Adventurerers! Planning [Closed to lilgiastar and The Dark L

Grey-On-White was having a very nice afternoon in his tree limb while watching the nearby Black-Tab-Cat who was the only other cat on Cat-and-Crab Island that was bigger than him and so was acting as a look-out. Black-Tab-Cat was actually his father, and Grey-On-White was not fully grown so wasn't really considered a threat yet, but he fully expected to outgrow his sire soon since his third season was coming along. It was a very nice day even if he was a bit hungry since he hadn't managed to catch many crabs the previous night and fishing hour wasn't for a bit longer, so a nap was definitely in order to wait out the last few hours before the fish got active.

Black-Tab-Cat's ears suddenly perked up though, and Grey-On-White sat up to see what was happening. By the time he spotted the weird giant fish thing bobbing in the water, his father had plunged himself into the water to go hunt it down. Grey-On-White was far too hungry to let Black-Tab-Cat eat alone, and it looked big enough to share, so he leapt down and followed.

Big-Fish-In-Bay stopped right past the wave line, and it was on the final crest that Grey-On-White was able to see father grab a weird grey tail coming off the brown fish. Father climbed up it and disappeared up top, and he heard a loud scream over the water so he paddled as fast as he could to get to the tail that was now moving. He made it on time since his back legs kicked on something right before the surface of the water -a rock?- and it was suddenly under his rump and pulling him up while he grabbed the grey tail for balance and a meow of complaint.

The tail stopped just shy of where he had seen his father go, and he was still hearing that screaming so father was very obviously taking down the Big-Brown-Fish-With-Grey-Rock-Tail. When the screaming stopped, he leapt up the final few inches right onto the deck... and noticed his father just sitting there with no kill in front of him. And the screaming started again. It was coming from the other end, too, which made sense since he had just climbed up the tail so the head must be the opposite direction. Father also suddenly bolted off into the dark... blow hole? Or maybe this was a Fish-That-Carries-Its-Den? He could smell something inside it, anyway, so he decided to be cautious and stay along the wood railing rather than go inside the unknown den like his bolder father had done.

There was no yowls or anything from father... Ah, father just greeted the very loud creature - it had been quieter, but now it was being even louder than before. Perhaps that was how it greeted people? It seemed to be so since he heard father ask it the same question he was wondering. Then, there was the sound of two thumps, another something also making noises, but it sounded angry so Grey-On-White decided to wait just out of view until he heard the angry one go into the den.

Grey-On-White peeked up, and he saw his father napping beside another creature. Oh! He knew this creature from the Ancient Legends! It was a Num-ham? Hamnum? Hammun! Yes, Hammun, and father was already napping by it since they were supposed to be the divine food givers and ear scritches that was bestowed upon all cat-kind since they were deserving of the best. Grey-On-White excitedly leapt over the windshield and approached the glorious Gift that came riding in on The-Fish-With-Den and started to roll on the arm for scritches. Giiiiiive Grey-On-White the scritches! Grey-On-White wants to nap just like father!

Maybe the thing is broken or needs to be woken up? Grey-On-White sat up and rubbed his cheek into the open hand with a purr, trying to scent it. But it still smelled too much unlike him, so he started to clean off all the other scents while rubbing his cheek some more because this was his and he just declared it! And the Gift-From-Fish-Den apparently approved since it started the loud screaming sounds, so he purred harder and started to roll around on the hand to declare this mine mine mine!p. Then there was the silent darkness of a really deep nap.

When Grey-On-White woke up, it was on the beach. The nap didn't feel restful, but he did have a nice tingling on his head and around his ears like the Gift had definitely scritched him which would explain the sudden nap. Scenting himself though, he didn't smell like Gift, he smelled like something else. Maybe the Angry-One came along and declared Gift belonged to Angry-One while Grey-On-White was napping? And then there was a stingray tail in front of Grey-On-White and it smelled like Angry-One so maybe Angry-One wasn't so Angry? And Gift did have Angry-One's smell all over him, so maybe Grey-On-White had done wrong and gotten banished from The-Fish-With-Den (which really really sounded like the best heaven) but not so wrong that Angry-One was willing to feed him... Just like the legends! Scritches and food!

He happily started to devour his fish while watching Fish-With-Den who sent two more tails to some other cats before it just... disappeared? Truly, Legendary Beings like Hummans are apparently unfathomable, but Grey-On-White decided that next time, he wouldn't make such a rush judgement on marking someone because he had the feeling he should have marked Angry-One rather than Loud-One. He hoped that either or both would come again one day - an easy life with all the food and all the scritching he wanted sounded like a grand life to him.

Mr. Gold lived in Storybrooke, Maine in a world where everyone could hear in their head the music that their soulmate was listening to. However, Mr. Gold was twenty four, almost twenty five, and had never heard any music other then the music he listened to. He lived a lonely existence, with no soulmate. He watched others in Storybrooke as they figured out who their soulmate was, and got married and lived happily ever after. But it was never going to happen for him. He was born without a soulmate, he had been forgotten about by fate, destiny, god, whoever it was that decreed these things. He was to be forever alone. And he had resigned himself to such a fate.

'Fine, fine, I won't dawdle. You would do really good in Ravenclaw or Gryffindor-' "I don't care!" '- for intelligence and bravery or great in Hufflepuff-' "No, I refuse!" '-and while you have the silver tongue of Loki, you are far too vicious for poor Slytherin and the house would turn on you-' "I'll take Slytherin!" It sounded the easiest to get expelled. '-and there is no way I am going to let a whole house implode like that so it better be-' "No! Slytherin!" '... If I say Slytherin, will you please not try to get expelled?' "Maybe?" Maybe not. 'I can read your mind.' "I'll try." 'I think a reluctamt agreement might be the best we will get... So under duress and very reluctantly...' "SLYTHERIN!" 'May you please show kindness and mercy on those souls...'

The first night in Slytherin came with rules. Stupid rules. Rules about heirarchy, rules about blood, rules about muggles, rules about... well, he stopped listening at that point.

The common room was ostentatious. So much so that he wondered if he should have gone with a different house. The windows were portholes, but he couldn't see out and guessed it was too dark. There were a lot of couches - he was pretty sure the prefect had talked about rules for it, but again, not listening. There was also a giant fireplace... With rules he didn't care about. No, really, he was just assuming there was a rule with the fireplace since the prefect was now talking about how shoes should be laced based off of blood status.

"I'm AB Positive," Adriel cheerfully offered just to make the guy shut up, and behold, it worked! The prefect was staring at him like he had grown a second head, anyway. So he decided to elaborate since this kid probably didn't know muggle things based off his stupid muggle rules. "That means I can accept any blood I want. So it also means I can tie my shoes however I want."

"What?" the prefect dumbly asked, and apparently, there were a couple others that understood what Adriel had said since there were some titters of amusement from a few older students and one of his own year-mates. He noted to himself to get to know that boy.

