Chapter Text
The firelight illuminated the common room with an orange glaze that was only accentuated by the decadent maroon decor of the Gryffindor tower. It was rather rowdy despite being post-dinner and the drowse of the evening ought to have been setting in. The crackling snaps of magical games and the light chatter of children fell upon Kaneki’s ears, and the rich smell of human warmth tempered with a metallic tang fell similarly upon his nose.
“Students, if I could have your attention for a moment.” It was a testament to Professor McGonagall’s influence that the Gryffindors fell silent near instantly. As Kaneki fell in beside her, shouldering his backpack and he looked back at the many peering eyes in the common room. Despite all of those gazes on him, he felt his own eyes drawn to where an older-than-he-remembered Hermione Granger and Ronald Weasley sat across from each other in front of the common room fireplace.
“We have had a surprising turn of events this evening and you will be having a returning student joining fourth year.”
“A returning student, professor?” asked Lee Jordan.
Kaneki decided this delicate tip-toeing around the subject was not worth it. “My name is Kaneki Ken.” All of the eyes in the common room settled on him. He found his eyes meeting Hermione’s from across the room. “I used to go by Harry Potter.”
The room fell deathly silent for hardly a moment before noise exploded in the common room. He could hardly keep up with the whirlwind of reactions.
“What? Harry is back?”
“Where were you?”
“Did Death Eaters kidnap you?”
“I bet he was training dragons or something.”
“Go get Melissa from upstairs, she needs to see this.”
“Oh my god it’s Harry Potter.”
If there was one thing Kaneki didn’t miss about being a famous figurehead of the Wizarding World, it was that it drew far too much attention to himself. And this wasn’t even his reintroduction to the whole school. Fucking hell.
Professor McGonagall lifted her wand above her head and sparks flew into the air with a whizzing shriek, settling the crowd so that she could speak again. “I understand this is surprising to you all, but please do not crowd him or interrogate him. I am sure he will be more than happy to answer your questions after he has been given a chance to settle in.
‘Damn, thanks for the help,’ thought Kaneki testily.
“Mr. Kaneki, you let me know if you need anything and I will do my best to help you.” At his nodding reply, the stern woman turned on her heel and left the common room, leaving Kaneki to the wolves - or rather, the lions.
“H-Harry?” Hermione reached out to his arm but not quite touching him, as if he might disappear if her fingertips grazed him.
“Hi, Hermione. I missed you.” That undid her disbelief and she dove at him. Instinct very nearly had him leaping back to avoid her but luckily the years of Touka’s tough love let him hold his position as Hermione gave her best attempt at squeezing the life out of him. Ron hovered just behind Hermione, gaping at him. Kaneki gave him a weak smile, just a quirk at the corner of his mouth.
After his friend finally let go, Ron didn’t get the chance to speak before a flicker of movement from the corners of Kaneki’s eyes caught his attention. He caught the wrists of two arms as they tried to descend onto his shoulders.
“Jumpy isn’t he, Fred,” said Fred Weasley with his left arm being held in the air.
“Sure looks it, George,” said George Weasley with his right arm being held in the air.
Kaneki huffed a breath out of his nose, letting the arms go. They didn’t try to rest on his shoulders this time.
“So what’s with the hair?” asked the twin on his right.
“Taking after the Malfoys now, are we?” asked the twin on the left.
“No, no, couldn’t be, Gred. Our Harry wouldn’t take after those slimeballs.”
“Too true, Forge. We shouldn’t insult poor Harry like that.”
“It’s Kaneki now. And my hair just turned this color one day,” he said, brushing a strand of it from his eyes, “I don’t know why but it’s just this color now. Not sure if it’ll turn black again when it grows out.”
Ron frowned, “Kaneki? Why are you using that name, mate? Where have you been all this time?”
Kaneki took a short glance at all of the Gryffindors who were staring at him, allowing the conversations to continue and making absolutely no effort to look like they weren’t listening in. He sighed. There wasn’t really any point in hiding the basics of his disappearance; everyone would hear about it by the next day with the way information spreads through the student body. Better to tell everyone and make sure the story doesn’t get skewed.
“How about we sit down,” he offered, already moving toward one of the chairs. The students parted as he walked further into the common room, following after him as he passed. He took a seat in one of the armchairs, setting the backpack once more at his feet. Gryffindors took seats wherever they could: armchairs, the arms of the armchairs, and the carpeted floor. Hermione and Ron had taken two armchairs across the common area, so that they were looking face to face with Kaneki.
