Stranger Than Your Sympathy

Part One - Freshmen Year

Chapter Five

"Dad?" Dean called out when he woke up. Had been knocked out during a hunt? He tried his best to take in his surroundings but everything felt blurry. Mostly, he saw white and he realized, with a groan, that it must have been bad enough that he needed to go to the hospital.

His dad was going to be pissed that he managed to be careless enough to get himself stuck in here.

No wonder he wasn't there, waiting.

No one was, so, with great effort, Dean swung his legs over the edge of the bed.

"Woah, woah, woah," someone said, rushing over to him. "Take it easy, there."

Weakly, Dean swung his arms, worried that there was a threat.

"None of that, kid," the voice was now sounding familiar.

"Uncle Bobby?" He croaked.

"Yeah. Hey – let's get up back up into the bed."

Dean groaned again as his uncle helped him get settled back into the very soft bed.

"Where am I?"

Bobby swore. "The infirmary, son," he said, "at Hogwarts."

"Hoggie what-it's?"

Then he remembered. Right. He was at school. And he had been attacked – again, by Prickolas and his cronies. "Son-of-a-bitch," he complained. His head hurt and he could feel the bruises from where he'd been punched. This was going to hurt for a little bit.

"There you are," Bobby chuckled.

"Mr. Singer, please – let me check on the patient," a female voice came in. She shooed Bobby out of the way.

It was an older woman with short curls that Dean thought he had seen at the teacher's table before. She was wearing a very old-fashioned-looking nurse outfit – like something out of a movie that took place during World War II.

"Hi, dear, I'm Nurse Butters," she introduced herself, "I'm the school nurse and I'm here to make sure that you are right as rain. Now, young man, how many fingers am I holding up?"

Dean squinted up at her. "Four?"

"Very good, I'm going to shine a light into your eyes now, please hold still, dear."

He only wiggled a little at the bright light coming at him.

"Good," she repeated, "I don't believe that you have a concussion, but I'd like to keep you here for another couple of hours for observation. You ring that bell just to the left of you if you need a single thing. Am I understood?"

"Yes, ma'am," he said, a little overwhelmed.

"That's a good lad," she shuffled away.

"How are you feeling, Dean?" Bobby asked, "That was one hell of a beating you took. You're lucky that they found you on those stairs when they did."

"You should see the other guy," Dean joked.

"I'd like to. You were found alone on the stairs by a Ravenclaw in your year. Who did this to you?"

"Does it matter?"

"Of course, it matters! This is a school, damnit. You shouldn't be beaten near to death for just coming down the stairs."

Dean shook his head. "Didn't you say that it would take more than punching another student to get expelled from Hogwarts? Benny told me that if you're dumb enough to get beat up then it's seen as a lesson here. Well, I was dumb enough to get beat up. Don't worry – I won't let it happen again."

"Dean…"

"No, Bobby, I can handle myself. I always have."

Benny had also said that Vaught's dad was high up on the Council. Dean had known kids like this before. Only bitches allowed teachers to do their fighting for them. And Dean refused to be a coward. They might have gotten the upper hand on him this time, but that didn't mean that he was going to let them get away with it. He'd have to get Benny and the others to weigh in on that later.

Bobby sighed heavily. "Fine. But the second this gets out of hand – I want you to come to me. It's ok to ask for help."

Dean rolled his eyes.

Nurse Butters came back into the room. "Dean, there are three very loud and obnoxious young men insisting that I allow them in to see you. I'm afraid if I don't allow it, they could cause quite the scene."

"Well, at least you've made more than enemies," Bobby said with amusement, "which is better than your daddy ever did. You know how to find me if you need somethin'?"

"Yes, yes, Nurse Butters, please don't let them in until Bobb – Mr. Singer leaves." He would be mortified if his friends found him in here being comforted by a teacher. Like some little kid.

"You're an idjit," Bobby muttered, but he got up to leave.

"Mr. Singer! You should be nicer to the students," Nurse Butters chided him.

Bobby didn't respond, but he did turn to leave.

Thankfully, he left out of a side door so that the other Gryffindors wouldn't see him.

"I'll go ahead and let them in. But you get ten minutes, do you understand? And no excitement. You've had quite the day already."

"Yes, ma'am," he said meekly.

