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Chapter Text

Shiota Nagisa's tombstone will say, "He only put his name in because he played truth or dare while drunk."

To be fair, it wasn't - entirely - his own dumb decision that led to him putting his name into the Triwizard Cup. That honor goes to Itona, who has a bit of a sadistic streak when he gets firewhiskey in him. The aforementioned alcohol was bought by Terasaka's gang, funded by everyone present, and Chiba and Hayami were in charge of making sure they didn't get caught sneaking it in.

Not a bad team effort for a bunch of delinquents.

Nagisa normally doesn't participate in Firewhiskey Friday Nights. It just feels like they're reinforcing the negative stereotypes thought up by the rest of the houses. That they're troublemakers, schemers, no good dumbasses who will probably go on to be death eaters anyway. As the son of a known past death eater who's still in Azkaban, that last one always hits the hardest when Gakushuu throws it at him.

But it's been a long day, and with the announcement of the Triwizard Tournament just a few days ago, he figures that there's cause to get smashed with his friends and then sleep Saturday away. Okuda knows some good hangover cures, anyway.

"Okano, truth or dare?" Maehara calls, eyes half lidded. He's horrible at taking his alcohol, not that anybody ever stops him. He'll probably be asleep soon, with the marker on his face in the morning to remind him never to fall asleep in a room full of Slytherins.

"Um, dare." 

"I dare you to go get Kataoka and bring her here."

A chorus of groans can be heard after this, not that Maehara cares. Waking up Kataoka, who would never in a million years join them willingly in the common room on Friday nights, is an overused dare, and one that always leads to the perpetrator getting an earful. There's a reason she's the prefect of their year, and she never lets them forget it. At least Isogai sits with them sometimes, although he never drinks a drop.

Nagisa sinks into his cushion sleepily while Okano leaves to the girls' dorm to get Kataoka. It's nice to be with his class outside of the public eye, where a Gryffindor can trip them or a Ravenclaw can ruin their homework with an "accidentally" spilled ink pot. 

Hogwarts doesn't feel like the safest place in the world when even the headmaster gives your table dirty looks at dinner.

He doesn't realize he's fallen asleep until he gets an elbow jabbed in his side. He stirs to find the whole group staring at him, including Kayano at his side, who was probably the owner of the elbow that woke him up.

"Nagisa, truth or dare?" Itona asks, probably repeating himself. Nagisa didn't come to play, but everyone's still looking expectantly at him and his blood is still running warm from the alcohol. Truth is an option, but there are way too many secrets he has that the alcohol could unlock. One dare can't hurt, right?

"Dare."

"I dare you to enter your name into the Triwizard Cup."

There are a few halfhearted complaints with that. While there are no set rules in their truth or dare, it feels like the only unspoken one is no one should be obligated to potentially put their life at risk with a dare. They're still waiting for his response, though. Nobody can say no to it except for him, in which case he'll probably get a milder dare from Sugino or Yada or something.

But why not go for it? It can't hurt to just put your name in. Everyone will see you as really manly if you do. You could use that kind of image boost.

"Sure," he says, because he's definitely too drunk to make these kinds of weighty decisions. "Remind me at breakfast tomorrow."

Everyone gapes, then he feels a few hands clap him on the back and Mimura declares him his favorite person ever and the game continues. Nagisa drags himself to bed sometime around one, taking a fully unconscious Sugino with him because it's his friendship responsibility to make sure he's not stuck in the common room all night. 

By the time he climbs into his own bed, he only remembers a vague idea of what he has to do the next morning. I have to put my name... somewhere. Graffiti, maybe? Eh, I'll deal with it tomorrow. It's probably for the best that he doesn't remember what he signed himself up for; he wouldn't be able to fall asleep otherwise.

The next morning, he's very confused by the twenty sets of eyes on him, watching him shovel eggs into his mouth.

"Why's everyone staring?" he whispers to Kayano, who's doing a bit of staring herself.

"You don't remember last night?" At his vague shrug, she continues. "Oh my god. Um, well, Itona dared you to do something here. Nowish."

"Is it anything to do with stripping? Because I'm pretty sure we outlawed that after Okajima's last dare-"

"No, nothing like that!" She paused, unsure. Then her eyes creep over to the giant goblet in the middle of the room, and Nagisa's heart drops straight down into his stomach. He suddenly has no appetite for his eggs at all.

"He dared me to..." He can't finish his sentence, so he points to the cup dumbly. Kayano nods, reading his face with a pinched expression.

"We would've totally overruled his dare but you looked so sure of yourself, and you didn't even hesitate. It's not too late to back out, though. It's a pretty big thing," she says in a rush. The people close enough to her to hear the conversation nod enthusiastically, which only makes Nagisa's chest tighter.

He wouldn't be the first person to put his name in, not even from their year. Terasaka's whole group put their names in, with Maehara and Chiba following. Even Isogai put his name in, saying it would be a good experience to have. 

He knows the kinds of whispers that spread around the room every time a Slytherin puts their name in. He hears the taunts and jeers about how a Slytherin champion wouldn't be a champion at all, because winning on bloodlust is just how a death eater does it. He hears it, and he blocks it out, just like the rest of his year.

But if he can enter... if he can win... maybe he can change all of that.

He clears his head from this idiotic train of thought. Even if he does get picked, there's no way he'll win. The best he could do would be to not look stupid while losing. But before he knows it, he's standing up with a slip of paper in his hand that he doesn't remember writing, and when he drops the paper into the fire, he can hear the crackle of the flames deep in his bones.

His table's congratulations can't fully block out the boos and laughs from the other tables, but they help. 

There's no lasting fanfare about it, not like when someone from Durmstrang or Beauxbatons puts their name in. There are only fifteen people from each school, but they all came to enter and cheer their victor on. Even though their tables are near the back, Nagisa can still hear bits of French and Norwegian through the bustle.

"You'd make a really cool champion," Kayano says when he sits back down.

"Hopefully it won't come to that," he says instead of refuting her point. Kayano has a way of hammering positivity into him when he tries to counteract it, and his head hurts too much for an argument. Why did I have to be born such a lightweight?

He spends the rest of the weekend hanging out with Kayano and Sugino and trying not to think about the Triwizard cup. It's so dumb, bringing a goblet of death to a high school and tempting all of the kids with money and fame. You're one of the idiots who put their name in, his brain reminds him, and he shoves the thought aside aggressively, chucking a piece of fish to the squid in the lake. It surfaces for a second to grab it, waving one arm wildly at him.

When Monday rolls around, he's repressed the thought of the tournament so much, he's almost surprised when Headmaster Asano announces that the names will be drawn from the goblet that night. Nagisa already knows who he wants to be chosen; his son is basically his clone, after all. Head boy of Gryffindor, top grades in the school, seeker for quidditch. It's no wonder no one accuses the elder Asano of favoritism; Gakushuu is so perfect, it would be wrong for anyone else to be head boy.

He doesn't realize he's squeezing his quill until it snaps in his hand. Sugino, his Potions partner, looks on worriedly. 

"Are you alright?" he asks, and is immediately shushed by Professor Karasuma. For a Slytherin himself, you'd think he would be nicer to his own house. No nice favoritism like Asano gives to his students; just cold glances and extra assignments.

"Yeah," Nagisa answers, pulling a new quill from his bag. "Just stressed for tonight."

"You mean the Triwizard Cup Ceremony?" a voice behind him asks, and he stiffens. It's one of Gakushuu's cronies, although he can't tell which one, nor could he name them under a truth serum. All four are basically one person sharing a brain cell that says taunt the Slytherins and lick the ground Gakushuu walks on. "I wouldn't worry if I were you. After all, what are the odds that the goblet will choose you? Unless they're looking for scrawny demon spawn this year in particular."

"Back off," Sugino says.

"What will you do, hex me?" the crony asks, and Sugino almost growls.

"Ignore him," Nagisa says, sinking lower in his chair. "We have to finish this potion or we'll fail this assignment."

"I know, but-"

"Is there a problem here?" Professor Karasuma asks, looking from Sugino to the crony. 

"No professor," the crony says immediately, taking the kiss-ass route as always. "Nagisa was just trying to start a fight with me."

"Really? Seems unlike him." Karasuma takes zero shit from anyone. It's one of the reasons he's Nagisa's favorite teacher. "If you keep talking in class, however, I will have to take points from both Gryffindor and Slytherin."

"Got it, professor," Sugino says, and Nagisa nods. Karasuma walks away, and the crony says something under his breath that sounds a lot like "maggot food." Karasuma stops mid-step.

"Ten points from Gryffindor. Keep yourself together, Mr. Koyoma. I don't want to have to lower your grade in this class, especially given how well you're doing." Like Nagisa said, zero shit.

Dinner seems to rush towards him like a freight train, but he's honestly glad to get it over with. No more losing sleep from this dumb cup. He can move on, cheer for whoever was un/lucky enough to get chosen from his school, and be a spectator like he always is. No participation necessary.

The announcement comes mid-meal. Headmaster Asano gives a small speech about the importance and significance of the Triwizard Tournament, and the fire burns blue from the goblet. Then a second later, it turns red, and a singed piece of paper comes floating out.

Headmaster Asano catches it, adjusting his glasses before reading it aloud.

"From Beauxbatons Academy, we have Nakamura Rio," he calls, and the Beauxbatons table erupts into cheers. A tall blond girl, presumably Nakamura herself, stands and curtsies, making her way to the middle of the room.

The fire turns red again, and a new slip of paper flies out. Headmaster Asano pauses before reading the name this time, frowning a little. Nagisa isn't exactly sure why, but he feels his heart sink into his stomach.

"From Hogwarts, we have... Shiota Nagisa."

Nagisa's face goes white. He can barely hear the shouts around him, feel the slaps on the back by his classmates. He can't even hear what the other tables are saying, not that it's anything good, most likely.

"Nagisa, they're calling you," Kayano says, and he nods blankly. Of course they're calling him. He's the Hogwarts Triwizard nominee. 

Slowly, robotically, he climbs over the bench and approaches the headmaster, who looks at him like he's a walking corpse. Which, given how lightheaded he is, might be an accurate description of him. He feels his legs trembling as he stands beside Nakamura, who looks a little confused at why he's having a nervous breakdown.

"Didn't you enter yourself in?" she asks, and he blinks hard to snap himself out of his own head.

"Oh, yeah." His voice is distant, far away from his body. "But in my defense, I was hungover."

"Ah." She grins at him. "I think we'll be good friends. After I win, of course."

"Yep, okay." He sways a little, catching himself on a nearby table of Hufflepuffs. Sorry you have to see this, kiddos. Papa's having a bit of a panic attack right now.

He's so focused on his own plight that he almost doesn't hear the last name being called.

"And from Durmstrang, we have... Akabane Karma."

"No way." "Wasn't he expelled from Hogwarts two years ago?" "I hear he beat someone up just for looking at him." "I hear he's done the killing curse."

Nagisa finally gets a grip over himself, pinching his arm and snapping himself out of his haze. Did he say Karma? I didn't see him around anywhere, and he's kinda hard to miss. Maybe it's a different Akabane Karma. Could be a common name in Norway, I don't know.

But one look at the confident boy striding over to the headmaster squelches all doubts about who it is. Bright red hair, cocksure smile, even the same black blazer as he wore back when he went to Hogwarts. 

It's Karma all right. Things have officially gone loopy. Maybe this is all a fever dream or something. He pinches himself again, but all it does is make him wince and cause Nakamura to take a step away from him. Real life then. Okay.

If Karma hears any of the whispers, he doesn't show it. He strides down the table, joining Nagisa by the Triwizard Cup with a smile and a wave to the audience. He never wavers in his steps, which is all so Karma of him. He's never had a doubt about anything in his life. Not even leaving Hogwarts unexpectedly without giving Nagisa a second of warning.

"Hey, Nagisa," he whispers among the chaos, like no time passed at all. "It's been a while."

Nagisa can't do anything but stare. His heartrate, already dangerously fast, beats loud enough in his neck that the whole room can probably hear it. None of this, any of it, is making any sense. The emotions of hurt and confusion that he compartmentalized and stored away years ago are bursting out all at once. He can't utter a word. Hell, he can barely breathe.

"Oh, hey Karma," he hears himself say, and falls in a dead faint on the floor. Sweet, sweet release. 

Chapter Text

When Nagisa opens his eyes next, he's not in the dining hall anymore.

Someone must've carried him out, because now he's lying down on some sort of couch, and he can feel a fire burning nearby. He sits up suddenly, wincing as the blood rushes to his head and makes his vision darken for a second.

When he can see clearly again, he withdraws slightly as he realizes that he's not alone in this new room. There's Headmaster Asano, staring at his watch and looking like he'd rather be anywhere else. Professor Karasuma stands beside him, looking equally bored, but that might just be his usual expression.

Nakamura's standing to the side with a taller blond woman, probably her teacher, and they're both whispering in French to each other. Karma's there too, standing next to his own giant teacher and grinning at the chaos. When he sees Nagisa's up, his smile grows.

"You're awake," he says cheerily, which draws the attention of everyone in the room. There are a few other people too, but Nagisa doesn't recognize them. "Started to think you had died or something. What a way to go, though, right? Right before the Triwizard Tournament."

Nagisa doesn't know how to respond to that, so it's almost fortunate that Headmaster Asano decides to speak up.

"Now that we're all conscious," he says, leering at Nagisa, "we can begin the official preparations for the Triwizard Tournament."

Ah, right. I almost forgot about that. Nagisa feels his head go light again, and is relieved that he's sitting down so he can steady himself. If he fainted again, he'd definitely be kicked from the tournament, magical contract and all. 

