I'm back! Happy Cinco de Mayo! Hope you had some tacos and margaritas!

This chapter is a little on the short side. It's a filler chapter. We get to see what Dumbledore wanted to talk to Rin about.

Enjoy!

Chapter 12

Does It Matter?

Harry guided Rin towards the gargoyle that guarded Professor Dumbledore's office. Both boys were not feeling in the highest of spirits. Harry was trying to comprehend how the Dementor affected him but kept looking out of the corner of his eye and seeing Rin's melancholy mood, something very out of character for the normally happy-go-lucky Japanese boy.

"Might I ask what your boggart was about?" Harry suddenly asked.

Rin tightened his grip on the shoulder strap of his bookbag, his hair covering his eyes.

"That was me as a demon," Rin explained, his voice barely above a whisper.

Harry let out a mirthless laugh, like he couldn't believe what he was hearing.

"You can't be serious," he said.

Rin's blue eyes turned towards Harry. "How much did Yukio tell you about us growing up?" he asked.

Harry wracked his brain at what Yukio had told him in the past. "I know you two were bullied and you didn't have many friends," he recalled.

Now it was Rin's turn to let out a mirthless laugh. "Try none," he corrected. "I had the foulest of tempers growing up. And it wasn't just because kids were picking on my brother. I got into so many fights with the other kids like you wouldn't believe. When they called me a demon, then I really lost it."

"So being called a demon isn't something new," Harry assumed.

"Since my preschool days," said Rin. "One time a kid called me a demon and I beat him up so badly, he went to the hospital. The teachers called my dad to come and calm me down. Dad managed to do so but one of his ribs was broken in the process."

Harry's eyebrows shot up to his scar. "You broke your dad's rib? When you were in preschool?" he asked in disbelief.

"He insists to this day that he broke it himself, but I can't decide if I believe him or not," Rin replied. "It still didn't stop the other kids from calling me a demon."

"And part of you is afraid that it's true," Harry concluded. "That you really are a demon."

Rin looked at the floor. "Yeah. My dad assures me that I am human, but sometimes I'm not so sure. The fact that the blue flames that come out of my body may or may not be satanic doesn't help matters."

Harry looked at the floor deep in thought. What could he say to cheer his friend up? Normally it was the other way around. Rin was usually the one cheering up his friends when they were feeling down. Hermione once told him that Rin bloodied Crabbe's nose for calling her a Mudblood, a racial slur towards Muggleborn witches and wizards. And then there were the times Rin broke Malfoy's nose for saying or doing something out of line (Harry wondered if it would happen again this year as it seemed to be a tradition at this point).

Harry's thoughts then drifted towards the blue flames that often burst out of Rin's body whenever he was in distress. Aside from all the mishaps involving the flames during class, the blue flames didn't seem to harm anyone. Harry had felt them before at the end of their first year. They didn't burn him or their friends at all. They were warm but not harmful.

"Whether you're a demon or a human shouldn't matter," Harry finally said. Rin looked up in confusion. "We know you, Rin. You stand up for us. You've defended Hermione's honor more than once. You even gave Neville a pep talk after Malfoy used the Leg-Locker Curse on him, remember?"

Rin thought about what Harry told him. From the moment Rin became friends with Harry, Ron, Hermione, and the rest of the Gryffindors, he had changed for the better, he realized. Sure, he still got into fights but, aside from Malfoy, no one had ever called him a demon or anything like that. Did it really matter if he was one hundred percent human or not?

"Ah, there it is," Harry said, snapping Rin out of his thoughts. At the end of the corridor was a gargoyle. "Wonder what the password is…"

Rin looked at the gargoyle and then at Harry. "You mean this is the entrance to Dumbledore's office?" he inquired.

Harry nodded. "Last year, the password was lemon drop but I don't think it's the same this year."

Rin looked at the gargoyle again. "Lemon drop." Nothing happened. "I think you're right. Any idea what it could be? The note I got this morning didn't say."

Harry gripped his chin in thought. "Well, lemon drops are candy. Perhaps Dumbledore's passwords are candy-themed?" he guessed.

Rin scratched his temple with his finger. "Aren't lemon drops also Muggle candy?" he asked.

Harry sweatdropped. "This just got harder," he muttered.

"Bertie Bott's Every Flavor Beans?" Rin tried. Nothing.

"Cockroach cluster?"

"Acid pops?"

"Cauldron cakes?"

"Pumpkin Pasties?"

Rin let out a frustrated groan. "We'll be here all night at this rate. I'm running out of ideas."

Harry tried something else. "M&M's?" Still nothing. He sighed, "There are loads of Muggle candies. You'll be late if we don't try harder."

One could call it dumb luck at Rin's next guess. "Star candy?" he threw out. The gargoyle started moving. It stepped aside, revealing a spiral staircase. Both boys were completely dumbfounded at what just happened.

Rin was the first to break the silence. "What the hell?! What are the odds that the password to Dumbledore's office was Japanese candy?!" he exclaimed.

"Quiet!" Harry hissed. "You don't want anyone to hear you, do you?"

Rin calmed down. "Right. But still, star candy? They're a popular candy in Japan. How did Dumbledore know about them?"

Harry shrugged. "Maybe he traveled there?" he suggested.

"Has he ever left Europe?"

"Not that I know of."

Rin looked at the staircase again. "You can go on ahead to dinner if you want. No reason for you to wait," he offered.

"I'll wait," Harry answered. He pulled out his Defense Against the Dark Arts textbook. "Might as well jump start on Lupin's homework assignment while you're up there." He walked over to a nearby stone bench and sat down.

