When the class finished, the entirety of the class let out a silent sigh of relief, knowing that the end of the school day was over, though the dour atmosphere that emanated off of Snape seemed to prevent anyone from actually daring to discuss it. A few of the Slytherins started to discuss their plans on what they would do for the rest of the evening without classes immediately after they left the doors, earning an annoyed glare from the potions professor, but no reprimand. The Gryffindors didn't seem too eager to start talking while they were still within earshot of him, but once the last of the students filed out and Snape waved his wand to shut the door behind them, a quiet explosion of whispered chatter erupted from the Gryffindors and any of the Slytherins that hadn't entirely trusted in how far they could push their Head of House's favouritism towards them.

Blaise let out a loud yawn, and announced that he was off to the common rooms, wanting to test out how soft the sofas and armchairs were before the upper years could claim all of them. Though nobody responded to him, some of the other first years, Slytherin and Gryffindor both, seemed to agree with the idea and silently started to walk quickly towards their common rooms.

Flynn watched them go, wondering idly about what he would do with his newfound free time, before he noticed someone staring at him. He was sure he wasn't meant to notice it, with how Hermione was only glancing at him out of the sides of her eyes, but if she was trying to be discrete, she was doing a horrible job of it.

"What are you looking at?" Flynn said.

Hermione let out a quiet squeak of surprise as she flinched away from the question, turning her head away from him as if she was trying to pretend like she hadn't been caught looking at him. She stayed where she was, unmoving and unspeaking. Flynn waited for a few seconds before walking away, not caring enough about what she had to say to wait any longer for her. He didn't know exactly what her problem was with him, but with how timid and intimidated she seemed to be by him, he doubted he would cause any trouble for him if he let her go unchecked.

Flynn walked through the halls of Hogwarts, frowning as the echoes of conversations travelled along the stone corridors towards him. Though the Potions class had been in a relatively isolated section of the castle compared to the rest of his classes, it still wasn't too far away from the central section of the castle that most of Hogwarts seem to operate in. With the first day of classes ending, it was inevitable that the castle grounds and corridors would be swarmed by students, and while Flynn wasn't skittish enough be afraid of a crowd, he still wanted to avoid being in a situation where he was surrounded by unknowns if he could help it.

Flynn walked along the hallways of Hogwarts, not knowing exactly where he was going, but knowing that he didn't want to be where he was now. He walked along the corridors, thinking about whether he could retreat to the secluded classroom that he'd found earlier that day.

"Flynn!"

Flynn frowned at the sound of the familiar voice calling his name, and when he spotted Lily. With how short she was, she probably would've been barely visible in the slowly growing crowd of older students that filled the corridors if it weren't for how furiously she was waving both arms at him.

Flynn's frown deepened as he considered whether he should ignore her or not, but once he realized that she might take it as a challenge to annoy him further if he tried to avoid her, he sighed and walked over towards her. Even from so far away, it was easily to tell that she had been surprised by his choice, but any surprise that her expression showed quickly melted away into a wide smile. As Flynn got closer to her, he frowned when he noticed the two other students that flanked her, clearly confused by his presence.

Flynn decided to ignore them for now, and once he walked close enough to Lily that she had to completely crane her head upwards to look him in the eyes, he frowned down at her.

"What do you want?" he asked.

Completely unperturbed, Lily beamed up at him.

"Hi Flynn," she said. "It was very rude of you to disappear so suddenly after Herbology."

He waited for her to continue, but when it became obvious that she was done, he grunted.

"Is that all you had to say?"

Lily laughed, as if he'd just made a joke.

"After Herbology, I introduced you to my friends but when I turned around, you weren't even there," she said, shaking her head. "I must've looked like a crazy person with an imaginary friend or something."

"We didn't think that," the Hufflepuff boy beside her said with a frown. "You were partnered with him during class, and it's very hard not to notice him."

Turning to Flynn, the boy extended his hand, though he did it with a healthy amount of hesitation.

"Wayne Hopkins," he said. "Nice to meet you."

Flynn stared down at the boy with a frown, though he supposed there was no reason to be hostile.

"Flintstone Fredericton," he replied.

"He thinks it's nice to meet you too, Wayne," Lily added, after a short pause.

"Umm, sure," he said, a little hesitantly, his eyes darting behind him. "You know what, I'm actually feeling quite tired. I think I'll go back to the dorms to take a quick nap, if that's okay with you all."

Lily sighed and shook her head.

"You'll get nowhere in life if you spend it all in bed, Mr. Hopkins," she said. "But I suppose children do need their rest. Run along, then."

"We're the same age," Wayne protested, though he was already turned halfway away.

"But only one of us has a 3 p.m. bedtime," Lily responded.

