Academy of the Aberrant Chapter 4 (Part One) (Patreon)

I do not own Harry Potter/Highschool DXD or any other referenced franchise, only my own OCs.

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I’m not a chicken.

Anyways, I left class an hour or two ago after I informed the others that we could go. Holly was rightfully pissed when she found out but was too tired to do anything besides grumble and mutter death threats. The others just felt relieved that they could go and simply left without a fuss.

Apparently, classes did not end at the same hour for everyone since there was a different amount of lessons for each house and year (and race, since not everyone took the same classes). They aligned for all the shared classes but didn’t align for anything else beyond that.

So anyways, there I was, at the lunch table, just calmly eating, when Hurricane Kunou came and picked me up by the collar while dragging me away from my precious food.

I didn’t know what was going on but I still followed anyway, picking up an equally bewildered Ravel and Hermione who had been walking to their dorms and slowly moving… toward the Forbidden Forest.

“This is a terrible idea! We’re breaking the rules guys! Let’s please go back…” Hermione complained desperately as she tried to stop the enthusiastic kitsune girl, eventually giving up on that and turning to me. “Richard! Please stop them, this is a terrible idea.” She pleaded while staring at me anxiously, looking back at the amused Ravel who wasn’t against the idea.

Why me? What am I supposed to do??

“Why do you even want to go to the Forbidden Forest on the second and technically first day of Hogwarts, Kunou?” I ask with an exasperated sigh as Hermione looks even more downtrodden at my lackluster support. Kunou simply giggles in response and stares at Hermione with amusement.

“Why wouldn’t I want to come here? This forest is basically every supernatural creature’s dream! There’s no magical creature you couldn’t find here that isn’t some extinct or one-of-a-kind creature, and that’s not even mentioning the magical plants and trees! There’s a reason this place is referred to as the “Garden of Eden” by the supernatural. Except for the Church…” She whispers the last part under her breath with a tone of amusement as my eyes widen in slight surprise.

Oh? I guess it makes sense that the Forbidden Forest would have so many more species than it did in just Harry Potter with so many new creatures around. I’d understand why the Church would be upset about that name though, makes sense why it’s still called the Forbidden Forest.

Wait so if I eat an apple that I found in the Forbidden Forest…

“You’d be eating a forbidden fruit, yes.” Kunou finishes my thoughts with a smirk as I tilt my head at her with an incredulous but amused look. “You had that look on your face. We all get that at some point.” She elaborates as Hermione seems lost and turns to Ravel for an explanation.

“If you ate fruit from the Forbidden Forest, which is also named the Garden of Eden… Forbidden Fruit.” Ravel explains with a mirthful smile as Hermione’s face slowly gained a look of understanding.

Funny. Though I still do have a question.

“Why drag us though? I wasn’t planning on touching this place anytime soon, so I don’t see why you’d want to take us along.” I question Kunou with an inquisitive expression as she smiles brightly with a very innocent expression.

“I wanted to have an adventure with my friends, of course! That’s not too much to ask, is it?” I don’t buy her innocent smile for even a second and stare at her blankly for a few seconds. Hermione grimaced at her words, actually believing them and suddenly feeling bad about asking her to stop earlier.

Kunou continues staring at me with an innocent expression as I match it with my blank one, eventually making her sigh and look down with a pout.

“Fiiiiiine… My mom knew I was going to sneak out to go to the Forbidden Forest as soon as I could, so she made me promise to take at least two of my ‘companions’ with me before I did. I just so happened to choose from a different set of companions than the one she expected… Heh.” Kunou puffed her chest out smugly with her tails swaying behind her, clearly pleased with something that none of us knew.

Ah, she was supposed to go with some of the guards Yasaka assigned her. I understand now, Kunou won’t go against Yasaka directly but has no qualms against rebelling indirectly if she’s able to twist her mother’s words into technically being the truth.

Yeah no, Yasaka’s probably watching over us right now. I can’t see her, but I wouldn’t expect myself to be able to do that anyway.

“Fine, I guess there shouldn’t be any harm as long as we stick to the outer part of the Forbidden Forest.” I finally give in despite my anxiety as Hermione looks at me with betrayal. Kunou and Ravel are ecstatic though and give each other a high five.

“Ritchie!” Hermione tries to admonish me with an exasperated frown before sighing and simply giving up, not having the energy or power to disagree against the majority of the group.

“It’ll be fine Hermione. We weakling wizards can stick in the back while these two go in and handle anything dangerous. Worst case scenario we throw Ravel in and run, she’ll be fine.” Hermione seems horrified at my attempt at reassurance while Ravel’s head suddenly snaps to me with amusement.

“You’re gonna do what now?” She questions with a certain edge in her tone as I shrug with a small smile.

“If it helps, I’ll try and get help as fast as I can instead of simply throwing you to the wolves. Or whatever it is that’s inside this forest.” My ‘helpful’ clarification makes her roll her eyes and shake her head amusedly. She turns to Kunou with an indiscernible look in her eyes, having a mental conversation with the fox girl.

“Quite cowardly of a person that has the 269th room in Ravenclaw,” Ravel replied dryly after a few seconds as Kunou’s head snaps to her with wide eyes.

“He’s the 269th?” Kunou asks with surprise before turning to look at me with a disbelieving expression, the sheer disbelief on her face almost making me feel insulted even though I didn’t even know why she was so surprised.

“Um… what’s the problem with Richard’s number? I’m 415 and Ravel is 250.” Hermione questions with confusion while turning to Ravel for an explanation.

That’s what we all wanna know, Hermione.

“Well, it’s a bit complicated. Your room ranking at the beginning of the year is basically your power ranking in comparison to your other housemates. I am 271 in my house, but Hufflepuff has almost a hundred more students than Ravenclaw does.” Kunou looks at me smugly as I blink and shrug, not really minding her gloating about how she was more powerful than me.

I barely know what I’m doing, I don’t know what she expects.

Wait.

