Chapter 3

The next morning, I woke up earlier than everyone else. I knew I had to wake up early for my meeting with Celestia, so I woke up at 5:25. I wanted to make sure I looked good. I also hoped to be down there before her. I got out of bed, making sure to be quiet so as to not wake up any of my dorm mates. God knows Draco would be a drama queen if he was forced to wake up this early. I went to the bathroom, readying myself for what I hoped to be similar to a first date, although I knew it wasn't like that.

I put on a fresh robe, and pulled the tie up tight. I wanted to look professional and hopefully attractive. I combed my hair but it wasn't going down without a fight. I was working at it for about ten minutes before I realized that I had to go down quickly otherwise she might get there first. My hair looked decent at that point. I made a quick once over in the mirror before heading down. As hoped, I was there first. No one else was down there, which was good. It would be surprising if anyone was down there at 5:50 in the morning. I waited for about five minutes before I saw Celestia coming down. She looked surprised to see me.

I tried not to stare at her, but it was difficult. I couldn't tell if she had done anything different than when I had first met her, but somehow she was even more beautiful now. Her lips were wonderfully captured with a black matte lipstick, her eyes had lovely red and black eyeshadow. Her hair shone, and her eyes were bright under dark lashes. Her heels clicked on the stairway from under her robes. Her every move entranced me.

"Why Hajime I was hoping I would be the first one down here, but I suppose the early bird catches the worm." She smiled. "I asked you to join me because I wished to talk on serious matters...but not here. Come."

I followed her out of the dungeons and up to the third floor. I watched confused as she walked back and forth in front of a bare wall in utter silence. I was astounded when I saw a door appear in the middle of the wall. I followed her inside, and found a small room. It looked similar to a sitting room, with two arm chairs sitting around a coffee table next to a fire. There were two drinks on the table. I was confused, but I sat down on one of the arm chairs after I saw Celestia sit in the other.

"What is this place?" I asked.

"It is called the Room of Requirement. I found it one day as I was exploring the castle, iis an incredibly interesting and useful place. If you walk past a certain stretch of wall three times while wishing for something, a door will appear and it will lead to a room filled with whatever you wish for."

"So, you wished for a sitting room. What do you want to talk to me about?"

"I wished to speak about" she then leaned forward in her chair, her face deadly serious as she spoke "Professor Quirrell."

I immediately understood. She too, had seen the strange behaviors he had been showing that day in class. I knew I couldn't have been the only one. They were too obvious, anyone who knew anything would be able to get at least the sense that something was off. Not only that, he also gave off this sense. I couldn't quite put my finger on it, but something was wrong with Quirrell.

"I know. I've noticed his behaviors too, but I don't have solid ideas on what they could mean. Do you know anything?"

She shook her head.

"I wish I did. The reason I ask is because I saw the way you looked at him in class. I knew that if there was anyone who knew something was wrong, it was you." It took so much effort to not blush there, but I knew I couldn't. I just gave a small smile in return.

She continued, saying, "I wanted you to help me in an investigation. I wish to learn more about this Quirinus Quirrell, and I think you could help me. Are you in?"

I nodded. The more time I got to spend with Celestia, the better. She smiled, and led us out of the room. She exited the room, scanned the hall, and then ushered me out. I checked my watch and saw that it was an acceptable time to be down in the dining hall. There would probably be very few people there, but the less the better.

We headed down, and I was happily met with almost empty halls. There were a few Slytherins and Ravenclaws up, a couple Hufflepuffs, and no Gryffindors. I was actually surprised at that, Potter's mudblood friend had seemed the type to wake up early.

The dining hall was unsurprisingly fairly empty. At the Slytherin table there only sat Togami, a few upperclassmen, Celestia, and I. I noticed Sonia at the Ravenclaw table, and said a quick good morning to her. She smiled sweetly and greeted me back.

"I noticed you weren't in the dorm room when I woke up, where were you?" Togami had asked this, and I frowned internally as I remembered how meticulous Togami was. He was totally the type of person to notice if someone was gone, even early in the morning. I hated him for that now, but it was an admirable quality.

"I was in the library." I said calmly.