Wayne looked like he wanted to argue against the point, but with a glance up at Flynn, he seemed to decide that it wasn't worth the trouble.

"It's called beauty sleep when you're as good looking as I am," Wayne said, as he turned away, waving backwards at the remaining trio. "I'll see you at dinner."

Flynn watched Wayne go until he disappeared around a corner. Lily let out a huff once he was out of earshot.

"I worry about that boy," she said. "He could really learn to be a little more social like you, Flynn."

Flynn stared down at Lily, who turned up to him with an innocent smile on her face.

"I can't tell if you're stupid or crazy," Flynn said bluntly.

"That's a very rude thing to say," Lily said, though her expression showed no hint that she had actually taken offense to it.

Flynn stared down at Lily, but after almost a minute of silence, he let out a huff and turned his head away from her.

"Tell me your name," he said.

It took a few seconds for the Hufflepuff girl, standing a few feet away, to realize that he was talking to her. She flinched under his gaze, and after a quick glance to either side of her, as if she was trying to find someone else that Flynn could possibly be talking to. When she didn't find anything, she pointed shakily to herself, in a silent question.

Flynn scowled at her, making her flinch even further into herself.

"Yes, you," he said. "I'm Flintstone Fredericton. Who the hell are you?"

"Sally," the girl said quickly, and quietly enough that Flynn could barely hear her. "Smith."

"Hey," Lily said, slapping Flynn's arm. "Stop bullying Sally. You shouldn't be treating girls so harshly."

Flynn scowled back down at Lily, but otherwise ignored her comment.

"There," he said. "I've introduced myself to your friends. Can I go now?"

Lily looked up at him with genuine confusion in her eyes.

"What are you talking about?" she asked.

"You said you wanted to introduce me to your friends," Flynn replied. "And I did. Can I go now?"

A look of understanding slowly dawned on Lily's face as she let out a laugh.

"That's not the reason why I called you over, Flynn," she said.

"Then why the fuck did you call me over then? Wasting my fucking time," Flynn growled, ignoring the raised eyebrows from a passing group of older Slytherins. Flynn glared at them, as if daring them to speak up, but for some reason, after analyzing the scene for a moment, their eyes darting between Flynn and the two Hufflepuff girls he was looming over, they grinned at him and continued to walk along.

"Do I need a reason?" Lily asked, as Flynn continued to track the older Slytherins as they made their way down the corridors, turning a corner and disappearing from sight. "I just wanted to say hi to a friend."

"I don't do friends," Flynn said.

"Well I do," Lily said, as if that explained anything. "Now come along, Flynn. Let's do friend things. My great-grandpa used to be the caretaker here, and even though I've never met him, my grandpa always told me about the strange things he discovered while taking care of the school. Did you know there are secret passageways that can take you anywhere in the castle? I've always wanted to find them once I got to Hogwarts, and now we're here! You up for an adventure?"

Flynn scowled, though it was more out of a basic reflex more than a reaction to what she had just said. Though the thought of having to listen to the blonde girl for any longer than he had to gave him a preemptive headache just by thinking about it, he had to admit the idea was an appealing one. It wasn't too dissimilar from what he had done during lunch, and though he might've preferred to explore without company, the promise of insider knowledge was enticing enough that he had to stop to consider sacrificing his eardrums for a better understanding of the castle that would be his territory for the near future.

After about a minute of intense internal debate, he let out a hiss of annoyance at himself in response to the conclusion he had reached.

"Fine," he said.

Lily let out a whoop of excitement, and though Sally had started to inch slowly away from them after her introduction, Lily rushed towards her and grabbed her hand, making Sally yelp as she was unexpectedly pulled almost off of her feet.

"Come on, gang!" Lily shouted as she dragged Sally down the hall. "Adventure awaits!"

Flynn heavily considered the possibility of just turning around and leaving, but let out a low groan and followed the vibrating blonde blur and her unfortunate friend. Hopefully those secret passageways would be worth the trouble.

Despite the fact that Lily talked enough to fill the silence on her own, it still took about an hour for her to mention that even though her great-grandfather had been the Hogwarts caretaker at some point, and that her grandfather had told her stories about the strange and wonderful things that he'd discovered during his time there, none of those stories had included any details on how to find anything, and that she had no idea where she was going.

With Sally having lost track of how to navigate the twisted halls of Hogwarts, and Lily not even having bothered to try and remember the way back to the main parts of Hogwarts, Flynn considered the idea of just going back on his own and letting the two annoyances just starve to death, but he didn't feel like expending the effort to lose them, so he didn't bother to try.

