Academy of the Aberrant Chapter 5 (Rewrite) (Patreon)

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

[A/N: This chapter, as shown above, has been rewritten. I'll speak about it more in the author's notes, but the first 2k-3k words are mostly the same while everything branches off afterward with only a few similarities in the plot.]

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…

Richard carefully plucked a leaf from the plant he was currently handling, feeling Demeter’s gaze firmly placed on him as he worked. It was Herbology class and Demeter was giving him extra attention, like usual.

Not the good kind, by the way. She was very thorough in chastising him if he made the smallest of mistakes, a rare occurrence since he seemed surprisingly talented in Botany and Herbology.

Yes, he’s even more talented than he usually is in most subjects. This wasn’t merely his usage of his book-absorbing ability(even if that certainly helped), but an actual talent that somehow put him on par with the likes of Le Fay in this subject. Albeit, this isn’t exactly the most competitive subject.

He just really liked how relaxing it was handling a lot of these plants, and his talent for it was a nice bonus.

Anyways, it’s been over a week since his arrival at Hogwarts. His defeat on his second day of school still lingered in his mind, despondent at the loss as if it had cost him something valuable.

It made no sense. It was an absolute honor getting second place, even managing to defeat Holly Potter who was rumored to be the lowest-numbered dorm holder among the first years. Yet Richard’s spirit has been devastated, the praise sung by his friends and teachers not alleviating his despair whatsoever.

He didn't understand. Why was he so upset? He admits that he does not remember a time in his life that he lost, but that doesn’t amount to anything. He doesn't remember a time in his life, period. Was it his pride that was so hurt by his loss?

He didn't know. What he knew was that defeat tasted terrible, and he would not experience it ever again.

Or so he hoped.

He’s been keeping contact with his friends during the last week, but some of them noticed his sudden change in demeanor. It wasn't something extremely noticeable as he did not allow himself to brood or anything of the sort, but he seemed troubled and contemplative a lot more often.

His hesitant and decreasing contact with Ravel was certainly a telltale sign of his issue. He was eventually able to decide that what he felt for her was not hate, it was simply resentment formed from her earlier victory over him. That resentment decreased with time as he spent some time meditating to better understand his feelings, but a small mark had already formed.

A small burn scar on the palm he held Ravel’s ankle with during their battle. The closest he was to her body at the time and the place most exposed to the fire. His scar didn't heal like the rest of his burns, something he easily attributed to a mental blockage rather than an inability to heal the scar. His body is actively choosing not to heal that scar, perhaps as a reminder.

He knew it. He knew that the only way to remove this scar would be to defeat Ravel, washing away the shame he felt from his defeat. He did not like how he was planning the defeat of one of his friends, but just how naturally that thought came to him struck him as entirely unnatural. That desire to win against her was too deeply rooted to simply let go of it.

Richard has barely been ‘alive’ for a week, and he could not help but follow through with the desires of his emotions and thoughts. He did not know better, which meant that he would now work harder than ever to defeat his friend in the future.

His unnatural desire for victory was quite apparent now that he thought about it. He sacrificed his hands just for a chance of victory against Holly, despite the fact that this entire tournament was barely worth anything. Sure, he could heal them, but that discounted the extreme amount of pain he felt.

Pain that barely felt like an ache to him, but pain nonetheless.

Why did he desire victory so desperately?-

*smack*

“You’ve lost focus again, refocus before you make a mistake.” Demeter’s stern voice snaps him out of his thoughts as she lightly swats his head. He nods his head apologetically and concentrates on the task again as Demeter huffs and continues stroking his hair while he works.

It was a somewhat regular occurrence already, so he did not mind. It also felt quite calming, something he could naturally elucidate to her godly aura which felt like a relaxing breeze from a field of fresh crops.

He spotted Holly glaring at Demeter for swatting him like she did and quickly sent her an appeasing smile, hoping to convince her to let it go before Demeter noticed the girl-who-lived’s heated gaze.

Ah, who was he kidding? She probably noticed already but just didn’t care. She was like that from what he’s seen so far in the past few days.

A few minutes pass and the door of the greenhouse’s classroom flies open, signaling the end of Herbology for today. The students did not move an inch as Demeter finally let go of Richard’s hair and moved to the front of the classroom.

“Your assignment for today is just to read pages 31 to 36. Otherwise, you’re dismissed for today. Get out of my sight.” The students did not need any more convincing and quickly hurried out of the classroom as the irritable goddess sighed hopelessly.

Ah, Richard already absorbed the Herbology book. It seems he won’t have any homework for today except Potions. That’s pretty lucky.

He slowly walks out of the classroom and is soon followed by Holly as she huffs and walks by his side.

“I don’t understand why she fixates on you so intently. You’ve not done anything to offend her, yet she watches your every move like a hawk watching its prey for any sign of weakness.” Holly complains with a grumble as Richard laughs lightly and shakes his head.

“She’s not that bad. Unlike Professor Snape, she’s quite insightful when I make a mistake and actually helps me fix my problem instead of just insulting me.” Not like Richard has given Snape many chances to do said thing, but it has happened.

“Don’t even get me started on that man. What’s his problem? Sometimes he’s overly antagonistic towards me, other times he acts as if I don’t exist at all.” She moves from one topic to the next without even a pause, choosing the next thing to complain about as Richard sighed exasperatedly and turned to the approaching Neville.

“I’m pretty sure Professor Snape treats everyone outside of Slytherin in that way.” Neville points out to Holly as they exchange a small nod of recognition, something they’ve been doing ever since that small rivalry of theirs started.

Holly did not take not being the most physically powerful student of the first years very well. She isn’t angry or upset at Neville specifically, but she’s very unhappy and has been working on improving her physical abilities to try and catch up. Richard wouldn’t call them friends, per se, but they’re definitely acquaintances.

“I’ve noticed, but his excessive targeting of Richard and I is becoming quite annoying. I’d just like to punch him in the face, just once would be so satisfying…” Richard laughed wryly again as Neville sent him an amused look. Holly sometimes made her thoughts bare to the world without any shame, it’s kinda funny.

“I think your snarky comments have lost us enough House Points Holly, I wouldn’t risk trying to punch him as well.” She rolled her eyes and suddenly stopped once they were by the Great Hall while holding Richard’s wrist, motioning for Neville to give them a moment as the boy shrugged and kept walking.

“Speaking of wanting to punch someone, have you recovered enough from your little pity party to finally visit Hagrid’s Hut with me and the others today? You never came the last time I invited you since you were too busy lamenting your defeat as if you didn’t already achieve more than anyone else expected of you.” Richard’s face twisted in discomfort as Holly bluntly scolded him out of nowhere with an irritated expression.

