Stranger Than Your Sympathy
Part One - Freshmen Year
Chapter Four
Dean felt an elbow to his side. "Wha?" he asked, startling awake.
"Dean – you have to wake up," Cas hissed at him.
"Yes, Mr. Winchester, you wouldn't want to be caught sleeping," the voice of their Sigil and Wards teacher, Mr. Sinclair came.
Crap, Dean thought.
"Sorry, sir," he said, trying to sound awake. He had barely slept more than a couple of hours the night before, thinking through all the things that his dad could have done. At breakfast, he had interrogated Cas about what offenses would get someone expelled, but his friend had gotten annoyed and had pulled out the largest book Dean had ever seen in his life (Hogwarts, A History) and told him to read up on the rules himself.
"All will be forgiven, my boy, if you can tell me which ingredients witches are most likely to use in their hex bags."
Dean tried to shake the cobwebs of tiredness out of his head. "Uh – animal bones. Rabbits, oftentimes because they are easy to get. Cats, small birds, maybe a dog or a ferret. Usually, with herbs or plants they've foraged for."
"Very good, Mr. Winchester," the teacher praised. Dean felt a shiver run down his spine. Mr. Sinclair seemed to like him – maybe a little too much. And he had no idea why but it made him extremely uncomfortable. If it weren't enough that the subject matter skeeved him out, but so did the teacher.
"Very good, Mr. Winchester," Vaught mocked quietly behind him.
And that was the other reason he hated this class. It was one of the few that they had with everyone else in their year, including Slytherins.
"Shut it, Prickolas," Benny said.
Vaught rolled his eyes.
"Alright, gentlemen – and ladies, I suppose," Mr. Sinclair said, "today is a practical lesson, so I hope that you all completed your readings for class today. At the front of the classroom, you'll find my table of curiosities. I want you, with a partner, to create a hex bag of your own."
"To do what?" Dean asked disgusted.
"I'm glad you asked," Mr. Sinclair responded, unphased by Dean's disrespectful tone, "a protection hex bag today. Any kind. Anything that would combat the powers of an actual witch. Now – pair up!"
Dean turned to partner with either Cas or Benny on either side of him, "Don't think so, cutie, you're mine," Pamela said to him before he could ask either of his dormmates.
He looked at his friends. Cas just shook his head and Benny flashed him a smile. "Give the lady what she wants," he said, "Hey Jo –"
"In your dreams, Cas you're with me," Jo said, grabbing the surprised dark-haired boy.
"'Fraid you're stuck with me, dude," Ash said, seeing as Cassie had already picked a partner with Lisa – a Hufflepuff girl that she had known growing up.
"Got me the best Gryffindor here," Benny bragged, "no one knows his way around the herbs better than Ash," he said with a wink.
Ash smirked.
"Shall we?" Dean asked, offering his elbow dramatically to Pamela.
"My, what a gentleman," she joked and took him up on it.
They headed over to the table together.
On the table there were a million different plants, herbs, stones, and, thankfully, no animal bones. None of them were labeled, adding another level of difficulty to the assignment.
Dean had never thought of this kind of thing as magic – but it was nothing more than what he did each time they got a new motel room.
"What'd'ya think?" He turned to Pamela, "Turmeric, juniper berry, and rosemary?" He grabbed some of each as he asked.
"Hmmm, that's a lot of fire elements. Better grab some tiger's eye to ground it," Pamela said, reaching across the table to reach for the gemstone. When she did, she was shoved into the table – letting out a small cry.
"Sorry," Creedy, one of Vaught's little sidekicks said with utter insincerity, "didn't see you there."
"You son of a bitch," Dean said, threatening in his voice.
"Don't worry, I've got this," Pamela said, grabbing a small handful of paprika and blowing on it lightly, landing some of it in Creedy's eyes.
"AH!" He yelled out.
"Sorry," Pamela said innocently.
"You bitc – "
"Mr. Creedy!" Mr. Sinclair's voice rang out. "We do not use that kind of language in front of ladies."
"But she – "
"Don't want to hear it. Apologize."
He grunted.
"What was that?"
"I'm sorry," Creedy grounded out.
"Very good. Come now, students, you've got three minutes to finish grabbing your ingredients. The team that comes up with the best protection wins a very special prize!"
"You alright," Dean muttered to Pamela as they headed back to their desks.
"Fine. Takes more than a creep like Creedy to get to me."
"Creepy Creedy, I like it," Dean said.
"It does have a nice ring to it, don't it?"
"It does."
They started working together to add the ingredients that they had taken into the little pouch that Mr. Sinclair had provided at the beginning of class.
"You know, for someone who's so against witchcraft you're really good at this, Dean," Cas said, looking over his shoulder at what Dean and Pamela had put together.
"This ain't witchcraft," Dean protested, "this is just good common sense."
"Oh, come on Dean, looks like you've got at least a little bit of a kitchen witch in you," Pamela teased.
"Kitchen witch? No way. If I were a witch, I'd be something way more badass."
III
Dean had not gotten nearly enough sleep when he was woken. Not by the usual alarm that rang in the tower, but by a whispered argument happening between his roommates.
"… I don't want to get stabbed today, either, Benny!" Cas was saying with passion.
"But cher, you know you're his favorite. And…"
"I am not. You're the one he's been…"
Dean started groaning.
Everyone shut up.
"Right now, I don't like either of you sons of bitches," he rasped at them. He opened the curtain around his bunk and saw that it wasn't even friggin' light out yet. "Why are you all awake? It's dark outside." There was more of a whine in his voice than he would have liked, but goddamnit, it couldn't be later than five in the morning.
"It's the first Friday of term," Benny said like that explained everything. Dean squinted at him.
