A Different Kind of Demon
Platform 9 ¾ was bustling with other Hogwarts students. It seemed that without the threat of the basilisk at Hogwarts anymore, parents were willing to send their children back again.
Dazai adjusted his grip on Featherbrain’s cage as he pushed through the crowd, it was getting heavy. It was so inconvenient not being able to switch arms. Stupid dogs.
Dazai looked out for any of his gang but couldn’t see beyond the wall of people in front of him. That was another thing, while the kids closest to him seemed wary of him, no one was causing too much of a fuss about the infamous Demon Student being right next to them.
While it was nice not being the centre of attention, it also meant that he didn’t get people clearing a small circle around him to avoid him. He missed having that breathing space.
Eventually, the train arrived. Dazai boarded, searching the cabins for his friends. Before long, he saw the red hair of the Weasley twins and hurried over.
“Hey Snakey! We’re in here!” Fred called out. Dazai smiled slightly and entered the cabin. Ron was in this cabin too, though Ginny was notably missing from the set.
Dazai took the seat that Fred and George cleared for him when he entered. “Where’s Ginny?” Dazai asked as he got comfortable.
“She went off to find Luna a while ago. She’ll probably sit in a different cabin,” Ron replied.
Soon Draco joined the group, with Pansy following him in, filling the cabin. They mustn’t have been able to find Blaise in the crowd. Dazai frowned, he would’ve liked to have Blaise here.
His expression quickly shifted when Pansy processed who was in the cabin, making a face when her eyes landed on Dazai. It was not a happy face. Dazai grinned at her.
Pansy glanced at the door, as if she was considering finding a different cabin. Her eyes flicked to Draco, and she sighed in defeat and sat down next to him.
“Do we have to sit in this cabin Draco? We should go find Blaise and sit with him,” Pansy remarked.
“Aw, doesn’t Pansy want to spend time with me?” Dazai pouted. Pansy gave him a look. Draco rolled his eyes.
“We’ve already found some of our friends, plus, the train’s going to move any second now.” As he said it, the train jerked into motion, quickly picking up speed. Pansy huffed, but settled in.
Before long, there was a steady stream of conversation going in the cabin. Draco and Ron were talking about quidditch, while Pansy half-listened.
Dazai noted, with some pride, that Draco and Ron were sitting next to each other peacefully and actually seemed to be getting along.
“It’s been forever since we’ve seen you, Snakey!” said George.
“It’s only been a few months, you two are so clingy,” Dazai replied, rolling his eyes fondly.
“We’ve missed you though, and you never write to anyone!” Fred chimed in.
Dazai shrugged, and allowed the twins to continue ranting about how he should have been writing to them. You’ve gone soft, Mori’s voice echoed in his head. Had you ceased this letter writing with your little gang on your own, your arm wouldn’t have been broken, he reminded him.
Dazai pushed the thoughts aside, returning to the conversation. The train ride was going surprisingly well given the group, even Pansy wasn’t too annoying for once.
“So, are you guys excited to go to Hogsmeade? Of course, me and Fred got to go last year, but now we can all go together,” Fred said, glancing at George who grinned.
“I can’t wait to try all of the candies they have there,” Ron said, oblivious to the twins’ name swapping.
“I’ll have to check if Mori filled out the permission form,” Dazai said.
“You haven’t gotten permission yet?!” Ron asked, horrified by the idea that his friend may not be able to join in.
“Eh, Mori’s annoying, it wouldn’t surprise me if he said no just because he could,” Dazai shrugged.
Ron looked aghast, as did the twins. “Surely if he says no we can sneak you in, right George?” George asked.
“Of course, you know we can find a way, Fred. Don’t you worry Dazai, we’ll make sure you can come along!” Fred confirmed.
“Ah, thanks,” Dazai said. He knew the twins had swapped names, but he wouldn’t spoil their game, it was amusing that no one else had caught on yet.
“I’m not sure that’s such a good idea with Sirius Black on the loose, Dazai’s sure to run into him with his luck” Draco said.
“C’mon mate, if the rest of us can go, what’s the harm in letting Dazai tag along?” Ron defended.
“Draco worries too much, I’ve delt with worse, haven’t I? Besides, I’ll probably be trying to gather info on him anyway,” Dazai said with a shrug. Everyone else looked appalled at the idea that Dazai was planning on actively seeking out trouble already.
“What?!” Draco demanded.
“Please tell us you’re not planning to do anything reckless in your ‘info gathering’ Snakey,” George said, any amusement disappearing from his face.
The twins usually liked seeking out trouble, but that was limited to pranks. Getting in the business of a wanted criminal? Not something they would encourage.