She smiled at him and shuffled off to the door. Moments later, Benny, Cas, and Ash all came tumbling in.

"Dean!" Benny's voice boomed when he saw him.

"You will use your indoor voice in here, Mr. Lafitte or you will not be allowed to stay," Nurse Butters said severely.

"Sorry," he muttered, looking properly chastened.

"Dean," Cas said in a quieter voice, "we were so worried when we heard what happened."

"The whole school's talking about it, man," Ash added.

Dean groaned. "So everyone knows that I got beat up like a nerd on the playground. Awesome."

"You were ambushed, chief, that's what everyone's sayin'," Benny consoled him, "I heard three different rumors on our way here. Some people say that it took five guys to take you down – others said half of Slytherin house was involved."

"And the third rumor?"

Benny shifted. "Someone said it was all the kids whose parents your dad screwed over all taking you on at once."

Dean didn't think that was what had provoked the attack. "Ugh. No. Well, at least no one thinks I went down easy."

"Not a single soul," Benny promised him.

"Have you reported this to the faculty yet?" Cas asked.

Dean frowned at him. "No. And I'm not gonna."

"Why not?" Cas asked while the other two nodded with approval.

"'Cause I'm not a little bitch," Dean snapped back. He immediately felt a little bad about it because Cas looked hurt. "Look – this wasn't like the time that Prickolas jumped me on the ferry. Or just some bullies lookin' to pick on a freshman."

"We know that," Cas said, "it's because of your father."

"No!" Dean exclaimed. Nurse Butters turned her head to glare at him. "No," he said in a quieter voice. At the questioning looks on his friends' faces – he shook his head. "Alright, fine, they did mention my dad. But I'm telling you this was somethin' weird."

"We're waiting, cher," Benny said, when Dean hesitated.

"It wasn't about my dad. Not really. It was about me getting sorted into Gryffindor. They said that "one of theirs" had never been in Gryffindor."

"One of whose?" Cas asked, with a head tilt.

Dean shrugged and then hissed a little in pain. "Dunno. But – I couldn't see who there were."

"That's a normal trauma response," Cas said with sympathy, "did the nurse check to see if you were concussed?"

Dean shook his head. "No, not like that – like there was something off. Something that was hiding their true faces." His friends all looked at each other. Dean felt his frustration mount. "I'm not making this up!"

"No one said you were," Benny said in a calming voice that made Dean want to pop him on the nose. "We just wanna understand."

"Like, I could see them but…"

"But even if you were staring them straight in the face you couldn't describe it?" Ash finished for him.

"YES!" Dean exclaimed.

"Shh," all three of his roommates shushed him.

"How'd you know?" Dean asked in an urgent whisper.

Ash looked a little shaken. "It's an old hunter's tale," he said, "unidentifiable men who…" he had a hard time finishing the sentence.

"Who what?" Cas asked.

"They – they don't just wipe out monsters, they also wipe out any witnesses," he was speaking so quietly that it was hard for Dean to catch anything he was saying. "You can't even speak their name or…"

"Or?"

"Shut it, Ash," Benny snapped with a voice more serious than Dean had ever heard him use, when he looked over at him, he noticed that his friend was pale.

Nurse Butters appeared before Cas or Dean could ask any more questions. "Time to go, dears," she said to his friends.

"But…" Cas started.

She gave him a severe look. He shrank under it.

"Alright."

They all said their goodbyes and rushed out of the room under her careful look.

"You need your rest, dear," she said to him as she fluffed his pillows. "Since you're under observation for the next couple of hours, is there anything special you'd like for dinner?"

"Anything?" He asked, eyes big.

"Anything at all," she confirmed, bopping him on the nose.

"Double bacon cheeseburger, extra onions," he said, no hesitation, "and cherry pie?"

"Coming right up. You take a little rest."

Dean leaned back. Not only was he confused by what had just happened with his friends, he could feel rage coursing through him. Twice in one single week, he was ambushed. He supposed that it wasn't crazy that he thought he might be safe at a school. Sure, he had heard stories in the last week about rivalries between houses and they were all the kids of hunters, but he had let the atmosphere and his newly-found friend lull him into a false sense of security.

He should never forget that humans had the capability of being just as evil as the monsters they hunted. Maybe if he hadn't felt so at ease. Maybe if he had just been in such a rush to…friggin' hell, he thought to himself.