"What what?" Adriel innocently asked as he widened his eyes like butter wouldn't melt in his mouth. Well, it looked like it was time for him to drop random truths while the boy in front of him was confused and had a wrong impression to mislead him even further. "I just gave you my blood type. And I don't accept blood unless it is freely offered, by the way. It is taboo, and not as powerful to use in most rituals if it is forcefully taken, though it can be used if it has to be forcefully taken. The Black God would be terribly angry if I did, but I'm not on tribal lands and the Medicine Men of my tribe have told me to use my own judgement about ignoring tribe taboos in other countries since it is not our own sacred lands."

The prefect stepped back and paled. "Ah... I see," he delicately answered back. No, he didn't see, but it sounded really bad and like something he really didn't want to see. The prefects had all been told that the boy in front of him was some tribal kid from the wild frontiers in the colonies. "We would appreciate you not... using blood in rituals, please. And uh... You can tie your shoes however you please."

Adriel beamed brightly up at the prefect. "Thanks!" he chirped. "We're done, right? We're all tired and it really is bad form to try to shove so many rules at us when we are full and sleepy. It's like you are trying to set us up to fail! Maybe you should write it out so we can read it over in the morning, yes?" That earned him several grateful looks by his fellow first years, and Chloe Littleton - the girl that had straightened his tie and came to Slytherin with him - leaned in and entertwined her arm in his while she nodded an agreement.

The prefect glanced around the room, looked indecisive when he saw the conversation was being followed by just about everyone, then looked back at Adriel's angelic expression and shivered with fear. "Yeah, fine," the prefect agreed as he glanced away. Nothing so evil should look so cute. "It will be your responsibility to make sure your fellow year mates read and understand it, though."

Adriel smiled even wider and nodded. "Okay!" he agreed before he gathered up all his yearmates through the expedient measure of grabbing the hands of the two who looked like they might not want to follow, and dragging them off to an unstaked corner of the common room. The others, as he had suspected, followed, though Chloe looked a bit unhappy about Adriel not taking her hand.

Unofficial leadership implicitly bestowed by an intimidated prefect was amusing and all, but Adriel knew he would need to use it so these poor little kids would not get stuck in a box like the sorting hat had tried to do with him. He would establish himself as tribe cheif to these clueless little kids to keep them from being taken advantage of! So when they were all seated and looking at him expectantly, he gave them all his most friendly smile. "Hi! So I'm Adriel Chee, and I come from a long line of witch doctors," he stated in an open way, honest, but showing his experience in magic in a way that he hoped would not incite them to challenge him just yet. "So my favorite color is red, and my favorite food is mutton stew! I also like dark chocolate, but not many other sweets. You next, Chloe, and we will all introduce ourselves to each other the same way!"

Adriel expected someone to argue about his unofficial status, but apparently these poor kids had come pre-brainwashed because they all seemed willing enough to accept it. Some were even looking at him with respect, which was strange simply because he hadn't done anything to earn it except to creep out one very gullible boy. Well, maybe more than one boy based off a few speculative looks he had gotten from the other older students in the room he caught when he glanced around after he felt like he was being stared at, but that was a them problem, not a him problem. And using subtle threats (really unsubtle threat of blood magic, which he knew the Brits were not comfortable with, but he didn't have his knives and was getting annoyed with the rules so oh well) was better in the long run to make sure people didn't try to force him to follow stupid rules with no sense to them.

By the end of the introductions, he had a grasp of his fellow mischief-makers... Even if they did need training before they could be fully fledged children of Coyote.

Chloe Littleton - Fraternal twin sister Alexis Littleton (who brushed his hair) that had gone to Hufflepuff. Favorite color was blue, favorite food was tea sandwiches, and favorite dessert was custard cream puffs. Oh, and pureblood... which Adriel didn't get but whatever. If it was important, he would learn about it in History of Magic or absorb it through pure osmosis.

Fiona Fernsby - Favorite color was pink, her food was strawberry oatmeal (because it turned pink), and her dessert was vanilla ice cream with strawberry topping (so she could mix it and turn it pink.). Pureblood.

Anju Doshi - she liked purple, garlic rice, and Khaja, the last being a pastry from India that sounded pretty good by the way it was described by her with further prompting. Also a pureblood. Adriel was wondering if it was important after all, but best not show them he had no idea what they were talking about.

Denine Dankworth - she liked silver, her favorite food was roasted chicken, and her favorite dessert was chilled fruits with sweet cream. Halfblood, only because her grandmother was a muggleborn, but not a shame on the family line since she was the best potion mistress of her generation.

Lena Lochty - she liked sea-green, her favorite food was fried lake fish, and she loved pasties and would very much like to try Khaja because it sounded delicious. A couple other kids along with Adriel also agreed, making Anju blush with a demure smile, and Lena thankfully did not say what blood she was. When one of the boys opened his mouth and looked like he was going to interrupt or ask, Adriel gave him a pointed 'shut up' look and gestured with a gentlemanly bow for the next girl to go.

Beatrice Barrowclough, if you please and thank you. She liked pink also, enjoyed roasted lamb and rice, and she really liked chocolate biscuits. She was a halfblood with a grandfather that was a muggle, and she loved him dearly and would gladly use a hex on anyone with a problem with that.

"Well, Slytherin definitely got its fair share of pretty girls for our year," Adriel complimented with a smile before he turned to the boys and pointed out the one that was going to speak up earlier. "Now it is your turn to give us your name, favorite color, favorite food, and favorite dessert. But rather than blood, let us go with favorite sport or animal, I don't need to know your blood since everyone bleeds my favorite color red in the end." Less heavy handed than before, but with the earlier insinuation of blood magic, it was more than enough since the boy nodded an agreement. He covertly winked at the girls to show he wasn't serious, and they giggled in return since they were still pleased with his compliment.

Alexander Briestwistle - he liked green, beef roast, and treacle tart. His favorite sport was Quidditch and his favorite animal was a merlin since Merlin's form was supposed to be that.

Derwin Culpepper - he liked lime green, sausage-stuffed peppers, and his mother's pies. His favorite animal was dragons, and his family had been growing potion herbs for many generations.

Alvin Ajax - he liked the color rainbow (Adriel had to intervene when the other kids argued that it wasn't a color to say that it didn't matter what they believed, if Alvin said it was his favorite color, then it was his favorite color and mocking him about it was wrong), er... and he liked blueberry hot cakes, and his favorite dessert was blueberry muffins. Or blueberry anything, really, because blueberries were his favorite everything. His favorite animal was the mooncalf because he got to see them once and they were very cute. And he was okay with watching quidditch, but he didn't like playing sports at all.

Gilbert (call me Gil) Gastrell - he liked blue and orange both, his favorite dinner was chicken drums, and he liked ice cream also but chocolate ice cream. He loved quidditch, wanted to be chaser, and he and his family hated Shakespeare because the whole issue with the mulberry tree in Stratford-upon-Avon lost them their ancestral home when all their great great grandfather - a muggle catholic priest - wanted was some peace and quiet. Said priest deliberately rejected his vows and looked for a witch to marry to spite them all.

