A/N: Hello again!
Another chapter, another fight. I also managed to confuse myself with names and when to use capital letters - this chapter hadn't seen a beta yet, so there definitely is a small issue with muggle vs. Muggle. Sorry!
( I'm going to quietly post the edited version when I'm done with going through all the other already posted chapters. I just didn't want to do another surprise-hiatus)
Chapter 7
What Lurks In The Darkness
Ginny carefully entered the room, holding firmly the precious book she borrowed from Harry in her hands. The adults seemed to not know what they were supposed to do with the new guest after they failed at making him to admit… something. She wasn't sure what exactly they wanted to hear from him. So he was just sort of there, usually just sitting alone in that room, with his legs crossed.
The exorcist was still inside and it looked like he hadn't even moved from his spot.
His eyes were closed and brow furrowed a little. He looked odd, unmoving like a statue of some sort of a monk, but wearing jeans and a white, modern shirt. A thin, golden chain was shining on his neck, at one point tangled with a necklace made from wooden beads.
"Are you going to sit there all day?" Ginny finally asked.
"Are you going to stare at me all day?"
"My, you can talk!" she gasped.
"Obviously."
That short exchange wasn't satisfying at all and he seemed like he wasn't in the mood to talk at all.
Well, nothing strange there, Ginny decided. He probably didn't even knows why the members of The Order decided to snatch him in the first place.
So anything he said could be used against him, she remembered that sentence mentioned by one of her muggleborn peers. It was meant as a joke that not many people understood, so it had to be explained - and wasn't funny, because any joke you had to explain could not be funny.
But Ginny meant business and she wasn't walking away without hearing the answers for her questions.
"Are you going to ignore me?" she asked.
He was silent.
Well, that answered that.
"Look, I know that you're angry and I think I wouldn't want to talk to anybody in your place too," she sighed. "But I need... I..."
The exorcist still ignored her, completely concentrated on whatever he was doing while just sitting there. Ginny felt the frustration growing within her. All the feeling she was keeping away from others, all the scary things inside her mind... She needed answers and she needed them now.
So she did the logical thing.
"Talk to me, goddammit!" she growled and kicked him in the back, hard.
Harder than she expected to, but at least there was a reaction. Not the one she wanted, but still.
"What the hell?!" he groaned, finally turning towards her. There was a painful expression on his face and he was holding on his side too, slightly bending to the side. "You can't just walk in and kick somebody in the kidney!"
"That was your fault!" she shouted back immediately. "You could just talk to me in the first place!"
"Kicking is still not the answer!"
"Well, you definitely pay more attention now!" Ginny snarled right back at him.
He took a deep breath through teeth, like he was about to scream at her some more or maybe even do something more. She stood her ground, ready for anything at all. Almost anything. Her knees were not shaking under her at all, Ginny proudly refused to accept that part of the reality.
"Then talk," he said with a deep sigh, the anger nowhere to be found in his voice.
The sudden change was so odd and unexpected, Ginny had no idea how she was supposed to react at all. It was probably the whole idea too, to embarrass her enough to make her go away, or something like that.
She furrowed her brow and opened mouth to finally ask all the questions she needed answers for. But suddenly, she couldn't find the right words. So she just waved with the book in front of his face, hoping that this would suffice.
His eyes widened slightly, instantly recognizing the battered volume, or maybe he was just alerted by the sudden movement. She just kicked him, after all, he had all the rights to be wary.
Slowly, his gaze moved from the book towards her.
"Is this real?" Ginny asked. "Things in there... they really exist?"
He keep staring at her.
"Answer me, you bastard!" she cried. "Answer me! I need to know, I really do! Because I'm not... I'm not crazy!"
The exorcist sighed.
"Sit," he said.
"What?" Ginny blinked, surprised. there was something wet on her cheek too. She blushed and wiped her face with sleeve of her shirt. Perfect. Here she was pitiful enough to cry in front of a guy that her dad kidnapped not so long ago.
"Sit," he repeated. "And no, you're not crazy."
She blinked again and obediently sat down on the floor in front of him, not knowing what weirded her out more: the fact, that she actually get the man talking when people like Dumbledore failed or the sudden change in the tone of his voice. Before he sounded snappish and angry, like he was about to attack them or took offence by the sole fact that they were even trying to talk to him. Now however... he sounded nice.
"Can you tell me when you started to see these things?"
"I..." she bit her lip. All of sudden, the relief felt like it was too much. Her eyes burned, her throat hurt and she barely could breathe through her nose. "You exorcised Him from Harry, right?"
He nodded, so Ginny continued. "It was similar with me, I think. At my first year at school I had that diary and He somehow was inside. The more I wrote, the stronger he was getting. If not for Harry..."
"You never told anybody about what you could see, right?"
"I didn't want them to worry," Ginny said, admitting her defeat and reaching for a tissue to wipe her nose. She didn't want to look like a weak crybaby, but constant sniffing and stuff dripping from her nose definitely was no way to do that. "They were worried enough when I almost died. Besides, I was sure that seeing weird stuff would pass."
But it didn't. Every morning she hoped that this time when she will open her eyes, the air would be free of things that couldn't exist, that the shadows would stop moving on their own and each morning, she was disappointed. At some point, she decided to stick with Luna Lovegood, that weird girl who was talking about unknown monsters in hopes, that she would hear something useful, something that would explain what was going on, but that didn't work either.
"I must admit, you're a really strong person."
Ginny's eyes widened in surprise. "How come?"
"Usually people break pretty quickly under that sort of a pressure," he explained. "And here you are, enduring for years."
"Maybe I'm just a really good liar," Ginny murmured, pulling her legs up close. "Why are you helping me anyway? You refused to talk to everybody else."
The exorcist grimaced slightly.
"Guess, I'm just a fucking priest first," he said. "And I don't like to be kicked either."
"You're a priest?" Ginny blinked. He definitely collided with her image of old dude in a black robe with a cross somewhere on his person. The crazy hair – now bind on the back of his head in a small ponytail, so they wouldn't fell into his eyes –, the many, many earrings, his whole appearance; it was all as unpriesty as it was humanly possible.
"Not a catholic one," he chuckled under his nose. "But the basics are pretty much the same everywhere. How much did you read anyway?"
"Not much," Ginny winkled her nose with displeasure. "I couldn't read at night, because I didn't want anybody to know what I was doing and I pretty much just borrowed it..."