Sam.

Guilt flooded him. He missed his phone call with Sam. He had promised his little brother that they would talk today when he had left him, alone, with their father on that boat dock. Sam had always been there for him. And, in this last week, he had all but forgotten about his brother. Hadn't even had the time to properly miss him.

He was a piece of shit.

All thoughts of the ambush and whatever the hell Ash had been talking about left his brain as he started to think about how he could somehow get Sam back on the phone. Problem was – the way the system was set up was that his family had to call and set up a time with him. He had no way of knowing where Sam was today or if he would even be there tomorrow. Sure, John was going to have to find a place to settle in for the Fall semester for Sam soon enough, but until then, they could be on the road the whole time.

Dean didn't know how long his mind wandered, but it must have been longer than he realized because the nurse was back with his dinner in what felt like minutes after she had left.

"Here you are, sweetie," she said, bearing a tray with everything he had asked for.

"How'd you – " he decided he didn't care, "This looks incredible, Nurse B," he said with a smile.

"You just enjoy," she said, before leaving him to it.

He ate quickly. Everything was delicious – and the mess hadn't served any hamburgers since he got here, and this may have been the longest he had gone without one in years.

There had been pie, but none of it had been as good as this one.

When he was done, he looked down at his stomach and wondered if he had gained weight in the last week that he had been here. Other than the initiation, and climbing up and down the stairs multiple times a day, he was not running the same drills as he had been when he was home with his dad. He couldn't allow himself to get soft while here. Then his dad really wouldn't let him come back.

When the nurse came back to take his tray, he decided it wouldn't hurt to ask for what he wanted more than anything. If she had gone out of her way to give him such an amazing slice a pie, there might be another favor she'd be willing to grant.

"Nurse Butters – was my dad called when this happened?"

She frowned at him. "No, dear, we don't call parents for minor incidents like this one. If you had to spend the night then…"

Minor incident, my ass. He would hate to see what counted as a major incident if getting the crap kicked out of him enough to end up in the nurse's office was minor.

"It's just – " he stopped for a second to think of what his strategy here should be, "I've really been missing my family this whole week and I was on my way to the phone to talk with my little brother when…" He found that the truth came bubbling out of him and, to his embarrassment, the tremble in his voice wasn't even fake.

"Hmm," she said, "normally the school is quite strict about these sorts of things, you know."

He swallowed, trying not to show the disappointment on his face. One more week wouldn't kill him. Or his brother. But it did hurt. Freshmen and sophomores were only permitted to call home once a week. It was one of the few rules that Dean had bothered to learn about. There was something about how, by separating them from their families, they learned to be a family with the kids at the school.

Of course, upperclassmen were able to call home more liberally, but, by that point, it wouldn't matter because Sam would be here at school with him. They'd be living in the same space, so all he would have to do to talk to his brother would be to go down a couple of doors. Or floors, if the nerd got himself sorted into Ravenclaw.

When he didn't say anything, the nurse continued, "But you have had a very difficult day, haven't you?"

Dean looked up at her with hope.

"Let me see what I can do," she said with a wink.

She left the room to enter her office and emerged a minute or so later with a cart and a red rotary phone. Like the kind he had played with as a kid. She put it next to his bed. He just kind of looked at it for a minute, trying to decide how to tell her that he didn't know what number to call, but she interrupted his thoughts, "It's already ringing, you better pick it up."

That wasn't how phones worked, but he wasn't going to take a chance.

Sure enough, as he grabbed the receiver the phone was ringing.

"Hello?" An unsure voice said on the other end of the line. It was a voice that Dean would know anywhere and, all of a sudden, how much he missed his little brother came crashing down on him.

"Sammy!" He exclaimed.

"Dean!" Sam sounded shocked. "How'd you get this number? Why didn't you answer earlier? I was worried," he went straight from excited to scowling – a teenaged special for Dean's brother who wasn't even a teenager yet, "And then this Hufflepuff answered and she said that you had probably gotten caught up in something and Dad thought you just forgot, but I know that you'd never do that." There was an accusation there.

"Woah, Sam, calm down," Dean said, "of course I didn't just get caught up or forget."