"If I may ask," the blond woman beside Nakamura interjects, "do you have an age limit for students entering the tournament? I know it isn't required, but your champion seems rather young."

Nagisa's face burns, and Karma snorts out loud. Sure, he's short for his age, but was that really necessary?

"I see you still always find a way to digress, Irina," Karma's teacher says disapprovingly, and all of the attention moves to him. "Even during something as important as this, you still try and get off topic."

"Are you two familiar with each other already?" one of the other people asks, looking between the two.

"I was her teacher at Durmstrang back in the day," he explains, fixing her with a stern look. "Not that it seems she learned much." He speaks with a thick accent, but it doesn't sound Norse. The closest Nagisa can compare it to is Russian.

"It was just a question!"

"Hogwarts does indeed have an age line," Karasuma cuts in, back to the original - or more original - topic. "Only students seventeen and older could enter. We informed both schools of this before they arrived." He narrows his eyes at Irina, as if daring her to ask if Nagisa's really seventeen. He might be Nagisa’s favorite person entirely.

Before things can escalate further, Headmaster Asano stops them all with a cough.

”Your digression is forgiven, Professor Jelavic,” he says, like she’s a student who broke a minor rule. “Now if we may return to the topic at hand, I would appreciate it. We are all busy people with much to do, and I’m sure Shiota here would like to go to his room to rest soon.”

Karma snorts again, and Nagisa frowns at him. It's been ten minutes since we've reunited and already we're back in the old pattern of things.

A new man steps forward, introducing himself as the head of the ministry Department of Magical Games and Sports. Nagisa personally feels like that's a joke job, but there are lots of things about the magical world that seem like jokes to him.

"First off, I would like to congratulate the three of you for being chosen for the honor of participating in the Triwizard Tournament," he says, which is a very roundabout way of saying thank you for putting your name in the death cup to die possibly. "You will make your schools very proud." Or else. 

"Now, as for the actual first challenge..." He pulls out a scroll, scribbling something down. "It will take place in three weeks, right here on the grounds in a special arena that will be set up. The nature of the challenge will remain a secret until the day before, as courage in the face of the unknown is an important quality in a wizard."

Nagisa wants to laugh. If you wanted someone brave, you should've picked a Gryffindor. The best I can do is try and sneak my way around whatever you throw at me.

"They cannot," he continues, "ask their teachers or mentors for guidance of any kind. They may only use their wands for the first challenge. Information about the second challenge will be released after the first is over."

He turns to Headmaster Asano. "That is all, isn't it? Besides for..." He trails off, but the headmaster somehow seems to know what he's referring to. A new pit is forming in Nagisa's stomach, looking between the two men, and he turns to Karma and Nakamura to see if they know what's going on. They look just as confused as he is.

"Silence the room, Professor Karasuma," he says, and the professor obliges, shooting a silencing spell on the door. No sound can escape now, if Nagisa remembers Charms class correctly. "Now onto the last matter, which cannot leave this room. You can come out now, dark lord."

Nagisa freezes at the name, grabbing for his wand instinctively. Everyone knew who the dark lord was, even if they didn't speak his name. He was always You-Know-Who, or He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named, or just Him. Nobody destroys half of the moon and gets forgotten quickly.

The muggles are completely in the dark about everything; there's a special squadron in the department of magic dedicated to keeping an illusion of the moon for the world to see. But every wizard grows up learning the name, then learning not to say it. He hasn't been seen in years, so paranoia about where he could be runs rampant, even while people hope he's gone for good.

All of that hope was crushed in Nagisa's chest as he sees a figure emerge from the back of the room, somehow unseen throughout all of this. It cannot be considered fully a man, since the figure's skin is yellow, and where there should be a nose on its face, there is only smooth skin. The dark lord walks purposefully, confidently, to the center of the room, almost inviting someone to hex him.

Which all of the adults immediately move to do. There are seven beams of different color spells shot at him instantly, and Nagisa fumbles to use his own wand to help. The dark lord is here. In the same room as me. For some reason.

When the dust settles, he's shocked to see that not only is the dark lord fine, but he's also now drinking a cup of tea.

"You were so slow, I apparated out and got myself a nice mug of tea," he explains, sitting down on a stool. "I was growing rather parched with all of this talking going on."

"That's impossible," Nagisa croaks, speaking up for the first time in the whole meeting. "You can't apparate in Hogwarts. There are special spells making it impossible."

The dark lord winks at him. "Impossible to you, maybe, but it's as easy to me as walking out." He turns to the headmaster, taking a long sip. "Can I give my introduction now, or would you rather do it yourself?"

"Go right ahead," Headmaster Asano says, looking a little green. A billion thoughts are swarming Nagisa's head, but the one that's sticking out now is Headmaster Asano invited the dark lord to our school. He knew he was coming, so he's definitely working with him. I have to tell the minister, or maybe the head of defense. Is there a magical army I can call?

He looks at Karasuma, usually the voice of reason, but he doesn't even look surprised. None of the adults do, in fact. He, Karma, and Nakamura seem to be the only ones in the dark about this.

"Hello Triwizard Tournament participants," the dark lord says cheerfully, like this is a meet and greet or a casual Sunday brunch. "You probably know me as the dark lord, but feel free to call me Koro-sensei. That's the name I'm choosing to go by now. On second thought, call me Professor Koro-sensei, since I will be your teacher for the next few months, after all."

Karma chooses this moment to speak up. "Maybe I'm missing something, Professor," he says to his teacher, "but why the fuck is the dark lord here in front of us, and why aren't you all arresting him? Also who the fuck gave him a teaching license?" Despite his strong language, his tone remains light and pleasant. Karma, despite how aggressive he can be, never loses his temper outwardly. Every jab or physical blow, he delivers with serenity.

"Language, Karma," his teacher reprimands him. "And you can let Koro-sensei explain everything to you."

"Thank you, Professor Lovro," the dark lord says. "As for your questions, Mr. Akabane, I can answer them all easily. I'm here as your third challenge, and I'm also here as your defense against the dark arts teacher." That's ironic, since you are the dark arts, Nagisa thinks, but doesn't say aloud. "Simply put, your government isn't arresting me because they physically can't. I'm too powerful for them."

"No need to rub it in," the head of magical games says sourly, but the dark lord ignores him.

"You three, and you three alone, will be my students for the next few months, and I will teach you how to kill me. Teaching is my passion, after all. Your third challenge will be to kill me, and you have all the way until the end of the year to do it, even before the other tasks, if you can pull it off."

"Excuse me, but if the adults with more experience can't kill you, how will we?" Nakamura asks, proper and polite. "We're only kids."

"Ah, but the cup chose you, so you must be special," the dark lord responds. "Plus, you'll have my guidance and knowledge. This is top secret stuff, you know. You should be honored."

I must be special? It was a roll of the dice. The cup chose me randomly, horribly, and now I'm stuck here with the dark lord. Nagisa stares at the neon yellow man, creature, dark lord. Koro-sensei, although that definitely isn't his real name.

"And what happens if we can't kill you?" he hears himself ask. "What if none of us can do it before the end of the year?"

"That's another simple question," the dark lord says, and Nagisa can see Professor Karasuma shift uncomfortably. "I destroy the planet, along with everyone on it. No pressure, though."

Nagisa almost faints for a second time, but manages to shake the wooziness away quickly enough to see Karma pull out his wand in one swift motion, extending it right at the dark lord. 

"Alright then," Karma says, upbeat as ever. "Avada Kedavra!" 

Everyone ducks away as he shoots the killing curse at the dark lord, and Nagisa hears someone yell. It might be him; it isn't clear in the moment.

"Nice try, Mr. Akabane," the dark lord says, alive as ever and now munching on a scone when they look up. "The regular killing curse doesn't work on me, of course. You think too low of me if you think one shot can get to me."

Karma stares at him, slack jawed. "Call me Karma," he says weakly. "And if the regular killing curse can't hurt you, what can?"

"Excellent question, and that'll be our first lesson tomorrow!" the dark lord says, and disappears with a snap of his fingers. The whole room stares at the empty space where he was. Karma's wand is still outstretched, his mouth still agape.

"Well," the head of magical games says awkwardly, clearing his throat. "Now that you've been acquainted with Koro-sensei, you must make a magical oath not to tell anyone. This is of national importance, after all. All it will do is stop you from saying or doing anything that will hint to the presence of the dark lord in this school. Any questions?"

Nagisa has a million questions, most of them consisting of the words what the actual hell, but he follows numbly along as the man shows them how to make a magical oath. They join hands, say some words, and a burst of warmth shoots through Nagisa. Weird, but not unpleasant. 

Time to fully internalize this. You are in the Triwizard Tournament. The dark lord is now your teacher. You have to kill him. Otherwise the world will end. He wonders how completely and thoroughly this whole experience will mess him up. By his best estimations, very much.

"If there is nothing more, you may all head out," Headmaster Asano says, back to his unaffected expression. "Professor Jelavic, Professor Lovro, you may return tomorrow with your champions at 3pm for their class with the dark lord. If you wish to stay with them, you are more than welcome, although I will say that many precautions have been taken to ensure the students' safety."

"What kind of precautions are we talking about?" Professor Jelavic asks.

"Koro-sensei made his own magical oath to not do any harm to the students," Professor Karasuma says. "If he breaks it, he dies."

"Says who? The killing curse can't even kill him."

"From the research we did, we thought up a new type of curse that can only kill him," a new voice says, and everyone turns to see a man cloaked in white stepping forward. His face is completely covered, save for his eyes, which glint in the firelight eerily. "I've been brought in especially to keep the dark lord in line."

"And who are you?" Professor Lovro asks, raising an eyebrow. "You aren't familiar to me."

"I'm Shiro, and I used to work with the dark lord before he became the way he is." "The way he is"? Is he talking about him being yellow, or the nose thing, or just the dark lord in general? "While I can't kill him myself, I can certainly assist the three of you in doing so."

"That's vague," Karma mutters under his breath, and Headmaster Asano snaps his head in his direction.

"Mr. Akabane, always a pleasure to see you," he says, meaning the exact opposite. "I would urge you to refrain from using the killing curse again, or any of the unforgivable curses. I'm only excusing it this time because of the extenuating circumstances, but it won't be overlooked again."

"Will I be expelled again?" Nagisa holds his breath, locking eyes with Nakamura. She's not used to Karma's insanity yet, but she will be soon if they're going to have a class together. Karma and trouble go together like white on rice.

"From Durmstrang, yes," Professor Lovro says sternly. "Behave, Karma." Nagisa holds back a snort. Like that's ever stopped him from doing anything.

"Everything seems to be settled, so you are all dismissed," the headmaster says, and no one fights him on this. They're all just as exhausted as Nagisa is, except most of them aren't expected to fight the dark lord and actually kill him.

"Good night, Nagisa," Karma says, waving as he walks away with Lovro. "You too, Nakamura."

"See you guys tomorrow," Nakamura calls, trailing behind Irina. 

"Yeah, see you," Nagisa says weakly, still sitting on the couch. He pushes himself to his feet, looking from Karasuma to the headmaster to the head of magical games, then settling on Shiro. In the shadows, with his face obscured, he almost seems more menacing than the dark lord. Which is ridiculous, given he's the dark lord, but Nagisa can't shake the uneasy feeling away.

"Good night," he says to the group, and starts out the door.

"Good luck, Shiota," the headmaster says with a bit of an edge to his soft voice. The you'll need it is implied.

Chapter Text

When Nagisa reaches the Slytherin dorms, he finds that a party's in full swing, which isn't so out of the ordinary.

Lately, the Slytherin attitude has been less blood purity and more everyone hates us anyways so we might as well drink and live our best lives. Sure, they're all still Purebloods, but that's more out of tradition than anything. Only Terasaka's gang ever mentions blood purity or anything like that, and Kataoka usually scolds them back into line.

It's only when Nagisa spots the hastily made Congratulations Nagisa! banner in the common room that he realizes it's for him. Everyone cheers as he walks in, mostly people from his year, and they crowd around him in a moving tangle of bodies. Someone charmed a music box to play, and there's definitely a muffling charm on the room to keep them from being reported. Not that there's much reporting in the Slytherin house: they, at least, know how to not snitch.

"Dude, I can't believe you got chosen," Yoshida says, handing him a shot. Nagisa sniffs it; just as he suspected, more firewhiskey. I'm never drinking that stuff again, for sure. He hands it back as gracefully as he can, mustering up what he hopes is a smile.

"You realize that makes you the greatest Slytherin in our house, right?" Maehara adds. "Even if you passed out a second later."

"Hey, we're not focusing on that," Fuwa interrupts. "You're still our champion. This'll be one hell of a tournament. You should've seen Gakushuu's face, he was practically purple."

Yeah, one hell of a tournament when I get my ass handed to me in front of everyone. He starts to think that maybe he should've taken the shot after all. Nothing bad could happen from forgetting everything for a little while. 

He spots Kayano near the edge of the group and pushes his way towards her. She immediately wraps her arms around him, then checks him for any type of injury. 

"We were all worried when they carried you away," she says. "I thought they would take you to the infirmary, but Karasuma-sensei went in the other direction and I tried to follow but they spotted me and told me I'd get detention if I was caught again." Her words, as always, come out in a torrent. "But we're glad you're alright."

"Yeah, really looks like everyone was worrying," Nagisa says, gesturing to the party around him. "Wasn't Firewhiskey Friday just a few days ago?"

