking Hermione if she could look into the situation a bit more from the library… why?” He asked, confused.

“Did he just say Hermione?” Ron gasped.

“Am I not allowed to say her name, Ron?”

“Ok, this is seriously really strange.” Harry spoke up next.

“Who’re you?” Draco raised a brow.

“I’m Potter, Harry Potter.”

“I don’t believe I’ve heard that name before.”

“Dazai told me. Apparently I don’t attend Hogwarts in your universe.”

“That is quite curious…” Draco slightly tilted his head.

“You!” Professor Snape marched over to the group lingering in his classroom. “I do believe I said to get out!”

“Yes sir!” Hermione flinched and grabbed Harry and Ron by the arms. “We shall be off to the library now. Let’s meet up later for a chat.” She pulled the two boys with her out of the classroom.

“We should be off too.” Blaise said and the other two Slytherins nodded.

-

“Right here.” Dazai pointed to a spot between the Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw tables.

The light yellow magic was swirling around the great hall, circulating the one spot Dazai pointed out. He crouched down to look at the very tight spot. Upon further inspection, someone REALLY needed to mop these floors…

Dazai scrunched his nose in disgust after wiping his finger along the stone floor. He wiped it against his sweater vest like it would somehow save him from the germs.

“This is where a portal opened up this morning?” Blaise asked.

“I’m certain of it.”

“I see. So, have you come to any conclusion about it?” Draco stared at the spot Dazai was crouched in front of.

“Currently, it’s more stable than the one in Snape’s classroom.”

“So it’s a dead end?”

“Not necessarily… just for now.” Dazai fully stood up with a pop to his knees.

“Now what?”

“None of the other disturbances feel as unstable as this one or Snape’s classroom. Dammit…”

“There you are!” Draco (HP) walked into the great hall. He put his hands on his hips and glared at them.

“Ah, Draco! To what do I owe the pleasure?” Dazai rolled his eyes.

“I’d like to have a word with you all.” His eyes specifically landed on Draco (MaM).

“We’re all ears!” Dazai fake smiled.

The four Slytherins took their seats at the slytherin table.

“That was sweet of you to ditch Pansy just for me.”

“That isn’t relevant right now.” Draco (HP) glanced to Draco (MaM). “I wanna know what the deal is with the two of you.”

“What do you mean?” Draco (MaM) asked.

“I mean the whole ‘boss’ thing! Why in the world would you take orders from someone like…” Draco (HP) glared at Dazai. “Him!”

“It’s… a long story.” Draco (MaM) sighed and put his hand on his head.

“We bonded over our daddy issues.” Dazai beamed, which earned him an appalled look from Draco (MaM) and a confused look from Draco (HP).

“I don’t have daddy issues!” Both Draco’s said in unison. Draco (MaM)’s tone was irritated while Draco (HP)’s tone was confused. They looked at each other, surprised.

Blaise watched their interaction, amused.

“Is that all you wanted?” Dazai asked with a faux smile that held a slight danger to it. “We are in the middle of an investigation, after all.”

Draco (HP) looked to Draco (MaM) one more time. “I do have more questions, so your investigation can wait.”

“That’s not going to happen.” Dazai’s smile faltered into something a bit more serious.

“You aren’t my boss here, and besides, if you will not comply, I’m afraid I’ll have to inform my father about your insolence.”

“You’re going to use your daddy issues as a weapon against me?” Dazai gasped, dramatically.

“If you keep speaking to me like I’m beneath you, you will regret it.” Draco (HP) glared, referring to what happened the night before.

“Draco-.” Blaise started.

“I don’t care if you’ve made friends with him, Blaise. This guy will not speak to me like this.”

“Hey.” Draco (MaM) spoke up. “I’ve been meaning to ask, and it seems like the perfect time now.” He looked to Dazai with a serious look. “How did you get that bruise on your cheek?”

“Oh come on, you noticed too?” Dazai held the spot and pouted.

“I noticed when I first saw you and checked you over for injuries. It was covered, so I assumed you didn’t want it brought up at that moment.” He spared a quick glare at Draco (HP) before looking back to Dazai, waiting for the answer.