"And why was Ludenberg with you?"

"I saw her in the library. May I ask you why it is your business who I may or may not talk to in the early hours of the morning?"

"It is not."

He looked away. He knew something, but he couldn't prove it. I loved it when people who thought they were so high and mighty realized that not everyone would sit and roll over when told. I was not a dog, and I wouldn't let Togami ever think that. He knew that too. He knew I was one of those people, and he hated it. He knew that I wouldn't sit and listen to his commands, which was probably all the more reason he had to find out how to get me to submit.

Slowly, the rest of the students settled down. It was very slow going, and there were even people rushing in towards the end of the allotted time. I saw Granger come in before any other Gryffindors, which I did find humorous. She was an early riser after all. I could tell that even without having spent that much time with her, she was clearly just that type of person.

I was feeling good and even happy, talking with Celestia and eventually Zabini as he came in. I was getting a lot closer to Zabini, and he was even better than when I had originally met him at a gala a year ago. He had a great sense of humor, dark and sarcastic.

And then Nagito walked it. He came up until he was right behind me, and didn't move. He put his arm on my shoulder and started talking, completely interrupting Celestia. I looked up and saw his wry little smirk as he talked. His eyes glistened with that creepy little glint that only I could see. Eventually Zabini moved over, although reluctantly. He didn't want to leave Nagito standing, that would look exceptionally and very publicly rude. Nagito sat down quickly, continuing a one-sided conversation.

I eventually gave up and joined in, awkwardly starting a conversation with Nagito and eventually the group of people in close proximity. I took one glance at Celestia and saw that she was irritated. Her eyes shone with a mere hint of anger, but I knew that that meant she was upset. She wasn't the type who would accept being interrupted, especially by someone she had never met.

I knew that I had to calm her down, but I also knew that I couldn't let her do anything to Nagito. Sadly. I put a comforting hand on her upper arm. I almost put it on her thigh, but I stopped myself. That would be far too perverted, and I knew she wouldn't appreciate that. She looked at me, and I saw that the anger had dissipated, if only slightly. She didn't look happy by any stretch of the imagination, but I didn't see the burning fury that had been there a few seconds ago. She probably wasn't used to people like Nagito back in her hometown. Nagito was rude, cunning, arrogant, intelligent, creepy, uncaring, and self deprecating. It was the strangest mix of traits I had ever seen in a person. His personality traits contradicted each other. He was extremely arrogant at times, but he would follow it with the most insanely self deprecating statements I'd ever heard. The boy was insane, and there was nothing I could do about it. It didn't seem like he had multiple personalities, but at times I wondered.

I jerked back to reality as someone's voice penetrated the raucous chatter. It wasn't loud, but it cut through the air like a dagger. Looking up, I saw it was the girl with two pink ponytails. I think she introducted herself as Junko Enoshima, but I had never talked to her. Her face looked cheery enough, but I saw murder in her eyes.

"Listen up you little slithery bastards, I may be a halfblood in the most pureblooded house in this whole bloody school, but if a single one of you insults me about it" Her face turned icy cold as she glared across the whole table "you will find out just what it means to insult Junko Enoshima." Her voice came out in a chilling hiss.

The whole hall had gone silent. Everyone in Slytherin, if not everyone in the whole hall had there eyes fastened onto Enoshima. I was one of them. I was watching her every move, trying to see what she would do next. She stood a moment in silence and looked n around the hall, probably taking in the absolute silence she had produced. And then all of a sudden, the most peculiar thing happened.

All of the icy malicious intent that had filled her face was gone in an instant. It was replaced with a wide grin and bright happy eyes. I was stunned, and I saw Celestia's eyes widen minutely. Enoshima clapped her hands once, gave a cheery wave to the hall, and sat down. It was almost as if she was a celebrity in front of a crowd of fans. Her bright smile and cheery wave gave off that vibe. It was so odd. Her personality had changed completely in a matter of seconds, and it looked so genuine. In that moment, I was afraid.

