Harry Potter and the Phantom Thief

Chapter 29

Satoshi had seen that boy before, in the library and at the Yule Ball. His blond hair was a little more unruly than it had a right to be today, or perhaps it just needed to be cut. He wasn't sure if it would look better cut, though.

He stepped back from the window, realizing that he was going to look suspicious if he continued staring into the store without actually walking in. He looked towards the door, pulled his coat around himself tighter. Hogsmeade was cold, and the edges of the windows were frosted.

He kicked the fresh snow from his boots, deciding he wouldn't go in. He didn't have the right currency, anyway, and didn't need anything from the little gift shop. He wondered for a moment why he had even decided to come out to the tiny wizarding village—it was so cold the air was making his lungs close, and he had never been much for tourism.

The door opened with the jingle of a tiny bell as he walked past it, nearly stumbling into the same blond boy he'd noticed earlier. The boy was wearing a hat—blue—that went nicely with the Ravenclaw scarf wrapped snugly around his neck.

"Excuse me," Satoshi said quietly, taking a step back.

"S-sorry," the boy blurted out with a chagrined smile. He shrugged, and turned away.

Satoshi watched his receding back, and glanced at the door, which had just swung shut. The chime of the bell faded.

"Hiwatari!"

He turned at the sound of his name being called, and saw Risa, in a white coat with matching pink gloves, beret, and boots. Admittedly, she was hard to miss. He smiled as she ran up to him.

"You look like you're freezing!" she laughed, and her own reddened nose told him she was the same.

"It is snowing out," he replied dryly. The weather had been severely cold all winter, and Satoshi could only hope that it cleared up at least a little by the second task. Daisuke was going to be jumping into the lake, for crying out loud. Perhaps they'd better look up some kind of spell to keep warm.

"Come on, Riku ditched me for a date with Daisuke, so let's just go get a butterbeer and warm up," she chirped, pointing in the direction of the crowded Three Broomsticks. Even though he wasn't particularly interested in sitting inside the shady-looking pub filled with people who may or may not be part troll, he was done being cold for the time being.

They found what was likely the single empty table, big enough just for two, towards the back, and in no time Risa had ordered them two frothy mugs of the buttery liquid. Satoshi pulled his mug close, letting it warm his numb fingers. He glanced up when Risa sighed loudly.

"Seriously, I think all the good-looking wizarding boys are ridiculous pricks," she announced. Satoshi raised his eyebrows, and was suddenly very glad that she was speaking German. The tables were crowded in the pub, and he was pretty sure a few ridiculous pricks were sitting relatively close by.

"I suppose you don't like Malfoy anymore."

She scrunched up her face and then rolled her eyes. "You don't even want to know what I heard him say," she intoned seriously.

Satoshi nodded, allowing a slight smile to play across his lips. "You're completely right. I have no interest whatsoever." He drank some butterbeer, wincing as his fingers began coming back to life. He was beginning to think he should have stayed back at Hogwarts, doing research. He hadn't spent much time in the library after becoming acquainted with Le Prince Artistique, which had turned him a little sour towards reading.

"Phooey. You're no fun," the girl pretended to pout. "But really, finding guys is hard for a person with standards as high as mine," she went on seriously. "I mean, a girl doesn't go from dating Phantom Thief Dark"—at this point Satoshi choked a little on his butterbeer because every girl was a potential date to the black-winged artwork—"to going steady with a spoiled brat with a rich-boy complex." She paused, glowering at her butterbeer. "Or anyone equally boring." She frowned wistfully, shrugging at Satoshi. "Though the rich part was nice…."

He closed his eyes slowly. Risa was… well, he'd call her shallow but it was more that she was just very particular and very enthusiastic. When he opened his eyes again, she was giving him a somewhat disconcerting appraisal.

"You haven't met anyone great, have you?" she asked slowly.

Satoshi frowned. Did her question mean that she was curious whether he had found anyone fitting her requirements, or that there was, preposterously, someone that met his standards. He shook his head.

