Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Techno’s first impressions upon the Sorting Hat… may have been skewed.

They had spent the whole day seeing families and friends laughing and content— the one thing Techno wasn’t. They were lonely and wanted friends.

And that’s all the Sorting Hat could see.

So for the rest of his seven years at Hogwarts, Techno was a Hufflepuff. They probably would have fit in better literally anywhere else. Ravenclaw would have been great.

They weren’t a good fit for Hufflepuff. They pushed people away and focused too heavily on their studies.

After a few weeks, it seemed like all of Hufflepuff had given up trying to be their friend.

That was fine with Techno.

They had work to get done, projects to complete, and a future to plan for.

Nearing the end of their first year, Fruitberries, the DADA teacher, assigned them a test of knowledge of spells. Techno wasn’t content just knowing the standard spells their teacher had taught and began to search for more and more obscure texts.

They quickly found three forbidden spells.

A spell to kill someone.

A spell to torture someone.

And a spell to control someone.

For the time being, it was just an assignment, and they moved on. 

But as summer break began and they were stuck surrounded by people they wished to escape— the spell stuck in their mind.

Imperio.

Techno was a muggleborn, but even worse than a muggleborn, they were nothing.

They had no parents, no past, no future. 

Only Techno could control their future, and their caretakers only wanted to hold them back.

No, Techno, you can’t study hand-to-hand combat. You’re only seven, what need could you have for it?

Techno, you can’t fight back even if they’re planning to kill you!

Techno had little to no control over their life with their caretakers. There were two options: running away or finding a way to make them not interfere.

Maybe scare them into submission? Prove they were better? 

For now, that illegal spell was their best bet.

When they returned to Hogwarts, the first thing they did was search. For the first week, they spent every free moment in the library.

Techno found books about hundreds of different subjects, but it took far too long to find even a whisper of Imperio.  

Many spells were made to hurt or control others. These spells have since been banned by the Ministry. Three spells serve as lessons for young wizards and witches. The Unforgivables.

…

There are many spells like Imperio, and many, many more dark rituals one can cast to create a similar effect. 

A ritual?

How interesting.

Techno found their next hint of something more a month into school. A book had referenced The Encyclopedia of Spells and Rituals , and it supposedly had the name and description of every spell and/or ritual that the author could discover before their death.

There were, obviously, many books under the name, but none of them referenced the specific ritual Techno was looking for.

Months they had spent searching, just for this.

For nothing.

No book in the school’s library referenced the ritual. 

But there was a Restricted Section of the library. And the book definitely contained darker magic.

Techno broke into the Restricted Section that night. They watched out for traps and got out with the book.

It was surprisingly small, for all the secrets hidden inside of it.

Techno spent the night holed up in their bed.

They were happy their roommates had given up on trying to get them to socialize. Wilbur had tried so hard to connect with them for the first few weeks of the year, as a transfer, but luckily he’d given up.

The other Hufflepuffs were nice. Kind. Compassionate. Everything Techno wasn’t.

They didn’t forget their friends' birthdays and stuck loyal to one another. 

Techno didn’t belong with the Puffs.

Everyone knew that.

But… maybe with the spell, they’d be able to prove themself to everyone.

Maybe they wouldn’t be alone soon.

After classes, Techno sat in the deepest corner of the library, reading through the stolen book. It was calm, with no one to bother them.

It was a normal, calm day.

Until it wasn’t.

“Whoa! I’ve been looking everywhere for that book!” A second-year looked at their book, awe in his hazel eyes. “How did you find it?”

Techno slipped a glance at his tie. A Slytherin. “Uh, in the library.” For a long moment, they stared at one another, neither wishing to talk. “The… the Restricted Section,” Techno whispered, their brown eyes glancing at the bookshelves behind the Slytherin.

“Huh,” he said. “I hadn’t thought of that.” The silence grew longer, until— “My name’s Dream, forgot to mention that. What’s yours?”

Techno looked back at the brunet and stared for a moment. “Name’s Techno.”

Dream laughed, “It’s nice to meet you, Techno!” He seemed to be waiting for something. “Can I please borrow the book.”

Techno hummed, going back to reading. “No.”

“Pretty please?”

“Nope.”

Even when Techno began to switch where they read at, Dream still managed to hunt them down and either sit there with his own book or beg to read Techno’s.

