XXV

"You fainted Potter? You actually fainted?"

The blond boy was back. He elbowed his way up the stairs to the castle, pushing past Hermione, until he stood in front of Harry. Kakashi's nose scrunched in annoyance. He had enough trouble trying to walk these stairs, when – despite them evidently being perfectly intact – he didn't see them right. He constantly thought parts of them were broken away and he was stepping into nothing, and the moment he put his foot there, the step suddenly appeared under him.

Ron pushed Draco away. Kakashi didn't really have the energy to concentrate on their battle. With his Sharingan, he focused on the path ahead and the stairs below him.

He had to find a way around those wards, he knew. He couldn't use the Sharingan all day every day just to navigate the castle. Never mind that even the Sharingan was not giving him a clear image. He could see the energy of the castle, but the magic was buzzing in the air all around him. The lines of the walls and ground were fuzzy and blurred at best. He was wading through a mist of bright energy. He was also getting a headache from it. Sensory overload.

A strong whiff of wet dog made him turn back to the conversation in front of him. Curiously, he looked at the adult who had scared the Malfoy and his goons away.

The man looked pale and sickly. He was quite tall. Light brown hair was already greying a little at the sides. He looked older than he was, Kakashi thought, but he couldn't guess his age. Maybe mid-to-late-thirties, he guessed. He had a thin mustache, but it barely distracted from the long scars cutting across his face.

Something about his scent gave Kakashi goosebumps. He couldn't place it. The scent of wet dog was strong. It smelled wild and natural, also dangerous. That was what made Kakashi wonder. He liked dogs. Normally, smelling dogs wouldn't raise his hackles like that. Was this man an Animagus too? Or had he just cuddled up with a very big wet dog?

The man must have come from one of the carriages. His eyes traveled from Harry to Ron and Hermione and then briefly rested on Kakashi and Neville.

"You must be the boy I heard about?" he addressed Kakashi.

Kakashi had no idea what the man might have heard about him.

"I was informed you wrestled with a dementor," he added with a smile that was halfway between amusement, reproach, and discontent. His eyes focused on the cut on Kakashi's face. "That's a nasty cut."

"It's nothing," Kakashi insisted for the third time.

"Let me be the judge of that," the professor said.

"They also hurt his neck," Neville interrupted the conversation. He raised his hand as if to pull down Kakashi's collar to expose the frostbite and the light bruise that had formed there, but then his fingers only hovered undecidedly in the air.

The adult's eyes flashed angrily. He grimaced slightly. "I see. I will let Poppy know. What's your name?"

"Major," Kakashi answered a bit disgruntled. "Charlie."

Harry watched Charlie.

Just as they were about to enter the Great Hall, Professor McGonagall, the headteacher of Gryffindor, had caught up to them and beckoned Harry, Hermione, and Charlie to follow her. Harry already knew the way to her office, but it was all new for Charlie. Harry wondered if that was the reason, he was so distracted.

His steps seemed stilted and one time he tripped seemingly over nothing. Harry felt a bit of amusement, as he watched the normally so cool Charlie stumble along.

McGonagall threw Charlie a strict glance. "Lift your feet up, Mr. Major," she said.

Charlie blinked at her oddly, then he nodded in a way that almost half a bow. "Yes, Ma'am." It got a little better after that, but Charlie still walked stiffly. Harry noted that he was almost exactly following in McGonagall's footsteps. Was that just coincidence?

He wondered if it might have to do with the dementors. Maybe like him, Charlie was still a little out of it after the encounter. Harry hoped that was it, even if it was maybe a little mean. It bugged him, that he was the only one who had been affected by the dementors.

"I was informed," McGonagall started, as she arrived in her office, "that there was an incident on the train." She said, then she briefly looked at Charlie. "Mr. Major, normally your head of house would take care of this. However, as Professor Lupin only just informed me of what had happened, I thought it best to talk to all of you together."

