[However brief was the moment of introspection and self-doubt, that tone and the proclamation he makes has the effect of drawing her attention. Her gaze snaps up from the floor to his - and here, she doesn't really hesitate, she's gotten used to the red eyes and all - and the words repeat themselves in her mind again, in echo.
An exceptional individual.
Well, damn. She is definitely blushing now.] I - oh. Um. Thank you. [She clears her throat (was it dry?) and shifts in her seat a little.] That's - I mean, thank you.
Just to clarify, he didn't say I'd be useless. We were just talking of...well. The villagers took my wand and bag for that whole bath thing. I panicked - I promised them to integrate, just to get it back. Thought I had to pretend they were heirlooms to keep them, because...truth is, I can't do a lot of magic without the wand. [Oh the other hand, she can do a lot with it.]
[She purses her lips at that.] Honestly, I'm not sure. It's what we've been taught, since the start. Each witch or wizard needs a wand, and the wand picks the wizard.
[And here, she pauses, and reaches up her sleeve to pull out hers, from the holster she's fashioned herself to look like something of a bracelette. Sets it on the table, dark walnut and dragon heartstring core.]
It's not mine, this one. I lost it, in the - [Her mouth gets dry, the memory of the blade digging into her arm, the crucio spells wrecking havoc on her body. Her hands tremble a little, and she picks up the teacup. Apparently, this is something he'll have in common with Anduin: Hermione just telling them both things of her world, because they're safe and not from there and they can't really use it against her.]
I was tortured with this wand. It ended up with me because...well. I had lost mine, so I've been fighting with it and casting with it but I don't feel it as mine, despite trying. [A small sigh, and a sad little smile his way now.] Wish I had a way to replace it, but this place is all wrong. It has wands, but they're all wrong. More than this one.
[ Wrathion, who is nosy and considers a wand akin to a weapon, reaches out and picks it up curiously. He can sense something about it, definitely. It isn't an entirely mundane item. ]
What is the requirement? Perhaps I can make something.
[ Items that channel magic are hardly difficult. If he can make daggers that also cause someone to sprout wings and fall slowly to the ground, something to simply help her cast spells she knows seems barely a challenge. ]
[At that point, Hermione chokes on scaldingly hot tea.
She catches her breath quickly, and just gives him a look. Watches him studying the wand, like someone who is used to creating things. Now she sees it - he's not joking about this, is he?
She sucks in a breath, trying to think of what are the requirements for a good wand, and comes up blank. What comes out instead is:]
If you make me a wand, I might have to actually marry you.
[Have you ever witnessed a person's expression embody the form of: dgsjklgldg? Well, you have now.]
Not sure there's anyone ordained for it, anyway. [A little pause.] That was a joke - I'm sorry if it was in poor taste, I just - you caught me completely by surprise.
[She IS NOT GOING TO ASK ANDUIN TO OFFICIATE THEIR WEDDING BECAUSE THEY'RE NOT GETTING MARRIED, FIRST OF ALL. And also it might break his heart?
She's going to just skip completely past that part of the conversation for a moment.]
Yes, but the wands are - well, I mean, I enchanted my bag but I've always thought that permanently enchanting objects takes a lot more. Not that I don't think you can't - oh, bollocks. [She just slaps a hand over her mouth, holds the other up in the universal sign of hold up for a sec.
Gets a hold of herself. And thinks, of wands, of what they're meant to be. Eventually, she brings her hand away to rub the back of her neck and answers him.]
I think that they act as a channel. It is doubtful that a witch or wizard can only use one, because I can use Bellatrix's just fine, even if at the start it felt...wrong. So it must be somewhat sentient, or maybe it bonds with the caster it picks? I don't know. Either way, a magical core would be the requirement, honestly. Where I come from, there's a famous wandmaker, he uses cores from creatures that would be difficult to find here.
[She purses her lips, uses her big memory to recite:] Unicorn hair, phoenix feather, dragon heartstring.