Most of the time Techno wasn’t even reading the spellbook, they most often were studying for class. 

About four days after meeting Dream, Techno finally snapped.

“What are you even looking for?” Techno narrowed their dark eyes.

Dream smiled, a glint of something in his hazel eyes. “Do you want the truth or a lie?” 

Techno waited for a moment, debating. “... A lie.”

Dream smiled, the freckles on his cheeks stark against his skin as he laughed. “Alright then, it’s for class. Professor Fruitberries assigned an extra assignment to find rare spells and I wanted to use that book for some.”

Techno hummed, “Maybe it’d work on a First Year.”

Dream huffed, smiling. “Alright then.”

“Do you even have anything else to do?”

“Not really, no.”

Techno sighed. Dream had stopped being annoying lately. He had begun to relax next to them as they read. 

(They still hadn’t found the ritual. Maybe it didn’t exist. Maybe it was just a last-ditch hope of muggleborn destined for nothing.)

Life was easy.

“Do you want to hang out… uh, outside of the library sometime?” Dream seemed hesitant, his fingers playing with his green tie. 

Techno looked up from their book, thinking for a moment. They didn’t really… have any reason to say no. Well besides the basic fear of talking to people. But it was just Dream it wouldn’t be too bad.

“Sure.”

Dream grinned, letting out a laugh. “Yes! What do you want to do? Want to go raid the Quidditch broom supply cabinet? Want to go into the Forbidden Forest? Or, uh, anything you want!”

They took a moment to process everything he had said. “... Whatever you want?”

The two of them wound up atop the Astronomy Tower. The stars shined all around them, giving them a perfect view of the constellations they’d been studying for so long.

Neither of them spoke, enjoying the silence.

It was the first of many nights like this, sneaking out past curfew to watch the stars. 

Most times they sat in silence, but three months after their first meeting Techno hadn’t had enough time to find the ritual. Should they just abandon their friend? 

No.

They’d make time.

The break between their second and third year was the worst it had ever been. Now that they had someone to lose being apart for so long was torture.

Even if it was unfathomable, Techno had anxiety that their caretakers would stop them from returning to Hogwarts. They had so much work to get done, a future to discover. 

A friend to be there for. Someone who would remember them when they were gone.

When Techno came back to school they didn’t get to talk to Dream for a few days.

It was fine. (It wasn’t.)

They got to study the book. (They could barely focus.)

It took Dream three days from the start of school to talk to them.

Did he replace them? Find a better friend? Discover a copy of the book for himself? Was Techno worthless to Dream without something to offer him?

Even with all these anxieties, Techno tried to act completely normal.

“Where have you been?” They murmured, staring at whatever textbook was in their hands.

“Uh,” Dream began. “I’ve been around, talking to people, why?” 

Was it selfish of them to want to be around him all the time?

Yes, it was.

“It’s nothing, don’t worry about it,” they said with a falsified grin, making a joke of the whole situation. “It’s good to talk to you again.”

Dream laughed, “Yeah, it’s good to talk to you, too! Hey, do you want to do something cool today?”

Apparently, during his break Dream had been collecting bleach, aluminum foil, and pink dye.

“I want to dye your hair,” he had stated. “Not in the magic way of waving my wand and boom! It’s pink! No, I want to do it the Muggle way.”

At that point, something in Techno must have snapped.

“Go for it,” they said, a grin on their face.

The two of them planned to begin dying each other’s hair the next day. They would hole up in a room and stay there as long as it took.

(No one would care that two Muggleborns were missing from their beds.)

The day passed by slowly, whispers of an impending blizzard and warnings to stay inside going over their heads. They’d be fine, the two of them would be inside all day!

After classes ended for the day, they began setting up. They both went back to their dorms, closing the curtains around their beds, making an illusion of having gone to sleep early.

No one would bother them.

A storm was brewing outside, and they were laughing.

“God, I can’t wait to see your hair all pink!” Dream laughed, three ponytail holders attached to his wrist. “You’ll finally stand out in a crowd!”

As the screech of the wind grew louder, their talking got louder alongside it. The smell of bleach was terrible, but seeing Dream smile and laugh uncontrollably made it all worth it.

By the end of the night, their hair was completely pink.

And so began Techno’s revenge on Dream.