"Well, would you date me, Hiwatari?" Risa asked slyly, catching Satoshi only somewhat off-guard. He had for some reason not expected her to be so blunt.

He looked away. He knew she deserved the truth, but it was difficult for him not to lead around it. "If you've been paying attention, you know I'm not into that sort of thing," he answered quietly.

She tossed her hair. "If not now, then when? I mean, you're only young once, right?" she asked, leaning forward so that long strands of her brown hair swung forward.

Satoshi kept his eyes averted. "I don't want to date," he said simply. "I'm too busy for it." It would definitely be too much trouble for him, and now especially was a very bad time.

She rolled her eyes, leaning back and folding her arms across her chest. "You're just as busy as I am, you liar." She appraised him coolly. "I'm not a bad catch, you know," she continued. "I'm smart, and pretty, and talented. Also, we already know we get along reasonably well. You've pretended to date me before, even!"

"Exactly," Satoshi replied evenly. "And if I ever took you out, I'd only be pretending."

She put on a pout. "What? You don't think I'm pretty? Or am I just not your type?" Her tone was more curious than upset, and for that he was relieved.

"You're not my type." It was, after all, very true.

Because Risa Harada, like every other girl who had asked him out before, was still….

A girl.

Thus, she was not his type.

"So then what is your type? I mean, I know a lot of the girls at school here, and you probably even know that all of them are dying to go out with you," she went on matter-of-factly. "There's bound to be one that catches your eye."

"There isn't." It would be impossible for there to be a girl at school—or a girl anywhere—who he would be genuinely interested in. He shook his head, and pulled off his glasses to rub at his nose. His butterbeer was cooling down.

"Come onnnnn," she said, drawing out the syllables with an exasperated tone. She placed her arms on the table, leaning forward over her drink. "If you haven't tried dating any of them, or really even talked to them, how on earth do you know?"

Satoshi shook his head, waiting a moment before returning his glasses to his face. When he did, he looked straight at Risa. Somehow, over the past few weeks, he had become closer to her than he had expected. It was odd, yet at the same time oddly comforting, to realize it was something he could share. He felt confident. It felt right, all of a sudden, letting her know. Because his closest friend could never know, he would be content letting the person who was suddenly the next closest know.

"I know because…" he began with a sigh, "I'm not interested in girls."

Her eye widened with predictable surprise. After a moment of stillness, during which the hum of the rest of the Three Broomsticks invaded their table, she blinked several times, and then suddenly slid her butterbeer to the side so she could lean over the table further without spilling it.

"Really?" were her first words. Her brow furrowed suddenly. "Then… I mean, is there anyone you like?"

Satoshi felt like rolling his eyes and slapping himself in the face. Instead he just inhaled slowly and looked across the bar at nothing in particular. Of course that would be her next question. But it wasn't as if that information needed to be shared. Still, it was an incredible relief to see that Risa was still going to be Risa around him. She was obviously more excited about the possible existence of his love life more than the particular details.

Though, he could still see that the information was being stored away, probably something for her to analyze later. Would she go back and replay the scenes they had shared, looking for clues? Would she rewrite her memory to include all the things Satoshi did that gave him away? He couldn't know… and didn't particularly care to know.

"Risa, just promise me something, alright?" he asked, turning back to look at her with what he hoped were big, blue, vulnerable eyes. She had always been relatively defenseless to his looks, and judging by her fervent nod, she still was. She had, after all, just attempted to ask him out. "You're the only person who knows, and no one else needs 't tell anyone. Don't… tell Daisuke, okay?"

Satoshi sighed, looking away and dropping his voice as he mentioned the goofy redhead's name. But if Risa knew… and thought he was ready to be open about it—that is, if she weren't sworn to secrecy—she'd tell her sister. And Riku… would tell Daisuke.

And Daisuke…. He wouldn't have a clue what to do. Dark would undoubtedly catch on quicker, and it wouldn't be long before the Phantom Thief put two and two together.