"Here, take this, you look like you need it," Ash said, appearing out of nowhere with a cup of coffee that he shoved under Dean's nose.
"Where the hell did you get that?" Benny asked. "No wait – when did you get that?"
"You're not as sneaky as you think you are," Ash said, "like anyone with half a brain couldn't see that you were planning something with Jo and Jody. I also hacked the Council's BBS and found the Gryffindor alums section before we came here. It was a real bummer that Ellen made me leave my computer at home."
BBS? Dean wondered briefly, before deciding that he didn't care and that he was going to drink this damn coffee before he was going to try and figure anything out.
It took until he was about halfway through his cup before he realized that not only were his annoying friends surprisingly awake but they were also dressed. "Why are you wearing that?" He asked.
"There he is," Benny said with a smile. He was wearing a red t-shirt with a faded, but still obvious yellow lion on the front. The other two were in what looked to be the gym uniform that Dean had found in his duffle bag.
"It's time for initiation," Cas said, sounding not very happy about it.
"Initiation?"
"It's a nicer word for hazing," Ash supplied, "but don't worry, they don't let them do any of the truly heinous things anymore. Now it's just a glorified scavenger hunt. But if we don't leave soon, all my work will have been for nothing. We've gotta finish it faster than last year's group – and they were pretty damn quick."
"Time to get dressed – Dean, we don't got a lot of time, I've got the gym uniform that ma mère packed me even though she knew I had my cousin's to wear for today, right here, let's not waste more time…"
"I've got my own," Dean snapped and then felt a little bad. Benny was just looking out for him, and he knew it. But he hated feeling like a charity case. Which was a good reminder that he needed to return the uniform that Benny had lent to him as soon as their laundry came back.
"Great. Hurry up, now, Cas, Ash, let's go meet the girls, I'm sure it's only a matter of seconds before…"
There was a loud pounding on their door.
"…the love of my life knocks down the door," he smiled and opened the door to a very-annoyed-looking Jo. "On our way, love," he said.
"Stuff it, Lafitte," he followed her out. Dean couldn't see his face, but he knew that Benny was grinning.
As quickly as he could, he pulled on his gym clothes and made his way out to the common room, where, sure enough, the girls were standing in a huddle with his roommates.
"…we've got a hidden swimming pool?" Cas was asking the group. "That can't be true. Why would we need a hidden one when we have one in the gym?"
"It's a clue, Cas," Jo said, "this first one is meant for Benny and I to be able to teach the rest of you Gryffindor newbies a little about the great history of our noble house." She sounded serious, which surprised Dean, who had heard mostly grumbles and sarcasm from the girl in their first week.
"You know the legend?" Benny asked.
"Of course, and I know where to go, follow me," she started heading to the staircase. Dean looked to Pam and Cassie, who just shook their heads. They all followed the blonde to the landing just outside of their common room.
But instead of following the spiral down, like they normally did, Jo had gone around to the other side of the staircase and was looking up. "Gonna need a lift up," she said, unhappily.
"Always happy to lend a hand," Benny said immediately, kneeling on the ground and putting his hands up to help lift her.
She glared at him but didn't protest as she put her foot in his hands and put her hands on his shoulders before, very impressively, using that position to get on his shoulders.
"You good?" He asked.
"Yeah, go ahead and stand."
Benny put his hands around both her ankles and stood carefully so that Jo could reach a hatch on the ceiling that Dean had never seen before. With a strong pull, she brought down a ladder.
"Come on," she said, going straight from Benny's shoulders to the ladder and up through the ceiling. Benny was right behind her.
Seeing no reason not to follow, the rest of them made their way up.
They emerged into a room far larger than Dean was expecting. At the center of it was a blinding light. They were surrounded on all sides by glass walls. As the light shone out towards the Puget Sound, he could see it reflect on the water.
"Welcome to Heaven," Benny said, holding his hand out to help Cassie, the last of them on the ladder up into the room.
"We gonna spend seven minutes here?" Dean quipped.
"Hopefully a lot less than that – I've found it!" Pamela exclaimed from closer to the light.
"Great job!" Cassie said, "Do you want to do the honors?"
She had what looked like an envelope in her hand. All the girls were gathered around, reading it together, so Dean leaned over to Benny.
"You wanna explain what's going on here?"
"Initiation," Benny said, looking like he wanted to join the discussion of whatever was in Pamela's hands, but Ash and Cas had already crowded over there.
"Yeah, what the hell does that mean?"
"It's a Gryffindor tradition," Benny said. "Goes all the way back to the founding, so the legend says. Students used to have to perform an act of bravery to get fully invited into the house. They wouldn't get their house ties until they had done something that was deemed "worthy of Gryffindor." Each Friday that they didn't do something sufficient they were woken up at 5 in the morning to go on the initiation run."
That sounded extremely unpleasant. "Just Gryffindors?" He asked.
"Yeah. I'm sure other houses got their things, but for us…anyway, it's evolved, now. Jo and I, as Gryffindor legacies, were given the clue by Jody last night."
What Ash had said this morning was just now beginning to sink in. "Oh, it is a scavenger hunt."
"Yeah."
"They can't be serious!" Cassie was protesting.
"Nope – come on, it'll be fun," Pamela was saying with a smile.
"It's against the rules," Cas protested.
"That just makes it even more fun," Jo said.
"What are we doin'?" Benny asked. Dean was eager to hear the answer.
"We've gotta break into the Hufflepuff common room," Ash said. "It'll be a cinch. Their security is shit."
"Let's go!" Jo called. Dean didn't have any idea of what was going on, but breaking into the Hufflepuff common room did sound fun.
Clamoring down the ladder, Jo once again took the lead and they all started running down the stairs as quickly as they could. Timing seemed to be important and as exhaustion started leaving his body and adrenaline took its place, Dean felt like he was in his element. This was like a case – only far more fun. Not that killing monsters wasn't a blast.