"So ask," he smiled slightly. "It's not like I'm going anywhere."
xxx
Alastor Moody definitely was in foul mood and not because some foreign brat managed to best him in hand to hand combat. He wasn't good at it, not anymore, not with all these handicaps he managed to collect during the years.
He probably should start using something more stable than his wooden leg anyway if war was coming, the Japanese brat proved it.
No, it was the other things that didn't sit with him well. Just when in the world Order of Phoenix turned into merry bunch of kidnappers anyway? They were supposed to be the good side, that one with high morals and kinda stupid because of it. Grabbing brats barely old enough to drink definitely was not something in their style.
The other thing, this so called exorcist was used to fighting for his life. People who were just trained and never dealt with the real situation were not reacting like hat. There was no hesitation, the movement was fluid, even grabbing that stupid broom was an automatic response.
That was... he wouldn't say disturbing, since many young people joined the fight in the first war when they were even younger and it would have been really, really helpful if they had the same skill set. But Moody still felt uneasy.
Somebody, somewhere in the world had an army of people capable of going against magic like it was nothing. He really wanted to know who and since when exactly.
There was several places where he could start looking for his answers and Alastor hated every single one of them. But Dumbledore naturally just had to keep his mouth shut, so the old auror was forced to do thing the hard way.
"Moody!" Allois Quickley opened his arms in jovial welcome and Alastor scowled painfully. This was one of the reasons why he wasn't so keen of showing up in the Ministry building anymore. Stupid, touchy people. Quickley was the perfect example of this group, unable to keep himself from wrapping his arm around pretty much anybody he knew, like shaking hands was not enough for him, or something. Even pushing him away wasn't working, since his long, spidery limbs somehow always managed to be attached to anything – or anybody – as long as he wanted them to be."What are you doing here?"
"The usual," he grunted. "Somebody has to keep an eye on how things are going here."
"I assure you, everything is perfectly fine."
"Oh?" Moody snorted. "So you finally managed to catch Sirius Black? How in the world have I missed that?"
The auror's face turned sour.
"Now, don't be like that," Quickley grunted. "You know we're doing everything possible to..."
"And you are failing at it spectacularly," Moody cut in before the auror managed to finish the sentence. "Let's face it, since the war ended this training is still shitty and nobody is doing anything about that."
"We are doing just fine!"
"Tell me that again after you catch Black. Or even one of those jolly saps from the Quidditch cup, then I would believe you."
The answer was just grunt and some muttering under the nose, but Alastor really wasn't paying attention to that. He hoped the idiot would bug of soon, so he could visit his other acquaintances around here.
During his time as an auror he managed to make so called friends and more than few of them owed him thing or two.
Quickley was as hard to shoo away as usual and Moody was stuck observing how auror training was going. Till the moment he started throwing things at the brats, because they were completely hopeless and couldn't even dodge a chair when it was flying at them. He wasn't even using magic, he just picked it up and did it in the muggle way and the only reaction he received was the sound of outrage and a painful scowl.
Merlin help them and hit Voldemort with a lightning strike, because otherwise they all were going to die. Or at least it was the impression Moody had when he left them to be ridiculous away from him. As far away as possible, since compared to them, Tonks had the grace of a finest dancer.
The lower levels of the Ministry of Magic were as creepy as he remembered them. The corridors were badly lit, with strange shadows dancing on the walls and the ceiling was much, much closer than in any place else in the whole building. Even Alastor, who never counted himself among the highest people, felt like he was about to hit a lamp with his head at any moment.
The corridors were also narrow and were taking sharp turns without any warning, creating an impressive labyrinth, where it was easy to sneak upon an unwanted guest. Or any other sort of a guest, the Unspeakables had a rather nasty sense of a humor as a whole.
"Fancy seeing you here, Alastor," a voice said, just from behind him.
Moody groaned. Unspeakables were also overusing the invisibility spells. Thought that one actually made some sort of a sense, since people couldn't bother a man when they were unable to tell if the man was in the same room or not.
"I'm looking for something," Alastor said.
"Of course you are!" the invisible person laughed. "Why else would you be here?"
"Can you give me the information I want?"
"Lassie, if you were anybody else, I would throw you out of here this very minute," the Unspeakable sighed and shook his head, dropping the spell at the same moment.
At least now Alastor could see who he was speaking to, through it wasn't that much of a help. Like all the others, the woman was wearing expressionless mask and lousy robes. For all Alastor knew, even her gender could be a lie. Unspeakables were always fond of screwing with people when it came to their identity.
At least this one he definitely knew, since she was talking to him instead of throwing fancy newfound spells in his direction.
"We bumped into something curious," he continued. "And Dumbledore as always is keeping his mouth shut. "
"Of course he is," the Unspeakable nodded, definitely amused by his choice of words. "So what you have found this time?"
"An exorcist."
"Huh," she said. "That's interesting."
"You know something about them?"
"Try going muggle sometime," she shrugged. "They are hardly hiding, just bump into a church and tell the priest you're having problems with ghosts and they will give you directions to find one."
"Why nobody in our world don't know about them?"
"Because ignoring muggles is easier?"
"This definitely wasn't the usual hopeless muggle," Alastor grimaced. It was hard to ignore the sarcasm in her voice.
"You actually fought one of them?" the woman giggled.
"Somehow that happened," he agreed.
She hummed, rocking on the balls of her feet, before she answered him. "Well, then you bumped into a Knight, I think."
"Knight?"
"I don't know much about them, not my playground," she admitted. "But the exorcists are way more organized than the magical world is. Depending on the way they fight, they divided their people by the specialties. Knights are specialized in a close combat."
"Are you telling me that muggles are running around and beating dark creatures with their fists?!"
"Something like that. Usually it's a stick. Or a sword. I'm pretty sure I heard about one with a chainsaw… trust me, they are a creative bunch."
"This is insane!"
"Definitely," she agreed. "But it's working."
"Is this everything you can tell me about them?"
"If you want to know more, I can ask the guy who's leading the division working with them," she shrugged. "He can tell you many things if he feel like it."
Alastor couldn't help himself, but gasp."You are working with them?"
"Oh, Lassie! You, of all people should know that we are everywhere!"
xxx
"Why you're in such a foul mood, Alastor?" Mundungus welcomed him with a crooked smile, then continued to wreak havoc upon kitchen table, devouring the food in haste, probably afraid of Molly Weasley catching him in the act.