I hadn't been afraid up till then. I had heard her type of threats before. There would be light wizards at galas leaning down and whispering into my ear about how my family would regret what they'd done. There would be the children of light wizards saying that they would kill me for what they knew my mother did, how I would regret it once they learned the killing spell. I would say that they were wrong, that my mother didn't do anything. Of course I was lying, but I got a kick out of seeing there faces as they watched me lie so obviously. Funny thing was that I already knew the killing spell, although I couldn't perform it correctly. It was incredibly difficult, and I spent many an hour attempting to do it right.

I hadn't been afraid of her threats, nor had I been afraid of her icy tone. Adults, even light-sided adults, could sound very malicious if they wanted. One person had spoken to me in a very dull and flat tone once, but I could hear it, I could hear the pure malice in their words, and that had scared me out at the time. Enoshima had a bit to go before she would be able to scare me just with her tone.

I hadn't even been truly afraid when I had been watching her oh-so-carefully after her little speech. I had been analyzing her, but that wasn't truly related to fear. That was related to my want to know my threats, to know the world around me and what could hurt me in it. At that moment, I wanted to make sure she wasn't a threat to my safety. I wasn't actually afraid.

But now, now I was afraid. I was afraid of her sheer ability to act, or whatever it was. I was afraid of the insane change in her personality, and how ridiculously genuine it had seemed. As I looked into her eyes when she "switched" I saw them go from utter fury, to pure happiness and cheerfulness. In that moment, I would've believed it if she had turned to me and confessed that she had a multiple personality disorder. That's how ridiculous it seemed to me. Well, maybe not if she had said it. But if someone else had hypothesized that that was what it was, I might've believed it. Fortunately, no one said a word.

Actually, no one said a word for quite a bit. We all slowly went back to eating, but the Slytherin table was completely silent. The rest of the hall started talking again, but the Slytherins stayed quiet. I suppose we were all too busy thinking. I couldn't stop thinking about her personality switch. Even after breakfast ended and I was heading to DADA, I couldn't stop thinking about it. I didn't want to be afraid of some stupid little dramatic halfblood. I didn't care at all about her threats. In my eyes, she was a drama queen and a child who just so happened to have some of the Slytherin traits, but didn't truly deserve to be in this house. I didn't want to be afraid of her, and to be honest, I don't think what I felt was fear. It didn't feel like fear, and I had felt fear before. It felt more like a deep dread. This feeling of dread was seeping into me, and I couldn't stop it. It wasn't fear, it was something much, much worse.

I entered the classroom, and saw Celestia smiling from me from the desk we had shared yesterday. That made me slightly happier, but I still couldn't shake the feeling. It was so strange, yesterday I had felt this strong hope that came from almost no where, overtaking me and making me feel like I could do anything. Now, this strong, dark, feeling of despair was overwhelming me. For almost no reason, I felt this oppression on me. I had never felt this way before in my entire life. It almost...it almost felt like...hold on, what? I looked at Celestia, yand in her eyes I saw an emotion I had never seen there before. I saw...despair, a dark hopelessness that I had never seen. I saw in her eyes exactly how I felt.

"Celestia?" I lowered my voice so no one could hear "Are you feeling all right?"

She looked up at me and watched me as I sat down. She looked composed on the outside, but I was pretty sure I knew how she was actually feeling. I was pretty sure I knew how she was feeling because at that point, I was almost certain we were under a spell. Some sort of spell that makes you feel a deep despair. Perhaps it even makes you feel happy and hopeful beforehand, and then pushes you down into the depths of darkness.

"Let us talk once again during the first free period of the day. Same place, I will go first and keep a watch for you. I have my suspicions and I'm sure you have yours, but it is important that we communicate our thoughts." Her voice was low so that no one but me could hear her words. I would've been elated if it wasn't for what I was fairly certain was a spell. I waited in silence for the professor to show up, I vaguely noted that he was very late today. I sat in silence, and surprisingly so did the rest of the class. Even though it was Gryffindor, all of the students were almost to completely silent. There were a few voices, but they were low and I couldn't hear what they were saying. I was so certain at that point that it was a spell, nothing less could keep the all-too-energetic Gryffindors quiet.

