stop pissing me off (i can play god and cut off your oxygen)

we've become numb (to what we know is wrong)

“Ok, answer me this,” George leaned back. “How is Jin-Woo able to summon creatures like you?”

“It is his power.”

“I thought I remembered seeing something flicker in Jin-Woo’s shadow the day we ran into him at the Platform; that was one of yous, right?”

“Correct. We do not take kindly to intruders.” His words were punctuated by a fierce growl. “We would have eaten them if our King hadn’t forbade us.”

“Eaten?!” Fred squeaked, leaning further away from Dae.

“He said Jin-Woo forbade them from harming other Slytherins,” Valliope soothed. “Plus we’re Jin-Woo’s friends.”

“That is also correct,” Dae confirmed. “The King has declared the Snake House his to protect and takes that role very seriously. He has us patrolling the castle day and night.”

“No bloody way!” The pair of redheads spoke, as they usually did, in unison.

“Is that how he manages to listen to private conversations?” The twins were just as curious as Valliope, wanting to know the secret pieces of the puzzle that was their friend. All three leaned in closer subconsciously, eyes filled with desire for knowledge.

“Yes. He knows every inch of this castle.”

“No wonder he knew exactly which passage we were going to use to avoid him the first time we tried to plan a surprise birthday party for him,” Fred groaned despairingly. “I thought the slimy git was just really good reading minds.”

“Can you tell us how many shadows are in the castle right now?” The wolf turned to George, thinking for a moment.

“At least four or five thousand. Some are hidden within shadows of the students, some in the teachers’, some in the castle itself. At least 6 or seven hundred of the larger shadows are in the Forbbiden Forest. Fifty shadows are specifically assigned to different areas of the castle, like the second floor, the third floor, the fourth floor, the seventh floor, each Common Room, the kitchens and the hut outside on the edge of the Forest. The rest have been told to remain with our Monarch, including the Generals.” Dae’s tail swayed back and forth leisurely as he spoke, his midnight black fur rippling and smoking as it moved. The beauty of it was inhuman, ethereal. Despite the contrast of the danger of the beast versus his aesthetic, it worked surprisingly well together.

Valliope thought it was a fitting description of the wolf’s master as well: a sinuous duality between fear and awe, danger and beauty, lethality and charm. It made sense why Jin-Woo’s magic was the same as his personality.

“Why does Jin-Woo have so many shadows hiding around the castle? Is he paranoid or something because of the war?” Fred and George knew the war was still going on, depsite what the Daily Prophet said, despite what their father and mother tried to convince them. There was no way the war wasn’t still being fought, not with the way their parents remained as jumpy and fearful as they’ve been since the pair could remember.

“Is the war truly that big a threat?” Dae’s head cocked to the side, not sure why these children’s scents turned sour with fear. “My King says it’ll be over soon.”

“What?” It was George’s head that cocked to the side this time. “Harry’s not fit to fight The Dark Lord yet! How could the war be over soon?”

Fred’s brow furrowed, trying to make sense of the wolf’s words. “Does Jin-Woo expect Harry to fight and defeat Voldemort easily?”

“Jin-Woo’s not that irrational or idealistic, is he? He never gave off that vibe…” Valliope trailed off, concentrating her efforts on going over everything she was fairly certain about their incredibly private friend.