[ Wrathion blinks once as she says this (is her bag not... permanently enchanted? Temporary enchantment seems such a waste of time to him. He's never performed a temporary enchantment on an item, only on people.)
As she continues to talk, he reaches down to pick up the wand again. Channelling is what he expected, but bonding is a curious thing. And sentience? He's handled sentient objects before -- Xal'atath -- but often they are sentient because they contain a presence.
He's still studying the wand when she begins reciting, and freezes -- subtly tense before he sets the wand down with slightly more exaggerated care.
Ah. Perhaps that was what he sensed. He reaches out, warily, with his mind to the wand to see if it would answer him. ]
Is the creature used to imbue it with sentience?
[ Hermione are you murdering magical creatures and trapping them in wands? Because that would not be okay. ]
[She has to actually consider that.] No, I don't think so. Olivander's reputable. I never got to ask, but I'm fairly sure that those items are procured in the most humane way.
[And just to carry on in this tangent, she rambles:] Phoenixes are very rare, for example, but the benefit of them is that before the go through the end of a cycle, to burn and be reborn for their own ashes, they shed feathers. So it would be enough to just pick those from the ground, really. And unicorns, they don't really let just about anyone near them so I imagine that somewhere out there, maybe there's a reservation where they brush their manes and sell whatever falls painlessly?
[For the dragon, though, she pauses. Her own wand was made of dragon heartstring, a very good conductor of charms, and especially. Bellatrix's, too, which might be why she can use it - even if the wood is wrong. Shape is also wrong.]
I don't know how they source the last ingredient, but I want to believe that it's only when a dragon reaches old age and expires on the reservation. Plus, dragon hearts are likely the size of a human being, so I'm sure one is enough to create enough wands for a century?
[She's sitting, though. And have you tried the tea?]
Mm - unfortunately, there are still a lot of horrible people out there who are dragon hunters, or who like to smuggle eggs for profit. There are reservations to protect dragons - where they sort of fly free, and stay hidden from the eyes of Mu - non magical people.
[A pause.] Magic's not publically known. You either can use it, and you know it's there, or you don't have the aptitude for it so you live without knowing a whole community hides behind barriers and spells.
[Well, that's. Not inaccurate. She won't mention the one they had locked up in Gringotts to guard their treasures. She won't mention the Triwizard Tournament, either.
She definitely won't mention Norbert.
Because she can tell, something there upset him. It's more important than the sodding wand.]
[It's a shock to the system, the way he says it so bluntly. She startles, and sets her cup down with a loud clink. Recovers her wand, because there's no reason for him to build her anything, since he expected more of her apparently.]
I see. Huh. [A clench of her jaw.] You expected me to what?
This is a feedback loop he has seen before, although his manner is still cool. He is disappointed, but it simply means he may need to be careful about what he trusts her with.
Since apparently she thinks he should be captured and kept on a reservation, for his own safety.
It is a harsh lesson, but an important one. He had almost grown... complacent, willing to think he might be accepted. In the end, he will likely have only himself. Sometimes you must stand alone against the darkness so that others may bask in the light. ]
To understand a gilded cage is still a cage.
[ He collects his hands neatly into his lap, regards her with a slight frown. ]
[As he explains it, she takes that time to return her wand to the holster, in case she will need to make an early exit. Whatever the reason of his upset with her, she can't discount that this night might be cut short due to it.
His question does make her pause, with sudden understanding. He's asking about the dragons - something in her heart twitches in compassion, for someone who is willing to jump and defend the rights of magical creatures.
Don't go around assuming things about him just because you want a friend.
She does have an answer:]
They don't speak, so I don't know what to tell you about that. I understand - you think they're locked up. I won't deny it, there are people horrible enough out there that do keep dragons captive, and I hope to one day end their tyranny, but...they're not held in cages.