“How the hell am I the 269th? That’s at least above all of the first, second, and some third years!” I exclaimed in actual shock once I realized what my ranking meant, my eyes widened in alarm as I stared at the air blankly.

I’m not that powerful, am I? I barely know any spells beyond the first-year books even if they’re arguably powerful if used correctly. That’s not to mention my… well… complete lack of combat experience. My first ever battle was with Moody today where I was completely slaughtered.

Does it have to do with my healing? Or maybe my suicidal explody-touch punch style (the name is a work in progress)? Hold on.

“Your ranking in your first year is usually determined by potential, magical energy capacity, special abilities, and physical ability. Though if I had to guess, most of the people you are above are wizards. Wizards progress a lot slower than most other races. In exchange, they have no… ‘limit’ per se. Most races have an inherent limiter that is impossible to surpass, but any wizard could easily reach ultimate class with enough time and resources.” Ravel explains to Hermione and me as we continue walking, both of us looking extremely absorbed in her words and soaking it up like a sponge.

I see. So DXD races have an inherent limit but progress in power a lot faster than wizards. Wizards on the other hand progress slower but have a high ceiling for their limit, if any limit at all. It makes sense, the most powerful wizards are usually very old.

DXD races grow exponentially but quickly reach their limit, HP wizards have a linear growth without a limit (or with a very far limit).

“Then how are Richard and Holly so high up?? Holly is at 249 and Richard is at 269…” Hermione’s eyes widen and she quickly questions Ravel with surprise as the devil girl hums and turns to me with a smirk.

“Holly had a year of training with her godfather, Sirius Black, on top of being the girl-who-lived. It’s not really much of a surprise how powerful she is when you realize the advantage she has over everyone else.” Huh. Is Sirius a particularly strong person? I guess he’d have to be as a Black, even if he refused to… uh, whatever it was he didn’t like about his family. I don’t remember.

“I suppose I must be relying on my soul’s size or whatever to have my ranking.” I bring my hand up to my chin to think, furrowing my brows as I contemplate if having a ‘giant life force’ or whatever was really enough to place me that high on the ranking.

Hermione and Ravel look at me with confusion (the latter looks more interested rather than confused) before Kunou pipes in to explain while staring at me with amusement.

“He’s got one of the biggest life forces I’ve ever seen,” Kunou elaborates with a serious tone before pausing and turning to me, squinting her eyes as they cloud slightly. “No, the biggest I’ve ever seen.”

Huh?

“Wait, what? Shouldn’t… your mother have more or something?” She seems amused at my question and quickly shakes her head with a few laughs.

“Probably. I said the biggest life force I’ve ever seen. Any competent member of the supernatural would naturally be able to hide their life force from scrying. It’s basically an ‘HP’ or ‘Stamina’ bar, you don’t want your enemies to see that.” I’m pretty sure that’s a very crude way of explaining it, but I guess it’s the most simplified way she can explain it. “I’ve never seen my mother’s or any powerful person’s life force before. I can tell you that you definitely have more than anyone of our year, or even any of the students around Hogwarts with some exceptions. As I said, I’ve never seen anyone with a bigger life force.”

“Wait, how big is my life force when compared to him?” Hermione asks curiously as Kunou’s gaze slowly moves from me to Hermione, her lips twitching upwards in amusement once her gaze lands on Hermione.

Oof… This is like when you’re comparing dicks with the homies and someone laughs. Have some mercy on the poor girl, Kunou.

“Like a cup of water in front of an ocean. You have a particularly large life force yourself, but nowhere near as much as he does. Compared to the average human, Richard may as well be the pacific ocean.”

… Can you please get off my dick back already? We get it, I have a giant life force.

“... Moving past that, do you guys know who’s the holder of room number 1 in each house?” I decided to finally switch the subject since I was feeling uneasy about the current subject, specifically my ‘gigantic’ life force. Especially since I think Yasaka might be around. Maybe. Wait, she probably already knows…

Maybe that’s the reason for my healing? I just have a ton of life force that heals me. That doesn’t sound right, but it’s not like I know any better.

“No clue on either Slytherin or Hufflepuff, but Gryffindor is quite obvious,” Ravel admits with a serious expression, furrowing her brows as Kunou nods her head seriously as well.

Oh?

“It’s Dulio Gesualdo, holder of Zenith Tempest, without a doubt. He has won every year’s tournament since his second year, defeating even the seventh years without much trouble and reigning supreme for the last six years. It’s believed he’ll reach the same level of strength as Headmaster Dumbledore within the next several years.” Oh… That’s strong. Who is he? I can’t seem to recall him from anywhere…

I know his sacred gear though. That’s the second-strongest Longinus and the one with the most firepower (arguably I think?). It controls the elements or weather I think. Does a ton of damage too.

“What faction does he belong to?” I ask with slight curiosity as Kunou looks at me with surprise.

“You’re not aware? He’s an Exorcist of the Church. The strongest Exorcist.” Kunou seems genuinely surprised that I don’t know about him, so he must be someone famous or at least well-known.

Maybe I didn’t read or watch DXD as I thought? I can’t seem to remember him at all. I don’t actually know who the Zenith Tempest user is, so this could just be the canon user I never knew of.

That’s quite odd though, all of my memories suggest that the Church and Angels are the weakest of the biblical faction. Could the information I have be incorrect? I don’t have any reason to trust any of my ‘canon’ (if it’s even canon) knowledge. I do not recall watching or reading anything personally, this could all be misinformation put into my head.

Very well, I will make sure to forget all previous m- Oh.

Ah, so that’s what that paper meant.

‘Abandon all previous misconceptions you may have’, I remember now what was written on that paper I found when I first found myself in the Hogwarts Express. It seems I really shouldn’t trust everything I recall and haven’t confirmed for myself personally.

“Wait, what was that about a tournament?” Hermione suddenly asks, referring to the part about Dulio winning ‘every yearly tournament since his second year’.

Ah, the annual ‘Tournament of Power’. I read about it in the book I borrowed from Hermione yesterday.