"I tried to find out something about our... guest here," Moody grunted. "And I still think Dumbledore must be finally turning senile to believe something like that! Muggles banishing ghosts! Ridiculous!"
"And did you find anything?" Mundungus asked, not raising his eyes from the food.
"Only that the Unspeakables must be mental too!" He groaned and then grimaced. They could be lying too, having their own agenda in this whole mess. Wouldn't be the first time. "Why I'm even talking to you?"
"Speaking your worries out loud is supposed to help," the man shrugged. "Or something like that."
"Merciful Merlin, did you just put your finger into that meat pie?" After Mung nodded, Alastor groaned. "Well, at least I know what I'm not eating tonight."
"Whatever suits you. I have to tell, this is a one mean pie! In a good way," Mung smiled with a satisfaction and barfed. "Anyhow, you seem to be unhappy with that few answers you've got, aren't you?"
"And why are you interested in my problems?"
"Let's just say I can prove if he's a real deal or not, and quickly," Mung grinned widely.
"And how exactly would you do that?" Alastor snorted.
"All I need is his backpack. And his wallet, I think..."
"I am so not helping you rob a man-"
"That one you have already kidnapped?" Mundungus chuckled.
"This is not funny!"
"And I'm not joking!" Mung rolled his eyes and then, after a moment of consideration helped himself to a sausage. Chewing, he continued. "You see, the muggle world is an annoying one. To do anything out there, you have to prove that you are who you tell you are. Like at the Gringotts, but with humans instead of goblins."
"Where are you going with that?"
"Well, the Exorcists are not any different," he shrugged and took another bite. "So our little guest should carry something with him."
"Muggle documents are easy to forge," Alastro rolled his eyes. "Even muggles are doing that!"
"Documents, yes, but other things?" he smirked. "They are almost like a police, just not as good known. They carry that funny colorful thing with them, easy to recognize when you know what you're looking for."
"And you know what it is?"
"That's it! You finally got it!"
"And how can I know that you're even telling the truth?"
"Now, now, Alastor, why would I lie to you!"
"Oh, I can think about a few reasons," Moody grunted. "But fine. Prove it to me that you know what you're talking about."
They moved to the study, where they temporary kept stuff of their guest, just for the sake of keeping him from trying anything stupid. Like running away, like any sane man would try to. Not that his backpack would be that much of a help. In the bag there was just a bunch of books, that Moody not even cared to look at too closely, a wallet and a few others items, completely useless in breaking in or out.
Alastor took the wallet instantly, not trusting Mung with it at all. Robbing really wasn't the part of the plan. Inside, he found things to be no different than in any other muggle wallet he stumbled upon. A bit of these funny paper money, some coins and a bunch of plastic cards, most of them with Japanese letters on them.
"Here," Mung tossed him something.
It was a small black book, with a set of legitimation inside, half of them in English and the other half in the unfamiliar Japanese signs.
"What in the world are you two doing here?" Molly Weasley was standing in the doorway, looking at them with a disapproval. "Honestly! Going through somebody's things like that!"
"Well, since the brat didn't feel like introducing himself..." Alastor shrugged and handed her the black cook. "Here."
"Harry already told us what his name is!" she protested.
"And I wanted to know if it was even a real one!"
Well, it surprisingly enough was. And the black legitimation said that he indeed was an exorcist and not even a newbie, but with some sort of an experience under his belt. Though Alastor had no idea how exactly the ladder looked like or it even was real.
"Oh, here it is!" Mung happily picked up one of the items. It was just a simple brooch with blue and red stones in it, nothing special.
"And this is going to prove that he's the real deal how exactly?" Alastor snorted.
"Well, if he's a real deal," Mung murmured, poking at the colorful elements. "Then there is that little trick with this thing..."
Suddenly a thin, shining black sprung out of the brooch with a quiet click.
Molly gasped, startled and Alastor couldn't help himself but raised his eyebrows. A thin, sharp blade shoot up from the bottom of the item, shining menacingly in the light. It wasn't a very long blade, but it still was a very unexpected one.
"Oh, here we go!" Mung grinned happily. "Well, bite me!"
"A knife?" Moody asked. "All that for a bloody knife?"
"Well, you definitely didn't expected that," Mung shrugged, carefully checking the blade. "And besides, all of the real Exorcists are carrying that stuff around, like your Auror shields, but actually useful for something."
xxx
Once again, Alastor Moody was walking along the long corridors of the Ministry of Magic and once again he was in a rather foul mood.
The weather outside seemed to agree with him, with strong wind almost bending trees over and heavy rain attacking mercilessly everything on it's way. But on the inside, no one could even tell that; the world visible in the magical windows was cheerful and sunny as always, like nothing could go wrong.
Alastor snorted and reached to his pocked, where the plastic, muggle ID was. It was slick and the hard edges were digging almost painfully in the palm on his hand.
At least now he had a face to show, when he will be asking questions.
But that didn't change the fact that a bastard like Mung held so many answers in the first place; with all that illegal business he was constantly mixed in, Moody was really sure that the menace had no time to mess in the muggle world. Apparently, he was wrong. How many days Moody lost, just because he ignored the obvious source of information?
Alastor shook his head. Blasted Mundungus and blast his knowledge that came out of nowhere!
It wasn't even the only one thing that caused his irritation. No, the so-called exorcist suddenly became an even more dangerous figure, like being trained wasn't enough. To think, that for this whole time, he had a well hidden knife. Even muggles were dangerous with weapons. If the brat decided he wanted to get free... there was nothing, absolutely nothing that could keep him from stabbing everyone in their sleep.
Merlin, such a bunch of idiots they were!
He noticed a movement behind, like somebody was planning on surprising him from behind. But pretty much everybody knew already that it was impossible. These few fools, who couldn't comprehend that simple fact, usually avoided him anyway, freaked out by his face alone.
"You again," the person said, stopping a few feet behind him.
"Do we know each other?"
"You should know well enough by now, that this question is not going to be answered, Lassie."
"Well," he grunted. "That's good enough for me, I guess."
"So?" the person tilted head. "What it is this time?"
