Chapter Text
Shuuichi Iguchi didn’t expect much from the Wizarding World. Diagon Alley looked great, sure, but would it really treat him differently than the town he was raised in?
He stared down the alleyway with empty eyes. His parents were staying at the Leaky Cauldron. They gave him the necessary funds with the promise of coming back as soon as he was done, no exceptions. All of them were wearing cloaks with the hoods up. ‘Better to be hidden and ignored than seen and hated’. It was a practical saying, he supposed, but he followed the simpler: ‘Just don’t go outside’. Not like he followed that particular rule to the letter; his limited edition Stain comic cover couldn’t be delivered by mail.
But this summer was different. He got a letter from Hogwarts; the first of his family.
It didn’t matter anymore that he was the outcast
It didn’t matter anymore that he was different
It didn’t matter who he was. What he was.
He had his letter. He was worthy.
The sun on Diagon Alley was bright today. Suuichi used his letters to shade his eyes. Everything here was so bright. And so many people! It made him feel a little nervous.
Maybe he should’ve gotten out more. But now was different! It had to be, right?
Suuichi entered one of the shops. A bookstore from the looks of it. He looked back at the list. He looked through the shelves for a ‘Trimble’, the author of his Defense Against the Dark Arts textbook, passing the S’s and collecting the books needed. Halfway through scanning the shelf he felt someone bump into him. He turned around to find a boy who looked a year or two older than him. The older student (he assumed it was a student) had brown eyes and curly hair the same color.
“You’re looking for The Dark Forces too?” he asked. Suuichi nodded.
“So am I,” he said as he skimmed the shelves.
“The Defense Against the Dark Arts always requires a new textbook. I’m hoping this year–oof!” he was explaining as he hit his head on a shelf, his pointed nose then accidentally bumping into a book.
Iguchi should probably say something. “You go to Hogwarts?”
“Indeed I do!” the boy replied, pulling his own letter out of…somewhere, to show him.
“I’m hoping Quirrell developed a real sense of flair during his sabbatical,” the boy continued, waving his hand to the side and then pulled out two books from the shelf.
“Here you go,” He then promptly tossed one to Iguchi.
“Uh, thanks,” Suuichi looked at the book, then at the other boy’s face. Maybe he should’ve gotten out more.
“No problem, my young fellow. We shall meet again!” With that the weird boy turned with his cape, and they wound up waiting in line to buy the books. But once that was done the stranger really did disappear into Diagon Alley. If the rest of the school was like that, then maybe things would be okay.
Don’t get your hopes up, again, a voice in the back of his mind told him otherwise. He tugged on the hood over his head.
The next few stops were relatively simple. The cauldron was useful for carrying the books and miscellaneous he bought (no wonder so many people were carrying them). He put his books in the cauldron then went to buy the telescope, phials, and brass set. Though going to Madam Malkin’s was…normal? She didn’t say anything to his face at least. He had to remove the cloak for the measurements, and her eyebrows rose. He waited for a response, anything, but she just took his measurements and mumbled something about ‘Not having to make another custom robe’. Of course, she never seemed to actually look at anything but his robes, but this was still a relatively tame response to him. The uniform robes, unfortunately, did not have any hoods. At least there was a hat to wear; maybe it could hide him within its brim. The dragonhide gloves felt smooth compared to his own rough, scaly skin. He bought a bigger pair to fit his hands more comfortably.
“Thank you,” he told Madam Malkin as he paid for the robes and pair of gloves.
“Of course, dear,” she looked up at him with a smile. Warmth filled his chest at the acknowledgement, at the humanity of it.
“Good luck at Hogwarts!” she called as he walked out of the shop.
A trio of hooded figures in the shadowy corners of the Leaky Cauldron was thankfully seen as not suspicious enough to bother with. Iguichi put his school items on the table as he sat down across from his parents.
“So, how’d it go?” his mother asked, her tone portrayed calm while her eyes betrayed her.
“It’s going great! Everyone here seems pretty nice. I even talked to another student and the tailor shop owner,” Suuichi smiled.
“Are you ready to leave now?” his father looked behind him at the wizards, then back to his son. The other wizards were taking no notice of them, yet.
“Uh, no, I just stopped by to drop off the robes. I need to get my wand and then I’ll be done, okay?” he explained.
“Just be careful, alright. You know the consequences,” warned Mr. Iguchi, scratching at the scarred side of his forehead.
“Of course, Dad,” Suuichi nodded.
Suuichi sped his pace as he walked towards Ollivander’s. Heartbeat racing there was something there he wasn’t used to: hope. More important than some books and robes was a wand. Proof he belonged in this world. The shop in question was rather cramped and shabby, boxes upon boxes upon small, long boxes that probably had wands in them. As he reached the counter the old man who ran the place, the titular Ollivander, who peered at him from the counter.
“Hello my boy, what can I do for you?”
“Uh, I’m here for a wand, sir,” Suuichi explained. When the wandmaker gave him a puzzled look the student showed his Hogwarts letter and school supply list. “See?”
Puzzlement turned into rapt interest,
“Oh! I’ve been told you’d be coming here. This is going to be an interesting experience,” Ollivander sounded excited. He measured Suuichi’s dominant arm with measuring tape whilst gathering up boxes from the way-too-high shelves. Maybe it was magic.