“It’s an annual tournament between all four houses each year. The top three students in terms of power in each year from each house fight it out until only one remains. The winner from the first-year bracket can choose to fight the second-year’s winner to try and slowly make their way up to the champion’s seat. If the second year defeats the first year, they can choose to scale their way up as well. That’s how Dulio Gesualdo won the champion seat every single year starting from his second year. I heard he only lost in his first year against the seventh-year champion.” Ravel is the one who answers this time as Hermione lets out an awed sound, clearly very impressed with the exorcist as well as interested in the tournament.

Interesting…

“Longinus users are quite the cheat… It takes everyone else decades to reach their level of power, yet they simply exist and reach a level of power no one else can even imagine having at their age! The Ravenclaw number 1 is also a Longinus user, Lavinia Reni of the Absolute Demise.” Kunou huffs childishly and glares at the sky, acting like she’s cursing god for making the Longinus

“To be fair, Lady Reni is also an accomplished witch of Grauzauberer on top of being a Longinus user. She definitely deserves her spot.” Ravel quickly jumps to defend our prefect and number 1 Ravenclaw powerhouse as Kunou huffs but concedes.

Wait.

“I hate to be the one to suddenly switch subjects, but how long have we been walking deeper into the Forbidden Forest?” Everyone immediately froze in their tracks and stiffened, quickly glancing around with widened eyes.

“... So, I vote we throw Ravel in and run.” Ravel turns to Kunou with a betrayed look as the fox girl smirks teasingly while putting her palms together apologetically and giggling.

“Why are you guys joking right now!? We’re deep into the forbidden forest! What if we encounter one of those giant s-spiders… or even a d-dragon!” Ah right, this place has everything inside of it, doesn’t it? I wonder if any noteworthy dragons live here.

Suddenly, I feel my wand humming in my hands. I felt slightly unnerved from the hum, as if the wand's hum was warning me of something and transmitting its anxiousness to me.

I slowly look around the clearing we're standing in, searching for whatever it is that's currently unnerving my wand and me. The pit in my stomach grows as I fail to notice anything out of the ordinary beyond a slightly unnatural silence.

I try to calm myself to keep a clear head and turn my head to Ravel, doing my best to keep my tone calm and level.

“Ravel, you are capable of flight, correct?” I carefully ask the devil girl as she turns to me with a tilted head and unfurls her wings, nodding. “Could you fly up for a second to check which direction we should move? Don’t go too far up though or you might alert something of your presence.”

Ravel lets out an ‘oh’ of understanding and nods, preparing to jump into the air. Before she could though, Kunou holds her down and looks at a nearby bush with a wary expression.

The bush suddenly starts rustling and-

“Incendio, Engorgio.” I quickly cast just as Kunou sends a wave of blue fox fire out and Ravel shoots an inferno of Phenex fire from her hands.

“...” All three of us turn to look at each other with varying expressions of amusement and exasperation as the bush burns to smithereens, completely obliterated out of existence by the triple fire attack.

“W-what was that?? Why did you all suddenly attack at the same time?” Hermione questions the three of us as the two girls smile wryly and I shake my head with another sigh.

“... Exstingue.” I cast the extinguishing charm on the raging fire before it could spread, removing a sizable chunk of the flames and being forced to cast it a few more times to put out the full thing.

My wand's humming did not stop yet, but it was not slowly increasing in intensity like it was doing earlier.

“I thought I sensed something in the bushes, my apologies.” Kunou quickly explained and smiled apologetically as Ravel shook her head with a smile.

“No need, it was good that you alerted us as soon as you sensed something odd.” Hermione looked between the two of them with twitching eyebrows before turning to me, noticing how I was staring at a nearby tree with a slightly alarmed expression and furrowed brows.

I swear I just heard something wriggling away.

I stare at the bush I had just burned, remembering the somewhat small dark figure I could swear I saw moving away. It was only for a second, but I am sure I wasn’t just seeing a hallucination.

“... Ravel, flight?” I turn away from the bush to look at the blonde girl as she blinks and nods.

My eyes widen as Ravel unfurls her wings, two feathery wings made of flame majestically appearing on her back. She smirks at my gobsmacked expression before, with a single flap of her wings, she launches into the air, hovering above the trees and nearby hurdles for a few moments. She eventually lands back down and her wings retract until they are not visible anymore. She points us into the right direction and we begin to move, walking in the direction Ravel pointed us to.

My wand's humming ceases completely, finally allowing me to relax as I stroke the wand's surface with gratitude and silently thank it for its help.

“Well, this was quite an enlightening adventure,” I wryly comment as we're making our way back, Kunou almost slipping at my words and turning to me with a pout and an offended glare.

“We would’ve had a better adventure if you had not asked so many questions and scared off all of the fauna around!” She accuses me with a pointed finger as Hermione quickly looks away with a blush, remembering how she was also asking a bunch of questions.

“I am but a mere wizard initiate that knows nothing of the greater world, please do excuse my continued curiosities.” I apologize in the most sarcastic way I can as Kunou rolls her eyes and huffs in amusement.

“Number 269, remember? You’re not fooling anyone with your ‘Wizard initiate’ nonsense.” Ravel points out before Kunou can as the fox girl seems to grow even smugger at her backup.

“And yet I still have no idea what anything is in the supernatural.” I retort wryly with an exasperated sigh, not really knowing how to convince them that I was actually as clueless as I was acting.

“Wait, I just remembered. You had all four superior spheres in your sorting yesterday! Tell me how, I need to know!” Kunou seems to gain a look of realization, remembering the fact that I did in fact have that.

“I have no clue,” I answer honestly once she grips my collar with her hands, watching her stare at me with horror at my answer before she sighs and lets go of me with a face full of disappointment.

Huh, she believed me a lot quicker than I thought she would. Nice.

“Are you sure you’re not from any special ancestry or something? Did you ever ask your parents if they’re from any notable lineages before coming to Hogwarts?” Ravel questions with extreme curiosity as Kunou and Hermione’s heads turn to look at me with matching interest.