Even with how confusing the Hogwarts layout was, with parts of the castle having a geometrically impossible layout that was likely only possible with magic, Flynn felt like he had a good sense of how to retrace the path they had taken to get to the secluded section of the castle that they found themselves in, but rather than expending the mental energy to try and navigate the halls, he walked to the ground floor and found a window that led outside. Pushing the window open, he climbed out to the school grounds.

"Hey, Flynn," Lily shouted, from inside the building. "Help a pair of beautiful ladies out, here. Not all of us are as big as you are."

Flynn glanced back at the open window he'd just climbed out of, to see Lily looking like she was straining to stand on her tiptoes just to be able to peer out of it. He sighed and walked back, knowing that she would just be more annoying if he ignored her. The window was still short enough that she would probably be able to climb it without his help, even if it would require more effort on her part, so unfortunately there was no chance that she would starve and die in the castle if he just left.

Wordlessly, he climbed back through the window, and glared down at Lily, before bending down, grabbing her and throwing her over his shoulder.

Lily let out a squawk of shock and protest, but stopped squirming when Flynn stood up fully, likely too afraid to fall if she squirmed too much. Thankfully, Lily was light enough that he didn't have too much trouble with climbing back out through the window, and once he landed on the grass, he dropped Lily on her feet. Though he hadn't intentionally put her down with the intention of making her fall, she stumbled backwards from the momentum and fell on the floor, though he doubted from her pouty reaction and the softness of the grass that it actually hurt her.

"Very, very rude of you, Mr. Fredericton," she said.

Flynn ignored her as he climbed back through the window, hopping back into the castle with a loud thud as his feet hit the floor. He walked over to Sally, but stopped when she made a low whine of fear and recoiled away from him.

"You want me to help you or not?" he asked gruffly. "You can climb out on your own if you want. I don't care."

Sally froze on the spot, reminding him of a rat he had trapped once when he'd been near starving when he had been around five years old. While he never actually ate it, deciding that the parasites it had would probably give him more pain that death, he couldn't help but think that Sally fully expected him to kill and eat her.

Flynn reached out to grab her. She flinched at his touch, but didn't move as she seemed to accept her fate, whatever it may be.

He let out a loud sigh and scooped her up in his arms, a little gentler than he had with Lily, and climbed slowly back out of the window, making sure not to bump her on the window frame and leave any bruises that he might get in trouble for later.

With how much her knees were shaking, he doubted she would be able to stand, so he laid her gently on the floor in a sitting position.

"Hey, why are you being so much nicer to Sally than you were to me?" Lily asked, with a pout. "That's hardly fair."

"Fuck off," Flynn said, before turning back to Sally. "Can you walk on your own?" he asked.

Sally blinked a few times, and flinched when she noticed his gaze on her. Though she didn't say anything in response, she nodded frantically and pushed herself forward, getting on her knees before standing up on shaky legs.

"Good," Flynn said. "Don't fucking expect me to carry you again. I ain't your slave."

Lily laughed at that.

"Oh you're such a sweetheart, Flynn," she said. "Isn't that right, Sally?"

"Are you stupid?" Flynn asked.

"That was incredibly rude of you to ask," Lily responded.

They walked for about ten minutes, sticking close to the walls so they would eventually get to the main gates in theory, before Lily started to drift away from the castle walls, dragging Sally along with her. Flynn didn't have to strain hard to see what had caught her attention, with the large hut being the only thing that stood out in the otherwise empty clearing. It took Flynn about thirty seconds to realize that he was walking in the same direction that they were, but though he didn't understand why at first, he quickly decided that he was also curious about what might be in the hut because there was no possible reason that he would want to spend another second with the two Hufflepuff girls otherwise.

Though he heavily disagreed on Lily's theories that there would be a dragon living inside of the hut, he didn't bother to argue against it. Though it seemed that Lily hadn't noticed the giant crossbow leaning against the side of the hut, nor the pair of muddy boots that were laid out neatly at the door, she still seemed confident that there was someone in the hut, and didn't hesitate in knocking on the door.

She and Sally both flinched back in surprise, when a dog started to bark almost immediately from inside the hut, but quickly recovered when she seemed to realize that there was something that could be pet on the other side of the door. Though Flynn glanced at the crossbow, he abandoned the idea of using it almost immediately, and looked at the hut instead, quickly deciding that it wouldn't take too long to climb the building in case the dog attacked, though it might be difficult if he had to help Lily and Sally up with him. When the door creaked open slowly, Flynn gripped his wand in his pocket and glared at the small gap.

"Back, Fang, back," a low booming voice said, from much higher than where Flynn had been staring initially.