Professor Quirrell walked into that room, and I immediately knew. I knew that something was very, very, wrong with that man. I didn't know why I knew, but every fiber in my being was telling me something was wrong with the man. It was so strong, it almost felt as though my magic was telling me something was wrong with him. I would have to research that later, I thought absentmindedly. I didn't focus on that too much, I was completely focused with Quirrell.

He wasn't acting that much differently from yesterday, but there was something about him that had changed. As I sat there, I noticed certain key differences between the two. Although he still had his stuttering, some of his nervous habits were gone. He no longer fingered the turban like he had before. He had done that almost constantly yesterday, but now it appeared that the habit was totally gone. He also seemed...smarter in a way. In certain sentences he used a more complex word when he could've gone for a simpler one. It only happened a few times and I doubted many people noticed it. Especially today, everyone was too far sunk into whatever spell had been placed on us.

It was obvious that something was faked. The personality and habits he had had the first day seemed fake. Not all of them, but the stutter seemed exaggerated. If one nervous habit was fake, it was likely they all were. But that was only for the first day. Today, I didn't understand today at all. He hadn't changed, but small, miniscule details of his false personality had changed. That just seemed strange to me. To forget the details of your false personality eventually seemed plausible, but it had only been one day. Was it possible that he had forgotten his fake habits so quickly? He didn't have too many, it wouldn't be like it would be that hard to remember.

I didn't understand. A few things fit together, but the large clues just didn't piece together. I knew I was missing something, but how in the world would I get it? Professor Quirrell was a mystery, I had researched him and pulled up almost nothing. He used to work as the muggle studies teacher here at Hogwarts, he had disappeared, and then shown up asking for the DADA position this year. That was it. No one knew what he had done during the years he was gone, and there was no public information on his childhood that I was able to find. His family tree didn't lead to anything, he was so incredibly strange.

And on top of it all, if my makeshift theory was correct, then I was seriously missing something about Quirrell. My theory was that Quirrell was behind whatever spell had been cast on us. He was faking a personality so he could get close to the student body and cast whatever spell this was. That was all I could get from the information I had. There was so much I didn't get.

What in the world was this spell? Why this spell in the first place? It's not like it was super harmful or anything, it just made you feel really depressed. It wouldn't stop someone from being able to defend themselves. If he was faking his personality, how did Dumbledore not notice? He had taught here before and Dumbledore must have met him. How was the headmaster not able to notice the change? Did he write it off as people's personalities changing over time? If so, how long had they been apart? When did they know each other, if they knew each other at all? And most of all, what in the living hell was Quirrell's motive?

His motive was the most confusing thing of all. From what I could tell he seemed to be a typical less-than-average wizard. He wasn't anything special. He taught muggle studies for merlin's sake. The Dark Lord and Grindelwald were gone, so he couldn't have been sent by them. Did he have a personal vendetta? That seemed the most likely option, although I had almost nothing to go off of. In the end, I had a few theories but nothing more. I went back to reality as the bell rang, and I realized I had sat in complete silence the whole period. I quickly leaned back to where Zabini sat.

"Hey did the Professor call on me? I wasn't paying attention at all." Zabini laughed softly.

"I'm the wrong person to ask, I dozed off for half the class. I doubt it though, he doesn't typically call on people...I think." We both laughed that time, and we all headed to charms.

We were silent on that walk. The laughter had been short lived. I glanced at Celestia, seeing a stony look on her face, but the same dark despair I had seen in her eyes earlier. Looking at Zabini I saw a slight frown, and the same look in his eyes. Most people wouldn't be concerned if they saw their friend with a slight frown, but not me. Zabini's masks were very good. They were better, but his were very good nonetheless. For his mask to be breaking, even slightly, meant that he was feeling ten times what was showing. Even so, I didn't have to guess at his feelings. I knew them.

I started glancing to people of other houses. I saw Hufflepuffs who had the most devastated looks I had ever seen on someone before. They looked as though they had just seen someone die before their eyes and couldn't do anything about. They almost looked haunted in a way. I realized how much other people showed their emotions compared to me and the people I knew. I could see every emotion on this one kid's face, but looking at Celestia I saw a near perfect mask. Once again, the thought of how we were only eleven surfaced. I saw a group of Gryffindors, and looking closer I saw that it was Potter and his friends. Potter looked devastated as well, but he was surprisingly hiding it better than Weasley, Soda, and Granger. I wanted to figure Potter out, but that was for a different day. Everyone in that group looked just as down as I felt.