"This is a celebration, not just an excuse to get drunk," Kayano says with a bit of an eye roll. "Look, even Kataoka's here!" Indeed, the tall girl is talking to Isogai in the corner, holding a cup of what Nagisa hopes is water. He doesn't want to be blamed if Kataoka ever joins them on the dark side.

"Well, uh, thanks," Nagisa says, because even though he wants nothing more than to go right to bed, he appreciates the effort. Slytherins celebrate and stand up for each other. He's not getting a party from any of the other houses, that's for sure. "I think I'll head off now-"

"Noooo, don't go already," Kayano pleads. "You just got here. Plus, I think Kanzaki's getting a cake from the kitchens. You know how the house elves like her better than the rest of us."

"She is the nicest one out of us," Nagisa reminds her. "Comes from a Hufflepuff family and everything. You're a close second, though." He looks longingly towards the room to his dorm, then sighs. "I'll stay until the cake comes."

"Great!" Kayano says trumphantly, her smile the picture example of a Slytherin smirk. There's a reason she's in Slytherin, just like the rest of them. People often group her and Nagisa together in the too meek to possibly be Slytherin category, but those are people who don't know either of them very well. "I'm guessing no drink for you?"

"Is there water here?" His throat is dry, probably since he didn't get to drink anything since dinner. "And yeah, I think I'll be sober forever from now on. It'll save me a lot of trouble."

"I'll get you some," she says, ignoring his other comment. She leaves him alone by the armchairs, but he isn't alone for long. He sees them in his periphery first, lingering on the edges, and he turns to see who it is. It's a face that shouldn't look so comfortable in the Slytherin dorms, but fits right in.

"Karma." The redhead raises his eyebrows, as if to say that's me, what are you gonna do about it? "What- How did you get in here? Why are you here?"

"Nothing too complicated," Karma says, settling in the chair beside him. Since they're right on the edge of the room, it seems no one else spotted him yet, since there's no screaming and/or pointing. "To get out of the ship was a little hard, since it's underwater, but I made a bubble-head charm and swam out when no one else was looking. I paid my friend a couple of galleons to drink some polyjuice potion to look like me, so that even if they do look for me, they won't know I'm gone."

He doesn't seem to realize that the rest of the room is slowly going silent as more and more people take notice of him. Nagisa wants to tap him on the arm and let him know, but Karma probably wouldn't care anyway. 

"Then," he continues, "it wasn't too hard to get into the castle, since security here sucks. The castle recognizes me as a guest, so it let me right in. I charmed my footsteps to be silent, went down to the dungeon, and here I am." He looks around, his grin growing. "Well this is a nice welcome. Seems everyone's here to greet me."

The only noise in the room is the music box, still playing something jazzy. Nagisa still has more questions, so he ignores everyone else for now. "But how did you get in the common room? Did you steal the password or something?"

"Geez, Nagisa, you think so low of me," he says with a sniff, mock serious for a second before his smile returns. "I blackmailed the painting into letting me in. It remembered me from a few years ago, but I had to make sure it wouldn't report me." He looks past Nagisa to Terasaka, who's holding a bottle of strong smelling liquid. "Is that for me? You're too kind."

"Knock yourself out," Terasaka says, apparently too stunned to snark at Karma like he always used to. Karma pours a generous amount of firewhisky into a plastic cup, at least three quarters full, and starts drinking it like apple juice.

"That's a lot," Kimura says, eyes wide. Karma finishes the cup, crushing it in his hand and tossing it in the trash. His face, while slightly pinker at the edges, remains sharp and alert.

"In Durmstrang we drink firewhiskey like it's water," he says with a smirk. "I don't drink more than I can handle. And to answer your second question, Nagisa, I came here for a party. I knew you guys would be having one, of course, and nobody on the Durmstrang ship thought to bring firewhiskey with them. They're all terribly competitive too, so They probably wouldn't share even if they did."

Nagisa suddenly remembers that it was Karma who started Firewhiskey Friday Nights back in fifth year. He was the hedonist out of them, the fuck them all, we'll do what we want type that spurred their weekly acts of rebellion. 

"Well," Isogai says, looking between Karma and Nagisa. "Welcome back."

The party continues like before, with the addition of Karma in their ranks. It's a little awkward at first, with him having left without a warning, but he's the poster child for Slytherin and settles right back in. Everyone wants to know what Durmstrang is like, what Norway's like, what he's been doing for the past two years.

"You know, the Durmstrang house system is a lot better than here," he says at one point, sitting on the edge of a table with his feet propped up. "They don't have them. You just dorm with the people your age, and the dorms are all equally nice. No sticking anyone in the dungeon or separating people based on if they're smart or brave or sneaky or other. I mean, what a big mistake on the school's part, putting all the sneaky people together in one dorm. Salazar was one hell of a guy."

At one point, Yada asks him why he was expelled in the first place, and that seems to be the one thing he won't run his mouth about.

"If you wanna get out of Hogwarts so bad, just leave normally," he says instead. "Being expelled is a hell of a hassle, I'll tell you that."

Nagisa, meanwhile, stays in his corner with Kayano and Sugino, glad that the attention is anywhere but on him. He doesn't know how Karma does it: going wherever he wants without thinking of the consequences, making himself the center of anywhere he goes. It's probably the reason he wasn't sent to Ravenclaw, even though he was definitely one of the smartest kids in their school. Ravenclaws learn for the sake of learning; Slytherins only learn as much as they need to know to get their way.

"Feels weird that Karma's back, right?" Sugino says, sober tonight because he has Quidditch practice tomorrow. "It's like he never left."

"Mmm," Nagisa agrees, looking at him through half-lidded eyes. He didn't drink a drop, but he's still beat, drained after everything that happened during the day. He wants to walk off to bed, but he doesn't want to draws attention to himself. "Weird."

"Did you know that he was coming here?" Kayano asks, and Nagisa shakes his head. You'd think, since they were best friends for years and all, that Karma would've given him a heads up, but no. Despite anything he said before, Nagisa's just another Slytherin to him now.

He leans further back, sinking into the cushions. The candlelight is blurring in his vision, and he puts his water on the floor beside him as a precaution. He thinks about heading to bed, everyone else be damned, but closes his eyes before he can do so. Hopefully they won't draw on my face. I'm pretty sure they're taking pictures of the champions tomorrow.

He wakes up to the dizzying feeling of being lifted in the air. He blinks rapidly, looking around him. He's being carried off, probably to his room. Sugino's supporting him under the arms, and when he checks to see who's carrying his feet, it's none other than the man of the hour himself, Karma.

"What's he doing?" he hisses to Sugino, as quietly as he can. Karma still hears, though, but doesn't look offended. Nagisa's never seen him offended before in all the years he's known him.

"You fell asleep, so I offered to help Sugino take you out," he says with a beam. "I probably could've done it myself, too. You weigh less than my backpack."

"You can put me down now," Nagisa says, now both disoriented and embarrassed. "I'm awake, I can walk."

"We're almost there," Sugino, the traitor, says, and he and Karma continue to haul Nagisa like a canoe until they reach his room. Karma doesn't ask which bed is his, so he probably still remembers from fifth year. They dump him unceremoniously on top, and he immediately sits up, arms crossed. 

"Thank you," he says with a bit of a bite, pulling his shoes off. "I'll see you guys tomorrow."

Sugino, seeing the look in his eyes, quickly turns to go. He'll probably apologize at breakfast, waiting for Nagisa to cool off first, and Nagisa appreciates it. He doesn't appreciate Karma sitting himself on the edge of his bed, staring at him with his weirdly golden eyes that always seem to reflect the light like a cat's.

"Were we in a fight before I left?" he asks, not looking away. "Because my memory is spectacular and I don't remember you being mad at me before I left."

"I wasn't." Nagisa hates being mad, being petty, but his words are coming out sparingly, hard as bullets.

"So I did something to upset you since I came back." He's still not blinking. Nagisa looks away first, staring at his folded arms. "You've been cross with me all day. You barely even spoke to me at your own party, besides to interrogate me."

"What is there to say? We were friends, you disappeared, you never wrote to me, and now you're back." He counts these off on his fingers, meeting Karma's eyes again. "If you want a do-over then I can give you that, but I can't just go back to the way things were. Especially since you still won't say why you left in the first place."

Karma is silent for a minute, but his gaze never wavers. His usual smirk isn't present either, but he doesn't look hurt or angry or sad. Instead, he looks curious, although about what, Nagisa couldn't begin to guess.

"I can do a do-over," he says, pushing himself to his feet. Nagisa quashes the pang of disappointment he feels at how quickly Karma decides this. I'm the one who gave him the option. I should've expected it. "If it'll get you to talk to me like normal again, sure. I'll see you tomorrow at breakfast."

"See you," Nagisa echoes, but it sound hollow. He watches Karma step out, shutting the door behind him, and he hears everyone ask what took him so long.

"Just talking to Nagisa," Karma says, his voice muffled through the door. "I better get back now, before the potion wears off, but this was great. Even seeing you, Terasaka, I've missed your grumpy face."

"Shut up," Terasaka says, but he doesn't sound genuinely angry. "You haven't changed a bit since fifth year."

"You can take a guy from Slytherin, but you can't take the Slytherin from a guy," Karma replies. "Hope to be back by Friday for more of this. I'll pay my share, don't worry. And don't give me that look, Isogai, you know I'm responsible."

"We all know you can get back in here if you want to," Okajima says, and they all laugh. Nagisa hears the clinks of a few shotglasses, and he turns over in his bed. Sounds like he's having fun. Like no time passed at all.

Except time did pass, and people do change. The Karma that Nagisa knew, for instance, didn't fire off killing curses like he was ordering breakfast. He wonders what happened to him, not only to get expelled but also what happened over the years. 

He wonders if he'll ever find out. 

Chapter Text

Nagisa wakes up the next morning not hungover, although he might as well be given how completely exhausted he is.

Last night already feels like a dream, but as he passes through the common room - still littered with plastic cups and a few snoring Slytherins - he knows it isn't. Karma came to the party. Karma carried me to bed. Karma wants a redo.

Well... what else is there to do, really? In any case, he has more important things to worry about. Triwizard Tournament. School Champion. Dark Lord.

He shakes Sugino awake and they wait for Kayano to get ready before they head down to breakfast. Nagisa hopes that everyone settled down about everything overnight, but judging by the room-wide stares he receives when he walks in, no dice. Even the teacher's table is staring at him, and Headmaster Asano's attention is especially piercing.

The Slytherins are cheering, which is nice, but they're also barely above talking volume. Hungover. Definitely.

"I think I'll start taking my breakfast in the common room," Nagisa mumbles, taking a small bite of toast. 

"Don't let them win," Kayano urges him. "You're our champion, they'll warm up to you soon."

"Or they'll all start cheering for Beauxbatons. I wouldn't put it past Asano."

Asano, the boy in question, is currently debating aloud whether the Goblet of Fire could have actually been tampered with by one of the Slytherins. 

"I mean, let's consider it thoroughly," he says, and his voice clearly travels all the way down to the Slytherin table. "Doesn't the fact that the cup chose two people who were Slytherins at one point, one of whom was actually expelled from Hogwarts, seem a little suspicious? I wouldn't assume that someone from a house of delinquents would be the best representative of their school, but what do I know?"

"Nothing as always, Asano," Karma chimes in from his table with a catty smile. "Jealous isn't a good look on you, by the way. Neither is incompetence, but you're probably used to that one by now."

"Speak of the devil," Asano drawls, although his face is significantly more pink. "In the most literal sense. Are you here to deny anything I just said? You were a Slytherin, and you were expelled."

"I'm here to eat breakfast," Karma replies. "You're just as much of a control freak now as you were two years ago, Gakushuu, and a bigoted one at that. For a scrawny little nobody, you sure have a voice on you."

The whole dining hall is dead silent. Nagisa doesn't realize he's holding his breath until Sugino elbows him in the side.

"Good old Karma, right?" he says in an undertone. "Guess he still puts himself on 'make Asano's life miserable' duty." Nagisa nods, but doesn't look away from Karma. He's sitting on the edge of his table, legs crossed in front of him, while the rest of his table looks on wearily. His teacher looks like he's saying something, but Karma only nods and smiles wider.

Before Asano can reply, Headmaster Asano steps in. 

"Akabane, while I cannot take house points away from you anymore, that doesn't excuse you to act any which way you wish. I'm sure Professor Lovro will be more than happy to discipline you in whichever way he deems fit." The look he gives Lovro says and you will discipline him, or else. "And I don't know if you've forgotten, but here at Hogwarts, we don't sit on tables like savages."

He turns to his son, who's looking triumphant at the ass-beating Karma just got from the headmaster. "And Asano, five points from Gryffindor for instigating an argument. That is all."

The dining hall returns to its normal level of chatter, albeit a little more cautious. Asano doesn't speak up again, which is a relief, although Nagisa gets even more dirty looks now that before. I'm not the reason they lost points. 

"If it were one of us who talked back to Asano, we'd get at least thirty points off," Hazame says moodily. "We don't even really have points yet and we'd still lose that many."

"If it were another Gryffindor, he wouldn't take any points off at all," Fuwa adds. "He tries really hard to make it look like he doesn't favor Asano over everyone else, but he doesn't care that he always puts Gryffindor first. It's off."

"At least Asano got what was coming," Itona says. "Did Karma always used to fight with him?"

"That's right, you just came last year," Takebayashi says. "You weren't there for any of Karma and Asano's crazy battles throughout school. They always received the top grades in every class, so they competed over those."

"Not to mention that they were both Quidditch seekers," Sugaya adds. "Every time they faced each other, they had to bring in a special referee because they were too fast to follow normally."