“Should I address the part where you apparently want to punch me?” She rolled her eyes at his attempt to avoid the subject and tightened her grip on his wrist.

“Don’t avoid the question. Ravel and I are going to visit Hagrid today now that we’re done with classes, and we’re planning on helping him out with one of the creatures he’s rescued. It’d be nice having someone else with me since Le Fay and Hermione are doing their own thing in the library today.” His face grimaced further at the realization that it would only be Ravel and Holly, something he definitely did not want to deal with just yet since his feelings regarding Ravel had yet to be fully resolved.

“I’m not sure if I’ll be free, I promised Neville that I’d train with him soon and I don’t want to keep him waiting for too long.” Holly narrowed her eyes and scoffed, clearly unimpressed with his excuse.

“Don’t even try with that nonsense, you trained with Neville just yesterday. You also promised that we’d teach each other our specialties like my magical circles, yet you’ve been ‘too busy’ this past week.” Damn, she got him there. Richard occasionally joins Neville in his training since the shorter boy inspired him with how hard he worked.

He also never got the time to train with Holly as they agreed since, between his long sessions in the library absorbing books and the time he took to meditate on his feelings, he hasn’t exactly had much time for anything outside of school.

“I suppose that is true. I’m still unsure if it’s a good idea for me to come.” Richard admits after a few tense moments as Holly huffs in annoyance and begins dragging him along by the wrist.

“I refuse to allow the person who defeated me in the tournament to act with such cowardice, you’re coming along, and that’s final.” Holly knew she couldn’t actually force Richard to go if he didn’t want to, but Richard didn’t feel like denying her after she made her point.

He is acting quite elusive despite being the one who defeated Holly. He doesn’t think that his victory meant he could act arrogant, but he shouldn’t be so non-confrontational after doing that.

Especially now that so many eyes have snapped his way. There were already plenty because of his unheard-of Superior Sphere count, the news of his victory over Holly only fanned those flames. He occasionally felt hundreds of glances at himself while in the Great Hall, and he always had at least one or two gazes on himself in public.

He’s yet to be approached by anyone with nefarious intentions, but he’s simply biding his time. Surely a devil would get greedy and try to take him soon, no? His memories sure suggested so. Perhaps a student will be tasked with stealing his blood for someone curious enough to risk it despite Dumbledore’s presence.

That’s simply his paranoia speaking though.

Richard is simply biding his time.

“We could at least get lunch before making our way there…” Holly rolls her eyes and ignores Richard’s plea, pulling him away from their previous destination (Ravenclaw Tower) towards the outside of the castle instead.

“We’ll eat during dinner time, I’ve seen you miss multiple meals without complaint so don’t bother.” Richard had no other excuses left, so he decided to stay silent for now and hope that everything turned out alright.

As the duo walked through the large hallways of Hogwarts, an unexpected face suddenly rounded the corner and froze in their tracks in front of Holly and Richard. The duo also froze in place, Holly looking particularly aggrieved at the sight of the boy and his two lackeys behind him.

“Malfoy.” She spits with venom as the boy rolls his eyes in response before turning to Richard angrily.

“Look who it is. Potter and Dick, the two failures of our new wizard generation. Could neither the girl-who-lived Holly Potter nor The Holder of Four Superior Spheres really defeat a single devil girl?” Malfoy sneered with distaste, his eyes locked on Richard oddly enough. Holly seemed particularly angered by his words despite Richard’s hand on her shoulder, which barely stopped her from stomping toward Malfoy.

“If I remember correctly, you yourself could not defeat this so-called ‘failure’, so what does that make you?” Richard’s retort makes Draco’s eyes light up with fury as Malfoy takes out his wand while tightening his other fist painfully. Holly, Richard, and the lackeys all draw their wands as well, the atmosphere intensifying significantly.

“Watch your words, filth. I could easily remove your measly life from this world if I so desired, the only reason for your continued existence is thanks to my mercy.” Upon hearing his words, Holly’s eyes almost glowed with ominous crimson energy of wrath as she stomped forward with enough physical strength that some nearby sideboards and benches wobbled.

“Over my dead body. Call your dear father, Malfoy. Watch the consequences of your impudence as I destroy everything you hold dear, including your pathetically wounded pride.” Holly’s venomous words were enough to make Malfoy lower his wand the slightest bit, his eyes gaining a more serious edge filled with fury.

“Do you think I fear you, Potter? If you thought that my display at the tournament was my true capability, you’d be sorely mistaken. You’ve known of the wizarding world for a year, do not act as if you have not heard of my reputation. I did not wish to reveal my cards early against someone as inconsequential as Dick; do not think for even a moment that I was actually defeated by this inconsequential aberration.” Richard had to place another hand on Holly to keep her from moving even closer to Malfoy, potentially starting a fight right next to the back entrance of Hogwarts.

“You speak quite big despite being the one screaming in outrage once outlasted in our struggle. How about you prove your worth in Combat Practice instead of flaunting like a peacock as you’re doing, or is that too much to ask of the ‘great’ Draco Malfoy?” Richard calmly places a hand on Holly’s shoulder and begins walking past Draco and his lackeys, staring at the boy directly in the eye as they pass by.

Richard hears the activation of something behind him and quickly spins around, his wand lighting up with a dark green color as he feels something wrap around his wrist. Moments later, the glow in his wand’s tip disappears as Richard finds a glowing white rope of sorts coming out of Draco’s sleeves. He attempts to channel his magic through his wand and quickly finds himself incapable of bringing out any magical energy.

Richard grips the glowing rope made of energy and steps forward into Draco’s direct personal space as they stand uncomfortably close, glaring into each other’s eyes to try and cow the other. Draco held a hateful glare as the rope tightened around Richard’s wrist, but Richard did not react whatsoever and returned the glare with an eerily ominous blank stare. They stood there for a few tense seconds before Richard suddenly tugged at the rope with his strength and Draco’s eyes widened, his body being pulled alongside the rope.

“Your tricks will only bring you so far, Malfoy. Your combat intelligence and intuition are horrible, someone weaker than you could easily defeat you by using your own arrogance against you.” Richard unwrapped himself forcefully from the rope before moving back to the livid Holly and walking away from Draco. “In fact, is that not how I defeated you? Let’s test who can outlast the other again soon. I’m curious what the result will be.”

Richard carelessly placed his wand away as he departed, not at all concerned with Draco’s reaction. Holly seemed quite confused though, she did not understand why Richard backed off so suddenly despite ‘winning’.