I knew it was a spell, it had to be. But when was it put on us? It seemed as though everyone in the school was feeling the effects, so we had to have been gathered. Which meant, it was during one of the school mealtimes. We only ate breakfast and dinner gathered, which meant it could've only been one of four times, actually three times. I didn't attend dinner once, and since I felt the spell effects it was either the night we got here, the next morning, or this very morning.

I had to stop thinking as I entered the charms classroom. I sat down next to Sonia again. Looking over at her, I felt a pain flash inside me. I had never seen her look so sad. She looked crushed, and in a way, that crushed me as well. Sonia was a great person, and seeing her so upset made me feel empathetic. I tried to cheer her up, but I was feeling so down myself it was difficult. The charms period went on, and as the class went on I noticed something that seemed strange, but I would have to confirm it next class. It seemed as though Professor Flitwick was affected by this strange spell as well, although not as strongly. He seemed down, although not even close to how down I felt. I wanted to wait for the next class to see if that teacher was feeling down as well. It was another clue that I wasn't able to figure out, but at least it would be another clue.

We had continued to practice the levitating charm, so I sat in silence the whole period. I had been silent for many an hour, but this silence was different. This silence wasn't just me. It was the whole hall. It wasn't totally silent, since people were saying the incantation, but it seemed silent even so. I knew it had something to do with the spell that was on us. I had to figure out what it was and how to stop it, but I was so sad. I didn't feel any motivation. I hadn't felt this way in a while. This feeling that I was falling into a deep pit of complete despair. I hadn't felt it since my mom had been carried away to Azkaban. The Ministry wasn't able to catch my mom for a while, thanks to my dad being high up. My dad would bribe people so they wouldn't look into us, and that worked for a while. It worked until a new minister was elected. He wouldn't stand for bribery, and my mom was finally investigated. They immediately found her guilty and she was sent to Azkaban for life. I was devastated.

I felt a similar way now. I felt fear seep into me as I remembered how I had been during that time. I'd stopped eating and sleeping regularly. I would lay awake, tears streaming down onto an emotionless mask. I'd become skinny, almost gaunt from not eating. My lips became chapped as I stopped drinking enough water. It was only when my dad had shown me the book to communicate with my mom that I finally got out of it. He had said that he had originally used it to communicate with mom, but he had realized that I needed it more. I started talking to my mom every night, and slowly but surely, I got better.

Now, my dad wasn't here to help me. I had friends here, but this was different from that. That was natural, this was not. This was a spell. If this spell made me eventually feel the way I had felt then...I nearly shuddered thinking about it. I wouldn't be able to get anything done since I wouldn't have the motivation...the motivation...wait. That's what it was. The person who had put this spell on us did it in an effort to make us lose our determination to do anything. Without any motivation, we might lose the will to look into things that seemed suspicious. The person could do what they wished with the student body out of the way. And if that spell had affected the teachers as well, the staff would be out of the picture as well. I could feel their plot working already. Even so, I thought about this but my mind was telling me it wasn't worth it, that everything was pointless. Now I knew why they had chosen this spell. They had something he wanted to get done, but they wanted to see us suffer first. They wanted a spell that would get us out of his way and make us suffer at the same time. They were just your run-of-the-mill sadist.

The class ended, and Flitwick gave us a tired wave. The next class was flying, which made the pit in my stomach grow deeper. I saw some people I knew along the way, including Celestia, but I couldn't bring myself to talk. I didn't trust my voice to come out happily. I could typically mask the feelings in my voice, but I didn't know if I would be able to do it this time. The hopelessness I was feeling was too strong.

I entered the field and was surprised at the scene playing out before me. I couldn't muster the energy to be shocked. I saw Potter with his wand pointed at Malfoy, a look of pure fury on his face. I looked over at Malfoy and was once again surprised. He had his wand reluctantly pulled up, but it almost seemed as though he was so depressed that he couldn't muster the energy to care that someone had their wand pointed at him. Malfoy was looking at Potter in a sad excuse of a mask, attempting to look condescending and intimidating, but the real sadness and despair that he was feeling was easy to see. Potter on the other hand was looking at Malfoy with fury so genuine, it seemed as though he had managed to push away the despair for the time being. I walked closer and began to hear their conversation.

