Legal Disclaimer: I own my stuff, but not the original source material. That belongs to whoever. Also, the opinions and interpretations I use here may not reflect the same in said whoever that owns the source material. Look, I'm just a poor college librarian. Suing me isn't going to get you anything but tears.

Warning: This work may be offensive to some readers. Feel free to back out if need be.

Author's Note: Guess what's not on my list of things to do in prep for the new semester? That's right! Writing more of this fic. :P

Submitting Info:
Stacked with: Hogwarts (Term 12); MC4A (WiB; T3; SN; FR; O3; SHoE; DP; BAON; ToS; StL; SIN; NC; LL; PP; SoC; FF; NCR; Star; Fence; ER; AV; MLG; Rum; Cluster; VV; MT)
Individual Challenges: Logical Crossing; Gryffindor MC; Death's Inevitable Master; Sett to Destroy; Finding Family; Hunter MC (x3); Immortal MC; Seeds; No Proof; Golden Times; New Fandom Smell (Y); Old Shoes (Y); Above Average Natural; Ethnic & Present; Neurodivergent; Quiet Time; Letter of the Day; Booger Breath; Booger Breath Rider; Rian-Russo Inversion; Flags & Ribbons; In a Flash; Yellow Ribbon; Yellow Ribbon Redux; The Real MC (Y); Two Cakes!
House: Hufflepuff
Assignment No.: Term 12 – Assignment 1
Subject (Task No.): n/a
Other Hogwarts Challenges: Insane Prompt Challenge [58] (Looming); 365 [323] (Understand)
Other MC4A Challenges: Wi Bingo [4B] (Ritual/Tradition)
Representation(s): Team Free Will; Hunters; bisexual Dean Winchester; Autistic Harry Potter
Bonus Challenges: Second Verse (Persistence Still; Found Family; Nontraditional; Sneeze Weasel; Middle Name; Mother Hen; Unwanted Advice; Lovely Coconuts; Grease Monkey; Lyre Liar; Most Human Bean; Rock of Ages; Hot Apple; Bad Beans; Uncivil Obedience; Under the Bridge); Chorus (Wabi Sabi; Peddling Pots; Mouth of Babes; Tomorrow's Shade; Eternal Boredom; Larger than Life; Unicorn; Creature Feature; Wind Beneath; Abandoned Ship; In the Trench; Turtle-Duck; Sitting Hummingbird; Hot Stuff)
Tertiary Bonus Challenges: T3 (Terse; Tether); SN (Rail; Intercept); FR (Gestation); O3 (Ox); SHoE (Oblique; Terse); DP (Immemorial; Terse; Yearn)
Word Count: 665

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Needs and Wants
Chapter 05: Ritual Greetings
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"I don't understand," Harry answered after a moment of awkward silence. The kid fidgeted with the cuffs of his sweater, his fingers restlessly plucking at the weave. Dean exchanged a look with Bobby, who sighed deep enough that Dean knew even Sammy would pick up on the disappointment. "I'm not being obtuse, you know. I honestly have no clue what you're talking about. I'm—" Harry swallowed with an audible click. "I'm just Harry."

"Are you human?" Castiel asked with his usual amount of tact. Harry looked, if possible, even more confused. Bobby gave another deep sigh and moved around the pint-sized preteen to his desk. No doubt the old man was going to bring back his flask of holy water. "You seem human but also more. Are you a creature?"

"Okay," Harry said, drawing out the vowels. His green eyes darted around the space. "Is there anyone here who wants to explain? Because I've had a really weird week and if you knew what my life was normally like, you'd understand just how weird that is. But he sounds like a nutter even in that context."

"Cas, dial the intensity back a notch," Dean told the looming angel. Now Castiel was the one who looked confused. Thankfully, Bobby was approaching with the holy water. He offered it to Harry who didn't take it. "Just take the damn thing, kid."

"It's not going to change me into anyone, is it?" the kid asked as he suspiciously took the silver flask. Bobby grunted thoughtfully. Dean knew that Harry's assumption was going to come up for discussion later. Harry sniffed at the open mouth of the flask. "Smells like salty water."

"That is the basis of holy water," Castiel announced impatiently. Harry raised an eyebrow at the angel. "Demons cannot imbibe it. This tradition is the fastest way of ascertaining if you are possessed."

"Still not the weirdest thing to happen this week," Harry countered. He lifted the flask as if making a toast. Then he upended it and drank down two swallows. Immediately afterwards he pushed the flask into Bobby's hands as he made a disgusted face at the taste. "Ugh, that was horrid. So demons, huh? Is that what Tessa is?"

"You don't know?" Sam asked, beating the rest of them to the punch. Harry was plucking at the sweater again. His eyes flicked between the four of them, just as restless as his fingers. His shoulders hunched slightly but his chin raised again. "Tessa is a reaper. She works for Death."

"So that's not, like, a code name, then?" Harry looked like he was thinking impossibly fast. "Do you think my relatives are dead? Tessa just said that they were unable to take me back this summer and arrangements had been made for alternative placement when she picked me up at King's Cross."

"Let me get this straight," Dean said as he crossed his arms. "Some stranger just shows up and tells you that they've made arrangements for you to stay somewhere other than your relatives and you just go with them, no real questions asked?"

"Well, yeah," Harry confirmed. He gave a shrug like he didn't understand how dangerous that could have been. "My relatives don't really like me anyway, and the last couple of years have been extra tense because of—well, because of everything, and then when I ran away last summer, I was expecting some kind of issue when I came back from school, no matter what the headmaster implied about smoothing things over with them." Harry wrapped his arms around himself. "Honestly, I just figured that they had finally decided to make good on the threat to put me out."

"You didn't think it strange that you were being sent to a different country?"

"My entire life is strange," Harry said drily. "I've learned not to worry too much about it."

"Well, this is just dandy," Bobby announced. "I've got another one of you idjits to take care of."