Dazai 's eyes shot open. The... the hat hadn 't even touched him! It was still held a foot above him in McGonagall 's hand! Blinking owlishly, Dazai turns to face the professor, however, she wore a look equally as surprised as him. And the hat 'was it moving? Fighting against McGonagall 's grip? It almost looked like the Sorting Hat was straining to get away from him.

Not great,

he thought, feeling his spine tense up as McGonagall continued to stare straight into him.

Clearing the expression from his face, Dazai turned emptily back to the tables lined out before him and stood. Almost unconsciously, Dazai sought out Ron in the crowd of other first years, but couldn 't seem to meet the boy 's eyes.

He was nearly sitting down before someone thought to clap.

Was it really so odd, the hat not touching his head? It

was

pretty far away when it determined his house fate... and could the others see how hard the hat had fought to stay away from touching him? Oh well. It 's not like Dazai cared, so that made it... a problem for Mori?

That sounded good.

It felt even better to be sitting down at the tables and out of everyone 's attention.

He was distantly aware of Hermione, Ron, and Neville all being sorted into Gryffindor, and felt a slight sting at the thought of his three potential subordinates being sorted differently to him. He 'd have to make more allies in Slytherin, although having some connections to the other houses couldn 't hurt. He had a feeling those Weasley twins wouldn 't be hard to train, either. Ah... he didn 't seem to be lacking in Gryffindor support, then.

The only other thing that vaguely captured his interest was the sorting of some kid named Draco Malfoy. Just like with Dazai, although to a much weaker extent, the sorting hat had declared, 'SLYTHERIN ' before ever really touching the boy 's head.

'Let the feast begin! '

Dazai let the announcement shake him from his thoughts. He was further startled from his musings when the table 'just empty seconds before 'became flooded with various dinner foods. A basket a bread, a full chicken, corn-on-the-cob ' Dazai 's head was spinning with all the options. The sudden overwhelming smell of cooked meats was noxious. Dazai had never been able to handle the smell of food and it was putting his stomach off before he 'd even began.

'Aren 't you going to eat ' uh, Dazai? '

Blinking to attention, Dazai smiled aimlessly at the tight-faced girl beside him.

Looking at her plate, Dazai concluded she must have been building a tower of ham with how tall the plate was stacked.

'Don 't bother him, Pansy.

He 's probably used to

much

classier foods than whatever garbage the Hogwarts house elves can come up with. Did you see how quickly the hat sorted him? Just like me 'a

true

Slytherin. '

Draco Malfoy grinned sharply at him over the table. The boy 's hair was so pale, Dazai juggled between calling it white or blonde before eventually settling on that he didn 't really care. After a moment, Draco seemed to have made some sort of silent judgment on Dazai and he stuck his hand out open-palmed in greeting.

'Malfoy. Draco Malfoy. '

Dazai regarded the hand for a second before sighing and shaking the hand. 'Dazai ' you some sort of rich brat then? '

You can 't make allies by insulting people,

part of Dazai 's brain hissed in a voice disturbingly like Mori 's,

please don 't just say whatever it is you 're thinking in that misguided little brain of yours.

Then come here and do it yourself,

stupid

doctor.

Immediately, Draco 's grin slipped into a sneer. 'Don 't you know who I am? The

Malfoy

family is far more powerful than whatever wizarding family you come from. '

Mentally, Dazai weighed this Malfoy estate against the Port Mafia and came up with a very different conclusion than Draco had. He hated to admit it, but the echo of Mori 's voice was

probably

right 'he needed allies. Especially ones who were apparently well-connected in the wizarding world. At least he 'd probably have more fun that way rather than just isolating himself.

'

Dazai '

'

another

voice

wondered, 'I don 't think I 've ever heard that name before. Are you even from a wizarding family? '

Dazai made a face, waving a bandaged hand around vaguely.

'Oh,

Merlin!

Are you a

muggleborn

?! '

'A

muggle? '

Draco gaped. 'In

Slytherin?! '

Dazai smiled colorlessly. 'Seems that way. Can you pass the crab? '

'You must be mistaken. That type of person isn 't welcome in Slytherin. '

'Take it up with the hat. '

Around the table, a mix of expressions bore down on Dazai. Some of them were wide-eye 'looking a bit startled at his off-hand, unconcerned demeanor. However, most of the other snakes glared him down with an indescribable vitriol to their gaze. Maybe he 'd have been worried, but Dazai had seen glares worse than these 'children 's.

'Well, ' a

dark-skinned, plain-looking boy piped up, voice wilting as he spoke, 'The hat

did

seem to think he was Slytherin. It called our house out before Professor McGonagall was even close to putting it on him, after all. '

Draco 's upper lip pulled at the corner. 'Still, Blaise, a

mudblood

in Slytherin! It must have made some sort of mistake. After all, what sort of impression did the hat get if it didn 't even touch him? I say we make Dumbledore sort him again. '

It took a great deal of effort, but Dazai restrained himself from rolling his eyes. Instead, he reached out for a plate of crab, excessively pleased to have found something edible for dinner. He took a bite while the others bickered.

