'Dare I ask why you 're undermining me, Severus? '

Severus jumped, head snapping up from the books he was huddled over. 'When did you come in? ' He growled. 'Knock. '

Gildeory Lockhart waved him off, striding across the room until he was just on the other side of Severus ' desk. He walked with swaying, casual steps 'as though he had any right to be here. 'Knock? But we 're dear friends, Severus! Old classmates! I 'll admit, you 're a bit out of my typical realm of friends, but everyone needs to befriend an outcast once or twice. It 's part of my benevolent charm. '

Severus glanced to the door, finding it wide open. He hadn 't heard the man enter, and he

certainly

hadn 't been expecting his grating presence today. Hence why the door was meant to be securely shut and why his desk was covered in various books and papers. Research regarding a certain bandage-wearing, hyper-magically sensitive second year student.

Research that Gilderoy was not a part of.

'Why are you here? ' With a scowl, he slammed his book shut. He threw a stack of student essays over top it, covering the title from view.

Gilderoy raised a brow, a phony-looking pout on his lips. 'Why, Severus! I merely stopped by to chat with an old friend ' '

'We aren 't friends. We were never friends. We will never

be

friends, ' Severus deadpanned. 'What do you want. '

Gilderoy laughed. 'Always a buzzkill, aren 't you? ' He reached out to grab something on the desk.

Severus smacked his hand away. 'I am not attempting to undermine you any more than you already do that to yourself, ' he said, suddenly remembering the nonsense Gilderoy had said upon entering.

Gilderoy tutted, but thankfully kept his hands to himself without needing another reminder. 'Not so! Just last week, I gave one of your students a detention, only he never showed up! You need to keep your students in line, Severus! '

'Who? '

'Hm? '

'Who skipped their detention? ' Severus repeated. He could already feel a headache coming on. 'If one of my snakes is skipping detention, then I 'll have a talk with them. '

The sooner you tell me, the sooner you 'll leave me alone.

Gilderoy puffed. 'That demon boy, Dazai Osamu! Who else? '

Severus pinched the bridge of his nose. That headache would be a migraine within the hour.

Dazai.

Of course

this was about that troublesome boy.

'I 'll speak with him about it. ' Have mercy on any student unlucky enough to be stuck with Gilderoy for an hour-long detention. Even if it was a troublemaker like Dazai. Perhaps especially Dazai. 'Now leave. '

'That 's all? ' Gildeory tutted. He looked severely put-upon, despite being the one who had done the barging-in. 'You aren 't understanding, Severus. I 'm trying to meet with that demon during detention, and he 's using you as an excuse. You can 't just let that kind of disrespect go unpunished,

hm? '

Severus gave him an unimpressed look. 'That doesn't surprise me. ' He paused. Then, unable to prevent himself from snapping, he added a biting, 'and don 't call your own student a demon, Gilderoy. He 's only a boy. '

Gilderoy, again, brushed him off. 'He

is

a demon, Severus! Aren 't you reading the papers? I made a statement in the Daily Prophet just the other day about it. '

Severus sighed, deep and long-suffering. 'I will speak with Mr. Dazai about it during our next lesson on Saturday. You are welcome to leave now. '

'Saturday? ' Gildeory blinked several times. 'You really have class with him on Saturday? '

Severus stared. 'Yes. '

Something about Gilderoy 's expression struck him, and realization dawned over Severus.

'Don 't tell me Mr. Dazai 's so-called excuse was our Remedial Magics class. '

Gildeory sputtered and he took a step back.

Right.

Of course it was.

'He has class with me on Saturdays. Schedule your detentions for Sunday, and he won 't skip, ' Severus continued, speaking over Gildeory 's stunned silence. 'Could you not have discussed this with Mr. Dazai yourself, Gilderoy? '

Gildeory made some flailing motion with his hands before abruptly stopping. He pasted one of his typical, charmless grins across his face. 'Well, you know how it is with demons, Severus! I can 't trust a word out of that boy 's mouth. Perhaps, if he 'd explained the situation to me fully, I wouldn 't have been forced to confront you about his behavior like this. '

'I don 't care what he said or didn 't say to you, ' Severus intoned. 'Now that you have your answer, leave. '

'Severus, Severus! ' He tutted. 'So rude to your good friend and colleague! '

'I don 't know you. '

'Now, what are you doing in here all alone, anyway? Perhaps I could lend a helping hand! In thanks for clearing up your student 's foolish mistake, that is. '

'I would rather brew my own poison and drink it. '

Severus needed somewhere he could research in peace. Somewhere students wouldn 't bother him. Somewhere where Gilderoy wouldn 't follow.

'...Severus? What do you say? Oh! Are you shy, being offered help by one of society 's greatest heroes? No need! I 'm a man of the people, after all. '

A stack of medical textbooks stared up at him.

...Ah.

Severus knew just the place.

-

The Hogwarts ' library was a sprawling mass of information. Row after row of shelves, each stuffed to the brim with books. On a normal day, any number of bookish students could be found milling about there. Even a few of the less intellectually inclined students often flocked here 'whether it be for their favorite author 's latest work or simply to have a moment of quiet. The library was always quiet. Madam Pince wouldn 't have it any other way.

Today, the library was empty.