For the first time in a while, Flynn found himself craning his head completely upwards to stare at the single eye that peeked out from behind the door. Though he recognized the giant man as being the one who had led the first years through the lake when they first arrived at Hogwarts, the suddenness of his appearance and the realization that he was even bigger than Flynn had originally thought, left him momentarily stunned.

"Hello," Lily said, seemingly completely unperturbed by the sight of the man.

"Hullo," the man said, with a hint of confusion in his voice as he opened the door wide enough that they could see more of his face, and the large dog that he was holding back by the collar. The dog let out a whine that didn't seem like it should've come from an animal that was as big as it was, and its tail wagged happily behind it, making heavy thudding sounds at it smacked into the man's clothes.

"Back, Fang," the man said, grunting as he pulled the dog back slowly, taking care not to yank it back too harshly.

"Aww, what a cute puppy," Lily commented. "Is he friendly?"

"He is," the man grumbled, still sounding like he was entirely confused by the situation. "But don't ye go calling him cute, ye hear? His head's too big already for how empty it is."

Apparently taking that as permission to touch him, Lily raised her hand for Fang to sniff. It seemed a little confused by the offer, and after a moment of consideration, licked Lily's offered hand. Out of the corner of his eye, Flynn could see Lily's smile going slightly strained, as she waited for Fang to finish before raising her hand to pat him on the head while wiping her hand on his fur. He didn't seem to mind.

"So," the man said. "First years, aren't ye? What've you lot come around here fer?"

"You've got a lovely home, sir," Lily said.

"Thank you," the man said, frowning when he seemed to realize that she hadn't answered his question. "Would you like to come in?"

"Do we?" Lily said, excitedly, before walking forward.

Both the man and Fang moved aside to let her through, though neither of them seemed to understand why. The man glanced at Flynn, as if expecting an answer, but when Flynn didn't drop his glare, the man's eyebrows furrowed in further confusion.

"Ye comin' in as well?" the man asked.

The thought of going inside a small hut with only one visible exit was a stifling one, but the sound of a giggle coming from inside the hut reminded him that Lily had already gone inside without a single worry. Though he knew that her easy confidence came more from a lack of caution and abundance of stupidity, rather than any sort of bravery, he still felt annoyed by the idea that she was more fearless than he was. Not bothering to answer the question, he walked past the giant and went inside.

The inside of the hut looked cozy, but it was still just as barebones as the exterior would've implied. Unless he counted the few cuts of meat that were hanging and drying from the ceiling, and the kettle that hung over the open fire, the only piece of furniture in the room was a large bed with a patchwork quilt laid over it and a few boxes strewn around the room.

Closing the door behind him, the man stared at the trio of first years before grabbing one of the boxes and arranging them around the fire, before motioning towards them.

"Ye can have a seat if ye like," he mumbled.

"I was feeling a bit tired," Lily said. "Thank you, Mr. Hagrid."

"It's no problem of mine," Hagrid said, still sounding like he had no idea what to make of Lily. He seemed to scan each of their faces for any hint of an explanation as to why they had knocked on his door, but Flynn doubted that he would find anything, since he doubted that Lily had knocked on the door for any particular reason.

"So," he said eventually, watching as Lily scratched Fang behind the ears. "What did ye say ye needed me fer, again?"

"We saw your hut and thought it might lead to a secret passageway," Lily said, on behalf of the entire group.

"Well, I'm sorry to disappoint ye," Hagrid said, scratching at the back of his head awkwardly.

"No, it's okay," Lily said. "I think you and Fang are much more interesting than some boring old secret passage anyways. Isn't that right, Fang?"

Fang started to pant happily as Lily scratched behind his ears with more intensity. Beside her, Sally seemed to finally unfreeze slightly, as she reached over to carefully place her hand on Fang's back, though she didn't dare to move any further than that.

"I see," Hagrid said, though he was clearly lying. "Would ye like some rock cakes? I've got a few batches recently made."

"Oh that would be lovely," Lily said.

Hagrid grunted, as he reached over to rummage through one of the boxes near the fire. Taking out a small baking tray lined with nearly burnt pastries.

"Been out of practise with making these, so they might not be so good," he said. "Feel free to toss em if you don't like em."

"I'm sure they're fine, Mr. Hagrid," Lily said.

"No need for the Mr," Hagrid replied. "Just Hagrid's good enough for little ole me."

Lily didn't respond to that as she took a rock cake from the offered tray. Beside her, Sally nervously took one as well, and when it was offered to him, Flynn grabbed one for himself.

Stolen novel; please report.

Though he waited for Lily to bite into it first, watching her grimace slightly when her teeth failed to sink in to the pastry. She tried a couple more times to bite into it, but after a few more failures, she simply put it down and smiled up at Hagrid.