"Same as before," Moody rolled his natural eye, while the magical one continued glaring at the Unspeakable. This time the figure seemed to be male. Ridiculously high too, with thin, almost spider-like arms and legs. The heavy robes were only making things worse, making him looks more like a hatstand than a real breathing human. To think up until now Moody was sure that nobody had longer limbs than that Quickley guy! "I believe you do know about my little... problem?"
"Kidnapping, yes, you should be charged," the Unspeakable nodded lazily. "And probably disciplinary removed from your position, but since you're already retired... yay for you, I guess."
"Stop joking," Moody groaned. "I just want to ask if one of you would be able of telling me some more about that problem of mine."
"How would I do that, if you refuse to let me into your mind?"
"Wouldn't a muggle photo would be enough?"
The man made a small, happy sound and clapped his hands together. "An ID? Splendid!"
"So? Do you know who in the Merlin's name this brat is?"
"I do," the Unspeakable nodded slowly, all traces of humor completely gone. "And I'm going to give you a good advice. Give him back."
Moody frowned, slightly surprised by the sudden change of behavior. "What?"
"Put him back where you found him," The Unspeakable said slowly and carefully, like he was trying to do everything in his might to be understood. "And say that you are very, very sorry."
"Are you joking? Because this isn't even funny!"
"I'm not," the Unspeakable grunted with noticeable annoyance. "But you're trying to bit more than you can chew, Lassie. This is not just a random exorcist you've caught yourself."
"So who exactly the brat is? Son of somebody influential?" Alastor shook his head. "And even if, he's still just a muggle. I took his knife, there's no way-"
Moody had to admit, the kid was good. Really good and unafraid of causing actual damage to his opponents. Not to mention that blasted broom he seemingly randomly choose as a weapon. The memory of twigs jabbing him in the eye were still very fresh in Alastor's memory.
However, the spider-like man didn't even let him finish the sentence. So the spectacular abilities were not the case... or at least there was something more into Suguro that the brat showed.
"Oh, I'm not talking about that!" the Unspeakable waved hand at him in a dismissive gesture. "If that was the case I wouldn't waste my time on you at all."
"Then what causes you to freak out so much about him?"
"It's not what he is - though being a future head of a temple give him a certain edge, I admit. No, it's who he is," the Unspeakable stated. Then he made a small annoyed nose, like he just tasted something really sour. "Or rather, who he is chubby with."
Moody groaned. "Stop playing games, already!"
"We don't like to work with Aurors," the Unspeakable suddenly changd the topic. "You people are always so rash, so self-righteous... It's a small mistake that the Magical World is still hidden with guys like you running around."
Alastor grit his teeth and waited, not sure if the offensive monologue was leading to anything at all.
"You see," the man continued in unusually cheerful voice, slowly walking around Moody once, then again and again. "We prefer to be more subtle. Observe things from the shadows and just poke at the right people at the right moment, giving them ideas, pushing in the right direction..."
He sighed in a rather theatrical manner, then suddenly turned, staring right in Alastor's face. Or at least it seemed like he was staring at him. The charmed mask was expressionless and there was nothing to be seen through the eyeholes at all. "But there are others. Those, who we prefer to not get near at all."
"What," Alastor snorted. "You have a great list of people you're not supposed to poke with a stick?"
"People," the Unspeakable snorted. "There is much more to this world than just people, Lassie. While your guest is pretty much human, the things he is friends with - not at all."
"The building is under Fidelius," Moody shrugged. "Nothing can visit uninvited."
The Unspeakable only laughed at that.
xxx
"But wait, I don't understand!" Hermione suddenly said.
Suguro looked at her. The girl insisted to join Harry and Ginny, even if she was lacking that specific connection to the world that gave them all the ability to see the beings he was slowly explaining to them. While hunger for knowledge he could understand perfectly well, there was something about the girl, that reminded him about Yukio Okumura. Or rather that one talk he had with him, while the young teach was drunk out of his ass and decided to explain why he really, really wanted to punch Ryuji in the jaw for asking way too many questions during the lessons.
Now Suguro understood.
"If you're supposed to fight all the demons, then why you are constantly telling us how to use them? That doesn't make any sense!"
"Well, they do tell you to fight fire with fire," Suguro smirked. "It really depends on the situation."
"How exactly?"
"There are people capable of dominating over certain group of spirits," he shrugged. "There are other people, which have something considered supernatural down their lines or groups of people that made a pact with certain spirits."
"A pact? But aren't these thing supposed to be evil?" She shook his head. "and what do you mean that people have something not natural in their lines? How's that even possible?"
"Said a girl capable of making stuff ignore gravity," Suguro snickered. "The world is never painted only in black and white. So, while there are many aggressive spirits and demons, they usually have some sort of a reason for their action."
"Wait…" Ginny blinked. "Spirits?"
"Wraiths? Ghosts?" the exorcist proposed, then grimaced. "I don't think you have the right word in English. But ghost is the closest thing, I guess."
"But the ghosts are unable to even touch tuff!" Hermione protested.
"What you call a ghost is not exactly the same thing I do," Suguro shrugged. "Think more of a godlike creature than an image of somebody dead."
"Godlike?"
"And the cultural differences strikes back yet again," he sighed. "Think more... pagan, for the lack of a better word. You know, a minor god of a river there, a tree spirit elsewhere."
"So... you ask for their help, and what?" Ginny blinked. "They just agree?"
"There's usually some sort of a payment," Suguro shrugged. "It's the easiest when you just have a pact, since you knows exactly what to expect. The other ways usually include some sort of a payment. Usually it's blood."
"That sound like black magic."
"Dunno about that," he just shrugged. "It's more like your signature, so the spirit could know who's he dealing with."
"...are you suggesting that these things can recognize DNA?"
"Something like that, I guess. More in a spiritual sense, but yeah. You can't falsify the blood."
"You guys do know that I haven't the slightest idea what are you talking about, right?" Ginny cut in, with a grimace on her face. "What is that Dee stuff?"
"Seriously?" Suguro blinked.
Hermione blushed, like she was embarrassed by being forced to explain. "The wizards aren't exactly following the sciences."
"For like two centuries!" the exorcist gasped. "What in the hell are you even do at that school of yours? You spend all the time waving your wand around or something?"
Harry and Ginny snorted and Hermione blinked with a conflicted expression on her face. Like she was unable to decide if she was baffled by the word play or horrified by the insinuation. Especially since the strike hit exactly, where it hurt.
