Tom and Door move past the main heart of the marketplace, exploring more than shopping at this point. The walls are brick here, which is different from the main architecture of the city.
"Lemon Alley?" Tom says, as they walk towards a sign in English manuscript. "That seems rather out of place here."
He feels a strangely familiar prickling of energy all about him. It's almost as if- as if he's near a wizarding quarter, but that cannot be.
Bird nods, happily. "Santo has one of the biggest Wizarding quarters in known space. Only Dyton Colony's is bigger, I think. Everyone loves a holiday, and the linju really hit the jackpot when they made Santo."
"There's those who say terraforming will never beat geotransfiguration, but this place really shows you what they're capable of. And it's self-perpetuating. All done with physics. Bloody clever if you ask me."
"I can ima-" He trails off, distracted by a stall selling some very intriguing and pungent roots and fungi. He wonders what kinds of potions those make.
This, somehow, leads to another train of thought. "Do you have owls any longer? We have two in the House of Arch, charmed for different jumps through space and time as required."
"We do," he says. "A hand-written letter by owl... it's a bit... quaint?" He waves a handy, modifying the word with a gesture. "Your mum would be so pleased to get one, et cetera?"
"But there's other forms of communication. And of course there's star-owling, for interstellar distances. Conjuro Patronum Minora."
"Oh, not real birds." He chuckles. "It's based on the Patronus charm; a sort of legilimancy. You concentrate on a message and create a 'thought-owl' that can cover the distance. Doesn't need air, or food, and it travels at the speed of thought."
"It took a genius to create the spell, and of course you need special equipment to send and recieve, but even a child can cast it--not nearly so difficult as a true Patronus."
"Fascinating. I should think that magical theory would have come along over the years. I'd have been terribly disappointed if such advancements hadn't been made."
He grins. "Magical theory was always one of my main interests, after all."
He makes a note to look up the Asian magical systems once he gets home. Those are realms he's only touched on during his own research.
"That... might be a little dangerous," Bird says doubtfully. "Unless you're willing to have a memory-erasing charm done before you go. We're a bit beyond Time-Turner territory, here."
"I can tell you some general things, however, if you like."
"Oh, I'm not an Opener," Bird says hurriedly. "I wouldn't want anyone to get any kind of idea I was claiming to be House of Arch when I wasn't."
He shoves his hands untidily into his pockets again. "Five hundred years is a long time, in genealogy. The House of Arch has survived, and the Opener succession has gone on, but there's also wizarding branches of the family without any real Opening talent. You can tell which ones because we have last names." He grins at that.
"Of course, sports crop up on both sides--I'm making it sound more clearcut than it is. But the House of Arch as an institution is very--distinct."
Tom squeezes Door's hand. "And you can tell by the eyes, I imagine."
It's rather overwhelming to learn you and your wife are founders of a dynasty. Knowing the House of Arch survives the destruction of Earth is even more awe-inspiring.
"They're odd folk. Hard to find, unless they want to be found. They move around the 'verse, cultivating, as I understand it. There's a strong streak of family cooperation--"
He breaks off and laughs. "Cooperation is too strong a word, I think. There's just a strong sense of family, especially among the Tonks-Wrangle side of the jia. A clan mentality. But they're something else again."
"Lemon Alley?" Tom says, as they walk towards a sign in English manuscript. "That seems rather out of place here."
He feels a strangely familiar prickling of energy all about him. It's almost as if- as if he's near a wizarding quarter, but that cannot be.
Can it?
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"There's those who say terraforming will never beat geotransfiguration, but this place really shows you what they're capable of. And it's self-perpetuating. All done with physics. Bloody clever if you ask me."
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This, somehow, leads to another train of thought. "Do you have owls any longer? We have two in the House of Arch, charmed for different jumps through space and time as required."
He'd miss the owls.
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"But there's other forms of communication. And of course there's star-owling, for interstellar distances. Conjuro Patronum Minora."
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(The comment has been removed)
"It took a genius to create the spell, and of course you need special equipment to send and recieve, but even a child can cast it--not nearly so difficult as a true Patronus."
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He grins. "Magical theory was always one of my main interests, after all."
He makes a note to look up the Asian magical systems once he gets home. Those are realms he's only touched on during his own research.
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(The comment has been removed)
"I can tell you some general things, however, if you like."
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He knows Door is teasing, but the desire to find as many books as he can is a strong one. She knows him well.
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(The comment has been removed)
He shoves his hands untidily into his pockets again. "Five hundred years is a long time, in genealogy. The House of Arch has survived, and the Opener succession has gone on, but there's also wizarding branches of the family without any real Opening talent. You can tell which ones because we have last names." He grins at that.
"Of course, sports crop up on both sides--I'm making it sound more clearcut than it is. But the House of Arch as an institution is very--distinct."
Reply
It's rather overwhelming to learn you and your wife are founders of a dynasty. Knowing the House of Arch survives the destruction of Earth is even more awe-inspiring.
Reply
(The comment has been removed)
"They're odd folk. Hard to find, unless they want to be found. They move around the 'verse, cultivating, as I understand it. There's a strong streak of family cooperation--"
He breaks off and laughs. "Cooperation is too strong a word, I think. There's just a strong sense of family, especially among the Tonks-Wrangle side of the jia. A clan mentality. But they're something else again."
Reply
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