After Malfoy was no longer in sight, the two finally exited the castle and began making their way to Hagrid’s Hut. Richard was mostly following after Holly as he had not visited the hut before, and it was not part of the tour he had received.

“You were awfully angry,” Richard noted as they approached the hut, noticing a familiar blonde girl in the distance. Richard winces slightly at the sight of her, his chest tightening and his mind momentarily deviating into something negative before he quickly manages to get a hold of himself.

“I dislike him.”

Richard nodded at Holly’s simple answer, accepting it for what it is as they both approached Ravel’s waiting figure.

“You both sure took your time, did something happen?” Ravel did not comment on Richard’s appearance, hinting to Richard that she possibly already knew that he would come along. Holly rolled her eyes in response and sighed.

“We had some trouble with Malfoy again, it’s nothing to concern yourself with though.” Holly’s dismissive answer was enough for Ravel as the devil nodded her head and turned to Richard with a small smile.

“I hope you didn’t experience anything bothersome. Nice to see you again, Ritchie. We haven’t gotten much of a chance to speak in the last few days, have we?”

“No, I suppose we have not. It’s nice seeing you again as well, Ravel.” Richard disguised a deep breath by nodding his head downward before speaking, only doing so once he was sure he could school his tone. His tone was not aggressive in any way, yet Ravel’s smile still strained slightly as Holly sighed from behind the blonde girl.

“Ah, yes.” The girl did not let his tone stop her, though as she nodded her head for a few moments before bowing her head slightly. “I’d like to apologize for the tournament, I should not have-” “Stop.”

Ravel’s figure freezes as Richard’s palm suddenly shoots out and lands on her mouth, blocking her from continuing her apology. She looked up at his face and her eyes widened as she saw him stare back with an uncharacteristic seriousness filling his eyes.

“I’ll apologize for my behavior in the last few days, but I refuse to accept any apology from you. You’ve done nothing wrong that warrants an apology from you, and it would be disgraceful for me to accept it as if I wasn’t the one in the wrong.” Richard quickly denies her with a firm tone while slowly taking his hand away from her mouth. Her eyes follow his palm as he pulls it back and they widen a little. “I’ve never lost against someone before, and I didn’t expect to hate that feeling of loss this much. That shouldn’t be something to blame you for though.”

Holly blinks in surprise at Richard’s abrupt speech. She didn’t expect him to be so firm with how upset he seemed in the last few days.

“Is that a burn on your hand?”

Richard’s eyes widen at Ravel’s sudden exclamation and he quickly hides his hand away as Ravel steps forward to try and grab his hand. She struggles as Richard raises his hand above his head and away from her, too far for her to reach.

“Stop being so stubborn you idiot! Just show me your hand, you have a healing factor don’t you? There shouldn’t be an issue with that if there’s nothing wrong.” Ravel chides with annoyance as Richard continues keeping his hand out of reach, an utterly blank expression on his face while he’s trying to compose himself as best as he can.

“... No.”

How did she go from trying to apologize to insulting him and demanding that he give her his hand? What kind of switch is that? She seems awfully annoyed as well.

Ravel takes advantage of his moment of distraction by extending her wings and flying up, catching his wrist and floating back to the ground while holding his arm with a glare.

“Unclench your fist.” She commanded him authoritatively and he quickly obeyed, unclenching his other fist as Ravel rolled her eyes and glared harder. “The one in my hand! Why would I ask about your other one?”

Richard did not comply this time, opting to stay silent as he stared at Ravel with exasperation and the smallest hint of exhaustion on his pursed lips. Suddenly, Holly appeared from beside Ravel and began forcefully prying his palm open as Richard’s eyes widened and turned to look at Holly in betrayal.

“With friends like these, who needs enemies?” Holly and Ravel rolled their eyes at how dramatic he was and ignored him, staring at the burn scar on his palm with furrowed brows before looking into each other’s eyes and back at Richard.

“Do you have anything you wish to confess, Richard?” Holly asked with an edged voice, irritation filling her tone as if she was disappointed that Richard had not informed her of this burn.

… Seriously?

“That depends. Do you have any questions, Holly? I don’t remember serving you, so you’ll excuse me if I don’t inform you of everything regarding me without prior inquiry.” Holly’s eyes suddenly widened at Richard’s annoyed tone and words, not expecting him to react the way he did as she flushed slightly and cleared her throat.

“Right, sorry... I was just worried.” Richard sighed and shook his head, dismissing her apology and mistake for now.

“What happened? Why have you not healed this burn yet?” Ravel asks next after Holly looks away, ignoring that little interaction for a minute in favor of the actual burn.

“Nothing you need to worry about, it’ll go away soon.” Ravel almost seemed angered at Richard’s dismissive avoidance, gripping his hand between hers and glaring into his eyes.

“I’ll be the first to admit that your healing is not anywhere near comparable to that of a Phenex, but you’re close enough that something marking you like this could not just be ‘nothing I need to worry about’. Do you know how panicked I’d be if something managed to hurt me permanently and leave a mark I can’t heal!?” Richard sighed and pursed his lips again, pulling his hand away forcefully and hiding it in his pocket.

“You’re right, I’m not a Phenex and it’s nothing you should be worrying about. Now, are we going to visit Hagrid or not?” Richard’s attempt at changing the subject and getting the group back on track with the original objective did not work well.

“... You’re being awfully rude, you know? I came here prepared to apologize to you despite not doing anything malicious, and all I’ve been met with so far is disrespect and defiance.” Ravel glares at Richard with slight disappointment as he blinks in surprise, furrowing his brows in thought for a few moments.

He has been acting quite rudely. Was he getting too emotional? He didn’t think his burn was Ravel’s business even if it was her fire that caused it, but he wasn’t conveying that correctly, was he?

He took a deep breath and pursed his lips, looking up from the ground to Ravel with furrowed brows of irritation.

“... I’m sorry if I treated you harshly, but I still think that my injury is none of your business.” He paused for a second as Ravel narrowed her eyes at him while Holly grimaced at the two of them. “At the end of the day, it’s my problem to deal with.”

“Fine. Have it your way, see if I care.” Ravel huffs and turns around, opening the gigantic door leading into Hagrid’s hut and entering it without waiting for Holly or Richard as the door slams closed behind her.

Richard sighed and turned to Holly, watching her stare at the door with a complicated expression before turning to him. They both exchange awkward glances for a few seconds before Holly moves to his side and places a hand on his shoulder.

*Smack*

Before swatting the back of his head with an exasperated expression, Richard’s eyes widened at the hit, turning to look at her indignantly while rubbing the back of his head as Holly shrugged.