"This was planned or just a slip of a tongue?" Harry, asked, chuckling. A smirk was the only answer he received and it only made him laugh harder.
"And where you were studying?" Ginny shook her head. "The bad pun academy?"
"It sometimes felt like that," Suguro rolled his eyes. "But somehow they managed to teach the normal stuff too."
"That sounds like a lot of work," Harry hummed. "There's a lot more stuff than in this book you gave me and the normal school on its own takes almost a whole day too..."
"Attending a cram school is a pretty normal thing in Japan," Ryuji explained. "All you really need to do is to learn how to manage your time."
To tell the truth it was much more complicated than that and sometimes he actually was forced to prioritize and choose what test he could let himself fail. But it was not something he was proud of, so he decided to not mention it.
Before Hermione decided to open her mouth once again and voice her opinion – probably catching Suguro on what he left unsaid too – Ron walked into the room with a disgusted grimace on his face and promptly closed the doors behind.
"Can I like hang out here for some time? I'll be quiet, promise, so you can do... whatever you do."
"Fred and George are making fun of you again?" Ginny raised an eyebrow.
"Nah, I think this time the adults actually found something nasty somewhere," he shuddered. "You wouldn't believe how it stinks out there right now!"
"Or your brothers are testing another weird joke-item of theirs," Hermione groaned and walked towards the doors, brave enough to check the things on her own. "Honestly, if they invented something worse than the dung bombs, then I-"
She never finished the sentence. Instead, she felt into a coughing fit. Ron was right, the smell outside the room seemed to be almost impossible to stand. The air seemed to be filled with sickly sweet stench that seemed to stick to her skin, inside of her nose and throat as soon as she took her first breath.
"W-what is that?!" she managed to groan between coughs. "It smells like..."
"Rotting corpse?" the exorcist proposed, suddenly standing right next to her.
Hermione jumped, completely startled. When he even managed to get that close?!
"Dude, what's up with you?!" Ron protested. "Saying stuff like that... how would you even know how a rotting corpse smells like?!"
"I've meet my share, alright," Suguro grimaced. "That's not important now. I think you guys might have accidentally broke into a nest of something nasty from my side of things."
"Even if these things you talks about are real," Hermione said, wiping her face. Because of the stench and the coughing her eyes were watering and it was difficult to see clear through tears. "How could they just show up here like that?"
"This building was abandoned for quite some time, wasn't it?" Suguro tilted his head. "During that time, whatever barriers have been set around the property weakened and things could get inside through tears in them."
"Huh," Ron blinked. "I think mom mentioned something about recreating the wards, now you've mentioned it... You sure you're not a Squib or something?"
"I'm definitely not a cephalopod."
"A what now?" Ron blinked in confusion.
"Not important," Suguro shook his head. "I don't like t."
"Do you know what exactly is going on?" Harry asked.
"It's an abandoned building with a dark aura on its own," Suguro shook his head. "This is like a hot spot all on its own, magic or not. At least the smells narrows it somehow..."
"To nothing pleasant, I bet," Ginny winkled her nose. Then a realization must have hit her, since she suddenly paled. "My mom... others are somewhere and they can't even see...!"
"That's what's worrying me," Suguro nodded.
"But you don't even have your stuff and in the book," Ginny frowned. "So many charms and talismans..."
"I'm good at improvising," Suguro cut in. "I think the kitchen would be a good place to go."
Ron looked at him, like the exorcist has gone mad in the past seconds. "That's the weirdest time for dinner ever!"
"I just need salt," Ryuji rolled his eyes. "The more the better. Chalk would be great too, but salt is easier to get and it's easier to use..."
"Okay," Harry nodded. "We can do that. Me and Ginny can help look around for... whatever it is."
It was ridiculous, Hermione thought. Probably just another dumb trick of the twins that somehow got awry - it wouldn't be the first time - and it was stupid to treat it so seriously. But they were going and for whatever reason, she didn't want to be left alone. All these scary stories were getting on her nerves.
So Hermione just followed the group into a dark corridor.
The Grimmaur Place never seemed to be more dark than now. The wooden boards were creaking loudly under every step they made and the awful smell was getting even stronger. But besides that, it looked exactly like it always did. Nothings strange was going on at all. Up until they found a strange scratching marks, first on the floor, then travelling up the wall all the way to the ceiling, where a trail of black stains began.
It was an old building. It had every right to have stains on its ceiling. Hermione vaguely remembered Sirius moaning about how the ceiling was leaking the first day he started living here. Old building were usually infested with things like a fungus too, these could be dark... but she really doubted, that the infected spots could ever appear in such regular way, that almost looked like a hand. Not a human one, the fingers seemed to be way too long and bend in a strange way.
"Well, fuck me," Suguro murmured.
"Excuse me?!" she gasped, startled by his voice so suddenly filling the air and slightly scandalized at his language.
"Now I know what we're dealing with," he sighed. "And I'm not happy about that."
"Then guess we should hurry?"
"Yeah," he nodded, the frown on his face deepening. "Whatever you do, don't touch the black fluid."
"who would want to do that?" Ron groaned. "This stuff stinks like... I have no idea, but this is the most awful thing ever!"
"It's poisonous and can go through your skin perfectly well," Suguro explained quickly. "Ghouls tend to leave it all over the place."
"Ghouls?" Ron blinked. "We have a ghoul in the attic, he's not acting like that at all! He doesn't even stinks that much!"
Suguro looked at him for a short moment, then shook his head.
"Later," he said out loud. "Right now I really want to set up a safe place."
All the way to the kitchen, down the narrow corridor and then through a staircase, nothing happened. For a moment Hermione was sure she could hear a scratching noises of some sort, but she grit her teeth and ignored it.
She breathed out with relief when they finally managed to reach the kitchen, surprised how tense she was through the whole way.
"Salt should be..." Ron murmured. "Darn, why can't we just use magic to summon things? It's totally unfair!"
"Because it makes you lazy," the exorcist responded immediately, opening the nearest cupboard.
"Got it!" Harry said, immediately finding his way in the kitchen. Cooking for the Dursleys right now seemed to be his most useful ability.
"There's also a bag of flour too, you said once that the flour can work against bad things, right?"
"Yeah, that's a good idea," Suguro nodded. "Do you have any idea who else is in the building right now?"