Adriel clapped his hands together once and beamed at all of them. "Great!" he chirped, very pleased with his conspirators in training. "So we should all play a game together regularly since we all want to get along, right?" Most of them agreed, though a couple were hesitant nods. Derwin and Lena were more wary about nodding, so he flashed them a smile of approval. "It is going to be our secret game for now, and we will call it 'Why?' As new Slytherins, we should be cunning, and that means questioning everything so we can learn to subvert the system and use it to our benefits, yes?" Ah, now he had all their interest! "But we cannot ask those in authority why because they get angry if they feel their position is being threatened. So the game works like this - I will ask you a question on why some rule or other exists. One at a time, you each present your theory. Consider if it is a method to control us, to try to establish their authority, if it is something to do with safety, a conspiracy, or maybe it is a long lost tradition originating with the druids that no longer makes sense because nobody remembers their traditions and magic anymore. I will start it tonight with a very easy question, and we will go a few rounds with theories so you all can learn to play. Make your theories as silly as you want - as long as there is actual reasoning behind it, there is no stupid theory, and adults tend to make very silly conclusions so it could very well be right. So the first rule is we do not laugh or mock anyone else's theory, and as referee, I will be the only that can ask someone to expand their reasoning if it sounds like we are being told something that doesn't make sense."

They all looked excited now and nodded an agreement. "So, the question for tonight's game is 'Why does Slytherin house have so many rules?'"

---

After a week, Adriel was very happy with his Slytherin tribe. First, they were all friends with most of the other first years - his networking among the girls ensured it before school house prejudices could set in. The other boys might think he was girly with his companions, but he knew girls were the keepers of social interactions so he ignored their condescending looks since if hadn't turned into condenscending talk. The second night's question was 'Why would a school want to seperate all the children into houses?' and it went a long way to tearing down his snake nest's own reticence of mingling with others as well. It wasn't long before more games were introduced among all the first years regardless of house, and by the second week, second and even a few third years were joining Adriel and his group out in the front lawn or were table hopping during meals to hang out with each other.

Classes, on the other hand, were a hit and miss thing for Adriel. History on the second day of lessons - a class he was looking forward to - was taught by a ghost. He walked in, saw the thing at the front of the class, then turned around and walked right back out. When the Littleton twins followed him out to ask what was wrong, he explained that ghosts were considered evil in his tribe, that Navajo dark wizards knew how to harvest them to power the most unimaginable atrocities, and he would not have anything to do with one including talking or listening to them. And they were welcome to tell others that if he heard anyone mocking him about it, he would gladly explain what unimaginable atrocities would include to give them nightmare fodder for weeks. They both giggled, used to his Not Threats and finding them funny since it was usually turned towards older students that were trying to stop their fun games, then went back to the class to spread the word.

The other problem class was transfiguration. He and Double D had already started off on the wrong foot before the sorting had even started. The first day of lesson didn't help at all with a positive relation, either. When Double D had conjured a chair then turned it into a group of puppies that he then completely vanished, Adriel leapt out of his own seat so fast that his chair had loudly clattered to the floor and had everyone staring at him in shock.

"You monster!" he exclaimed while rudely pointing at the teacher. He didn't notice the chair or the Slytherin/Ravenclaw kids staring at him with wide eyes. "What you did is a mockery of life!"

"Sit down, Mr. Chee!" Dumbledore barked, already feeling a headache beginning to form. Why did he wake up that morning? Ah, yes, because he was stupidly optimistic that the feral child before him might like puppies. "The puppies were not alive so I didn't kill them!"

Adriel scoffed and crossed his arms across his chest. "I know that!" he said right back. "My father explained how inanimate to animate transfiguration works. Many times. And it is horrible! You create life without a soul. How is it any different from creating an inferius or a homonculus?"

"MR. CHEE!" Dumbledore shouted in shocked anger when a first year casually mentioned some of the worst dark arts out there before he cleared his throat to calm down and go back to a normal volume. "I would say it is very different! The animals are not created with destruction in mind, for one, nor are they made from dead bodies!"

Adriel haughtily sniffed while sticking his nose up in the air. "And yet you could make animals that would attack others, and that they are made out of an object like wood that once was alive is no different than using bodies - it is just not human bodies they-"

"Detention, Mr. Chee!" Dumbledore interrupted while his beard bristled up, then pointed at the seat while giving a pointed look towards the other kids who looked morbidly fascinated and sickened by the subject. "Talking about those kinds of dark arts is... You are too young for it! Sit down and stop with your dramatics!"

Adriel stubbornly squared his body and frowned right back without uncrossing his arms. "No," he denied, his tone calm but strong. "I see no difference between your uncaring ways of creating a non-life with someone creating a zombie. How would you feel if I conjured a human baby and tried to raise it to adulthood with an aging potion?"

Dumbledore paled, turned faintly green, then turned red, and shook his head vehemently. "Redundant!" he barked. "Detention over the whole weekend! I am the teacher, so sit down and pay attention to lessons rather than questioning those who know better than you!"

Adriel arched an eyebrow then looked over at his snakes. "And now we have the question of the night," he said to them before he picked up his school bag. "I will not participate in this travesty and will learn my tranfiguration myself. Good day." The question for that night would be 'Why would a person fall back on using a position of authority as an excuse rather than clearly state and debate their case.' It was the question that made the nearby second years more attentitve to the first year conversation since Adriel had not been very quiet with how pissed off he had still been that night.

And yes, Adriel has had detention for every class he had skipped out on, but his father had not written to him yet over the subject. Most likely because his father had also yet to give a proper rebuttal on how animal tranfiguration or conjuration was not any worse than making zombies or other soulless dark things. Both Dumbledore and Dippet tried to use Slughorn and the prefects to pressure him into resuming the two classes he would not step foot in, but they were unable to give him a proper counter argument, and he refused to debate the matter with Dumbledore citing that 'he had the opportunity to present his case this year, but he squandered it. I might be willing after the winter holidays, but most likely he will have to do it next year just like you would when presenting anything to a tribe unless you have enough favor to get an earlier hearing.'

Losing the house points constantly over the Transfiguration Zombie War (as it was now being called by the whole school and most of the staff) did not endear him to most of the upper years, but Adriel did make up for it with points from other classes where he was on extra good behavior. Further, he was welcome in study groups for history NEWTs with upper years which did get him a degree of protection from the older Slytherins that were beginning to despise him. His first hand knowledge of ancient cultures, language, and magic made him an invaluable resource for the self study they had to do, and his willingness to share some of the cuneiform he knew endeared him to the small but tight knit community of history nerds. That he could also suggest certain archeologists or cursebreakers that might welcome questions for answers he didn't know was a big bonus as well. Further, his knowledge of Cuneiform had the Ancient Runes teacher promising an exchange of lessons because he wanted to tinker with it to see if it could be used in magics. Adriel informed him that Old Assyrian cuneiform could indeed be used in enchantments, and Professor Trimblethor got Sunday afternoon tea time so Adriel could absorb Furthark while he patiently explained the hundreds of cunieform letters there were.

So the history nerds protected him from the wrath of the older students, Professor Trimblethor decided to also steal the detentions, and Adriel was very careful not to push the older students and Double D too hard since it was only the second week.