Dazai couldn 't help but to find it distracting. He 'd read one sentence, then look up.

No one.

Another sentence.

No one.

Another '

'Are you getting any reading done, like that? '

Dazai 's eyes snapped to Hermione, across the table. 'Yes, ' he lied.

She raised a brow. The book in front of Hermione,

Magical Artefacts in History,

was nearly half-way finished. She cast a telling gaze at Dazai 's own book,

Magical Sensitivity, a Complete Guide.

Barely a quarter of the way in.

It might have been embarrassing, if Dazai 's nerves weren 't spent fraying over other things.

'Not really, ' Dazai admitted with a sigh and casting another not-so-subtle glance around the library. It was still empty. Silent. Half-an-hour earlier, a few unfamiliar Ravenclaws had walked into the library, spotted Dazai, then promptly high-tailed it out of there. Since then, no one else had even walked by the front door. 'This book isn 't telling me anything I don 't already know, anyway. '

That wasn 't

exactly

true. Magical Sensitivity was a very broad subject. This book could tell him anything from the most basic of definitions to the most hyper-specific of case studies. It really would have made for an interesting read, had Dazai the focus to actually

read

it.

But it still didn 't have what he was looking for. No mention of a white Sensing Stone, nor the dark thing hiding within it.

Magical Sensitivity, a Complete Guide

wasn 't looking all that

complete

from Dazai 's perspective.

Hermione hummed. She pushed her own book aside, turning her full attention onto Dazai. 'You 've barely even read it, Dazai. If it has the answer you 're looking for, you aren 't going to find it ' ' she made a show of looking to the empty library around them, ' 'out there. What 's got you so distracted? Is everything okay? '

Dazai tore his eyes off the empty space again, this time accompanying the movement with a plastered-on smile. 'I'm not distracted. Look at all the reading I 've done! '

It was pointless to even attempt claiming as much, but Dazai liked going through the motions, regardless. 'It was a familiar routine. Hermione 's disbelieving stare was expected.

'Seriously, Dazai, are you okay? '

"...I'm contemplating how many paper cuts it would take to bleed out?"

Hermione glared at him.

"...Yeah. I wouldn't believe that one, either. Papercuts hurt to much to be a viable method of '" Dazai cut himself off just before saying

suicide

. He knew how much Hermione disliked him bringing it up, and didn't really want the fuss today. " 'of.

Uh.

Torture?"

Hermione's stare was unwavering.

Dazai cleared his throat.

'How are things going with Ron and Draco? ' He asked instead.

Hermione blinked at the non-sequitur, then frowned. 'Avoiding the question isn 't going to make me stop asking. '

'Neither is avoiding mine, ' Dazai drawled. He leaned forward and rested his cheek in his palm. A second later, he regretted it. Pain throbbed across his face as Dazai accidentally pushed into the still-healing bruise.

Goyle could really pack a punch. At least Dazai had the foresight earlier to steal a housemate 's makeup for a hasty coverup. He didn 't really need the extra attention a shiner like that would give him. Not from the other students, and

certainly

not from the staff. Dazai could practically see Snape 's assessing stare now. And Pomfrey 's, for that matter.

Or Lockhart 's.

Bleh.

Hermione 's brows furrowed together briefly when Dazai, half-way to leaning into his palm, suddenly folded his hands together instead. He watched her, waiting, rather than give an explanation. Confusion spiked across Hermione 's face, but she dismissed it shortly.

'Well, ' she said. 'Things are going well. '

Dazai waited for more. When there was none, he prompted, 'Blaise tells me you three aren 't working with Egg anymore. ' Even with no one present, Dazai still dropped his voice into a whisper when talking about their illicit dragon.

Hermione mirrored his hushed tone. 'Those two could fight forever, if I let them. Practicing quidditch instead let them work out their differences. Besides, it 's something they have in common. And they 're both actually quite good, with a little coaching. ' Something private and proud flickered across her expression as she spoke. Dazai, amusedly, wondered how much of a hand Hermione had in said coaching.

'And they didn 't kill each other? Impressive. '

Dazai remembered Blaise saying that quidditch was a quite violent sport. That the two hadn 't beaten one another senseless was a surprise. And a relief. The Port Mafia had enough in-fighting right now for Dazai to want to steer clear of it for the rest of his (hopefully short) lifetime.

'Tryouts are tomorrow, ' Hermione told him. 'Next week, we find out who makes the teams. '

'Give them my best. '

'I will, ' she said, smiling. Then, she paused as if something had just occurred to her. 'Oh..! I haven't seen you and Draco together since school started 'aside from the other day, of course. If Draco is avoiding you... can I ask why? '

Dazai waved her off. 'Too proud to hang out with a demon. '

Hermione 's fingers clenched into a fist. Something dark flickered across her face too-fast to track. 'You aren 't a demon. '

'That 's beside the point. ' Dazai shrugged, as if hearing Hermione say that so casually wasn 't just a little bit relieving. 'Draco and I are on the same page about this. Don 't worry about it. '

Questions danced across Hermione 's expression. She looked ready to ask any number of them, but something in Dazai 's expression must have stopped her. 'If you 're certain, ' Hermione said, hesitating.