“... I wouldn’t know. My parents have been gone for a while now.” The look of horror on their faces would’ve been hilarious if not for the serious topic. “No, I don’t have anyone else either.” I quickly add insult to injury just to make sure no more awkward questions are asked as their faces turn grim.

Kunou clears her throat. “I’m sorry to hear that, Ritchie. May I ask where… um, where do you live outside of Hogwarts?” She grimaces slightly at the delivery and stares at me apologetically as I sigh and purse my lips.

“That’s a great question.” I have no fucking idea.

They don’t speak more about the subject after that reply, simply walking alongside me in silence as we stroll through the Forbidden Forest. This time around, we came across many more creatures than when we were walking deeper into the forest for some reason.

We eventually reach the outskirts of the forest and begin wandering aimlessly for a few minutes, the girls admiring different plants and creatures we come across as I simply keep an eye out for anything following us.

I have the sudden urge to hug a tree for some reason. This place is weird.

I suddenly feel my hair stand at its end and begin glancing around, holding an arm to stop everyone from walking and staring in front of me at a seemingly innocuous bush.

“You’re finally back. Well, did you have your fun, children?~” I’m then surprised as the voice that just spoke comes from behind us rather than from the bush I was staring at. I quickly turned around with widened eyes and raised my wand, my eyes widening a bit more before relaxing once I saw who it was.

I found a familiar young woman with quite a voluptuous figure and very long blonde hair, having the same matching eyes that were similar to Kunou. Atop her head were two golden fox ears and behind her were nine similarly golden tails, fluttering in the wind slowly as she stood. She wore a kimono that was desperately fighting for its life to not fall a few inches lower (and probably cause an uproar in the supernatural world as hundreds of adolescent boys die from a nosebleed or something) as well as a golden obi with a white pelt hanging around her arms.

Yeah, it’s Yasaka. I don’t know if she’s been here the entire time like I thought or not, but she’s here now I guess.

“M-mom!?” Kunou squeaks in surprise with widened eyes before quickly composing herself and clearing her throat, hiding her blush at being caught by smirking to appear confident.

Hermione was paling dangerously to the point where I was afraid all of the blood in her head vanished. We weren’t caught by just anyone, we were caught by one of the House Heads of Hogwarts. She looked like she was on the verge of a panic attack.

“I’d say we had quite a fun time. There are many interesting plants and animals around here, it was quite a sight.” I reply to her question without any panic, calmly putting my wand away and turning to stare into Ravel’s shocked eyes for a moment before she suddenly gains a look of realization and smirks.

“Yes, I’d say so as well. I quite liked the many species of avian creatures around.” Ravel nods her head with a blank smile, not acting like she was caught doing something wrong. The other two gave us confused looks but stayed silent for now, staring at Yasaka as she raised her eyebrows at us.

Operation Gaslight Yasaka 101 is a go!

“Ah? Are you not afraid of being punished for breaking the rules? Headmaster Dumbledore warned you all just yesterday to not venture into the Forbidden Forest without permission, after all.” Yasaka smirked with the same amusement that reminded me of Kunou as she crossed her arms under her chest.

Huh, this is going a lot better than I thought.

“Headmaster only warned us from entering the Forbidden Forest without teacher supervision. It was not specified that we couldn’t go there, just that we shouldn’t.” The others look at me with surprise, probably not catching that loophole yesterday. Hermione gains a look of realization and understanding, looking at me with a pleased expression while nodding her head.

… She must think I only agreed because we weren’t actually breaking the rules. Which is partly true, but it was also because I was curious and felt oddly attracted to the forest.

“Oh? I suppose that was the case… Very well, I’ll let you off this time since it’s your first offense and you didn’t know. Next time, make sure I don’t catch you if you decide to visit the forest again.” Hermione releases an audible sigh of relief from next to me, clearly relieved that she wasn’t going to get in trouble on her first day. “The fact that you noticed that loophole does speak a lot about your character though, doesn’t it?~ It seems we’ve got another troublemaker…” Yasaka continues while addressing me directly this time, staring at me with a glint in her eyes while smirking amusedly.

“I would like to point you in the direction of your daughter, ma’am.” I quickly deflect the accusation to Kunou as the younger fox girl turns to me with widened eyes and a betrayed expression, glaring at me as I smile apologetically.

“Richard!” She hisses out while shaking her head furiously as I shrug and smile helplessly.

Yasaka begins laughing at our little byplay, nodding her head with amusement. “Yes, I’m already aware of how troublesome my little Kunou is going to be. I can only hope that her friends are able to keep her away from anything particularly troublesome.” Kunou’s face blanches at being called ‘little Kunou’ and quickly blushes in mortification soon after.

Damn, the secondhand embarrassment is killing me right now.

“Mom!” Kunou complains with horror as Yasaka giggles in response and begins slowly walking forward towards our group, standing right in front of Kunou as we stare at her while standing next to Kunou in a single file line.

“While I can’t punish your friends for entering the Forbidden Forest, I can certainly punish you for disobeying my orders young lady.” Yasaka’s amused smile turns slightly chiding as Kunou shrinks slightly, raising her head to try and retort her but being interrupted. “No, taking your friends with you is not the same as taking the assigned… friends I had prepared for you.” Kunou’s face turned downtrodden and she stared at the ground shamefully, not wishing to look at her mother while she was being chastised.

“... It’s not like they would have mattered anyway. Plus, Richard and Ravel are stronger than any of the guards you assigned for me! They both have their dorm number in the 200s in Ravenclaw.” Kunou tries to rebuke Yasaka again and the older woman actually looks slightly surprised as she stares at Ravel and me.

“Oh? Is that true you two?” She asks with a slightly interested tone as Ravel quickly smiles and nods, not acting embarrassed or shy now that she was directly addressed by the woman.

“Yes, I was given the 250th room while Richard got the 269th in our house.” Ah, yeah I did indeed get that. That’s true.

“How interesting... You two must be quite talented if you’re able to reach such a high ranking in your first year.” Yasaka compliments with a mischievous smirk that did not put me at ease, bending down slightly to pat both of us on the head.