"Um..." Ginny bit her lip. "Sirius. My mom too and the twins... But I'm pretty sure everybody else is out right now, either at work or doing something we're not supposed to know about."
"That complicates things a little," Suguro grimaced. "Where's the usual spot people tend to arrive at?"
"By the stairs, nearby the entrance, I think," Hermione answered. "It's pretty much the same place they arrived with you, since it's spacious and the risk on bumping at something that already there is smaller..."
"That will do," he nodded. "And seeing an entrance is a good thing too, some people actually still use the doors like normal human beings."
"Touché," Harry smirked. "So, what exactly we're supposed to do when we get there?"
"I want you and Ginny to keep an eye the things around, getting jumped would be stupid. You two can made a salt ring on the floor. It doesn't need to be really round, just make sure there are no gaps. There's enough salt to make it quite wide..."
"I found a salt shaker," Ginny mumbled. "It's not much, but it's full. So if something happens we can have an emergency source."
"Good thinking."
"but how exactly a bunch of cooking stuff is supposed to keep ghouls away?" Ron blinked in confusion. "That's just... salt! Anybody could cross a ring of it without a problem!"
"Because you're human," Suguro sighed. "Salt is supposed to keep away ah... unclean beings. What I call a ghoul is actually a demon capable of taking over dead bodies. It's pretty much using whatever is on hand and the results might be rather disturbing."
"And they are attacking people why exactly? If they are demons or spirits or whatever... do they even feel things like hunger?"
"It's more like hunting down new parts for their bodies," Suguro sighed. "Something like that. You don't really need to know all the technicals, do you?"
"Not really," Ron agreed, turning slightly greenish on the face. "I'm totally fine with not knowing at all."
It was not long until he saw it.
They found both Molly and Sirius in the same room. It was the place where people usually apparted in, empty and wide, safe for the sofa far by the wall on the opposite side.
A broken bottle was lying on the floor, but the odor of the alcohol wasn't even close to blocking the heavy, unpleasant smell of the rotting meat.
"What the-!" Ron gasped, because Harry suddenly grabbed both him and Hermione, forcing them to stop, while the exorcist visibly tensed.
"Mom, Sirius!" Ginny shouted, while Suguro started muttering something under his breath. "Get out of there! It's not safe!"
"Ring!" Harry gasped and then tore the salt package. It started seeping down immediately. Harry moved around, creating uneven but wide ring around them and the carpet on the floor.
Ron wanted to ask what in the world was going on. Then he saw it too; a thin, human-like shape, blurry and unpleasant to look at, like his eyes were refusing to accept that the thing was there.
It wasn't only standing, it was moving towards his mom too, quick and unnatural, still shifting between being there and disappearing, just to reappear in other place, still getting close and closer.
A single crystal salt shaker hit the monster right in the head with enough force to shatter. The tiny pieces of class scattered around, shining in the dim light like thousands of little stars. The cloud of salt covered the monster's head and chest and with a loud hiss burned right into its skin.
"Get away from my mom!" she could hear Ginny's voice.
The monster screamed in high-pitched, inhuman voice, all of its hand reached towards the place where the face was located.
"Mom!" Ron shouted, his voice somehow travelling over the unholy noise. "Here, quickly! Cross the ring on the floor!"
Molly looked around, moving away from the creature which was still whirling in spasm of pain, but unable to look away from the strange, pale joints that bended in all the unnatural ways with an almost impossible fluidity.
"What..." she gasped. "What is–?"
"Hurry!" Harry screamed. "Sirius, please!"
The man finally regained his senses and looked around with eyes wide open. He grabbed her by the wrist and pulled forwards, trying to reach the safe zone.
Meanwhile, Suguro stepped outside the ring and started to speak in odd language, his eyes locked on the creature. He was raising and then lowering his voice in a irregular, impossible to ignore, way.
The beast tilted it's head towards him, like it was listening, but then it just flickered and disappeared all together.
"Wha-?" Sirius gasped.
"It's still here!" Ginny cried. "Keep going!"
"How do you know that?!"
"Just go!"
The exorcist was still chanting something and the kids looked just scared, so Sirius and Molly obeyed and moved forward, unsure of what was going on. Then something dropped on the floor right behind them with a heavy thud. Sirius still couldn't see it, but he sure as hell could smell it. He pulled Molly just in time. The creature suddenly materialized right where the woman was standing a second ago. It turned it's blind head right towards them, the sews on the face breaking apart. It's mouth opened wide, way too wide to be humanly possible, uncovering a row of uneven, sharp teeth.
"Crap!" Sirius gasped, pushing Molly further to the side. They both had their wands drawn, but the beast was quick and just in front of them. There was no time to cast a spell.
Suddenly, the monster turned around, completely losing interest in them.
"what the...?" Sirius blinked. He expected to be attacked at any moment, not to stare at the creature's back.
Suguro just smirked and chanted even louder, provoking the monster even further. It threw itself in his direction, beating the distance in just a few jumps.
"Look out!" Molly shouted, feeling the dread growing inside of her. If that thing reaches him...!
The smile on Suguro's mouth merely grew wider, continuing the chant.
He was just standing there, with his back straight, staring right at the monstrosity charging at him, a strangely looking rosary dangling from his fingers.
"Suguro!" she screamed in dread.
Just as the ghoul made his final jump, launching an attack that definitely should reach its goal, the exorcist finished chanting, still standing in one place, completely unmoving.
The monster, so real a mere second ago, suddenly turn into ashes. The dust, still carried by the movement, flew harmlessly by Suguro, passing him completely.
Only after a second or two passed, he lowered his hands, the rosary still hanging in between his fingers.
"Fucking finally," he grunted, then eyed Molly and Sirius. "You two go to the ring already!"
"It's..." Ginny blinked. "It's not over?"
"Doubt that," Suguro shook his head. "There were sews on the thing, but it looked like a bunch of pieces were missing."
"It was charging at you and you paid attention to stuff like that?" Hermione gasped. It was probably the most terrifying thing she ever saw, so much more scary than the Boggart she failed to beat during her third year exams or even creatures Hagrid was constantly bringing to their lessons.
"It took awhile, I went almost through a half of the book. Again." he groaned, then looked at Sirius. "You, magick me some chalk, now I know exactly what they were so I can draw a few rings to make this place actually secure."
Sirius just did what he was told to do without a single world, looking just like Hermione felt.
