closed (Lezard and Snape): defense against the dark arts

[arrogantmage]

If there was one mortal he'd met whose pride could equal his own, that mortal was Snape. For the past few months Lezard had made himself scarce, having good and less-than-good reasons of his own. The rapid departure of Hermione and sudden ascension of Ofdensen could not be allowed to pass without some token of condolence to Snape, however.

Comments

[not_so_stellar]

It is to the sound of Snape's singing that Narcissa emerges from the inner chamber, much the better for a bath and some time devoted to her toilette. In assembling the outward appearance, one collects oneself inwardly. She has even done her hair in a careful chignon. Her robes are plain, but she wears them lightly, unconcerned with their plainness. Their quality cannot reflect on her. Silver on a rough unpolished table is still silver

[methleigh]

Severus finishes. It is a difficult spell, of analysing and unweaving. It takes intense concentration and the of one's dissipation of magical energy into and through the curse. And there is Narcissa, as perfect as she has always been, looking beautiful and coifed even in the borrowed robs, and she has known the perfect thing to do as well. He rises, with his best Malfoy manners, though he is weary. He remembers as well that one must first introduce others to the Lady, that she not be left at a loss.

"Welcome and thank you, especially for the tea." He smiles. The smile is genuine, grateful and warm. He gestures. "Narcissa, this is my friend, Lezard Valeth. He is a brilliant wizards with the power of a god. He is Slytherin, of course.

He gestures to Narcissa. "Lezard, this is Narcissa Malfoy, one of my oldest friends as is her husband, Lucius. She would be the archetype of a Slytherin witch, were there such an archetype." That should tell Lezard everything, he thinks.

[arrogantmage]

(( order now Lezard-tag -> Narcissa-tag -> Snape-tag? ))

Lezard replaced his spectacles and peered up at the woman. "I should rise to greet you. Forgive me." She looked ... not young, but well-kept. Well-maintained, he thought, with the beginnings of a hysterical giggle threatening to bubble up. Suppressing his response, he leaned toward the tea tray that the Lady Malfoy had just thoughtfully placed on the low table between them. The movement occluded any expression that might contort his face.

With shallow sips of treacly tea he recomposed himself. "Any friend of Professor Snape must be an estimable person, so I am delighted to make your acquaintance. He does not suffer fools gladly, our Professor."

[not_so_stellar]

Narcissa glanced to Snape before answering.

"That can be said of most Slytherins. I think Severus must be remarkable in his patience. To teach all Hogwarts' students cannot have been pleasant." By all, she meant including the mudbloodsAll the while, she was carefully avoiding an appearance of scrutiny toward the young man's magical injury, if that was what it was. When he had reached for his teacup, his sleeve had fallen to cover whatever mark Severus had been treating, and that made her task simpler

[methleigh]

Severus fetched his desk chair for himself. "Alas, Narcissa. While that was once true, it is true no longer. I scarcely know if there is a wizard in the school apart from us. That is an exageration, of course, for Dumbledore is here, and even Grindelwald. But it is not much of an exaggeration. A wizard student is so rare as to be remarkable. I have just been talking with Lezard here, who is more master than student. I believe I will step down from my position here. I will be happy to teach private lessons to the deserving, but their arrival is unlikely

[arrogantmage]

Possessed at times of a tin ear where social harmony was concerned, Lezard could occasionally approach the nicety of accurate analysis that a good anthropologist might show. A true outsider could read a situation more clearly, sometimes, because of his uninvolvement. He felt he knew what was between this woman and this man. There was a significant history, just as Snape had said, but they were more than old school chums. Less than romantic partners, certainly, and likely they never would be that. Snape would never raise his eyes so high, and as for the woman, she ought to have worn a tag: Noli me tangere. The intimacy implicit in her use of Snape's private chambers was definitely something else. Something almost akin to the quiet understanding between members of a religious order, Lezard thought

[not_so_stellar]

A frown etched fine lines at the corners of Narcissa's mouth, and between her brows. "True wizards are rarer here than before?" She felt the open discussion of Dumbledore and Grindelwald to be indelicate, and would not engage with it, though she would not be surprised or displeased if Severus did. Men could speak frankly with one another. That was not her calling, not in company less private than her marriage chamber. "That's almost hard to credit, considering what sorts of people Hogwarts has been admitting. My Draco told me about them, and I'm sure there was much he didn't say, to spare his mother worry. I would like to meet Master Grindelwald, though. There was a curious story about him, that he was Father Christmas ..." She smiled, and the lines faded.

[methleigh]

Severus answers them together. "I do not think they are vying for souls." He looks at Lezard. Should he call him 'Mr. Valeth?' 'Lezard' was certainly too informal for one of his powers if Severus himself were addressed as 'Professor.' If he stepped down, he would not be 'Professor' any longer. Who would he be? 'Mr. Snape?' Or simply 'Snape?' He didn't want any of these imbeciles to call him 'Severus.' Ever

[arrogantmage]

Lezard was not offended. Muggles, Mudbloods, Squibs -- these words carried no emotional freight for him. He knew their significance by now, and he was positive that none of them could be used to denigrate him. In his own world, his magical gifts had never been disputed. He was not like the people who came to Hogwarts these days with no knowledge of magic at all, suddenly able to wield a wand for no apparent reason.