[She takes a deep breath, and looks away.] I don't know what kind of person you think I am, Wrathion, but I don't take any pleasure out of the idea of living things suffering. I am still, however, just one girl. In the eyes of wizards in my world, up until recently I wasn't even a girl worthy of attention, because my parents are both non-magical. I have ambition, I want to help...many.
But I can't just do it on my own like [She snaps her fingers.] that.
Because you do not understand them, they do not speak?
[ He's just saying. All living things communicate.
He reaches out to pick up his tea, fingers closing around it. ]
I have seen dragons caged before. I have seen them bred like animals, butchered, their children stolen, their wills broken, used as experiments to breed creatures built to fight, used as steeds to ride into war. If I placed you in a house, and told you that you could not leave for your entire lifetime, but that you'd be safe -- would you be happy? There may be no bars, but you are still being kept.
Alright, I don't speak dragon, is that better? [Not goign to apologise for snapping, because she's angry that he's right.
And she presses her lips together to let him finish making his point quietly, all the while silently seething that she is apparently being held accountable for the behaviour of wizarding Britain.
But still Hermione Granger enough that the idea of dragons being caged, the way he describes it, is horrible and fills her with more righteous wrath.]
I've seen dragons caged before, too. [Spoken with a very tense, high and mighty tone.] And on both occasions I helped them escape, so - [Deep breath, and:] Why are you scolding me?
We can do snapping at each other. He drops his voice down into a deep, snarling tone that has a strange resonant quality. Something bestial, dark, inhuman. ]
Because I will not be caged again, Hermione Granger.
[Look. She just thought that maybe he had one of those naturally deep voices, and that when he was frustrated he growled (because he was a werewolf), but this is.
To say unexpected is to put it mildly. Very mildly.
For a few seconds, she doesn't really breathe, and just stares at him, surprised. Frozen in place, for a moment.
Then, the feedback lands. The conversation, the outburst, the clues that were so obviously there. Dots get connected, and she lets out an inhuman little sound, kind of like an eep. It's instinct, really, when you're sharing tea and arguing with a sodding dragon.]
[Again, silence, and she's still stuck for a moment before shaking herself out of it.]
Hold on a second, you reveal to be you're a dragon - and nevermind the fact that you look nothing like the dragons I've seen so there's that - and then just casually switch to talking about wand cores again?!
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
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An exceptional individual.
Well, damn. She is definitely blushing now.] I - oh. Um. Thank you. [She clears her throat (was it dry?) and shifts in her seat a little.] That's - I mean, thank you.
Just to clarify, he didn't say I'd be useless. We were just talking of...well. The villagers took my wand and bag for that whole bath thing. I panicked - I promised them to integrate, just to get it back. Thought I had to pretend they were heirlooms to keep them, because...truth is, I can't do a lot of magic without the wand. [Oh the other hand, she can do a lot with it.]
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Good.
Removes this person from the 'at war' category and just places them in 'hated', instead. He reaches for the tea, moves to pour them two cups. ]
There is some power in the wand? Or you simply require a focus?
[ No judgment either way, just a clarification question. ]
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[And here, she pauses, and reaches up her sleeve to pull out hers, from the holster she's fashioned herself to look like something of a bracelette. Sets it on the table, dark walnut and dragon heartstring core.]
It's not mine, this one. I lost it, in the - [Her mouth gets dry, the memory of the blade digging into her arm, the crucio spells wrecking havoc on her body. Her hands tremble a little, and she picks up the teacup. Apparently, this is something he'll have in common with Anduin: Hermione just telling them both things of her world, because they're safe and not from there and they can't really use it against her.]
I was tortured with this wand. It ended up with me because...well. I had lost mine, so I've been fighting with it and casting with it but I don't feel it as mine, despite trying. [A small sigh, and a sad little smile his way now.] Wish I had a way to replace it, but this place is all wrong. It has wands, but they're all wrong. More than this one.
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What is the requirement? Perhaps I can make something.