"Karma probably could've been a prefect like Asano, but he ditches too much class, so I got it instead," Isogai explains. "Any competition there was in the school, they went head to head. Someone started a scoreboard for their wins, but we got rid of it after the... expulsion."

"One hundred forty seven Karma, one hundred forty eight Asano," Hayami murmurs. "It was pretty evenly matched."

"And they were totally hooking up on the side," Okajima interjects, and Kataoka hits him on the head with a bread roll.

"Don't spread rumors, it's rude." She turns to Itona again. "Allegedly they were hooking up on the side, but no one had any proof. A second year asked Asano about it once, and the next day he was gone."

"If anyone would know about it, it's Nagisa," Maehara says with a smirk, “But he won’t say a word about it either way.”

”I told you guys, he never told me anything about it,” Nagisa says, cheeks burning. In reality, he had been too nervous about Karma’s reaction to ever ask. He’s glad that they’re talking about something other than the tournament, though, even if he feels a little guilty about gossiping.

Unfortunately, the lot of them must have understated how dangerous Karma could be, or maybe they underestimated Itona’s ability to give a shit. Because before Terasaka can slap a hand over his mouth, Itona calls out to the redhead himself.

”Karma, c’mere. We want to ask you something.”

Karma had been eating his breakfast, mostly settled down after being called out by the headmaster, but he perks up again at his name. He approaches the table slowly, meandering a little. Karma doesn’t rush anywhere, never has.

This gives the rest of the seventh year Slytherins enough time to knock Itona in the head, mourn his death, and accept that he was a good kid while he was alive. Itona doesn’t look afraid yet, but he seems wary. He should be.

”What is it, new kid?” Karma asks, leaning an elbow on the table. His eyes stray to Nagisa for a second, who only raises his eyebrows and eats more of his toast.

”Did you ever hook up with Asano?” Itona asks, a boy with a death wish. The air around the table suddenly loses all oxygen.

Karma raises an eyebrow, studying the bandanna’d boy before him. Like a fox appraising his favorite chicken.

”Who wants to know?” he finally asks, eyes dead set on Itona’s. “You’re not my type.” Karma doesn’t bother with ‘no offense.’ He never has.

Itona looks like he finally realizes the danger he’s in. A weaker person would crumble, but Itona is as tough as it gets. Instead of disintegrating into a billion tiny particles, he scans the table, trying to find the safest person to pin it on.

It happens in slow motion. His eyes meet, then settle on Nagisa’s. Nagisa shakes his head. Itona blinks.

”Nagisa,” he says, clear as day. “He’s the one who brought it up. The rest of us were just curious about it after.”

Karma’s head swivels back to Nagisa, but this time, it stays there. He’s smiling, wide and full of teasing. He knows it’s a lie, but damn if he’s going to give it up.

”Nagisa, huh.” It’s not a question. “Well for Nagisa’s sake I’ll say that whatever might’ve happened, it’s not going on anymore.” He winks, the bastard, and walks back to his table, never a step too quick.

When Nagisa’s eyes come back into focus, Yoshida has Itona in a headlock and Muramatsu has his bandanna in his fist.

”You’re evil,” Terasaka remarks, although he’s laughing under his breath. “Pinning it on Nagisa like that? You barely missed being killed.”

”That’s what I was going for,” Itona replies, grabbing blindly for his bandanna but missing. “Sorry for using you, Nagisa. Even though I think I can take him, I wasn’t looking for a fight.”

”At least you’re honest,” Nagisa sighs. He sneaks a glance over at Karma, but the other boy catches it and smiles again, whispering something to the boy next to him. Nagisa doesn’t want to know what he says.

Okay, maybe he wants to know a little. But not that much. So much for a do over.

Breakfast ends, and he heads off to Transfiguration, his first class. It’s a class they share with the Ravenclaws, and while they’re better than the Gryffindors, they don’t have a nice look to give him. Kayano tries to comfort him by reminding him that he doesn’t have to take finals. It’s hard to think positively after getting two essays to write due the next week.

Charms with the Hufflepuffs. They’re the nice house, supposedly, although the Slytherins have never really been in the receiving end of that kindness. Besides for Norita, who always has a smile for Nagisa, they’re overall ignored.

Potions with the Gryffindors. Asano is quieter than usual, but his cronies are just as loud spoken as always.

”Where’s Karma to defend your honor now?” Glasses Crony taunts, and Nagisa blinks at him slowly. He’s too tired to even be really offended.

When he’s dismissed for lunch, Nagisa wants nothing more than to relax in the common room and maybe take a nap. But before he can do so, Professor Karasuma motions him over to the side.

”Take a plate of food and follow me,” he says under his breath. “You have your first class with Koro-sensei.”

Nagisa freezes. Why is there so much happening at once? Between the tournament and the Karma and the other houses, there’s barely any room left for the dark lord.

He returns to the table to get his lunch, much shakier than before, and Kayano asks, "Where are you going?"

"I have Triwizard Tournament stuff," he answers, wishing he could tell her everything about the insanity that was his life now. "Just another way to drag me down."

"Cheer up, champ," she says, putting a baked potato on his tray. "Every second you're there is another slap in Asano's face. Plus, you can catch up with Karma now." That's precisely what I'm not in the mood to do, Kayano!

"See you in class," he says with a weak smile, and follows Professor Karasuma down the hallway. 

"We charmed a classroom to be soundproof, and hidden to everyone who doesn't know the spell," he explains, leading Nagisa up one flight of moving stairs and then down another. "Koro-sensei also helped with some of the charms, as annoying as it was to listen to his orders-"

"Are you alright with this, professor?" Nagisa interrupts, staring up at his tired face. "Sending three high schoolers to deal with the strongest dark wizard in history? That doesn't bother you at all?" Karma might be rubbing off on him, or maybe the circumstances are bringing out the worst in him. Either way, he's more than a little fed up.

Karasuma sighs. "Nagisa, I don't know what to tell you. When the dark lord tells you something, you do it. This is the easiest way of keeping him within reach. Rest assured, you three are not the only ones we have on the mission to assassinate him."

They reach a small corridor, and Karasuma taps his wand a few times against the wall and whispers something. Immediately, the wall turns to a door, and the two of them step inside, shutting the door behind them.

Everyone else, it seems, is already there. Nakamura with her French teacher, Karma with his tall one, and him. The dark lord. The one who Nagisa's mother valued above her own son, the one she gave her freedom up to serve when he never gave her the time of day.

Him. He's their teacher.

"Mr. Shiota, right on time!" the dark lord exclaims, motioning for him to sit down. He takes the seat in the middle, between Karma and Nakamura. "I'll give you a few minutes to eat, and then we'll start on our first lesson."

"Call me Nagisa," he hears himself say. "Everyone does." He doesn't want to be on first name terms with the dark lord, but at the same time, the fake respect feels weirder. "Why are you going to destroy the earth?"

"Ohoho, and here I was thinking Karma here was the one who asked the difficult questions," the dark lord chuckles. "To that, Nagisa, I say, does it matter? If you do your job right, I won't be around to destroy it."

Karma and Nakamura are both staring at him. Must be due to the fact that every limb in his body is trembling. "Can I ask you another question, Koro-sensei?" The name feels wrong too, anything but "the dark lord" feels like not enough, but what the dark lord says, goes. 

"Sure thing, Nagisa."

He doesn't like it when he says his name. He regrets giving him any name at all.

"Do you remember any of your followers?" He continues before he can say anything. "Like Shiota Hiromi. Do you remember her?"

The dark lord's expression doesn't change. "I'm not sure, Nagisa. I haven't met any of my so called followers. Until I came here, I didn't know they existed."

"Well, she's my mother. And she's in Azkaban because of you." Why am I so defensive of a woman who never really cared for me? Why am I trying to protect her when she never did the same back? "You left your followers all to be arrested, and I know you're evil but shouldn't evil people care for their followers too?" 

He doesn't know what he's arguing. He never supported anything about the dark lord. He knows that his followers deserve to be in Azkaban, even, yes, his mother. Maybe especially her, after all the havoc she wreaked. But looking at his smiling face, untouchable, while she's rotting in a jail cell, feels like a personal blow. 

He stands up abruptly, his chair clattering against the hardwood floor. "May I be excused, Professor Karasuma?" he asks, turning away from the yellow creature in front of him. "I need a moment."

"I'll have to escort you," Karasuma says after a short pause, and Nagisa feels his face twist up. I need time alone, just a little.

Karma, his godsend, his worst enemy, pipes up, "I can walk him. Professor Lovro already told me the spell, so I can walk him back."

"Lovro, you were supposed to keep it a secret," Nakamura's teacher says. "How scandalous."

"Like you didn't do the same for your champion," Lovro sniffs. 

"Alright, you two can go," Karasuma says, checking his watch. "If you're not back in five minutes, I'm tracking you both down, and it'll be ten points from Slytherin."

"I'll take it," Nagisa says, because his chest is clamping up and he doesn't know how much more talking he can do. "Thank you."

The walk to the bathroom is uncharacteristically quiet. Nagisa doesn't talk much unprompted, but even Karma, the king of starting random conversations, is silent. He stands by the door when Nagisa walks in, waiting outside.

"You look like you need some you time," he says simply, and Nagisa nods gratefully. He walks into a stall, shuts the door, sits down on the closed seat, and stares at the ceiling. He's not crying, he's seventeen years old, but his head hurts like he's crying anyway. 

After a few minutes, he can't delay anymore. 

Alright, Nagisa, here's what you're going to do. You're going to walk in, sit down, and not say anything. You'll be respectful to the dark lord, but not talk more than necessary. You will find out his weaknesses, and you will record anything you find that might help you kill him. And when the time comes, you will be the one to end his life, and everyone else will be the better for it.

"Took you long enough," Karma says when he walks out. "Thought you might've drowned or something."

Instead of huffing like he usually does, Nagisa smiles. "Thanks for waiting. Better you than Professor Karasuma."

He's giving Karma a do-over, and that means not getting cross with him whenever he makes a joke. He knows that it's just the way he talks, and he never means anything bad by it when he's talking to him.

Karma looks surprised, and a little pleased. "Is there a strip club in there or something? Not sure what else could've improved your mood that quick. If so, I want in."

"Get your head out of the gutter," Nagisa says loftily, and they reach the wall again. "What's the spell?"

"Occultatum." The doorway reappears, and Karma opens the door for him. "After you."

The whole room seems wary of him when he returns to his seat, like he might explode and storm out again. Even the dark lord pauses in his writing to look at him.

"Are you feeling better, Nagisa?" he asks, and Nagisa doesn't flinch at his name this time.

"Never better, Koro-sensei," he responds, and takes out a new notebook.

Dark lord weakness #1: cares too much about other people.

Chapter Text

Nagisa had a lot of expectations for his first lesson with the dark lord. He did not expect a Charms lesson almost identical to the one he had had earlier in the day.

"Now then," the dark lord starts, picking up a piece of chalk. "There are two spells that are known to damage me. Excindo is the first one you'll learn, and Contreo is the second. They're both simple spells, so you should pick them up quickly. You seem like a bright bunch."

"If it's that easy, why hasn't anyone killed you yet?" Karma asks, fiddling with his wand. "They should have Aurors on you 24/7 just shooting spells at you until you die."

"No offense taken, Karma," the dark lord says cheerily. "And to that, I say that I'm too fast. Even if they line up the perfect shot to kill me, I'll just dodge it." His face, usually plain yellow, now has green stripes across it. Nagisa writes that down. Mood ring? "Repeat after me: Ex-cin-do."

"Excindo," the three of them repeat. Karma reaches for his wand, but his teacher stops him with a stern look. He must be used to dealing with him. I wonder how he feels about him, really. All of the teachers at Hogwarts either loved Karma for his grades, or hated him for the fact that he barely went to class and caused destruction wherever he went. Most of them hated him, really, but it never fazed him. He knew he could get the grades to get his dream job, Minister of Magic.

Karma as the Minister. Nagisa suppresses a shudder.

When the dark lord is satisfied with their pronunciation - "You can never be too careful with magic!" - they practice their wand movements. Swish up, then directly pointed at the target.

"The spell can't damage anything other than me, so it's perfectly safe to practice indoors," he explains. "Still, if you change just one emphasis on a syllable or a bit of a movement, you could end up collapsing the whole room on us."

"Wouldn't that be good for you?" Nakamura asks. "Since we're trying to kill you and all?"

The dark lord puts a hand to his face like he's scandalized at the notion. "Nakamura, you should be ashamed! As your teacher I would never want you to be hurt in any way. If it looks like you're in danger, it's my responsibility to save you from it!"

"How noble," Karma whispers, and Nagisa huffs a laugh.

Finally, they get to actually try the spell out on him.

"Now don't hold back," the dark lord reminds them. "I won't-"

He's cut off by a stream of red light coming right at him, leading back to Karma's wand. Nagisa knows that it couldn't be that easy to kill him, but he still feels a pang of disappointment when the dark lord reappears a second later, looking frazzled.

"It's not nice to cut people off when they're talking, Karma," he reprimands, "but I do like your spirit. Nagisa, Nakamura, try it out."

Charms isn't Nagisa's strong suit, but he shuts his eyes and tries to remember the spell. Excindo. Up and point. He looks up at the dark lord, stares into his beady black eyes, and fires. 

He misses by a mile, of course. His aim isn't that great, especially in high pressure situations. But the rush of magic still gives him a giddy feeling, and for the first time all day, he feels like he's doing something important.

"Nice shot, Nagisa," Karma says, and Nagisa scowls at him. "I'm serious, it was a good spell! I swear, nobody ever takes what I say seriously."