By the third week, he was letting the second and third year Slytherins join in on the 'why' game. The thirds had gotten curious about it when the seconds had joined in and had started listening at nights, and the questioning of all forms of authority drew them in quickly. Now the fourth years were curiously looking their way since it was a huge group behind silencing charms that looked very invested in whatever secret conversation was being held. The fifth, sixth, and seventh years were also interested, but the spite was too strong, so they weren't willing to ask to even entertain the idea of joining 'the baby corner.' The fourth were on the fence about it, but they fell off towards the end of the third week and sent two 'representatives' over when the last of the third years had joined in.

The Slytherin common room had an invisible line through the middle by the start of the fourth week.

A good portion of the fourth years had joined Adriel and their group over the weekend where they theorized on everything from rules to traditions in an effort to figure out why and how everything had come about in school, govenrment, and family traditions. Adriel's history friends (one seventh, and two sixths with the female being a prefect) had also joined in and were finding things very entertaining. They were also able to contribute to some of the threories or reasons with cold hard facts and the textbooks with which to point it out. The corner had become a miniature library of borrowed library books that had yet to be returned because someone always needed to reference something. Adriel suspected that the sixth year prefect was also a spy, but she was genuinely having fun, so he hoped to bring her loyalties over to his snake tribe rather than the staff that he was thinking she was reporting to.

On the other side of the invisible line were the very angry traditionalists that were making up for the other Slytherins being derilict in their duties to be extra extra Slytherin. They muttered complaints to each other, glowered at the other half of their house at random times, made complaints to Slughorn who insisted there was nothing he could do because they were not breaking rules, and bribing the remaining 4th years to stay on their side of the silent war so make sure the savage changeling in their midst did not take over the respectable pureblood house of Slytherin with his weird little voodoo ways.

Yes, Adriel did end up absorbing the blood status information through osmosis, and it had taken him only a few days to figure it out once he grasped that 'blood' had meant magical ancestry, not the liquid in the body. British society was weird. Honestly, it was the stupidest thing to get hung up over and his next motto he was going to spread would be 'magic is magic.' It could then branch out into many other things like 'magic defies categories.' The possibilites would be endless with a simple motto, really.

The stalemate should have lasted at least another week. It might have lasted up to two. Adriel had intended to use that time to really cement his leadership role into an unassailable position, then he planned to topple the rest of the Slytherin house's stupid rules with facts and logic so that even the die hard traditionalists would not have had any footing in the proverbial quicksand of Adriel's making. But as they say, no plan survives contact with the enemy, and it was definitely a war against the shackles of pureblood society that Adriel had been fighting.

However, Adriel was accosted by three fourth year Gryffindors who were very angry after dinner at the end of the fourth week. He waved off the watching first year Slytherins and Hufflepuffs and let himself be cornered since they didn't seem angry at him, just angry about something, and it was better to get things things out quickly or they would escalate. "May I help you?" he politely inquired after stopping just shy of being backed against a wall, unable to name any of them since he wasn't familiar with fourth year Gryffindors, only the first and a few second and third years.

"Octavius," the chestnut haired boy introduced in a clipped tone. "And because of you, two of our first years and a first year Ravenclaw are in the hospital wing. Some fifth year Slytherins attacked them citing that it was their fault for becoming friends with you."

Adriel felt a weird sensation of burning anger wrapped in a frigid ice that allowed him to think clearly despite how angry he should be. He didn't notice, but the way he stilled unsettled the Gryffindors enough for them to take a step back to give the suddenly scary little first year some space. "I'll take care of it," he stated. "Thank you for bringing it to my attention." Politeness mattered a lot, and thanking them was the least he could do since he abruptly turned and stalked off to the dungeons.

The Gryffindor boys looked confused, scared, and worried, but the other first year Slytherins and Hufflepuffs surrounded them to pat them and give reassurances that Adriel was a really sweet person that loved all his friends and would protect them so not to worry because they hadn't done anything wrong, and Adriel would never do something as horrible as take his anger out on the wrong target. And yes, really, the rumors of blood magic and necromancy were just rumors, Adriel would never do something so awful, he was just very very good at using his words and they all loved him for defending them from the evil perils of blindly following rules that could get them hurt or ignored, like having no proper precautions in potions - something they were working on to present to Slughorn but it was a secret so shhh - and...

The Gryffindor fourth years were brought into the Chaos Theory (also dubbed The Butterfly Effect) since they stood no chance against the Hufflepuff softness of comfort when they were so confused and the Slytherin's calculating logic that worked so very well together. Up in the headmaster's office, the sorting hat groaned with misery at the ripple of change and Dippet asked it yet again if it was coming down with some kind of magical malady. The hat said no and refused to elaborate once more since he was as complicit in this as Adriel was having not gone with his gut instinct of putting the boy into Hufflepuff. He could never have guessed something like this would happen - the implosion within a month thing had been an exaggeration!



Adriel had made no plans on the way to the common room, but he would have no regrets for what came as long as it didn't end in deaths. They hospitalized his friends who were completely innocent of the going-ons in the House, so the kid gloves were off. He stormed in, noted that all the years were in their proper positions rather than divided like normal, and glanced around the fifth year area before he zeroed in on the smug looking bastard who stylized himself as the leader of his year - Grimmafore Lestrange. No doubt his two lackeys had been the ones with him - Bert Beetlewick and Adolfus Gorne.

"Awe, the ickle little savage iz awl angwy," Grimmafore mockingly coo'ed. "Now he is going to threaten me with blood magic but learn that he can't do shite against a fifth year and should learn his place! Petrificul Totalis!"

Adriel scoffed and didn't bother to sidestep since it missed him anyway. "You have to learn how to aim first, you simpleton," he scathingly said, making his own Slytherin tribe members laugh. He realized he had left his first years up above then, but that was just as well since it could turn very ugly and they were defenseless little lambs. "I am sure you had to cast at-" he sidestepped but didn't pause when a tongue tying jinx was sent at him "-the poor Gryffindors and Ravenclaws you had attacked from point blank range since-" this time he tilted his head away from some sickly orange light "-you can't hit a moving target, either. Does Bulstrode know you might have sent her Ranveclaw cousin to the hospital wing?"

"What?!" the seventh year Violetta Bulstroke shrieked, then whipped out her wand and sent a boil curse at Grimmafore who barely had time to turn towards her in surprise before he was hit in the face with it. "You dare?!"

"No!" Grimmafore yelped in denial as he stumbled back. "I didn't know you had a cousin!"

"To be fair, I did say might - I was told it was a first year Ravenclaw," Adriel sniffed while looking at Grimmafore like he was an insect that should be crushed with prejudice. "That he and his two stupid minions aren't even socially aware enough to tell who is who... Well, attacking random first years that might be my friends is a stupid tactic when he isn't paying attention to family lines. It could have been anyone's little brother or sister in a different house."

Adriel made silent eye contact with the leader of the seventh years - Beatrice Blane - while the rest of the house all focused on Grimmafore and started spitting insults and curses at him. He silently warned her that his friends had better be off limits from this point forward, and she glanced around the room before giving a small nod of agreement. There was grudging respect as well since Adriel had turned the whole common room who had been divisive but minutes before his appearance into one solid group ready to tear one of their own apart - the boy who had been a 'hero' to the upper years also just minutes ago. It was definitely manipulation worthy of the Slytherin name, and it had not even required a wand to use.

