Chapter 2
Harry jumped up when he heard one of the trap spells go off, earning a loud yell from whoever it caught. Hedwig hooted in alarm, having woken up from the noises and glared at the offender who dared to wake her. A large monochrome clown was currently stuck in place, looking to be covered in multicolored paint and puffballs. There was a bucket of some kind in his hands, unable to move because of one of the spells.
Several other members of the mansion, who had heard the sounds, came to investigate. Harry huffed as he got up from the bed, having worn a pair of sleep pants and a long sleeve to bed to not have anyone accidentally see his scars. He didn’t want others to see those. He wasn’t ready to show those.
“Who are you and why are you in my room at one in the morning?” Harry asked, grumpy from being woken up as he unfroze him, but kept his wand pointed. Several of the members who came to see the ruckus laughed at the sight, Harry could even see Toby among them, who looked to have double over with laughter.
The clown pouted as he sat on the floor, the bucket in his lap. “I wanted to prank you! Duh! I always prank the newbies! I’m Laughing Jack though, nice to meet you kid! I like your style!” Laughing Jack, as he introduced himself as, said as he grinned at the smaller boy. Harry facepalmed, getting a distinct vibe of the Weasley twins at the moment.
“I’m sure you’ve heard but my name is Harry. And please, do not mess with me while I’m sleeping next time. Also thanks, I’m friends with a pair of prankster wizarding twins who taught me half of those spells. What’s in the bucket?” Harry asked, looking at the bucket that sat in the clown’s lap.
“Garlic water. Anyways, tootles!” LJ yelled, teleporting out of the room. Harry rolled his eyes, setting back up the spells in his room.
Slenderman took this moment to appear outside the room, where several residents were still laughing at the events that had occurred. “What is going on here?” Slender asked, watching as the members of his household started to pick themselves up.
“Laughing Jack set off the traps that I put on my room to keep others out while I’m sleeping, got covered in paint and puffballs, everyone came to see and started laughing because of it,” Harry explained to the entity, who seemed to only sigh.
“I thought I told him to stop trying to prank others while they slept. No matter, everyone, back to bed or else you are getting extra work tomorrow.” Slender told everyone, who were quick to scatter. Harry snickered a bit as the being turned back to him. “How do these wards work exactly?” He asked the wizard.
“Well, they trigger for anyone with malicious contempt towards me or Hedwig. Be it harm, kill, or even prank in some cases. If they have good intentions then they can come in no problem, but if their intentions are bad then the traps set off and he actually only triggered three of them. I have about twenty right now. “ Harry explained to him. Slender seemed impressed, nodding in acknowledgment as he walked into the room.
“Good idea to use. I would not have been shocked if Jeff, the one from dinner who threw the knife, came in here as well. He has a tendency to test the newbies the first couple of days and has a habit of ‘accidentally’ killing them.” Slenderman told the wizard, who nodded in understanding.
Harry yawned a little, still tired after being woken up. Slender seemed to realize this and leave the young wizard be, who fell back into the bed, letting sleep take him once more.
The next week Harry spent getting used to his new surroundings. He explored the woods and large mansion, taking in the surroundings and different routes to different areas. Often times, the young wizard was accompanied by Toby, as the ticking killer quickly wormed his way into Harry’s heart and had become Harry’s first friend in the mansion of insane killers. Hedwig had also warmed up to the boy and when she wasn’t exploring or with Harry, she was with Toby, who would gladly pet the snowy owl or sneak her food.
Harry had also been talking with Masky, Hoodie, and EJ over the past week, enjoying their company. Both Masky and EJ were nice to talk to, EJ even offering to help Harry get caught up on muggle education over the summer so that way he wouldn’t be clueless in the future years. While Hoodie rarely spoke, he still was curious about the wizarding world as well and would listen to Harry as he talked about different things that had happened over the last three years of Hogwarts.
Along with them, Harry had also ended up getting into a conversation at some point with Laughing Jack about pranks, mainly because the monochrome clown wanted to know of different forms of magical pranks that could be performed and Harry was able to answer.
Sally had also shown up at some point and Harry got roped into playing with the little ghost, which he enjoyed entertaining the little girl. Harry had always liked kids, so quickly got along with the girl and at some point, Sally had named Harry in her top five favorite big brothers, which was a win in Harry’s book.
Currently, Harry sat on the couch as BEN showed him how to play Mario Kart since the wizard had never had a chance to play video games before. He listened as the cybernetic ghost told him the different game mechanics, nodding occasionally to show he was listening.
Toby walked into the room and flopped onto the couch with them. “Can I join?” Toby asked, his neck cracking loudly at a random tick.
Ben rolled his eyes, handing the newest member of the room a controller, as Harry smiled lightly, preparing himself.