What’s her game?

I stare at her with a slightly tilted head, my eyebrows furrowed as I notice her eyes widen slightly in surprise before becoming amused once I stare into her eyes.

“Thank you, ma’am. Though if possible, I’d like it if you did not punish Kunou for technically going against your orders.” I ignore her amusement for now and bow my head to her, asking her to not punish Kunou this time since I felt like it was my responsibility. “I was the one who decided to go through with her request in the end, that means that I am the one responsible for the rule breaking. If you must punish someone, please punish me.”

Wait, that last part sounded wrong. Or did it? I have no idea. I feel like it can be taken out of context but I don’t know.

Considering how Yasaka is currently giggling, it might have actually sounded like I thought it did.

“How chivalrous of you, Mr. Lee. I expected such behavior from a Gryffindor, not a Ravenclaw.” She notes with a slight bit of amusement as I move my head back up with a wry smile.

“I won’t lie to you ma'am, I think I fit in that house quite well. Just a gut feeling though.” My slightly wry words made her laugh again loudly, seemingly conceding to my point.

Kunou was staring at me in shock, her mouth slightly agape as I sent her a smile before turning back to her mom.

“Hmm… Well, this puts me in quite a conundrum as a mother…” She starts slowly and I notice Kunou shrinking down sadly. “... But I suppose it would be criminal of me to ignore such a heartfelt request. I won't punish Kunou for going against my orders this time. As long as Kunou doesn’t do it again, of course.” Kunou’s eyes widen and she pipes back up with a bright smile, clearly happy to escape whatever punishment her mother probably had for her.

“I won’t lie to you ma’am, I don’t think that last part is very plausible.” I grimace and turn to look at the fox girl wryly as she glares at me with a betrayed expression before her face turns innocent as her mother looks at her and bursts out laughing again.

“Only time will tell, I suppose. Now let me escort you all back to the castle, I need to make sure that you won’t go for another stroll for the heck of it once I leave.” Looking at the way Kunou was smiling sheepishly, I guessed that this might have actually been her plan.

“Thank you very much, ma’am. Oh, and please call me Richard from now on. You’re my friend’s mother after all.” I nod my head to her in gratitude again as she giggles and pats me on the head.

“Oh, how polite.~ I’ll make sure to do that in the future, then.” She begins leading us away to Hogwarts Castle, taking us away from the Forbidden Forest without any trouble whatsoever as all the living fauna runs like hell from her mere presence. We pass by a few older students who stare at us with amusement, probably thinking we’re in trouble for getting caught and making Hermione look down with an ashamed blush. Kunou flipped one of the youkai the middle finger though as the older student looked shocked. They held their tongue though once Yasaka glanced their way, quickly acting cool and indifferent as Kunou giggled mischievously from behind her mother.

This entire encounter feels like an actual fever dream.

But… what was that we encountered in the forest?

…

…

I slowly rise from my bed with a mentally exhausted sigh, reaching for my glasses and putting them on as I stare at the just-risen sun that couldn’t have been up for more than a few minutes at most.

I went to sleep at like 2 AM. It should be 6 at most right now, yet I feel as if I just slept for half a day. I’m so energized and awake that I’m honestly contemplating just punching my alarm clock with my energy explosion touch thingy for the heck of it. Not like the alarm is doing anything helpful right now anyway.

Yesterday was… okay. Once Yasaka escorted us to the castle, we all split up to do our own thing with Kunou making us promise to hang out later.

Ravel said she was going to hang out with some of her friends, so it was only Hermione and I.

We decided to go to the library and I split off to begin devouring books, leaving me to do my own thing until dinner.

I prioritized… nothing, really. Every single thing in that library was useful or was going to be useful to me at some point, so there wasn't really anything I could prioritize.

Anyway, I have a splitting headache and know three new languages. I probably have a terrible accent for them, but I can speak them.

I also discovered that history books that describe certain adventures of notable people written by those people (autobiographies basically) are gold mines since they usually have special spells that are either improved variations of existing spells or completely new spells out of my current curriculum. Considering how I couldn't find any of the second or third year books anywhere, those books are my lifeline.

I've yet to find something with Protego in it, but I'll keep searching as hard as I can since that spell will be a lifesaver.

Once I was done with my books, it was time for dinner. I sat with Holly and the other girls and blankly stared at the food in front of me for several dozen minutes as I felt eyes staring at our group intently, some of them focusing on me personally and ruining any appetite I had.

It was not a fun time.

Anyway, today’s schedule includes a few classes I haven't taken yet. Mainly History, Defense (against the dark arts? It’s just called Defense), Herbology, and Combat Practice.

That last one is basically Moody's class but we fight each other instead of working out. The teacher is apparently the crush of 80% of the school's male population since it's… one of the representatives of the Norse, Freyja.

This must be the Midnight of this school…

My Wizard Academia.

I chuckle dryly at my little inside joke and finally get off my bed, preparing for my second day of school while doing some planning on what I'll do today.

I never got the chance to check if the Room of Requirement still exists or not. I don’t even know what I’d use it for if it existed, but I’m sure I’ll be able to find some use for it. Hell, I’m sure my friends could find some use in it if I can’t.

… I’m not sure if I’m ready to let them know of the Room of Requirement though. I was told to abandon any previous bias I have, trusting any of my friends to that degree is not wise. I see no reason to inform them of it yet, so I will wait until I can trust them more before revealing it.

If it even exists, that is.

Wait, could I find money in the room of lost things? They only use the cards here for transactions, but they may have not done that in the past.

Better question, isn’t Voldemort’s actual Horcrux in there? Hell, there are two Horcruxes in Hogwarts right now if we’re counting Holly.

Um… The others are somewhere too. There’s the snake, she’s in Argentina or something right now. The locket is somewhere, maybe? There are three more as well… What were they? Where are they?

Oh! Oh, there’s the diary. That’s like the entire plot of the second book. There’s the trophy of Helga or whatever in someone’s vault. Then there’s… the ring?

