Henrick Hanz and the Demon of Durmstrang

Chapter 8

His two week ban had started with a late night discovery of the blond girl. The next few days say a string of students ending up missing from classes. In the beginning they mostly seemed to consist of the young ladies who sat at the second table to the front. The one right by the royal table. More and more of the Krumm fans seemed to no longer be present, even for the early morning greeting of the photograph at the front table. Also strange was the fact that none of the books he’d asked for had anything in regards to what he’s seen that night. A strange vision of a shadow that had started to appear more often. It always appeared just out of the corner of his vision. In fact, so far, the clearest Hanz had ever seen it was right as he was exiting the door into the hallway one morning. It seemed to have left just as Burkov had arrived.

It was rather annoying that Burkov was still there. He had hoped maybe the annoyance of the Russian would have vanished along with those bothersome girls. But there he was, looking more gaunt and pale than his usual self. Also annoying was that the slight scent that had finally been erased fro the castle still somehow lingered upon the older boy. That smug expression of his made Hanz want to use his mother’s favorite curse. He was willing to bet that the boy wouldn’t smirk so readily with his face cursed off. He’d only barely repressed himself. Instead, he waited until Dark Arts class to let off his annoyance in an always impressive and violent display. He doubted that in that first week, they could ever repair half the practice dummies.

For each ridiculous rumor about so-and-so seeing someone, his ire and frustration grew. If only he could get into the library. He could investigate for himself. Instead, he was forced to listen to the banter he normally ignored. He had to listen and pretend he wasn’t annoyed with the other tend that was cropping up along with the disappearances. More and more of the younger students and some of the weaker ones were trying to latch themselves to their stronger peers. With the best and the brightest far across a vast expanse of land and waves, it meant someone like Henrick, who had avoided people for five years, had now suddenly become very popular. He hated it.

He still tried to tune them out as best as be could while trying to gather the small truths laced within those tales. One girl had claimed to see a boy she’d had a crush on. That boy had graduated two years ago. Another said that they’d seen the pretty divinations teacher. Last Henrick had known; the woman had been committed to St Mugos because the vapors she inhaled to do her predictions had driven her insane. With each story, new links forged together in his mind. Those who had been things vanished not days after their sightings. Every sighting was of someone gone from the school. Those were the only common threads he could find.

By the time he had been allowed back into the library, he had quite an entourage. That made it incredibly hard to do the research he wanted. That and the books that had been scattered about the floor had been placed back into order. He could barely see the charred circle in the stone of the floor. The worst part was that no matter how he tried, he could not convince the still angry librarian to let him back into the forbidden book section. He was stuck looking through the books he’d already glanced through hundreds of times before. He even forced himself to suffer through the Faker Wizard Lockheart’s books. They, unsurprisingly, offered nothing more than a greater headache. A headache that grew steadily worse with Fiona there baring her teeth and hovering over him like a possessive she-devil. Each time an even remotely pretty girl came his way, she’d grab his arm, distracting him from his reading.

It was only the start. Saturdays, when most the eligible students went into the town, he had remained at the castle. As a rule, Henrick did not mix with muggles for any reason. They were creatures to him. Mindless drones. Hairless apes. He’d been taught to shun and avoid muggle kind since he had been a very small boy. If confronted by one, he had been given only one option as a Hanz man. He was duty bound to kill them where they stood, less he be tainted by them. He was actually to treat Squibs in such a manner as well. Ironic really, when he actually thought about it. Still, to save himself the embarrassment and to save the muggles he just did not go into the neighboring town. Instead, he spent his weekends in the dungeon turned library.

He never questioned why Fiona always chose to stay as well. He just assumed that she too needed to study, even if he’d never seen her pick up a book in his time at that school. He hoped that she did because he was certain it got boring for her to sit across from him and his book wall when all he did was read in silence. Yet, there she stayed, sitting across from him. She was surprisingly more subdued. The normal unending banter had been slowed to a near halt by the strangeness. He didn’t blame her for being bothered by the recent events. He knew he was.

He sighed and tossed the latest book into his growing pile of useless texts. It was getting him nowhere. No matter where he looked, the pages did nothing for him. In a sudden fit of frustration, he wished he’d not cut contact with his cousin. She’s always been so much smarter than him. Sure would surely know what was happening at his school. In that briefest of moments, he thought he say her peeking from behind one of the shelves. He could see her pale face surrounded by her dark hair. It was her eyes that made him know he was seeing things. Normally rust toned eyes had been dyed a blood shade. The face ducked back behind the shelves just as Henrick stood abruptly, nearly shouting “Impossible!” He was seeing things. He was. Just as he’s just seen her, he also thought he saw the flash of a forked tail disappear behind the bookshelf after his strange vision of his cousin. He blinked and ran a hand over his face. It was absolutely impossible. She, of all people, would never be at Durmstrang. Never.

His explosive shout startled Fiona. It was rare for Henrick to lose his composure like that. “Eisen? Is there something the matter?”

“It….Nozhing. I’m just a little tired. Zhat is all.” He didn’t care that he was lying to her at all. She didn’t need to know he was seeing things.

“You’ve been working very hard lately. Maybe you just need a break. If you don’t’ take one, you might end up there, you know.”

He knew where there meant. There. The infirmary upon the third floor. It was a place he wanted to avoid at all costs. Yet, the moment she spoke of it, he knew he needed to go there. He wanted to see if a theory he was starting to brew in his mind was correct. He unconsciously reached out to grab her hand. Already, his were shaking at the very idea of having to go. “Do me a favor… Come vith me. Bitte. I can’t go zhere by myself.”

She shook her head and then smiled. “You are such a big baby, Eisen. I’ll go with you, just this once.” he transferred his grip to the sleeve of her robes so that he’d not unintentionally break her hand with his squeezing. Slowly, he moved away from his mountain of books and started to the stairway that would lead him to the hospital wing.

The silver haired titan only managed to lead for half the trip. After he’s frozen in place of the middle of the third staircase, Fiona had taken over, pulling him behind as if he was a reluctant child. Her words were chiding and not gentle at all. “Look at you. A big strong man like you scared of something like this. Honestly, I’m only taking you because you said you wanted to go.” The closer they got the more he resisted her tugs. But the time he was staring at the door to the medical wing, he’d frozen stiff. He’d gone completely unable to move, almost like he had become a living, breathing statue. He couldn’t even make himself turn the knob.

Fiona did it for him. The door swung open and Henrick staggered back so quickly that his back actually struck the other wall. The beds, each and every one were filled. The students had very little in common except for how they looked. Even the darkest students were a waxy nearly paraffin shade. Each one stared blankly ahead. Each mouth was slightly agape. All available wizards and witches in the medical field were busy tending the multitude of victims. Even some of the sixth and seventh years were working along side the staff. The sight was only visible for a moment. The head nurse quickly hurried to slam the door after hissing at the pair. “The infirmary is for sick people. Leave.”

Hanz sunk to the floor, using the wall as support. That place…that woman…he swallowed a few times but the fear did not leave him. He looked as if he’d just experienced the single most terrifying thing in his life. He actually flinched when Fiona put her hands on his face. He continued to stare past her, focused only on that closed door that held so much terror for him. He barely heard her over the pounding of his heart. She was saying something about the dementor’s kiss. If he’d been in a more stable mindset, he would have remembered what it was a demontor’s kiss actually did to a person. He was not fully there at the moment, so he could only nod and try to gather his courage long enough to get up and get back down those stairs.