Rin gulped and slowly climbed the stairs. He was so nervous, he thought his heart would jump out of his chest. He swore he could feel perspiration forming on his forehead and the back of his neck.

Rin eventually found himself outside the office door. He tried to calm himself down as he knocked. This was Dumbledore he was going to see. He'd never given Rin reason to be scared of him. So why was he scared now?

No response was heard from inside so Rin tried to see if the door was unlocked. When he opened the door, a circular room was on the other side. There were many large windows and even more portraits on the walls. Shelves filled with gizmos, trinkets, and books covered the rest of the walls. Rin entered the room and was surprised that the room was larger inside than what he saw from the door. He soon found himself spinning trying to take in as much of the room as possible.

"Stop spinning around, boy! You look like a small child," one of the portraits scolded.

Rin stopped what he was doing and turned towards the portrait of a witch who had to have been a former Headmistress once upon a time.

"Sorry. Is Professor Dumbledore here? I'm supposed to meet him," said Rin.

"He should be with you soon." She then walked out of her frame to another portrait that was probably located somewhere else in the castle.

Rin looked around at the office. Many of the gizmos and trinkets, Rin couldn't identify. His eyes then landed on a display case. Inside was Godric Gryffindor's sword. Rin's eyes widened at the weapon. Memories of the spring of last year flashed in his mind. How Harry managed to draw it from the Sorting Hat was a mystery to Rin. Everything that had been happening at that moment kept Rin from asking Harry about the sword. After that he just forgot about it.

"Good evening, Rin."

Rin could have sworn he jumped two or three feet in surprise. He turned and saw Albus Dumbledore standing near his desk further into the office.

"P-P-P-Pro-Professor… Dumbledore…" Rin gasped. "You gotta stop sneaking up on me like that!"

Dumbledore chuckled and beckoned Rin further into the office. "I apologize for that, Rin. I seem to unintentionally do that to people from time to time." He then sat down at his desk. "How has your first week of classes been going?"

Rin sat down in a chair in front of the desk. "So far, so good, I guess," he answered.

Dumbledore raised an eyebrow. "You guess?"

Rin squirmed in his seat. "Well, we fought a boggart in Defense Against the Dark Arts today," he started. "When it was my turn to fight it…"

"Go on…"

Rin clenched his teeth. "I saw… I saw me…as a demon," he answered. "Blue flames, a tail, everything."

Dumbledore stroked his beard. "I see… You fear that you really are a demon," he assumed.

Rin flinched. 'Right on the mark!'

"Yeah," he confirmed to the headmaster. "Add what happened on the train and I couldn't help but think that I really am a demon."

"Ah, yes. Professor Lupin told me what happened about your encounter with the Dementor," said Dumbledore. "A very unusual reaction. Most people either become temporarily catatonic or they pass out." He gave Rin a gentle look. "Perhaps you could tell me in your own words what happened."

It didn't take that long for Rin to explain what exactly happened on the train.

"And after what happened today at Defense Against the Dark Arts, it just makes me more worried that I really am a demon," Rin finished. "And the way Ron and Hermione looked at me on the train after I stopped glowing… I never want them to look at me like that again."

Dumbledore stroked his beard in deep thought. "Would it really matter?" he asked. Rin looked up at the headmaster in alarm. "Hypothetically, if you did turn out to be a demon, would it really matter to your friends? I have seen your interactions with Misters Potter and Weasley and Miss Granger over the years. They do not strike me as the type to turn against you for something you cannot control."

Rin thought back to what Harry told him just moments ago. Hermione didn't think he was some sort of monster either. He hadn't spoken to Ron yet, but Rin was pretty sure he'd probably say something similar too.

"I guess you're right," said Rin, "but what about what happened on the train? I've never glowed like that before. Does it have anything to do with my blue flames?"

Dumbledore stroked his beard in thought. "It seems to be the case, doesn't it?" he said. "This may require an investigation on my part."

"And what should I do until then?" asked Rin. "And please don't say to be patient. I've been doing that since you've started tutoring me."

Dumbledore chuckled. "In that case, just focus on your studies and your friends. Pondering over something you do not understand all the time will only make you miserable," he advised.

Rin nodded. Whatever these blue flames were, he hoped his friends would continue to support him no matter what. He needed them.

~0~0~0~

Rin left Dumbledore's office and saw Harry right where he left him. He looked up from his textbook, shut it, and stood up.

"How did it go?" he asked.

"Not bad," Rin answered. "He wanted to know more about what happened on the train."

"With the Dementor?"

"Yep."

Harry shifted as he put his textbook in his book bag. "Ron told me what happened when I passed out on the train. That's never happened to you before, has it?" he asked.

Rin shook his head no. "Never. Dumbledore thinks they're connected to the blue flames somehow. He's gonna do some investigating." He then looked at Harry. "Speaking of which, the boggart turned into a Dementor when it was your turn. That has to do with what happened on the train?"

Harry let out a sigh. "Yeah. I remember hearing someone scream when it looked at me, right before I passed out but Ron said no one screamed," he explained.

Rin stared at Harry worriedly. "This isn't a Parseltongue thing, is it? I don't want a repeat of last year."

Harry let out a weak laugh. "Don't think so. This was different. The scream sounded like… an echo."

I liked writing Harry and Rin's heart-to-heart at the start of the chapter. It's true too. Harry and his friends are a pretty accepting bunch of you think about it. Look at Professor Lupin.

Trivia: Despite the fact that Alistor Moody and Shiro never got along, secretly they actually respected each other. Shiro respected Moody's experience in combat but often called him a 'paranoid, old goat.' Moody respected Shiro's ability to hold his own in battle against Death Eaters, especially for a Muggle but also called him a 'disrespectful jackass.'