"Maybe it's because you're always sarcastic," Nakamura suggests, shooting off another spell at the dark lord. "Also your face totally screams 'I'm making fun of everything about you in my head'."

"That's pretty accurate, actually," Nagisa laughs. "It might be why he fights so much with Asano. They both have the same face."

"I do not. Mine is much better looking than his."

"I dunno, man," Nakamura says. "I just met the guy but he has a total pretty boy thing going on. He's evil, right? He gives off those vibes."

"Totally," Nagisa agrees. "He's the principal's son, so he's kinda..." He tries to think of a single word that could fully encompass Asano's unique brand of snottiness. 

"A bitch," Karma chimes in, and the two of them nod in agreement. 

"So did you two actually hook up?" she asks without hesitation, much like Itona had at breakfast. At least she struck up a conversation with him first. Nagisa isn't too worried about her being in danger or pinning it all on him. The question still makes his neck heat up, though.

"That really is the question of the day, huh," Karma grins. "I'll say... no comment. For the sake of Nagisa's virgin ears."

"Oh my god," Nagisa mumbles, closing his eyes in pain. "Karma? Please?" If he doesn't divert the conversation topic quick, he has a sinking feeling that Nakamura will turn out to be a blonde female version of Karma, and the two of them will team up to embarrass him at any given opportunity. One is plenty for him, thank you. "We should be learning the second spell now, right Koro-sensei?"

"Indeed you should be, Nagisa," the dark lord says, suddenly standing beside them. "Although I'm always up to hear some school gossip." Nagisa almost falls out of his chair. I should get used to him doing that. He seems to do it a lot. 

"Very slick, Nagisa," Karma sighs, but then immediately turns to shoot a spell at the dark lord. "Damn. Isn't there another way to kill you, Koro-sensei? It doesn't seem like these spells are gonna work alone. Hate to say it, but you're too fast for a group of seventh years."

"We do have a few magical objects that could be of use," Karasuma mentions, drawing their attention. "The most direct way to kill him would be through a spell, but Shiro provided some potions that could also potentially be deadly to Koro-sensei."

"Why didn't you say so from the start?" Karma asks, jumping up from his desk and approaching Karasuma. "Potions is my best class. Did Shiro tell you how to make the potions, or did he just provide you with some? Would I be able to alter the potions to my liking? How much-"

"Karma," his teacher steps in. "Don't crowd the man. Professor Karasuma will be making the potion, as he is the potion's teacher here. You will not be permitted to make your own, for safety reasons. And please don't try to alter it. It won't end well."

"Alright," Karma sulks. "Where is the potion, anyway? Do you have it here?"

Instead of replying, Karasuma takes out a vial of purple liquid on a string and hands it to Karma. "Nagisa, Nakamura, you can come get your vials too. As soon as you run out, just come to the potions room for a refill. And try not to waste it. It takes time to brew." He looks over at Karma, who already spilled half of it on the dark lord's desk, and sighs. "I'll distribute the other potions later. Focus on your spellwork."

"Got it, sir," Nagisa says, swirling his potion around on its little necklace. Maybe I can make it shoot out of something? No, the dark lord would just dodge like he does with our spells. The element of surprise is key. I'm not going to be able to kill him here, when he's expecting it.

The thought wakes him up. I can't kill him here. It's a waste of time to try and shoot a spell at him while he's teaching. The best use of my time would be to pay attention, absorb all of his information, and use it against him when he's least expecting it. 

He knows trying to tell this to Karma would be pointless. Honestly, the only reason he's probably here and not ditching entirely is because he gets to basically do whatever he wants in this class. If he had to choose between getting his teeth pulled out one by one and having to take a whole year of classes without ditching, Karma would be hard pressed for a decision. He can't sit still, plain and simple. He has to be doing something.

As for Nakamura, Nagisa thinks that he can clue her in, although she probably already knows. Her eyes look like they take everything in like Karma's, except instead of discarding the information a second later in exchange for something more exciting, hers calculate how useful the information is. She's solid competition. I'll have to be careful around her in the actual matches.

"We should save our potion for later," he whispers to her. "I mean, you probably already know that. Um. But if we save ours up and keep getting more from Professor Karasuma, it'll be a lot easier to get him."

Nakamura looks surprised, but nods. "I was thinking that too. Also, I think it'll be easier for us to kill him if we work together. Some combination of the spells and the potions. If we can get him distracted, we got him."

"Yeah, I totally agree." Nagisa's surprised at how smoothly this conversation's going. He's usually shit at talking to new people. Maybe it's the extenuating circumstances. Maybe I should always be placed in end-of-the-world-life-or-death scenarios, for the sake of my social well being.

"Should we tell Karma about this?" she asks, and they both look over at the boy, who's now pestering Karasuma for the recipe.

"Nah. He wouldn't go along with it. He's the impulsive type, and when he plans something, he plans it alone. I don't think he'd want to team up with anyone." Sad but true. Nagisa doesn't want to relive anything like the horror that was being Karma's Potions partner. Acid. Acid everywhere.

"Alright. So we'll keep it between us, then." She zips her lips, and Nagisa copies the motion. An ally. I really have an ally here. I thought it would be me and Karma honestly, but this works out too. I have a better chance now.

Before long, the dark lord dismisses them for their next class.

"Keep practicing those spells!" he says. "And for homework, read up on a famous wizarding assassination and write a paragraph about how it was effective and what could be changed about it."

"But professor," Nagisa says, "we don't know anything about assassination yet."

The dark lord freezes with his chalk in hand. "Ah. Right. Well, we'll work on that more next time. I suppose the homework will have to wait, then. Class dismissed!"

The three of them walk out, accompanied by their teachers. Karma slaps a hand on Nagisa's shoulder, probably harder than he intended.

"Thanks for getting us out of that homework! I already have a shitload of coursework that I brought from Durmstrang, it would be such a bummer to have even more than that." He peers at his teacher from the corner of his eye, sticking out his tongue. "That wasn't as much of a snoozefest as I thought it would be. Shame we can't hit him, right?"

"Not yet," Nagisa says, rubbing the newly forming sore spot on his shoulder. "It's only our first day, though. We have months before the test is over." Before he destroys the world. "I think we're off to a good start."

"Blech, optimism, get it away from me."

"I think he's right," Nakamura says, putting her hand down on Nagisa's other shoulder. Luckily for him, she does it gently. "It wouldn't do us any good to go into this thinking we'll lose. We have some good stuff going for us, right?"

Karma turns to her, and for just a moment, his eyes look dangerous. Nagisa can sense his mood swings like telling the weather from years of practice, and for that one moment, he's scared for her. No one ever comes out from Karma's bad side totally intact.

Scared and confused, actually. What's setting him off now? 

But then Karma blinks, and his eyes are clear as day. "Two optimists? Now that's just excessive," he jokes, and if Nakamura noticed his look from before, she doesn't show it. As always, Nagisa's the only one to notice things. 

They reach the end of the corridor, and Nakamura and Karma need to go back to their respective classes. 

"Later, Nagisa," Nakamura calls, following her professor to their carriages.

"See ya tomorrow, Nagisa," Karma says, flashing him a wave. 

That leaves Nagisa alone with Karasuma again. 

"So, Nagisa," the man says awkwardly, like he's a distant uncle or something. "Do you really feel like you're learning a lot in the class with Koro-sensei?"

Nagisa clutches his notebook tighter in his hands. "Yes, definitely." More than you could know.

Chapter Text

The next morning, before breakfast, the tributes are called to be interviewed for the newspaper.

"Seems a little early for this," Nakamura says, twisting a piece of hair in her fingers. "We didn't even do anything yet."

"People want to know who to root for before the action starts," Karma replies. "It's like a reality show for them. Maybe they might even help us in the challenges."

If it really is as Karma says, then Nagisa's in more trouble than he thought. He's never been particularly interesting or worth watching, and compared to Nakamura's and Karma's vibrant personalities, he fades into the background even more. It's always been his greatest weakness; he slips through life unnoticed, even when he's right there in front.

Their teachers accompany them to the headmaster's office, where the man himself is sitting across from two other people, one carrying a notebook and the other a camera.

"I'm Takaoka Akira, and I'll be conducting the interviews for today," the man with the notebook says, holding out a hand to shake. Nagisa doesn't know who he's holding it out to exactly, but Professor Karasuma takes it. He doesn't look happy about it. Does he know this guy? "Before I do the individual interviews, I'll take your pictures. Who wants to go first?"

"I will," Karma and Nakamura say at the same time. They exchange a look, and Nagisa takes a step back. Dangerous. 

"Ladies first," Karma finally says, and Nakamura steps forward, sitting in the chair across from the cameraman.

"Ready?" he asks, and a second later, her expression shifts to one of calm confidence, her mouth pulled into a serene smile, although her eyes stay sharp. This must be the image of herself she wants the audience to see. Her public persona. Nagisa can't lie; it is pretty intimidating.

The cameraman snaps the picture, then beckons Karma over for his portrait. Karma's tactic is different; rather than try and look collected, he pushes the cocky angle, baring all of his sharp teeth in a malicious grin. He looks powerful. Like he could wipe the competition at any point. Nagisa shivers.

Then it's his turn to be the subject of the camera's gaze. His hair is neat, his robes are pressed, but he doesn't know what kind of energy he wants to give off. I can't do cool and confident like Nakamura, or cocky like Karma. His smile, on more than one occasion, has caused people to reach out and pinch his cheeks, so he can't simply go with that. What do I have to show the people at home that I won't be stepped on?

"Are you ready?" the cameraman asks, and Nagisa hesitates before nodding. Instead of smiling, he lets his mouth go slack, perfectly neutral, and stares directly into the camera with a look he hopes says I'm not taking any shit from anyone. The camera flash goes off, and he lets himself breathe again.

"Damn Nagisa, that was scary," Karma whistles when he joins the group. 

"What was?"

"Your face. It looked like you wanted to kill someone. Super threatening."

"I did my best, alright?" Nagisa says, shoving his hands in his pockets. "You don't need to mock me for it."

"He's right," Nakamura chimed in. "You looked like a competitor."

I did? "Okay, now I feel like both of you are making fun of me."

"You'll see when the paper comes out. You're a real Slytherin representative," Karma says, flashing him a sharp grin. Oddly enough, he doesn't make it sound like a bad thing. Rather, he says the word Slytherin like he should have pride in it. He used to be one, that's all it is. Still, it causes a warm feeling to spread throughout Nagisa's chest.

"I'll begin the interviews now," Takaoka says, gathering their attention. "Do you prefer to have them away from the other competitors?"

"I don't mind Nagisa and Karma hearing my answers," Nakamura says. "It won't give them any advantages over me."

"Same here," Karma chimes in, and Nagisa nods along. Worst case scenario, his interview will put everyone to sleep.

"Alright then, let's begin. Nakamura Rio, you can go first." His quill hovers in front of him, ready to write. "I'll reflect your answers as best as I can. If at any point you want to skip a question, just say so."

"Sure thing," she says, sitting down in the chair in front of him. 

"First question: how do you feel being the only female competitor in the Triwizard Tournament?" 

At that moment, Nagisa swears, he can feel the energy of the entire room drop significantly. A seeping cold fills the space, even with all of the lanterns lit around them.

"I don't feel anything about it," Nakamura says, and even her voice has dropped an octave. "I don't see it affecting me at all whatsoever." She doesn't break eye contact with the reporter as his quill records her words, and he doesn't look away either. He must be used to interviewing some scary people. He is a reporter, after all. But doesn't he see the danger?

"Good answer," Takaoka says cheerily. "Now for the next question, is there any special someone you're hoping to win the competition for?"

Now both of Nakamura's eyebrows shoot up. "A special someone?"

"You know, a beau, boyfriend, fiancee, suitor, anyone of the sort." He's sitting on the edge of his seat now, and his quill hovers around him, shaking in anticipation. At least, that's how it looks to Nagisa.

"Pass," she says, and the room drops another five degrees. "And also completely irrelevant."

"My readers would argue otherwise," Takaoka practically sings. "But if you insist, I won't push. As the youngest child in your family, and with all of your siblings serving positions in the Ministry of Magic, do you feel extra pressure to win this competition to prove your worth to your family?"

"How do you know about my family?"

"I'm a reporter. It's my job to get the full story."

"If I may intervene," Nakamura's teacher interrupts, voice sharp, "I don't see any of these questions being at all appropriate for an interview like this one. If you keep asking my student inappropriate and prying questions like this, then this interview will be finished. Do you hear me, reporter?"

"Clearly," Takaoka says, not hesitating for a second. He merely looks over his notepad, nods to himself, and clears his throat. "I'll try to keep the questions, as you said, appropriate. I'm sorry if they came off another way."

He continues the interview with regular questions, like what she thinks the first challenge will be like, and how Beauxbatons compares to Hogwarts. The air in the room never fully releases its tension, but Nagisa can breathe again, which is a big relief to him. At the rate at which the interview had been going before, he had been worried for his own safety.

"Last question, Ms. Nakamura," Takaoka says before long. "If you can't win this competition, then which of your competitors would you rather take the gold?"

Nagisa expects her to pass, but instead she flashes him a smile and says, "Shiota Nagisa. Final answer."

"Harsh," Karma says, pulling at his collar, but he's still smiling. Nagisa, on his part, doesn't know what to say to that. Do I thank her? Or was that her way of saying that she's not that worried about me either way?

"Thank you for your time," Takaoka says, flipping to a new page. "Akabane Karma, I assume you're going next?"

"Yes sir," Karma says, voice dripping with contempt. "I assume I also have the right to pass on whichever questions I want?"