“You were acting awfully rude, you got what you deserve. I knew she was planning to apologize to you, but I didn’t think you’d somehow fuck it up.” Holly points out with exhaustion as Richard fixes a glare at her. “You somehow fucked up your apology to her. That’s almost impressive.”

“Give me a break. I’ve had to deal with overwhelming emotions of hate towards her for days now, it’s not my fault that I was suddenly forced to confront her without having time to prepare myself.” Holly paused contemplatively before turning a little sheepish at his words, the smile on her face looking very weak.

“T-That may be my fault, but surely ‘hate’ is too strong of a word here?” Holly tries to reason as Richard sighs and shakes his head.

“You don’t understand. I really did hate her for the first day or two after my defeat. I’m talking full ‘I want to crush her’ here.” Holly blinked in surprise and tilted her head incredulously as Richard nodded his head to reaffirm his words. “It took me several days of meditation for hours at a time just to lower that potent hate into slight dislike.”

Holly stayed silent this time, staring at Richard worriedly and moving her hand to his shoulder to pat him on the back. Richard moves to swat the hand away before she can though, sending her an unamused glare as she looks slightly indignant.

“I wasn’t going to hit you again!” She protests as he continues staring at her blankly. “Whatever… Back to the topic of your apparent hatred, are you sure this isn’t some sort of effect your- one of your bloodlines could be having on you?” Holly poses a good question as Richard’s eyebrows furrow once again in thought.

“I already told you I have no idea what my ‘bloodlines’, if any, are. I think you’re right, though.” Richard sighs in frustration and brings a hand to his head. “These feelings… don’t feel natural. They do, but they also don’t. It’s… It’s like how you sometimes get angry for no reason and want to punch something. It’s natural, but it’s not normal.” Richard attempts to put it into words with a complicated expression as Holly nods along.

“I think I know what you mean. Maybe you’re some sort of youkai or dragon? Either one of those two would explain your Superior Hufflepuff orb. Some youkai are deeply influenced by some emotions, while dragons have their own thing when it comes to certain emotions.” Holly proposes thoughtfully. “If you want, I could call my Godfather to try and check your bloodlines-”

“No.”

Holly and Richard both freeze as Richard suddenly denies sharply. They look at each other silently for a few seconds before Holly sighs.

“It seems you’re uncomfortable with the idea of your secrets being breached or bloodlines exposed. Maybe you are a dragon? You have physical strength befitting of one.” Richard stares at her with half-lidded eyes as she shrugs helplessly. He sighs and turns away from her and to the dirt path.

“Fire Breath!” He yells out with a slight twinge of embarrassment as he huffs and exhales harshly, doing that for a few seconds before turning back to Holly with a glare as nothing happened. “See? Not a dragon.”

“Pfft… Do you think dragons yell ‘Fire Breath!’ when breathing fire?” She snickers as Richard groans in annoyance. “Plus, this proves nothing. You could maybe just throw fire from your hands or something.”

“Oh, whatever.” Richard extends his hand towards the dirt path again, pointing his open palm at a particularly large rock. “Ember.”

The pair stare in shock as a small sphere of flames forms and shoots out of Richard’s open palm, flying through the air and impacting the rock Richard was aiming at before dissipating.

“... I told-” “Bubble.” Holly slowly turned to look at Richard with a smug expression, but Richard beat her to the punch and shot out a bubble of water at the same rock. The water harmlessly splashed against the rock and extinguished the remaining wisps of flame that were left after the fireball as Richard turned to look at Holly blankly.

“Not a dragon.” He insisted.

“You could be?” He looked at her incredulously as she flushed a little and shrugged with a smirk. “Maybe you’re a dragon capable of emitting both water and fire?”

“Gust.” Richard pointed his hand away from the rock and to Holly as a powerful gust of wind was suddenly emitted from his hand and knocked Holly back several steps. “Oh my god, I’m a Pokémon.”

“You bitch!” Holly did not seem as amused as Richard as she straightened her hair and placed her glasses back on after they fell from the gust. She stomped her way back next to him with a glare as he threateningly kept pointing his palm at her.

“Don’t make me unleash my Hyper Beam on you. Trust me, it won’t be pretty.” She rolled her eyes and pushed his palm away as he smiled in amusement. “Now that we’ve established that I am not a dragon, we should get back on topic.”

“I mean, you could-” “Holly.”

Holly rolled her eyes as Richard leveled an unimpressed stare at her, giving up for now and moving back on topic.

“You could still possibly be a Youkai of some sort. I could tell with a glance that the elemental energy you were using was not Wizard Spellwork, so it’s clearly something else. Maybe it’s Youjutsu? We can ask Kunou later.” Richard hummed in thought and nodded, feeling okay about checking with Kunou.

“I don’t mind. It’s a bit weird only finding out that I could do this now, though. I’ve tried shooting fire out of my hands before without using a wand. Didn’t work.” Holly stared at Richard with amusement, envisioning a frustrated Richard pointing his hand at a wall and trying to shoot out fire.

“Not like it matters anyway. Your spells are much, much stronger than what you’ve demonstrated so far. I doubt these Pokémon moves of yours would’ve been very useful in your fights.” Richard stared at her with a slightly affronted expression and aimed his hands at the sky.

“Hurricane.”

Before Richard could contemplate whether this was a good idea or not, a sudden cyclone of intense winds pressed down against the surroundings and almost dragged Holly and Richard into it.

Thankfully, Richard managed to fix his feet against the ground with his energy before he could be pulled while Holly quickly gripped his wrists once she noticed what was happening and how Richard seemed stationary.

The gale receded a few seconds later once Richard stopped channeling it, leaving a somewhat messy entrance in front of Hagrid’s hut. The two turned to look at each other with matching horror as a few loud stomps echoed from the hut’s door.

“What’re ye kids doin’ out there!?” Hagrid yelled while slamming the door open, finding his front porch messy with Richard and Holly standing in the middle while looking quite shocked. “Did one of ‘em critters from the forest sneak by? How’d it get so damned windy??”

“Sorry Mr. Hagrid, won’t happen again.” Richard immediately apologized as Hagrid stared at him with confusion before shaking his head and entering back into his hut.

Well, that was an experience.

“... I could do better.” Holly grumbled after a few seconds of silence as Richard turned to her incredulously before turning skeptical. “I can! I’d just need a few seconds of prep time…”

“I believe you wholeheartedly.” Holly glared at his insincere tone as Richard shrugged helplessly. “Let’s talk later about whatever this was, preferably with Kunou around.”

Richard began heading towards the hut’s door, but was stopped by Holly grabbing his wrist before he could leave. He turned around in confusion and watched Holly’s face grow serious.