Wait, is any of this even still true? I was just talking about how I needed to abandon all previous knowledge I had of the world. Voldemort’s Horcruxes were made to inhabit important pieces of Hogwarts’ history, but their history is not the only one that matters in this new world.

There’s a very large chance that some Horcruxes have been changed, if not all of them.

Hell, am I even sure they exist? It’s not like I can sense anything in Holly to confirm their existence, if she even has one inside her that is.

Wait, the Rowena Diadem or whatever should be in the Room of Lost Things. If I’m able to find it, I’ll be able to confirm whether the Horcruxes exist or not, no? I suppose I’ve found the reason I need to visit the Room of Requirement, even if I don’t have the necessary qualifications to destroy the Horcrux.

Are the canon ways of destroying it still even viable? I think there were three but I only remember basilisk venom and the killing curse.

I hate this lack of knowledge that’s been forced into my brain…

I take a deep breath and hold it in for a few seconds, exhaling only when I feel myself calm down. Once that’s done, I pick up my stuff and swiftly walk out of my room to make my way to the Great Hall.

Missing two breakfasts in a row probably seems suspicious, so I’ll try to go every now and then even if I don’t feel hungry just to appease any nosey people. Not that I really care about what they think, but better safe than sorry or whatever.

I enter the Great Hall without any theatrics and sneak my way to one of the Ravenclaw Tables, spotting Holly and Le Fay sitting at the very edge of the table with the former looking quite disgruntled.

“Good morning.” I quietly greeted them while slipping into a nearby seat, watching Holly’s head snap to me for a moment before relaxing while Le Fay beamed brightly and waved.

“Hey Ritchie! Good morning to you too. Did you sleep well?” Le Fay replied with the same bubbliness I’d expect from her while Holly simply grunted back in acknowledgment while going back to whatever she was brooding about.

“I’d say so. Why are you both up so early? I’d have expected Hermione to be the first one awake.” I stare at Holly with a slightly tilted head, confused about why she’s so moody right now but not bringing it up yet to not annoy her more.

“Hermione was already here when we arrived. She already left to go explore the library again.” I let out a noise of understanding and nodded my head. That made a lot of sense actually. “As for the both of us… Well, Holly isn’t doing the best after we had an encounter earlier with Draco Malfoy.”

Ah, it’s no wonder she looks like she wants to murder someone.

“That was the kid who strolled into our train compartment on the first day, right?” Holly nods again silently, looking quite sour at the mere mention of the guy. “My condolences.”

That manages to make her crack a smile, an action that seems to break her out of her gloomy state as she lightly glares at me for removing her from her brooding state.

Le Fay giggles as well. “Are you sure you should be speaking of him in that way Richard? I understand that Holly and I are relatively safe… but his family isn’t something to mess around with you know?” Her concerned tone makes me narrow my eyes slightly as I tilt my head, an expression of confusion on my face.

“Is he not just from a pureblood family?” Which would normally be plenty enough to deal with a random nobody, but I’m sure there are many who are interested in me enough to not want me to suddenly disappear. Even if the opposite is also true.

“Well, yes. But his father is not just Lord Malfoy, he’s also the Minister for Magic of Great Britain.”

…

Voldemort rules the ministry.

Are we fucked?

Holly seems to notice how dangerously pale my face has gotten and she quickly places a hand on my shoulder, squeezing it reassuringly while staring seriously into my eyes.

“It’s alright, I won’t allow him to do anything to you. You don’t need to worry about him crying to his father to try and do something to you.” She promises me determinedly as Le Fay gasps in understanding and nods her head.

“I’ll make sure nothing happens to you too! It’d be a shame if your talent was wasted because of some jealous kid crying to his father!” … Really? That’s why?

I release a few chuckles and quickly shake my head. “Thank you very much you two, but you misunderstand. I’m not worried about that, I promise.” That’s kind of a lie. If my canon knowledge is true, which it honestly might not be, Lucius Malfoy is like the right-hand man of Voldemort.

Yet again, I did just have a whole moment of ‘don’t believe everything you recall in your memories’, so the situation may not be as dire as I believe it is.

Better safe than sorry, I’m not trusting the Malfoys until I’m absolutely sure that they are not working with Voldemort. Even then, the most trust I’ll put in them is that I’ll believe they won’t fuck the world over if given the opportunity.

“... If you say so.” Holly doesn’t seem convinced but she doesn’t call me out on it, leaving me to stare at the table wryly while contemplating if I care enough to convince her that I wasn’t really worried or not.

Enough time passed and I realized that I, in fact, did not mind her misconception enough to care.

“By the way, would you like to come hang out at Hagrid’s hut later with Le Fay and me? Hermione should also be coming.” Holly offers in the middle of my and Le Fay’s conversation as Le Fay’s eyes widen with realization, turning to me with an eager grin.

“You should totally come! I heard Mr. Hagrid takes care of some of the magical beasts in the Forbidden Forest, he may even let us explore the outskirts of the forest!” Le Fay suggests enthusiastically as I freeze.

I slowly turn to Holly. “Did Holly or Ravel mention anything to you about the Forbidden Forest?” I ask carefully as her eyes narrow dangerously and she slowly shakes her head in response.

“No… Did you guys do something without me?” Her tone was slightly edged, her eyes narrowing further as I smiled wryly.

“I plead the fifth. Also, I blame everything on Kunou and Ravel. I would also like to exercise my right to remain silent.” Holly’s eyebrows twitched before she sighed and shook her head, letting it go.

“Whatever. Are you in or not?” She asks again, the look in her eyes promising something if she does not get her desired answer.

“... Hmm, I’m not sure if I have anything after classes. If I don’t, I’d love to join you guys. Should I invite Ravel?” They probably already invited her or are planning to invite her, but I might as well check.

Holly seems slightly unenthused with my answer but finds it satisfying enough to let it go. “Don’t worry about it, I’ll invite her when I see her next in class.” She shakes her head and we converse for a few minutes about different things until breakfast is finally over and it’s time to go to our classes.