"Malfoy you bloody bastard, don't you dare talk to Ron like that." I couldn't hear any sign of the sadness that he should be feeling, but I just assumed that he had managed to suppress it for the time being. Anger is an incredibly strong emotion after all.

"Oh really? And how exactly do you plan on...making me stop?" Malfoy's voice made my breath catch in my throat. The words may have been rude and very Malfoy-like, but the tone was something I had never heard from him. He also seemed to pause in the middle of the sentence, almost as if he was comprehending if he even wanted to continue this argument at all.

I saw that the rest of the Slytherins were also looking at Malfoy. I saw Togami, and was once again surprised to see the once completely put together boy seem almost distraught. None of his outward behaviors showed that, but the subtle look on his face showed it. I was exceedingly good at reading faces, I even had the feeling that I was better at it than most of the other purebloods my age. People like Togami had a lot on me, wealth, looks, power, but even he wasn't as good at reading people. I mostly read people by the looks in their eyes. While many people had perfect masks, their eyes were almost always less guarded.

Everyone on the field was staring at Potter and Malfoy. Potter was backed by Weasley and Granger as usual. Malfoy was backed by Parkinson, Crabbe, Goyle, and Bulstrode. A larger crowd on his side, but Malfoy looked as though he didn't want to fight. It looked as though Potter would throw the first spell, but the teacher rushed over just in time once again. It was as if she had a sixth sense. If this was how it was going to be the whole year I didn't know how I was going to survive.

The rest of the class passed uneventfully. Just like last night, almost everyone was fairly subdued. The interesting part was that the Professor Hooch was also slightly subdued as well, which proved my suspicion that the teachers were also under the spell, but likely a less powerful form of it.

The next period was a free period, which meant it was time to meet up with Celestia at that strange room. I walked up to the third floor and waited. After a minute a door appeared and I saw Celestia's hand wave me in. She quickly closed the door behind me. I looked around, seeing that it was almost identical to the one this morning. It still had the coffee table, arm chairs, and drinks, but there was a book sitting on the table next to the drinks. I sat down and waited for Celestia's explanation. She sat down, picking up the book as she went and opening up to a page.

"When I pictured this room in my head, I wished for a sitting area just as last time. However, this time I also wished for every spell book in the Hogwarts library containing the words despair, sadness, depression, and hopelessness. When I walked in, this was the only book that had been provided."

I looked at the page she had turned to. As I read it, my eyes stopped at one passage. This spell can be especially devastating when paired with the Curse of True Despair. The combined curses can make large groups of people vulnerable within minutes, but is quite difficult to cast. That must be what it was, what the spell put upon us was. It was the Curse of True Despair. Suddenly I wondered, why was this the only book in the whole library on the Curse of True Despair? And even in this book, it was only mentioned offhandedly. They said it could be dangerous, so why was there nothing on it?

"Hold on, how come this is the only book that even slightly mentions this Curse of True Despair?" I asked, hoping yet doubting that Celestia would have an answer to that.

"Isn't it obvious? Whoever cast the curse on us didn't want us finding out what it was, since we might be able to figure out how to reverse it if we knew what it was. They probably hoped we wouldn't even figure out that there was a spell cast on us in the first place. Whoever cast the spell wanted something that would be effective, yet difficult to notice."

"Do you have anything leading to who that might be? Besides Professor Quirrell and his odd behaviors, of course."

"No. My main suspect is Professor Quirrell, same as you." I nodded slowly. Perhaps it was a trap by the true perpetrator. They knew that Quirrell looked suspicious, so they used that to throw us off their scent.

"Well, what are we supposed to do now?"

"Find out why there are no books on this curse and keep a close eye on Quirrell. That is all." She stood up and put the book down on the coffee table. We left the room and said our goodbyes. It hadn't taken that long, so I still had a good amount of free time left. I didn't have the willpower to do anything, so I went back to the dungeons. Celestia seemed to head for the library. I was walking back through the third floor when I heard conversation coming from one of the classrooms.