"Perhaps sirs Dumbledore and Grindelwald are primarily concerned with one another's souls," Lezard suggested idly, "rather than those of the rabble who teem in Hogwarts' halls. The Headmistress is an amusing sort of creature, and her secretary is certainly formidable. Somehow, the school manages to keep in one piece, however much chaos may lie within. I myself have always seen chaos as an opportunity rather than a deplorable state to be repaired. Chaos allows for profusion of growth. But I did not come here to debate philosophy --" he stopped himself, brushing lank hair out of his eyes with a limp hand.

[not_so_stellar]

"You came for what only Severus can provide," Narcissa finishes his sentence for him, quietly, with no hint of jest nor impropriety. "It was wise of you. I have known him for a long time, as he says."

(Dark nights, uproarious group coming in from an evening's grim work, Severus summoned up from the basement laboratory. Abraxas' knuckles tight on the arms of his chair. Blood; pale ichor; clear syrupy potions. Tea. So many stains, so many ways to remove them.)

"And the spell he performed here tonight, I think is one he developed himself -- didn't you, Severus? Or was it Lucius' father? In any event, the finest wizarding hospitals cannot treat Dark injuries so well as Severus can."

[methleigh]

Perhaps Lezard is right. But what is there to gain? Severus had thought only of wizards. All he had ever cared about was wizards. What else was there? once there hd been potions; once there had been spells, but those had been for wizards too. But he is too pleased by Narcissa's arrival even to sigh. She is a wizard. "We are wizards. I do not know what the opportunity is for. Dumbledore and Grindelwald fight for one another's souls, I am sure. After all, over whose souls could they otherwise fight? Ours? Perhaps that even pleases me. But what will be our new aim? Not education, for there is no one to educate

[arrogantmage]

Lezard glanced toward Narcissa Malfoy, then returned his gaze to the more familiar face of Snape -- that long, dour face, fraught with concern. Few people had felt concern for Lezard; few, anyhow, had shown it.

"What could have harmed me? A rhetorical question, perhaps; a riddle, as it stands now. Nothing should harm me. With the powers I have gathered unto myself and knit inseparably into my being, nothing should harm me with such a lasting effect. No god is truly immune from all ills, and it is a truth that gods can be killed, but something so trivial as a curse should not trouble me for long

[not_so_stellar]

Narcissa has no special interest in improving this young man's prospects. He looks uncomfortably like the Potter boy, and though this does not cause her to dislike him, there is likely some subconscious distaste that can fade only with time and lengthened acquaintance. Moreover, his manner with Severus is overly familiar for a student, and she is surprised to see it tolerated. Is Severus smitten? He has always been very correct, and Narcissa has never wished to look closely into his private life, but her cousins used to say things about men as solitary as Severus, and then there is the question of Lucius' father. That, too, Narcissa has never wished to investigate.

As Lezard Valeth talks at length about some girl he knows and the disease the girl has given him, Narcissa is listening, mainly because she likes to be informed, but her attention is divided. She is woolgathering.

Is the school really so full of Muggles now? In our day, the lot of them would have been Obliviated for so much as stumbling onto the grounds. She

[methleigh]

Severus has been listening carefully. "So. Mio killed her sister and is now haunted by her memory. That memory returns in dreams and has the effect of a curse. It is insidious and destructive. It is contagious in that when she dreams of others, the curse is transmitted to them, even to the extent of inflicting nightmare upon those who have no need to sleep."

He turns to Narcissa, as an aside. "Lezard really is a god. he has, with his already remarkable powers, taken over the soul of the god Odin. He has died and does not need sleep or food. This affliction is thus unheard-of."

He brightens. "But perhaps Narcissa has an idea for this curse. What if Mio were to be obliviated? Suppose she forgot her sister and suppose her subconscious were erased of the source of these nightmares. If she ceased to dream, would she cease to dream of you, and would you thus be relieved as well?" This pleases him. He would gladly forget on more muggle in what had once been a distinguished school - his home. He would gladly obliviate Mio in

[arrogantmage]

Lezard found no fault with Snape's summary of the description Lezard had given. He nodded here and there, to show his assent to its accuracy. When Snape gave Narcissa that parenthetical explanation of Lezard's godhood, though, the mage looked sharply toward the pale woman, to see what she would make of it

[not_so_stellar]

"We wizards use Memory Charms as a matter of policy." Narcissa is not interested in the fate of a Muggle girl. As to the godhood of this young man, she wonders: has Severus found a master to replace Voldemort? Or is this an overly rosy and credulous assessment on her friend's part, and when he tires of the boy, he will see him in a light less divine?

"It ought to be perfectly safe, if the caster knows his business."