"That's enough," Beatrice called out over the noise of angry spell casting. "STOP! Burke, Glorun, Passimo, and Copperworth, you four are to carry these three to the hospital wing because there are far too many hexes that have combined for us to fix it ourselves. If asked, just say they were idiots that took their own experimental potions and you found them like that in their room when you went to check on them after overhearing their whispering at dinner. Furthermore, I declare the seventh years neutral in this matter - we have NEWTs and will be gone next year so it won't be our problem - but we will say we will retaliate against anyone that targets any first year student aside from Chee. If you can't be subtle though, be prepared to be named Outcast for the year, with all house protections stripped because you are obviously too stupid to exist." The last was said with a sneer towards the cursed fifth years who were being carried out. "What you do next year is up to you lot, of course, but that is your problem and not mine. What happened tonight is not to be bandied about to anyone outside of our common room. House meeting is adjourned."

Adriel blinked. This had been a house meeting? Ah well, he had gotten his adorable little lambs a year of reprieve so they could learn to be ferocious self sufficient beasts in peace. And he would get to battle the higher years with subtlety which meant he was safe for the most part from wand attacks as long as he made sure he was never alone... Which he never was. He viciously grinned at the rest of the upper years because it sounded like he would have a fun and challenging year, and while some did look away, others sneered and gave away their positions as his opponents.

Maybe he would not try to get expelled since his family had been right - Hogwarts was indeed a fun school filled with opportunities, lessons, and lifelong relationships.

Sunday the 14th
Page 56 of RP

Art and Adriel were swimming by some coral, near an island that had great potential and could easily be Atlantis, but Art needed to check the surrounding area, and look for damage because there didn’t seem to be any on the island itself. Adriel had insisted on being connected by a rope to make sure neither of them got lost. Being tethered to Adriel by a rope had saved his life once already so it didn’t take much to convince him. With the gillyweed they were able to stay under for hours without needing to come up for air, which was perfectly fine to allow Art to check out the area.

It was not that long, maybe a half hour, before there were some odd movements just beyond viewing, in a shadow, or by some coral. It was enough to scare Art but it was seeming as though it was keeping away, and Art hoped it was just some fish that would keep away from them. The ocean was full of scary things like eels and puffer fish and pirahana’s and things, though so he was on high alert. Another fifteen minutes or so passed, with shadows going past the entire time.

He was trying to ignore it, and focus on a bit of stone that oddly looked… too straight to be nature made. It clearly looked as if it had been a stepping stone someone had had, a path to their house or perhaps a stone walkway like an ancient form of a street. It was fascinating and Art was not paying attention and then it happened.

Suddenly a swarm of mer-cats, half cat half mermaid, probably about ten of them, all swam out of the shadows, going straight for them. Art looked up and thank merlin for the gillyweed making them able to breathe and talk underwater, because without it Art probably would have drowned in that moment with the shrill scream that came out of his mouth and drove all the other little harmless fishies away. He immediately turned and started to swim away and towards the island, tugging on the rope desperately, needing to get away, as Adriel stared at the odd creatures before turning as well and swimming away.

Art in that moment wished he was NOT tied to Adriel. He would have just apparated to the boat or the island! But no he was tied to Adriel and in such a panic he wasn’t sure what that would do to himself like splinching or to Adriel and if Adriel would be forcefully apparated with him. Art and Adriel swam as fast as they could, but the mer-cats were of course faster then them and they were gaining on Art and Adriel. Art glanced back and let out another terrified scream as they were now only a few meters behind them. Art scrambled and tried to swim even faster, the island was so far why was the island so far?!

The cats caught up.

“AAAAH no they going to eat us!!” Art cried out, but the mer-cat’s did not go for them but for the rope, clawing and chewing on it. And easily breaking through it. Even though this clearly meant that the cats did not want to eat Art or Adriel, Art simply let out yet another scream as he saw this, absolutely horrified. And the rope snapped, and was completely eaten. But the rope was gone, he no longer had to worry about Adriel “The beach! Go to the beach!” he yelled and there was a crack and Art was suddenly on all fours on the beach of the island. He gasped for breath as his body got used to air once more, and he rolled over and laid on his back, exhausted from the entire experience. After a few moments he checked himself, making sure he had all ten toes and all ten fingers.

But Adriel was not there yet. Oh no. Had they eaten him? Art sat up “Adriel?!” he yelled. He didn’t see any red in the water but who knew… Why hadn’t he just apparated like he had? Art got up and paced back and forth and kept checking the water until finally Adriel started to walk up the beach. Art let out a huge sigh of relief “Adriel! I thought they got you!” he said sounding worried. Adriel however smiled at him “I am perfectly capable of handling cats” he simply said. “We should wait for them to leave the area after their rope meal, and then go back in the water” Adriel suggested.

“I’m NOT going back in that water!! Those are cats! This is not Atlantis we are going to the next island” Art declared, he truly hoped it was not indeed Atlantis even though it had potential. He did not want to go back in that water. He turned and headed towards the boat.

Monday August 15th 1932

Naxos City



Officer of Naxos militia
Leon Drimalia


Pharmacist/council member
Erastus Dellarokas


Retired mayor/current council member
Georgios Drimalia


Newspaper owner/Council
Yiannoulis Kambanellis


Retired Navy Officer - fought the barbary pirates / council member
Leonida Manolas


Accountant/Council member
Alexandre Pavlopoulos

Adriel had decided to take a day of rest after a particularly obnoxious island in the magical area of the Aegean sea that left Art incapacitated the day before. The boat was parked about half an hour from said island - twenty miles or 32 kilometers out - and they had slept the after effects off in a safe area. The next morning, Adriel was up first and started up breakfast, and Art stumbled out of the room shortly after looking like he had a hangover and absolutely loathed the world with every fiber of his being.

"Morning," Adriel said as he made French toast with the last of the bread in one pan and bacon in the other. He got a grunt in reply as Art went straight to the bathroom probably to shower, and he wondered if Art remembered anything from his high the day before. He rather hoped Art had forgotten it all - the miniature dragons with their gold colored breath weapons were cute, but the snake hydra that tried to eat Art after was not. He continued to cook breakfast and did the scrambled eggs in the bacon grease after wiping away most of the grease for the added crisp and flavor, and by the time everything was done and put out on plates, Art had finished showering since he heard the bathroom door open.

Art trudged to the living room and flopped into his seat. He felt awful even after a shower - his head was fuzzy with an almost-headache and he wasn't sure if he was very very hungry or felt nauseous. Adriel set a plate of French toast, bacon, and eggs in front of him along with a glass of apple juice, and he groaned when he saw it since that still didn't solve the question. And he didn't think he had the energy to eat it. However, when Adriel asked "would you like me to feed you?" he found the energy to glare, and he sat up to poke at his food with a fork before he decided to start on the bacon.