On the Hufflepuff landing, which Dean had honestly never stopped on, there was a part of the wall that was covered in barrels. He wondered how he had missed it before – he had probably just thought that they were random school supplies.
"There's a lock on these three ones," Ash was pointing out. "The combination always adds up to 10, so it should be easy enough to…"
"Got it!" Jo called out.
"Shhh," Ash hushed her. He was probably the only one who could get away with that. "We'll lose points for every person we wake up."
They all crept into the common room as quietly as they could. It was laid out very similarly to their own but instead of armchairs and sofas they had bean bags and…inflatable chairs? Yep. Those were bright yellow inflatable armchairs. The kind that Dean had seen at those girly stores at the mall.
Right in front of them, there was a large Gryffindor banner with a taped-on arrow pointing down to a small table that had a small, stuffed, badger on it.
"I've got this on," Benny said, powering his way to the front of the group to grab the stuffed animal, just as Ash whisper-yelled, "No!"
But it was too late. There was a pop and the Gryffindor banner fell and Benny was covered in yellow glitter.
"Go, go, go!" One of the girls - Dean wasn't sure which one, yelled, and they all went running out of the common room and all the way to the bottom of the stairs. They got outside before they stopped to look behind them, all of them out of breath.
When they had confirmed that there was no one behind them, they all looked at each other and burst into giggles when they saw Benny.
"Dude – you look like some PCP-crazed strippers threw up on you."
Benny just shook his head good-naturally.
"Well, what's the clue then?" Jo asked, "It's gonna be light soon."
On the bottom of the stuffed animal, there was another clue.
This one required that they run back up to the common room.
"Why don't we just divide and conquer?" Cas huffed after they made it back up to the top.
"No, can do, chief," Benny had chided, "The whole point of this exercise is for us to do everythin' as a team. Pretty sure we'll get points knocked off if we split up."
"Plus, splitting the party is never a good idea," Cassie added.
Ash looked at her with surprise but didn't have the chance to say anything because Pam had found the clue they needed and Jo had solved it (again) and they were off again.
They had to conquer everything from a rope course in the library to finding a clue in the tunnels under the lighthouse (the "hell" to the "heaven" that was the top), to making a daring escape from the watchful eyes of the teacher on duty this morning. (Thankfully, it wasn't Ms. Moseley – they would have been screwed if that was the case.) Everything they did required them to work together, and in the process, Dean got to know each of them better.
Ash was a genius with a computer – and math, which Dean was going to have to remember later for the help he was going to need to get through Algebra.
Although all popular culture eluded him, Cas had a knack for knowing when they needed to hide and how to best creep through the lighthouse, which Dean had a feeling would come in very handy for any later trouble-making.
Jo – who had been cold to him almost all week was a badass. Probably the most fearless and tenacious of all of them. She was starting to warm up to him – but not to Benny, who she kept shutting down. Which Dean found hilarious.
Pamela was a pistol. She loved all the same music that he did – and had some amazing stories of bands she had seen. Her parents had even made sure to go on hunts to areas close to the cities where some of her favorite bands were touring.
Benny kept them all motivated and underneath his laid-back exterior he had a keen sense for spotting details.
And he may just be in love with Cassie. She was quieter than the other two girls but she may be the cleverest – he knew that he would be able to trust her on a hunt. It didn't hurt that she was also gorgeous.
They continued to run all over the campus grounds and up and down the stairs of the lighthouse more times than he would like to count. The final clue (they thought – seeing as they seemed to be getting closer and closer to sunrise) led them down to the rocky beach that the school towered over. It was cold and windy but Dean couldn't feel it because he had been running around all morning and he was just – so happy.
Which was so strange.
When they realized what they were going to have to do (there was a buoy about 20 yards in the water with a Gryffindor flag on it), Dean knew that this was his shot. So far, he had been helping where he could, but he had been letting everyone else take the lead.
Thinking about the roots of this tradition, he was worried that if he didn't commit at least one act of heroism, he wouldn't be a true member of this house. And, for the first time since he had started at Hogwarts, he really felt like a part of this place.
Classes may be a bit easy, but working with his classmates and seeing the small things that they had each done for him throughout the week and today made him proud to be a Gryffindor. So, it was time that he stepped up to the plate.
Everyone was arguing about who was going to have to swim out into the frigid water, while he started peeling off his shirt and removing his shoes and socks. "I've got this," he said.
"You sure, dude?" Ash asked.
He flashed a winning grin and gave them a salute, "I sure as hell am." Hamming it as much as possible he started running towards the water, yelling as he hit the freezing cold water and then swimming as hard and fast as he could towards the buoy – which was much further out than he had realized.
He finally reached it as the sun was just beginning to creep into the horizon. He let himself rest, hanging off the buoy for a moment to catch his breath. Underneath there was a bundle covered in a water-proof sealing. "Take me back to shore, and, by then, you'll truly be a Gryffindor."
He could hear cheers coming from land so he grabbed the bundle and started the trip back – which was much easier because the tide was coming in.
When he finally started making his way back up the beach, he realized that the cheering wasn't coming just from his classmates. All of Gryffindor was now out on the beach, yelling, whopping, and cheering for him as he jogged up to his friends. They were all wearing the same red Gryffindor t-shirts that Benny and Jo had on from the beginning this morning.
People were clapping him on the back and congratulating him. He kept moving through the crowd until they parted, and standing there was Jody Mills, a large smile on her face.
"Freshmen – step forward!" She called out.
All the freshmen – Dean's friends, stood in a line in front of Jody.
"The package, Dean," she said.
"Madam President," he said cheekily, handing it over to her.