Dazai only shrugged at them. causing another round of disbelieving looks.
The group proceeded to try to talk Dazai out of doing anything too reckless, but ultimately never received any promises.
“We should be at Hogwarts any minute now, right?” Ron asked a few hours later, around mid-afternoon.
Dazai considered correcting him, but on cue, the train started to slow. Dazai’s gut clenched slightly, though he wasn’t sure why. He did know, however, that the train should still be an hour or two from Hogwarts. Why were they stopping? He seriously doubted that the Hogwarts Express ever had notably different run times, and certainly not different enough to get them there over an hour earlier than normal.
Draco and Pansy also seemed somewhat confused by the sudden stop. The others didn’t, their sense of time was probably messed with a little by the rain outside. It had started up not too long ago, but now it was pouring and dark out there. Dazai had hoped it would clear up by the time they arrived.
“Huh, right on cue!” Ron exclaimed, getting up and stretching.
“There’s no way we’re at Hogwarts already, idiot. We never stop this early,” Draco said, even as he and the rest of the group rose to their feet.
Then the lights began to flicker. Dazai felt an unexplainable anxiety start to build. It was like being back in a room with Father. He froze despite realising how silly that was. He tried to push those feelings away, there was no reason for him to be panicking now.
Soon, the lights gave out altogether. Any success Dazai had been having at quashing his panic was quickly erased as he heard something approach the door. It wasn’t a person, it had a magical signature far too strong for that. It felt cold, so, so cold. It was empty, and Dazai could only think it reminded him of his life in Yokohama, if the entirety of Yokohama had turned to ice.
Familiar feeling flooded him, panic, helplessness, fear. He felt himself start to shake.
“I can’t see!” someone panicked.
“Dazai! Are you okay?” another asked, concern evident in their voice, even to Dazai who could barely process the words.
“What’s going on?!”
“Dazai!”
Dazai couldn’t hear the last call of his name as the doors opened. The cold magnified by a thousand, seeping deep into his bones, permeating every part of his being. He barely processed a tall, hooded figure in the door before his eyes rolled up. His knees buckled and he collapsed. He didn’t feel his body hit the ground. When had he stood up?
He couldn’t remember. He heard his father’s voice, kill him! I’ll do it myself! He saw the metal glint of the scalpel, plunging toward his eye. The sound of panting dogs filled his ears. He couldn’t see properly. He couldn’t locate the source of the noise. Where were the dogs coming from?
Then he saw teeth. He felt them. He felt a slice of a blade into his skin. It went deep into his arms, his sides, his world shrunk until all he could process were dogs and Father and pain.
Everyone in the cabin seemed to be frozen in fear apart from Dazai, who had collapsed the second the doors opened. Everyone had felt the chill of whatever that thing was as soon as they saw it. Everything felt empty, hopeless.
Fred stood in front of Dazai protectively, despite his terror, while George tried to tend to him. Ron was a statue. Pansy backed away from the thing slightly, her eyes wide and her lip trembling.
Draco seemed lost, unsure of what to do and shaking as he stared at the thing approaching them. He felt his knees go weak and had to lean against his seat to keep from collapsing and joining Dazai in a twitching heap on the floor.
Everyone else seemed afraid too, but Draco could barely remain standing as feelings of helplessness coursed through his body with the horror this being, this thing, seemed to cause.
None were fully sure of why this thing was causing so much fear, only that they wanted to be as far from it as possible, but that they felt that not even that could bring back a sliver of joy.
It started toward the group, turning to Dazai. It stopped abruptly not a meter from Fred, whose eyes widened in fright, before turning and disappearing out the door at top speed.
Soon the warmth returned to the room and despite the terror that they all still felt, the cabin breathed a sigh of relief. Not long after, the lights flickered back on.
“Bloody hell, that was awful,” Ron said. “It felt like everything good had been sucked out of the world.”
“Yeah. That might have been the worst thing I’ve ever experienced,” Draco agreed. “And I’ve been around a mountain troll and a basilisk.” He smiled weakly, which was returned by both Ron and Pansy.
He was still shaking slightly, but he felt he could at least stand on his own now. Pansy glanced at him worriedly, but he smiled weakly at her and waved her off.
“Dazai’s still down,” George said, fear and worry flooded his voice. The others looked over, and sure enough, Dazai was still collapsed on the floor, in a twitching heap. His right arm was held against his injured eye, despite the rest of him not having moved from where he fell, his legs tucked underneath him in a way that just couldn’t be comfortable.