Charlie sniffed the air, then he nodded. As he didn't even know Professor Sprout – his head of house – Harry doubted he much cared about that.

At that moment, the door opened, and Madam Pomfrey entered.

Harry felt a little embarrassed then. Not only that he had fallen unconscious while everybody else had been fine, but now they even called the school nurse for this! He blushed.

"I'm fine," he insisted. "Really, I don't need anything."

Madam Pomfrey didn't listen to him. Instead, she walked over to him and gave him a sharp look. "Have you done something dangerous again?" she asked as if it was ever his fault, whenever he got injured.

The last time he'd spent a lengthy amount of time in her hospital wing, all the bones were gone from his arm. And that hadn't been his fault. It hadn't been his fault that the Bludger had been manipulated to hunt him down until it broke his arm. And it hadn't been his fault either that Gilderoy Lockhart had then, in a failed attempt to heal him, hexed the bones away completely. The man was the most incompetent teacher Harry ever had. He almost preferred Quirrel to him – and Quirrel had Voldemort occupying the back of his head and had been plotting Voldemort's return and Harry's murder all year.

"It was a Dementor, Poppy." At least Professor McGonagall didn't make it sound as if it was Harry's fault.

The two women exchanged a dark look.

"Setting Dementors around a school," Madam Pomfrey muttered disapprovingly. "He won't be the last one who collapses. Yes, he's all clammy. Terrible things, they are, and the effect they have on people who are already delicate—"

A fuse snapped in Harry's head. "Delicate? I'm not delicate!"

"Of course not," Madam Pomfrey relented immediately.

As she took his pulse, her eyes traveled to the other two teenagers in the room. Hermione was obviously fine. She hadn't been affected by the dementors the way Harry had. Charlie, however… Why she hadn't started with him, Harry could only guess. Of course, it had to do with who he was… Harry Potter. Harry didn't even suspect favoritism in this case. More the opposite. After spending just two years in Hogwarts, Harry had proven himself so prone to injury, that Madam Pomfrey had checked in with him first without even thinking about it. It should make him feel sour, he thought, but instead, he only felt tired.

"Does he need anything?" Professor McGonagall asked in a crisp voice. "Bedrest? Should he spend tonight in the hospital wing?"

That really went too far! No wonder Draco had made fun of him…He'd never live that down if he ended up a whole night in the hospital wing.

"I'm fine!"

"He should at least have some chocolate," Madam Pomfrey suggested.

"I did. We all had. Professor Lupin gave some to all of us." Harry answered immediately. Then, however, his eyes traveled to Charlie. Not to all of us, he remembered. "I mean, to Hermione, Ron, Ginny, Neville, and me, but not to Charlie." Then he realized that it sounded as if Lupin had purposefully neglected the boy. "Because he wasn't with us."

Worried, Madam Pomfrey turned to the other boy. About time, Harry thought. Charlie was at least injured. The cut on his face might even leave a bit of a scar, he thought. He hadn't seen the neck yet, but Neville had mentioned that he was injured there too. It was hidden under his collar though. Curiously, Harry watched what the nurse would do.

"I don't like sweet things," Charlie blurted out immediately, without a moment's hesitation, as if he feared, Madam Pomfrey would immediately shove a bar of chocolate between his teeth otherwise.

Harry's eyes bulged a little in astonishment. What teenager didn't like sweet things? Never mind, that Harry knew for a fact that it was a lie, as Kakashi had enjoyed the ice cream he had switched out from under Harry's nose on their first visit to Diagon Alley. He couldn't figure out, why he would lie, though.

Madam Pomfrey frowned disapprovingly. There was an almost inaudible snort from Professor McGonagall.

The nurse prodded the skin around the cut on Charlie's face, then she flicked her wand. "Episkey." The wound closed instantly, leaving neither a scar nor even reddened skin behind. "That would be that." Madam Pomfrey complimented herself, then she continued to take Charlie's pulse. She hummed a little.