'Didn 't it barely touch you too, Malfoy? '

Everyone at the table froze, staring wide-eyed at Dazai, who only waved a crab leg around in response.

'I mean, it 's only fair. Maybe you 'll be Gryffindor next time. ' He 'd pegged a rivalry between the two houses earlier thanks to Ron. Despite how little it meant to Dazai, these kids seemed to be

very

strongly motivated by showing the other houses up. They didn 't bother to hide it, which made bullying these brats too easy. 'Hey, maybe we 'll be housemates again after we fix the Sorting Hat 's mistake. Hm? '

'Don 't you call me one of those no-good Gryffindors! '

'Oh my god, you 're so serious. ' Dazai snorted.

'I saw him talking with a Weasley earlier, ' Pansy tacked on helpfully.

Speaking of Weasley ' Dazai bent his neck to see around the other tables to the Gryffindor students on the other side. They needed to work on their telepathy! How he was supposed to train a subordinate when they weren 't roomed together was looking to be a bit challenging, but Dazai had done more with far less in the past. He wasn 't really worried about the house divisions keeping them apart 'after all, a dog always comes back to its master.

Is this what kids these days called 'friendship? '

Malfoy 's sharp voice interrupted his musings. 'Hanging out with that

blood traitor,

too

? '

Blood traitor? How curious! Wizards sure had a lot of terms and classifications for one another that mostly seemed to benefit infighting ' It was all a bit boring, honestly. With that outburst hanging in the air, Dazai decided he was finished eating. He wasn 't going to be able to stomach any more, despite that he 'd barely eaten half-a-serving. When he pushed his plate away, Dazai noticed that Blaise kid giving him a curious look. He shrugged it off.

Dazai let himself zone quickly after that, growing bored of Draco trying to get a rise out of him and not being able to catch Ron 's eyes over the crowd. He didn 't peg Draco as a huge threat, nor did he find much motivation to sweet talk the brat. Maybe later, when Dazai 's headache had settled he could deal with Malfoy, but for tonight it wasn 't majorly important. It was just school, after all 'it wasn 't like he

needed

people to back him up for anything.

At some point, Dazai must have gotten lost in his thoughts, because he only became aware that the Great Hall was emptying out when Blaise put a hand on his shoulder.

'We 're going to the dorms now. ' He said, voice displaying none of the vague humor Dazai read in his yes.

Around Blaise 's shoulder, Pansy 's obnoxious face popped up. 'Draco wanted to leave you, so you should really be thanking us for staying behind. '

Ugh.

He hated being so spacey, but Dazai couldn 't seem to keep his thoughts in one place. With all the strangers around he was feeling too wound up to focus. It was easier to just zone out than to catalog the hundreds of possible threats his brain was supplying.

Dangerous,

his mind hissed,

keep your eye on the enemy, idiot.

Shooting the

girl

a hollow look, Dazai carefully chose not to reply. He got to his feet and followed them to where the other Slytherins were gathered by the door. It wasn 't long before the Slytherin pack was filing out of the Great Hall after the feet of who Dazai guessed to be prefects. Beside him, Pansy sped up to walk side-by-side with Draco, and with a parting glance Blaise joined her. Dazai let them go with little more than a raised brow.

Dazai trailed at the back of the group, trying to memorize the path they were taking, but got bored after the twentieth turn. He 'd probably figure it out eventually. Instead, Dazai turned his attention to the weird things around Hogwarts. The walls were lined with paintings framed with gold and dark woods and filled with people and places Dazai wasn 't familiar with. However, it quickly became apparent the people in the paintings were

moving

'staring down at the students, waving,

speaking.

Dazai tried not to make eye-contact with any of the paintings. Just how alive were those painted people? He tried to envision what it must be like to live forever encased in oil paints and turpentine.

He was glad when they entered the dungeons, because the walls were empty and cracked. The way those painted people watched him filled Dazai 's stomach with iron and lead.

Abruptly, the group comes to a stop. Dazai has to stand on his toes just to see their destination 'an empty stone wall.

'The password is

Gillyweed

' a young girl, the prefect, announced clearly, 'It changes once every fortnight, so be sure to check the notice board inside, or else you 'll have to spend the night out here. First years 'students from other houses are

not

welcome inside. Under no circumstances should you invite someone like that in. That includes sharing the password. Understand? '

A murmured agreement ran through the students.

'Good. Now, our head of

house

is Professor Snape. If you have any concerns, his office is just beyond that set of stairs there. Otherwise, we

snakes

stick together. Don 't hesitate to turn to each other for anything. That will be all. Now '

Gillyweed! '

Though he had to peak around his peers, Dazai could hear the proceedings. The sound of stones moving followed by footsteps told Dazai some sort of passage had opened up. Frowning, he followed the last of the Slytherins through the doorway and into the common rooms. He considered the room with a dull look.