"Congratulations, Gryffindor Class of 1997. You managed it in one hour and thirty-eight minutes. Out of a total of 100 points, you have scored eighty-eight. That is the best time and score since my year. You're only five minutes behind, and you should be proud. You have demonstrated that you are truly worthy members of our house. Sean – the gifts," she said, turning to a boy standing next to her.
He had opened the bundle that Dean had brought up from the water. Within were smaller bags, which he handed to each one of them.
Dean didn't hesitate to tear into his. First, there was a red t-shirt, just like the one that the rest of the house was wearing – bright red with a lion on it. On the back was his name – WINCHESTER. Seeing what everyone else was doing, he slipped it on over his head.
Soon they were all dressed and everyone around them was whooping, clapping, and cheering.
"Now, breakfast!" Jody announced, turning, and leading the way to several tables that Dean hadn't noticed before. On them was a feast, even more impressive than their dinner on the first night. The whole table was filled with any breakfast food he could ever want. Eggs, bacon, waffles, pancakes, donuts – everything.
He flopped into a seat happily – exhausted from everything he had just done.
"A robe, for you," an upperclassman he didn't know said, handing him a fluffy red robe with a lion embroidered on it, "the freshman who goes into the water gets one every year."
He gratefully took it, standing for a moment to put it on, not realizing how cold he was until that moment.
To his surprise, Jo sat to his left.
"Nice work this morning, Winchester," she said.
"Same to you Harvelle," he returned with a grin. "Don't think we coulda done it without you."
"You couldn't have," she said with a straight face before breaking into laughter.
"So, you're a legacy?" He asked as he started loading up his plate.
"Yeah. My dad was a Gryffindor. My mom was a Hufflepuff, though."
"Oh. Do you think she'll be disappointed?"
"Nah," Jo said, taking plenty of food for herself, "I think she pretty much expected me to follow in my father's footsteps."
"He'll be proud, at least," he offered.
She gave him a side-eye. "He would have been, yeah."
Oh, Dean thought. He hadn't known. How could he have?
"I'm sorry," he said.
She shrugged. "It was a long time ago. You were supposed to be a Slytherin though, weren't you? What do you think the illustrious John Winchester will have to say about that?"
He didn't like the way that she said his dad's name, but in light of their new (and likely fragile) friendship, he let it go. He took a moment to chew the food in his mouth before responding, suddenly feeling a little sick.
"What he doesn't know can't hurt him," Benny said from across the table.
"You're not gonna tell him?" Jo asked, surprised.
Dean shook his head. "No. I think he'd swim across the Sound and make me leave himself." Or he would tell me to never come home. Dean didn't like either of those scenarios.
"Well, Slytherin's loss is our gain," Ash said loudly for the whole table to hear.
To Dean's surprise, some people called back, "Damn right!" and "To Dean – the swimmer of his year!"
He pushed all his worries about his family down and decided to concentrate on the people in front of him. He could worry about his dad (and brother) later.
III
They were given their normal Friday hour of PE off – thankfully, to allow them to, once again, climb up to Gryffindor Tower and get ready for the day. (Dean smelled like seaweed and desperately needed a shower.)
All the freshmen were instructed to wear their red t-shirts with pride for the rest of the day to show the rest of the school that they had earned their places in Gryffindor.
Of course, Dean was running on only a couple of hours of sleep, so he was exhausted by the time they got to Defense Against the Supernatural.
To their surprise, when they entered the classroom, it wasn't the same teacher they had for the last couple of days Mr. Issac, it was Principal Cervantes.
They had this class with Ravenclaws – but they had already arrived by the time Dean and others got to class.
"Welcome, Gryffindors," he said with a broad smile, "I see that you have all survived your initiation, congratulations. I'm afraid that Mr. Isaac had to leave quite unexpectedly because of a family emergency so I am filling in until the Council can come up with a suitable replacement."
For a second, the group of them just stood around and stared.
"Now, come on, take your seats. I know that I'm pretty incredible, but there's no need to gawk."
Dean shuffled into the back row, since, naturally, the Ravenclaws had taken the seats in the front. Nerds, he thought.
"Excellent, excellent. Now, I saw from the syllabus that the plan for today was to go over common hunter's weapons today but that sounds very dull to me. So – I want everyone to pull out their bookbags."
Everyone kind of looked around at each other, unsure.
"You heard me right, go on, I want you to put everything that you have with you out on your desk, please."
That made Dean nervous because he kept several weapons with him at all times. He wasn't sure if they were all allowed. But he didn't want anyone to think he wasn't prepared. So, on top of his notebooks, textbooks, a dog-eared copy of Slaughterhouse Five, a couple of pencils, and a pen, he put his favorite silver knife, a flask of holy water, and a container of salt in front of him.
He glanced over to see that Benny also had a knife or two in his bag.
Actually, everyone in the class, save for Cas, had weapons of some sort on them.
He felt very at home.
"Should have known," the principal muttered, " – even if you're freshmen, you're all children of hunters. Please put all actual weapons away."
There was more shuffling.
"Very good. Now I want you to get in pairs. I will assign each of you a monster and you'll have to tell me how you would take them on – with just want you both have in front of you."
Benny was sitting next to him, so Dean turned to him.
"Wish I had one of my family's silver knives. Ma mère wouldn't let me sneak one of those outta the house," he said. "She went through all my stuff and then yelled at me for what felt like hours 'bout "appropriate school supplies.""
"No offense, dude, but I think I'm scared of your mother."
Benny grinned, "Me too. Mamen Lafitte is…"
"Legendary," the principal finished for Benny. He had been walking around the classroom talking to each pair. "You know, I worked a couple of cases in Baton Rouge with her and…" he stopped himself, "I'm sure she can tell you all about it herself. You two have a ghoul." He practically danced down the aisle to the next group.