Adriel sat down at his own spot with an amused smile when Art glared at him and started eating his breakfast in his usual way. Art didn't look too enthusiastic about food, but after the first bite of bacon, he leaned forward and started really chowing down. Adriel could understand that - peyote hangovers could cause the same reaction in some - but it did remind him that he wanted to teach Art dinner etiquette and since today was a day off and Adriel made sure to buy everything for a full formal dinner, he could teach Art the basics tonight. It was best not to mention it yet though, Art would probably try to bite off his arm much like the Hydra had tried to do his leg if he so much as mentioned anything like that right now. He just collected all the dishes as soon as Art was done, told him to lay down and relax in the bedroom, and that he had chores handled for the day. Art apparently agreed since he stumbled back off into his room which gave Adriel the chance to start on his dinner plans.

He started by pulling out a couple of the wild hares from the meat storage he had hunted down before the mini dragons came along, and took them to the top deck to properly skin and clean them. They were very large and plump rabbits, and would no doubt be tasty when he was done. But he set them to brine in salt water first to get rid of the gamey taste, and while they soaked, he worked on making a wine-based marinade in a pot over low heat. A window was opened and he set a cooking charm up to blow the scents out the window so Art wouldn't clue in too soon, then he turned off the stove so the marinade could cool and went out into the living room.

He eyed the space and started to set it up. He-Who-Protects was carried into the storage area that was now Adriel's room with an apology that he was not invited to dinner tonight because tonight was dinner lessons for Art, then he went back out to enlarge and reshape one of the tables into a large one that took up the space and made it appear like a dinner table with two booth seats. Happy it could attain that setting, he shrunk it back to the regular size and pushed it back up so the space was clear, then started to cast spells to clean the living quarters up well.

Neither men were messy, but there were bits of crumbs, loose hairs, dirt, leaves, and other small things that came with living in a small space while exploring that the spell pulled up into a tidy ball that Adriel then vanished. He hit the rug and couches a second time to make sure it was all clean, then he went to the front deck and summoned a rather large Sfirida fish. It was probably about ten pounds, too much for two men for one dinner, but it was honestly perfect for the setting he wanted. So he levitated the thrashing grouper over the water, quickly gutted it so the entrails fell out into the water and killed it, then worked on descaling it. The last step was tiring since it was a large fish with tough scales and it took about half an hour to do a thorough job of it without harming the fins, but he carried it in when he was done and had it levitate beside him while he washed his hands and drained the brine water out of the other sink. One of the Pyrex pots was pulled out and the marinade was poured into it before the rabbits followed, and the pot was put into the oven so the rabbits could marinade without him worrying about them getting knocked over while he worked on the fish. The second sink was washed out before he floated the fish into it, and he washed his hands in the first sink before he made a quick chicken wrap for Art using pita bread, lettuce, tomatoes, and tzatziki sauce normally used in Gyros. The plate was covered then put in the fridge since it had only been an hour since breakfast, and he started working on prepping the fish.

The inside was stuffed with butter that had been mixed with various herbs like dittany and oregano, then he made a vinegar-based marinade in a shallow pan and put the fish into it. He washed his hands again, scrubbed the sinks clean with spells, did the same for the counters, and started using more charm cleaning charms on the rest of the rug and out to the front deck while he kept the cabin door open and an eye on the hallway to make sure Art wouldn't be coming out. When he went back into the kitchen, the rabbits were pulled out of the oven and set on top of the stove next to the fish, and he pulled out all the ingredients he needed to bake a loaf of French bread.

His French bread didn't look the best - it was crooked and uneven when it was done - but it was home made, fresh, and would taste good even if it didn't look all pretty. He honestly was not a baker at all, but he did learn how to make the bread from his friend in France. André had been very much insisted on it when he had found out that Adriel could only make frybread, and he had spent a week drilling Adriel in it until his bread came out edible. It had been a terrible week for bread, but André did reward him every night, so it had been worth it. The problem with bread was that it was exacting in its measurements and unforgiving of forgetting steps, and Adriel really didn't do well with those things. He was more of an improvise person, but he get it in the end and refused to let it be forgotten since he had worked hard for it. The odd shape wouldn't really be noticed once he cut it up into slices anyway.

It was now going into hour four, so he set the bread to the counter to cool and grabbed the chicken wrap to carry to Art. He lightly tapped on the door in case Art was sleeping, but he got a mumbled 'come in' he could barely hear, so he quietly opened the door and peeked in. Art still looked a bit rumpled like he had maybe fallen asleep again, but now he was laying out and was reading a book. Adriel carried the plate in and offered it to Art who gingerly sat up and accepted the food. "How do you feel now?" he asked.

"Better. No longer achy, still confused and a little fuzzy but I can read now," Art said after a few seconds of thought. He vaguely recalled Adriel feeding him breakfast before he stumbled back into his room earlier and was pretty certain there was a shower this morning since he also smelled clean, but he had almost no memory of the day before after they walked into a forest and Adriel caught a few rabbits. "What happened yesterday?"

Adriel sat down on the other bed and smiled at Art. "Ah, you accidentally breathed in something that made you very drunk," he said. "Or maybe high is the better word. I kept trying to get you back to the boat, but you wanted to be friends with everything... Including a hydra that actually did try to eat you that I had to fight off. I don't think it was used to being hurt at all since it ran off as soon as I pierced it with a spear. My spells just bounced off of it, but I had to hold you the whole time as well because you kept trying to pet it. It was a small hydra, a weird snake breed type, and you were very cute if a bit more difficult than the monster was. I got you to the boat and spelled you to sleep before you could do anything else while in that state. So today is a day of recovery. I have dinner plans for us though!"

Art paused with the chicken wrap in his mouth as he gave Adriel a wary look at the happy way his Navajo friend had said dinner plans. He probably should be a bit more upset about almost being eaten the day before, but he didn't have the energy for it and he didn't remember it, so he figured he would go with the explanation that it was a small snake hydra - maybe some kind of runespoor relative. A runespoor was nowhere near as scary as the idea of a hydra from the Hercules story... Which was in Ancient Greece... Which was where they were. He angrily started to chew on the chicken in his mouth and frowned at Adriel for looking so happy right now. HE WAS ALMOST EATEN BY A LEGENDARY CREATURE WHILE HIGH AND TRYING TO PET IT!

Adriel took the frown as silent permission to continue - he matched the anger in it with a more cheerful smile. "So remember dinner with Erastus?" he asked, and got a grudging nod. "Well, I am giving you a crash course on dinner etiquette tonight. Proper dinner etiquette for English dinners, though I will give you tips about Greek dinners and how to survive them as a wizard. If you plan on being a name in the wizarding archeology community, it means you will have to learn these things because the museums and universities will require you to attend formal events that will fund your expeditions and you will be required to know how to use all ten utensils, though an oyster fork is only on the setting when there are oysters, how to chew and swallow properly, what the minimum and maximum amount of food you can eat in a five or more course meal is, and what kind of small talk can be used for polite conversation. For the last, I'll teach you three to start with, but I strongly suggest using the library resources to check out a book that teaches you more about engaging in small talk. Yes, Naxos is a nice backup plan if you hate the idea that much of Oxford using you like that, but remember you are not a Greek citizen and would have to learn its laws and language to be naturalized as one, and you will still have to deal with formal dinners there because the council will insist on it. It is part and parcel of having prestige."

