Mason Devlin woke up on the couch of the Ravenclaw common room with a ray of weak sunlight on his face. He yawned and stretched, before realizing he had slept in his animagus form, a dog, but couldn’t remember why.
Probably had another bad dream about Jacob in the middle of the night, he thought.
He hopped off the couch but didn’t bother returning to his human form. It’s always easier to sneak out early in the morning to feed creatures for Hagrid when you’re not what the professors and Filch are looking for. As such, Mason headed for the Care of the Magical Creatures classroom in his dog form.
The castle was quieter than usual that morning. Even if it was just after sunrise, it was normal for a few other people to be up and heading for the Great Hall for breakfast or early morning cramming in the library. But other than a stray frog, Mason didn’t run into anything his entire way out of the castle.
Even the Care of Magical Creatures classroom was empty. Normally Kettleburn or Hagrid would be there, making sure the nocturnal creatures made it back to their habitats and the early morning creatures weren’t making too much noise. Neither of the men were there, and none of the creatures were, either.
Mason finally returned to his human form, looked around again. Something was seriously off, but he couldn’t put a finger on it. Deciding it could wait until after the creatures were fed, he grabbed a few bags of feed and headed for the grasslands and the Forbidden Forest.
Jingles the Niffler tried to steal his necklace like always, the one that matched Tulip’s that she’d got for him on their one year anniversary. John the Porlock greeted him with the closest thing to a hug he can give. Jake the Abraxan snorted in his face, nearly knocking him over with the force of air. Tink the Fairy and Newt the Bowtruckle raced to give him small objects; a tiny mirror and a seed, which he thanked them both for.
Finally, Mason headed for the Forbidden Forest. He usually feeds Lucas the Acromantula first, since he could actually see the giant spider.
But for the first time, he could see a skeletal winged horse standing where he knew the Thestral always was.
And suddenly the silence of the castle and the absence of Hagrid and Kettleburn make sense as last night crashed down.
Jacob and R.
The dementors.
Rakepick.
“Avada Kedavra!”
“ROWAN!”
Mason dropped to his knees, tears and a scream choking him. The food bags spilled on the ground, and he started at the sound.
“No no no no. How did I—”
Suddenly his armor, the set that Charlie insisted on buying after the events of the Cursed Vault last year, was far too heavy and far too suffocating. He yanked at the belts, flinging the armor off him, tossing the arm bracers so far the Thestral rears up in alarm.
He doesn’t care, mind too occupied with thinking
When was the last time I’d even hung out with Rowan?
I’d been promising myself we would get a butterbeer the next time we went to Hogsmeade.
And now....
It was still too hot, still too suffocating, still too much. All the armor was off, so he pulled off his boots, dropping them loudly next to the metal. Socks are next, flung like the arm bracers were.
The cold dew on the grass was a shock to his system, and finally he could get a full breath in his lungs.
Hesitantly, he ran his hands through the grass, and slowly,
slowly,
breathing came easier.
When he was finally breathing normally, Mason rubbed his face and laid on the ground.
“Rowan,” he muttered. “You would have known what just happened. Or researched it until you did.” He sighed. “Bloody hell.”
A snort scared him, and he sat up, face inches from the Thestral’s. He gulped.
“Hi, Cerberus.”
Cerberus snorted again, before sitting next to him, nudging his hand with her muzzle. He pets her, slowly, trying to avoid looking into her pure white eyes. Her skin was smooth and a bit slippery, but she did have a mane that was surprisingly soft. Mason hummed.
“Hagrid was right,” he said. “You guys are harmless and big softies.”
He sat there for a few minutes, petting her mane and just existing. Eventually, he stands and gives her the raw meat, then finally feeds Lucas. He puts his socks and boots back on, picks up the pieces of armor, and looks one more time at Cerberus. He feels a bit of that earlier panic return, but forces it back down with a deep breath.
“Back to Hogwarts,” he says to himself. “This....is going to be hard.”