"Do you think this Algebra textbook is big enough to smash its head?" Dean asked, only half joking.
"You can only kill ghouls by decapitation, right?"
"Bashing their brains in first gives us time to figure out how to lop its head off."
They continued to talk through all the different ways they could use their school supplies until they were called back to share.
The discussion that followed might have been disturbing to any normal high school in the US but here it was not only highly amusing, but also very informative. Principal Cervantes contributed and even shared some tips and tricks himself.
The class flew by and Dean found himself wishing that the Council didn't find anyone to replace the principal as their teacher. He was just as knowledgeable as Bobby but far less grumpy.
Before he knew it, the class was over.
"Great job, everyone. Five points to both Ravenclaw and Gryffindor for your excellent participation today. For homework, I want a three-page paper on easily accessible objects and how they can be used in a pinch to fight any monster of your choice. The more creative the better. Dismissed!"
The bell rang and everyone gathered up their stuff, happily talking on their way out.
III
Thoroughly exhausted, but happier than he had been since…well, for a very long time, Dean started getting ready for bed with the rest of his dormmates. It was Friday night but they were all too tired to do much else.
Dean just hoped that he would actually be able to get some sleep tonight.
"Hey – Winchester," Ash said when they were all gathered in the room. "I noticed you've not been sleeping, dude. You know what would help with that?"
Dean looked at him warily.
"What's that?"
"This grade-A laughing grass I smuggled in," he said. "Nothing cures insomnia like a smoke before bed."
"You'd be willing to share? Thought you said that you only had enough to get you through the first couple of weeks of the semester."
"Of course, of course, I can always get more."
Dean wasn't sure that he wanted to know how that was possible. He had also never smoked pot before. It had never been offered to him, and also, he was pretty sure that his dad would kill him if he caught him at it. At least he had smoked a couple of cigarettes (a habit, that while it gave him the "cool" vibes he liked to put off, was ultimately not sustainable when some weeks he barely had enough money to pay for groceries). So, he wouldn't make a complete ass of himself.
But his dad wasn't here, was he? And he was damn tired.
"Won't we get in trouble?" He asked, feeling like a dork as he asked.
"Nah – we'll just open the window. Might be a bit chilly but…"
"Alright then," Dean said.
"Rock on," Ash said, pulling a baggy with several joints out from seemingly nowhere.
He lit one, took a puff, and then reached up to where Dean was standing, and offered it to him.
Dean took it and inhaled.
He didn't know if it was in his head, but he could feel his muscles relax.
"Oh, can I get in on that?" Benny asked, coming out of the bathroom.
"Of course, my brother," Ash said. Dean handed it over to him.
Cas peaked his head out of his top bunk.
Dean was expecting him to scold them for breaking the rules, as he so often did, but instead, he just looked at the join with curiosity.
"Will it really help you sleep?" He asked.
"Yeah," Ash said, laughing a little. "It's medicinal."
With a determined look on his face, Cas said, "Hand it over then."
Benny gave a whoop of approval and handed it up to him on the top bunk.
Within the next half hour, they were all sitting in a circle in the middle of their room, giggling as they passed it around.
With a sigh, Dean leaned back and lay on the floor. "This is amazing," he said.
"Told ya, didn't I?" Ash asked.
"Yeah. You know – I haven't felt this good since…since…I dunno, ever. I think I love Hogwarts."
"And Hogwarts loves you, chief," Benny said. "You know no one knew what to expect from a Winchester, but I think you'll have everyone followin' you by the time we leave here."
He didn't say anything about that. "I do miss Sammy though," he said, his lightheartedness leaving him for a second.
"That's your younger brother, right?" Cas asked.
"Yeah. He's a good kid and he's never…he's never been alone with my dad for this long. I dunno – the older he gets the more he argues with the old man."
"You think he'll rebel and be in Gryffindor too?"
Dean grinned at the thought. "If anyone in my family is a rebel, it's him. Oh man – he's gonna love it here so much. He's smart as a whip. I used to help him with his homework and now, I wonder if he could help me with mine."
"You're smart," Cas supplied, with a small frown. The pot had really chilled him out too. Dean thought he liked him like this.
Dean laughed. "Nah. Barely passed most of my classes. Have no idea how I got into this place."
"Dude – you're a Winchester. You could be the village idiot and you woulda still gotten into Hogwarts."
"You know, everyone keeps sayin' that and I have no idea what they're talking about. Always just been me, my dad, and Sammy."
"You don't know?" Benny asked, in what Dean was sure he thought was an amazed voice, but he really just sounded super high.
"Nah, man. Didn't know about any of this 'till my old man kicked me out of the house by sending me here. I mean, yeah, I knew there were some other hunters, like my Uncle Bobby but…"
"He didn't tell you nothin', cher?"
"No. You know, it's funny. You know, he told me 'n Sammy that he dropped outta this place, but…" Dean dissolved into giggles. It shouldn't be funny. It wasn't funny. And yet, he had believed it hook, line, and sinker.
"That's fucked up, man," Ash said after he had finished laughing.
Everyone nodded solemnly in agreement.
"'m dizzy," Dean announced, "gonna go to bed. Thanks, Ash."
"Anytime, my dude."
For the first time since his father had sentenced him to this school, Dean fell asleep as soon as his head hit his pillow.
III
Dean woke up feeling, to his complete shock, amazing. His mouth was a little dry but he felt like he had been sleeping for days.
Groggily, he opened the curtain around his bunk and was surprised that bright sunlight flooded his bed, nearly blinding him.
"Woah," he groaned. "What time is it?" He asked rhetorically, not expecting anyone to answer.