In fact, knowing Risa's ability to read people and relationships, he wouldn't be surprised if she figured it out as well. Considering he had brought up the boy's name so quickly, too. But he didn't mind if Risa knew, just as long as she never told Daisuke…

…that he had been Satoshi's "sacred maiden"….

Risa nodded slowly, and then suddenly gave a little gasp. "You don't mean that you like—I mean, it's not Dai—"

"No," Satoshi said quickly, cutting her off before she could finish. He shook his head. "He's just a friend. And besides, he's with your sister anyway." At least Satoshi could answer truthfully. He had spent a good portion of the past year getting rid of the idea that he could get closer to Daisuke. He had finally realized that perhaps he had only liked Dark's tamer because Daisuke had been the first person to have truly been nice to him.

He had been glad to realize that he really would get bored of Daisuke's incessant yet fake clumsiness, his inability to think up complicated plans, and his constant reliance on Dark. The presence of the Phantom Thief had always unnerved him, anyway.

And all of it had been a way for Krad to tease and taunt him—an outlet for the merciless artwork to gain control and force Satoshi's body to do whatever he wished. He was better off setting his sights on someone else, for many reasons.

"So, then, who is it?"

Satoshi returned somewhat slowly from his thoughts, and shook his head.

"Hey, I'll let you know I have a lot of experience with getting boys' attention," Risa explained, shaking a finger at him. "I'd be willing to share some tips with you." Her smile appeared, somewhat lopsided and honest. "You always seem so… I dunno… lonely," she admitted, blinking at him in a way that suggested either confusion or compassion.

Satoshi blinked back. "Lonely?"

She nodded.

Satoshi shook his head. "The truth is, I've spent much of my life wishing I could be alone," he said wistfully, reaching up to cup his hand around his glass of butterbeer. "I suppose you could say… I'm an introvert," he finished, taking a drink. He gave Risa a half-smile, which she returned with an affectionate eye-roll.

"Whatever. But if you ever want tips on wooing a boy, you ask me, okay?" she told him seriously. "Besides, since I'm learning more about tarot, I could probably even—hey, why don't you let me tell you your fortune now?" she asked, gasping mid-sentence and brightening with the idea.

Satoshi glanced out the window, noting how bright it still was outside. Riku and Daisuke were probably going to stay out doing whatever they were doing for a while. Even though he didn't particularly put much stock into Risa's tarot readings or any other kind of cheap-looking magic tricks, he might as well indulge her. It would pass the time and was better than letting her try to ask him tricky questions about the identity of any boy he liked, at any rate.

He nodded to Risa, and she reached into her bag to pull out the new tarot deck she had gotten for Christmas. Satoshi smiled to himself, remembering the first time Risa had given him a tarot reading, just before their first cultural festival at Azumano. She had been practicing on her fellow classmates, and one afternoon she had simply grabbed his wrist and pulled him to a desk in the corner of the room. During the next five minutes, Satoshi had drawn cards from the deck with a bored expression, and she had proceeded to tell him that he was going to fall in love, lose someone close to him, and that his endeavors would result in a great victory. With an expression of slight amusement, he brought his mind back to the present.

The backs of the cards were black, with a silvery Celtic knot. Instead of making him draw them from the deck at random, Risa shuffled the cards and then passed the entire deck to him.

"Concentrate on the problems you think you're likely to face while you shuffle the cards," Risa instructed Satoshi. He blinked at her, and then shrugged, taking the deck as she slid it across the table. Half of him already wanted to be examining their problems and finding potential solutions.

He cut the deck and began folding the cards into each other, turning his mind to Krad. What had the Dark wizards had in mind when they released the seal? If the horrible artwork had been given the powerful Animus Extractum, a lavish mansion, and spies within Hogwarts… what was Krad giving the Dark wizards in return? Was there really a point to creating a war within the art world, or was the mess at the Smithsonian just a diversion? It was obvious that Krad wanted either Daisuke or Satoshi, but he had no idea what Krad's allies were after.

