Harry had had more surprising things happen that day than any other in his life, and just gave into his animal instincts. He gave a shrill squeal and ran at the beast stretching a scaly arm at him, trying to shoulder past it on his way to burst out of the door. In a way that was surprising (despite everything magical that had occurred), Harry fell right through the monster like it was a ghostly wraith. He felt nothing as he fell through, except that the world turned dark for the moment his head was inside the creature's body.

"Calm down little boy. No one can hear or see me except for you anyway. And if even then, I'm not going to hurt you. I can't do anything to you while you have that notebook." The creature's voice sounded like sandpaper running over very rough wood, and felt like it f. Harry had a hand on the doorknob and almost turned it, but something it said stopped him. Something even Dumbledore hadn't known about. This thing knew about the notebook.

"I am obligated to explain what is happening to you or I'm likely to be obliterated by my King, but let me begin by introducing myself, little human. My name is Vim. I am a Shinigami. And what is your name?" Vim sounded mostly bored, as if speaking was itself a challenge.

"My name is Harry Potter." It was strange how calm Harry felt. The room felt like it was constricting inward with the creature taking up more than half of the space. His breathing was regular and he took the moment to look closer at the thing calling itself Vim. "Can you sit? If you're not here to hurt me you should at least relax." Harry had always been a polite child, partially because the Dursleys required it, but he simply couldn't see the sense in being rude. Perhaps a little bit of self-defense was a part of the attempt to keep Vim calm.

Vim sat on the bed next to Harry, the wings retracting. "Thank you child. So why don't you bring out that notebook you found today?" Harry grabbed his backpack that was still on the bed and pulled out the notebook. Vim's eyes opened wide at seeing it, but they quickly retracted. "Yes that's the one. I've been watching you today. I saw everything you did today, and I was quite surprised at your quickness to use the note. Most people either never try to use it or debate themselves for days before they try, but you murdered your entire family within 10 minutes of discovering what you had in front of you."

"So I did kill them." Harry said this sharply, but as a statement. He had come directly from feeling relaxed at learning his magic couldn't have been responsible, to learning he had somehow found a powerful magical book. "What is this thing? And who are you?"

"As I said, I am a shinigami. A god of death. That book you now possess is called a DeathNote. In the simplest terms, a person whose name is written within the note will die. Other information about the death can be added, as you so effectively found out when your family was butchered. Otherwise, they will simply die of a Heart Attack. This note is a creation of the shinigami, and it was mine until I lost it." Vim described the murder weapon with the same tone one would use to describe a telephone: ordinary, functional, everyday. To Harry, it was as mind bending as the fact that he was a Wizard.

"So this has nothing to do with me being a Wizard like that Dumbledore man told me about? If Dudley had picked this up he'd be able to kill anyone he felt like?"

"I assume so. Frankly I knew nothing of any type of human called a wizard or magic besides the DeathNote, and other humans have managed to find and use them before. We shinigami are not often abundantly interested in humans." Harry felt satisfied at that moment at least. He may have killed his family, but it was an accident, and he stood to gain a huge amount from their deaths. He still felt guilty for the act, but now there were more important things to do. Guilt over his crime was nothing compared to making sure this book was never found by anyone like Dudley, or it may actually do a lot of harm. "So can I just get rid of this thing? Like if I chuck it in a fire will it disappear?"

"I've never tried. All I know is that the note will constantly replenish its pages, so it is possible you can't get rid of one. The only other rule I need to tell you about is that you can just give the note back to me at anytime, but you'll forget everything about the notebook and me. Until you do so, or until you die, I will be here to haunt you." The use of the word "haunt" almost made him chuckle, imagining Caspar the friendly ghost whooshing around, but then he realized this death god was going to continue following him around until he managed to get rid of the thing. At that moment Harry thought of something new.

"So what do your kind do with these things?"

"We kill people."

"Just like that? Do you even care?" Harry was getting a bit more defensive now, holding the note away from Vim.

"For a being who has lived longer than 1000 human lives combined, you humans all look puny and worthless. Shinigami gain the remaining life of the human they kill with the DeathNote. Sadly you cannot gain the life of those people whose names you have written in it. Quick question, do you have any apples?"

"No, why?"

"Just a habit. It's not like I even need to eat."

Harry considered his options. If he gave the notebook back to the shinigami, it could go right back to killing people. But if he kept it, he would always have Vim watching over him, and he'd have to protect the DeathNote in case anyone else were to steal it.

Noticing that Harry had been quiet for a while, Vim said, "So have you decided what you are going to do? I'll be going to sleep now if you plan on keeping it. I wasn't planning on doing anything today anyway.

"I'll keep it, for now."

"Whatever you wish." Vim lifted itself up into the air, and floated off into a corner on its side. Now Harry was left with the uncomfortable situation of having to go to sleep with an invisible death god sleeping near him, waiting to hear about his magical parents from a mad old professor who ran a wizarding school. He couldn't decide what felt stranger. Life was going to be much more exciting…

End of Chapter 2