"That's right," the reporter replies. "I'll try not to make them too hard, though."

Indeed, he starts his questions off easy this time. The journey from Durmstrang to Hogwarts, his favorite subjects in school, how excited he is about the tournament. Karma answers with the ease of a celebrity already used to the paparazzi, and Nagisa can tell that he's in his element. But of course, the peace can't last for too long with this man.

"My sources tell me that you used to go to Hogwarts," Takaoka says, leaning forward in his chair. "Why did you switch schools?"

"Pass," Karma says easily, like it doesn't bother him at all. The only indication that he even heard the question is the sudden flush of energy that emanates from him. Unlike Nakamura's cool ice, his comes out like flames licking at the air. 

"Alright. If you won't tell me that, then tell me this: how is your relationship with your old classmates?"

"Pass." Again, no visible reaction, but Nagisa's beginning to sweat in his robes. He could've answered that one easily. Is he going to pass on all of them?

"How do your new classmates feel about you representing their school?"

"Pass." It's almost like a game now, except Nagisa can't tell who's winning.

"Did there ever come a time-" 

This time he doesn't even wait for him to finish his question. "Pass."

"If you'd let me-"

"Pass." He's almost grinning now, eyes flashing wildly as if to say make my day. "Next question."

Takaoka, for the first time in the whole interview, looks something other than pleased. If Nagisa looks hard enough, he can almost see the man's own energy rising out from behind thick emotional gates. And he reeks of malice.

"Professor," he whispers, trying to grab Karasuma's attention. "I think-"

"I know, Nagisa," the professor responds lowly. "If the situation escalates any more than this, then Karma's teacher will intervene. He's a smart man, and it isn't my place for now.

"Okay, Karma," the reporter's now saying, hands in the air. "I'll ask you two more questions, and you'll be free to go. But you have to agree to hear me out, okay?"

"I don't have to do that," Karma replies. "You said I could skip whatever questions I want." He's practically thumbing his nose at the man, and it upsets Nagisa extra because he knows that Karma knows what he's doing. He always knows exactly how much trouble he's getting himself into, and yet he never stops himself. 

"That is true. But I respectfully ask that you hear me out."

"Give respect, get respect. But you reporters wouldn't know much about that, would you?"

"Akabane, behave." Now Karma's teacher steps in, stern voice booming across the stone walls.

Karma frowns. "Professor, are you hearing this guy? He's a headcase-"

"He's a reporter from a newspaper. You do not have to answer his questions, but I would appreciate it if you allowed him to say them." He turns his stony gaze to Takaoka. "That being said, if you are disrespectful again, I will not hesitate to remove you myself. Do you hear me, sir?"

"Loud and clear," Takaoka - who apparently possesses steel balls - says, voice not shaking a bit. "Second to last question, same as the one I gave Nakamura: if you couldn't win this tournament, who would you pick to win?"

"Nagisa," Karma says without hesitating, sticking his tongue out at Nakamura. "No question about it."

"How intriguing." Takaoka's now looking at Nagisa with a lot more interest than before. "And my last question is, how do you think your parents would feel if you won the tournament?"

Karma's parents? That's a weird question. Wouldn't any parent feel pride in their child? My mom's different, but she doesn't really care about me either way. Thinking it over, Nagisa's never heard anything about Karma's parents, although he never thought it was strange. In Slytherin especially, it's commonplace not to mention your folks for many different reasons. He had just assumed there was nothing to know. 

Karma, however, leaps up from his chair and holds his wand out in front of him, tip glowing. Any trace of a smile that had been on his face is long gone. 

"Pass," he hisses, and the air burns. Takaoka ducks back, but a second later, his expression shifts to one of a magpie seeing something shiny. His quill continues to write.

"Expelliarmus!" his teacher booms, and his wand flies out of his hands, clattering to the floor. Karma doesn't pick it up immediately, his eye contact with Takaoka unwavering. What does the man know? What's Karma's deal? After a minute, he picks his wand up and sticks it in his pocket, although he never looks away from the reporter. Instead, he heads back to stand with the rest of them, uncharacteristically sullen.

"Are you okay?" Nagisa asks, and the boy doesn't respond. He only continues to glower. After another second of tension thick enough to be cut, his teacher pulls him out of the room. Part of Nagisa wants to follow behind, get the truth, but all of him knows that that's a dumb idea. When Karma loses it, really loses it, anyone around him is only asking to be hurt.

"That was exciting," Takaoka says, flipping through his notepad. "Now Shiota Nagisa, it's your turn."

"Headmaster, I don't think it would be a good idea to continue these interviews," Professor Karasuma says before Nagisa can move. "You can see how unprofessional this man is with your own eyes."

"Yes, it's quite disturbing to see," Headmaster Asano says, curling his lip. "I'll be leaving an unsavory review of his conduct to his newspaper, no doubt about it. But I still feel that it's important for all three competitors to have their interview completed. Shiota, as the man said, can skip whichever questions he'd like."

Is this an attack on me? He wants me to face this madman alone? Nagisa shoots his professor an entreating look, but the man only shakes his head. 

"Perfect," Takaoka says as Nagisa sits across from him. "I'll make this quick, I promise."

Nagisa stays alert as he fields his filler questions, waiting for the switch that he knows is coming. He says that his best subject is History of Magic, talks a little bit about the astronomy club, and says that if he wins the money, he wants to celebrate with his whole class, since they've been supporting him all this time. He doesn't mention the potion of height that he's been looking into; some things are better kept inside. 

"So I've heard that there have been a few people at Hogwarts opposed to having a Slytherin representative," Takaoka says, and there it is. "Do you have any comments on that?"

Nagisa could pass - it's a stupid question anyway - but he doesn't want the reporter to think that he's afraid of him and his prying questions. Karma and Nakamura have nothing to prove; it's different for him. So instead, he puts on his best neutral voice and says, "It's all jealousy. Nothing I can do about it."

"I know Mr. Akabane used to be a Slytherin back when he went to Hogwarts. Do you think there's a reason that two Slytherins have been entered into the tournament?" He wants to stew the seeds of dissent. He wants people to question the cup's neutrality, just like Gakushuu had. 

"I think the Slytherin trait of craftiness makes us better competitors," Nagisa replies. Now that he's actually under the pressure himself, his head is oddly clear. "But nobody knows how the cup works, so I can't talk for it."

"True, very true," Takaoka murmurs, and his quill jots down a few more words before pausing. "How good do you think your odds of winning this competition are?" 

"Just as good as my competitors'," Nagisa lies. 

"Do you think your physical stature puts you at a disadvantage?" 

Nagisa hadn't expected him to ask straight out, and his fingers curl around the bottom of his chair, but he forces himself to answer. "Not at all."

Takaoka deliberates over this, his quill swishing back and forth. Finally, he smiles and says, "I understand your mother is in Azkaban-"

"Watch yourself," Professor Karasuma says sharply. "Don't even finish that question." Even the headmaster looks a little disturbed, watching the reporter through narrowed eyes. Back over by her teacher, Nakamura shoots him an understanding nod and mouths awful, isn't he.

"No," Nagisa says, surprising everyone in the room. "I want to answer his question." This is his show, and damn if he'll let everyone else decide he's too frail to even hear the full question. "Please, finish your sentence."

The reporter's grin stretches to the point of ghastliness. "Certainly. As I was saying, I understand your mother is in Azkaban. Do you think she'll be following the tournament through the news?"

Nagisa takes a deep breath, releasing it slowly. He imagines his mother in her solitary cell, reading his interview in the newspaper. The thought curls his lip. "I honestly don't know. It's been years since I've last spoken to her. But if she is reading this interview, then I want to send her a message: I'm winning this competition for myself, nobody else. Especially not her."

The quill scratches away furiously, recording his answer. The rest of the room is silent. It feels as though a weight fell off of Nagisa's chest with the declaration. There. I said it. 

"I'll leave you off with a fun question," Takaoka says, the only one in the room still smiling. "I asked Akabane and Nakamura before who they would choose to win if not themselves, and they both picked you. So, Shiota, which one of them would you pick?"

At first, the answer seems simple. He's known Karma much longer, and he doubts that anyone expects him to answer otherwise. If Karma was here in the room, he'd be answering for him with an "Of course it's me. No doubt about it."

But Karma isn't here, and there's more to this than just picking favorites. He's not sure how deeply Nakamura and Karma thought about their answers, but what Takaoka's really asking for is potential alliances. And Nagisa can't afford to pick one or the other before the tournament even officially starts. He needs every possible advantage that he can get. 

It isn't as though he's playing one of them or the other; he's simply saving his choice for a different time. If he's lucky enough, he might not even have to pick a side. Old friendships aside, there are more important things at stake here.

"Sorry, but I'll have to pass on that one," he says, folding his arms. "Thank you for your time."

Chapter Text

Karma is notably absent for the rest of the day.

It should be a relief for Nagisa, given how much trouble comes from the boy's presence, but he finds himself searching for him at dinner regardless.

He's not the only one who notices his disappearance either.

"Still not back?" Kayano asks, following Nagisa's gaze to the Durmstrang table. Nagisa had told her about what happened with the interviews, leaving out the particular questions that had set Karma off. It felt too personal to bring up. Nagisa shakes his head. "I'm sure he's fine, wherever he is. Remember how often he used to ditch back when he went to Hogwarts?"

"More often than he attended," Nagisa murmurs, smiling a little, and forces his attention to his plate instead. "I'm not worried, anyway. Just... confused."

"Take in the silence while you can," Terasaka snorts. "He'll be back before you know it, and then you'll wish he stayed away a little longer."

"Nothing truer," Itona chimes in.

"You've only known him for a few days, what are you on about?"

"A few days were enough. He's a lot."

"Takes one to know one."

Nagisa lets them take over the conversation, sneaking one last glance at the Durmstrang table before stabbing his fork into his fish. He's fine. He just had a tantrum. He's probably in his room now plotting how to apparate the reporter onto a new planet. Not to mention how smug he would be if he knew Nagisa had been looking for him. Thinking about his annoying needling puts Nagisa in a slightly better mood. I'll see him when I see him. And until then, I'll appreciate the silence.

He snaps when Karma is missing from breakfast the next day.

"You look like you're going to snap your plate in half," Kayano says, nervously pushing her hair behind her ears. Nagisa hadn't noticed his grip on his porridge until she pointed it out. "Are you alright?"

"It's been a full day. He never disappeared for a full day."

"What are you talking about? Remember when he decided to go camping in the Forbidden Forest for the night?" Ironically enough, he had ditched detention in order to go camping, leading him to get an even longer sentence once he was apprehended. This was the start of the rumor that he was the son of the Minister of Magic, just because no one could understand how he wasn't expelled for that.

Once he was expelled for real, the rumors only doubled down on themselves. No one, not even Nagisa, could imagine what he could have done that was somehow worse.

"That was different. You didn't see the way he reacted to the reporter. I thought he was actually going to hex him in front of his professor."

"Maybe he's in detention as punishment for that." Kayano, as always, is his voice of reason when he's not feeling reasonable himself.

"Maybe." Still, Nagisa can't imagine going to class with his thoughts swirling the way that they are. "I'm gonna go ask his professor."

"Whatever puts your mind at ease," she resigns, and Nagisa leaves his full dish of porridge at his seat.

He passes by the Gryffindor table on his way, and Asano sticks out a hand to stop him.

"Looking for your boy toy?" he asks, and Nagisa's blood runs cold.

"Do you have anything to do with why he's not here?" he asks. Karma's the one who always got into fights, not him, but if Karma's not here then Nagisa will have to do. He's watched a good amount of action movies - with Karma - and he's been witness to plenty of in person fights - that Karma usually won - so he wasn't completely helpless. Asano underestimated him too, which worked in his favor. If-

"Heavens, don't look at me like that," Asano says, putting his hands up in a mock "don't shoot me" position. "I do my best to interact with Akabane as infrequently as possible. I was just curious."

"Don't waste my time, then," Nagisa mumbles, and continues on his way. He hears Asano talking about Slytherins and their awful tempers behind him, and he doesn't take the bait. He has more important things to deal with.

When he reaches the Durmstrang table, he's met with a slew of hostile stares. School pride, probably.

"Professor, can I talk to you for a minute?" he asks, ignoring the students as best as he can.

"Karma is in his room," the professor replies, biting into some kind of sausage. "He will not be at the lesson today, but he will be back tomorrow. Is that what you were concerned with?"

"Um, yes." The professor turns back to his food, and Nagisa quickly adds, "Is he alright?"

"Why should you care?" one of the boys at the table asks. "He's your competition, isn't he?"

He was my friend before you even knew he existed, Nagisa wants to say, but bites his tongue and waits for the professor's response. He doesn't have a valid excuse as to why he's worrying. He just needs some assurance that Karma is fine - not even good, just fine - and he'll be on his way.

"He is alright," he confirms, and Nagisa relaxes a little. "He is reflecting on his actions from yesterday. If he was allowed to be here, he would be."

So Kayano was right, he was in detention. Nagisa never knew a detention that could hold Karma if he really wanted to leave, but maybe Durmstrang is tougher than Hogwarts. The students seem tougher, at least. Nagisa suppresses a shiver at the amount of eyes he feels on his back.

"Ok," he says. "Thank you, sir." He returns to his table without stopping, although he feels a new pair of eyes - Asano's - join the Durmstrang students'.

"He's just a delinquent," he sighs as explanation. "He'll be back tomorrow."

"Called it," Maehara says, taking a few coins from Muramatsu.

"I told you not to worry," Kayano says, and Nagisa ducks his head in defeat.