'I am, ' he said. Then, 'And those two are getting along, now? '

'Much better, ' Hermione confirmed with a sudden smile. "They work surprisingly well as a team. Off the field, less so. But they 're getting better! '

Dazai nodded. 'Getting Ron and Draco to tolerate each other is no easy feat. Good job. '

Hermione beamed, pride turning her face a healthy shade of red. 'All the better for it, ' she said, 'since it gives me time to research with you. '

Dazai 's eyes slid back to the books sprawled out in front of them. As always, Dazai wanted to research at least a dozen subjects all at once, but had only the time for one. Today, curiosity over the Sensing Stone won out. Not that he was making any progress with it. With how much Dazai 's mind was wandering at the moment, Hermione 's presence was greatly appreciated.

'Now that I 've answered your question, ' Hermione said, sounding undeservedly quite smug. Dazai turned away from his thoughts with an expectant frown. 'You have to answer mine: what 's got you so distracted? '

Dazai huffed. He cast another look around the room. After a second, Hermione did the same. There was no dawning comprehension in her eyes, though. Only asking.

'The library is empty, ' Dazai admitted, having decided after a moment to humor his subordinate. 'It 's suspicious. '

Now, that smug look was quickly being replaced with confusion. 'Suspicious? '

In his mind 's eye, Dazai saw an empty hallway. Saw that hallway fill almost instantaneously with a mob of angry students. Saw Crabbe 's hand on his shoulder, Goyle 's fist raised, Pansy 's simmering glare.

Saw that it could happen again at any moment.

Dazai didn 't relay any of this, of course.

'The library is never empty. '

'Isn 't it? '

'No. You just get too wrapped up in your books and don 't notice. '

Dazai, meanwhile, always had one eye open on his surroundings. As much as he could bare to, anyway. He would never admit to the dozens of times he, too, had been too drawn into his readings to realize someone was approaching him.

But those had been friends. Fred, George, Blaise... Now that everyone was his enemy, Dazai couldn 't afford to be lax.

Not after yesterday.

'Oh. '

Hermione 's mouth dropped into an 'O. ' She looked around the library 'really looked, this time. The other tables were empty and the rows of books were going unread. Madam Pince was the only other occupant, quietly flipping through papers at the front desk. The librarian didn 't spare them a glance. 'That is odd, ' Hermione said after a moment. Looking back to Dazai, she asked, 'is something going on, today? '

Other than half the school plotting out my demise?

'Not to my knowledge. '

'Still, ' Hermione said, now half-watching the room and half-watching Dazai 's face for a change in expression, 'that 's nothing to be worried over. Something else has got you distracted. '

Rather than answering, Dazai drew a cheeky grin across his face. 'Is Hermione curious to know what I 'm thinking? I 'm flattered. '

She rolled her eyes at his antics, but Dazai didn 't miss how her cheeks dusted over pink, regardless.

Not giving Hermione another chance to question his carelessness, Dazai reached out to tap the corner of her book. 'Never mind all that. Have you found anything? '

Hermione stared at him for a moment. Clearly, she knew Dazai was deflecting the conversation. That didn 't stop her from answering, however. An excited glimmer lit her eyes. 'This Sensing Stone item is really very interesting! And rare! You said Madam Pomfrey has one? '

'For my awful Remedial Magics lessons, ' Dazai told her. 'She and Professor Snape are convinced high Magical Sensitivity is the reason I can 't spell cast. '

'An over-sensitivity to magic making it difficult to spell cast... ' Hermione trailed off, looking deep in thought. 'That could be. It 's a wonder I didn 't think of that possibility sooner! '

'Even I didn 't know I was more sensitive than anyone else until I saw the Sensing Stone myself. '

Hermione nodded, though she seemed to still be more thoughtful over the revelation than relieved with Dazai 's reassurances. 'But... ' she paused, as if mulling over what she was about to say, 'if you haven 't told Madam Pomfrey about your...

thing

. How can you be sure? '

'Thing? '

'Nullification, ' she whispered, only as loud as she dared.

Even with Hermione keeping her voice low, Dazai couldn 't help the almost desperate flick of his eyes around the library. Still empty 'no one could have overheard. Dazai pulled on one of his bandages. It loosened ever-so-slightly around his wrist and the tension in his chest loosened all the same.

Hermione had a point, of course.

But there was something about her insistence that gave Dazai pause. It almost seemed as if Hermione had given this topic some significant thought. Which could only mean '

He leveled Hermione with a pointed stare. 'You were researching my ' '

don 't say Special Ability

' '

thing

weren 't you! ' Dazai chastised, though he made a noticeable effort to keep his voice from rising too much. 'Didn 't I tell you not to bother? '

Hermione puffed out her cheeks. 'You said it would be

pointless

, not that it was

prohibited

. ' As though there were a difference, where Dazai was concerned. Unperturbed, Hermione continued, 'I 've never heard of something like complete magical nullification before. And after reading half the books in here? Neither has anyone else. Of

course

I 've been researching it! '

Dazai stared Hermione in the eye for a second before pulling back. He slumped into the arm of his chair with a huff. 'And? Did you find anything? '

She hadn 't. Dazai already knew as much. It was nearly impossible that Hermione found a book that Dazai hadn 't already poured over last year. A second later, when Hermione 's defiant expression slipped, Dazai was proven right on the matter.