“Kaneki is the name I’ve been going by for the past few years. It’s the name I’m used to now and it’s the one I want to continue going by. As for where I’ve been, I’ve been in Japan.”
“Japan?” asked Alicia Spinnet from her place on the floor, “Did you transfer to Mahoutokoro?”
He squinted at her, mouthing the word. “Magic place?” he asked after a moment, brow creasing.
“Uh, I guess?” She looked at him oddly, “It’s the magical school in Japan. I’m guessing that means you didn’t go there.”
“Oh, it’s a name,” he said huffing a quiet laugh. “The word ‘mahotokoro’ directly translates as ‘magic place’ so I didn’t know what you meant. No, I didn’t transfer there.” He folded his arms over his chest, leaning into the back of the chair. “I guess you could say it was an unexpected move on my part. I didn’t know I would be living there until I was already there.”
‘As is usually the case with abandonment,’ Kaneki thought to himself. He decided it would be best to avoid talking about his relatives and subsequent abandonment.
“Unexpected is right,” cut in Lee Jordan. “The entire Wizarding World went crazy after you’d just disappeared. The ministry searched high and low for you until it finally sunk in that you weren’t coming back.” The older boy paused. “Why didn’t you come back?”
Kaneki looked at the fire for a moment, formulating an answer that didn’t include egregious amounts of bloodshed. “I was on my own and I didn’t have the money to travel back the muggle way. And eleven-year-old me wasn’t quite ready to try and fly hundreds of kilometers over ocean on a broomstick to cross the Sea of Japan. I didn’t have Hedwig with me either, so I couldn’t owl for someone to come and get me.” His own mention of his own brought forth concern for the pretty snow owl that he hadn’t thought of in years. He met Ron’s eyes, concernedly. “Hedwig did make it to your house, didn’t she?”
“Don’t worry, Harry- er- Kaneki,” corrected Hermione. “I’ve been taking care of her. I hope you don’t mind that I’ve been using her for my personal letters instead of the school owls.”
He smiled at her. “Consider it a payment for taking care of her all this time. Thank you, I can pay you back for what you had to buy in supplies.”
The bushy-haired girl waived it off, smiling back at him, “I’m just happy you’re back. And I’m sure Hedwig will be happy to see you too.”
He nodded before returning to the previous topic. “Anyway, I stayed in Japan until last week, when I started the flight from Japan to here. If any of you are tempted to do a week’s worth of travel by broomstick, a word of advice: don’t.”
“A whole week?!” Angelina Johnson gawked at him. “Well I guess that means you’re all warmed up to retake your title as Gryffindor’s seeker.” Her eyes widened and she turned to a redhead girl across the room, “I-I didn’t mean it like that, Ginny.”
Kaneki studied the girl who was sat on the arm of one of the Weasley twins’ armchair. She was definitely one of the Weasleys. She folded her arms and the tone he saw on her arms was definitely a sign of her athleticism.
“Maybe I just need to steal your chaser position then, Johnson.”
Kaneki appreciated the sound of the kids around him laughing and let a quiet chuckle slip himself. “Don’t evict her from the position, yet. I haven’t been learning or practicing magic for years now. I’ll have to focus on that if I ever want to catch up with everyone else in my year. It’s probably best if I don’t take up the seeker position right now.”
Hermione was looking at him proudly. Alicia hummed, “That makes sense. It’s a good thing Oliver isn’t still captain or he would have had a fit.”
“Got that right,” said Angelina. She turned her attention back to Kaneki, “Well, you can still show up to practices and casually play with us if you’d like. There aren’t any official Quidditch games this year anyway.”
“What? Why?”
“There’s this big tournament happening this year. The Triwizard Tournament. I’m guessing you haven’t heard of it.”
Kaneki shook his head.
Hermione interjected, “It’s an extremely dangerous tournament. It hasn’t been held for nearly a century because the last time they held it, one of the students died.”
Kaneki raised his eyebrows silently at that. Death? As part of the stakes of a tournament? He would think they should have precautions against that. Humans are rather fragile, after all. Not even mentioning that it’s schoolchildren participating.
“Yeah, yeah, Hermione. We know. But think about the fame they get to earn from it, being a Triwizard Champion!” Ron exclaimed. “It’s only a shame that Cedric got it instead of one of us.”
“Who?”