"Then why…"

"I got cornered by some jackasses on the stairs and they wouldn't let me pass," he said, giving a modified version of the truth. It wasn't that he didn't trust Sam, but he didn't want to admit that he had the crap kicked out of him. "…and that made me miss my time slot. I was only like ten minutes late, though."

"How were you able to call me now, then?"

Was it possible that, in just a week, Dean had forgotten how sharp Sam was?

"I sweet-talked the school nurse into letting me call you. I had to put on quite the show. Had to go into great detail about how upset my baby brother would be if he didn't hear from me and that it might just send you into a tailspin and you're already…"

"Deeaaan," Sam said in two syllables.

Dean laughed. He had missed riling Sam up much.

"Wait – why are you with the school nurse?"

Damn. He had been hoping that little detail would get past his brother. But he should have known better.

"Just a standard check-up. All freshmen have to go, you'll see."

Nurse Butters clucked her tongue as she passed by at the lie, but carried on cleaning up the room.

"Oh," Sam said. "That's probably a good idea. Is it like the scoliosis check we both had to get last year?"

Dean had no memory of being checked for scoliosis. Or even what scoliosis was. "Yeah, just like that," he lied.

"Have you started P.E. already? I got this book about the curriculum and history of Hogwarts and it says that the requirements are way more stringent than most high schools. Which makes sense, seeing as everyone is expected to be hunters. What are your classes like? Have you had to do your swim test yet? I was worried about that because, duh, of course you know how to swim, but this one says that they make you tread water for like, hours and then…"

"Slow down, Sammy," Dean said, amused. "I did have a bit of a swim test. Had to go on a little jog into the water two days ago. And it was freezing."

"Oh. Why?"

"A silly house thing," Dean said. God, he hoped that whatever book Sammy had didn't go into the specifics of what each house did as initiation. The last thing he needed was Sam spilling to their dad.

"Oh, yes. Did you get sorted into Slytherin, just like Dad said you would? 'Cause, I have to say, I've gotten him to talk about it more and it sounds awesome. Like, have you already learned how to take down a demon? He said that Slytherins are the smartest, and I know you're the smartest. How are your classes? Are you having trouble? I've heard it's hard but also, I saw that you're studying some pretty low-level stuff that you've known for ages and…"

"Sam," Dean interrupted him.

There was a moment of silence on the other end. "Sorry," Sam said.

"No need to be sorry. Honestly, this place is pretty great, you're gonna love it here. And you're also going to love my roommate, Cas. I think he'd love to talk to you all day about the Hogwarts curriculum, god knows he never shuts up about it. But it's also just school. I want to hear what you've been up to. Have you been listening to Dad? Are you enrolled in school for the fall yet?"

"We're on a case in Oregon," Sam said, "and I'm enrolled in school."

"So, you'll be in Oregon for a bit?"

Another moment of hesitation. "It's homeschool."

Dean took a deep breath. He couldn't believe that he had been gone one single week and their dad had already pulled Sam out of school altogether. There weren't many things that he was willing to go head-to-head with their father over, but this was one of them. Sam had always insisted that he get to be with kids his own age.

"Sam, I'm so sorry. Is Dad there now? I can try and see if I can convince him…"

"No, no, it's fine," Sam said. And he sounded sincere. "I picked it out. It's actually a homeschool run by HUCUSA. It's for kids like us. You know – with hunter parents that don't have a home base."

"Dad is letting you go to a school run by HUCUSA?" Dean hadn't even known what HUCUSA was before he had come here. His dad never said a thing about them and now he was letting them take care of Sam's education? What the hell?

"Yeah. I'm smart enough to follow along in classes on my own," Sam said, annoyed.

"It's not that," Dean said quickly. "I just thought that Dad was dead set against anything to do with HUCUSA. And now, all of a sudden, I'm at Hogwarts and he's letting them homeschool you?"

"Yeah, it's pretty great, actually."

Sam had started being at odds with their dad almost as soon as the kid learned to talk. Dean had to run constant interference, so this was a real surprise to him. He was about to ask Sam more about how things were going between him and their dad when he heard his father's voice in the background.

"Who's that, Sam?" he barked. He was probably pissed that Sam was on the phone at all. He claimed that things could come through and normally they had a very strict protocol for answering. Honestly, Sam probably shouldn't've answered this call.

"It's Dean!" Sam said happily, "Hold on a second, Dean, I'll put you on speaker."