"-yet. How many times do I have to tell you, now go back to your dorm room, I'm sure you're expected by your roommates. Goodbye." The voice was hushed, and I could barely make it out. It sounded almost hissed if I were to put an adjective to the tone.

"Hm." The voice was higher and feminine, but I couldn't describe it more than that without hearing her actually talk.

I would've listened in more, but I wanted to get some distance from the classroom just in case the girl decided to leave. The last thing I wanted was to get caught overhearing a conversation not meant for my ears. I walked quickly away, slowing my pace when I got far enough away. I didn't dare look back, and my brain was trying to think through the curse.

Just what was that conversation? If it was what I thought it was, it was a conversation between whoever had put the curse on us and their student accomplice. Now the question was, which of the teachers sounded like that, and how in the world would I be able to figure out who the accomplice was? I knew she was younger, likely 1st-3rd year. That barely narrowed it down at all, but it helped a little bit.

The dungeon was crowded, yet incredibly quiet. The dungeon was typically quiet, but not this quiet, nor this type of quiet. It was once again that oppressive and uncomfortable lack of noise that just made me feel even sadder. I hated it. I headed upstairs to my dorm. Inside I found Nagito, Togami, and Malfoy. Nagito was sitting on his bed, eyes locked in a thousand-yard-stare at his sheets. Togami was reading a book, as per usual. Malfoy was sitting on the edge of his bed, staring at the floor, his expression unreadable. He, too, had a thousand-yard-stare. That seemed like it was becoming more common among the students as the spell worked. I understood why they did it.

When I was trying to get away from the world, I would often stare into space and go into my mind and explore. I would think on past events, present events, and even predict and think about future events. I would find myself staring off into nothing as I went and tried my best to get away. Everyone was probably trying to get away from their quickly deteriorating mental state by distracting themselves in the only way they could. They were probably too depressed to talk to anyone, so they had to distract themselves. Just like I did all the time.

My mind started to wander as I began to think about Quirrell again. If my theory was correct, he was the person talking to the female in the classroom. He had seemed exasperated, and I remembered hearing him say -yet which was probably part of a sentence containing not yet. But what did that mean? The female had apparently asked him many times, but what could they be talking about? I didn't have enough information, not even close.

"Hey...Hajime...do you wanna go...to the courtyard?" I was snapped out of thought by Nagito's soft voice. He sounded tired, and I almost felt bad for him. It seemed like the curse had slightly varying effects on different people. I nodded, and we left for the courtyard.

We walked through the halls in total silence, seeing very few people along the way. The courtyard was also fairly empty, although there were a few small groups here and there. Nagito led the way to an area under a tree, and we sat down.

"What...what is going on. I'm so, so, so...tired. And sad. I-I don't...I don't know what this is or what to do about it. And everyone else, what's going on? Hajime, you know right? You always know...please tell me you know…" I was taken aback by his words. He had never sounded so desperate. He was stuttering and his head was in his hands by the time he was done. I didn't know what to do. The cunning, arrogant, strange Nagito I had known was gone. He had been replaced with this desperate and pleading boy who all of a sudden seemed his eleven years once again.

"Nagito…" My voice drifted off. I didn't know what to say, how to comfort him. I had never had to comfort Nagito. I moved my hand and hesitatingly placed it on Nagito's shoulder. He leaned into my touch, but not too much. "I do know what's going on. It's a curse, the Curse of True Despair. I think I know who's behind it and I'm...I'm going to stop him." My voice came out shaky and unsure, but I tried my best to sound sure of myself.

Nagito pulled his head out of his hands a couple seconds later. There was no smile on his face, but there was life in his features again.

"Thanks Hajime. You really are a good friend." His voice sounded so ridiculously sincere, I could hardly believe it.

Everything that came out of that boy's mouth was typically either sarcasm or something rude hidden within double edged words. Now, he sounded as though he was, being totally honest with me. I couldn't believe it. I knew that he must've just gotten better at masking his tone, but a part of me believed him, believed that he was being honest with me. And that part, that small trusting part, made my soul rise just slightly out of the deep pit it had been sinking into for so long.