“Cedric Diggory. He’s a Hufflepuff,” explained Dean Thomas. “I dunno, I kinda think the Hufflepuffs deserve this chance. I feel like they don’t get enough credit. Maybe this’ll do them some good.” He shrugged and leaned back on Seamus’s shins, using them as a back rest from his place on the floor. “But the other two schools, Beauxbaton and Durmstrang, have pretty good champions from what it looks like so who knows how well Cedric will actually do.”
The topic veered away from Kaneki as the conversations meandered through who thought which champion would win and why. He was grateful for that - all of the previous questioning was putting a strain on his energy as it was. Although, he still noticed some of the younger students - the younger years that didn’t know him while he was at Hogwarts - staring at him in awe. It was going to be far harder to slide under the radar here, being refitted with the Boy-Who-Lived title.
He knew the school would be buzzing for a while, but with no small amount of luck, it should die down before he needed to slip away for a meal. Three weeks out should be plenty of time, right? And three weeks should also be enough time to figure out where he would get the meal from. He wasn’t sure if Hogwarts was particularly known for its suicide spots; he may not be able to eat suicide victims like he did at Anteiku. Damn, that might’ve been a hell of an oversight in his decision making.
Kaneki stood up abruptly, startling a cut-off of whatever conversation he wasn’t listening to. “I’m going to go to bed.” He heard a couple scattered ‘goodnight’s from behind him as he headed for the stairs, backpack replaced on his back. Lifting a hand in silent acknowledgement, he ascended the steps, leaving the suddenly much quieter common room behind.
The bedsheets were cool and the room was dark. Kaneki sat up and the eyes of a predator were able to see each of his roommates still asleep. He climbed from the bed - it had been the comfiest places he had slept in a long time - and changed into the same black hoodie and pants as the day before. He would need to ask Professor McGonagall about school robes sometime. The bodysuit was drawn from the backpack too and placed carefully beneath the mattress of his bed.
He slipped from the shared room and down the stairs like a panther through shadows. The common room was dead quiet and empty, the faintest grey of dawn just peeking through the windows. Kaneki opened the portrait, where the Fat Lady was snoring rather loudly, and descended the many flights of stairs to deposit out on the Hogwarts grounds.
The morning was sharp with the November air. Dew clung to the grass beneath his shoes and the clouds looked like it might rain later. He sauntered toward the lake, where a massive ship sat in the water surrounded by fog as though it was anchored in the mist itself instead of the lake water. The ship itself was a skeleton of a great galleon ship from greater ages of seafaring long past: the wood appeared far too damp and where the planks would have been shiny and lacquered, they were dull and greyed; the sails were holed and blackened and wouldn’t hold a tailwind if they wanted to.
Kaneki wondered why such a ship was on the grounds at all. He skirted around the great thing and sped into a light jog, coasting around the bank of the lake. It was a peaceful morning as he jogged the long lap around the lake. The water was near silent except for the quiet lapping of the liquid repeatedly reaching up onto the land and retreating back to the lake. As the sun peeked over the horizon, the fog that coated the lake evaporated into nothing, leaving the surface of the water mirror-like.
On the final quarter of the lap, with the strange ship once again in front of him, Kaneki noticed ripples fluttering out from a point to the side of the ship. He steadily jogged closed and saw that it was someone swimming in the lake. The figure dove before resurfacing and shaking its head. Kaneki was close enough that they made eye contact the person - a boy with dark hair dripping into his eyes and thick eyebrows and a sharply angled face - nodded to him. Kaneki gave a single polite nod back.
The boy watched him for a while longer as Kaneki finished the lap around the lake. Right at the end of the first lap, he poured speed through his muscles launching himself forward into a steady sprint. He tore around the lake, purposefully slowing his pace to a quick walk occasionally, wary of his newfound company. Kaneki’s muscles could have finished the sprint around the lake without even a dip in pace but that would have been a rather unwise way to begin his definitely-human appearance.
He continued his alternating pace, reaching his fastest sprint in the final leg of the lake. He reached the end of the lap and placed his hands on top of his head to open up his lungs more, taking slow and deep breaths while slowing to a walk. He heard splashes behind him and turned to see the boy leaving the water. Kaneki found it impressive that he did not flinch at the chill of the breeze on his wet skin.
As he continued his approach, Kaneki squared off to face him, unsure of what the other wanted.
“You run fast and long. It is very impressive.”
Kaneki blinked. “Thank you…” He trailed off in hopes of an introduction.
“Ah, I am Viktor Krum. I am from Durmstrang,” he said gesturing to the ship. The boy - Viktor - made a sad attempt to shake the water off his hand before holding it out for a handshake. It was accepted without complaint.
