Fic Challenge #183: Just So
Title: Just So
Summary: Voldemort encourages Quirrell to be proactive about Harry at Harry’s first Quidditch match.
Characters/Pairings: Quirinus Quirrell, Voldemort, Nagini
Genre: General, Humor
Rating/Warnings: PG
Medium: Fic
Word Count: 956
Can the Order post to Tumblr?: Yes
If yes, your Tumblr username: N/A
“The position of Seeker is quite precarious, Quirinus.” My Lord’s voice whispered out the back of my head, chorded with command and expectation.
I considered my tea as Nagini curled in my lap and draped herself over my torso, gluttonously soaking up my body heat.
Keep that tea coming. I can feel the warmth in your stomach.
I’d ceased being surprised by her directness and dutifully sipped more tea. My Lord’s comment had been fairly direct too. “You want to attack Potter in public?”
He arched an eyebrow, which I actually saw due to the mirrored apparatus I’d rigged to my sitting chair’s arm. It was quite a fine eyebrow arch, equal parts arrogance, amusement, and dismissal. I found myself mirroring it before I could stop myself, and I noted his gaze chilling to subarctic levels.
That got my face composed in record time. “My apologies, my Lord. Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, they say.” And you know my thoughts on you.
The other eyebrow arched with far more fond scorn than the first. “True enough, little squirrel. Back to the business of the Potter boy, then. Public doesn’t mean protected. Especially at a Quidditch match.”
I nodded. “Especially for a Seeker. Accidents happen all the time. They have to fly so fast, so high...”
So alone. Nagini blinked up at me.
I blinked back at her. When did you start taking an interest in Quidditch?
She gave the side of my throat a long, lazy lick. Since now.
Our Lord’s voice snapped like a whip. “You can explore your joint familiar bond later. Let’s focus on Potter, shall we?”
Nagini and I flinched together. I slid my fingers between her coils and gently stroked the scales there. It helped settle us both. “Something that can be executed at a distance then. With precise timing, because who knows when the right opportunity will present itself…”
“Agreed.” His lips tightened in thought. “Suggestions?”
I could bite him.
I smiled at Nagini’s sincere offer. “In the air, love? Bit tricky to get you up there.” I tilted my head. “Time-release venom perhaps?”
Our Lord frowned. “Too many degrees of freedom. Something more direct.”
“Mmm, but subtle as well, I suppose. No green-tinged killing curses flying about.”
“Quite.”
Bite his broom beforehand? Nagini shifted so I could stroke the scales closer to her face.
I chuckled softly against her, shaking my head. “Brooms aren’t terribly bitable.” I paused. “But they’re quite hexable. Can we manage something wandless and silent? I know a nice hurling hex that can be deployed fairly quickly, but it requires the standard wand movements and verbalizations.”
Phantom fingers slid into my thoughts like a lover’s caress, letting grains of glittering spellcraft cascade through them. “The one you know already is quite promising. We simply need to adjust it and practice its casting.”
I closed my eyes. “Oh, well that’s no problem at all then. We have all of, oh, two hours until the match. Plenty of time to twist a nice little hex into something lethal that can be cast surreptitiously in the middle of a crowd.”
“You’re fortunate I find your sarcasm amusing, Quirinus.” He flicked a spark of intent down my spine that made me tremble for reasons I desperately didn’t want to contemplate.
I slumped into my chair, letting Nagini’s weight settle against me, the braided thrum of our familiar marks twining together.
Nagini gently licked the side of my face. I don’t know why you say things like that.
I sighed. Wouldn’t want to be bored, I guess.
“Concentrate, Quirinus.” There was a knife edge to our Lord’s tone. “Show me the hex in as much detail as you can.”
I swallowed hard and built the swirling tendrils of it in my mind, colored like a dark oil slick with a dirty rainbow sheen. It had a curiously wavering shape, like a sea anemone now that I looked at it more closely. I drew on Nagini’s energy to sharpen the shape of it.
“You see, my Lord?” I murmured. “Difficult to direct appropriately without a wand and words. It needs the wand for a spine and the words for the sting.”
His will focused like a scalpel around the spell construct, and I was overwhelmed by the scent of sea salt and tar. The iron tang of blood coated my tongue as he made delicate slices at the tendril tips.
I watched in breathless silence. His deft artistry still hadn’t lost its wonder for me. Among other things, he was unmistakably a genius.
His amusement swept across my skin like a winter breeze. “So glad you agree, Quirinus. Those should do for the sting, as you so aptly put it. Now, for the spine…what shall we do, hmmm?”
Bendy, suggested Nagini, stretching her body around my arm to demonstrate.
“Yes,” our Lord replied, nodding my head for me, “I think that will do nicely.”
Nagini preened against me as an infusion of crackling white pierced the innermost tendrils of the hex. The tendrils stiffened, then retracted around the flexible bones.
I sighed in appreciation. If you’re going to go screaming off the cliff of dark magic, you might as well get to see some of the sights while you’re on the way down. This was a beautiful piece of spellcraft, and no mistake.
Our Lord hummed in pleasure at his creation. “Now, Quirinus, give it a whirl.”
I flexed a mote of our collective will, focusing on the wooden hat stand by the entrance. It lifted itself in a delicate pirouette before settling down with the grace of a veela.
We all stared for a moment until our Lord broke the silence. “A touch more aggression this time, hmmm?”