They tried quite a few wands. He would get a wand from Ollivander, wave it a little, then have it be taken and switched with a new one. At some point the door’s little bell went off because Ollivander called out “Not now, I’m busy with another customer!” and the bell indicated said customer left.
Each wand failure gave Ollivander more excitement.
“I’ve never had a customer the likes of you. It’s so interesting to see how the wands react. Don’t worry, there’s never been a wand of mine that hasn’t found its’ master,” Ollivander was trying to be supportive, Suuichi guessed, but the lines felt blurred.
The last wand Ollivander gave him was Cedar, 10 inches, and ‘slightly yielding’ according to the wandmaker. He gave it a little wave, and some sparks came out. The wand felt warm, like how the sun felt on his scales at midday in spring.
Ollivander clapped his hands,
“Wonderful, how wonderful. I’ll expect big things from you!” Ollivander was saying, but Suuichi’s interest was more on the wand in his hands. Absentmindedly paying for the treasure in his hands, he started walking out of the shop.
This was it. The final piece. Suuichi sighed a little. He would never be fully accepted, he knew that, but maybe, if there were kids like the one in the bookstore or Madam Malkin or hell even Ollivander who at least entertained him. A wizard was someone with magical abilities, right? Then, he was a wizard. He was a wizard! Maybe he would finally–
He tripped. More specifically, someone tripped him. He held his new wand close, the thing that now tethered him to the Wizarding World. He heard laughing as he turned around, still on the ground, tucking the wand in one of his pant’s pockets.
“What’s a lizardman doing in Diagon Alley?” one of them asked. Both of them were larger with huge arms, with the more overweight one speaking. Of course, of course he should’ve listened to the voice from before. Best to just get this over with.
The first one kicked him. Then the second joined in. Suuichi put his hands to his head to prevent any head blows.
“What’s this?” the talking one picked something up from the ground and oh god it’s his letter “You think you can join us?” They started laughing.
“Bad enough so many mudbloods are in the school, we don’t need any freaks there too,” the overweight one started to tear up his letter, but it wouldn’t budge so he just threw it at Suuichi’s face instead.
“We should warn Malfoy,” the second one finally decided to speak.
“Haha, yeah! That’s your smartest idea all week, Goyle!” as they started to walked off, Not-Goyle looked back one last time,
“If you know your place then we won’t see you where you don’t belong again.”
It was foolish to think the bullies wouldn’t follow me here.
The Iguchis lived on the outskirts of town, in a small, rundown looking one-story house. The paint was peeling a bit, and the grass was a little too high, but he wouldn’t trade it. It was safe here, away from the rest of the society that treated them less than humanly. After dropping his new stuff off in his room, Suuichi went to the bathroom to clean up any dirt on his face. Wow, he looked so tired. His eyes had a look of emptiness in them, and if he didn’t have scales he was sure there would be eyebags under there. His greasy pinkish-purple hair fell around his head, disheveled. As he brought his clawed hands to his face to wash the dirt he examined them through the mirror.
Those boys were right in a sense. The Homo Amphibia were a species of humanoid lizards; technically ‘lizardman’ wasn’t that far off, but still. It wasn't the nicest thing to say. Suuichi sighed. If he were being honest with himself he wasn’t even a true Amphibia. A full head of hair, no tail, not even a forked tongue. And now he’s going to go to a magic school. A being between two worlds.
Why the hell did he feel so bad about it this time? It’s been this way for 11 years! The dirt was off his face and his chest was feeling strangely heavy and hollow so he went to his room.
His parents had given him the best room in the house. It was one of the few on the second floor with a good view to the backyard. The room was messy with wrappers, bottles and cans, and there were clothes and comic books everywhere but it was his. And now his wizard stuff was in a corner across from his bed. If there was a connected bathroom and he was allowed to move his video game stuff here, he could admit he would never leave this room. He needed to relax. He picked up one of his comic books, All Might #59. It was part of one of his favorite arcs: Vs. the Hero Killer. He brings a few more from the arc and gets comfortable on his bed.
‘Stain, your reign of terror ends here!’ All Might shouted, hand outstretched. Stain was across the alleyway holding two katanas with his tongue out.
‘Stand aside, All Might! You’re the only one who doesn’t need to get hurt,’ Stain responds.
They start fighting. All Might was wearing a special blade-proof suit to avoid getting cut. They go back and forth a bit before stain nicks All Might’s neck,
‘Can’t you see it? The corruption of Heroes. We both know the false heroes need to be purged.’ Stain licked his katana and All Might is on his knees. ‘They abuse their powers and titles for their own gain! Help me save this society, All Might!!!’ Stain was screaming, practically begging All Might to join him.
All Might then started to make a speech about true heroism or something, but Suuichi couldn’t stop staring at the Stain panels. He was always Suuichi’s favorite; his whole aesthetic was cool and he wasn’t like the other heroes and villains in the story.
‘They abuse their powers and titles for their own gain!’
Stain fought against a corrupt system that favored people who abused their power…where did he see that before? Suuichi put down the comic and picked up a pen and an unused journal.
Stain didn’t take the abuse. Suuichi did…but he didn’t want to. Not anymore. Maybe it was the Hogwarts letter, maybe it was those nice people in Diagon Alley, or perhaps he finally snapped after years of casual bullying. But now was a turning point. A new stage of his life, and one that he could choose.
He would be a Stain for the Wizarding World.