“Kaneki Ken. Hogwarts.”
“Vhy do you run? I have not seen you out by the vater before.”
“I run to keep my physique. If I don’t uphold it myself, I will lose it. And you haven’t seen me before because I only just returned to Hogwarts.”
“Returned?”
“Yes.” Kaneki fixated on him, a silent challenge to pry for more. Viktor didn’t, just nodded in place of a response. Viktor turned to examine the sun’s rising.
“It is breakvast soon. Vould you valk to the castle with me?”
“Are you planning on changing?”
He seemed to only just remember that he had been swimming in the lake and was still in swim trunks. “Ah yes. Nevermind, I do not wish to make you wait.”
Kaneki found it strange how polite this boy was and how ready he seemed to make friends. Had he grown too used to the on-edge life of ghoul-infested Tokyo, where everything was a risk and everything came with a price? He hummed, considering Viktor again. Well, he needed to appear as human and unsuspecting as possible anyways, and this boy seemed nice enough.
“I’ll run another lap while you dry off and change, and then we can walk to the castle together,” he offered. Viktor nodded and his harsh features pulled into a pleasant smile.
“I vill be back.” As Viktor headed for the ship, Kaneki began his next lap. Just as he began, a number of students began to leave the ship and file down the planks serving as a boarding ramp. They headed for the castle and Kaneki continued running.
By the end of the lap, Viktor was already there and waiting for Kaneki. They began the walk to the castle in silence until Kaneki decided to break it.
“Why were you swimming in the lake? Isn’t it freezing cold?”
“Hmm. Not as cold as at home,” he replied. “It is good to wake up to and builds good muscle.”
“That’s one hell of a wake-up call,” Kaneki murmured as they reached the castle’s grand steps.
“Yes, but I vant to be ready for whatever tasks happen in the Trivizard Tournament, so I am not upset to vake up early if it means more time to prepare myself. Keep my muscle instead of losing it, as you say.”
Their footsteps echoed on the chilly stone floors of surprisingly empty hallways. They must have been later than Kaneki thought to be heading to breakfast and most, if not all, of the students must have been in the Great Hall by then. Kaneki finally processed what Viktor said.
“You’re the Durmstrang champion?”
Vikor looked at him with obvious surprise, thick black eyebrows knitting together in confusion. “Yes, you did not know?”
Kaneki shook his head, “When I said I had just returned to Hogwarts, I meant quite literally last night.”
Viktor continued to look at him curiously but before he had the chance to ask the other anything more about his sudden return, they reached the doors to the Great Hall. They were open and the tables were full of hungry students. Kaneki couldn’t help but grimace lightly at the noxious smells of human food. The smells of cooked eggs and crispy bacon, rancid to his inhuman senses, wafted out of the door and were thankfully not overpowering but would definitely be stronger once they reached the tables.
Despite the homely smells now long forgotten, the nostalgic sight of the colored house banners and the distinctly color-coordinated students’ uniforms reminded him of the home he used to have at Hogwarts. Among the familiar sights was clumps of unfamiliar groups. At the Slytherin table was a group of red-robed students, the same ones that Viktor was also wearing - Durmstrang students then. The other group was clothed in silky-looking pale blue robes and sat alongside the Ravenclaw table. He couldn’t be bothered to remember the fancy French name of the school, but Kaneki figured they must be from the final school involved in the tournament.
As Kaneki and Viktor entered the hall, more than a few curious eyes followed them, including those from the Head Table. He did not recognize all of the figures, but some had to be from the visiting schools. He found it rather unfortunate that one greasy potions master was also still present.
Viktor was clearly going to sit with his fellow Durmstrang students, but the idea of sitting with old school rivals when his identity is inevitably revealed left a sour taste in Kaneki’s mouth.
“I am not in Slytherin,” murmured Kaneki to Viktor before he moved too far away, “I will have to sit with my own House.” Several of the Durmstrang students had noticed them by this point and were gesturing at Viktor to join them, eyeing Kaneki in the process.
“That should not be a problem, no? Good for interschool unity, like the Tournament’s purpose.” Viktor’s tone was light - an invitation still open to refusal. Kaneki turned his head subtly to examine the Gryffindor table. Every single student was looking at him. As much as he wasn’t ready to re-enter the throes of nosy Gryffindors, being among another house - Slytherin at that - might just be worse if his identity as the Boy-Who-Lived is announced to the school.