“We gotta make it even now, don’t we, Dream?” A look of fear entered the Slytherin’s gaze. “I’m going to dye your hair now.”

By the time they were done, it was far past curfew. Both of them smelled of bleach and other chemicals, but despite everything, they were happy.

Techno returned to their dorm to see Wilbur’s curtains wide open, their fellow student missing from his bed.

For the moment, Techno didn’t care. They’d had an amazing night, and were ready to take a nap.

In the morning Wilbur was missing from his bed, and it was all their dorm would talk about.

“Did you see Wilbur last night?” No. They hadn’t. And it seemed like no one else had either.

As the group of Third Year Hufflepuffs left for breakfast, there was a chill in the air. The door outside was wide open, snow having poured in. 

One of them ran towards the door, the rest all following. Techno walked at a delayed pace, thoughts of being able to eat breakfast on time circling in their mind. Maybe they should have been more concerned with the situation.

As Techno walked out into the snowy grounds, they saw what everyone was so freaked out about.

There was a body on the ground, almost completely frozen over. For a moment, everything was still. No one spoke, before— “Techno, go get Niki!” 

Oh— Niki, who was in charge of the Hospital Wing. But, they definitely already looked dead, would it even be worth the effort?

“Techno!” They screamed. 

Instantly, Techno began to run. 

Time flew by as they ran past students in the halls, frantically trying to remember where the Hospital Wing was at. 

It felt like hours had passed before they made it. “S—someone’s out in the snow! Right by the Hufflepuff Common Room!” For a few precious seconds, Niki registered the information before running around the room in a panic.

“Grab as many blankets as you can!” She ordered, as ran out of the room. With only panic and desperation fueling them, Techno frantically grabbed three large blankets and hurried behind her. 

As they ran throughout the castle, she grabbed an older student by the arm. “You!” He was a Ravenclaw student with bright blue hair. “Skeppy, go to the Prefects bathroom and start a warm bath.”

Skeppy sputtered, “What?” 

But Niki was already running off.

“Uh, someone was found out in the snow,” they quickly explained before beginning to follow her. Techno’s legs shook as they struggled to keep a strong grip on the blankets.

I have to keep going, they urged themselves. Someone is dying.

Even as they kept chasing the surprisingly fast nurse, the thought of saving someone didn’t quite encourage them.

Eventually, they made it to the fallen student's side. He wasn’t even in his school robes. Even through the sheet of ice, they could tell he had a large jacket on. But, the main question plaguing their mind— why would he go out during a blizzard?

Did he want to die?

The kid was only a third-year.

Just like them.

And Techno didn’t even know his name.

Niki wound up carrying him to the Prefects Bathroom, where the Ravenclaw Prefect from before was waiting for her.

The two of them stood awkwardly as Niki lowered the body to the ground. She began to dip her fingers into the tub, before sighing.

“I’m sorry, I don’t know your name. Pink-haired Hufflepuff, could you help me take off some of Wilbur’s layers?”

As Techno moved to strip back the thick jacket from their dormmates body. He was barely even breathing, would he be able to live through this?

God.

This was Wilbur Soot. The half-blood that spent the first few weeks of First-Year pestering them into becoming friends.

Maybe if they had become friends, this wouldn’t have happened.

Once the jacket was removed it was clear just how far the damage had spread. His shoulders were covered in frost, with obvious swelling around them. They wiped off the frost, revealing light blue skin underneath.

“Niki!” They said, alarm in their voice. “His shoulders are blue.”

Niki turned and got a good look at Wilbur. “Take off his gloves, shoes, and socks— Skeppy, you help too!” She began to grab towels, soaking them in the warm bathwater.

They didn’t allow themselves to get distracted. They needed to help Wilbur. Skeppy moved to the gloves, slowly inching them off Wilbur’s frozen skin.

As Techno finished removing both shoes— preparing to move onto the significantly more difficult socks— Skeppy gasped loudly. “What’s wrong with his hand?”

Niki turned with one of the towels in hand. “Oh god, we need to get him in that tub as fast as possible.”

But— that didn’t make sense. They were magic. Why couldn’t she just… wave her wand and fix it?

Right before Techno could gather the courage to ask, Skeppy beat them to the punch. Niki looked offended at the mere question. 