We sat in silence once again. We didn't talk anymore, just sat in comfortable silence as the despair curse worked its way into us once again. I knew I couldn't stop it, no words of mine would stop a magical curse, but I tried my hardest and I think that maybe, just maybe, I got a bit closer to Nagito today.

Soon the free period was over. It had seemed to take forever. Next period was potions, and I walked there with Nagito. We were among the first to class. We sat down and pulled out our textbooks and supplies in silence. As the rest of them came into class, I watched as Nagito looked out, not really at anything in particular, deep in thought. As Snape barged into the classroom, Nagito seemed to break out of it, looked over at me, and gave me a small smile. It may have been small, but it seemed to be just as genuine as his words. His eyes softened with the smile, and I found that I enjoyed looking at him smiling. He seemed kind at that moment, almost like a real friend.

I was snapped out of it as Snape drawled his opening speech. It was a joint potion. Nagito cut the ingredients, and I put them in. We worked well as a team. We were the first to finish, and when Snape looked at it he gave us an approving nod. Apparently choosing to partner with a potions genius was the right choice, even if said potions genius was an annoying prick.

No more smiles came from Nagito, but I wasn't expecting that. I gave him a pep talk, that didn't mean that he was now obliged to be nice to me. He was still a Slytherin, and nothing would change that.

The next period was history, and I was grateful for that. History was basically unofficial naptime, and I was totally ready to sleep for a whole period. God knows I needed it, I had been feeling exhausted ever since that stupid curse was placed on me. It seems like sadness wasn't the only symptom, even though the symptoms varied from person to person.

I sat down next to Zabini. He was already asleep, which I found kind of funny. I fell asleep quickly, welcoming it as soon as it came. I woke up to Zabini patting me on the shoulder. I left for my next class. The day passed uneventfully, every class having the same curse-induced quiet. I hated it and as soon as the last class was over, I left for my dorm. Technically the last period today was a free period, so it didn't matter. I talked to no one in the dorm, and no one wanted to talk to me. I didn't even feel like seeking out Celestia. I lay in my bed for hours, and eventually it was time for dinner.

Dinner came and passed with nothing happening. I sat with Parkinson and Zabini. I wanted to talk to Celestia, but she seemed to be lost in thought during the whole dinner. She barely even ate. I fell asleep quickly that night, and it seems like everyone else did too.

The next day I awoke around 7:00. Everyone else was already awake, and some people had left for breakfast. I got ready haphazardly, not being able to bring myself to care. The whole day passed just like the last, with the curse working just as well as it had yesterday. After a few days I found myself in a deep, dark pit. I had stopped falling, but that didn't matter anymore. Nothing mattered anymore. Malfoy and Potter stopped fighting. Celestia became a ghost, not talking to anyone and spending long hours in the library. Togami seemed to back into a shell, not talking, reading, or participating in class. He would just sit there. Zabini seemed to go between ice king and madman, having a stony mask one moment, and cackling the next. Nagito became the most distant he ever had, silent and with clear devastation on his face. He seemed to be hit the hardest out of all of us, in his own way. Malfoy, too, became distant and reluctant to do anything. He seemed to do everything slowly, as if simply walking tired him.

I also watched the other houses, mostly the Gryffindors. I saw Potter distance himself from his friends, and watched as Weasley and Granger became devastated after he left and eventually even more so as the curse worked. I saw Makoto trying to cheer up his friends at the start, but eventually succumbing to the curse as well. I saw Sonia as she attempted to shield herself with books at the start, but eventually became like Togami. I saw Kirigiri become similar to Celestia, spending long hours in the library as well. I saw my friends as they all fell to the curse, one after another, and couldn't bring myself to care.

I couldn't even bring myself to care as Quirrell came in one day, screaming about a troll in the dungeons and eventually fainting. I knew it was suspicious, but in the end I was too tired to think and ignored it. I heard something about Potter, Weasley, and Granger, but couldn't get the energy to care. It was their business, not mine. Life became monotone, until one fatal day.