Furthermore, he still hadn't figured out who Krad's spies within the school were. He reshuffled the deck, the silver knot flashing in the thin, snowy light that leaked through the dirty windows. If only he knew what kinds of plans Krad was capable of making. What resources the frightening angel had at his disposal. Maybe then he could formulate a plan against him…

After a moment, he passed the shuffled deck back to Risa, and then watched as she laid them down on the table, facedown. "Choose a number," she said, pulling out another card and sliding it down on to the table, so that the final pattern was of four cards at each compass point with one in the center.

"Three," Satoshi replied, leaning back and taking a sip of butterbeer.

She nodded, and then leaned over the deck, looking Satoshi carefully in the eyes. "I've arranged the cards like this in the compass directions, to represent what direction your life will take." She pointed at the card in the center. "The card in the middle will represent you, and the other represent different trials and directions." She tapped the deck. "I'll pull three cards from the top, and those will be the solutions or consequences of your direction."

Satoshi nodded, smiling slightly. It was nice to be able to relax with the kind of fake magic the entire world was familiar with. He pulled his butterbeer close, and watched as she flipped over the card closest to him.

"South is the… Eee! It's the Lovers!" she shrieked gleefully, placing her hands together.

Satoshi blinked at the card, which portrayed two naked people. Of course, it was a man and a woman.

"It represents following your heart, and—" Risa had to stop to take a breath before squealing out her next words. "Falling in love!" She exhaled serenely, and then nodded a few times, looking at him seriously. "This card also can mean choosing to do something against your logic or better judgment, though… for you, that's probably the same thing as falling in love." She peered at him. "Am I right?"

Satoshi shrugged. "I'm not particularly keen to fall in love, if that's what you mean." He knew that most tarot readers worked their false magic by engaging their victims in conversation that would allow them to fit the cards to the customer's situation. Since he was already indulging Risa, he might as well speak up.

"Let's have a look at the next card…." she said, flipping over the one in the East position to reveal a woman, blindfolded, with eight swords surrounding her like a deadly cage. The landscape around her was a wasteland, filled with only clouds and a waning moon.

"The Eight of Swords…" she whispered in what Satoshi hoped was mock horror. "It represents not being able to move."

"I can see that," Satoshi responded dryly. Apparently the cards weren't in his favor.

"It's like you're in a bind, and the only way to get out of it is to go through a little pain. Even if you don't move, you'll be cut up…" she continued, and then her brow furrowed. "It probably has something to do with Krad, like how no matter what we try to do against him, he's always hurting us. Even while we're holding still, he's probably lurking out there, plotting against us."

Satoshi shrugged again. "As long as he doesn't actually show up, I think we'll be cut-free."

But Risa suddenly shook her head. "No, I get it now. Swords represent the intellect, the mind. Even when Krad's not here, he's still put us in a trap. We're constantly on the alert."

"So, according to your tarot cards, Krad has me in a psychological trap?" Satoshi tried not to sound terribly bemused. He did take Krad seriously, but not in terms of setting psychological traps that Satoshi would fall for.

"Yeah, or… wait. I always think of the East position as where you're starting from or a new beginning—like the sun rising in the East. So… either you're about to be put into a psychological trap, of you've just gotten free of one." She stared at the cards very hard, as if by doing so she could make them confess which option it really was.

Satoshi drank some butterbeer to keep from laughing. "So?" he asked once he had swallowed. "What about the other cards?"

She passed her fingers over the card in the West position, and turned over the Six of Pentacles. "Hmm…."

The card showed an old man giving money to a beggarly-looking passerby, while six pentacles were balanced on a scale behind him.

"This must mean I'm going to be so wealthy people will come asking me for money," Satoshi commented with a slight smile, eliciting narrowed eyes from his fortune-teller. She folded her arms across her chest and drew in a deep breath, closing her eyes.