"Neville said he had a neck injury," Hermione said when Madam Pomfrey was about to move away from Charlie.

The nurse looked up, then she nodded sharply. "Thanks for informing me." She gave Charlie a strict glare. "Why didn't you tell me there was another injury?" She reprimanded, as she slid her finger under his collar to pull it down. "How am I supposed to help you if—"

Her voice died immediately. Hermione who sat on Charlie's other side gasped. Harry strained his neck to look past Madam Pomfrey's frame and get a clear view of Charlie's injury.

Shocked, he was left without words, however, Madam Pomfrey found her voice again soon enough: "How dare these wretched creatures, attacking a student like that! Dumbledore has to learn about this!" She seethed, her shoulders shaking angrily. "And the minister!"

"Granted," Charlie said leisurely, "I attacked first."

"Why would you do such a stupid thing, boy," Madam Pomfrey hissed. But then she shook her head. "But that is not the point. They shouldn't have attacked either way. What threat were you to them, hm? You're just a child and they…they shouldn't be here in the first place."

Charlie visibly bristled at being called a child.

Madam Pomfrey made half a step back, to brandish her wand and heal the injury. In doing so, for just a moment, she gave everybody in the room a clear view over the whole extend of the bruises.

In dark blue, two spindly thin fingers and a thumb were starkly visible against pale skin. One spot where the creature's index finger must have dug into his skin below his jaw was almost black. Less severe bruising of the other four fingers reached almost down to his collar bone. Rough red patches marked where frost had burned his skin.

With Madam Pomfrey's spells both the burns and the bruises faded completely in a matter of seconds. Experimentally, Charlie rubbed the skin over his Adam's apple. He didn't show any reaction that he had been in pain or that he felt any relief.

"Thanks," he said. Though it didn't sound insincere, his gratitude seemed very formal.

"Otherwise, you seem fine," Madam Pomfrey said after another short examination. "I would really prefer for you to eat some chocolate," she added with a slightly amused glint in her eyes, "but as long as you eat well during the banquet, you should be fine."

Despite Charlie clearly being worse injured, McGonagall didn't even ask about bed rest. A small part of Harry considered that she just didn't want him to miss his very first start of term feast. They had likely already missed the sorting – which was a shame, really. However, mostly, Harry just felt embarrassed, that apparently the teachers thought him more fragile than Charlie. The other boy had been injured, and yet, they seemed confident that he'd be fine, but Harry was the one who McGonagall had considered sending to the hospital wing for the night. It was ridiculous!

After being convinced, that Harry and Charlie were fine, Professor McGonagall sent the two boys to wait outside. Harry was curious, what she wanted to talk about with Hermione, but when the door fell shut behind them, he couldn't hear a single word from inside.

"What do you think they're talking about?" Harry asked although he was sure, Charlie had no clue. He barely knew Hermione and had only just met Madam Pomfrey and Professor McGonagall.

Evidently, it had nothing to do with Madam Pomfrey, as she left the office only shortly after them, muttering about having to talk to the headmaster about the dementors.

"Does she have a cat?"

Harry startled at the question. What kind of benign question was that?

"What do you mean?" he asked.

Kakashi shrugged. "I thought it smelled of cat inside."

Harry's brow furrowed a little. He sniffed the air, but of course, he didn't smell anything, and he wasn't even in the office anymore. "I didn't notice anything," he said.

Kakashi looked at him expectantly, waiting for a reply.

"Not that I know of," Harry added. Then he grinned. "Mr. Filch, the caretaker has a cat though." But what would Filch's cat do in Professor McGonagall's office?

Kakashi seemed disappointed at his answer. "I thought she might be an Animagus."

The word was foreign to Harry. He shrugged. "No idea what that is."

Kakashi looked disapproving but he didn't comment on Harry's lack of knowledge. And wasn't that something? Charlie had been basically illiterate about the magical world until a few weeks ago. And now he knew words, Harry didn't.