"I wouldn't if I could help it," he replies. Caring about Karma is a disease that sucks all the energy from you. He thought he had been cured of it for good when Karma disappeared. He had thought wrong.

The beginning of Lunch Class with the Dark Lord is a lot more subdued without Karma there.

"I've already been informed that we're down a student today," the dark lord says. "Rest assured, I will still be teaching you two everything that I had planned on doing today."

"Won't Karma fall behind then?" Nakamura asks. "He won't be any help in killing you if he doesn't know how."

Nagisa wants to argue that Karma's never fallen behind in a class in his life, even when he barely attended, but the dark lord beats him to it.

"Rest assured, I have already stopped by Karma's quarters today and gave him a rundown of the lesson he is missing. He will not be slowing you down at all, Nakamura."

"Good to hear." She smiles at Nagisa, adding, "Not that we need him, right?" Nagisa smiles back, despite the doubt deep in his stomach that Karma would be ten times more useful to her in killing the dark lord than he is. All he can offer her is loyalty, and the guarantee that he won't try and do anything on his own.

"Today we will be covering some famous wizarding assassinations," the dark lord says, a piece of chalk writing on the board without him even lifting his wand. Nagisa is mediocre in charms at best, but even he knows that it takes a crazy amount of magic to do spells without an incantation. And this is my enemy. The world's enemy.

"I thought this class was more of a Charms and Potions class," Nakamura's teacher interrupts. "Now it's a history class?"

"It's an assassination class," the dark lord corrects her. "I want to give the students a well rounded education so that they are as prepared as possible to beat me. I'm hoping that the history lessons could give some inspiration and start them thinking about how to kill me."

"Fair," the teacher sniffs, and Professor Karasuma gives her a sideways look. "What? I'm making sure that my champion is spending her time wisely."

"She would be spending her time even more wisely if you didn't interrupt," he replies. She glares at him, and he stares back. Nakamura mouths So dramatic and Nagisa stifles a laugh.

"Now," the dark lord's voice cuts through the room, "time for the lesson."

In terms of history, it's pretty interesting. More interesting than Nagisa's usual history lessons at least, which are focused a lot more on who won every wizarding battle than the strategies employed to actually kill wizards in the field.

"I won't be going into too much detail about straightforward attacks, since you won't be able to execute any of those on me," he says, face going pink with pride. His skin tone, Nagisa's noticed, is an effective mood ring for him. He jots down this new color in his assassination notebook. "But grander plans with more preparation should be right up your alley. You seem like smart students."

Nagisa doesn't hear Nakamura's quill stop moving the entire class period. He considers himself a pretty diligent note taker - after all, he would be failing most of his classes if he wasn't - but he has nothing on her ink that changes color depending on the section, or her bold headers, or her handwriting neat enough to have been typed up.

"You take really good notes," he comments at the end of class, when they're packing up their things. The dark lord had assigned them their essay on assassination, and Nagisa already knows that he won't be sleeping until at least midnight tonight working on it.

"Thanks," she says. "Makes the information stick better in my brain when it's really aesthetic."

"I bet. Probably why I can barely remember any details after the fact." Nagisa, for all of the work he puts into his notes, tends to bleed into the margins more often than not. His notes read like ones frantically scribbled by a man on borrowed time. Legible, but certainly nothing pretty.

"If you want, I can give you a copy of my notes," Nakamura says, which is very nice of her but also incredibly suspicious.

"That would be great. What's the catch?" he asks, and Nakamura's grin broadens.

"It won't cost me anything," she says. "Why wouldn't I?" Nagisa waits, and she adds, "I do like it when people feel indebted to me. Makes my life a little easier."

"How much of a debt is this?"

"Not much. I'm not expecting anything. But if you do feel like you want to pay me back somehow, that's your prerogative." She casts a spell on the parchment in her hand, and it turns to two pieces. "Here, take it."

We haven't made any oath or anything. Nothing magically binding that will screw me over. Just good old fashioned manipulation. He knows a great deal about manipulation, having been friends with Karma for years, but still hesitates for a moment before taking the parchment from her. Out of the corner of his eye, he can see his professor shaking his head.

"Thank you," he says, and she winks at him, following her teacher out of the classroom. Nagisa collects the rest of his stuff and walks beside Karasuma, who's been silently sulking since his interaction with the other professor.

"I don't like the look of your competitors," he says when they're alone in the hallway. Nagisa turns to him, surprised. "Karma, I already knew how he is. But Nakamura looks like trouble as well."

"The Triwizard Cup knows what it's doing," Nagisa replies, and tries for a smile. "Probably wants an interesting match up." He doesn't want Karasuma to be worrying about him, not when the rest of the school is already doubting his abilities. He hasn't even competed in the first challenge yet and already he's the underdog.

"I know that you know what you're doing," he continues, a second surprise. "You're my student, after all. But if you need any guidance in anything, don't hesitate to come talk to me. The other two are utilizing their mentors plenty." His forehead wrinkles, probably thinking of Nakamura's teacher again. "I want you to have every advantage you need."

"Thank you, professor," Nagisa says genuinely. "I'll keep that in mind." He doesn't like relying on anyone but himself, but it can't hurt to have someone definitively in his corner.

He spends a few hours that night in the library, poring over the notes and scribbling a neat-enough draft by lamplight. Sugino had offered to join him, but since Nagisa can't disclose anything about the lunchtime meetings, he thought it would be safer to go by himself.

The essay is completed quicker than expected, thanks to Nakamura's notes, so Nagisa takes some time to research some extra assassinations for his personal notebook. Just like the dark lord, he avoids direct conflicts and placed extra attention on assassinations that took weeks of planning and elaborate set ups. There are some spells he wants to practice, not for killing but for trapping. If he could limit the dark lord's mobility, it would make it infinitely easier to kill him. If he could stop him entirely, it would only be a matter of shooting a single spell.

He only stops once the lamp beside him - charmed to never go out - started flickering. The castle itself is telling him to go to bed, apparently.

"Alright, I'm going," he sighs to no one, leaning his head from side to side and hearing his neck crack satisfyingly. My back is going to kill in the morning.

The common room is empty when he returns to his house, and he whispers the password to the painting blocking the doorway.

"Beware," the painting says as it creaks open. "You have a visitor."

"A visitor?" As far as Nagisa knows, they aren't supposed to have visitors in their dorm rooms, much less visitors at one in the morning. "And why should I beware?"

"I've said too much already," the painting says shortly, and swings sharply, as if to close the matter. It can't be anyone dangerous. The painting would tell the headmaster if it was. Nagisa ducks inside before he can get locked out and finds his room perfectly intact, as far as he can tell in the dark. He casts a dim illumination spell and finds Sugino curled up in his bed, snoring quietly. He sighs, relieved, and turns to his own bed to find-

"Took you long enough. Jeez, were you writing the essay in slow motion?"

Karma, to his credit - which he has very little of at the moment - is whispering in order to not wake Sugino up. This doesn't stop Nagisa from jumping in surprise and almost knocking over his lamp behind him.

"What the hell are you doing here?" he hisses, keeping his distance from the devil perched on the edge of his bed.

"Waiting for the easter bunny to come." When that gets no response, he sighs. "Waiting for you, obviously."

"So you disappear for a full day and then decide to just show up in my dorm room in the middle of the night unannounced?"

"Well I didn't come in the middle of the night. I came a few hours ago, but you weren't here."

"Then why didn't you leave?" Nagisa's whisper-shouting at this point, and Sugino rolls over in his bed, grumbling something. The two of them wait for him to fall back asleep, and then Nagisa returns to his interrogation. "And how did you get in here? And why did Sugino let you stay? And where have you been?"

"Damn, what's with the third degree?" Karma asks, putting his arms up. "The only bad thing I've done is trespass, and me and the painting have an agreement about that. Plus, this used to be my room too."

"It's not anymore. You need to learn boundaries." Nagisa finally approaches him directly, setting his bag down on the floor. He doesn't sit beside him on the bed, but rather stands over him, one hand rubbing his temple. "Did you threaten Sugino to let you in?"

"You really think the worst of me," Karma whines. "I told him I had important tournament stuff to talk to you about. Which I do."

"Still isn't right for you to break into my room." My room, not our room. "What have you even been doing this whole time?"

"Waiting for you to come back." The puppy eyes Karma attaches to this statement are rendered wholly ineffective by the fact that he has one of Nagisa's comics on the bed beside him. "And reading."

"Reading my books."

"I gave this one to you, remember?" And Nagisa did remember, but that only made him testier. He hadn't touched that comic since Karma was expelled.

"I'm going to ignore all of the wrong going on here for a sec," Nagisa says, looking upward for a higher power to come save him. None do. "What's the important tournament stuff that you needed to tell me?"

"Well, it's more like show you," Karma says, standing up and stretching his legs. "Mmm, that feels good. My legs were getting stiff waiting for you. You know the beds at Durmstrang are-"

"Karma. Focus."

"Right, sorry, sorry." He stretches his arms now, yawning. "I need to show you tomorrow. Can you meet me by the kitchens after dinner?"

"What do you need to show me?" He doesn't want to go into one of Karma's schemes blind. Not again.

"I can't tell you now, but I'll say that it's really important to the tournament. You'll be on your knees thanking me tomorrow."

"Somehow I doubt that." He takes off his slippers, sitting on his bed. This conversation is sapping his energy faster than the essay had. "You should go, Karma."

"I'm already on my way out." He strides across the room, pauses, then asks, "Are you mad at me?"

"You- I- Of course I'm mad, Karma." Every time he thinks he underestimates Karma's emotional maturity, the bar lowers itself. "You can't just do whatever you want all the time. It's exhausting."

"I already told you, this is really important shit. I wouldn't wait in your room for four hours if it wasn't." Now he sounds petulant. Nagisa, never one to resort to violence, would throw something at him if it wasn't the middle of the night.

"That's not true. You've broken the rules for less."

"You're not even happy to see me after I've been gone for a day," Karma frowns, and something inside Nagisa snaps. I shouldn't have worried about him in the first place. He doesn't care about anyone or anything but himself.

He stands up, speeds across the room, and pushes Karma through the doorway, gritting his teeth. Karma is too surprised to dig his heels in. 

"Bye, Karma," he huffs, glaring up at him.

"See you tomorrow?" Karma asks, a shred of hesitation in his voice. Nagisa wishes he could deny him this, wishes he could slam the door in his face and leave him hanging and make him the one who's disappointed for once in his stupid privileged life. But if Karma really does have something important to show him - the odds are fifty fifty - then Nagisa doesn't want to miss out on it just to be petty.

I'll be the bigger person. I'm always the bigger person.

"Sure," he says, and the wall seals shut in front of Karma's face. Nagisa stares at it for a minute, then throws his slipper at it.

Chapter Text

Nagisa decides that he will not look in Karma's direction once the next day.

Back before Karma's expulsion, it was impossible for him to stay mad at the boy for longer than a few hours. No matter how justified his anger was - and usually it was very justified - he would always crack eventually. Mostly it was the way that Karma would stare at him, eyes pleading, like he wouldn't be able to go on if Nagisa didn't forgive him that moment. The stares were also supplemented by flattery, notes, and occasionally a gift. Never an apology, but all of the workings of one.

It hurt Nagisa to forgive him so easily, but it hurt him more not to have his best friend around. So he always cracked.

Now, he is determined not to make the same mistake.

"Karma's been staring at you all breakfast," Kayano whispers. Nagisa knows; he can feel the pinpricks of his eyes on the back of his neck.

"What a weirdo," he replies, not looking up from his breakfast. He hasn't told anyone about Karma sneaking into his room the night before. Mostly because it has to do with tournament stuff, which he's oath-bound not to talk about, but also a little because he's afraid that if he tells someone, they'll say he's overreacting. Nagisa doesn't have the patience to explain how entitled Karma can be, especially when he knows that he'll be beloved either way.

"Right, a weirdo," Kayano drawls. "Like you were yesterday when you were stalking him."

"That was different. I was worried about him being missing. I'm right here, though, so there's no reason he should be staring." He looks up just to give her a pointed look. Drop it. She nods, like reading his mind, but sighs to herself.

"You've been in an awful mood since the tournament's started," she says, nudging him with her elbow. "If there's anything you need to talk about, you know you can tell me, right?"

She's not wrong, he realizes. Sure, the dark lord is living at Hogwarts, Karma is acting like he never abandoned him, he's representing a school that hates him in a deadly tournament, and he's pretty sure the headmaster wouldn't care if he died either way, but it wasn't an excuse to be a bitch to his friends.

"I know," he says, and tries for a smile. It works, somewhat. "I'm sorry I've been so crabby. It's just been a lot of stress."

"I totally get that," she replies. "Like, if I was in your situation I'd probably curl up into a ball in my room and never leave." She pauses, grimacing. "I meant that as a compliment. Like you're really brave for coming out here at all."

"Thanks," he says dryly, but it does help. If the entire school doubts him, at least he has one person who thinks he's brave.

"I know what'll cheer you up," she continues, pulling out a loose set of papers from her bag. "Your interview got published."

"Wait, really?" In all honesty, he doesn't want to see what the reporter had written, but his mind also itches for it. At the very least, he wants to know how everyone else in the magical world would view him. "Why didn't you mention it earlier?"

"You were kinda busy staring at your food," she jokes. "Didn't want to break your concentration."

Nagisa peers at the paper from the corner of his eye. "Can you read it over and sum it up for me?" His stomach is doing jumping jacks.

"I already read it," she says, pushing the paper into his hands. "You'll want to see it for yourself. It's all good things, don't worry."