"It's almost noon," Cas said from his bunk, where he was sitting straight up against the wall, holding a book. "We were going to wake up in time for lunch."
Dean couldn't believe that he had not only slept through the night but also all of his roommates getting up and ready for the day. He hung his legs over the side of the bunk.
"Can't believe I slept that long."
"You needed it."
"Did you get the sleep you needed too, man?"
"My sleep was sufficient."
Dean took that as a yes. He jumped down from the bunk and started towards the bathroom. He had to get some water. And brush his teeth.
"Thought we were gonna have to wake you up again, and none of us wanted to take that risk," Benny greeted him when he got out of the bathroom.
"You are an angry sleeper, Dean," Cas added.
"Yeah, yeah. But I'm not gonna get killed by some monster because I was caught unaware."
"There are no monsters in Hogwarts," Cas pointed out.
Dean snorted, "You forgetting about Prickolas?"
"I was actually thinkin' of that junior, Christian Campbell," Benny said, "that guy gives me the heebie jeebies." He shuddered.
"And he has access to our dorm room," Dean said, agreeing. The guy had been staring at Dean at meals all week. He hadn't even learned his name until yesterday morning.
"It's against the rules for anyone to attack you on school property," Cas pointed out, "he'd be expelled if he did anything. The point is, you're safe here, Dean. And I don't want to be stabbed because you can't tell if I'm a friend or foe when you wake up first thing in the morning."
"I don't know about that," Benny said, "it's gotten better, but it's a big part of the history of Hogwarts that if you can get away with attackin' someone, that should serve as a lesson. That's how Dean was able to get away with punching Prickolas."
"That's terrible!"
Benny shrugged. "It's a tough world out there. But, in the meantime, maybe Dean should keep sleepin' with a knife under his pillow."
Cas rolled his eyes.
"Now, I'm starving – we gonna go down to the mess or what?"
"Yeah, let's go," Dean said. He had plans this afternoon and he needed to get some food before he hit the books. He started heading towards the door. "You coming, Cas?" he asked, realizing that Cas hadn't moved.
"Yeah – I'll meet you down there. I want to finish this chapter."
Dean looked at Benny, who just shrugged. They left.
III
Shaking his friends off after lunch, Dean headed to the library. If only Sammy could see me now, he thought. Tomorrow, he would finally be able to speak with his little brother but he wanted to do some research first. He hadn't forgotten about his father's file and with the added information that simply fighting wasn't enough to get someone kicked out of Hogwarts, he was dying to find out what had happened.
There weren't many students in the library, which was all the better. It was still early in the semester and Dean had a feeling that it would only get more crowded as everyone's workload got larger.
Bobby had brought them all to the library to teach them about the resources there in their last Lore class of the week so Dean knew where he was going.
Tucked in the back corner – past all the useful books that would help him with his homework or entertain him, there was a catalog of yearbooks that spanned generations of Hogwarts students.
Before he got there, however, he heard his name called out quietly. "Mr. Winchester," a British voice came from behind the checkout counter.
He was surprised to see Ms. Dar – his Latin teacher, sitting there.
"Ms. Dar, hey," he greeted, politely. Latin was far from his favorite subject, but he liked the teacher well enough. She seemed to really know what she was talking about and she had a quiet confidence to her that made him think there was probably more to her than what met the eye. Plus, for a teacher, she was kinda hot. "I didn't know that you worked in the library too."
"I was assigned to just be the librarian, but the language teacher that was supposed to be here this year got drafted for an assignment with the Brits. So, I'm afraid it's double duty for me. What a dedicated student you are, studying in the library on the first Saturday of term," she commented, "normally we just get Ravenclaws in here this time of year. Or NEWT students."
"What can I say, I'm just so inspired by everything I learned in my first week, I just had to keep up with my book learnin'" He flashed her a smile, hoping to get through this conversation quicker.
"Hmm. You remind me of an old friend of mine, you know," she said, clearly not buying his excuse. "What trouble are you getting into, Mr. Winchester?"
"Me?" He asked, faking offense.
"Yes, you. I know that look when I see it."
"Nothing, I promise. I've already had detention once this semester – which has to be some kind of record. I'm not tryin' to get it again."
She looked amused. "Very well. Return to whatever mischief you were not getting into. But know that I am keeping my eyes on you, Mr. Winchester."
"Yes, ma'am," he said, again with an easy-going smile before he moved away and to the section of the library he actually wanted to go to.
Great, just what I need. It was bad enough that his Uncle Bobby was here. He hadn't had a chance to speak with the man one-on-one since after class on his first day, but he was aware that Bobby knew all his tells and would be very difficult to fool. Which wasn't an issue he usually had at school.
He shook it off as he zeroed in the yearbook for 1978 – 1979. He found it, no problem. Interestingly, and maybe a little concerning, was that before he pulled it from the shelf, he noticed that it did not have the same dust settled on the top of it as the rest of the books. Someone else had been looking at it recently.
He sat at a nearby table and looked around to see if there was anyone else around, before opening it up.
Dean didn't know what he had been expecting, but there was really nothing special about the book at all. It looked the same as any other yearbook he had ever seen or signed. (It was not something that he had ever wasted money on before – but he was often popular enough to have many people asking him to sign theirs.) The pictures were definitely from the 70s, he could tell just from the hairstyles. They were also in black and white and he saw that the school had more students than it currently did. In fact, his father's year seemed to be double what Dean's was.
He didn't know what that meant, but he pulled out his notebook and started to note it down. He might not be able to make heads or tails of it, but when he next saw Sam, his brother should be able to. He eventually got to the page with his father's picture on it – it was the same one that had been on the file he had encountered during detention.
And that was it. A picture with his name on the side of the page. JOHN WINCHESTER.
He felt like an idiot for even thinking that the yearbook was going to reveal anything more than this.