Harry gleefully remembered the time Charlie had stumbled on the corridor. At least he wasn't perfect. AH! He really needed Hermione to show him up in class.

They waited a short while in silence, then something else occurred to Harry. He felt shy and uncertain as he contemplated Charlie. Should he ask? If he wanted to, he should do it now, before Hermione came back.

"What is it?" Charlie asked turning to him fully. He had both eyebrows raised questioningly.

Harry hesitated. "When the dementor attacked you, did you…" he didn't know how to phrase it. In all honesty, there were dozens of ways to end that sentence. Did Charlie hear the voices? Did he feel the dread? Did he feel weak or even fall unconscious? Did he hear the woman scream? But ultimately Harry didn't finish the sentence at all. He blushed shamefully.

"Did I…," Charlie repeated, "faint?" There was a tiny smirk around his lips. Harry felt immediately and terribly ashamed. By now, Charlie must have heard the story of Harry's weakness surely half a dozen times. Harry immediately regretted even asking the question.

"Forget about it," he mumbled.

"Yes, I did." Charlie's answer was like a whisper. Harry's head snapped up to stare at him. "Just for a few seconds, it seems," Charlie added, then he sighed. "But yes, I did lose consciousness."

Harry's mouth felt dry. He had to know!

"Did you hear it too?" he asked. Charlie paled visibly. His gaze was locked with Harry's. There was something haunted behind brown eyes. He heard it too, Harry was certain. "The scream of that woman?"

Confusion replaced the dread on Charlie's face. "I heard no woman scream," he said simply. He turned away from Harry when at that moment, the door opened to reveal a grinning and giddy Hermione. Professor McGonagall followed behind her.

"What's going on?" Harry asked partially because he was interested but more so to distract himself from the memories of the screaming woman and the disappointment that Charlie hadn't heard her.

"It was just something about my Electives. I fear we've missed the Sorting."

Harry couldn't care less about the Sorting. He glanced at Charlie. He was sorry, the other boy had to miss it. Even though he was already sorted, it was still his first time. Charlie barely even noticed him, though. Instead, he has fully concentrated on his steps again. Harry was somewhat confused, that he didn't stare at all the living and moving paintings and pieces of armor. He remembered that had been the most fascinating thing for him in his first year. Charlie didn't even seem to see them.

He didn't even stop to marvel at the bewitched ceiling of the Great Hall when they entered. Thinking he might have missed it, Harry tapped Charlie on the shoulder.

"Look up there," Harry said, pointing upwards at the high ceiling. Candles floated over their heads, but above that, at the stone ceiling, there was the endless view of the evening sky. It was cloudy and dark, but every now and then, thunder rolled across the whole length of it and illuminated the whole hall in a bright flash of light.

"What about it? I don't see anything," Charlie asked somewhat unimpressed.

Harry exchanged a glance with Hermione, who only shrugged.

"Maybe I should lend you my glasses someday, so you can see the ceiling," Harry joked, but Charlie didn't laugh. "Hufflepuff table is the one over there."

He pointed to the table in question. Then he sat down next to Ron. The Weasley leaned back, and half turned to Charlie.

"Don't worry, Charlie. Outside of events like this, you can sit with the cool kids," he laughed.

"Don't be mean!" Hermione admonished, slapping the back of his head lightly.

"What?" Ron whined. "Which house won the House Cup twice in a row, again?" He winked at Harry.

"And we have to thank our great savior Ronald Weasley for it!" the twins exclaimed from across the table.

"Oh, what would we do if it weren't for the grandmaster's unfaltering skill in chess?" Fred (or maybe George) cried out mockingly.

"Oh, what would we do if it weren't for his lousy wand and peerless babysitting skills?" the other twin yelled to the stormy ceiling.

Ron blushed embarrassed.

"There wasn't a day," Ginny whispered at Harry leaning towards him, "that he wouldn't remind us, how he got us the House Cup with his 200 points last year."