Art scowled harder as he finished his chicken wrap - honestly, he was irritable enough to want to throw it at Adriel's cheerful face, but he was more hungry than he was angry and the food did help a little with his bad mood. "No," he firmly said, since Adriel said it was okay to say no. "I'll learn it another time." Like never. He was never going to another formal dinner again. Erastus didn't count since he knew now what to do... Though Adriel did mention charms that would help. "I'll learn the charms, but I don't need etiquette lessons."

Adriel wanted to sigh or twitch in annoyance since Art was being pouty and angry like a brat, but since his smile was making Art cranky, he lowered his cheer a couple notches leaned forward. "Ah, you seem to be under the misconception that I will let you walk into social events like a lamb into a lion's den," he chided. "Friends do not let their friends live in blissful ignorance that will come back to bite them in the end. Besides, I have already spent four hours cooking and will be spending many more finishing. You will let my hard work go to waste?"

Art felt guilty when Adriel put it like that at the end, but he crossed his arms across his chest and looked away. "I don't want to learn tonight," he stubbornly said. "I'll figure it out on my own later or read books like you suggested. Books teach you everything."

Adriel shook his head no. "They cannot teach you how to chew the correct way so you can keep a conversation going without talking with food in your mouth or leave too much on a plate that could offend the host because you also didn't want to offend your dinner partner," he patiently explained, then frowned when Art shook his head no again. "Look, we can do this the easy way or the other way. The easy way is if you agree to learning the basics you need to know for your bright future filled with opportunities and grants."

Art glanced over to Adriel with a quizzical expression. He was pretty sure the term went 'the easy way or the hard way,' but Adriel said 'the other way.' "What is the other way?" he asked, unable to help himself, then almost flinched back when Adriel's answering grin made him think SHARK!

"The other way is that I stuff you into a toga, name you emperor of the boat for the night, and make you learn the the formal dinner etiquette of the ancient Roman consulate," he cheerfully explained. "That would include a twelve course dinner over the course of six hours where you have to learn to eat everything using three fingers from each hand rather than utensils, all while discussing the current political world climate and what you would want done to fix things as I tell you what each European country is currently doing that is against your interest. You would have finger bowls and finger napkins to properly clean your fingers, of course, and I would be more than happy to teach you how to employ those, and rather than sitting upright at a table like a servant or a slave, you would be reclined on your side on the couch as would be fitting for your station as emperor. Your drink would be honey flavored diluted wine - undiluted wine would not be respectable - and I would need to alter dinner plans a little bit, and rather than eating the bread I freshly baked earlier, you would be using it to also wipe your hands. This is all after you get your feet washed by me, your faithful servant, and-"

"Okay!" Art interrupted with a yelp, really wishing he had not heard that last part and not wanting to hear any more.

"Okay you want to be an emperor?" Adriel asked in a hopeful tone to tease Art even more.

"No, I'll learn the English dinner," Art said before he scowled and realized that Adriel couldn't make him an emperor either. "Though it isn't like you can make me do either."

Adriel happily smiled at Art for pointing that out, though it could be more aptly described as predatory by those better versed than Art at reading facial cues. "Ah, technically we are in international waters," he explained. "That means no laws right now. Not that I would cast something like imperio at you or anything, I do not agree in taking away with free will like that. But I could make everything you eat taste like pork until you gave in - even water - since ancient curses are very versatile like that. Not just any pork either - the one we had in Naxos was very delicious, yes? If we go that route, I will make sure you learn both sets of dinner etiquettes when you give in."

Art slumped with defeat - he knew that if he tried to file a complaint of 'Adriel cursed me to taste only Greek honey glazed roasted pork until I learned dinner etiquette,' it would be laughed at by anyone who picked up Adriel's archived file stored in the library rather than taken as the seriously awful punishment it was. He also scarily pointed out that anything he did now was not illegal because they were in international waters. "English dinner," he muttered, and was relieved when Adriel all but flounced out to cook so he could bury himself in the book and try to ignore the upcoming lesson that he didn't think he needed even if Adriel did.

Adriel had managed to talk Art into sailing back to England rather than portkey back after they decided to return from Atlantis - honestly, it had not been too hard since Art still wasn't looking forward to attending a wedding or a family dinner on his return and it wasn't like anyone else would be able to find his new site since Adriel had cast a fidelius over it with Art and Adriel as the secret keepers. It was a very advanced charm and Art had asked him how he knew it, but Adriel shrugged explained that it was part of defensive magics same as the patronus which was another highly advanced charm, so he hadn't really struggled with it. Sure, there were advanced theories about it being soul or mind magic, books of arithmancy equations dedicated to it, and so much more, but Adriel didn't believe magic like that was complicated so intent and belief was how he had used it since that was what spellcasting boiled down to for him. It honestly was a bit unfair how Adriel couldn't cast a simple color changing spell but could perform a corporeal patronus simply because color was a 'light element' while the Patronus was 'protective or battle magic' and Art did not want to think about that at all because it would give him a headache since it didn't make any sense at all.

Adriel stuck close to the coasts so he could show Art other cities beyond Greece under the guise of 'docking for a day of rest.' There was Rome and the Vatican in Italy, Catania in Sicily with its own ancient history of the ancient Carthaginian Empire and budding Roman Empire's war that really kick started the Roman Empire, but Marseille in France had been one of Adriel's main goals for the journey. It was an eclectic mix of ancient and modern with sites like Notre-Dame which he thought Art would appreciate, was founded by Ancient Greece in the sixth or seventh century BC making it the oldest city in France, and it had many museums as well. It was fully modernized with public transits and cars like London was with electricity, but since it was a port city with officials that cared about beauty, it didn't have factories like London thus it lacked the stench that London had as well as its tacky morning fogs that left you feeling like you were covered in a film of ick. There were factories there, but they were for things like dolls, pottery, or fabrics, not the rubber and metal and oil ones that created foul stench.

The cuisine there was excellent, especially with the recent immigration of Italians the year prior. While Adriel wasn't religious, he could actually show Art all the influences of early Christianity and the buildings since it was the first city in the Roman empire time to accept it - even the graves of Mary Magdalene and her sister. Since they had been on the boat for five days with the last stop being Rome, it wasn't too hard to convince Art that he needed a few days to rest and stretch and that he had a friend he could apparate them to in Paris that would let them stay in the guest wing of his home. Art was reluctant on the second part - a friend meant he might have to socialize - but he agreed because he needed a break from the confines of the boat and Adriel seemed excited to go. Art also recalled that Adriel had mentioned once that he could count on one hand how many actual friends he had, so he was a little curious as to what kind of person it was.

The docking process was smooth with Adriel catching Art when he tripped on the gangplank. Leaving the docks was not as smooth - several seagulls tried to land on Art to boldly check his pouches for food, though Art believed that they had been trying to eat him. He was left with 'presents' from them once Adriel chased them off, so Adriel decided he would take the freshly traumatized Art to Paris first for a shower and a guest room to relax in and they could tour Marseilles before they left France in a few days. He led Art to a quiet alley, cast a quick cleaning charm on him, then apparated them up north to the magical district. He didn't linger there though - he immediately led Art out and a few blocks away to rich magical neighborhood in Rue De Montmorency, pointed out Nicholas Flamel's 15th century mansion along the way, then tapped his wand on the tall gates of what was probably another mansion a few houses away and led Art through them when they clicked opened for him.