Did he just read Draco (HP)‘s mind…?

“A group of Slytherins ganged up on Dazai and punched him in the face.” Blaise spoke up for him.

“I see. And am I correct to assume that they were under your lead?” Draco (MaM) turned his attention to Draco (HP).

“So what if they were?” Draco (HP) didn’t really speak the truth, but he didn’t like anyone threatening him.

Draco (MaM) stood up. “I see.” He walked over to Draco (HP) and grabbed him up by the collar. “This is the only time I’ll warn you, so listen closely.” He spoke seriously.

Draco (HP) flinched under his hold. “If anyone hurts Dazai again” Draco (MaM) leveled him with a dangerous glare. “I will kill you. Is that understood?”

Draco (HP) nodded his head, face full of fear, before Draco (MaM) let go of him. He hastily scrambled out of the great hall and the door closed quickly behind him.

“I wasn’t expecting that.” Dazai giggled. “You? Kill someone? That’s funny.”

“Well I had to sound convincing enough to get my point across. I don’t want you getting hurt again.” Draco (MaM) sighed.

Blaise watched in complete disbelief. ‘Is this really Draco?’ His eyes spoke for him and Dazai chuckled.

“Shall we head to the next place on our list?”

“Oh? Where is that?” Draco asked.

“The infirmary.”

Blaise snapped out of his stupor in time to follow behind his two otherworldly friends.

“Dazai, please tell me I’m not like the me from this world.” Draco pleaded.

“You were in the beginning, but you’re different now.” Dazai smiled.

‘I guess I broke you as well without even realizing it.’ Dazai thought as they continued on.

-

“Ugh, I am kind of dreading coming here, but I guess it can’t be helped.” Dazai huffed.

“Why? The infirmary is pretty peaceful.” Blaise asked with a raised brow.

“Spleen and Wiggins are just completely insufferable. I want to avoid them as much as I can.” He whined as they stopped in front of the infirmary door.

“Who?” Blaise asked.

Dazai gave him a confused look as Draco opened the door. He gasped at what he saw.

“Dazai!” Draco called out. “You have to see this!”

Dazai pushed past them both and as he walked in, his eye met hers.

“What can I do for you all?” Madam Pomfrey smiled.

She was ok. She was moving around, working.

She wasn’t lying still in a bed like some sort of corpse, she was breathing and talking.

“Oh, you must be the boy from the other universe I heard about.” She wiped her hands off on her apron as she approached him. “Did your eye get hurt? Do you need me to look at it?”

Dazai took a step back, shock still written on his face. “No, I-.” He cut himself off, unable to form words.

He should’ve known before coming here. He had thought about it for a moment, but this confirmed his suspicions.

Madam Pomfrey was only petrified in their universe because of Dazai. This universe didn’t have Dazai which meant…

She was allowed to keep living and breathing. She looked happy and healthy.

She’s able to be this way, because Dazai isn’t here.

His head lowered slowly as he stared emptily at the floor.

Maybe he was better off never attending Hogwarts in the first place…

His mind swirled with thoughts and he felt something… guilt?

“Dazai.” Draco lightly held onto his shoulder which snapped Dazai out of his intrusive thoughts. “I know it’s good to see madam Pomfrey again since you two were really close, but we have an ongoing investigation to get back to.”

He absolutely was NOT close to Madam Pomfrey! What ever gave Draco that idea?

He took in a deep breath and looked her in the eyes. “No, we aren’t here about my eye. It was cared for properly in my universe and is just about healed.”

“Oh I see.” She nodded her head.

“We are actually here because we sense a disturbance in the magical energy right over…” he looked around. He pointed at a spot by the window. “There. A portal could potentially open up over there, and I’d like to get back home as soon as I can.”

He felt relieved and uneasy about Madam Pomfrey at the same time. Relieved that she’s ok, and uneasy because she felt like an uncompleted job. Mori wasn’t here though, he NEEDED to constantly remind himself of that.

“I see. I’m fine with you taking a look, just do try to be careful.” She said as she returned back to her desk to go through her potions.

The three boys went over to the spot and Dazai crouched down. Blaise crouched down next to him.

