Hogmeade Log

[hdmaster_cid]

Name(s): OPEN TO ALL!
Location: Hogmeade; various.
Week: 60
Time: Saturday. (Feel free to start logging whenever.)
Rating: Just keep it below R, people. Remember it is a shared log.

Comments

Third time's a charm? At Madam Puddifoot's. Open!

[desert_bloomed]

Ashelia, clad in a gown as always, sat in one of the window booths at the tea shop with a steaming cup in front of her. Her shawl was pulled around her shoulders tightly as she stared out the window.

Hogsmeade was a quaint little town, not unlike those she had passed through on her previous journey. It was this sense of nostalgia that had drawn her here. She tried not to think about the fact that 'nostalgia' was the driving force behind any action that wasn't connected to her teaching. Even her (failed) attempts to find out what was behind the strange events at Hogwarts were spurred on by a desire for purpose she felt she had lost since the end of the war.

The past week hadn't helped things, either. Confronted with her dead husband, the love of her life, in the form of a lion representing her soul had only convinced her how much she hadn't moved on.

The Queen sighed into her tea. So pathetic, and on such a beautiful day.

[maestoso_tempo]

Luxord was dressed in a far more casual manner, as he liked to relax on these weekend getaways to Hogsmeade. Normally, he would make his way to The Three Broomsticks, however today he was feeling more in the mood for a good cup of tea over the booze offered at the other establishment. He decided it was a day for a visit to Madam Puddifoot's.

It wasn't hard to miss Ashelia sitting by herself near a window over a cup of tea herself. Luxord got a sense that she wasn't feeling all that great. He would even go so far as to say she was "down in the dumps."

Not being the type of man who left a young woman feeling so blue on such a nice day, Luxord made his way over to the table and hovered near the empty seat, "May I join you?"

[desert_bloomed]

Ashelia's head snapped up, out of her reverie. The look of surprise was wiped off her face quickly, along with that sad smile. "Professor Holmes. Of course, please do."

She crossed her legs, fixing her posture. "How do you fare this day?" She was all business now.

[maestoso_tempo]

It wasn't often one caught Ashelia by surprise. Luxord took the seat in one fluid movement. "Thank you," he said. Before answering her next question Luxord signaled at the server on duty to bring him an Earl Grey tea. His drink ordered, he could not focus on the conversation.

"Very well if I may say. The weather is lovely this time of year and I couldn't be happier to be out of the dark halls of the castle," Luxord replied with a quirk to his lip. Ashelia was being formal so perhaps Luxord could try to loosen the conversation. "And you? A moment ago you were looking quite grim."

[desert_bloomed]

"Was I?" Ashelia sipped her tea daintily, tilting her head to the side. She didn't usually act like this, but she didn't usually have to convince someone she was fine when she wasn't. Or if she did, she told them she was, and that was that. If there was one thing she had learned at Hogwarts so far, though, it was that the people wouldn't bend over backwards to obey her.

"Uneasy is the head that wears the crown, they say," she quipped lightly, smiling into her next sip. "Quite brave of you to sit with me, despite that fact. I am told I can be quite fearsome when looking...grim."

[maestoso_tempo]

Luxord didn't answer the question, merely watching her a moment before smiling mysteriously and shrugging. If she didn't want to put that forward then he wouldn't press it, for now. His tea arrived a moment later and Luxord was allowed to prepare it with sugar before letting it sit a moment to cool.

"And I'm told I'm quite lucky, so given the opportunity I like to press it to see how far it can take me," he remarked, showing that he wasn't very intimidated by that. Perhaps he should have been, but Luxord had an air about him that suggested he was good at getting himself out of trouble with words alone. He was a Slytherin after all and was thus very sly.

[desert_bloomed]

Ashelia raised an eyebrow, keeping the smile on her face light. She had to admit, she was welcoming this distraction from her brooding.

So she took another sip from her tea, waiting for Luxord to make the first move. Did he really come sit with her to see what was wrong? She didn't doubt that, but she didn't trust his motivations. Waiting there felt so strange, though; Ashelia was usually on the offensive in these situations. She could handle it, though, keeping her attention on her tea.

Rasler, meanwhile, sitting on the other side of the window, was glaring at Luxord.

for some reason I keep picturing the cricket from Mulan XD

[maestoso_tempo]

There was a tension building in the air. Not necessarily a bad thing, but Luxord was aware of it. He was fairly observant after all, even if he didn't always address things like this. Slowly his eyes drifted to look at the lion out of the corner of his eye. As if on cue, a sleek black cricket popped out of Luxord's pocket before chirping and landing on the table.

"Rould," Luxord said under his breath, as though chiding the bug. The cricket glanced back, seemed to shrug, before hopping over to the tea and resting beside it. Clearly Rould was ignoring the lion and was much more interested in the tea. Make of that what you will, Luxord was trying to figure it out himself.

"I suppose we can set aside any serious discussion for the moment...what do you make of these things?"

XD I had that cricket as a toy from McDonald's once! Best Happy Meal evar.

[desert_bloomed]

"Just another of Hogwarts'...peculiarities," Ashelia answered, narrowing her eyes. Setting aside serious discussion? To her, this topic was among the most serious Luxord could broach. "Though it disturbs me greatly to know that something can grasp the shapes of our souls so perfectly."

She tilted her head to the side, thinking. "I also cannot fathom how it is that the Headmaster is unaware of the causes of these incidents. The man is among the most powerful wizards of our time."

[maestoso_tempo]

Honestly, it's not like Luxord knew that THIS was what Ashelia considered a serious topic. Of course, perhaps he should have thought about that since the daemons were supposedly linked to their very souls. An interesting notion, but Luxord wasn't sure how much he believed in it. He looked down at Rould, "You believe these are accurate interpretations then? Hmm, you speak with much conviction in that regard. I'm afraid I'm lacking in that certainty."

The cricket chirped as if annoyed by this comment. However Rould should know better than anyone that Luxord hardly trusted such things.

"Perhaps the Headmaster is seeing if we can piece together the puzzle ourselves. He does seem the type to desire others to solve the problems surrounding them before assisting himself." Which, could be quite annoying when he was the Headmaster, but Luxord could see where there was an element of learning to it. "Perhaps he is hoping to expand our own knowledge of magic by having us solve it for ourselves."

[desert_bloomed]

"Including the students in this test is dangerous and irresponsible," Ashelia said quickly, her ire clearly rising. Outside, Rasler seemed to be getting agitated too. "They are still developing their own personalities, pinpointing the differences between who they are and who they long to be. Imposing this sort of outside influence purposely is...unthinkable." She sniffed, not looking very impressed with the whole situation. "Though I do believe Headmaster Kramer is due more credit than that. He is not the one behind this. I'm positive." That just left who or what wasAshelia sighed, exasperated. "This is unacceptable. First the unicorn debacle and now this...I refuse to be cowed." It all came back to Cid, though, as it usually did in these conversation, all the variations of which Ashelia had already gone over a thousand times in her mind since her meeting with the Winchesters. "Headmaster Kramer should share more information with us. He knows more than he lets on, mark my words." Her head snapped to look at Luxord squarely. "Do you

sorry for the late

[maestoso_tempo]

He shouldn't have been surprised when Ashelia became angry. He forgot how certain professors could hold such passion. Luxord shrugged, he had a different take on the matter but after such a reaction he wasn't sure if he should share it. "It is rather doubtful that the Headmaster would subject the children to some of the trials that have befallen the school as of late. These...daemons are frankly the most innocuous of the events though