'No, ' Hermione said, defeat darkening her gaze. 'You were right. Still ' '

Dazai waved her off. 'Research for another day, ' he said, watching as Hermione 's eyes immediately lit up. 'In the meantime..? ' Here, he gestured to Hermione 's open book.

'Right! ' Hermione said, sitting up a bit straighter at the prospect of sharing what she 'd learned. She pushed her book across the table, spinning it so Dazai could read. Dazai leaned in to quickly skim the page while Hermione explained, 'just like you said, a Sensing Stone can tell you how sensitive to magic you are. Lighter colors like, yellow, are typical for most powerful wizards. But look, here ' ' she tapped a quick one-two beat on the paper, 'the famed wizard Merlin supposedly could see white, when he looked. That 's what you saw, right? '

Dazai perked up. 'That 's right, ' he said, now bowed over the page.

The author of

Magical Artefacts in History

had written,

"When asked, Merlin reportedly told fellow wizards that he was able to perceive the Sensing Stone as being a pure, faultless white. Due to a lack of documentation during this time period, it is unclear as to the validity of this claim."

'I wasn 't lying about it, though, ' Dazai said with a pout.

Hermione shrugged. She pulled the book back to herself, reading for another minute before responding. 'Maybe Merlin wasn 't, either. He

was

the most powerful wizard to ever walk the earth, after all. It's not really that surprising for someone like that to be so sensitive to magic. '

Dazai blinked. Slowly, he raised his eyes from the book to Hermione 's face.

As if suddenly realizing the implications of what she said, Hermione frantically began to shake her head. 'I am

abosultely

not

saying you 're on the same level of power as Merlin. I 'm merely saying that there

is

a precedence for this. '

Dazai smirked, wide and toothy. 'No, no. I 'm the next coming of your great-and-powerful Merlin! '

"If you want to be as powerful as Merlin, you need to start participating in class. Doing your homework. Passing your tests. '

Dazai shrugged her off, still grinning ear-to-ear. 'If you say so, ' he said, winking.

Hermione sputtered.

Despite his joking demeanor, Dazai was actually silently considering that tidbit of information.

A level of Magical Sensitivity equal to that of the long-passed Merlin? The supposedly strongest wizard in all history? It seemed like a stretch. Sure, Dazai had a certain proclivity for feeling the latent magic around him, but he couldn 't do anything with it. Still, to be on the same level as a figure like

Merlin

...

'Anyway, the Sensing Stone is pretty straight forward. The color you see indicates how much magic you are capable of sensing. Merlin theorized that it may have further capabilities, if a wizard sensitive enough ever came along. But that 's all just theory. ' She paused, glancing up from her book. 'Was there something specific you wanted to know about it? '

Dazai carefully parsed out all of Hermione 's words, mind grasping on two in particular:

further capabilities.

An image of something dark and writhing came to mind 'the strange other thing he had seen in the Sensing Stone last week. 'Not sure yet, ' he said, purposefully vague. "What else did Merlin have in mind? '

Hermione hummed. She flipped the page, skimmed, then flipped again. A few minutes passed before she started to relay, 'hard to say. According to this book, it was all hypothetical. Merlin supposed it may be possible to use as a scrying tool. ' She glanced up. 'That is, to search for things that can 't be found. That could be people, items, places... But the Sensing Stone is

very

powerful. Merlin suspected it 's scrying abilities would surpass that of any other type of magic. '

Well... Dazai hadn 't seen anything to indicate that. He could pretty confidently say that black he saw in the Stone was connected to No Longer Human 'not some scrying ability. It was an interesting thought, though. Maybe something to experiment with later, if need be. But for now it was unimportant.

Though he did have another lesson with Snape coming up. It couldn 't hurt to look for the Sensing Stone then. See if it couldn 't do anything more than make a storm cloud.

Movement caught Dazai 's eye.

He forced himself away from where Hermione 's fingers were tracing over a sentence in her book.

Dazai tensed, preparing for an attack.

A second later, however, it proved unnecessary.

'You two look hard at work! ' George greeted with a raised hand

'Or hardly working, ' Fred added with a wink, his eyes falling knowingly to the book Dazai had discarded earlier. Dazai ignored him.

Hermione blinked up at them, a small smile lighting up her face. 'Hello, Fred, George. Come to study? '

They snorted. 'Nope! ' Despite saying so with much enthusiasm, Fred and George immediately saddled into the table 's other seats.

'Come to see how empty the library is? ' Dazai asked. "Or to figure out how many paper cuts it takes to kill a man?"

'Just checking in, ' George said. Then, eyes twinkling, he said, "And at

least

a thousand."

"Well, that and investigating some gossip," Fred said.

Hermione and Dazai blinked. 'Gossip? '

Dazai felt his eyes narrow automatically. He had an awful feeling this was somehow about him 'most things seemed to be, these days.

'Rumor has it, Dazai got in a fight the other day, ' the Weasley twins said as one. Despite their light tones, Dazai wasn 't blind to the undercurrent of concern in their eyes.

Of course,

Dazai mentally groaned.

Hermione gasped, whirling on her research partner.