“I know you and Ravel are… complicated at the moment, but I’d like it if you tried to think about how you were acting later.” Richard pursed his lips and stared at her face for a few moments before nodding his head. “I don’t want two of my friends to hate each other, so please.”

Richard sighs and nods again. He already planned on doing that, but now he felt more necessity to do it.

“I’ll do my best.”

…

…

“I see yer finally done, eh?” Hagrid greets the two with a big smile as they slowly file into his hut sheepishly, watching Ravel stare at the two of them from the giant wooden chair. She nods to Holly as the redhead waves at her and catches Richard’s eyes with her own as they maintain eye contact for a few tense moments. “Sure took yer time out there.”

They stare for a few more moments before both turn away at the same time, each for different reasons. Richard felt a sharp pinch on his arm from Holly, making him turn away to stare at her in confusion. Ravel, on the other hand, was forced to look away by the giant snake on her lap.

Ah, there’s a giant snake on her lap.

“Sorry for making you wait, Mr. Hagrid. Thank you for inviting me into your hut and sorry for what I did to your front porch.” Richard bowed his head in apology as Hagrid laughed calmly and ‘gently’ patted him on the back, almost sending him flying with the ‘light’ touch.

“Yer fine lad. Happens every few days or so, ain’t too uncommon.” He waves it off carelessly and approaches Ravel, taking the giant snake, which was probably as tall as Hagrid into his hands like it’s a garden snake. “Bit surprised a youngin’ like yerself can wreak havoc like this so early.”

Richard laughs awkwardly at Hagrid’s comment, unsure of how to respond to a comment like that.

“He didn’t know he could do that himself,” Holly spoke on his behalf as she led him towards a gigantic chair that could double as a couch for people who aren’t Hagrid’s size. “He was testing something as a joke and accidentally did… that.”

“Well, ain’t that mighty impressive.” Hagrid laughed carelessly and moved deeper into the hut, shuffling through the numerous items around with one hand while holding the snake in the other as Richard glanced around curiously.

It was a lot bigger than it appeared on the outside. Probably some Expansion Charms at work.

“Hey Hagrid, let me have Noodle for a bit while you’re preparing his food.” Holly requests while staring at the giant snake as Richard recoiled at the name, recognizing that Hagrid must’ve named the gigantic snake ‘Noodle’.

Ah, Hagrid named a Cerberus ‘Fluffy’ didn’t he? Richard isn’t surprised that he named a giant snake Noodle.

Hagrid easily agrees to Holly’s request and places the gigantic snake on top of her before returning to his cooking(?). Richard would be worried that Holly was being crushed, but he already knew she’d be fine. She could probably lift Noodle up with a single arm if she tried hard enough.

“Hello there, Noodle.” Richard greeted the snake with a slightly wry smile as it moved its head up and stared at him in surprise, hissing in response joyfully at being greeted. “Well, aren’t you a smart fellow?”

Holly chuckled as Noodle hissed again to show its satisfaction, rubbing its scaly head and eyeing Richard with amusement.

“He’s saying ‘Hello’ back to you. Talk to snakes often, do you?” Richard rolls his eyes and reaches for the giant snake, petting the oddly smooth and scaly texture of its skin with a small smile.

Ah yes, Holly’s a Parseltongue. Richard forgot that for a second.

“No, but don’t you, Ms. Parseltongue?” Holly blinks in surprise and narrows her eyes slightly at Richard’s retort.

“How’d you know I was a Parseltongue?” She asks suspiciously as Richard blanks for a second, inwardly facepalming at his slip-up before calming down and shrugging sheepishly.

“You just translated Noodle’s words, didn’t you? Unless there’s some other mysterious wizard language that allows you to speak to snakes, that’s the only explanation.” Holly slowly nodded with a hum, but Richard noticed Ravel narrowing her eyes at him from the corner of his eyes while looking unconvinced.

He’ll keep that in mind for later.

“You don’t seem very surprised… News of Holly being a Parseltongue should be especially surprising for a wizard like you.” Ravel points out with suspicion, finally breaking the silence between her and Richard.

“Yeah, but you forgot the part where I’m a muggleborn. I don’t really care beyond the fact that it’s cool that she’s a Parseltongue.” He shrugged again helplessly as Ravel hummed but didn’t comment, still unconvinced but not mentioning it again.

“Mind if I ask why you’re keeping Noodle around here? This place seems too stuffy for a snake of his size, no?” Richard decides to change the subject and looks back to Noodle as the snake snaps up once it’s mentioned.

“Hagrid managed to save this little guy a few days ago when he found Noodle badly wounded in the Forbidden Forest. We’ve been asking him about how he got injured, but he’s too stubborn and insists that it was because of a ‘legendary fight against a mighty dragon’.” The danger Noodle twitched and turned to stare at Holly with a scathing glare at being called a liar as Holly smiled at him smugly.

Richard smiled a little in amusement as the snake slowly slithered away from Holly and down to the ground. The forest had dragons, didn’t it? He remembered Kunou or someone saying that.

“It isn’t impossible, right? I believe that there are dragons in the Forbidden Forest, no?” Hagrid nods at Richard’s curious question before pausing and shaking his head a few seconds later.

“Well, yes, but actually no. Any dragons that lil ol’ Noodle could’ve met are too deep into the Forest. They ain’t livin’ nowhere near where Noodle is livin’.” Richard nods his head at Hagrid’s explanation while humming thoughtfully, understanding why they were so skeptical of Noodle’s story now.

“And I’m guessing these dragons don’t stray too far from where they live?” He asks the next question on his mind while reaching for Noodle, snapping his hand back as Noodle playfully tries to bite the extended hand.

“Yeah, them big ol’ dragons know better than to try leavin’ their little homes or try movin’ closer to Hogwarts.” Hagrid shrugs his shoulders without much thought.

“Hey, why don’t we go check the area Noodle was hurt to search for evidence of this ‘mighty dragon’? Surely there’d be some tracks left behind by such a giant creature, right?” Holly suggests with an eager grin while nudging Noodle teasingly as Hagrid’s head snaps up from where he was working, looking at Holly with a look of horror.

“Absolutely not! What yer sayin’ is insane Holly! Ye can’t enter the Forbidden Forest withou’ a teacher. It’d be too dangerous!” Hagrid rapidly shook his head in denial with almost panicked haste as Holly narrowed her eyes before turning to send a smirk at Richard and Ravel.

Oh shit.

“Too dangerous you say? I happen to know of a few students who entered the Forbidden Forest and came out just fine quite recently.” Richard’s hands twitched and he quickly glanced at Ravel to find the girl staring at Holly unblinkingly with an innocent smile.