"My name's Lily," she said. "This is Sally, and that's Flynn."

"It's very nice te meet all of ye," Hagrid said, with a nod. "Yer first years aren't ye? I recognize ye from the boats yesterday. How's Hogwarts been treatin ye so far?"

"Oh it's been everything I've ever imagined it to be," Lily said, with a serious nod. "Thank you for making sure we all made it across the lake safely."

"It's my job," Hagrid said. "Though I am glad none of ye fell in the lake this year."

"Does that happen a lot?"

"Maybe once every two or three years," Hagrid said with a shrug.

As Lily asked moIre and more benign question, Hagrid never seemed to lose his confusion completely, but still seemed content with giving Lily an earnest reply to all of her questions. As the conversation went on, even Sally seemed to relax to the point where it didn't look like she was about to cry, and even asked a few questions of her own, though hers were mostly about Fang.

Flynn didn't participate in the conversation, though he did try his rock cake at some point. It was tough, but not tough enough that it was impossible to bite through, and though it was somewhat tasteless, there was a subtlety to it that he couldn't help but enjoy. It reminded him a bit of the protein shakes that Tom made.

When he thought that nobody was looking, he took three more and shoved them in his pockets. Though Hagrid seemed confused when he noticed that more were missing, Flynn thought he saw him smiling slightly, though it was difficult to tell with how thick Hagrid's beard was.

Eventually, Hagrid looked pointedly out of the window, and once he realized how late it was getting, politely noted how close it was to dinner time. Taking the polite dismissal for what it was, the three made their way back to the castle, walking around once more until they made it back to the main gates.

Once he confirmed that Lily and Sally wouldn't get lost on their way to the Great Hall, Flynn slipped away as quickly as he could, already exhausted by the thought of having to be in other people's presence for any longer than he'd already been that day. With a pocket still full of food that he needed to eat before it went bad, he walked in the opposite direction of the Great Hall, heading in no particular direction.

Though he hadn't finished exploring the section of the castle that he had gone to earlier that day, he chose to go explore an entirely different section of the castle, wanting to diversify his knowledge.

Avoiding the third floor for now, though he intended to explore it later in the future, Flynn walked up the first available staircase and ended up on the fifth floor. Though the floor was mostly empty, given that most of the students and staff were probably eating dinner around this time, it wasn't completely devoid of life either. Though he wasn't sure if there were other students on the floor, or if he was just hearing the sounds of portraits and ghosts having conversations with one another, he avoided the sounds of quiet conversations as best as he could as he explored the halls of Hogwarts.

Unfortunately, it was when he was in the middle of a long hallway that a small group of students, consisting of four Slytherin students, three boys and one girl, turned the corner and headed in his direction.

Though they didn't seem to notice him at first, Flynn didn't want to turn around and risk them thinking that he was running away from them, so with his head held high, he made his way down the hallway with his hand in his robes, clutching his wand. It took a surprising amount of time for any of the students in the group to notice him, but when the first one did, he nudged his peers and pointed Flynn out. Flynn kept himself from reacting, and walked down the hallway with his eyes fixed forward, intent on acting like he hadn't even noticed the group.

Unfortunately, it didn't seem like the group had the same intentions for him.

"Hey, firstie," one of the boys shouted out as they got near. "Aren't you going to say hello to your seniors? You blind or something?"

Flynn's frown deepened, as he considered just walking past them and ignoring them, but the student that had called at him took a large and deliberate step to the side. Though the hallway was more than wide enough that Flynn could probably walk around him anyways, the intent behind the motion was obvious.

Flynn stopped and glared at the student. Aside from the lone girl in the group they were all taller than him, though not by much more than a few inches, and Flynn could see the one who had stepped in his path puffing up to try and make the height difference larger.

"Hey, I'm talking to you, firstie," he said.

"The fuck do you want, asshole?" Flynn said, causing the one in his path to blink in surprise, as his friends chuckled.

Asshole scowled, both at Flynn and at at his friends, before shaking his head.

"Such a callous brat," he said. "Don't you know how to show some respect to your betters, or is that not something that they teach in mudblood society?"

There was that word again. Though Flynn didn't particularly care about a slur that he didn't even know the meaning of, the obvious disrespect and disgust behind the word made Flynn scowl back.

"You think you're fucking better than me?" Flynn spat out. "You blind or something, or do you have your head so far up your ass that you can't see anything but shit?"

One of the boys in the group let out a loud bark of a laugh, and Asshole flinched at the sound, as if he were physically stung by it. The other boy let out a loud laugh, reminding Flynn of how Vincent and Gregory would only laugh when blonde bitch gave his approval, and with how he and the girl were laughing with the boy, as if he had said a hilarious joke, Flynn couldn't help but assume that the dipshit was their leader.