Dean flipped through the yearbook a little more, not expecting much, but still determined to look. It was mostly just more black-and-white pictures of people who had come before. Behind the pages of pictures of each class, there was a section for clubs and activities.
John, for all that Dean knew about him, was not much of a joiner. Sure, he had gone into the military, but that hadn't been for the comradery.
There was nothing in there about a student being expelled. Which wasn't surprising – Sam had been on the "staff" of his school's yearbook committee (which, in elementary school, meant relatively little). But he had told Dean all about how the deadline to get the whole thing printed was months before it actually came out to the students. The expulsion hadn't happened until the end of the year.
However, there was one picture that caught his attention.
Staff of the Weekly Dragon.
It was a school newspaper.
He wondered if it was still running. Next week, in Social Studies, they were supposed to learn about the different clubs they could join, but Dean hadn't been paying attention because he had never had the time (or money) for after-school activities before so he hadn't really considered anything here either. (Like his father, he wasn't much of a joiner either.)
If there was a newspaper then, though, he was sure that there would be an archive of them still. This didn't seem like the sort of place to throw out anything that could be useful.
And it wasn't just the discovery that there had been a newspaper at the time. The names were listed next to the grainy "action" shots of the students in the club.
Ravenclaw correspondent Latika Dar helps edit the sports column.
Ms. Dar was at school at the same time as his father.
And she had just said that he reminded him of an "old friend."
He slammed the yearbook closed and put it back on the shelf.
Dean might not have found the answers today but he was confident that these would be enough leads to get him closer to what happened.
III
"Hey – Dean, you oughta be headin' downstairs now, right?" Benny prodded him, "Didn't Mr. Turner say your phone call would be at 3:00?"
It was finally Sunday. Dean hadn't been able to find Ms. Dar again when he had left the library, but that was alright because it gave him time to start thinking of a game plan.
Of course, when he had returned to the barracks, his friends had thoroughly distracted him for the rest of the afternoon. But he wasn't too worried because he was going to get to talk to Sammy today and his little brother would probably have four or five more brilliant ideas about what he could do. He had elected not to tell the others about his research – yet.
They were currently in the common room. Cassie was helping him through some math problems for their Algebra homework, while Jo and Ash were arguing over her edit of his essay for Lore. Cas was curled up on an armchair all by himself, with a large book in his hands. Benny and Pamela had been working on something secret that they weren't telling the rest of them about. Last Dean had checked, it had been one in the afternoon.
"Shit," Dean replied. He had completely lost track of time. "What time is it?"
"Quarter-to," Benny told him.
"Friggin' hell, Cassie, I've gotta go. Can we pick this back up when I get back from calling my family?"
"Of course," she said, "I was getting sick of all this math anyway. I got to call my family this morning. It was so nice to hear my mom and dad's voices. Even if they are a bit disappointed that I didn't end up in Ravenclaw like them."
Dean still hadn't decided what he was going to tell his family about his sorting. But he didn't have time to think about it now.
"Do you want us to go with you?" Cas asked carefully from where he was. Dean hadn't even known he had been listening to this conversation.
Dean ran a hand through his hair. "No, I'll be alright. I'll see you guys in just a little bit."
He grabbed his jacket and started jogging down the stairs. It shouldn't take him more than five minutes to get to the phone booths but if you missed your starting time, you got less time to talk on the phone and he knew that Sam would be really disappointed if he didn't make it. He was sure that it was his brother, not his dad that had gotten this phone call set up.
Because hunters were oftentimes traveling around, people's families had to sign up for times to call their kids at Hogwarts. Dean hadn't known any of this when he left, but Sam sure as hell seemed to know everything. Maybe he'd have to borrow the welcome packet from Cas (who he was sure had brought the thing with him) and actually read up on what his little brother already knew.
He was so lost in thoughts about what he was going to tell Sam about this first week at Hogwarts that he was only barely able to avoid running headlong into an older student that he didn't recognize.
"Watch where you're going," the student growled at him. Dean was just going to ignore him and continue on his way, but two more students appeared, blocking his way down the stairs. His stomach dropped.
Looking up, he realized that not only did he not recognize him, he couldn't see the kid's face. He wasn't wearing a hood or anything, but there was something there that made it so that he couldn't register any of the features on any of their faces. Because it was the weekend, all he could make out was that all three boys were, in fact, boys, but they weren't wearing their uniforms as was required during the weekdays.
Still more annoyed than spooked, Dean glared at the three of them.
"Move."
"They're not going to move," the first boy said to him. "We've got a warning for you, Winchester."
"Yeah, what is that, exactly?" Dean tried to take as many details about those in front of him as possible. He subtly started to reach for the knife he usually kept in his pocket, only to curse at himself for lending it to Ash earlier in the day. His roommate had needed it to open a mysterious "package" that had arrived for him. Careless, he thought to himself.
"You never should have come here and now you need to leave. Especially with that bullshit, you pulled with your sorting. A Winchester in Gryffindor. It was bad enough that your dad disgraced his heritage in the very short time he was here. One of ours has never been in Gryffindor."
"You're gonna have to take that up with Ms. Moseley," Dean said, now just thinking about how he was going to escape this situation. It would suck, to miss his phone call, but if he could get up the stairs, he might be able to outrun these kids and safely return to Gryffindor Tower.
A fourth kid moved to block that move before he could do anything more than consider it.
Fight it is, he thought, clenching his jaw and his fists. He had faced far worse hunts. These were just school kids.
"Blaming the psychic just shows how ignorant and unworthy you are," the main kid sneered. "There are ways past them. But enough small talk. If you reveal any of our secrets - whatever little that pathetic excuse for a father thought he could teach you - we won't let you off so easy."