Suguro immediately started to working on some complicated pattern she couldn't even hope to understand, long hours she spend bend over Ancient Runes and Arithmancy books completely useless.
"But wait!" Ron suddenly blinked. "If there really is something still lurking around then...!"
"The boys!" Molly realized almost in the same moment. "They might be in danger!"
Then, before Suguro – or anyone else – managed to react in any way, she crossed the line of salt and ran towards the stairs.
"Stop, you dumb woman! You want to get yourself killed?!"
The witch never answered, too occupied by climbing up the stairs as fast as possible, jumping over two and three at a time.
The exorcist cursed in his own language and his eyes dashed between the receding figure of the woman and the group standing in the middle of the room. Then he cursed again, already knowing what was the right thing to do and not liking it at all.
He had to ensure that the bigger group was safe before doing anything else, no matter how eager that dumb woman was to get herself killed. So he knelt down once more, trying to finish the proper barrier as soon as possible.
"Why aren't you doing anything?" Ginny protested. "They could... they could be! And mom!"
"Do you really think I wouldn't like to do something?!"Suguro growled, not stopping his work for even a moment. "But I can't just run off after somebody who decided to be an idiot!"
"How dare–!"
"And what if you're attacked while I'm away?!" he cut in before Ron even manage to finish his sentence. "How do you think your mother would fell, returning to a pile of dead bodies, all bloody and torn to pieces?!"
He took a deep breath.
"I'm sorry," he continued in a much calmer manner. "But I really can't just follow her and hope for the best."
"I can help," Sirius suddenly said. " Harry and Ginny are able to see them, right?"
"That doesn't explain how you might be helpful," Suguro pinched the bridge of his nose. "Or how that is even going to make everybody go through it alive."
"I'm good at doing portkeys," Sirius said with a wide grin. Then he remembered that the exorcist was a muggle. "These are like… remember the feeling when we snatched you? I make items that can do that, they are password–locked."
"Are you sure that portkeys are going to work here?" Hermione asked with a frown. "I mean, this place is protected by so many wards…"
"It's fine, just the last week I turned a doorknob into one. Portkeyed Snivellus right into the bathtub! Boy, wasn't he pissed!" Sirius giggled. "Though that could be because the water turned cold when he finally decided to leave…"
The exorcist visibly relaxed. "Thank you."
"For dealing with that guy personal hygiene issues? Always!"
"For giving me a chance to do something."
"Wait, you want to go there alone?!" Harry gasped. "Isn't that dangerous?"
"That's the reason I'm going alone," Suguro shrugged slightly. "Look, it's going to be fine, I'm going to find the lost sheeps, exorcist some shit to Hell... it's going to be fine."
"Wait, how exactly are you even planning on finding Molly?"
"I'll manage?"
"I can help you with that," Sirius said. "Maybe I can't see these...whatever that was until it's trying to eat my face, but I can damn well sniff people out."
Suguro blinked, obviously not understanding where that even came from.
"I can turn into a dog," Sirius explained after the silence started to feel awkward. "You remember, right? I tried to eat your face not so long ago."
"Oh," Suguro blinked. "That's actually a good thing. I guess."
Sirius looked around, considering which item would work best as a portkey. The place they were currently in was sadly bare and he definitely had no time at all to run around, looking for knick–knacks. Then he looked down and a wide smile bloomed on his lips.
There was a very old, ridiculously pricey carpet which Mrs. Weasley found nice enough to keep around, even if it was in the usual doom–and–gloom style of the Black household. It wasn't too big, barely large enough for all the kids to fit onto.
"Okay," he said. "If something decide to get too near, all you need to do is to scream "vulture" out loud and you will be snatched to the Longbottom's manor. I don't think Augusta would mind and you always can tell her that she can keep that rag."
Few movements of the wand and magic came to life, filling the item of choose with ease, like Sirius wasn't rusty at all. If anything, it felt eager to please, like it was waiting for the moment to do something as much as the caster.
Immediately after he was done, Sirius changed his form and then waggled his tail impatiently.
Suguro merely raised eyebrows.
"Okay then," he said. "Just don't run. You can't see the ghouls or anything else from my side of things. Rushing in is just a stupid thing to do in that kind of situation."
Sirius barked almost dancing in once place.
"Huh, you can't talk like that?" Suguro pulled out his rosary once again, holding it like some sort of a weapon. "'S okay. Just follow the trail. I think... she would definitely know, where her kids are usually hanging out, right?"
Sirius barked once again. Even if they would find just Molly alone, she was another wand user and this would definitely come in handy if they bump into another one of these monsters. They were completely visible when they were attacking, after all.
Oddly enough, Sirius found out that he couldn't remember clearly, how the creature even looked like, his mind only capable of summoning an unfocused image of white shape with long, thin joints bending in way to many places and the unbelievable stench of rotten meat filling the air, making him want to gag.
He carefully sniffed, wishing the memories again, concentrating on finding the smell of one Molly Weasley.
Soon, he was climbing up the stairs and the young exorcist was following him with ease, his wary, sharp eyes travelling along the corridors, looking for the creatures only he was capable to see.
The corridors seemed to be longer than even before, just going on and on, like they hadn't an end at all. If not for the monochromatic vision he had as a dog, Sirius would swear that he somehow managed to travel in time, to the one of these moments he was walking through these corridors as a small kid, as slowly as possible, trying to delay as long as possible before facing his parents.
"You okay?" the exorcist suddenly asked, looking at him strangely.
Has he whined at some point? Sirius shook his head. This place really was messing with his head. Sometimes he felt almost like he never left at all.
But this wasn't the time for something like that. He needed to stick to reality for a little more. Molly... he really should concentrate on her scent. It was pretty easy, after all. So different than damp smell of dust and decay.
Sirius' nose led them up the stairs and then to the felt, heading towards the library, not far from the room where Suguro spend most of his days here.
That's about right, Sirius though, as he was getting closer. The library was one of the forbidden places because of all books that contained black magic, but were magically bind to the shelves, always returning to their place, no matter what. Were fireproof too, Sirius learned that when he was still living with his parents. The twins were just like him. If something was not allowed, they definitely were trying their hardest to get it. Or inside of it. Molly knew her kids too, so the library was definitely one of the first places in the whole building she would head towards.
Then there was bright flash of light coming straight from under the doors, followed by a cracking noise.