“Dazai, was something wrong? Did something happen to Madam Pomfrey?”

He was right…

“She was petrified in our universe.” Dazai spoke as quietly as Blaise so she wouldn’t overhear.

“I see. And I assume the other people you mentioned are standing in for her until she’s better?”

“Something like that.” Dazai hummed. She wouldn’t get better if he had anything to say about it.

That revelation filled him with dread, but he pushed it down to focus on later. He had other priorities at the moment.

“This one is more stable than the one in the great hall.” Dazai said. “But it’s the third most unstable spot in the school, so we should consider this one as a possibility.”

Despite being the third most unstable spot, it was slowly stabilizing back out.

“Alright.” Draco nodded.

Dazai stood up and looked at the two boys standing with him.

“Dinner is starting soon. We should continue to investigate after we eat. We will check the one in the slytherin common rooms next.”

“Got it.” Blaise said as the three of them set off to the great hall.

Something was keeping Dazai’s thoughts occupied throughout dinner, though. The magic swirling around the rooms and the spot they were swirling around were different in each location. He had a possible theory, but needed more evidence first.

As he ate the food that Blaise plated for him, he noticed Draco (HP) reprimand Pansy for glaring at him.

Seems like Draco (MaM)‘s threat must’ve worked.

-

In the magic and mystery universe, the hell’s hounds continued to look for answers. Blaise was walking through the halls when a familiar voice called out to him.

“Hello there! You’re Blaise, right!” The voice yelled across the hall as she ran up behind him.

Blaise’s wide, confused eyes looked her up and down. She’s a girl Dazai had been seen with a few times.

She steadied herself and cleared her throat before speaking in her usual tone. “I’m Luna. You’re friends with Dazai, correct?”

“Yeah.” He responded.

“I hate that Dazai was taken away like that. Truly tragic.” She hummed, whimsically.

“I’m sorry, but did you need something from me?”

“Yes.” She shuffled in her bag and took out a piece of paper. She opened it up and he leaned over it to get a better look.

“Is this supposed to be a map of hogwarts?” He asked, confused. Only certain rooms and pathways were drawn onto it.

There were circles drawn in some places and he quickly realized exactly what it was when his eyes caught a circle in Snape’s classroom. It was right on the spot that Dazai and Draco had disappeared at.

“My father is the one investigating the rifts.” She spoke plainly. “He already gave a report to the professors so he gave me a map so I could continue to investigate with him.”

Blaise gazed over the other circles. They were areas that another possible rift could open up at.

“Why are you showing this to me?” He asked.

“Because you’re Dazai’s friend.” She sighed. “I want to help you bring him back to us.”

Blaise smiled very slightly. “Dazai is pretty good at making friends when he wants to… This is very helpful Luna, thank you. We should show this to the others.”

“Sounds like a plan.” She rolled up the map and handed it to Blaise.

The two of them set off to show the other hounds members.

-

“I can’t believe they actually served crab tonight.” Dazai smiled.

“You ate more in one sitting than I thought was possible for you.” Blaise added.

“I’m not used to sitting with Dazai for meals, but I agree with Blaise.” Draco shrugged.

“What can I say? Crab is just that good!” Dazai looked around the Slytherin common room. It will be difficult to search with so many Slytherins in here, glaring at him.

“All of you, clear the room for now.” Draco (HP) commanded. At their asking glances, he pushed his threat a little more. “Now! Or else I’ll tell my father!”

Many students either rolled their eyes or they stiffened as they left the common room. They had plenty of time until curfew.

The only one who stuck around behind the crowd was Pansy.

“Draco? What’s the deal?” She asked, annoyed.

“They needed to search for a way home, but the room was too crowded for them to do so.” Draco (HP) shrugged.

“That’s not what I mean! Why are you helping out a mudblood-?”

“Pansy!” She jolted when he shouted her name. “Either drop it or get out with everyone else.”

Her lip quivered like she was about to cry. “Fine, I’ll just leave then.” She turned around, stomped out, and slammed the door behind her.