[ Items that channel magic are hardly difficult. If he can make daggers that also cause someone to sprout wings and fall slowly to the ground, something to simply help her cast spells she knows seems barely a challenge. ]
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She catches her breath quickly, and just gives him a look. Watches him studying the wand, like someone who is used to creating things. Now she sees it - he's not joking about this, is he?
She sucks in a breath, trying to think of what are the requirements for a good wand, and comes up blank. What comes out instead is:]
If you make me a wand, I might have to actually marry you.
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Wrathion looks up in surprise, frowns, then sets down the wand and stares at her. ]
I would not require a ceremony.
[ She would not have to? Just to be... clear? ]
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Not sure there's anyone ordained for it, anyway. [A little pause.] That was a joke - I'm sorry if it was in poor taste, I just - you caught me completely by surprise.
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Anduin is a priest of the Light.
[ A pause.
Anyway -- ]
I mentioned before I craft and enchant powerful items. The concept is the same.
[ You told him he was very smart, Hermione! He still has no idea that was sarcasm. ]
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She's going to just skip completely past that part of the conversation for a moment.]
Yes, but the wands are - well, I mean, I enchanted my bag but I've always thought that permanently enchanting objects takes a lot more. Not that I don't think you can't - oh, bollocks. [She just slaps a hand over her mouth, holds the other up in the universal sign of hold up for a sec.
Gets a hold of herself. And thinks, of wands, of what they're meant to be. Eventually, she brings her hand away to rub the back of her neck and answers him.]
I think that they act as a channel. It is doubtful that a witch or wizard can only use one, because I can use Bellatrix's just fine, even if at the start it felt...wrong. So it must be somewhat sentient, or maybe it bonds with the caster it picks? I don't know. Either way, a magical core would be the requirement, honestly. Where I come from, there's a famous wandmaker, he uses cores from creatures that would be difficult to find here.
[She purses her lips, uses her big memory to recite:] Unicorn hair, phoenix feather, dragon heartstring.
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As she continues to talk, he reaches down to pick up the wand again. Channelling is what he expected, but bonding is a curious thing. And sentience? He's handled sentient objects before -- Xal'atath -- but often they are sentient because they contain a presence.
He's still studying the wand when she begins reciting, and freezes -- subtly tense before he sets the wand down with slightly more exaggerated care.
Ah. Perhaps that was what he sensed. He reaches out, warily, with his mind to the wand to see if it would answer him. ]
Is the creature used to imbue it with sentience?
[ Hermione are you murdering magical creatures and trapping them in wands? Because that would not be okay. ]
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[And just to carry on in this tangent, she rambles:] Phoenixes are very rare, for example, but the benefit of them is that before the go through the end of a cycle, to burn and be reborn for their own ashes, they shed feathers. So it would be enough to just pick those from the ground, really. And unicorns, they don't really let just about anyone near them so I imagine that somewhere out there, maybe there's a reservation where they brush their manes and sell whatever falls painlessly?
[For the dragon, though, she pauses. Her own wand was made of dragon heartstring, a very good conductor of charms, and especially. Bellatrix's, too, which might be why she can use it - even if the wood is wrong. Shape is also wrong.]
I don't know how they source the last ingredient, but I want to believe that it's only when a dragon reaches old age and expires on the reservation. Plus, dragon hearts are likely the size of a human being, so I'm sure one is enough to create enough wands for a century?
[Pure conjecture.]
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Back up, here. ]
A reservation?
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Mm - unfortunately, there are still a lot of horrible people out there who are dragon hunters, or who like to smuggle eggs for profit. There are reservations to protect dragons - where they sort of fly free, and stay hidden from the eyes of Mu - non magical people.
[A pause.] Magic's not publically known. You either can use it, and you know it's there, or you don't have the aptitude for it so you live without knowing a whole community hides behind barriers and spells.
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Who are turned into wands.
His face is going on a journey. It's landing somewhere around distaste.