"You must be Charlie," a boy greeted him the moment Kakashi edged in on the table full of students with yellow and black ties. "I'm Cedric Diggory." He reached out to shake Kakashi's hand.

Kakashi first stared at the offered hand, then at the boy attached to it, as he tentatively shook it. Cedric Diggory was a tall and handsome teenager with dark hair and grey eyes. He looked strong. Kakashi noted the defined musculature of an athlete. Cedric had an open and good-natured laugh on his face.

"Professor Sprout told us you'd join our house this year." As soon as Kakashi took his hand, Cedric grabbed it tightly and gave it a decisive shake, before letting go. "She's the head of our house." He nodded at the teacher's table up front. "The witch at the right. With the grey curls. She teaches Herbology, but you'll learn all about that later. For now, I'm here to welcome you."

A bit overwhelmed, Kakashi stared at the taller boy. He was…what 15, 16? Maybe 17, but that might also just be his strong build.

"You're crushing the kid with attention," a girl warned. She leaned back from her bench at the table to nudge Cedric in the thigh. "He looks completely overwhelmed."

Cedric looked almost affronted at that. "I'm not crushing anybody. He's fine!" He gestured at Kakashi, but then finally noticed, that Kakashi was indeed overwhelmed by the forwardness. "Oh, right…I'm sorry, I'm a fifth-year-prefect for Huff…" His voice trailed off as he smoothed down his robes to show off the absent prefect sign. Embarrassed he blushed. "Uh…Where did I put that thing."

"I told you to put it on and keep it on," the girl laughed, making Cedric turn even redder. "I'm Doris, by the way." She waved at Kakashi with a smile. There was a small gap between her front teeth. Her skin was light brown and her hair black and wavy. "I'm the other prefect. What Cedric meant to say was that if you have any questions, please feel free to ask us anything."

"Yes," Cedric grumbled still distracted with searching his pockets for the prefect insignia.

"It's pinned to your chest on the left side. On your shirt under the cloak," Kakashi told him because he could clearly see the shape of it bulging through the cloth.

Surprised Cedric slapped his hand over his heart to feel the insignia. "Ah…How did you…?" He started with a quizzical frown but was soon interrupted by Doris' laughter. "I'm still getting used to it," the boy scowled at his friend.

"Yes, you are," she agreed. "But that's not the reason. You put it there because you didn't want everybody to ask about it. And then you forgot."

Kakashi used that to deduce what kind of boy Cedric was. While Percy Weasley had carried his prefect-insignia proudly, Cedric was humble about it, almost ashamed to show it off. Now, the boy gave a tired sigh, as he put a hand on Kakashi's shoulder.

"I'm sorry for the inconvenience. Let's introduce you to your classmates."

He steered Kakashi down the table. Kakashi first bristled at the uninvited contact, but he was now used to it enough, that he could abide it without commenting or evading it. Thankfully, Cedric didn't leave his hand there for long. Instead, as they went together, he took the prefect batch from his shirt and moved it to the front of his school robes.

"This is really a unique situation. You're completely new in the magical world, right?" Cedric looked a bit troubled as he asked.

"Relatively new, yes," Kakashi agreed. After all, he had now known about it for a month, so he wasn't new anymore. During missions, Kakashi was trained to get used to new situations in a matter of hours or even minutes. In comparison, he now had already a month to get used to this new world. Even though it was a bit more complicated than his regular mission, a month still felt like a long time to get used to a new environment.

Carefully, Kakashi edged his way forward along with the table. He followed Cedric's lead, hoping the boy wouldn't lead him against a wall. Curiously enough, he could see the people around him, and even the furniture like the long tables were visible, however, the whole castle was still just a ruin to him, despite clearly not being that. It seemed that he got slowly used to seeing the magic and forming it into solid structures in his mind, but he hoped as soon as he was sitting, he could get a quiet moment to try and find a way against these muggle-repelling charms. It was really inconvenient.