Someone snitched. Chivalry is dead.

“No way! Them kids ‘ere definitely spoutin’ nonsense to impress ya, Holly. Leave Noodle’s issue to ol’ Hagrid here, the Gamekeeper!” Hagrid patted himself on his chest confidently after puffing it out in pride, missing the mischief brewing in Holly’s eyes as she suddenly stood up and patted Noodle’s head.

“Oh? Is that so?~ Well then, thank you for warning me, Hagrid. I’ll be a bit more careful moving forward.” Holly grinned impishly as Hagrid turned to her in confusion. “I do believe it’s getting quite late though, I think we’ll head back to the castle for today.”

Hagrid blinks in confusion but still nods, not commenting about how Holly just got here and how it was still quite early in the day.

“Alrighty then, make sure yer keepin’ up with all yer studies Holly. You’ll do just fine with how talented you are.” Hagrid smiles at Holly before turning to Richard and Ravel. “You two as well, yeah?”

“Of course. Thank you for having me, Hagrid. I look forward to visiting again if you’ll have me.” Richard stands up and inclines his head politely to Hagrid as the giant laughs and nods back.

“I’ll make sure to visit again soon, Hagrid. Thank you for having me.” Ravel stands up as well and smiles politely at the giant as he waves at her, leading the group to the door to see them off.

“Bye Hagrid!” Holly waves as the group begins moving away, watching Hagrid move back inside his hut with the giant door slamming behind him.

As the group moves further away from the hut, Holly stops and turns to look at Richard and Ravel with a smug smirk.

“So, the Forbidden Forest huh?” She starts mercilessly against the two, seizing the initiative in this little song and dance.

Too bad Richard had other plans.

“I can’t believe Hermione snitched on us like that. I thought we were friends and that we had each other’s backs…” Richard looked to the ground in disappointment and sighed, noticing how Holly’s eyes widened. Ravel sent him an amused glance from the side, catching on to what he was planning.

Truce?

She slowly nodded her head without alerting Holly.

Truce.

“Yeah… I would’ve never expected Hermione to betray us like that. She seemed so sweet too…” Holly was practically paling after Ravel spoke and furiously began shaking her head while grabbing the duo’s wrists.

“Wait wait wait, no! I forced Hermione to tell on you guys- wait, how did you even know it was Hermione who did it??” Holly’s victorious facade quickly cracked as she hastily tried to defend Hermione, unaware that both Richard and Ravel weren’t actually upset with Hermione.

“Well, it was me, Ravel, Kunou, and Hermione. It can’t exactly be Ravel or I, and I’m sure we all know why it wouldn’t be Kunou…” Richard trailed off at the end as both Ravel and Holly sighed and nodded blankly.

“”Yeah no, can’t be her.”” They spoke in tandem and then looked at each other in surprise before chuckling.

It seems Ravel isn’t upset with Holly despite what happened earlier. That was… good?

“That only leaves Hermione as the culprit. The traitor.” Holly facepalms and sighs at Richard’s words before looking up at the blonde duo pleadingly.

“Listen, I forced her to admit what you guys did, okay? She kept resisting for a while until I… well you don’t need to know what I did.” A devious smile enters her face for a moment before quickly disappearing at a suspicious speed.

Richard prays for Hermione’s well-being.

“So… We’re going to the Forbidden Forest again to make up for not inviting you the first time?” Ravel asks after a few moments while looking at Holly warily, cautiously asking what her intentions are now that she’s sure Holly isn’t upset.

“Yep! We’re-” “I’m not sure if that’s the best idea…”

Richard accidentally cuts Holly off as the girl turns to him with dangerously narrowed eyes, forcing him to raise his hands in surrender before she decides to pounce on him in anger.

“I’m just saying. The last time we went out to the Forbidden Forest, we were caught by Kunou’s mother and warned from doing it again.” Holly opens her mouth with a smirk, but Richard beats her to it. “Looking at Holly’s smirk, she’s about to suggest that we go out at night. An even worse idea.”

Holly flushes at being read so easily before huffing and crossing her arms, glaring at Richard for both interrupting her and calling her idea bad.

“Hmm… I don’t see why not. What’s the harm in entering at night? We’ll be going as a group this time. Between me, Holly, Le Fay, Kunou, and you, I doubt anything we find could threaten us as long as we stick to the outskirts this time.” Ravel hums for a few seconds before suddenly backing Holly up as the redhead sends her a grateful grin and turns at Richard victoriously.

Richard takes a deep breath and puts his palms together in front of his mouth in exasperation while looking at Ravel with dead fish eyes.

“Ravel. We aren’t all immortal, unkillable creatures capable of healing from any punishment the horrors of the forest can inflict on us.” Ravel scoffs and rolls her eyes, sending him a raised eyebrow as he opens his mouth to protest before closing it and huffing. “I can heal, yes, but not from anything. I think.”

“It’s fine, Richard. If a creature that’s capable of hurting you beyond your normal recovery rate comes, I’ll protect you.” Holly smiles and reassuringly places a hand on Richard’s back, patting him lightly as he rubs his temples exasperatedly.

“That’s not the issue- oh whatever.” Richard gives up with a sigh as Ravel and Holly high-five behind his back. “Gather the others, we’ll meet up after dinner to try and enter the Forbidden Forest- Holly, do we even know where we’re looking?”

Holly puffs her chest out at Richard’s skepticism and nods her head. “I already know that Hagrid comes by the Great Hall at dinner time to eat with the rest of us. Once he’s there, I’ll sneak over to his hut and pick up Noodle so he can guide us there!” She enthusiastically explains her ingenious plan as Ravel claps her hand appreciatively with a ‘wow’ while Richard almost pulls his hair out in frustration.

“Ravel, this is your fault. If we encounter anything dangerous in the forest, I’m throwing you in as bait.” Ravel turns to him with an offended expression before huffing and crossing her arms in displeasure.

“Whatever.”

“Alright, I’m going to pick up Le Fay and Hermione from the library to get them on board. Richard, you find Kunou and pick her up, alright?” Holly instructs Richard as he blinks and suddenly remembers something.

“Ah, should I invite Neville? He’s quite strong himself and probably won’t mind sneaking out with us.” Holly pauses before slowly nodding her head, probably remembering Neville’s strength. Ravel seems intrigued but doesn’t comment. “I also need another person here to ensure you all don’t do anything dumb.”

Holly sends him one last glare at that comment before she begins speeding toward the castle taking Ravel with her and leaving Richard behind to stare at their backs wryly.

He shakes his head exasperatedly and begins making his way to the castle, already formulating a plan on what he’s going to do to pick up Ravel.