We file out the Great Hall and meet up with the others while making our way to our first class, History.

As I entered the classroom, I stared in silence at the unexpected teacher for this class. Tall with brown hair, a thin mustache, and a trimmed beard, Remus Lupin sat at the teacher’s desk in the History classroom.

It honestly made a little bit of sense. Vampires, Werewolves, and presumably other races that existed in Harry Potter should not be getting the same discrimination they did in the original. I wouldn’t even be surprised if Remus doesn’t hide the fact that he is a werewolf even if he’s still ashamed of it.

He was an amazing teacher according to the books. I'm excited to see what he’d do even if he’s teaching history rather than Defense Against the Dark Arts like in the original. Though I’m also quite interested in the ‘Defense’ teacher if they’re apparently more qualified than Remus.

“Ah, Holly. It’s quite nice seeing you again.” Remus immediately notices our group once Holly walks into sight, smiling pleasantly and standing up from his desk to walk up to her. “How’s Sirius? I have not heard from him in quite a bit.”

“He’s doing… fine, it’s nice to see you again as well Uncle Remus.” Holly greets the man neutrally, not sounding hostile in any way and almost warm in her own way.

“Indeed. I’m guessing that these students here are your friends?” He turns away from Holly and looks at all of us with a friendly smile as Holly nods and gestures to each of us.

“This is Richard Lee, Ravel Phenex, Le Fay Pendragon, and Hermione Granger. I’m sure you don’t need an introduction for… any of them, actually. But I might as well so this doesn’t become awkward.” She mutters that last part to herself as Ravel and I stare at her wryly before turning back to Remus.

“It’s nice to meet you, sir, I’m excited to learn History in your class for the foreseeable future.” I nod my head to him politely and smile as he perks up slightly at my enthusiasm and smiles with satisfaction.

“Keep that attitude up and you’ll do just fine in my class this year, Mr. Lee. I’m excited to see what you’ll achieve in the future.” Okay, I think I like this teacher.

What a nice guy. Glad he doesn’t look as patchy and roughed up as he does in the original movies and books, he doesn’t deserve that fate.

…

[Defense Class]

I met up with Neville and the other boys once I was done with History, deciding to hang out with them for our next class since I wouldn’t want to neglect hanging out with my only guy friends around.

I don’t even understand the whole ‘bro’ thing completely due to my lack of memories, but it’s almost an instinct with how worried I am at not having ‘bros’. It’s as if there’s some weird psychological thing where I feel anxious at the lack of friends of the same gender.

I do not understand people yet, especially myself. Is that a bad thing, I wonder?

“Are you excited for Combat Practice today, Neville?” I ask curiously as we walk through the halls, Michael, Tery, and Anthony quieting down from their conversation to listen in as Neville turns to me with an inquisitive look.

“... Not exactly. I’m not the biggest fan of violence. I’d even go as far as to say that I hate fighting.” Neville admits quietly while looking at the ground, a complicated expression on his face.

He is going through it right now.

“I understand. I was personally slightly enthused at being able to check what a real fight is like, but now I feel terrible about myself.” I sigh self-deprecatingly in a way that made it clear I was joking as Neville stares at me in amusement and shakes his head.

“There’s nothing to be ashamed of in wanting to check how strong you are. I’d even say it’s wise to practice in a controlled situation like in that class. It’s only my own preference against violence that keeps me from actively desiring that activity.” Neville is surprisingly wise, it’s honestly quite interesting.

I think I’ll enjoy having him as a friend, his perspective is quite different.

“I agree! I wouldn’t say that I’m the most enthused regarding Combat Practice myself, but that’s mostly because I think I’m going to get my shit kicked in.” Anthony declares with a prideful smile that slowly turns awkward by the end as the other two boys chuckle behind his back.

Neville turns to me with slight amusement as Anthony turns around to fight Terry and Michael for laughing at him, an expression I reciprocate as I laugh and stare at the antics of the loud trio of boys.

They eventually settle down and we find ourselves at the Defense classroom’s entrance, a larger-than-usual gate greeting us as we all turn to look at each other in confusion before slowly entering.

We’re greeted with a decently sized hall, almost looking like a college classroom with how elevated the seats were. There was a ton of free space though, almost like it was a mini-colosseum with the students sitting in the stands.

An Amphitheater, I think that’s what this is called.

I suppose this is for any practical parts of the lectures.

I spot a tall man of a surprisingly toned build standing in the middle of the room, a pair of glasses on his face that completely detract from what would be an intimidating figure by making him appear a lot more friendly and down-to-earth. He had a mane of brown hair as well as a full beard of the same color, giving him quite a clashing appearance that somehow radiated an amiable yet authoritative impression.

He felt larger-than-life if that makes any sense. I almost felt calmer just standing in his presence. As I approached him with my friends, he turned around with a calm, small smile on his face that would’ve made me feel at even more ease if I wasn’t already relaxed.

“Ah, welcome to the Defense classroom, young men. I am Professor Brunner, but please do call me Mr. Brunner so that it’s easier on the tongue. I am the House Aid of Gryffindor as well as your new Defense teacher, it’s a pleasure meeting my newest students.” I glanced to my side and noticed that Michael, Anthony, and Terry had completely piped down and were now standing at attention. Even Neville seemed quite amazed and relaxed.

This guy is no joke. It’s no wonder he’s the House Aid of Gryffindor.

“It’s nice to meet you too, Mr. Brunner. If it’s not rude of me to ask, are you also a wizard like us?” I nod my head politely to the man and fail to contain my curiosity, immediately asking a question while smiling.

His smile widens slightly at my question and he suddenly chuckles at something unknown to me. “You could say that I am an unorthodox wizard despite my experience with magic, but I am not an actual wizard like you, young Richard.” He answers mysteriously with the same calm smile, making me blink and inspect his face a bit more.

… It’s familiar. His name is familiar too. I don’t know if I recognize him from HP or DXD, but he’s someone.

An alias perhaps? Or am I overthinking it?