"It means you'll be able to balance yourself by giving to others. You'll be better off, and so will the person you help." She opened her eyes. "Maybe it means Daisuke? Or maybe it means you'll be paying for my butterbeer?" she batted her eyelashes at him, suddenly pleading.

"I doubt it," he answered, looking away from her and across the crowd. He was pretty sure she'd be paying for his, seeing as he didn't actually have any money.

"And the North card is the Chariot," she said, drawing his attention back to her. "It represents a long, difficult battle." They both sighed as their eyes met across the table. "Well, that's pretty obvious," she said heavily, and then brightened up. "But it also stands for victory, and getting opposites to work together. So, like, maybe we can expect a lot of help from a lot of different sources."

Satoshi shook his head. "That's probably just wishful thinking."

Risa scrunched up her face, as if to say without words that she didn't necessarily agree, and then picked up the card in the center, dropping it a moment later.

Except… she hadn't just dropped the card. She was holding it in her hand, but she had certainly dropped a card.

"Oh… I guess I accidentally put two… oh. Oh."

Satoshi blinked, and then had a horrible sinking feeling in his gut as he remembered the center card was supposed to represent himself. And if there was any magic in tarot, it might have identified the duality of his own nature, of his soul that was complete and yet… divided.

"So… we've got the Devil, and the Hanged Man." Risa's voice was quieter than usual as she laid the cards on the table, side by side in the center of the compass cards.

Satoshi didn't speak. He didn't feel like it.

Risa took a careful breath and continued. "So, the Devil represents… well, let's just say that represents Krad… for obvious reasons. Which makes you the Hanged Man… which isn't as bad as it sounds… it's like you're going to make yourself vulnerable, to sacrifice something for the sake of something else, uh… a suspension during which you see what's really important…."

She was trying to make something unpleasant sound entirely nice, and it wasn't really working for him. It sounded like he was going to sacrifice himself to the devil known as Krad, and wind up swinging from a tree branch by a rope around his leg… if the picture was any indication.

"Let's see how you can respond to this," she said, moving on quickly and picking up the deck. She slid the first card off the top, and plopped it over.

It was a picture of a dark, stone tower being struck by lightning. Little people were jumping out the windows to escape the terrible fire, only to land in the rocky surf of the ocean below. Not a particularly auspicious card.

"Eh… the Tower means that something at the core of your beliefs will be shaken." She flipped over the next card, obviously wanting to move on. It was like she was desperate to find something good in Satoshi's future. "Temperance?" she asked the air, setting down a card picturing a woman pouring liquid from two cups into a small stream. "Two things that don't seem to go together will do so," she explained slowly. It was obvious she was having difficulty figuring out what the cards actually meant in relation to himself. She drew the last card. "The Moon."

Two pillars stood on either side of a full moon, while two dogs ran beneath it. Or maybe they were wolves. A deep river flowed between the pillars, reflecting the stars and moonlight.

"This one stands for mystery and power. It can also stand for magic and madness. Strong or unseen emotions, or the awakening of a creative force. It can be either a bad card—like going crazy—or a good one, like if you master the power and direct it." She sat back, and took a long drink of butterbeer, scrutinizing the cards.

The silence lasted a long time, and even the hubbub from the rest of the room seemed somehow muted.

When she finally spoke, her tone had brightened considerably, and a smile had spread across her lips.

"Yup, I think you'll fall in love. And then, you won't know what to do so you'll just sit there for a while"—she pointed to the Eight of Swords—"being blind to it and hurt by it, and then you'll learn to be giving. It will be a long struggle, wooing this person"—she continued, her finger passing to the Six of Pentacles and the Chariot—"and then you'll finally realize that you have to sacrifice your fear of Krad and in that moment of clarity, you'll realize you're in love." She nodded resolutely.

"And the part where I jump out of a burning tower to my doom?" Satoshi asked wryly, tapping the Tower.