37 points
Summary: Voldemort encourages Quirrell to be proactive about Harry at Harry’s first Quidditch match.
Characters/Pairings: Quirinus Quirrell, Voldemort, Nagini
Genre: General, Humor
Rating/Warnings: PG
Medium: Fic
Word Count: 956
Can the Order post to Tumblr?: Yes
If yes, your Tumblr username: N/A
“The position of Seeker is quite precarious, Quirinus.” My Lord’s voice whispered out the back of my head, chorded with command and expectation.
I considered my tea as Nagini curled in my lap and draped herself over my torso, gluttonously soaking up my body heat.
Keep that tea coming. I can feel the warmth in your stomach.
I’d ceased being surprised by her directness and dutifully sipped more tea. My Lord’s comment had been fairly direct too. “You want to attack Potter in public?”
He arched an eyebrow, which I actually saw due to the mirrored apparatus I’d rigged to my sitting chair’s arm. It was quite a fine eyebrow arch, equal parts arrogance, amusement, and dismissal. I found myself mirroring it before I could stop myself, and I noted his gaze chilling to subarctic levels.
That got my face composed in record time. “My apologies, my Lord. Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, they say.” And you know my thoughts on you.
The other eyebrow arched with far more fond scorn than the first. “True enough, little squirrel. Back to the business of the Potter boy, then. Public doesn’t mean protected. Especially at a Quidditch match.”
I nodded. “Especially for a Seeker. Accidents happen all the time. They have to fly so fast, so high...”
So alone. Nagini blinked up at me.
I blinked back at her. When did you start taking an interest in Quidditch?
She gave the side of my throat a long, lazy lick. Since now.
Our Lord’s voice snapped like a whip. “You can explore your joint familiar bond later. Let’s focus on Potter, shall we?”
Nagini and I flinched together. I slid my fingers between her coils and gently stroked the scales there. It helped settle us both. “Something that can be executed at a distance then. With precise timing, because who knows when the right opportunity will present itself…”
“Agreed.” His lips tightened in thought. “Suggestions?”
I could bite him.
I smiled at Nagini’s sincere offer. “In the air, love? Bit tricky to get you up there.” I tilted my head. “Time-release venom perhaps?”
Our Lord frowned. “Too many degrees of freedom. Something more direct.”
“Mmm, but subtle as well, I suppose. No green-tinged killing curses flying about.”
“Quite.”
Bite his broom beforehand? Nagini shifted so I could stroke the scales closer to her face.
I chuckled softly against her, shaking my head. “Brooms aren’t terribly bitable.” I paused. “But they’re quite hexable. Can we manage something wandless and silent? I know a nice hurling hex that can be deployed fairly quickly, but it requires the standard wand movements and verbalizations.”
Phantom fingers slid into my thoughts like a lover’s caress, letting grains of glittering spellcraft cascade through them. “The one you know already is quite promising. We simply need to adjust it and practice its casting.”
I closed my eyes. “Oh, well that’s no problem at all then. We have all of, oh, two hours until the match. Plenty of time to twist a nice little hex into something lethal that can be cast surreptitiously in the middle of a crowd.”
“You’re fortunate I find your sarcasm amusing, Quirinus.” He flicked a spark of intent down my spine that made me tremble for reasons I desperately didn’t want to contemplate.
I slumped into my chair, letting Nagini’s weight settle against me, the braided thrum of our familiar marks twining together.
Nagini gently licked the side of my face. I don’t know why you say things like that.
I sighed. Wouldn’t want to be bored, I guess.
“Concentrate, Quirinus.” There was a knife edge to our Lord’s tone. “Show me the hex in as much detail as you can.”
I swallowed hard and built the swirling tendrils of it in my mind, colored like a dark oil slick with a dirty rainbow sheen. It had a curiously wavering shape, like a sea anemone now that I looked at it more closely. I drew on Nagini’s energy to sharpen the shape of it.
“You see, my Lord?” I murmured. “Difficult to direct appropriately without a wand and words. It needs the wand for a spine and the words for the sting.”
His will focused like a scalpel around the spell construct, and I was overwhelmed by the scent of sea salt and tar. The iron tang of blood coated my tongue as he made delicate slices at the tendril tips.
I watched in breathless silence. His deft artistry still hadn’t lost its wonder for me. Among other things, he was unmistakably a genius.
His amusement swept across my skin like a winter breeze. “So glad you agree, Quirinus. Those should do for the sting, as you so aptly put it. Now, for the spine…what shall we do, hmmm?”
Bendy, suggested Nagini, stretching her body around my arm to demonstrate.
“Yes,” our Lord replied, nodding my head for me, “I think that will do nicely.”
Nagini preened against me as an infusion of crackling white pierced the innermost tendrils of the hex. The tendrils stiffened, then retracted around the flexible bones.
I sighed in appreciation. If you’re going to go screaming off the cliff of dark magic, you might as well get to see some of the sights while you’re on the way down. This was a beautiful piece of spellcraft, and no mistake.
Our Lord hummed in pleasure at his creation. “Now, Quirinus, give it a whirl.”
I flexed a mote of our collective will, focusing on the wooden hat stand by the entrance. It lifted itself in a delicate pirouette before settling down with the grace of a veela.
We all stared for a moment until our Lord broke the silence. “A touch more aggression this time, hmmm?”
37 points