Chapter Text
‘Now I lay as I study a blank wall
Would you spare me your voice if I call?’
- - -
A harried man briskly walked down a series of hallways, a stack of papers gradually slipping from a bright red folder. He arrived at a closed door in an underfunded department that clearly had neither the time nor influence to comment on a seemingly random meeting of witches and wizards.
He ran his fingers through his hair to fix it and shrugged back on a large brown coat that had begun to fall from his back. As if taunting him for his tardiness, a stack of papers fell from his hands and scattered over the floor just as a well-kept woman walked over, exuding an air of superiority.
“Weaver.” She addressed him curtly, waving her wand as the mans’ papers formed a neat pile at his feet.
“M-Madam Bovine! I-uh.. thank you!” He picked up the stack carefully and slid it back into the folder.
“Shall we go in?” She raised a brow and gestured to the door.
Weaver nodded quickly, opening the door to a dimly lit office space. Various tables had been pushed to the side as a circle of chairs had been set out.
Madam Bovine stalked in as Weaver took his seat. With another wave of her wand, the lights seemed to burst into life.
“I understand we have found new information concerning the DOE case?” She examined the chairs that were occupied by a variety of witches and wizards.
A man cleared his throat; those sitting on either side of him seemed to be subconsciously leaning away from him.
“Yes.” He stood and nodded to her. “Ford Selket. Head of Wizarding-Muggle Investigations.”
Her eyes searched over him as if looking for something; she must have found it as her face seemed to lighten in approval before she sat down in Ford Selkets' previously occupied seat.
“As we all know, the Department of Education recently succeeded in removing Albus Dumbledore as Headmaster of Hogwarts. This is a major concern for those of us who fought against You-Know-Who due to the DOEs public fraternisation with the likes of Lucius Malfoy and other dark-aligned families.” He began speaking, summarising the basics which had already become common knowledge. However, that did not prevent many in the room from tensing up at the mention of You-Know-Who.
“We have all come together following the murder of Albus Dumbledore despite the rest of the ministry's eagerness to sweep it under the rug.” Many of those seated jeered at that.
“Upon investigation, Clement Weaver of the Department of Magical Signatures and Inheritance and I have now obtained information concerning Kouyou Ozaki, Chairperson of the Department of Education, that places all of us in jeopardy.”
The rooms’ volume suddenly increased as people vocalised their concerns.
“Silence!” Madam Bovine spoke up. “Mr. Weaver, if you may?”
The man from earlier nodded anxiously, swapping positions with Ford Selket while passing around copies of a file to those in the room.
“We keep close records of every member of the wizarding community in Europe to account for illegal magic use and the emergence of new magical bloodlines.” He explained, stopping in the centre of the room to address those in attendance.
“Kouyou Ozaki is not listed as one of them. Nor is her name recognised within the Japanese Ministry of Magic. At a recent ministry event, we implemented wards as part of new security measures that are designed to pick up an individual's magical signature.” He paused, flicking through the file in front of him with shaking hands, and looked back up. “Kouyou Ozaki did not have one.”
Once again, the room burst into chaos.
Madam Bovine stood, immediately casting a silencing charm. “I understand that this is worrying for all of us, but losing control of ourselves will not help anyone.” She glared at those in the room. “Mr. Weaver, I had the understanding that Leota Twigs of your department would also be present today.”
The man froze, sweating nervously, suddenly deciding to join the rest of the room in their inability to speak. His eyes kept glancing at the door as if expecting someone to walk in suddenly.
“She- She…We found out Miss Kouyou is currently operating out of Yokohama, Japan. Leota looked into it. She was supposed to be here.” Clement Weaver clamped his mouth shut, dejectedly shuffling over to an empty chair.
“I did not think it was much to expect active participation. Tell Ms Tw-”
Suddenly, the door burst open, revealing a scrawny woman with blonde hair dressed in wrinkled scarlet robes. “I’m here! I’m here!”
Madam Bovine seemed to purse her lips, judging the woman, before stepping aside.
Weaver visibly relaxed, sinking into his chair, though she seemed to avoid meeting his eyes.