“Unfortunately, I will have to interrupt the three of you as I am in need of Harry at this moment.” Slender’s voice called out to the three of them, making Harry nod as he got up and walked over to the faceless man, the other two going back to the game.
Harry followed the boss of the house to his office, noticing the man from the other night when he first arrived, Jeff, already inside, with a frown on his Glasglow face. “While I know the two of you did not get off to the right start, I will say that Harry, you will need to work on your fighting. Your magical powers will not work in every situation and I would like you to be prepared for any situation. As Jeff here is one of the best fighters in the household, I believe that the two of you training together for a while will be the best solution to this.” Slender told them, making them both look at him.
“He tried to kill Hedwig!! No way!” Harry yelled, letting his anger get the best of him as he growled in anger. A few things inside of the office shook as his magic reacted to his emotions. Slender gave him a ‘look’ causing the boy to pull back his magic, but his anger never fully left.
“I have already punished him for this Harry. As of right now, I know that there are several in the magical world that is after you. I want you to be trained for anything that can happen. Jeff is the best choice for this. Not to mention, you two will find that you have more in common than you initially thought. Now, go to the training room you two. I want you two to work together at least twice a week for a few hours.” Slender told them. Harry just growled, annoyed as he walked to the training room. Jeff walked behind him, silent throughout the entire exchange.
As Harry walked inside, he was instantly pinned to the ground by the other killer, making him gasp out in shock. Jeff held a knife to his neck as he loomed over him. “Look, newbie, I don’t want to do this either, but you know that we gotta listen to Slender. Now get your ass up. At the very least I can get you up to normal standard. Your stance is horrible and bugging the shit out of me. For someone with so many after them, you would think you would have your damn guard up more.” Jeff told him with a light growl, letting go of the smaller boy, who was quick to get up.
The next few hours for the young wizard were hellish.
Harry collapsed onto the couch by the three proxies with a groan, his body aching after another intense training session with Jeff. Toby and Hoodie both poked the younger killer, as Masky looked over. “Tough training?”
Harry glared at him as he spoke, “He is so… horrible! I can’t stand him! I won’t lie, he’s amazing at fighting but the guy is an ass on a good day! I’m shocked I haven’t bled out yet even with my magic healing the wounds and Eyeless patching me up after!”
Hoodie snorted as Toby snickered a bit. Masky let out a chuckle as well. “Jeff may seem bad, but he honestly is a good guy to hang around with once you get to know him. He had a bad past and it causes him to be so tough acting around new people. Just try to get to know the guy, he’ll eventually loosen up. “ Masky advised him, making Harry blinked at the words.
“Really?” Harry asked, earning a nod from all three proxies.
“Yeah, Jeff is pretty cool when he isn’t in ‘bitchy PMS’ mode,” Toby told him with a snicker, earning a slight laugh from the wizard.
“Alright. I guess I will try. Why does he have it out for me though in the first place? I never even did anything to him and yet he attacked me and Hedwig the first night.” Harry asked, looking at them.
“Testing you.” Hoodie quipped out, as the other two nods in agreement.
“Jeff has a thing about testing the newbies that arrive here to see how they stand with them, technically we all do. You already proved yourself to us three that dinner and several others figured you were decent when you defended your owl against Jeff. He probably thinks you show too much attachment to her, which is why he acts like he doesn’t like you. I know though by how he acted after that he was impressed slightly by your quick instincts that night when he threw the knife. Most only dodge or end up being impaled.” Masky explained, making Harry’s eyes widen slightly in surprise.
He would have to ask the smiling killer himself in the next training session.
Harry grunted slightly as he hit the ground, having been elbowed in the gut, before rolling out of the way as a foot headed towards his prone form. Harry was quick to hop up, dodging another kick as he delivered one of his own, following it up with stabbing his knife towards Jeff, who easily dodged the attack and moved behind the young wizard.
Harry dodged a swipe at his chest, dodging below the swipe and throwing out his hand, sending a burst of magic at Jeff, making the smiling killer hit the hall before growling as he got up. “I said no magic!” He growled at the wizard.
“You also said anything goes. If I get into a fight and have my magic I’m going to use it to my advantage.” Harry shot back, making Jeff look at him before smirking.
“Good. You’re finally fucking learning.” Jeff replied.
“You’re actually a good teacher, even if you’re an ass.” Harry shot back, earning a smirk from the cut-faced killer. Next thing Harry knew, he was pinned to the wall, Jeff hovering over him. Their faces were barely an inch apart and Harry could feel Jeff’s breath hit his lips, making him unconsciously lick his lips. Jeff watched this, his eyes trained on Harry’s lips for a moment more before looking Harry in the eyes and smirking.
Jeff suddenly let him go, making Harry slide down to the floor with a thud. “You’re actually a decent student. Now, get some rest and get ready. You’re going killing with me tonight.” He told the younger boy, walking off, making Harry feel a longing for something.
For what? The young wizard didn’t know.