“I see. Thank you for answering my question, professor.” I nod my head again to him as he chuckles and nods in return.

“Curiosity is a great trait to have, young Richard. I have no problem indulging in your desire to learn, as that is my job as your teacher. Having said that, I’d be wary of being too curious. You know the saying ‘curiosity killed the cat’, do you not?” He questions with a wise tone before shaking his head again and chuckling, ignoring how bewildered my face looked right now. “I’ve rambled enough, I won’t keep you any longer. Please take a seat, class will be in session soon enough.”

“... Yes, Mr. Brunner.” I nod my head with the same bewildered expression on my face, eventually managing to school my face and turn around to face Neville and the others who were just as astonished as I was. I shepherded them to the stands and took a seat in the back row, the seats that had the best view of the area.

“... Mr. Brunner seems cool, right guys?” Terry whispers to the group as the other two nodded while Neville stared silently at the teacher.

“He’s got that presence thing, kind of like our Headmaster and the House Heads. He’s the Gryffindor House Aid right? Even Professor Flitwick doesn’t have that type of presence despite being pretty cool himself.” Anthony noted next, with all of us nodding with thoughtful expressions as we thought of the half-goblin professor.

“Professor Snape is nothing impressive either. We haven’t met the Hufflepuff House Aid yet though, so I can’t say anything about them.” That’s true. It was Demeter that was in that position, no? We have her in our next class. I wonder what a goddess is like in this world…

Gods are trouble, but I’d rather not act antagonistic to one before meeting them. Especially because I have no idea what I’m doing. Maybe the gods are not bad here? My memories suggest otherwise since… Loki… but there are always rotten apples.

My eyes blink owlishly as I suddenly see the church trio I had seen in the train compartment a few days ago enter through the door, quickly apologizing to Mr. Brunner before moving to take a seat without much fuss.

I catch Irina’s eyes as they widen slightly before she smiles and waves, making her way to sit in the back with us. Xenovia and Asia are also dragged along, the duo spotting me as well once they notice where Irina is headed.

“Ritchie! We haven’t spoken since the train compartment, how are you doing?” I try to ignore the piercing stare of the boys at the back of my head (minus Neville, he was just staying silent) as Irina greets me with a beaming smile while sitting right next to me.

“I’m doing fine, how have you been doing Irina? I haven’t gotten many classes with Gryffindors yet, so it’s quite nice seeing you and the others.” I nod to the two girls behind her with a smile as Asia returns the smile with a shy one of her own while Xenovia simply grunts in response with a blank face.

“I’m doing fantastic! Hogwarts has already been an amazing experience and we’ve only been here for three days. I can’t believe we got to meet Alastor Moody in the flesh!” Irina starts geeking out about different things she’s experienced in Hogwarts as I do my best to nod along to her words, ignoring the glaring gazes on the back of my head the best I can and doing my best to not show my amusement and exasperation.

This class is going to be long…

…

[Herbology Class]

… Why is she staring at me like that?

I stand awkwardly in front of the Greek Goddess of the Harvest (Agriculture), Demeter, watching her softly glare at me with a look of annoyance.

She was an extremely beautiful woman, something not very surprising considering her godly status. Long golden blonde hair that glowed in the sun, forest green eyes that shined with an aura of power, and a presence that calmed the mind while still carrying an imposing element to it.

Oh, and we kind of looked similar. Like, very similar.

Golden blonde hair, check.

Forest green eyes, check.

Similar skin tones, check.

“... Did I do something wrong, ma’am?” I quietly ask with a worried tone as she snaps out of her glare and stares at me with narrowed eyes, huffing slightly and shaking her head.

“No, nothing of the sort, child… At least, that’s what I’d like to say if it weren’t for your complete existence! A boy shows up out of nowhere with four superior spheres in the same year as Holly Potter, yet no one bats an eye. Everyone simply dismisses it as a coincidence while treating you like any other child, ignoring all of the red flags appearing everywhere. I don’t know what that old coot is thinking, but you’re definitely going to be a troublesome boy, Mr. Lee!” I stare at her with a dumbfounded expression as she begins laying it on me, sounding very frustrated and exasperated with my presence as if she was a teacher complaining about a troublesome student.

“Normally I’d just ignore you and whatever problems you bring to this school, but you just so happen to look exactly like me. That’s not even mentioning the odd feeling of favorability I feel towards you for some reason. ‘Just a normal child’ my ass!” I look behind her into the classroom in the middle of her rant, noticing how none of the students inside seem to notice the rant happening right now. Even the few students still in the hallway don’t seem to notice anything out of the ordinary as they walk past us without a second glance.

“... I apologize, ma’am.” I don’t exactly know what to do in this situation and opt to just apologize, bowing my head down slightly as I hear her huff and grumble from in front of me.

“You better excel in my class as one of my best students, Mr. Lee. It’s the least you can do for bringing me so much stress.” I feel my confusion grow even more as the seemingly enraged woman suddenly places her hand on my head and pats me.

Is she angry at me or not? I honestly have no idea. Are all gods this confusing?

“I’ll do my best to not let you down, Lady Demeter.” I don’t push her hand away and wait for her to let go, eventually being able to raise my head after she strokes through my hair for a few moments silently.

“Good. Now enter, I have a class I need to begin.” Demeter pats my cheek once before urging me into the class and closing the door behind her.

I quickly do as she says and take a seat next to my friends, spending the next hour or so in what will probably be one of the weirdest classes of my school education. At least the class isn’t difficult? Neville and I are doing quite fine.

I guess it’s time to get to the long-awaited Combat Practice class…

…

…

Ayup. This is the first part of this 30k word chapter I've been cooking. This was originally supposed to be just a 15k chonker, but then I kept going. And kept going. And kept going. And now we're a few days behind schedule (this was meant to be sent last Friday/Saturday) and I've been killing myself editing this thing. You guys have two early chapters now at least?

Danmachi chapter... I wanna say I'll try to post it this week, but I've been writing 30k words for the last week. I might take a few days to rest. Sorry guys.