"I saw you enter with Harry Potter," Cedric continued unperturbed. "That's good if you already met him. Did he help you with some stuff?"

Kakashi nodded.

"Very good. So not completely new after all. And Potter was a lucky draw, I guess." Cedric's shoulders hung a little. "I'm not trying to scare you off or anything," he added with a chuckle, "but there are probably a few students that won't treat you with decency. If you get trouble from anybody, tell me or Doris and we'll deal with it."

"Thanks," Kakashi said, knowing that Cedric probably spoke of the likes of Draco Malfoy. Kakashi didn't think he'd take the prefect up on his offer, though. There was no need to. He could deal with a few kids by himself.

"Great! Here we are."

They had reached the front of the table. A couple of thirteen-year-old boys and girls looked at Kakashi curiously, as he came closer. Some also looked at Cedric and the badge he now wore openly on his chest.

"Cedric," a blond girl cried out to the prefect. "Congratulations! That's well deserved, we knew you'd make it."

A sing-song of agreement and congratulations traveled through the assembled kids until Cedric raised his hands defensively. "Thank you, but that's enough."

The blond girl's eyes shifted from Cedric to Kakashi. "And who's that?"

"This is Charlie. He'll join our house for his third year." Cedric introduced him calmly, thankfully without telling Charlie's entire life's journey. He put his hand on Kakashi's shoulder again, this time to point him to the free spot where a curly-haired boy shifted a bit to the side to make enough room for Kakashi. "Please be nice to him. Ernie," he looked at one of the boys, "he has almost the exact same schedule you have. Can you help him around during the first few days?"

"Sure," the boy nodded, scrutinizing Kakashi. Ernie was a somewhat stout boy with dirty blond hair. "I can take care of him, don't worry Cedric."

"Awesome." Cedric clapped his hands. "Then I'll leave you be. Get to know each other. Doris and I will pick you all up after the feast. The sixth-year prefects will take care of the first years, while we focus on Charlie here." For the third time now, he clamped a hand down on Kakashi's shoulder, even though Kakashi was already sitting. Kakashi was getting a bit impatient. He really just wanted a moment to himself to probe the wards with his chakra and see if he could find a way around them. Not being able to clearly see the room around himself was a bit nauseating even if he slowly got used to it.

"Thanks," Kakashi said unhappily, "but that really isn't necessary. I'm sure…" What was the name again? "Ernie here can explain everything."

"Indeed, I can," the boy said proudly. He sat directly across from Kakashi and grinned confidently at him, though the curiosity was only thinly hidden in his eyes. "Don't bother, Cedric. We'll deal with everything. Charlie's one of us now, after all." He briefly flashed a grin up at Cedric, but Cedric only looked back evenly.

"I don't doubt it, Ernie, but I'll be back after the feast, anyway. Got a job to do." He waved at all of them. "Enjoy the meal." And then he was off.

Kakashi wished Cedric back immediately. The second Cedric was out of earshot, the girl next to Ernie started asking a dozen questions.

"Which school did you go to before? Were you taught by your parents or did you transfer from somewhere else? Is this really your first day?" She had brown hair that she wore in a long plait down her back. "Why weren't you sorted with the first-years? Did you already see the ghosts? Wait, let me introduce you to the Fat Friar."

Kakashi only stared at her. Then Ernie nudged her in the side with his elbow. "Take a breath, Susan. Give him a chance to reply at least." Expectant eyes turned at Kakashi.

At first, Kakashi was grateful that Ernie had stopped the flow of questions, but now he was expected to say something. Ernie wasn't the only one waiting for an answer. The girl next to him, Susan, also stared at Kakashi, looking a little flustered as if she was holding her breath. The other third years seemed curious as well.

Thankfully at that moment, an elderly man from the teacher's table stood up to speak. Kakashi wasn't the only one who noticed.

"Shh," a blond girl next to Kakashi shushed them. "Dumbledore is about to speak."

Dumbledore? So, this was the headmaster he had heard so much about.