Dean didn't have time to protest before it was already done. He was still angry at their father for just dropping him off here. And especially upset that he had let him come into this situation completely unprepared.

"He said that he didn't forget to call," Sam was saying to their dad, "that he ran into some bullies on the stairs and then he had to get a physical done by the nurse, and the nurse let him call us."

"Nurse Butters?" John asked, and Dean could hear him clearly.

Dean glanced up at the nurse who was still bustling around the room. Yeah, she seemed old, but she would have had to be really young to have been here fifteen years ago.

"Yes, sir," he responded.

"You tell the old lady hi from John," his dad said, "I got into my fair share of scuffles with Gryffindors back in my day. She always helped patch me up. Those sons-of-bitches already giving you trouble, son?"

He swallowed. "Uh – some. Nothin' I can't handle," he muttered. He supposed the dragging he got from his friends could count as giving him a tough time. I am not lying to Dad, he tried to convince himself, even though that was very much what he was doing. It felt very wrong.

"That's my boy," John said with pride. "How's the old school holding up? Is Slytherin still closest to the mess?"

"Uh – yeah," Dean confirmed.

"Best place to be. Boy – do I miss those meals. You're gonna be spoiled by the time you come home. Hope you're able to handle diner food after all that fancy crap they serve there."

"Food is pretty good," he said, "Sammy, you'll be happy. There is always a salad bar."

"Tell me which room you're in – maybe you got the same as me. Are the passwords to get in still Gryffindor-proof? They're not the brightest, Gryffindors, but they were relentless back in my day."

"Security is pretty tight." But that gave Dean an idea. He wasn't sure what he was going to do to get back at Vaught but he knew that getting access to his room would make it easier. "I'd love to hear how it worked back in your day, though."

"You know – I don't even really remember," John said, and Dean was disappointed, it was a long shot, "but that's because I almost never used the main entrance. That's for mudbloods. Legacies like you and me – we can just use the secret room in the library to enter. Have the other legacies already shown you?"

"Uh – no, not yet. It's been a busy week. I didn't know there was a secret way to get in."

"Those assholes. Don't let me hold back anything that you deserve. Damn, I shoulda filled you in before you left…" Yes, you, should have, Dean thought, "but to the back left part of the library, near the chemistry and potions section, there's a secret door. Password is percipimus et annales. There is a private place to study, and, more importantly, a staircase straight up to the common room so you don't have to risk running into anyone else when you're wondering around the lighthouse. I'm sure it's not changed – it was the same in my old man's time."

Dean grinned. That was exactly what he needed. "Well, I can't wait to check it out," he said honestly.

"Just make sure no monster chow follows you through."

"Of course not, sir," Dean said.

"Deannnn," Sam whined, "I want to know more. How was the sorting? Did you get a good group of teachers? Do you like your classes?"

Nurse Butters came out and gave him a look. "Uh – well, I can't tell you about the sorting, but we can talk more next week, Sammy," he said, "I gotta go. But, you know, be good for Dad."

"Yeah, yeah. Don't miss your time next week!"

"I won't. I swear it. Bye, Sam. Bye, Dad." He hung up the call, relieved.

The nurse came over for the cart and the phone. "I am going to give you one more checkup in about half an hour and if you pass, I'll let you go back to your dorm. But you need to take it easy. No strenuous activity for at least three days. And I want you to get plenty of sleep."

"Yes, ma'am," Dean agreed, eager to get out of there and back to the tower to tell his friends about everything he had learned. "Hey, Nurse B, my dad said that he knew you back when he was in school here."

"Who was that, dear?"

Dean doubted very much that she didn't know.

"John Winchester."

She pursed her lips. "Yes, of course, everyone knew John. It was too bad that they let him go so easily. I'm sure your grandfather, may he rest in peace, wouldn't have allowed it to happen."

"You knew my grandfather too?" How is that even possible?

"Oh yes!" She seemed far more enthusiastic, "Henry was such a dear. A bright young man, full of promise. And, of course, of the best breeding. The Winchesters used to run this country, you know."

Dean hadn't heard it put quite that way yet.

"Of course, you would have learned all about that. How amazing it must have been to grow up in the family home in Illinois. I got to visit a couple of times – when the headquarters were being built, it served as a temporary base of operations. What a lovely time. You be sure to say hello to your grandmother for me the next time you see her."

