Sirius Black

Sirius wasn't a big fan of reading books.

It wasn't even that he thought reading was a waste of time or anything like that, since he spent enough time with Remus to know better, but whenever he had to choose between reading and any other activity, he always chose the latter. He suspected that his dislike of reading may have originated in his childhood, as his constant rebellions against his Black heritage also included avoiding his house library, full of disgustingly pureblood books. Then again, he had a similar aversion to reading at Hogwarts, so maybe he just wasn't fond of books in general.

His stay in Azkaban certainly didn't help his attitude, as the harrowing presence of the dementors made it difficult for Sirius to concentrate on anything for an extended period of time. At the time, he was barely able to read the Daily Prophet, so reading an actual book would have been beyond him.

But why was he even thinking about books? Well, it was because Half-Blood Asshole, in his infinite mercy, decided to bring Sirius some books to read to help him pass the time.

As the prince so charmingly put it, Sirius was "acting like a flea-bitten mutt" and "needed a toy to play with" to keep himself occupied. In truth, the gift was actually quite welcome, Prince's words notwithstanding, but there was one problem. Either Prince was so detached from reality that he didn't know what "a book to pass the time" meant, or he was just a fucking asshole.

Sirius was betting on the latter.

Because why the fuck would he think that giving Sirius the diary of some unknown madman would be a good idea? Sirius didn't understand about half of the book he was currently reading, with the author constantly descending into incoherent ramblings about the "abolition of private property" and "products of labor," but the parts he did understand were so edgy and self-important that Sirius actually had to double-check the author's name to make sure the book wasn't written by Snivellus.

Sirius swore that if he had to read about class struggle one more time, he would find the author of the book and force him to eat it, consequences be damned.

Sirius was fortunately saved from having to fulfill his threat, because just as he was about to turn another page, the Prince apparated into the room, distracting him from the book.

Prince's sudden appearance wasn't really that surprising to Sirius, as he had grown accustomed to his random visits. The Prince would often disappear for days at a time, doing who knows what, only to appear in Sirius' room without any warning, ready to discuss the next part of their plan to expose Pettigrew.

In truth, Sirius didn't know much about his savior. Prince was so secretive about his identity and long-term plans that even after several months of knowing him, Sirius was only able to learn two certain things about the boy: he was a teenager and a colossal asshole... which was actually the same thing as far as Sirius was concerned.

Still, Sirius owed Prince quite a lot for freeing him from Azkaban, so he decided to trust the boy, at least for now.

That's why he quietly closed the book and turned to face the boy...

...only to see Prince deliver some huge-ass, antique cabinet, place it in the corner of the hideout and disappear without a word, confusing the fuck out of Sirius.

What the hell?

Harry Potter

"There was once a certain snake, living in a certain forest.

Because it was born deep underground, with no sunlight to keep it warm or any brethren to keep it company, the snake quickly grew bitter and vicious, attacking other animals around it out of sheer spite. None of them were able to stop him, as its green scales were impenetrable, its fangs venomous and its tongue silver. It wasn't long before every other animal in the forest was afraid of the sight of its green scales and trembled at the sight of its serpentine form.

After the campaign of terror was over, the snake allowed itself to rest. Lying among the silvery rocks, the snake fell into a deep slumber, completely oblivious to its surroundings. Although its vivid green scales were visible from afar on the silver surface, the snake in its hubris assumed that there would be no animal brave enough to challenge it.

But while the animals of the forest avoided the snake, fearing the sight of its scales, its serpentine form eventually caught the attention of the silver raven, a visitor from distant lands. Since it was not afraid of the snake, not knowing its deeds or reputation, it approached it without fear, overjoyed by the sight of an easy prey.

The raven's sharp talons pierced the snake's seemingly impenetrable scales, the powerful beak broke the venomous fangs, and its mind resisted the silver tongue.

The snake could do nothing as it was devoured, the once proud hunter became a pitiful prey, too weak to defend itself."

Harry suddenly woke up, his body covered in cold sweat.

His heart pounded in his chest as he began to look around frantically, his still half-asleep brain desperately searching for the raven. It actually took Harry a few seconds to realize that he was still lying in his bed in the dormitory, safe from any avian attack. Though the discovery brought him some relief, at the same time he sighed heavily, as it meant that he had once again been a victim of the recurring nightmare that had been plaguing him since last month.

He didn't know the exact reason for these dreams, but he would often wake up in the middle of the night, with the memory of being devoured alive by a huge bird as his only souvenir. He had talked to Ron and Hermione about it several times, hoping that one of them would know what to do, but neither of them had any idea how to deal with these nightmares...

...Well, that wasn't entirely true. Ron once suggested that Harry should talk to Professor Trelawney about these dreams, since they could have been some kind of prophetic visions. Fortunately, Hermione quickly dismissed the idea, as she quite reasonably argued that Professor Trelawney was, well, a talentless hack and nothing good would come from seeking her advice.

While this was certainly true, it also meant that Harry still had no idea what to make of this bizarre situation. Not only was the nightmare about being eaten bad on its own, but the fact that he kept waking up during the night was also making Harry increasingly sleep deprived. While he had somehow been able to handle it so far, it was clear that exhaustion was starting to get to him.

After all, he had already begun experiencing hallucinations caused by the severe lack of sleep. Because why else would Harry see Dobby, of all people, standing next to his head with a grim expression on his face and a pillow in his hands?

…wait a minute.

Harry didn't even have time to scream, since at that moment Dobby suddenly lunged at him, violently shoving the pillow in his face.

For a moment Harry was too shocked to react, but when he realized what was happening, he began to struggle, desperately trying to lift the pillow and regain access to air. Unfortunately, he soon found out that Dobby, despite his frail appearance, must have had muscles of steel, because despite Harry's attempts to push him away, the house elf held the pillow in place with a firm grip.

As Harry thrashed around, unsuccessfully trying to remove the pillow, he was able to hear Dobby whispering, barely audible through the fabric and feathers.

"Dobby is sorry, but he warned Harry Potter. He told him not to go back to Hogwarts. Harry Potter did not listen. No, he didn't." The house elf's voice sounded sad, as if he was on the verge of tears, but despite this he still held the pillow with an iron grip, not letting go. "Harry Potter should ... Just relax and fall asleep. He shouldn't resist."

Finding himself unable to lift the pillow, Harry instinctively reached for the bedside table, looking for anything he could defend himself with. After a few seconds of desperate search, with each moment reducing the amount of air in his chest, his hands finally landed on one of the books he had been reading recently.

Without thinking much, he grabbed it tightly and swung at Dobby with all his remaining strength. The book hit the house elf straight in the temple, sending him flying into the wall with a loud crash.

The sudden sound seemed to have woken up the rest of the room, as his dormitory mates began to get up from their beds in alarm and turn on the lights to see what had happened. Harry, however, didn't care, more focused on greedily devouring the sweet air around him with a reckless abandon.

After he finally calmed down enough to look around, Harry noticed that none of his dormmates were looking at him. Following their gaze, he noticed that they were instead focused on the crying house elf, who was currently lying on the floor in an embryonic position, apologizing for his behavior.

This bizarre spectacle didn't last long, however, because after a few seconds Dobby suddenly snapped his trembling fingers and disappeared, leaving the students dazed and confused.

As Harry realized what had just happened, only one thought popped into his head:

What the hell?