It was colder down here in the dungeons than it had been in the Great Hall, unfortunately. Dazai was the sort to catch a chill easily, and he already just wanted to hide under a blanket until someone came to put him out of his misery. He noted a fireplace on the far wall, which was a small mercy, really. Aside from the fireplace, Dazai thought the design seemed relatively opulent 'green lights, leather sofas, a nice-looking chess set. Although he wasn 't sure green lanterns were especially practical for reading.

He could whine about it later. For now, Dazai was

tired.

Maybe it was whatever made

No Longer Human

activate constantly, but he felt like he 'd been hit by a truck. Limbs heavy and expression drawn, Dazai immediately set off towards the dorms. It 's not like he cared to make nice with these snakes anyway.

As Dazai retreated to the dorms, he was distantly aware of Malfoy 's glare on his back 'of everyone 's glare on him 'but he was too busy deciding which bed to take to bother responding. He shut the dorm door behind him with only enough force to make the heavy door close properly.

He sat down on the bed furthest from the entrance and pulled his knees to his chest. All the other snakes were still in the Common Room 'he could hear them chatting away excitedly through the door. They sounded happy, but Dazai couldn 't find it in himself to empathize with something pleasant like that. ' Instead, Dazai tried to imagine himself chatting with them. Even though he rarely left his room, Dazai was well trained in the art of socializing. He knew just what to say for every last one of these brats to fall in love with him 'to follow his every command.

He sighed, drawing himself in tighter. Too many people 'too much noise.

It was sort of odd 'he'd be sleeping in the same room as these other kids. Dazai was so used to having a bedroom all to himself, he felt a bit on edge at the notion of doing otherwise. Being surrounded by all these people already had him so on edge, but he didn't think locking the door would be enough to keep the others out for long.

With another breath, Dazai fell onto his back and closed his eyes.

----

Dazai was sitting on the Boss ' desk, face empty and emotionless, not even moving when a crack of thunder shook the building. There was rain pounding on the window like it was asking for entrance, but no one would let it in. Instead, Dazai was forced to simply imagine what it would be like to drown then die for good. Having your head forced under water hurt, so it probably was a bad way to die.

Mori stood in the doorway, smiling pleasantly. He had a smile that was hard to define, so Dazai didn 't bother. He couldn 't decide if it was kind or malicious 'most people around him didn 't smile.

Dazai lived his entire life trapped between the four walls of the Mafia headquarters. A cold, steel barrier dotted with lies and crime. He thought it was a nice frame, but the paintings at Hogwarts had intricate ones made of pure gold. The people in those paintings were smiling as if their watercolor lives weren 't worth living.

Mori waved him over and Dazai smiled like his face was drawn on.

(Those paintings on the walls were filled with living people, and Dazai understood them well.)

----

When Dazai woke from his dream, he did it with all the stillness of a corpse. His eyes slid open slowly, the movement casual enough not to give away his waking. When had he fallen asleep? He must have been more tired than he thought to fall asleep so carelessly when strangers were around. Just the idea made Dazai feel sick, so he turned his attention to something else.

Ah 'the others must have come in at some point to sleep. The idea that these students were in here while he slept was horrifying, even if it seemed like no one had done any more than pass out, too. Dazai hadn 't even woken up when they 'd come in! He 's never felt so unprotected before 'or at least, not so unprepared to be this vulnerable.

Still, sleeping had cleared Dazai 's head somewhat, though he could still feel that faint discomfort of his ability activating. It wasn 't horrible, so Dazai just rolled his shoulders and got started with his day. Now that there were others around, Dazai let that vacant smile appear on his face and willed his posture to look more confident and laid-back. He only ever let himself look so haunted and afraid when no one was around,

after all

.

Idly, he wondered what time it was. Dazai usually didn 't sleep for long 'or consistently 'but it must have been at least a few hours for him to feel this well-rested.

Dazai changed into clean robes and cleaned up in the restroom before entering the common rooms with a book bag in tow. He replaced his old bandages without ever peeking at the skin below. It wouldn 't do to look undone in front of these kids, and now that Dazai was working on a restful mind he was even more wary of Draco Malfoy. Last night he 'd been feeling too overstimulated by all the people that he 'd retreated almost immediately to the solitude of his room. Now that he had the mental capacity to consider, however, Malfoy

definitely

had a problem with him.

The brat might be fun to mess with. Hopefully Dazai would get used to all the buzz and energy around Hogwarts so he could scheme a bit more without feeling so wound up, yet simultaneously exhausted.

Just as Dazai settled into a plush chair right beside the lit fireplace, a noise startled him from his thoughts. Dazai felt his spine snap into place, but he kept his face neutral as he spun to see whoever was awake.

They met his eyes evenly and wore a curious frown.

'Young snake, ' they spoke. Dazai startled somewhat at the hollow, echoing way their voice sounded, 'Did you know you have the strangest energy about you? '

'Ah... ' Dazai tried for a smile. 'Did

you

know you 're covered in blood?