"He got you good, Carrow," Dipshit said.

Asshole scowled, but directed his anger towards Flynn rather than towards Dipshit himself.

"I can see that I was foolish to think that a stupid mudblood would understand words," he said. "But maybe you'll understand these ones. Pe-"

Though he had no idea what he was about to say, Flynn didn't care enough to hear it. As soon as Asshole had reached into his robes and pulled out his wand, Flynn was already rushing forward in a low stance. Asshole didn't even seem to register the fact that Flynn had closed the distance before he could chant his spell, until he had a fist in his nose.

Asshole let out a loud cry of pain and grabbed his nose, dropping his wand to the floor in the process, but he was still standing. Flynn darted around him to put him between him and the other three assholes, who were all starting to shout and pull out their wands. Asshole blindly lashed out with a limp fist that Flynn easily ducked under to deliver a left hook to his stomach, grabbing Asshole's hair and keeping him upright when he doubled over in pain.

With his free hand, Flynn reached into his pocket and tossed a handful of chicken at the trio as they pointed their wands at him. Though the girl shrieked out in surprise, and diverted her wand upwards, sending a blast of pale blue energy into the ceiling, but though the other two flinched as the chicken hit their robes, they kept their wands trained forwards.

Flynn lifted Asshole's head higher as he wheezed out in pain, and ducked down to deter his friends from casting their spells until Flynn got close enough to push the older boy into them, but his eyes widened when he heard two nearly simultaneous chants of "Stupefy!"

There was a flash of red light, and with a violent jerk, Asshole's hair was torn from his fingers as his body flew backwards, nearly crashing into Flynn if he hadn't dodged out of the way out of instinct.

Unfortunately, the same instinct wasn't enough to dodge the second bolt of red light, only barely giving Flynn enough time to grit his teeth before his world turned black.

—

"How are you the best out of all of us at charms, again?"

Before this moment, Flynn might have thought that hearing the whining of a pompous dipshit was a relatively peaceful way to be woken up, given his history of bad mornings, but the grating quality of the voice made Flynn consider placing it in the top ten list of his worst mornings, especially given the intense headache he was sporting along with it. Not quite understanding what was going on, or why he felt so woozy, Flynn kept his eyes closed and his face slack, as if he were still asleep.

"It's first day of classes, okay?" a new voice said. "My parents are a lot stricter than yours about the no magic rules, so I haven't had the chance to practice."

"I suppose that makes sense," Dipshit said. "Father always said that the rule is a foolish one, and that students should be allowed to practise their magic outside of Hogwarts, as long as they're in a fully magical environment, but I suppose we aren't all lucky enough to have understanding parents."

"Can't he do something about it then?" Asshole #2 asked. "The start of the year is always enough trouble as is, without having to play catch-up. I don't see why the rest of the wizarding world has to accommodate for the mudbloods, just because they can't be trusted to show off their magic to their kin."

"He's working on it," Dipshit said, with a sigh. "But it's difficult with the amount of progressives that managed to worm their way into the Ministry. Are you going to try again?"

"Yeah, yeah," Asshole #2 said. "Renervate."

Flynn felt a wave of energy pass through him, and he couldn't help but flinch at how invasive it felt. Though the feeling passed quickly, he felt something nudge his head, making his sway.

"Did you see that?" Asshole #2 asked. "I think his eyes twitched for a second."

"I didn't notice anything," Dipshit said. "Though I guess he could just be pretending to be asleep. How do you think we should check?"

"I volunteer," Asshole #1 said, from somewhere further away. Flynn heard heavy footsteps heading in his direction, before he felt a fist hitting his stomach. Though it didn't hurt at all compared to a punch from Tom or Jones, the suddenness of the hit combined with the fact that he couldn't see it coming was enough to make his eyes shoot open, though the grunt of pain that he expected to escape him didn't come out properly, only leaving him in a burst of air exhaled out of his nose.

"Oh looky there," Asshole #1 said, with a snarl on his face that was somewhat ruined by the large bandage that was pasted onto his nose. "The little mudblood's awake."

Flynn glared at him, not understanding why Asshole #1 was upside down for a long moment until he realized that he was the one that was hanging upside down, with his ankles being lifted by some invisible force. Flynn tried to spit at him, but found that he couldn't move his mouth, or any other part of his body for that matter.

"Of course. He was still pretending to be asleep," Asshole #2 said, slapping his forehead. "We should've checked after every attempt. I bet he was awake from the very beginning."

"Sure, sure," Dipshit said, as he turned to Asshole #1. "So, Carrow. I'd say you've got first dibs on this one, given how badly he got you. What do you suggest we do with him?"