For his part, Dazai merely sighed. It was about him, after all. Although... curiosity prickled at him. 'I was sure Gemma was trying to keep that under wraps, ' he said, non-accusatorially. With a mob that big, someone leaking the fight wasn 't too unusual. Still, something niggled at his brain. 'Who told? '

A quick glance at the twins proved he was right, when Fred and George shared one of their looks.

Fred cleared his throat. 'Probably some wee-baby first-year, ' he shrugged. 'But! That 's not how we found out. '

They smiled mischievous smiles, lips curled.

Dazai couldn 't help it 'he was a little enchanted by how Fred and George could draw out the fun in their pranks and dramatics. He smirked. '

Eh?

You 're not keeping secrets from your favorite boss, are you? '

'Only boss, '

Hermione interjected, not unkindly.

' 'Course we're not keeping secrets from you! '

Fred wiggled his fingers. 'Well, maybe a little. '

Dazai pouted, ready to drag the truth out of them with puppy-dog-eyes if need be. Fred and George seemed to realize the onslaught of whiny begging heading their way, because they were quick to spring into action.

'You 're going to love this, Snakey, ' as George spoke, Fred reached into his cloak for something. Dazai watched them, amused and intrigued at once. 'We were gonna show you last year, but ' ' he blew a raspberry. 'Well, we all know how last year worked out. '

Finally, Fred found what he was looking for. From his cloak, Fred pulled out a rolled-up piece of parchment. It was thin and yellowing at the edges.

The moment Dazai laid his eyes on it, he knew it was charmed. Magic droned off of it in small but noticeable waves.

Fred and George both gave the library a cursory once-over before leaning forward to explain, 'The Marauder 's Map, ' they said, tones hushed, 'bet you 're curious what it does,

hm? '

There was no sign of recognition on Hermione 's face, telling Dazai that this Marauder 's Map wasn 't some well-known or well-researched artifact. For his part, Dazai was also drawing a blank.

The twins seemed to take their cluelessness with good humor.

'Well? Any guesses as to what it is? '

'Do we have to spell it out for you? ' Fred tutted

Deciding to humor them, Dazai guessed, 'some kind of charmed map of Hogwarts? ' Obviously the 'Marauder 's Map ' was a map, and Dazai could feel the magic charming it already. Given that Hogwarts was surrounded by nothing but forest, he couldn 't imagine what else it might plot out.

George snapped. 'Got it in one, Snakey! '

'Take a look! ' Fred said, unfolding the paper and laying it flat on the table between Dazai and Hermione. The paper was blank 'empty of any trace of ink. But, able to feel the magic in place, Dazai knew there was more to it than the naked eye let on. 'But,

uh

, watch yourself, Boss. Wouldn 't want to kill the magic in this thing. '

Dazai waved a gloved hand in agreement. He leaned forward to get a better view, but was still careful to keep his distance.

Hermione, similarly, sat forward in her seat. 'I wasn 't aware there were any maps of Hogwarts! With how the stairs are always changing... '

'Hence the charms, ' George explained. A grin split across his face. 'Among other things. Fred, if you 'd do the honors..? '

'It would be my pleasure, brother-mine. '

Dazai and Hermione both watched with bated breath as Fred withdrew the wand from his cloak. He gave it a dramatic swirl in the air, then tapped it on the blank paper twice. He cleared his throat, then,

'I solemnly swear that I am up to no good. '

The second those words left Fred 's mouth, Dazai felt the magic around them shift. It felt like a lock sliding into place. A click of the latch. The map seemed to buzz. Just as Dazai was beginning to parse out the sensation, something happened. What was once an empty, yellow sheet of paper was slowly being dyed black. Ink bled out of the page. It drew line after line, slowly and silently forming walls, rooms, corridors. Within ten seconds, a perfect map of Hogwarts covered the page.

Dazai 's initial reaction was:

a map. Finally! I 've only been asking for an entire year.

But just as soon as the thought came on, another stole it away. Dazai 's eyes widened as he realized '

'Pretty cool, huh? ' George asked. A smirk broke across his face.

Beside him, Fred poked a spot on the map. Dazai traced his motion to where the map had drawn out the Hogwarts library. Right beside Fred 's finger were five cursive names.

Granger, H.

Weasley, F.

Weasley, G.

Dazai, O.

Pince, I.

'Our names? ' Hermione asked. Then, the realization hitting her, Hermione 's head snapped up to meet the twins ' eyes. 'This map can track the location of students in Hogwarts?! '

'Not

just

students! '

George titled his chin in the direction of the librarian. 'See? Madam Pince 's name is here, too. It tracks everyone. '

Hermione gasped, and Dazai found himself nearly doing the same if not for a practiced self-restraint. The things someone could do with this type of information '

'Of course, it has its downfalls, ' George said. 'Some rooms aren 't on here 'the gang room, for one. If you go in there, we won 't be able to find you. '

'Or all those secret rooms hidden in the third-floor corridor 'you remember those, Dazai. And there 's bound to be more rooms like them, only we haven 't found any. '

Well, that explained how the twins were privy to so many secret passages.

Looking down at his name, printed in immaculate script, Dazai had to wonder how the map 's magic worked. It was able to pick up

his

presence 'something not so easily done with No Longer Human. As he contemplated, Dazai watched as a trail of unfamiliar and familiar names walked down nearby halls.