He looked as though he were passed out, other than the twitching. Everyone’s relief evaporated upon seeing his current state. This wasn’t something any of the group had ever seen from Dazai. They had all seen his habit of getting himself hurt, but this seemed different.
Soon Draco and even Pansy were kneeling next to him, trying to work out how to help.
“Does anyone know where we can find a professor?” Draco asked.
“I’ve never seen one on the train before, I don’t think they even take the Express,” Fred replied.
“Neither,” George seconded. No one else objected, as none of them had seen any adults other than the trolley lady on the train before either. They’d have to help Dazai on their own.
“I can’t see any new physical injuries, but I can’t check anything other than his head because of that stupid coat and his bandages,” Pansy reported.
Pansy’s use of the word ‘new’ made everyone shift uncomfortably, as their attention was brought to the old eye injury that still hadn’t fully healed, as well as the bandages that littered his body.
After checking him over, meaning Pansy looked him over and said she couldn’t see anything, they propped him up into a more comfortable position. Whenever they would touch him though, he recoiled, flinching so badly that the twins worried he might fall back down.
When they sat back in their places, the cabin fell into silence, the twins and Draco watching Dazai worriedly, while Ron tried to look anywhere else, and Pansy tried to pretend she didn’t care, though even she was concerned about him.
It took another few minutes for Dazai to come to. When he did, he bolted upright, his spine going ramrod straight. He braced for the cold sting of a blade in his face, his chest, his arms. Instead, he heard his friend's voice.
“Dazai?” Fred asked, his voice full of concern. Dazai opened his eye.
He took several seconds to fully process where he was, and to convince himself that he wasn’t about to be on the business end of a sharp object.
The whole cabin was looking at him as though they’d just seen, well, Dazai wasn’t actually sure what could reasonably cause this much fear and concern for people like them, but it was like when they’d seen his eye, but worse. Even Pansy seemed worried.
“Are- are you ok Dazai?” Draco asked. He’d never seen Dazai react like that to anything. He looked more afraid than he had when the literal mountain troll had tried to kill him.
Dazai quickly forced some cheer into his voice and face, though it wasn’t very convincing. “Of course! What happened? I think I must’ve blacked out again.” He bought some time to pull himself together, deciding not to mention the dogs he was sure he had heard, nor the blades he’d felt as though they had been cutting into him in that very moment. His body ached with pseudo pains where he had relived receiving old wounds, long healed into scars by now.
He had a feeling that talking about these things would only cause him problems and chose not to tell anyone about his splitting headache for the same reason.
For some reason, his response only made everyone seem more worried.
“We were attacked by some kind of hooded thing,” Draco started carefully. “You collapsed the second you saw it.”
“What do you remember?” Fred asked.
Dazai considered his response briefly, “I remember the lights going out and the doors opening, then nothing until I woke up just now,” he lied. “How long was I out?”
“Only a few minutes,” Draco told him.
“You twitched around a few times too, you looked like you were possessed or something, mate,” Ron added.
“Gee, thanks,” Dazai said dryly.
“You gave us a pretty bad scare, Snakey. You sure you’re alright?” George asked.
“You guys worry too much,” Dazai pouted. “I’m perfectly fine.” Dazai felt like he’d just been pulled from the kennels, and he could feel himself disassociating, but the gang didn’t need to know that. Then again, it was clear that not a single one of them believed him.
Time soon started to blur, while Dazai lost track of everything around him. He fought it at first, he needed to keep his guard up, but soon found it was easier to just give in.
He came slowly back to reality as the group got off the train at Hogwarts.
Dazai immediately went in search of Blaise, while Draco, Pansy, and the twins followed him, refusing to leave his side. They really didn’t need to be so clingy, he only tripped once or twice getting off the train. Plus, he was only feeling a little shaky now.
He grunted in annoyance when his knees decided to buckle for the third time, causing his leg to tense up and aggravate the still-healing gash in his leg. He forced himself up again and looked around.
“Hi Blaiseeee! I finally found you!” Dazai said happily upon finding his Second. It was only slightly forced, he really was glad to see his friend. He barely stopped himself from collapsing again as he headed toward his favourite gang member.
“It’s good to see you Dazai,” Blaise said, with a smile in his eyes. They got on a carriage together while Dazai tried very hard to avoid stumbling, with little success.
Dazai watched the Thestrals as they pulled their carriage to the massive castle that was Hogwarts. He felt a little better now that he was here, for some reason. He was still annoyingly shaky, which Blaise definitely noticed, though he didn’t say anything.
His headache didn’t let up though. He doubted it would, he usually had a headache when he was at Hogwarts. Hopefully it would dull down at some point.