There was no need to ask any questions or even to exchange glances.
Sirius jumped at the doors, pushing the two heavy wings with the weight of his own body. The exorcist followed just after him, his hands ready to once again create the complicated net of a shield.
The room was as dim as always and the quick flashes of spells were like lightning in the storm that came in the middle of the night - bright and blinding, filling everything with sharp shadows.
"Crap!" Suguro groaned. The caster was Molly, who was sending one flashy blast of light after another, only pushing an approaching ghoul back for a short moment. The stubborn creature just keep coming back, again and again.
But it wasn't alone and she had no way of telling. The two others were slowly creeping towards her, one slowly crossing the distance on the ceiling in spiderlike fashion. The other one was sitting on the top of one of the bookshelves, waiting for the right moment.
Molly wasn't alone, too. There was another person behind her, kneeling on the ground, bending over something lying on the floor.
Sirius was unable to see the two invisible ghouls, but his nose was more than enough to give him at least vague idea what was inside the room. His ears as a dog were much more sensitive, too. He wasn't sure if that was a good thing, because with every movement, these things were pushing the air our of their lungs with a soft, creepy noise.
"Get them out of here!" the exorcist ordered.
Easy for you to say, Sirius though, jumping towards the small group of wizards.
"Sirius...!" George gasped, recognizing him immediately. "You need to-!"
"Are you okay?" he asked, returning to his human form.
"I-! Yeah. But Fred..."
"'M fine...!" the figure on the floor - the second twin - wheezed through his teeth. He was curled up and was holding his left arm.
When Sirius reached over to check on him, the boy flinched away.
"No!" he gasped. "That wound... if you touch it, you're going to get burnt!"
Sirius understood only after Fred opened his right hand. The inside of his palm was covered in dark stains, that looked almost like ink. Almost. The skin was reddened around the dark spots and even from his position Sirius could feel that the boy was burning up.
"It's going to make you sick," George explained, his voice thick with worry. "And really, really fast, too. We need to get him out of here...!"
Sirius nodded, quickly unbuttoning his shirt. For the first time in his life he was grateful for being forced to wear such things even during the summer. It was easy to cover the damaged skin, wrapping the shirt around the wounds.
"Suguro...?" he turned around. The exorcist seemed to be just fine. But it felt just wrong, to leave him alone. So he made his decision pretty easily.
"George, you and your mother, you help him up and get out of here."
"But...!" he protested.
"Go downstairs, the others are safe behind a ring of salt. Don't ask, just go there."
For a short moment, Molly looked at him, too. She was pale and instead of arguing, she just nodded.
"Hey, asshole!" the exorcist screamed. "I'm right here! Come and get me!"
Sirius turned around and started to cast, shooting blindly, trying to spread his spells as much as possible around Suguro.
Meanwhile Molly and George, painfully slowly, started heading towards the doorway.
Suguro was glad, that the dog-wizard decided to stay, even if he would preferred for him to leave with the rest. There was no way of telling if outside was safe. While the wizards were not completely helpless, they still stood no chance if surprised.
He stepped away, letting one of the ghouls pass him by, then ducked behind a bookshelf to avoid another attack. Then he had to duck and move away once more, then again and again, while reciting bits and pieces of the verses, trying to find the right one. With all that dodging it was difficult but still doable and he lucked out right in the same moment when Sirius managed to hit another one with a whole bookshelf. The sudden racket of heavy piece of furniture hitting the floor startled Suguro. His eyes automatically locked on where the noise came from and that was a mistake.
The third ghoul rammed into him from the left, with enough force to push him on the ground. He hit the floor hard.
Suguro gasped, suddenly out of the breath. He barely manage to keep the beast from biting into his shoulder, holding its mass away just with one arm.
Suguro started reciting, focusing his attention on keeping the rhythm of the words steady, because any mistake was unacceptable at this point. He didn't stop even when the doorway opened, both wings hitting the walls with a thud. He almost lost his concentration when a sudden blast of blinding red light pushed the ghoul out of him. Almost.
The beast didn't hit the ground, turning into dust in the mid-air.
"...and you seemed to got it," Alastor commented, looking at the vanishing ashes.
"One more," Suguro said simply, standing back up.
Moody nodded, because that was all the information he needed. The bookcase on the floor moved with a creaking noise. Dusty old volume slipped from one of the shelves, quickly followed by few others. They never hit the floor; both of the wizards casted a powerful suspension spells over the whole area, freezing everything in place.
Moment later it was over.
"How did you found us?" Sirius asked.
"There's quite a group of people downstairs, Black," the ex–auror snickered.
"We should go there," the exorcist said, before Sirius decided to open his mouth and ask more questions. "I don't think we can waste more time."
The wounded twin looked much worse than a few moments before, Sirius noted, when they joined the group downstairs.
He was lying on the carpet - the one Sirius himself turned into a Portkey - and didn't seem to be even conscious anymore. His skin was pale safe for his reddened face and dark rings under his eyes.
Molly was kneeling next to him, running her fingers through the boy's hair, trying to comfort him. She looked almost as bad as the kid. The other twin was no better. He was sitting with the rest of the kids, all of them bended over a book, but his eyes were constantly wandering towards his brother.
"Suguro!" Harry gasped, noticing the exorcist and the two wizards. "We're trying to-"
"I know," he said, walking towards the wounded boy. The exorcist knelt by the boy and moved the shirt away.
"It's bad, isn't it?" Mrs. Weasley noticed his grimace.
"It's not good," he nodded.
"We should take him to the hospital," Moody said. "I can-"
"And you really think you people can find a way to deal with it? Before the kid will kick it?" the exorcist snickered.
"Do you?"
"I know enough for the First-Aid. But I'm going to need things."
"Kreacher!" Sirius barked.
The old House Elf showed up with a loud crack, muttering his usual things about blood traitors and dishonor.
"You are going to bring anything that guy wants. And you're going to do it as soon as possible." Sirius ordered. Then furrowed his brow and added one more thing. "And none of the items should be cursed or charmed in any way."
The Elf huffed angrily. "Why would Kreacher serve a dirty, stupid Muggle?"
"You either do this, or I'm going to set you on fire," Suguro said in a matter of fact voice.
Kreacher looked at him. He was an old House Elf, and he served a Dark family for a long, long time. If there was something he knew really well, it was how to recognize a threat.
"Kreacher listens."