"Oh, that's where you realize that being in love isn't a bad thing, and you and your true love learn to"—she coughed slightly, a blush rising in her cheeks as she pointed to Temperance—"blend together, and then you learn to direct your love properly."

Satoshi's jaw dropped open at her mention of "blending together," and then he felt himself give in to a small chuckle.

He reminded himself to not take the tarot too seriously.

Satoshi found himself on a windy, snow-free balcony, staring over the Hogwarts grounds. The snow was melted in most places, especially on the tracks the students took to get to the Herbology greenhouse, Care of Magical Creatures lessons, or the usual Hufflepuff hangout places by the lake. The Durmstrang ship was still moored off a tiny dock adjacent to the castle, its sails curled up tight and only a single red flag catching the wintry breeze.

It was quiet on the rampart, with just the whistle of the wind to keep him and his thoughts company. He walked slowly towards the circular viewing platform at the end of the narrow walkway, watching the grounds as he went. The lake was dark and appeared more forbidding than usual, though perhaps it was the height from which he was seeing it combined with the somewhat blustery weather.

Another set of footsteps suddenly intruded on his solitude. He peered behind to see the sixth year Ravenclaw with the bright blond hair and the crystal blue eyes. He'd overheard at dinner two days ago that the older boy went by the name of Liam.

"I feel like I keep seeing you everywhere," blond Liam said with half a grin.

"That's probably because we're in the same house," Satoshi replied evenly. He'd chosen to wear his free scarf with the Ravenclaw colors on it for this not-as-lonely-as-intended walk, knowing it would be cold. The wind gusted, and he put a hand to his glasses to keep them from blowing from his face.

"The end of this walkway is pretty good for watching the lake," Liam said with a smile, tightening his own blue and silver scarf around his neck. "Is that where you're headed?"

"Seeing as there's nothing else in this direction, you can assume I'm not going anywhere else," Satoshi answered dryly.

"It's a good spot for thinking," Liam replied seriously. "You don't mind if I sit there, too?"

Satoshi kept his eyes firmly away from Liam's eyes, or really any part of the older boy at all. But he shook his head. "I don't mind."

"Okay. I just wanted to ask since everyone is pretty sure you prefer to be alone." The older Ravenclaw started walking past Satoshi, heading towards the end of the walkway, towards the circular viewing platform under a tower-like roof. The railing there was arched stone, and rather low in the front considering the drop to the lakeshore below.

Satoshi followed, trying to avoid analyzing Liam's motives for wanting to sit in quite a lonely place with him, and instead focusing on why he'd come out here in the first place.

He stared down at the black lake below, ignoring Liam wriggling his legs through the gaps in the railing and swinging them slowly back and forth over the edge. The taller boy looked comfortable, leaning on his folded arms across the top of the low railing.

But the lake was why Satoshi had come. Not because it was a good place to think—Satoshi didn't really have a problem thinking anywhere—but because the lake was the location of the next task. Perhaps that was why he'd been feeling strange about it.

Ever since the first task, he'd felt like the expanse of glassy water had been drawing him in. He'd been occupied by Le Prince Artistique, by helping Daisuke with the golden egg, by Risa's drama at the Yule Ball, and by his fruitless search for figuring out what Krad was up to with the dark wizards. After learning the secret of the egg with Daisuke, it seemed like it had all clicked into place—the lake was the next site of the Tournament, which Satoshi was magically bound to participate in just as much as Daisuke.

Perhaps that was why he'd felt something sinister emanating from underneath the black water lately. It was likely that officials were already preparing whatever they needed to prepare under the lake. It was logical that the magic that inundated the castle was throwing his senses off, making it feel like there was some kind of dark art taking place at the deepest recess of the lake.

"It's pretty, I think." Liam's voice pulled him out of his thoughts. The boy was also watching the lake.

"There's more than mermaids in there," Satoshi replied with unease.

"Of course. There's at least one giant squid—more likely two—and I assume some grindylows, fish, octopi, and few kinds of rays." The boy shrugged. "I've heard there's a spiny tentacle bush, which is more like an octopus than not, but no one knows for sure."

