Things at Hogwarts seemed to have quieted down a little in the last week. Apparently the 'Holiday Season' madness was over. Even so, habit had brought Sanzo to a vacant classroom in an isolated part of the castle so he could get some reading done
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At first he passed by the classroom entirely by accident, but after a pause, he walked back and peeked in. He smiled apologetically and cleared his throat softly to get Sanzo's attention. "Sorry, I didn't mean to intrude like this," he said, rubbing the back of his head a little sheepishly. "I thought I should return these books to you before I forgot about them, but you weren't in your room. Ah, I hope I'm not bothering you?"
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Frustrated enough to actually ask for help, he waved Hakkai into the room. "I can't decide if this book is written in code, or just some obscure dialect. Are you any good at languages?"
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A little surprised by Sanzo's request for assistance, Hakkai made his way over, leaving his books on the table. "I have a bit of working knowledge, I suppose, though I'm not sure if I can be of much assistance." He held out a hand for the book, and when he received it, he began peering at the text. After a few quiet moments, he looked up and offerred an embarrassed grin. "Ah, is it safe to assume that you're looking for a spell to find missing things? I only gave this a quick glance, but I believe that's what this passage is about -- well, it's either that, or it's a description of the best way of drawing a pig. . ."
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"Yes, it's supposed to be a spell to find things," he confirmed, frowning and pulling a second book over. "Someone gave me this book about hidden treasures as a Sorting bribe a while back, and it mentioned that one as a source of some of the finds. I suppose it would have been too easy if that one had turned out to be useful."
He pushed back from the desk a little and picked up his cigarettes, lighting one with the lighter that had been his birthday present from Hakkai. "Maybe I should take another look at some of the spells from the other books."
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He shrugged, smiling another apologetic smile, as though he would take the blame for it. "No, I don't suppose anything like this would ever be so simple, I'm afraid." His expression was neutral when Sanzo lit up a cigarette -- as it usually was, except in cases where he had cause to protest, -- and his only comment in regards to it was an absent, "Please be careful not to get ashes in the books."
Hakkai glanced Sanzo over with mild concern, though he was careful not to let it show too much. The priest never did seem to appreciate it when someone offered him anything that could be ( ... )
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Sanzo looked somewhat amused by Hakkai's answer. "I'm not sure studying is something students usually do in school, at least judging by some of the students at the temple. They seem to want to avoid studying as much as possible." His brow furrowed as he tried to remember what scarves Hakkai was talking about. Deciding it probably wasn't important, he went back to reviewing his notes, and finally found the spell he'd been looking for.
He shrugged in answer to Hakkai's question. "Just curious." He wasn't surprised that Hakkai was making the most of his time at Hogwarts.
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He laughed when Sanzo talked about the students at the temple. "Well, yes, I suppose you're right. I've always had, ah, atypical studying habits, I suppose you could say, in that I actually have some." He smiled teasingly, just to show he was joking. "It's nice to be doing something academic, at least. I think it's a nice change of pace, don't you? Or have you gotten tired of it? You've been here longer, after all."
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Sanzo tapped his pen on the table, momentarily distracted by the idea. "It made me wonder, if we walked out of the gates and just went east, would we end up at home, or in some China we don't even recognize?" He realized he was looking out the windows, as if he could see the answer from here. He shook his head and turned back to the books.
"I suppose it's a nice change to not have a bunch of idiots expecting me to take an interest in every stupid detail of running the place." He glared at the stack of notes in front of him. "I'd be enjoying it more if I thought I was actually making any progress."
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Hakkai frowned as he considered the idea, and he said slowly, as though still trying to think it out, "Do you suppose, then, that we're in something like a parallel universe? I suppose it would make sense, given how amazingly different everyone's respective homes are. That would mean that Hogwarts is some sort of nexus point, wouldn't it?" He stopped short before breaking into an ostensibly cheerful smile. "My, it sounds like something out of a science fiction book."
He glanced over at Sanzo's notes, and he looked a bit impressed by how much work he had done. "I'm not sure, that rather looks like some progress to me," he replied, gesturing towards the stack. "Have you not been able to find anything of particular use, then?"
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He gave a short laugh when Hakkai indicated his research. He resisted the urge to fling the pages off the table and instead he flipped through them for Hakkai's benefit. "Simple spells that didn't work." Flip. "Spells that require some rare ingredient." Flip. "Requires a complicated incantation or ritual." Flip. "Requires a certain phase of the moon, or an eclipse, or some planetary conjunction." Flip. "Looked promising, but there's some parts that I can't translate." The rest of the pages fell onto the stack. "And so on. And that doesn't include the ones I didn't bother to write down, like the ones that require sacrificing a human, or an animal."
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He noted Sanzo's obvious frstration with a slight frown -- probably one of sympathy, rather than disapproval. "My, I see your research has been rather extensive." Falling silent for a second, he said, "Some of those still seem like they would be worth a try, at least. For instance -- ah, just how complicated were those spells and rituals you mentioned?"
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