"He didn't get me," Asshole #1 growled. "He punched me for no reason without any sort of warning."

"Honestly, I'd say that's your fault for expecting a mudblood to be act according to proper civilization," Dipshit said, with a laugh. "That one's on you."

The look on Asshole #1's face seemed to imply that he disagreed, but he didn't argue back, scowling at the comment but redirecting the expression towards Flynn instead.

"You know what?" he said, grabbing his knuckles and attempting to crack them, though they didn't make any sound. "I was thinking that I could teach the little brat some manners, but now I realize that a mudblood will never know how to do anything besides being a dumb violent animal. Why don't I make him feel at home?"

"Out of the kindness of your heart, I'm sure," Dipshit said, with a laugh.

"Yeah, sure," Asshole #1 said. "Let's go with that."

Though his initial hit had surprised him, Flynn didn't have much trouble with taking Asshole #1's punches. With how poor his form was, punching with only his arms and not his entire body, he didn't even think he would even get any bruises from the "punishment" he was taking, especially with how quickly the boy was tiring out.

"Can't you guys unfreeze his mouth at least," Asshole #1 asked, poorly disguising the fact that he needed a break with the question. "It's not as satisfying if I don't hear him cry."

"The Full Body-bind curse is called that for a reason, Carrow," the bitch said, hanging off from Dipshit's arm and rolling her eyes. "If you want me to release it so you can get punched in the face again, that's on you."

"Nobody asked you, Rowle," Asshole #1 growled, though he seemed to immediately regret his words when he saw the dark look that came over Dipshit's expression. He scowled at Flynn one last time before pulling his foot backwards and kicking him in the face.

There was explosion of pain that blossomed from his face, and the feeling of something trickling down his forehead, but he kept his face as neutral as he could, not wanting to give Asshole #1 the satisfaction of knowing that he had hurt him even a little. Unfortunately, Asshole #1 seemed to be satisfied regardless.

"Oh look at that," he said. "His blood's not nearly as brown as I expected. Maybe he is the Heir of Slytherin, after all."

"Copying Malfoy's joke won't earn you any favours with him, you know," Bitch said.

"Shut up, Rowle," Asshole #1 said, though he flinched again. "Sorry. I didn't mean that. Must've lost too much blood."

"Oh quit your whining," Asshole #2 said. "Now should we go to Pomfrey's or do you want me to give a crack at your nose? I've always wanted to get better healing charms."

"No chance, Yaxley," Asshole #1 said. "I'm not trusting you not to banish my nose entirely and give me slit nostrils or something."

"Don't want you looking uglier than you already are?" Asshole #2 asked.

"Yeah," Asshole #1 said. "... Wait."

As Dipshit and Bitch started to laugh, the entire group began to walk away from Flynn, leaving him suspended in the hallway from his ankles as Asshole #1 started to bicker with Asshole #2. Their voices faded not before long, and Flynn had to wonder how long he would be stuck there for, but thankfully, it didn't take more than a few minutes for him to hear a voice.

"Oh dear," it said, from somewhere that he couldn't see. "Young man, are you alright?"

Flynn wanted to say, "no shit," but nothing came out.

"Excuse me?" the voice said. "Can you hear me?"

Flynn moved his eyes around to try and glare at the source of the voice, but it was only when he noticed movement out of the corner of his eye, that he saw a painting of a middle-aged woman peering out the side of a picture frame.

"Oh, I see," she said. "You can't talk. How on earth did you find yourself in such a predicament, young man?"

Flynn glared at her.

"Oh right, you can't talk," she said. "Would you like me to go get some help? Oh, right. Silly question. I'll be right back, young man. Don't move."

It took less than five minutes for Flynn to hear a set of hurried footsteps coming down the hall, not quite running, but close to it.

"What the-" a male voice said, before growling something under his breath. Flynn felt a hand cupping the back of his head, before he heard a voice chanting, "Finite Incantatem."

Flynn clenched his teeth as he felt him regaining control of his body, though he was still upside down. Though the hand on the back of his head was firmly securing him from falling head first into the ground, the rest of his body was unsupported and fell immediately, but right before his legs hit the stone floor, he felt his body grow lighter and stop just a few inches away from impact.

"Sorry for the rough treatment," a brown-haired boy grunted as he waved his wand, and Flynn gently sunk down to the ground until he was laid down on the floor in a sitting position. "You were lucky I was using the prefect's bathrooms. Not much else on the fifth floor besides that. Are you alright?"

"Yeah," Flynn grunted as he pushed himself up and away from the older boy. "Fucking peachy."

"Lan-" the boy started to say, before shutting his mouth with a frown. "So what happened here?"