Now he was really lost.

"But I'm sure we can reminisce more later. If you're even a little bit like your father, I suspect I'll be seeing quite a bit of you."

She shuffled off.

Dean quickly grabbed his backpack so that he could take out his notebook and write down everything he had just learned because of his father and Nurse Butters.

All his dad had ever said about his own father was that he had walked out when he was not even a toddler and never heard from again. He had never said that he was dead. For that matter, Dean wasn't sure that his dad had ever mentioned his mother to him at all. He had always assumed that she was dead, like his own mother.

The next half hour passed very quickly as he filled up pages of thoughts.

"I see that you're taking your classes seriously. Maybe you are more like your grandfather. I know that the Winchesters were Slytherins for generations, but always thought that Henry was more suited for Ravenclaw. But then again, the psychic always knows best. Now put that down, so I can examine you."

Dean put his notebook away, although he really wanted to jot that last part down too. Maybe Sam took after their grandfather.

She looked into his eyes again and had him move around and asked about his level of pain. She beamed at him when she was done. "I think you'll live after all, young man," she declared.

"Nurse Butters – has no one in my family ever been in Gryffindor?" he asked since she seemed to be such an expert.

"Never a Winchester, that I know," she responded. "But, if you look at – "

The door of the infirmary once again burst open.

It was Benny again, close at his heels was Cas. But no Ash.

"Your escort has arrived!" Benny boomed, earning himself a glare from Nurse Butters.

"I don't pay for dates," Dean quipped back, "either you want me or you don't, Lafitte."

Benny laughed, while Cas looked confused.

"No, Dean, we came to help you get back up to the tower. Nurse Butters requested that you have some help."

Benny rolled his eyes.

"Thanks, Cas," Dean said, "I'm ready to blow this joint."

"Don't be so crude, young man!" Nurse Butters chided.

"Right – sorry. I'm ready to leave. But I hope that our next meeting is when I'm not feelin' so under the weather. Pretty women like you deserve better." He flashed her his most charming and flirtatious smile.

She blushed and giggled. "Oh, you," she said, "you get going."

Dean winked at her and grabbed his backpack.

"Uh huh, you let one of these fit young men carry that for you. Remember – you need to be taking it easy."

"I'll take that for you, cher," Benny said with a smirk, grabbing Dean's backpack and slinging it over his shoulder.

"What a nice young man, for a Gryffindor," Nurse Butters said before leaving the three of them alone.

"What's she got against Gryffindors?"

Dean shrugged. "Dunno, but I have questions about her."

The three of them left together.

"Where's Ash?" Dean asked as they started from the classroom building to the lighthouse, "Didn't he want to be part of this honor guard?"

"Ash was helping Jo with a project," Cas responded, "but Benny and I won't let anyone get to you Dean, don't worry."

He said it so seriously that Dean didn't have the heart to snort. "Twice in one day would be a little risky for them, I think," he said. Or, really, he hoped. "And they'd have a hard time catching me off guard again."

"'Specially with all of Gryffindor lookin' out for you. I saw Ash whisperin' with Jody and the next thing we knew it was like she had rallied the whole house. Gave a big speech 'n everything about…" he stopped, "house unity."

"House unity?" Dean asked with a skeptical eyebrow.

"It's not really about that," Benny said, "but if you were attacked by who we think you were attacked by, you're gonna need all the protection you can get."

"Who do you think attacked me?" Dean asked, annoyed.

"I'll tell you later," Benny said looking around to make sure no one was listening to them. "And, Cas, come on, you know Ash ain't working on a project with Jo."

"That's what he said," Cas said with a frown.

"Yeah, 'cause he didn't want anyone else to know. He's researchin' the... you know who."

"I don't know who you are talking about, but I do know who one of the kids was," Dean said, darkly. They reached the base of the stairs and he groaned as he had to start walking up them. His body still ached from the attack. Although he was pretty sure that Nurse Butters had slipped him something a little stronger than Tylenol.

Benny gave him a questioning look.

"Our favorite Slytherin," Dean explained.

"No way," Benny said, "no he can't…"

"I recognized his voice," he argued. "Trust me. If he's not there already, that's where Ash should start his research."