After a quick few minutes of walking, he finds himself on the castle grounds after slipping through the back entrance. There didn't seem to be many students around, most of them were still at lunch or back at their dorms after classes.

Richard noticed a gigantic bar with comically large weights hanging on each side that were taller than he was being lifted into the air and lowered, a common sign that a certain friend of his was currently working out as he was probably the only person around capable of lifting such heavy weights for exercise.

He waved to his other friends that he noticed hanging around before approaching the gigantic weights, finally spotting the shorter boy’s figure which was hidden by the weights. He placed a hand on his shoulder gently, the boy immediately glancing back with narrowed eyes before relaxing at the sight of Richard there.

“Neville.” Richard greeted.

“Richard.” Neville nodded his head in reply. “Come to train?”

“Haha… Not exactly.” Richard smiled sheepishly before sighing and smirking. “How do you feel about breaking some rules with me?”

…

…

“Are you certain you don’t want me to pitch in to pay the fee? We may not be Malfoy level of rich, but my family is an old Pureblood house.” Neville asked for the umpteenth time as we stood right outside the Great Hall, doing our best to seem inconspicuous as a few students looked at us weirdly before ignoring us.

“On the off chance my plan fails, I’d rather not have you pay anything and lose it. Plus, you’re already doing me a favor by just tagging along, I’d hate to ask you for more.” Richard smiled gratefully at Neville as the other boy sighed before gaining a small smile on his face and shaking his head.

“... There’s no way I’d let you do something so dangerous alone, especially after you specifically asked me for help. You’d have done the same for me, so don’t bother feeling indebted.” Richard smiles sheepishly and rubs the back of his neck before fist-bumping Neville and turning back to stare into the Great Hall.

“I’m surprised you aren’t doubting those two’s capabilities though. You didn’t even bat an eye while we were talking.” Richard pointed out curiously as Neville exhaled humorously and shook his head with a smile.

“Those two have quite the reputation. I have no doubt that they’ll pull off what was requested of them.” Neville explains as Richard nods in understanding, not doubting his words at all. “I’m more surprised that a muggleborn like yourself knew of their reputation.”

“Word goes around quite quickly.” Richard uses that as his excuse and Neville simply nods, not finding any reason to question Richard further. There was no need.

The sound of something exploding alerted the duo that the plan was finally in motion. A quick glance inside showed that various magical effects suddenly appeared all over the Great Hall en masse, ranging from fire particles akin to fireworks, to various gasses and smokes enveloping the Hall, all the way to fairy dust. The effects were distributed all around, but Richard noticed that they were mostly centered around the Hufflepuff table.

Just as he planned.

“Lumos Radium.” A beam of light shot from Richard’s wand, flying through the confused students and towards a certain fox girl. Said fox girl quickly dodged the ray of light and turned to the Great Hall’s door with narrowed eyes, her face brightening up as she spotted Richard.

The ‘students’ around Kunou quickly stood up, hastily trying to surround Kunou so that nothing could hit her. One of them placed a hand on her shoulder to try and lead her away, growing surprised once Kunou’s body cracked and disappeared into motes of light.

Richard glanced into the Great Hall one last time, spotting two redheaded siblings chuckling and trying to make their escape. They’re blocked by a familiar large man with brown hair who suddenly appears from behind the giant doors, smiling gently at both of them. They both gulp at the sight of their House Aid, Mr. Brunner, who places a hand on each of their shoulders and began dragging them away.

Richard will pray for them later, but he did pay them a little extra as insurance in case they got caught.

“She’s here Neville. Let’s go!” Richard taps Neville on the shoulder before reaching for empty air and grabbing something while beginning to hightail it out of the Great Hall, leaving while the chaos was still forming and a food fight ensued.

Neville doesn’t hesitate and runs after Richard despite not spotting Kunou anywhere, his eyes staring at Richard’s hand as he ran and noticing how it appeared to be holding something.

He noticed cracks in the air forming where Richard’s hand was, slowly forming a certain tail as a surprised & slightly flustered Kunou appeared from thin air while staring at Richard with confusion. He doesn’t hesitate to run faster now that he knows that they successfully achieved their objective, leaving behind the other students who were desperately attempting to get through the crowded Great Hall doors.

Richard noticed that he was holding Kunou’s tail instead of her hand and quickly let go while sending an apologetic look to the girl as she giggled and continued running next to him.

“Haha!~ Was that you guys?” Kunou laughed merrily as the group quickly ran through the halls of Hogwarts, passing many confused students of all ages. “Where are we going?”

“No running in the halls!” A Hufflepuff prefect angrily exclaimed at the group before freezing at the sight of Kunou laughing and running alongside the group, disappearing behind a corner as the group turned and continued running.

“Forbidden Forest, you in?” Richard replies to the second question, not answering the first as it’s quite obvious what the answer was.

“Are you kidding me? You don’t even have to ask!” Kunou shamelessly agreed without a second thought, not caring about how she was caught a mere week ago doing this exact thing. She laughed and latched onto Richard’s arm, running to his side with an ecstatic smile.

She must’ve been very bored the past week. Can’t blame her.

They make it out of the back entrance of Hogwarts in no time, rushing out of the castle grounds and towards the Greenhouses. They’re all forced to stop as they spot a figure exiting the Greenhouse, their faces paling at the sight of possibly the worst person they could meet right now.

“And what do you all think you’re doing leaving the castle at this unholy hour?” The stern voice of Demeter stops the group right in their tracks as the goddess huffs and places a hand on her hips. “Kunou? Ah, your mother is going to go ballistic once she hears of this.”

Kunou pales a little at the mention of her mother, turning to Richard worriedly as he takes a deep breath and motions for the group to go without him.

“Ah, Miss Demeter… We’re running away after someone began shooting spells in the Great Hall, making the students start a food fight. It’s very chaotic, so we thought we’d leave the castle for a while until everyone calmed down.” Demeter narrowed her eyes at Richard before closing them, huffing in annoyance a few seconds later and reopening her eyes.

Did she somehow check if he was speaking the truth from here?

His friends slowly moved away, leaving Richard to face Demeter as her eyes tracked their departing forms for a few seconds before turning back to Richard and moving towards him.

“We weren’t planning on doing anything-” “You’re going to the Forbidden Forest again.”

Richard freezes and gapes at Demeter as she sighs, standing right in front of him and glaring down menacingly. He winces as she raises her hand, only to relax once she places it on his head.

“You foolish child. Yasaka just warned you two weeks ago about entering the Forbidden Forest alone, yet here you are in the dead of night, planning to enter the forest alone.” She complains with a tone of frustration, her hand moving down to pinch his cheeks painfully. “Do you wish to die, you idiotic student of mine?”