With squinted eyes, Dazai searched for... there! It looked like Pansy was in the Slytherin common room chatting with Millie, Tracey, and Blaise.

As for Draco and Ron... a moment of searching revealed nothing. Either they were both in a secret room somewhere, or they were outside. Based on what Hermione had told him earlier, either was a possibility.

'Hey, Boss. You listening? ' Fred pouted, pulling Dazai from his musings. 'This isn 't nearly the overjoyed and awed reaction I was hoping for. '

Dazai was listening 'of course he was. This Marauder 's Map was beyond interesting. More than that, it was

useful

. The twins were right about the significance of being able to track everyone at Hogwarts. Dazai 's head was already spinning with his own uses for such a thing.

But while there was a part of Dazai that was listening, there was another part of Dazai that was scheming, plotting, planning...

(A part of Dazai that thought, somewhere between relieved and guilty,

'it says Dazai, O. not Tsushima, S. '

He discarded the thought immediately.)

'Where did you get something like this? ' Dazai asked instead.

Fred and George looked to one another, then beamed. 'Stole it from Filch 's office during our first year. Took a while to figure the secret code out, but once we did? '

'Pretty hard to get caught doing pranks when you know where all the prank-busters are at any given moment! '

Hermione 's smile fell. 'The prefects and professors are only doing their jobs. '

'And so are we! '

'It 's true! Dazai basically employed us as mischief makers, you know. '

'You aren 't getting paid, ' Hermione deadpanned.

'Not yet! '

Dazai shrugged, smiling over Hermione 's accusatory look. He inspected the map with a serious eye, taking in information like a starving dog to raw meat. 'I 'm a little jealous, ' Dazai hummed, eyes tracking the name

Snape, S.

where it was planted beside

Pomfrey, P

. in the infirmary 's back office. 'With a map like this, I 'd never get lost again! '

Fred and George laughed. Even Hermione jumped out of her stern glaring to chuckle.

'We 'd share it with you, Boss ' '

' 'but we weren 't sure with your nullification thing..? '

When Dazai nodded, the twins looked relieved 'as though they had seriously worried over upsetting Dazai by not sharing the Marauder 's Map sooner. Dazai reassured them quickly. 'Unfortunately, it 'll have to stay with you two. This thing is oozing magic. I 'd destroy it in a heartbeat. ' He paused. 'Accidentally, of course. '

'Of course, ' Fred said, smirking.

'But! ' George perked up. He grabbed the map, rolling it up with one hand before slipping it into his own robes.

Dazai watched it disappear with no small amount of disappointment. He 'd have to ask them to let him see it again, later.

George continued, 'That 's not the main reason we bring up the map. '

Having seen the Marauder 's Map, now, Dazai immediately pieced everything together. 'You know I got into a fight with Pansy because you saw it happen on your map! '

'Right on! ' Fred cheered. Looking somewhat guilty, he said, 'We

only

saw on the map, though. '

George nodded. 'By the time we closed up the map and went to see you in person, the hall was empty. '

Collapsing forward, Fred bemoaned, 'what awful bodyguards we make! '

Dazai waved them off. Fred and George weren 't his bodyguards (though he had likened them to guard dogs on a few occasions). Though with how this year was shaping up? Maybe he

should

invest in a bodyguard or two...

No. Dazai disregarded that idea before it could wander too far. Although a bodyguard might be nice, it was impractical. For one: he didn 't need to garner any more attention by having someone follow him around 24/7. And two: Dazai couldn 't trust any of his fellow classmates enough to do the job. Discounting his gang, of course. But...

'You didn 't get hurt, did you? '

'He doesn 't

look

hurt. '

Fred and George were still talking, oblivious to Dazai 's inner turmoil. They looked worried. Anxious. Just like the other day, chatting with Blaise, Dazai was reminded that he wasn 't the only person hurt by the school 's negative opinion of him.

I 'm dragging them all down with me,

he thought, followed by the more level-headed,

unlike me, these kids don 't know how to navigate high-stress situations.

As Dazai had been doing since birth 'breathing in mafia air and spitting out smiles.

'I'd barely call it a fight 'no one even got

close

to mortal peril." He sighed forlornly. "Gemma broke it before anyone was hurt, ' Dazai lied. Covered with thick makeup, Dazai 's bruised cheek didn 't betray the truth. He ignored the twins slumping forward with unmistakable relief. Moving on, Dazai told them, 'If you want to make it up to me for missing the fight, I have a job for you two. '

Fred and George immediately perked up, looking excited. 'A prank? '

'Hold up, ' Hermione cut in, 'are we just going to gloss over the fact that Dazai was

attacked?! '

'Yup! ' Dazai said, popping the word playfully.

Hermione sputtered.

Fred and George looked torn on who 's side to take. Dazai didn 't give them a chance to decide.

'I 've decided on out target for our cheating plot. '

The twins

ooh-ed.

Beside them, Hermione 's frown only deepened.