"Nothing," Flynn said, immediately.

The boy's frown deepened.

"Really," he said. "Because it sure looks to me that someone hexed you, broke your nose, and abandoned you in an empty section of the castle where you might not have been found for hours on end, if Ms. Pemberton hadn't stumbled across you on her evening walk. All grounds for suspension, or perhaps even potential expulsion. Who did this to you?"

"Nobody," Flynn said, glaring at the boy as if he were challenging him to deny it. "Nothing happened."

"Why are you being so stubborn about this?" the boy asked. "Are you trying to protect your friends? I can promise that if they did this to you, they're not friends worth keeping."

"Nothing. Happened," Flynn said, adding a finality to his words.

Even if he trusted in the system to punish the Dipshit squad, there was no way in hell that he was letting them get off with a punishment that he didn't personally deliver. At worst, he knew that they would be getting off with a punishment that didn't involve a physical lesson, and that wasn't acceptable to him.

Regardless of what the older boy seemed to think, he pursed his lips in a thin line and sighed.

"Why did I have to be the closest prefect on duty?" he asked himself, before looking back to Flynn. "Do you at least want me to escort you to the infirmary, just in case 'nobody' tries to give you even more injuries?"

"What injuries?" Flynn asked, as he reached up to close one nostril and shoot out a glob of blood that had been clogging it up.

The boy grimaced at the sight, and though he raised his wand in consideration, he shook his head.

"Filch will clean it up. Along with all this chicken. What in the world even happened here?," he grumbled, before back to Flynn once more. "Well then. I'm sure you've got this all handled by yourself, but just in case nothing happens again, I suggest talking to a Professor or a prefect about it. If you ever need my help, ask around for Ryan Clearwater, alright? Ravenclaw prefect."

"I don't need help," Flynn said.

"Whatever you say," Ryan said, with a roll of the eyes. "Just try to stay out of trouble, you hear?"

Flynn nodded, hiding the scowl he felt itching at his lips.

"I hear you," he said.

Flynn walked away with a scowl deep on his face, and rummaged around his pockets for any traces of food that he still had within his robes once he'd lost sight of Ryan. Thankfully, it didn't seem that they had rummaged through his pockets while he had been unconscious, and he still had a few bits of chicken left in his bag along with the two rock cakes that he had taken from Hagrid's hut. With the chicken alone not being enough for a full meal, he ate one of the rock cakes to fill himself up, not wanting to go to the Great Hall for dinner and be seen with a bloodied nose. He stayed idle in the secluded sections of the castle and went to the bathroom to confirm that it at least looked like he'd healed up completely, and went down to the dungeons.

With the curfew hours approaching quickly, there were more than a few Slytherin students that milled into the dorm rooms, and though a some of them gave him dirty looks, an equal number of them simply didn't seem to care about him enough to spare him more than a glance.

"Pure," he said to the snakes around the dorm room door. They uncoiled for him, and invited him in.

He spotted the dipshit group sitting at a small table near the center of the common room, with the darker corners already being occupied by the older students, as they laughed at something that Dipshit said. Flynn frowned in dissatisfaction when he saw that Asshole #1's face no longer needed a bandage, but reminded himself that he shouldn't care about a little nosebleed in the first place. Though he didn't have any plans for them at the moment, he knew that whatever he came up with would leave a deeper mark than what could be healed physically.

If Dipshit and his crew wanted to prove who was the better of them, he would gladly play along.

Asshole #1 yawned and glanced idly around the room, as Dipshit and Asshole #2 started to talk about something that he apparently didn't have much interest in, but froze when his eyes passed over Flynn.

With their eyes momentarily locked, Asshole #1's expression showed a bit of shock, but none of the fear that Flynn wanted to see from him. But it would come in due time.

Flynn smiled at him, giving him a grin that he knew was slightly too wide with teeth slightly too sharp, and felt a petty wave of satisfaction wash through him when Asshole twitched backwards. He could see Asshole debating internally on whether he wanted to point Flynn out to the rest of the Dipshit gang. Flynn would've been fine with whatever decision that Asshole made, but he couldn't stop his grin from widening even more at the sight of Asshole floundering.

Asshole grimaced, and glared at Flynn, and though he didn't let the rest of the dipshit squad about what he saw, he kept his eyes on Flynn until Flynn eventually got bored of mocking Asshole with his smile, and went to his dorm room.

Blaise was the only one in the dorm room, though Flynn could hear the shower running in the attached bathroom. From his spot on the bed, Blaise lazily raised his head to glance at Flynn.

"I didn't see you all evening," he said.

"Didn't see you either," Flynn replied.

"Fair enough," Blaise said with a shrug.