“As much as I’m for interschool unity, I’ll have to pass for today. I will be out by the lake again tomorrow morning.” Viktor nodded and they went their separate ways.
Kaneki made a point to sit on the far side of the Gryffindor table so that his back was facing the wall of the Great Hall, despite Ron attempting to put space next to him on the inner side so that Kaneki could sit next to him.
“Where have you been, mate?” asked Ron through a cheek-stuffing bite of scrambled eggs. It smelled rancid. “You weren’t in the dormitories when we woke up.”
“I woke up early and went for a jog,” Kaneki said simply.
“But how did you get Viktor Krum to talk to you?”
“Viktor? Do you know him or something?”
“Know him? Know him?! Mate, he’s only one of the most famous seekers ever. He plays for the Bulgarian National Quidditch Team, how could you not know?”
Kaneki stared deadpan at him. Ron slowly stopped chewing as he realized what he asked. He met Kaneki’s eyes guiltily and muttered a quiet “uh”. They continued their uncomfortable stare down for a moment longer before Hermione attempted to break the tension.
“Ron has been stalking him in an attempt to get his autograph. He’s not been successful yet.”
Kaneki smirked at him and Ron blushed, the color nearly as vibrant as his hair. The boy muttered something that Kaneki couldn’t quite pick up over the surrounding chatter. He would have added to the teasing if it weren’t for the chatter dying down suddenly. Students’ attention was directing toward Headmaster Dumbledore where he stood from his chair. His voice was projected quite impressively across the hall as he began to speak.
“Your attention, please.” He paused for just a moment as the final conversations silenced. “I hope that all of you excellent students and guests are enjoying breakfast this fine morning. I will let you get back to it in just a moment, but we have had a fortunate happening yesterday evening.” His eyes turned, twinkling viciously toward the Gryffindor table and Kaneki knew exactly what was happening.
Kaneki let out an angry breath as gazes turned toward the Gryffindor table and his housemates looked at him. The old man couldn’t just let him lie low, huh. Had to proclaim it to the whole fucking world, didn’t he. Kaneki couldn’t hold back the quiet, “fucking hell” from escaping.
“Yesterday evening, Harry Potter returned to Hogwarts.”
Like flicking a switch, chatter broke out once more. Students were standing from their tables to crane their necks at the Gryffindor table in search of the legendary savior. He could even see the other schools following suit and looking in the same direction as the Hogwarts students. Dumbledore continued as though he hadn’t just presented the largest news the Wizarding World had since Harry Potter first appeared in Diagon Alley.
“He will be continuing his studies at Hogwarts with the fourth year Gryffindors. I hope that you will all welcome him back with open arms. He has asked me to inform you all that he wishes to go by the name Kaneki Ken from this point on. And Mr. Kaneki,” Kaneki didn’t bother to look at him, “please come and retrieve your class schedule.”
Dumbledore stood for a moment longer, waiting for the golden boy to make a grand entrance to the brave proclamation of his return. Kaneki rested his chin on the palm of his hand and drummed his fingers on the table. Grey-green eyes watched Dumbledore uncaringly. After an uncomfortably long pause, the headmaster retook his seat and tension was released from the hall as conversation returned - notably louder than before the announcement.
“Aren’t you going to get your schedule, Har-” He he turned the look on her. “-Kaneki.”
“No. He can bring it to me or he can wait for me to go to him.” He settled into his seat as much as one could settle onto a wooden bench. “He wants me to dance in the palm of his hand like a little circus monkey. It’s just a shame I’m not trained for that.”
Hermione looked appalled at that. “He is not treating you like some show animal, Kaneki. I’m sure he has a plan, you know how intelligent Dumbledore is.”
“Uh huh. Because an eleven year old boy has good judgement of someone’s intelligence,” he returned dryly.
She huffed at him and tucked an unruly strand of hair behind her ear. “You know what I meant. Surely he wouldn’t risk making you uncomfortable for no reason.”
“Hmm,” was the only reply she received. He pushed back from the bench and stood. The chatter seemed to swell around him. “What is our first class?”
“Transfiguration. But Kaneki, you haven’t eaten anything.”
His eyes had already trailed across the other tables of students and the specks of red-gold ties amongst the seas of blue and yellow meant there was no doubt that the other students were being told in meticulous detail everything the Gryffindors knew. Slytherin would no doubt be far behind. Despite Hermione and Ron’s attempts and the eyes of everyone in the hall piercing his back, the half-ghoul left without issue and returned to the empty corridors.