“I’m not going alone, I have my friends with me.” Richard points out quietly, wincing again as Demeter lets out a sound of frustration and pinches even harder.

“Your ‘friends’ are not going to be of any help once you encounter whichever monstrosity you might find in the forest. How could you trust these ‘friends’ of yours when you have barely known them for a week?” Richard’s brows furrowed at her words, not liking how she sounded so distrusting of his friends.

“I trust my friends. They’ve got my back, and I have theirs.” Richard spoke confidently, not doubting his friends for even a moment and matching Demeter’s gaze to show his confidence.

Demeter let out another groan, letting go of Richard’s cheeks and placing her hands on her hips with a frown.

“You should not be so trustful of those around you, family, friends, or otherwise.” She chides Richard with an exasperated tone, her voice sounding more than a little bitter. “Tell me, were you the one who decided on entering the Forbidden Forest?”

Richard didn’t see where she was going with this but shook his head nonetheless.

“No, I tried to convince them not to-” He froze, suddenly realizing what she was hinting at.

“See? You knew it was a bad idea to enter the forest, yet they forced you to go nonetheless.” Demeter whispered softly with a sad smile, gently brushing through Richard’s hair with her fingers. “Friends who pressure their friends into doing something dangerous… do they sound loyal?”

“No, you’re wrong. My friends did not mean to pressure me, they were just…” Richard continued vehemently denying Demeter’s words, finding himself lost on how he could explain himself. “They’re children, Miss Demeter. They don’t want to hurt anyone, they’re just curious.”

“Are you not a child too, Little Richard?” Demeter sighed and pursed her lips exasperatedly, looking at the stiffening Richard bitterly. “Yet here you are, rational enough to not want to go to the Forbidden Forest yet still going for the sake of a few children who do not share your forethought.”

“It’s because of that that I have to go,” Richard stresses. “They need someone there to keep them grounded, to ensure they don’t get hurt doing something stupid.”

“You hold no responsibility for these children, Richard. Your small friend, Hermione, is intelligent enough to ensure they don’t do anything too dangerous.” Demeter points out, suddenly bringing Richard into her arms. “Don’t endanger yourself pointlessly, Richard. Just go home, where you’ll be safe. You can tell them that I forced you to return to your dorm tomorrow.”

Richard’s eyes widened as she hugged him, his breath hitching as she enveloped him in a warm embrace, unlike anything he’s felt before in this world.

His eyes close for a few seconds, contemplating her words for only a moment before making his decision.

“... I’m sorry.” He whispered quietly, hugging her back tightly. “I won’t be able to rest easy knowing I left my friends to fend for themselves in the Forbidden Forest. I may not be responsible for Holly since she’s the one who wanted to go, but I am responsible for Neville and Kunou.”

Richard couldn’t see Demeter’s face, but he could roughly hear her sigh at his response. He feels her hand moving to his head, caressing it briefly before a light feeling floods his body. It was like the opposite of a headache, a soft feeling of warmth centered around his head.

“... Then go, little hero.” Demeter eventually spoke, letting go of him and turning around so he couldn’t see her face as his eyes widened in surprise. “... Ensure that you and your friends return safely.”

She was letting him go?

“... Thank you, Miss Demeter. I’ll come back safely. I promise.” Richard bowed his head in gratitude before turning around and running away, his head feeling light and clear as he sprinted away.

“... You’re hopeless…” Demeter mutters with a whisper, staring sadly at Richard’s back as he runs away.

…

…

“You made it!?” Kunou gaped at Richard as he stopped running and turned to look at her with furrowed brows and a tilted head.

They were all gathered by the Black Lake at a predetermined spot they had decided to meet in. Neville guided Kunou here while Holly and Ravel got Le Fay, Hermione, and Noodle. It seems the group hadn’t been waiting on Richard for too long as all of them were still standing.

Except Neville. He’s doing push-ups on the ground a bit further away from the group.

“Yeah? Why wouldn’t I have?” Richard questions confusedly as Kunou facepalms.

“I was sure that the witch was going to lock you away for daring to go against my mom’s words. Just the fact that you’re alive is- Is that a fucking flower crown on your head!?” Kunou’s jaw drops and she stares at Richard like she just saw a ghost as his eyes furrow even further and he reaches for his head.

Oh. There really was a flower crown on his head.

“... Must be a gift.” He eventually decided as Kunou choked on air and reached for the closest person, Ravel, to lean on them for support.

“A gift… From the witch…? Impossible. It’s hexed. It’s cursed.” Kunou looked extremely pale as she stared at Richard’s head where the flower crown was. Richard frowned at how dramatic she was being.

“You’re overexaggerating. Miss Demeter isn’t even that bad. I’m here now, aren’t I?” Kunou gaped even harder, her jaw almost dropping to the floor.

“Th- The Messiah!” Kunou muttered breathlessly as Richard recoiled incredulously.

“I’m not the Messiah! Kunou, Ravel is literally right there.” Ravel looked at Richard weirdly at his words, probably not catching how he was hinting that Kunou could hurt her by speaking about Jesus or God.

Devils were hurt when people said God, right? His memories said so.

“He is the Messiah-” Kunou’s head was smacked from behind by a huffing Holly, who seemed exasperated at her dramatics.

“Alright, enough nonsense. I’ve got Noodle here already, we shouldn’t waste any more time!” Holly patted Noodle’s head as he slithered down from her neck and to the ground, flicking his tongue out a few times before turning to hiss at Holly. “This way!”

“Adventure!” Le Fay chanted and moved behind Holly, Hermione closely following behind with an anxious look on her face. Neville got further away from his spot, quickly moving to Richard’s side as Ravel did the same.

“What’s with the flower crown?” Neville asked curiously as Richard smiled awkwardly.

“I have no idea.”

…

…

I apologize.

I really did you guys dirty with my lack of uploads in the past few weeks, if not months. I'll admit right away, this story has really burnt me out and as this was one of my first rewrites, I've been discouraged with every word I had to delete and rewrite.

I won't waste your time, I'd just like to apologize for my lack of activity. I'll do my absolute best to make it up to you guys as best as I can. I'm even working on the next Speak in a Dungeon chapter right now. I'm gonna work to remove my earlier "1 chapter per 2 weeks" schedule as it was leaving me quite lazy and rusty, meaning I'll do my best to upload as soon as I finish the chapter rather than wasting time until the deadline comes.

I really appreciate you all, and I'm thankful for your support despite my lack of activity. I won't let you down.

- Your Overlord