He is, in fact, going to sip the tea to try and recover. ]
So you herd them into a field and harvest their corpses when they pass.
[ Another sip. He sets the cup down. ]
I can find something to use as a core, but if it will work the same way I cannot say. Do the wood and shape impact the use?
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She definitely won't mention Norbert.
Because she can tell, something there upset him. It's more important than the sodding wand.]
I've upset you.
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He considers that a long moment. Processing emotion takes time, sometimes, to untangle exactly the meaning of it all. ]
Yes.
[ This admission is actually unusual for him, but he thinks this qualifies. ]
I expected better of you.
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I see. Huh. [A clench of her jaw.] You expected me to what?
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This is a feedback loop he has seen before, although his manner is still cool. He is disappointed, but it simply means he may need to be careful about what he trusts her with.
Since apparently she thinks he should be captured and kept on a reservation, for his own safety.
It is a harsh lesson, but an important one. He had almost grown... complacent, willing to think he might be accepted. In the end, he will likely have only himself. Sometimes you must stand alone against the darkness so that others may bask in the light. ]
To understand a gilded cage is still a cage.
[ He collects his hands neatly into his lap, regards her with a slight frown. ]
Or will you tell me they agreed to this?
[ He cannot imagine tolerating it himself. ]
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His question does make her pause, with sudden understanding. He's asking about the dragons - something in her heart twitches in compassion, for someone who is willing to jump and defend the rights of magical creatures.
Don't go around assuming things about him just because you want a friend.
She does have an answer:]
They don't speak, so I don't know what to tell you about that. I understand - you think they're locked up. I won't deny it, there are people horrible enough out there that do keep dragons captive, and I hope to one day end their tyranny, but...they're not held in cages.
[She takes a deep breath, and looks away.] I don't know what kind of person you think I am, Wrathion, but I don't take any pleasure out of the idea of living things suffering. I am still, however, just one girl. In the eyes of wizards in my world, up until recently I wasn't even a girl worthy of attention, because my parents are both non-magical. I have ambition, I want to help...many.
But I can't just do it on my own like [She snaps her fingers.] that.
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[ He's just saying. All living things communicate.
He reaches out to pick up his tea, fingers closing around it. ]
I have seen dragons caged before. I have seen them bred like animals, butchered, their children stolen, their wills broken, used as experiments to breed creatures built to fight, used as steeds to ride into war. If I placed you in a house, and told you that you could not leave for your entire lifetime, but that you'd be safe -- would you be happy? There may be no bars, but you are still being kept.
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And she presses her lips together to let him finish making his point quietly, all the while silently seething that she is apparently being held accountable for the behaviour of wizarding Britain.
But still Hermione Granger enough that the idea of dragons being caged, the way he describes it, is horrible and fills her with more righteous wrath.]
I've seen dragons caged before, too. [Spoken with a very tense, high and mighty tone.] And on both occasions I helped them escape, so - [Deep breath, and:] Why are you scolding me?
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We can do snapping at each other. He drops his voice down into a deep, snarling tone that has a strange resonant quality. Something bestial, dark, inhuman. ]
Because I will not be caged again, Hermione Granger.
[ Please accept this feedback. ]
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To say unexpected is to put it mildly. Very mildly.
For a few seconds, she doesn't really breathe, and just stares at him, surprised. Frozen in place, for a moment.
Then, the feedback lands. The conversation, the outburst, the clues that were so obviously there. Dots get connected, and she lets out an inhuman little sound, kind of like an eep. It's instinct, really, when you're sharing tea and arguing with a sodding dragon.]
What. What? You - what?
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I can provide you options for your wand. You'll need to let me know how the shape and the wood interact with it.
[ Anyway.
He has limited tree options in his surroundings, but he can try things. Obviously he can put something draconic in it. ]
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Hold on a second, you reveal to be you're a dragon - and nevermind the fact that you look nothing like the dragons I've seen so there's that - and then just casually switch to talking about wand cores again?!
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