Hesitantly, he opens the paper in his hand and stares at it. The first thing he notices is his own face staring back at him, tilting its head to the side slightly at his attention. Karma had been right; he does look intimidating. He can see the nerves in his eyes, plain as day, but to the average newspaper reader, he looks cold. Willing to do whatever it takes to win.

He kind of likes it.

Scratch that. He really likes it.

The second thing he notices is that Nakamura's and Karma's pictures are also there, flanking his picture. And both of theirs are considerably smaller.

"You must've done something to make the reporter like you," Kayano says, nudging him with her elbow. All I had to do was answer his incredibly invasive questions. No biggie. "Half the article is about you, and the other two just get scraps."

He reads through the article, then reads through it again, looking for the punchline. Karma is reduced to an unstable hothead, and more words are spent describing Nakamura's appearance that her skills. But Nagisa actually receives some positive notes, in between digs at his criminal mother, his Hogwarts house, and the fact that he has the face of a ten year old. Since he's already mocked about these things regularly, Nagisa isn't too pressed about it.

The reporter painted him as a wolf in sheep's clothing, someone who has a toughness inside that counters the "juvenile, almost naive" look, as the article calls it. He also noted that both of Nagisa's competitors named him as their pick for runner up, which puts a bit of a damper on Nagisa's plan to secretly use this knowledge, but also makes him seem desirable.

"Who is this Slytherin boy, really, and what are his capabilities? I, for one, am excited to see how this tournament plays out. I'm sure it will be a wild ride from start to finish," Kayano reads aloud, and Nagisa blushes.

It is a blatant display of favoritism, and one that probably puts a giant target on Nagisa's back. But at the same time, no one has ever favored him like this before. For the first time in the competition, he feels like someone besides for his friends and professor is rooting for him.

"You're really going for the win, huh," Hazama says from across the table, looking over from her own paper. "That's impressive. I didn't know you had it in you to be so cutthroat."

"Stone cold killer," Maehara chimes in, grinning widely at him. "Gonna make champions out of our whole house."

"No pressure, of course," Isogai says, but his eyes are gleaming. His whole table is eyeing him like he's a prize, a golden ticket that could save them all. That has a chance of winning it all.

"I'll do my best," he manages to get out shakily, and they cheer like he's a god. He itches to turn to Karma's table, to get his reaction, but forces himself against it. He doesn't need his attention right now. At this point, he might not need his attention at all.

This line of thinking lasts him all throughout lunch, and halfway through dinner. A new record.

He hasn't felt the pinpricks since the morning, which, fantastic, but he's in a better mood now and it's putting a damper on his annoyance with Karma. Twenty different people had congratulated him on the article throughout the day, none of whom he had ever spoken to before, and he even got a request from someone to sign their copy of the newspaper.

After that, Sugino asked if he could act as Nagisa's bodyguard, which mainly consisted of him walking directly in front of him and shouting "Come on, people, let's keep it moving! No crowding, he has places to be." Highly embarrassing, but flattering.

Maybe Karma's mad at me now, since I got so much more attention than him. This thought makes him feel just the tiniest bit guilty, which he smothers aggressively within himself. No. Don't I deserve to get some attention? God knows he hogged all of it when he went here.

But then he remembers Karma's face when the reporter asked him the last question, and shivers. He doesn't know what Karma would've done to him if his teacher steps in, and that thought scares him. He always used to know Karma's limits. Maybe I'm not the only one who's changed.

Without thinking about it, he looks over to Karma's table for the first time all day and finds him... missing. Why am I not surprised? He's not sure what this means in terms of their scheduled meetup by the kitchen. Maybe Karma's so offended by the article that he doesn't want to see Nagisa's face at all. Maybe that was all it took to kill whatever good feelinds he seemed to want to build up.

Despite these thoughts stewing in his gut, he still makes sure to pass by the kitchens after dinner, telling his friends that he wants to grab some extra dessert. He glances at the entrance, keeps walking, then does a double take.

"You're here," Karma says, beaming. "I didn't know if you'd actually show. Thought I might have to stop by your dorm again."

"If you do that again, I'm switching dorm rooms," Nagisa replies, but there's a lot less bite in his voice than he thought there would be. "I thought you wouldn't show up. You weren't at dinner."

"You noticed? How sweet. And here I was thinking you've been avoiding my gaze." Nagisa doesn't refute this; Karma continues on, unfazed. "I've used my spare time today to look into our reporter friend. Seeing if there's anything he values in this life, how I can get ahold of it and destroy it. Nothing crazy."

"Did you find anything?"

"No, he's a locked safe. Probably knows how to cover his tracks, being a reporter and all. But I'm not giving up yet." His eyes glint manically. "Pretty nice stuff he wrote about you, though. You should be proud."

"I am." One good thing about Karma's skyscraper-sized ego is that Nagisa never feels like he has to hold anything back. Humbleness, in Karma's eyes, is weakness. "Have you eaten anything since breakfast?"

"Who has time to eat when there's sleuthing to do?"

"I'll take that as a no. Come, let's get you something." He beckons for Karma to follow him into the kitchens, and when he doesn't, grabs his elbow and tugs. "I'm not going to follow you to this great surprise if your blood sugar's low. It makes you jumpier than usual."

"I can't go into the kitchens," Karma says, grimacing. "The magic barrier there is too strong."

"Stronger than the dorms?"

"Of course. The house elves here could destroy the whole place if they wanted. They just prefer to make delicious food." His stomach rumbles. "If you wanna get me something, though, I'll be in your debt forever. Now that you've reminded me that food exists, I'm starving."

Nagisa is hit with a painful flash of memory: Karma laying on his bed, eating leftovers that Nagisa brought him from the kitchen, flashing him a smile so bright that Nagisa would've done anything to keep it there. "You're my hero," he would garble, mouth still full, and Nagisa would tell him to swallow before he spoke. "You're my hero," he would repeat, and Nagisa would pretend like the second time didn't warm his chest just as much as the first.

Nagisa would've done anything for him, period.

"I'll get it for you this time," he now says, turning swiftly on his heels. "But next time, I'm letting you starve."

"Fair's fair," Karma shrugs. "We are competitors, after all." And Nagisa isn't facing him anymore, so he can't see the way he winces.

After Karma is good and fed, he leads Nagisa to his "jaw-dropping, life-changing, eternal-debt-causing" surprise, which is outside the castle near the woods. Nagisa, who isn't dressed for an outside excursion, shivers in the September air.

"How much farther is it?" he asks, rubbing his arms.

"Almost there," Karma whispers, adding, "Keep your voice down. This is a secret, remember?"

"Is it?" All he remembers Karma saying is that it's tournament related, although that should've been his second clue that this was going to be something illicit. The first clue was, of course, that Karma was the one orchestrating it.

They reach the end of a row of trees, and Karma sticks out an arm to stop him.

"Here's where we need to boot up," he says, taking out a small potion bottle from his coat. "Invisibility potion."

"How illegal is this?" Nagisa asks, staring at the opaque purple liquid. "And where did you get that?"

"I made it," Karma says proudly. "Made a few revisions to a potion that redirects people's eyes from things so that it'll work on people."

"And you've tested this?"

"Somewhat." Liar. "I'll drink some first so you can rest easy." He uncorks the vial, taking a large gulp.

A minute passes, and nothing happens.

"How long is it supposed to take?" Nagsia asks. Karma frowns.

"It should already work. Maybe look away for a second to let the redirection magic work?" Nagisa complies, and when he looks back, Karma is gone. "How's this?"

"It worked," Nagisa says, a little stunned. Karma's always experimented with potions, but most of the time they ended up being foul tasting duds. This is a high level potion that he adapted himself. He's a strong competitor for sure, the nervous voice living in his head whispers. Very strong.

"I'll leave the bottle on the floor so you can take some," Karma's voice says from nowhere, and Nagisa sees the bottle appear on the ground a few feet away. He picks it up, sniffs it, and then chugs the rest.

"It tastes like firewhiskey," he coughs.

"Most of my potions do," Karma replies.

"That might mean you're an alcoholic." He feels a hand land on his shoulder and jumps. "Don't do that. You scared the crap out of me."

"Sorry," Karma says, his voice close to his ear. "I followed your voice to find you. I need to lead you to the surprise, remember? It'd be hard to do that if you can't see me." His hand travels down from Nagisa's shoulder, tracing his upper arm before landing at the crook of his elbow. Nagisa suppresses a shiver. "This good with you?"

"If it's the only way," he says, wishing he could see just how close Karma's standing.

"Perfect." He feels his arm being tugged, and starts moving before he can trip. "We need to keep quiet now, but you'll know the surprise when you see it."

Nagisa actually hears and feels the surprise before he can see it. A bone chilling shriek, followed by a rush of heat that washes over his skin, banishing the chill in the air. A few moments later, he sees the surprise that Karma was talking about.

Dragons. A few of them, larger than life, chained down inside large enclosures.

"What the hell?" Nagisa mumbles to himself without meaning to, and Karma's hand quickly travels up his arm to his face, securing itself over his mouth.

"Shhh," he breathes in his ear, and Nagisa startles, yanking the hand down from his mouth instinctively. So dramatic. At the same time, he also remembers that dragons are absolutely super duper illegal in this part of the world, so he understands the need for discretion.

They stand there, watching the dragons trudge around their enclosure, occasionally shrieking or blowing flames, but not doing much else. It's only a few minutes later that he notices two men standing by the entrance of the enclosure. One of them is dressed up in protective gear, and he is gesturing to the dragons, talking animatedly. The other person is someone Nagisa takes a second to place, but then recognizes.

The head of the ministry Department of Magical Games and Sports. The man in charge of the whole tournament.

He probably would have stood there staring at the dragons all night if Karma didn't tug on his arm again. He allows him to lead him away, only looking away from the creatures once they turn the corner. He's never seen a dragon in real life before - he doubts anyone at Hogwarts has - and they're as beautiful as they are terrifying.

"I think we're far enough now that they won't hear us," Karma says after a short while. "So? What'd you think of my surprise?" Nagisa can't see his smirk, but he can hear it perfectly clearly.

"How did you know about this?" he asks, the first of many questions on his mind.

"After Lovro gave me detention, he said he was leaving somewhere, which I thought was super suspicious because what could be more important than watching over my detention? So I followed him off the ship and saw him by the dragons."

"And he didn't catch you?"

"Nah, he probably thought I'd spend the whole night seething and planning my revenge from my room, so he didn't even leave someone to watch over me."

"And the dragons are... part of the tournament?" He doesn't want to believe he'll have to fight a real dragon for a challenge, but his heart sinks even before Karma responds.

"I totally forgot you can't see me nod," he says with a snort. "Yeah, definitely. Even if the games guy wasn't there, what else is going on now that'd need giant deadly lizards?"

"Maybe they'll try to use them to kill the dark lord."

"That's what they have us for, silly." Suddenly, Nagisa sees a flickering in front of him. "Oh, I think the potion's wearing off. That's good, I was worried it might be permanent."

"What were the odds of that?"

"Five percent, maybe. Hey, watch it! You can't flick me when I can't see you, that's bad sportsmanship."

"Worse sportsmanship to turn your competition invisible forever," Nagisa grumbles, and from the way Karma's eyes snap to his, he can tell that he's starting to flicker too. "Why did you show me this, anyway? You had a huge advantage knowing the challenge, and now I have it too."

"That's the point," Karma says, and his grin is more hesitant than usual. "I was thinking we start up some kind of alliance."

"What could you possibly get from an alliance with me?" Nagisa asks, and he doesn't even mean it in a self pitying way. For as long as he's known him, Karma's been an individualist. Whenever he had to work with a partner for anything - the partner usually being Nagisa - he would always take charge, saying that it'd be quicker if he did it himself. The Karma that Nagisa knew would rather die than admit he could benefit from someone else's help.

"You're great," Karma says. "I'm sure there's stuff you could help me with too." Bullshit, but flattering bullshit, which was a nice change of pace.

"Really," Nagisa says flatly. "There's only three of us in the competition anyway. I don't think an alliance would do you much good in this situation."

"Really? That's a different tune than you were singing when you agreed to combine your potion supply with the blonde's." Nagisa freezes. So he overheard that. It's fine. It wasn't anything too incriminating.

"That wasn't an official offer of an alliance or anything," he says slowly, fighting to keep his tone casual. "It was just strategy. This is a much bigger deal than that."

"Maybe I'm trying to show you that I can be a better ally than her." Now it's all starting to make sense. Karma doesn't need him to be his ally; he just doesn't want him to be someone else's ally, and he'd be willing to sacrifice his own advantage to do so.

Nagisa can use this.

"I still don't know why you want to be my ally so badly," he starts, "but we were friends before I even knew her, and I know how capable you are. If you want an alliance, I'm happy to make one."

Karma beams, and Nagisa ignores the sinking in his stomach as they shake hands.

"I don't know how much help I'll be in this tournament," he says as they walk towards the castle, "but I owe you one. A big one."

"I know you'll pay me back somehow," Karma says easily. "You're good on your word."

"Why did we need to go all the way out there, anyway? You could've just texted me."

"Would you have believed me if I just told you, or would you think I was bullshitting you to sabotage you in the tournament?"

"...you have a point."

He drops him off by the front gates, dashing off to the ship before Lovro can notice he's gone, and Nagisa only breathes again once he's in his dorm room, diving under his blanket and pulling his phone from his pocket.

Nagisa is no Karma. When he texts people, they believe him.

Nagisa: the first challenge has dragons. real dragons. dont ask me how i know

He gets a response only a few minutes later.

Nakamura: holy shit