Satoshi was quietly surprised at the sudden gift of information, and then remembered what Ravenclaw House was supposed to stand for. Perhaps he could get more information on the lake from Liam.

"Does anyone know what's at the bottom of the lake?" Satoshi asked curiously, coming to stand at the railing a few paces away from the other boy.

Liam shrugged. "Hogwarts, A History says that the deepest portion of the lake is a mermaid city, but it's hard to know for sure with the lake being incorporated into the school grounds. Hogwarts shifts, you know? And so does the lake… at least, that's what they say."

Satoshi was only all too familiar with the shifting of the staircases and sometimes whole hallways inside the castle, and to get to Ravenclaw Tower on a full moon the students had to take a different route than any other night.

"So if not a mermaid city, then…?" Satoshi continued, hoping Liam might have something more useful. At the very least, there was a book reference Satoshi could look into, and finally persuade himself to do some more reading instead of wandering lonely ramparts.

"Well, it's unusual for giant squid to spend so much time at the surface, which ours do, right? So maybe there's some reason the squid don't go into the deeps." Liam shook his head and sighed. "Though it's probably just to get scraps from the Hufflepuffs and not anything actually interesting."

Satoshi withheld a laugh at Liam's remark. He had no problem with the depths of the lake being completely boring if Daisuke had to go retrieve something from it, though Liam's intellectual curiosity was, in its own way, a little bit charming.

"Why doesn't someone just go to the bottom and look?"

At that, Liam actually turned to him with an appraising look. "It's the most magical lake in all of England—and possibly the world. And it's deep. You can't get to the bottom by just holding your breath, and the magic in the water can make spell casting a bit tricky. Have you ever tried casting a spell with a waterlogged wand?"

Satoshi had, of course, never cast a spell with any kind of wand, be it waterlogged or dry as tinder. He shook his head. "So it's not easy. But the merpeople probably know a lot about the lake—has no one ever asked them?"

"I'm sure someone's tried," Liam said with a small shake of his head. "But merpeople can be pretty territorial. I doubt they'd share any secrets if they knew them."

The older boy sighed suddenly, and then turned to stare at Satoshi squarely. "Most people can be that way, too, though. We've never had any transfer students until this year, and now there's four of you."

Satoshi did not at all appreciate the change in topic. He pushed his glasses firmly onto his nose, hiding his eyes behind them and then turning quickly to stare at the black, rippling surface of the lake.

"Transfer students are normal at every other school in the world. I suppose it's a sign of the times," he answered distantly. He knew Liam was too smart to accept the answer, but he might just accept that Satoshi didn't want to talk about it.

"I've never seen you in a class—are you actually a transfer student?" the older boy went on curiously. Apparently he hadn't gotten Satoshi's hint, which was a bit annoying.

"Technically, it's non-matriculated student. I probably won't be here long," Satoshi replied, his voice turning chilly enough to match the late winter breeze. As soon as they had figured out how to reseal Krad, and as soon as the tournament was over, Satoshi would be back to settling his affairs and trying to stop looking over his shoulder for white feathers or chasing phantom thieves.

"That's a shame," Liam said quietly after a long pause.

"Not really," Satoshi murmured. The air blew strongly for a moment, the chill causing them both to tuck their matching scarves back in place.

It would be good if Satoshi were able to leave Hogwarts soon. It would mean all the recent difficult work was over, that he'd taken care of Krad and seen Daisuke settled in, that he'd protected the twins and stepped free of Albus Dumbledore's waiting trap. Perhaps students like Liam preferred the school to life elsewhere, but it was not the case for Satoshi.

After all, the shame surrounding the Hikari line had nothing to do with location. Although invisible to most others, the monstrous guilt followed Satoshi everywhere.

Author's Note: Yes, Satoshi is gay. And feel free to interpret his tarot cards however you wish—the cards never lie for Risa Harada.

As always, please don't forget to leave a review!