"Slytherins are a very secretive house," Cas supplied. "Even with Ash researching them, it'll be hard to find out anything about anyone specific."

"Ah! But not only was able to get the best meal I've possibly ever had from Nurse Butters, I also convinced her to let me call him 'cause I missed my time. My dad thinks I got into Slytherin and it turns out they have some legacy information that gets passed down as well."

"Why didn't he tell you before?" Cas asked.

Painfully, Dean shrugged. "He probably just forgot. Not much of a sharer."

"I wish one of my parents had been a legacy, I would have loved to have learned about this place before I got here." Cas lamented.

The three of them carefully wound their way up the stairs all the way to the top. Dean sighed in relief when they finally made it to the top.

Cas got the door open for them.

As soon as they got in, there was a mob of people that swarmed the little group, but Dean in particular, asking him about what had happened and who had done it.

"That's enough!" the sharp voice of Jody Mills called out. "Everyone, give the boy some space." They all listened to her. She came over to Dean.

"Thanks, Jody," he said.

"Anytime, kid." She looked around them and lowered her voice, "Ash filled me in on the guys who got the jump on you. I'm gonna have the whole house looking out for you for a little bit – they are not the sort to be messed with."

Dean fought the urge to roll his eyes but the sincerity in Jody's tone stopped him. "Thanks," he said, "but I don't think I need any help. Cas, Benny, Ash, and I got this."

She gave him an appraising look and something that he almost thought could be…respect.

"Just let us know if you need someone to cover for you. And don't get caught."

"Yes, Madam President," he replied with a salute. "I better get to bed, I don't know how, but I feel like Nurse Butters would know if I didn't follow her orders."

"You're smart, Winchester," she said, "I'll see to it that none of these vultures," she looked around critically at the group of Gryffindors that were all inching closer to hear their conversation, only to pretend like they weren't when she addressed them, "bother you in the meantime."

He nodded in thanks.

Trying to hide how injured he felt, Dean strode towards their dorm. Benny and Cas came with him.

"You want the bottom bunk tonight, Dean?" Benny offered.

"No way, man. You'll just use it as an excuse to steal the top from me."

"You know me so well," he deadpanned back.

With some difficulty, Dean started up the ladder to his bed. Benny and Cas stood by as spots, which he was grateful for and equally happy that he didn't need them.

"Nurse Butters probably can check on you from the infirmary," Cas said, a little out of the blue.

"Why's that?"

"She's a wood nymph, of course," he said, as if that was obvious.

"A what-y what?"

"A wood nymph," Cas repeated.

"Shouldn't she be off in the woods…nymphing?" Dean asked. "And since when do they let monsters work at this school? I thought we were supposed to be safe here."

"She's not a monster," Cas said with a deep frown, "just because she's not human doesn't mean she's automatically a monster."

It did explain why she didn't appear old enough to have known both his father and his grandfather. But he didn't like it. For whatever reason Cas was looking super offended and Dean was too tired for a fight.

"Well, whatever she is, what she gave me was the good stuff and I'm very tired," Dean said, sidestepping the conversation. He desperately wanted to ask about what Benny and the others had alluded to earlier but he could feel his eyelids getting heavy. "In the morning – I wanna hear everything you know about those asshats."

With that, he closed the curtain around his bed.

III

Pain in his arm woke Dean up earlier than he would have liked. The pain medication from yesterday had completely worn off and he could feel every kick, slap, and punch that he had suffered the day before.

He groaned as he sat up and flicked on the reading light in his bunk. To his pleasant surprise, there was a large glass of water and several pills there.

Maybe some monsters could be useful.

He quickly gulped down the medication. He briefly contemplated trying to get another hour or so of sleep but figured that by the time the pills made him feel better, he'd really only get another couple minutes of sleep.

As he gingerly made his way down from the top bunk he slightly regretted not taking Benny up on his offer to let him have the bottom bunk.

"Let me help you," a whisper came from him, which scared the bejeezus out of him, but he tried to hide his flinch when he realized that it was Cas.

Cas held onto his sides and guided him to the bottom of the ladder he was tempted to make fun of his friend for the help but he honestly needed it. "Thanks, man," he muttered.

"Of course, Dean."