That was it. Dean took the only chance he thought he would get and swung at the kid blocking his way back up the stairs, hoping to take him off guard.
No such luck. The kid caught his hand and friggin' bent it down.
"Son of a bitch!" Dean yelled out in pain, maybe that would alert someone to what was going on. It was pretty suspicious that no one had passed by or heard already.
"Do we have your attention now?"
"Is that all you wanted?" Dean couldn't stop himself from snarking. "I gotta tell ya fellas that I prefer to date people whose faces I can actually… see ya know?"
"Do you think you're cute?"
"I think I'm adorable," he responded with a grin.
"I thought we would be able to have a civilized conversation. But you people really only seem to…"
Dean had enough, he surged forward, kneeing the guy in the nuts before swinging his uninjured arm to deck the guy. To his great satisfaction, the kid went down with a shout.
The satisfaction didn't last long.
The other four students were on him in an instant. One of them pinned Dean's arms behind his back painfully and the one he had just sucker-punched stood up and spat out some blood.
"You're gonna get it now, Winchester," one of them hissed into his ear.
Dean knew that voice. Vaught had been shooting snide comments at him all week in class but hadn't attacked him again. At least, not until now.
"That you, Prickolas?" He sneered. "You knew you couldn't take me with your two cronies so you, what? Bring in older kids? You're a friggin' coward."
Dean's head snapped to the side when he was punched by the bastard who was standing in front of him. Even though he couldn't make out the specific features on the guy's face, he could tell he wasn't pleased.
He really wasn't supposed to know who they were.
"LET ME GO!" He roared, hoping that someone on the stairs would hear him. Because their grips were solid he found that no matter how much he twisted he couldn't get out of their hold.
A hit came hard to his stomach, knocking the wind and the voice out of him. Then one of the assholes said something in Latin and he found that he couldn't speak at all.
That's when fear really began to settle in. This wasn't about some feud with his dad - or whatever it was that Vaught had a problem with. This was something way more sinister. He didn't have much time to contemplate the reasons why.
Dean felt a slight tug on one of his arms that told him that one of the assholes behind him was adjusting his grip. It was enough that he was able to catch the kids by surprise and get his arm free. With all the strength he had left, he managed to get Vaught straight in his stupid face.
Although the crack was satisfying, one of the bastards behind him slipped a leg underneath making him fall to the ground. Then it was an open season of punches and kicks. Dean did his best to curl into a ball to protect his vital organs.
That, however, did not protect his head. He felt his head snap to the side and then his whole world went black.
III
It was the third time that he had to dial the phone number for Hogwarts. Honestly, Sam was beginning to worry. The woman he had talked to earlier in the week had confirmed that Dean would be available to talk with him at this time. And he knew that if Dean knew he would never have missed this phone call. He was the one who was always sure to stay in touch with Sam when he and his dad were off hunting. Something must have happened to him.
Finally, there was an answer on the other end of the line.
"Oh, thank god, Dean, I was beginning to think that you'd never answer. I have so much to tell you and I can't wait to hear all about your first week of school, what's it like? How's Slytherin? Dad's been telling me more about it since you left and…"
"I'm sorry, this is not Dean," a voice on the other end said. Sam's heart sank. It was a girl.
"Oh. Is he there?" Sam asked.
"I'm sorry," she repeated, "he's not and his time slot has passed, I thought this was my family calling. He must have gotten caught up with something," the girl said.
"No, he wouldn't…"
"I'm sure he didn't mean it," she said kindly, "but we're quite busy here at school. And you said Dean, right? Winchester?"
"Yeah! Do you know him? Is he alright?"
"Only in passing, I'm a Hufflepuff, kiddo, so we don't cross paths. But if I see him, I can tell him you called. I'm sure that next week he'd be more than happy to catch up with you."
Sam wanted to cry. He was going to have to wait an entire week? "Can't I just call back later?"
"No, can do, kid, sorry, the first week is always the busiest and I know that not all families got time slots this weekend. You can call back on Monday to set up somethin' for next week. I can also probably get a message to him, if you'd like."
She sounded so nice.
"No, that's ok," Sam said, his heart a little broken. "I'll – I'll just call back next week."
"Good on ya, kiddo. Have a great day!"
The line disconnected. Sam hung up the phone, still not quite believing what was happening. He shuffled back to the motel room he was staying in with his dad. He had offered to let John talk to Dean too, but his dad had said that he'd let Sam have all the time today.
"How's Dean, son?" his dad asked from the kitchen table, where he was cleaning one of his guns.
"He didn't answer," Sam said miserably. "The girl I talked to on the phone said that he probably got caught up in something but…"
John nodded. "That makes sense. He's hardly the most prompt, your brother, and they're strict about timeslots at Hogwarts. They'll straighten him out, don't you worry."
"But what if…"
"I'm sure he's fine. The school would call if there was something wrong with him. Now – do you want to start looking for some lore I need for this hunt? The vics keep mentioning the smell of jasmine, so maybe start there…"
"Yeah, of course," Sam said, annoyed that his dad wasn't more worried. Dean was very dependable. And Sam just – he knew that something had to be wrong.
"Great, you can start with this book, borrowed this from Singer, I think that…"
John continued to talk but Sam wasn't paying attention. He mechanically took the book and started flipping through it, not really reading anything he was looking at. He'd call the school back tomorrow. He didn't care if the line was going to be open or not. Sam would call as many times as it took to get through to someone.
Another week still in Dean's first week at Hogwarts, lol. I promise things will start moving along in the next couple of chapters. Y'all, having both Cas and Cassie in this fic was a difficulty I was not anticipating.
Anyway, hope you enjoyed. Initiation was inspired by both my love of the Amazing Race and a particular episode of Veronica Mars.
See you next week!