Whatever had attacked them on the train must’ve had some kind of magical ability that didn’t require any magic to make physical contact with its victims, otherwise Dazai would’ve been immune. It was more of an aura, he supposed. Dazai wondered what it was, and if he could just completely avoid it. He couldn’t allow himself to be made so vulnerable again.
He continued making theories and occasionally chatting with Blaise for the rest of the ride. He was able to carefully avoid any mention of the whole scene on the train.
As the group got off their carriage, the twins caught sight of a professor.
“Snakey, I think we should tell a professor about your fainting,” Fred said.
“I agree. It looked pretty bad, plus you’re still shaking, someone should definitely check you over,” George agreed.
Blaise looked at Dazai, raising a brow in question. He hadn’t brought it up on the carriage, though it was clear he was still expecting answers at some point.
“It wasn’t that bad! You guys are just being overdramatic,” Dazai huffed. He’d really rather not meet the new professor. He didn’t recognise him, so there was a good chance he was the new Defence Against the Dark Arts professor, and he hadn’t exactly had a good experience with the previous ones.
“Hello, sir. Our friend passed out on the train earlier, and we saw some kind of hooded thing. Is he ok?” asked George upon dragging Dazai over to the professor, much to Dazai’s displeasure.
The man’s eyes widened slightly upon hearing this. “You kids saw the Dementor? I’m glad you’re all alright. Your friend passed out?” he asked.
“Yeah, he seems better now, but we wanted to clear him with a professor,” Fred replied.
“I’m impressed he’s up and about after that. Were you two also there when it happened?”
“Yeah, we were, it was awful,” George replied.
Lupin paused for a moment, taking out a block of chocolate and snapping off a small portion for each of them, though he held a larger piece out for Dazai. “Here. It should make you feel better a bit faster. You really should get some rest as well. I’m Professor Lupin, by the way.”
The twins took their portions happily, wolfing them down in seconds.
“No thanks,” Dazai replied, eying the chocolate that was held out to him. He had a feeling it would only make him feel sick.
Professor Lupin frowned upon hearing Dazai’s refusal. “You should take it. I haven’t poisoned it, I promise.”
“That’s a shame,” Dazai replied absently.
Lupin’s frown deepened.
Fred took the chocolate for him, giving him a concerned look. “Why would you say no to chocolate?” he asked incredulously.
“Don’t like it,” Dazai replied shortly.
Lupin looked dissatisfied at this response, but there wasn’t all that much he could do about it. He’d have to notify the new healer.
George sighed, and looked at Fred, who nodded. He slipped the chocolate to Blaise as they entered the Great Hall.
Dazai noticed that Hermione was pulled aside to talk to Professor McGonagall before he entered the Hall. He wondered what for, Hermione wasn't the type to get into trouble. He hoped it wouldn't be like the situation with Percy last year. The older Weasley wasn't too bad overall, but Dazai didn't like being spied on.
When everyone was seated, the first years began being sorted, as they had last year. Dazai tried to remember each first-year at first, but soon grew bored. Blaise poked him, and when he looked over, he was handed the chocolate from earlier.
Dazai gave it the stink eye and turned his nose up at it childishly.
“The twins said it would make you feel better. If you have half, I’ll take the rest, deal?” Blaise offered. With the way Blaise looked at him, well, how could he say no? The twins were right about Blaise's puppy eyes.
He took the half Blaise held out to him and took the smallest bite he possibly could. He felt some small magic fizzle out as it made contact with No Longer Human. That must’ve been why the stuff hadn’t melted yet. It did make his shaking subside slightly, not that he was about to admit that. He slowly consumed the small block of chocolate, just fast enough to avoid it melting all over his gloves.
Blaise ate his own half, satisfied now that Dazai had cooperated.
“Hermione has a new cat,” Blaise stated after the first years had sat down.
“Oh?”
“She named it Crookshanks.”
“I hope it gets along with Featherbrain and Egg, we wouldn’t it to get eaten. Though, speaking of getting eaten, maybe it can catch Ron’s creepy rat. That would be nice,” Dazai said happily.
Blaise sighed, but it was fond. He attempted to coax Dazai into eating some of the feast, but the bandaged boy stubbornly refused. Blaise allowed himself to be satisfied with the fact that Dazai had at least eaten the chocolate. He looked to be doing better already.
Much to Dazai’s relief, the Great Feast eventually ended, and he was able to get his things and unpack in the gang office again. The smell of so much food had been sickening. At least he was able to walk more than a few steps without stumbling now.
It was late, so he allowed himself to curl up on the couch and let sleep take him.