“This isn’t something I can just fix , Skeppy. Anything made by magic can be fixed with magic. The weather isn’t magic, Skeppy!” 

The two of them lowered their eyes, before quickly finishing their jobs. Niki sighed with annoyance (and maybe some worry) as she lifted Wilbur’s body into the tub. Unluckily, his hair was still completely frozen, leading to an awkward moment of Niki accidentally almost stabbing herself on the ice.

Once he was settled— towels packed around him to keep him in place— she placed one of the wet towels around his head. “To melt his hair,” she explained. Niki sighed, sitting on the side of the table. “Could you two bring Phil here? He’s Wilbur’s friend and he… he should hear about this first.”

The two of them nodded, before walking out. For awhile, total silence ruled, before— “I feel bad for him.”

“Wilbur?”

“No,” Skeppy muttered, looking at the stone walls. “Phil. His friend just tried to… to end it all, and we have to bring him to the body.”

What?

“What do you mean?"

Skeppy sighed, a bit of annoyance entering his tone. “I mean Wilbur tried to kill himself.”

Well. They… had been wondering how he had even gotten there. It… made sense in a terrible way.

“Oh.”

Skeppy sighed as they continued the rest of the trek in silence.

Phil was in class and was hastily excused when they announced Wilbur being in the Hospital Wing. It seemed all the teachers knew something about the two Techno seemed to not know.

Maybe the two were super close or… something.

Phil seemed fidgety and worried, blue eyes glancing around wildly. He seemed to want to ask what was going on but was too scared of the answer to try. 

They soon arrived at the Prefects Bathroom, to Phil’s confusion. “He’s in here,” Skeppy quietly explained.

They walked in to the sight of Niki sitting beside the bathtub. “He’s in here,” she murmured, staring at the body. “He’s alive.”

Phil rushed to the side of the bathtub, staring down at his presumed friend. “How did this happen?”

“I don’t know. Only Wilbur would be able to explain, and as you see…” Niki sighed. “Maybe we should have seen it coming.”

Phil sighed, “He was just cold, he wouldn’t do something like this. Not on purpose.”

Niki smiled bitterly, “Alright, Phil.” She stood up, staring at the two of them. “You two can go.”

Skeppy instantly turned and left, leaving Techno alone with Niki, Phil, and the likely-to-be-dead-soon Wilbur. “I… I want to stay,” they muttered. “I want to see this through.”

Phil stared at them for a moment, something dark in his eyes. “Alright, you can stay.” The Ravenclaw sighed, staring at the still body below him. “Just… be careful.”

The two of them sat by Wilbur’s side for the rest of the day, watching his hair slowly melt. Niki eventually had to leave to go back to her normal duties, but every few hours she would pop in.

Phil had taken the responsibility of warming up the water and changing out the towels around Wilbur. He was frantic with taking care of Wilbur, but with how still their fellow Hufflepuff was, Techno could understand.

At two in the morning, Wilbur began to stir. Techno stared at his dark brown eyes for a moment before leaning over and kicking Phil in the shoulder.

Phil cursed for a moment until he heard Techno’s whispers. He bolted up, grinning. “Wil? Are you okay? Can you speak? Wil—“

Wilbur’s eyes had focused on Techno, but at the mention of speaking, it seemed Wilbur had truly tried to.

They had forgotten to unfreeze his lips. 

His lips cracked and split open, and as blood began to drip down his face— he spoke. “Who are you?”

Techno coughed quietly, “Uh, I’m Techno.” 

He nodded, turning to look at Phil. “And you?”

“Uh,” he seemed confused. “I’m Phil? Your best friend?”

Wilbur hummed as his eyes began to close once more. In moments, he was unconscious again.

“He didn’t remember me, Niki!” Phil yelled, anguish pulling at his heart. “He didn’t remember at least three years of his life. Something must be wrong, Niki.”

Niki sighed, “I’ll tell the Headmaster and his parents will be informed. He’ll get help, Phil.”

Chapter Text

Compared to his home, Hogwarts was freezing. His home had been full of roaring fireplaces and warm blankets. In contrast, Hogwarts’s tone walls were bland and slowly cracking through the centuries of use.

This was Wilbur’s first impression of the place that would be his home for the next seven years.

It was boring and cold.

