Timeless: Hours of Anguish [ATEEZ Hogwarts AU]

Monday, November 28th

Mingi patted San's shoulder and San managed a smile. He did appreciate his best friend's efforts in trying to cheer him up. Even though his worry hadn't eased one bit, he decided to make it seem like it did. For Mingi's sake.

Mingi returned his smile just as Binns entered the classroom through the wall.

Binns was a scrawny old man with thin, white hair and round, rimless glasses sitting low on his nose. He floated a few centimeters above the ground and was almost fully transparent. He halted next to his desk where a thick stack of new textbooks had been placed and asked one of the Hufflepuffs to hand one to each student while he reminded them in his monotone voice of the occupational guidance workshops that would take place shortly after Christmas break.

San thanked the Hufflepuff who had placed the new textbook on his table and glanced at its cover. Modern Magical History, Volume II.

"Volume II?" asked Mingi, letting his old textbook slide back into his bag. "I didn't even realize we finished Volume I."

San chuckled. "Neither have I." It was no surprise with how little interest they had in the subject.

"I hope this one makes for just as good pillow material as the last."

"Let's try it out."

Exchanging grins, the two were ready to let their heads rest on their books when Binns announced today's topic.

Lord Voldemort.

Within the blink of an eye, the class went dead silent. A dark tension filled the room.

Of course, everyone knew who he was. He had died only a year before most of them had been born and some of them had lost their parents or other family members because of him and his followers.

Professor Binns seemed pleasantly surprised that his class was paying attention for once. He scanned their uneasy faces. "Who can tell me about him?"

They all knew the story. Their parents had told them a million tales about the things he'd done. The Battle of the Department of Mysteries, the Battle of Hogwarts, the cold-blooded murder of thousands of muggles and muggleborn wizards and witches.

San himself was what they called a pure-blooded wizard, just like Yunho and Yeosang; Wooyoung and Jongho were half-bloods and Mingi was muggleborn. But blood status really didn't matter to anyone of their generation. It was about as relevant as their shoe size.

San's parents had always taught him that there was no such thing as a 'superior' blood status, and he had never questioned that thought.

When nobody said anything, Yunho slowly raised his hand.

He was the only one who actively took part in History of Magic class. He had always been enthusiastic about the topic. He was extremely well-versed about pretty much every historical event one could think of, down to the smallest of details.

It was almost scary sometimes. It often sounded like he had been there to witness it himself.

Needless to say, he was Binns' favorite student. The ghost gave Yunho a smile and gestured for him to speak.

"His real name was Tom Marvolo Riddle, born in 1926 on December 31st," Yunho began. "He and his movement killed countless people over decades, which is why he is considered the darkest wizard of all time. People didn't even dare utter his name."

Mingi rolled his eyes and muttered something that sounded a lot like 'nerd.' Yeonjun and Changbin chuckled. Yunho shot Mingi a glare.

"Please continue, Mr. Jeong," said Binns.