Surely the painting would yell at her for that…

“Draco-.” Blaise started but Draco (HP) held his hand up. “I’m not doing this to help them. I’m doing this so they’ll leave as soon as possible.” He looked at them seriously before walking into his dorm room.

“Well, that went well.” Dazai smiled and the other two huffed. “Now then, it’s over there.” Dazai pointed to the spot in front of one of the couches, close to the fireplace.

Upon further inspection, the spot was getting more unstable by the second.

“This might be it!” Dazai gasped and waited in anticipation.

Dazai felt something different this time. There wasn’t a snap like a pencil, more like the vibration of a full glass about to bust.

A yellow portal appeared in front of him, but was transparent. You could see through it.

There was another thing…

“It’s not on the ceiling this time.” Dazai said as he tried to stick his hand in it. His hand appeared on the other side of the almost open rift, not going through to the other universe.

“Is that a good thing or a bad thing?” Draco (MaM) asked.

“It’s a good thing. We might be able to actually pass through this one if the magic grows more unsteady-.” He was briefly cut off by the image of Blaise, sitting on the couch. He was also transparent.

Wasn’t Blaise behind him, though?

His eyes grew wide with realization. Wait, is this Blaise-?

The boy jumped to his feet and quickly approached the portal. He desperately tried to say something to Dazai, but he couldn’t hear him.

As Dazai realized that was in fact his own Blaise on the other side, Draco came to the same conclusion, standing behind Dazai.

Blaise (MaM)’s eyes caught Draco’s and he wore that same look of relief again.

Before Dazai could say something, the rift disappeared, leaving them to stare at the couch in frustration.

“That was the other me?” Blaise (HP) asked behind them.

“Yeah.” Dazai breathed out a breath and looked at Draco. “He looked relieved when he saw you.”

“Blaise was worried that you had no one to protect you here. Maybe he’s relieved that you’re not alone?”

Yeah, that seemed the most likely scenario.

“What do we do now?” Draco asked.

“That’s a good question.” Dazai responded.

-

Blaise slumped onto the couch in the Slytherin common rooms.

Some slytherins had turned in for the night and many were hanging out in other places. The common room was more empty than usual at the moment.

He reviewed his information for the day:

They figured out how the rifts and alternate universe stuff worked. They also had Luna to explain her father’s findings to them only a little bit ago.

There were designated spots where rifts could potentially open, so they needed to keep an eye out for now.

They also learned that the portals appeared to open or almost open at consistent times every day. Luna’s father is going to continue to investigate in the meantime and let her know his findings.

If they could figure out how the rifts work, maybe they could get Dazai back soon!

As Blaise groaned and rubbed his face, he heard a gasp. When he looked up, he noticed a portal had opened up directly in front of him.

The other students in the common rooms looked at it with fear.

When he looked back at the portal, he saw a few faces appear. Dazai with his arm stuck out (where was the other end of his arm, though?), Draco, and… was that him?

He saw Dazai's surprised face, and he jumped to his feet.

“Dazai! Are you ok?!” He yelled. His eyes met Draco’s and he felt relief wash over him.

Dazai was ok and he had Draco there with him! That was a good thing. He knew Dazai would stay safe there.

As he saw Dazai try to speak, the rift closed just like that.

He was left staring dumbfounded and sad.

This wasn’t the time to be sad! He needed to tell the others!

He ran out of the common rooms to let the gang know. It was closer to curfew, but he didn’t care. He knew Hermione was still in the library even though the rest of them had probably turned in for the night.

“Hermione!” He shouted as he bursted through the library door.

Madam Pince glared at him with her hands on her hips.

“Sorry, miss!” He shuffled passed her and to Hermione.

“Did you find something?” She sat straight up, anxiously.

“What I found… was Dazai.”

Her eyes went wide and he told her what happened.

“That’s amazing news!” She stood up quickly. “I’m going back to the Gryffindor common room to tell the others! They’ll be thrilled!” She waved and sped walked out.

“Mr. Zabini.” Madam Pince spoke up. “The library is just about closed now. Please head back for curfew.”

“Yes ma’am.” He stood up.

As he walked back to his common rooms, he couldn’t stop the wide smile from spreading across his face.

‘I’m so glad…. But what’s next?’