'Who?! '

'I bet it 's Professor Lockhart! '

Dazai laughed. 'It is! How'd you guess? '

Fred chuckled. 'I knew it. That guy is awful. '

'He 's barely even teaching! '

More than that ' 'Professor Lockhart despises Dazai, ' Hermione explained. 'But he 's such a marvelous author! It 's really a shame that he 's fallen for the Daily Prophet 's propaganda... '

'Him and everyone else, ' Dazai mumbled. In reality,

'despises '

wasn 't the right word for how Lockhart felt about him. It was more a situation of Lockhart leveraging Dazai 's bad press for some publicity of his own. But Dazai didn 't see any reason to explain that now. He was handling it just fine on his own.

Hermione glanced his way, then turned to the table. She fiddled with her hands. 'I 'm still not sure I can support this whole... cheating thing. Against a wonderful author like Lockhart, no less! '

'He may be an author, ' George said. Fred finished, 'but he 's certainly no teacher! '

Hermione puffed out her cheeks, but didn 't respond.

Dazai took that as his cue to continue. 'Lockhart keeps a copy of his test answers on his classroom desk. It 's all marked up in red ink 'you can 't miss it. Using that Marauder 's Map of yours, I imagine sneaking in long enough to copy the answers down shouldn 't be difficult for you two. And if you sneak in while I 'm in class with Snape on Saturday, you 'll have one less professor to watch out for. '

'Oh!

Good idea! '

'After we get the answer key, we start getting paid! ' Fred snorted. 'See, Hermione? Paid for mischief! '

Instead of rising to the bait, Hermione buried her nose in a book. 'I 'm not a part of this! '

The twins laughed, teasing smiles on their lips. Dazai joined in.

For the first time since Pansy cornered him, Dazai felt a little more at ease.

-

The back office of the infirmary was not a place commonly visited by students. In fact, the majority of kids attending Hogwarts would never even set foot there. Poppy Pomfrey knew this and enforced it well. She couldn 't have students snooping around back there, after all. Between her more potent potions and private student documentation, the area was strictly off-limits.

Poppy was glad to have enforced that No Trespassing rule early on in her career now. No one would ever dare to enter, which made her office a perfect location for clandestine meetings.

The unofficial 'Dazai Investigation Club ' could meet privately here.

'This spell might do nicely, ' Poppy said, sliding a thick, ancient tome across the desk. Even doing so carefully, the book 's cover tore at even the slightest movement. Old books were always a delicate thing to handle.

Severus looked up from his own book 'something a little more modern than Poppy 's, but no less dense. As he skimmed the page, his expression didn 't shift in the slightest. Poppy waited patiently for a response.

When Severus had first come barging into her office, a stack of tomes in hand, she had been prepared to snap at him about coming in unannounced. But something had stopped her up short. The look on his face had been one of exhaustion. And when the first words out of his mouth were a pleading, 'does the No Trespassing rule apply to Gilderoy? ' Poppy had caved.

(Lucky for him, she hadn 't grown angry with his butting in. Poppy when she was angry was...

Severus shivered at just the thought.)

Instead, she pulled up a second chair beside her desk, took a book, and started reading herself.

'...this could work, ' he said after a moment. 'I 've never heard of this spell before... '

Poppy hummed. She left the spell book in the middle of the desk between them, grabbing another book for herself instead.

Magical Cures for Unusual Patients

was full of treatments for werewolves and curse-bearers and even people with a phobia of magic. Perhaps it would have something for those with an incredibly high Magical Sensitivity?

'But I can 't be expected to teach Mr. Dazai a spell like this, ' Severus interrupted her thoughts with a glower. 'It might help

him

to know, but

I

won 't be able to learn it. How in Merlin 's name can I teach the boy a spell I don 't know myself? '

Poppy cast him a brief look. 'I 'll keep looking, but this one seems the most applicable here. '

It was true: most spells used a base amount of magic to function. An amount that 'if the Sensing Stone 's reading was correct 'would still be too much for Dazai to safely handle. The best Poppy could come up with at the moment was a spell that used so

little

magic it was barely a spell at all. And that alone had taken hours of pouring through old books to discover.

Because, really, who in the world would want to cast a spell so meager it may as well not exist?

'If you can start him on casting this, he should be able to slowly increase his tolerance, in theory. '

Snape huffed. 'It's the

'in theory '

part I don 't like. '

Poppy agreed. But it wasn 't often a student came to her with an ailment she couldn 't fix. She was trying her best. Speaking of '

A new, unopened letter sat on her desk. It was written over in the sloppy handwriting of a medical professional's apprentice 'by the name of Wiggins, apparently 'and delivered earlier that day via a particularly bulky brown owl.

A letter from St. Mungo 's Hospital inquiring about her patient. The fifth one this week.

Severus followed her gaze to where it had fallen on the letter. 'Another one? '

She sighed. 'You know I reached out to them after our meeting with Mr. Dazai last week. Unfortunately, I couldn 't find a way out of explaining my theory about the boy 's Magical Sensitivity level. After hearing that ' '

'They became insufferable, ' Severus guessed, a clear dislike in his tone.

'They want to meet him. Run their own tests on him. ' She paused, finally forcing her eyes away from the latest missive. 'If it were any other student, I wouldn 't hesitate to accept their help. '

Any other student would also

want

the help. Dazai seemed only mildly interested in his ailment most days.

More than that, of course, was the Daily Prophet.