“Kouyou Ozaki, we discovered, resides in Yokohama, Japan. On original inspection, we operated under the assumption it was an ordinary major city.” She shook her head, voice breaking on the word ‘we’. “I sent Herman Dogwood, a young wizard who worked under myself and Mr. Weaver, to the city where he discovered the city is entirely run by the Port Mafia, a major criminal organisation. Kouyou Ozaki is a member of the Port Mafia. The Department of Education is the Port Mafia.” She took a shaking breath. “They tortured and killed him to send a message; the only reason we know of their existence is because they let us, and they want us to stop looking.” Leota finally looked back at Clement Weaver, eyes heavy with grief.
The room sat in silence despite the silencing charm having been removed.
Madam Bovine finally spoke up from her position next to Leota. “Then let us send a message back.”
* * *
Dazai groaned as he took a small bite of toast that Blaise was currently holding out to him with an exasperated look on his face. “This is unfair!” He whined, hyperaware as the bolus of food reached his stomach, breaking down as if it were poisoning him, making him into something weak and breakable.
“Not even Mori forces me to eat! You’re so cruel!” He toppled forward, looking up at Blaise, pouting.
The boy only sighed with a fond smile and a layer of concern that Dazai had never been able to shake off. “You should have thought about that before you all but passed out getting off the train.”
Dazai stuck his tongue out.
Breakfast that morning was a simple affair as the students readjusted to being back at school. It had almost been a week, and while the gang had reunited, they hadn’t found the time to discuss anything further.
“What did you all even do while I was all by my lonesome? It couldn’t have been that interesting if I weren’t there.” He turned to look at the gang, who had all slowly gravitated over to the Slytherin table.
Ron sat up proudly. “Dad won the lottery and took the rest of us to see our brother Bill in Egypt.”
Ginny, who had already proved herself to be a suitable addition to the gang, Dazai noted, placed down an older copy of the Daily Prophet that had a picture of the smiling faces of the Weasley family on the cover.
Dazai listened with a lazy smile as they began rambling about their adventures, the Weasley twins performing dramatic reenactments from behind the younger two. At the back of his mind, he felt eyes staring.
Settling back into the role Dazai had been given had been far too easy. It should have been harder with everything he had done over the break. Dazai had never felt human, never entertained the idea of being one, but now? He felt like something worse. Turns out, demon was an apt description of him.
The post descended into the Great Hall as students grabbed items that had been left at home with quick, embarrassed movements. Many began reading letters that Dazai assumed contained well wishes and concerned inquiries about their first week of the school year. He felt a nudge to his right as Blaise pointed at the window, Featherbrain trailing behind the rest of the owls, looking not too happy with herself. She landed, squawking at Dazai before stealing a piece of bacon from the table. He noted a familiar envelope around her leg. It was the same one he sent Mori a few days prior. Dazai quickly untied it, opening up the letter and inspecting it for any hidden differences that may not have been immediately noticeable.
There were none. He ignored a twinge of something in his chest as he hid the letter in the pocket of his robes.
Dazai felt the searching gaze of Blaise. His…friend had proven his loyalty to Dazai at the end of the previous year, letting him consider for a moment that he could be accepted in his entirety. Summer break served as a good reminder that that could never be true.
“Stupid bird failing to deliver my post…may as well kill myself now.” He wrinkled his nose, ignoring the concerned looks in favour of analyzing Draco's face for any sign that the boy knew anything.
Mori couldn’t have just disappeared. If he were simply away, then Hirotsu would be appropriately informed and respond to Dazais’ post in his place. Something must have happened. He was all too happy to leave it be and continue on with his role at Hogwarts, but he was an executive now, and the Port Mafia depended on Dazai.
He looked up at the Professor's table, quickly noticing as they averted their eyes, leaning in to whisper to one another. Only one Professor continued staring at him.
Severus Snape looked down at the boy, expression carefully hidden behind his usual mask of disdain. Something had certainly happened, and for once, Dazai had no idea.
He wasn’t used to not knowing, and it wasn’t something he was planning on getting used to.