"Psst, over here," Ash called from his bunk. Dean looked at Cas for a second and the two of them went over to the other boy – who looked like he hadn't slept at all the night before. "Don't just stand there, come in." It was a narrow space, but all three of them could fit, cross-legged on the bed. "Do your thing, Cas," Ash instructed.

Cas muttered a couple of sentences in a language that Dean didn't recognize – it could have been Latin, but honestly, was too early in the day for him to know.

"Good, now we can talk without waking Benny," Cas said after a couple of symbols on the curtains of Ash's bed glowed. "He just went to sleep two hours ago."

"Have any of you slept?" Dean asked, feeling guilty.

"Nah, not much, but don't worry about us, aimgo," Ash said, "we were in the zone. You see – the students who attacked you yesterday were part of something way bigger."

"Bigger than just hating me and my dad?"

"Oh yeah. Way more. Look, I know that you 'n Cas are new to the whole hunting community, and we don't have time for a full History of Hunting right now, but you know how we were talkin' about old hunting families before?"

"Yeah."

"There's a divide, you see, between the old and the new. The Lafittes are about as old as they come in this country but they are still considered "new" by the oldest hunting families. But then there are other families…families like the Winchesters."

"My family?" Dean supposed that nothing should surprise him anymore but with the way he had grown up, it just didn't make any sense to him.

"Yeah. Secretive. Old. Very old – we're talking Knights Templar old. They control it all – HUCUSA, this school, or, at least they did. Until about the 1950s when they all vanished. At least, that's what we thought."

"What do they want?"

"They want things to return to the way they once were," Cas supplied. Dean gave him a look, and he sighed. "Really, Dean if you just read…"

"Hogwarts, a History," Dean and Ash said at the same time. Cas scowled.

"There was a time when the only way to get into Hogwarts was based on your name or your deeds. It was very rare for someone like me – a Muggleborn, to be accepted, and even then, I would have been ostracized. All that we're learning here? It was kept for a select few. Hunters not part of those families were considered hunting dogs. Integral to the mission and beloved pets to some, but not smart enough to understand the whole picture and ultimately, disposable."

That was a lot to take in.

"Not that this isn't all horrifying and interesting, what the frig does it have to do with me, other than the Winchesters were one of these dickwad families?"

"We're not sure yet," Ash admitted after a moment of silence. "But we think it's a sign that they are close to something. Close to being able to surface again. And somehow, you've created an obstacle to that."

Dean had no idea how he, a fourteen-year-old who had grown up so completely outside the community could be considered anything at all to these people.

"Dean, there's more," Cas said.

"Cas," Ash hissed, "come on man."

"No, he deserves to know," Cas said.

"But I can't even confirm it!"

"Doesn't matter. Dean – we think that their fear of you is more than your familial connections. They could have killed you on those stairs, but they didn't. It's not like they've hesitated to kill before."

"Kids?"

"Kids, babies, the elderly, don't matter," Ash said darkly. Dean gave him a sharp look. There was something more there, but he could tell now was not the time to ask.

"And this has happened once before," Cas said, "where there was someone like you – very like you at this school that they couldn't, or wouldn't kill, so they did whatever else in their power they could do."

Dean had no idea what he was alluding to.

"Your dad, Dean," Ash said with a sigh. "We don't have evidence, but we believe that it's because of this organization. Because of this organization, your dad was expelled. And if that's the case, they're going to do whatever it takes to make you leave and keep you from learning about your family's past. Dean – we're pretty sure that they framed your dad for murder."

I almost completely forgot that today was Thursday and I needed to post! That's why it's a little later tonight.

A couple of things – first, a number of people have mentioned/asked about Sam. Sam is coming – but not earlier than he is supposed to be at Hogwarts. For those of you unfamiliar with me as a writer, I really take my time with the storytelling. At the end of the day, this is a story about Sam and Dean and their friendship/brotherhood, but they are going to be separate for a bit. We will still see Sam regularly but he won't be at Hogwarts until Dean's third year. The pacing of the school year will pick up, though.

Second, when I first started planning this fic I was stalwart on only picking characters from the first five seasons of the show. But when I realized that Benny was the perfect James to Dean's Sirius, that went straight out the window, and I could not resist making Mrs. Butters the school nurse.

Thanks to everyone who had commented, reviewed, kudos'ed and favorited. I hope y'all are enjoying the story so far and I will see you next week.