It had nothing but bad thing to say about Dazai 'and although Poppy was privy to the truth behind Quirrell 's death, the staff at St. Mungo 's were not. The buzz surrounding Dazai 's case in particular was intense. There wasn 't a soul in the magical community that didn 't have thoughts on the boy one way or the other. Poppy couldn 't trust St. Mungo 's to put their medical practice before their political ones.

Since the Daily Prophet aired their story on Gilderoy 's encounter with Dazai, the public 's fear had only continued to mount. The whole situation was looking more and more worrying by the day. But Albus ' stance continued to be total media silence.

At the very least, Severus was on her side. Otherwise, he wouldn 't be sitting here with her, pouring over books for Dazai 's sake.

Thinking this, Poppy asked, 'How about you? Have any of your letters to Yokohama come back with results? '

Pointedly, Severus kept his eyes locked on his book. 'Take a guess. '

'Ah... '

From how Severus ' face pinched and darkened, Poppy was sure she already knew the answer. 'I 've never met a government more tight-lipped that this Yokohama. ' And she had dealt with plenty of governments. Digging up medical records for students wasn 't always mandatory, but when it was, Poppy turned out all of her resources.

'It 's a pain in my ass. '

Poppy laughed despite herself. 'You 'll manage. Although it is a little odd... '

When she trailed off, Severus looked up. 'What? '

'If I didn 't know any better, ' Poppy said, thoughtful, 'I 'd say this Yokohama is its own kind of magical community. They 're about as hard to penetrate as one, anyway. '

Severus paused. His hands hovered over the book.

'How so? '

'Well, ' she glanced to her own stack of correspondences. Severus must have twice as many as her by now. Each one as vague and unhelpful as the last. 'If a muggle somehow found out about Hogwarts and tried to contact us, the Ministry would send them a letter a bit like that, wouldn 't they? '

Stop asking questions. Stay out of our business. If you keep digging your nose where it doesn 't belong, you 'll find yourself regretting it.

Was that not the Ministry of Magic 's go-to method for diverting muggles, as well? Followed by a particularly nasty memory-erasing spell, of course.

It was an odd thought to cross her mind: that Yokohama and the Ministry of Magic had similar warding-away practices. But once she made the connection, it dug at her. Muggles didn 't have any reason to act so defensively. To see them doing so now was just... odd.

Severus seemed to be following her train of thought, 'Trying to research Yokohama, I've found virtually nothing. If you asked me to find out what the

weather

was in Yokohama today, I wouldn 't be able to tell you. I had to use some muggle methods, ' he grimaced, 'but even those methods revealed nothing about the inner-workings of Yokohama beyond the basics. The same results a muggle would get trying to research Hogwarts. Information gets into the city, but it doesn 't get out. '

Poppy rubbed her chin. 'But you 've been to Yokohama before, haven 't you? If it were anything like Hogwarts, you 'd have been turned away long before then. '

'I 've been a few times, now. ' Twice to visit Dazai before the boy 's first year and once to request records, Poppy knew. She had been on the receiving end of a rant regarding each and every one of those visits. 'It seemed normal enough to me. I hardly went sight-seeing, but Yokohama appeared to be a normal muggle city even then. '

'I guess that's that, then. '

'Perhaps, ' was all Severus replied with. But Poppy could see from how Severu 's brows were furrowed that the potion 's master was still deep in thought.

'Don 't let my wild theories carry you away, Severus, ' Poppy chided. 'It was merely a thought. Perhaps this Yokohama place just has a stricter government than we are used to. '

Severus glowered. He turned back to his book, and Poppy did the same. 'Or perhaps it 's hiding something. '

She hummed. Page after page about magical remedies and cures stared up at her, each useless in their own right. Young Mr. Dazai would be helped by none of this. And although there were spells to temporarily

raise

Magical Sensitivity, no one had ever considered concocting a spell to

lower

it.

'Perhaps that, too, ' Poppy said as she flipped the page. 'Have you considered asking Mr. Dazai himself? If anyone knows Yokohama, it would be a resident. '

A closed-off community 'not so unlike Hogwarts and the Ministry? It was an interesting thought, certainly. But Poppy was a smart woman. She stayed up to date with the news, read each magical medical journal as they came out, and even engaged in a bit of healthy gossip regarding a certain Dark Lord every now and then. It wasn 't an exaggeration to say Poppy knew all there was to know about the modern magical community.

In this world, there existed magic-users and muggles. A third group, living out its secret existence in a random Japanese city?

Absurd

. She would have known by now. Magical society was powerful '

they would know by now.

It was impossible.

But then there was Dazai Osamu 'a young boy with secrets under his bandages and a Magical Sensitivity the world has never seen. And Yokohama 'a city so far out of Hogwarts ' recruiting range it shouldn 't have even crossed Albus ' desk in the first place. A city that acted like it was hiding something and a twelve-year-old child who smiled like he knew a world of information you didn 't. Who had killed someone. Who, for all intents and purposes, should never have been enrolled at Hogwarts at all.

But then there was Dazai Osamu 'who was already impossible from the onset.

Severus 's eyes were on his book, but he didn 't appear to be reading it anymore. His mind was elsewhere, a contemplative look shadowing his expression.

Staring into her own book, Poppy wondered if she didn 't look the same.