For a moment, Wilbur thought there was a kindred spirit beside him within the Hufflepuffs.

Techno pushed away those trying to get close to them. They wanted to be alone. 

They were succeeding at what Wilbur never could. Loneliness seemed to not even register to the Hufflepuff. 

It was amazing to watch.

Wilbur tried to talk to Techno one day. 

He was pushed away.

Day after day.

After two weeks of it, Wilbur gave up.

Fine, he bitterly thought. Be alone. See how you like it.

A year went by.

It seemed the castle seemed to just be getting colder every year.

(Maybe he was unwelcome here. All the other Hufflepuffs seemed confused when he complained about the cold.)

By his third year, Wilbur had a single friend. Phil, an older Ravenclaw. 

Phil had given him a jacket to keep himself warm. It worked for a few days before it too was encased by the cold.

There was a blizzard outside.

The snow was so beautiful, and Wilbur was but a child surrounded by an ignorant family. 

The outside was cold, but Wilbur’s determination to be one with the beautiful storm was stronger than any blizzard.

He stayed outside until he couldn’t feel anything . His hands shook, and he could barely walk.

The child managed to make it inside to the shocked eyes of his father.

“Your skin is freezing,” his father whispered, terrified. “Lay down, Wilbur!”

So he spent the night shaking under a heated blanket as he drank hot chocolate.

Maybe that was the start of it all.

The start of the cold.

“Wilbur,” Phil whispered. The older Ravenclaw held onto his hands. “Why are you so cold?” 

His hands were pale white. Was he shaking? He was shaking.

“Hogwarts is just… really cold, Phil,” Wilbur weakly defended. Phil sighed, reaching to pull Wilbur’s hood tighter to his face. The fur tickled at his face, but it was only making him colder somehow.

“Maybe you should have Niki check you out? You know she’s trustworthy and… and you really need to get this cold fixed.”

“It’s just how I am, Phil.” 

The Ravenclaw stepped away, “Alright. I’ll trust you, just please go to Niki so she can make sure you’re okay.”

“Alright.”

Even as he sat shaking in a jacket with fur on it, gloves, and blankets, Niki still said he was fine.

(See, Phil? Nothing is wrong with me.)

But even with the results, Niki looked worried.

“See,” Wilbur whispered. “I’m fine, Niki, you don’t have to worry.”

As he left he heard Niki whisper, “I’ll worry no matter what.”

Maybe that was true for both of them. No matter how much proof to the contrary, they’d believe there was something wrong with him.

A blizzard would be arriving tomorrow.

No one was worried about Wilbur.

They shouldn’t be. He would never do anything irresponsible.

In the dead of the night, a scream echoed through the halls of Hogwarts. 

Wilbur woke up with a start to the faint screech. He quickly rounded out of bed with only Phil’s jacket and his gloves to protect him. 

No one else seemed to hear it.

Techno’s bed was locked tight. Maybe they could’ve been friends once in a different lifetime.

Probably not.

Wilbur continued, out of the Common Room, passing the kitchens, and following the screech to a long corridor. He knew there was an exit at the end of the hall.

An exit that led to the blizzard.

(He wasn’t as cold as he usually was.)

(His hands weren’t shaking, and his walking was stable.)

A familiar urge went through him. The snow was beautiful outside. 

The doors were opened with a bang, but all the way in their dorms, not a soul heard.

It was so warm outside.

“Son.”

His father held him close, staring at his bright red face. There was a strange look on the man’s face.

“I have something to tell you, Wilbur.” The child looked up, chills playing through his arms. He had only recently come inside from the blizzard. “Our family is not… normal.”

“Huh?” Wilbur murmured, staring at his father's lower face. Small burns littered across his cheeks. “What do you mean?”

“We are elementals, Wilbur. My… my element is of fire.” His father sighed before igniting a flame in the palm of his hand. When he extinguished it, Wilbur noticed a wound where the fire once was.

“But… our elements can hurt us too.” He smiled bitterly, beginning to unbutton his shirt. He pulled back to fully remove the shirt. 

His father’s arm was covered in burns. 

“I could have healed it. But I won’t. I needed to learn from that experience, and I hope you won’t have to.”

Wilbur wrapped his shaking arms around his father. “Please, son. Please never go into a blizzard again.”

Wilbur nodded in his father's tight embrace.