Magic and Mystery Coil by Allegory_for_Hatred

Work, Work, Work

'It became easier over time to control her body,' Riddle had written. 'She yielded herself to me completely.'

'The Imperius Curse can't be used like this.' Dazai tapped his quill on the diary.

'It's more of a possession.'

Dazai quirked a brow. He envisioned a ghost, stealing Ginny's body, and found the comparison apt. Riddle had always felt distinctly human to him.

Not just an object. Not just a curse.

A person.

Dazai wondered who Riddle had been when he was alive. Or when he was free.

'Ginny Weasley feels so alone. None of her so-called friends understand her,' Riddle continued. 'Her soul made room for mine eagerly.'

Dazai frowned. 'You make it sound as though she wanted to be possessed.'

'Everyone is looking for an escape. Even if they don't know it just yet.'

'Even you?' Dazai asked.

'Even you,' Riddle replied.

-

"Hey, if you use the Softening Charm on my heart, do you think it'll stop beating?"

Blaise turned to look at him, blank expression belying nothing of what he thought. His wand hovered over a solid plank of wood. A successful cast of the Softening Charm should turn it spongy and springy, though Blaise hadn't had any luck with it yet. At least, that's what it had done when Professor McGonagall demonstrated the spell ten minutes prior.

The spell that was half-way out Blaise's mouth silenced immediately. "I'm not going to do that."

"Right," Dazai leaned forward into his folded arms. "A bullet to the brain would be more efficient..."

Blaise stared at him.

Dazai cleared his throat. "But if you did use the softening charm—"

"If I use this spell on you, Professor McGonagall will expel me."

"Hmm... no. I bet people would cheer."

Blaise was giving him an odd look now.

Dazai ignored it by turning away—his bandaged eye on Blaise's side. His good eye roamed the classroom instead.

Second Semester had officially begun, but the classroom—the whole school—was looking bare. Surprisingly, quite a few students hadn't returned for classes. Apparently, parents weren't keen to let their kids learn at a school that had frequent basilisk attacks. Go figure. At least half of the student body hadn't returned at the end of Winter Break, and still weren't here now classes had begun.

It left the whole school feeling... odd. Empty. Like they were all trespassing during the daytime.

Dazai shrugged his shoulders.

Mori's coat shuffled over his back—worn over the Hogwarts uniform. It felt wrong to take it off. Especially so soon after his promotion from nobody to executive. Snape had eyed him coolly over breakfast that morning, but not told him to take the coat off. So he wore it at least without starting a fight.

It added to his villainous look, anyhow.

Dazai's eye was skipping across a row of empty seats when Blaise said, "You're zoning out."

Dazai rolled back over to face him. He lifted a brow. "I'm thinking."

"Dangerous."

He snorted. "Not for you," he said lightly, then stretched in a manner that could only be likened to a cat. "Just planning out my next nap. Blaise frets too much."