The house they were approaching couldn't be called a house. Even a mansion was stretching it. It looked more like a castle chateau with the small lake it was on serving as a moat. There was an arching stone bridge that was carved to look like a swan at the top that lead to to the top of a grand portico, but the steps down from the portico went into and below the lake surface. There was a very large stable off to one side of the very obvious wizarding space this property was on since it had a lot more acreage than a house should have in the middle of Paris, and they held four Abraxan and six Arabian horses with a carriage garage that was open and visible showed the black and gold lacquered carriage while the horses were in the barn section and not visible with the stable doors being closed up. A stable hand that lived in the apartment above the stables was polishing the carriage which explained why the side garage doors were open, but the man didn't notice the two people strolling on the property. The yard itself was soft green grass with a hedge maze that could be made out in the back yard, and white gravel paved a path with a fountain that depicted a witch and a wizard shooting water into the air in a way that resembled wand sparks. It was in the center of a circular area where the path turned into a circle several yards before the bridge.

"Ah, his name is Antoine Vincent Duc de Trefle-Picques - one of the last few noble wizarding lines of France," he explained as they walked along down the gravel path. "His ancestor escaped the guillotine by disillusioning his neck - I think he is on a chocolate frog card? I told you before that archeology was a rich man's hobby just a couple decades ago, and since his parents died early from dragonpox, he inherited the fortune. As a kid, he was fascinated with ancient religions, and when he reached of age to access the family fortune, the first thing he did was to hire a team to explore the Mesopotamia region. My father wasn't interested when he got the offer since he knew it was a dead end when he got it, but he tossed it to me as a learning experience and so I could try out a job on my own. Mind, Antoine is not a historian nor did he confer with one, so it was definitely a wild goose chase, but it was a fun wild goose chase and we slept with each other since we were close in age and were just looking for a good time. He's hired me a couple of other times for similar ventures, once with just the two of us more for the sex than expecting to find a location though we did find a small Akkadian temple in the end, but we keep in regular contact despite his current hobby being filmography. He's actually been trying to coax me into being on film, but while I like to watch movies, I don't particularly want to be a well known face if wizarding movies take off like it did for the muggles. He is very ah... flamboyant and very much into human contact, but I will let him know not to touch you. Oh... There is a library here by the way, and there are some ancient texts in old English, Egyptian scrolls, and Ancient Greek he will probably let you look at if I ask nicely enough."

Adriel knocked when they reached the solid wood doors that were more common centuries ago, but it took a couple minutes before there was a response and Art nervously fidgeted while he waited. Wizarding film? Flamboyant and human contact? A palace?! It all sounded a bit too much and he wondered if he might be better off not knowing Adriel's other friends. He really wanted a shower though and to get away from the sky that might have more birds waiting to ambush him. Plus, if all else failed, there was this library, too. With ancient texts! A noble wizarding family's private library, even! There were probably several one of a kind books, and Art suspected Adriel didn't really understand what kind of treasure that was with the dismissive way that was said, but that was ok since Art fully understood and would even wear the gloves he had packed in his chest belt before he touched such precious texts. He was actually starting to feel a little sick though between the bird poop (cleaning charms weren't good enough), nerves, and excitement.

Adriel inwardly sighed at how twitchy and nervous Art was now - the bird attack must have really gotten to him. The door opened before he could offer reassurances, and a house elf in a clean and colorful tea towel wearing poorly applied makeup like a five year old had experimented on it answered the door. "Oh, eet's Master Chee!" the elf excitedly squeaked. "Master Antoine will be 'appy you eez being 'ere! Master eez being upset for days and Matty bees trying to give Master inspiration, but eet didn't work so Matty is practicing painting 'er face to try again!"

Adriel smiled at the little house elf, kneeling to get closer to her level. "Matty is a very good house elf," he praised, making her puff up in pride. "Go ahead and let him know we are in the parlor - I would go surprise him myself, but I have a guest with me."

Matty nodded hard enough for her ears to slap her head, then apparated away but left the door open. "Follow me," he told Art, closing the door behind them once Art entered the mansion. Long crystal chandeliers hung the tall ceiling of the circular entrance hall, and a grand staircase to the second floor circled the walls in both directions with them ending just before the double doors. The floors were made of white marble, but it was softened by an antique Persian carpet large enough to cover the majority of the floor space. Adriel sighed as he walked past the grand display of riches and antiques while gesturing to random items and paintings on display they were passing that he could recall information on. "Fifteenth century Ming Dynasty vase, twelfth century crusade armor for man and horse, Leonardo da Vinci's study of a mandrake that he drew when one of Antoine's ancestors commissioned it for fun to compare it with a copy of the Vitruvian Man next to it, sixteenth century French faience replica of the holy grail by... I'm not sure who the sculptor is, actually. Some guy from Marseille. His ancestors were as frivolous as he is. Anyway, the parlor room is through here."

The parlor was no less grand, though at least it wasn't cold like the entrance hall had been. The floors and walls was a dark polished wood and the couches and chairs were covered in plush royal blue velvet cushions. The floor had genuine zebra skins as rugs to elegantly contrast the darker colors of the furniture and floor, and one wall had a built in book case that was stuffed with books that Adriel gestured at. "A mix of ancient history, modern politics, Darwin's evolution studies, filmography, spell books, and who knows what else," he said as he sat on one of the couches and leaned on the arm to partially lounge. "It's not organized at all and I'm sure you have a majority of it at the Oxford library, but feel free to pick one out for reading and get comfortable. Or if you need something to do, I'm sure he won't mind if you want to organize them. We could be waiting for a while since he will want to properly bathe and get dressed if he is as bad as Matty had hinted at."

Art stood uncertainly in the doorway even as Adriel made himself comfortable. Was Adriel allowed to just give him permission to read anything there? Or tell him he could organize someone else's bookshelf when Art had never met the man? A nobleman at that, though Adriel did say they had done... stuff together and were close. He didn't want to think too closely on what Adriel had said earlier about their acquaintance. But what did Adriel mean as bad as Matty had hinted at? "Is he sick?" Art asked as he tentatively stepped into the room. He didn't want to step on the furs so he stayed by the wall next to the doorway - the chairs especially looked expensive and he had bird poop he believed he could still feel on him and he didn't want to risk dirtying something that would probably cost him a year of wages to replace.

Adriel pulled his braids around with the thought to undo them, but second-guessed the decision since Antoine would probably love to see this hair style. "Hm? No, not sick," he said as he kicked off his boots so he could fully lounge on the couch. "In between bouts of hobbies, he can get morose and not leave his room for weeks. When he is happy, he is a social butterfly and very active, but when he is unhappy, he won't do anything at all and Matty has to make him eat and bathe. An artist's soul, you might say, though he doesn't paint. He says the world is his canvas and his hobbies are the paint, but when he can't paint, the world loses its color and vibrancy. I try to write even outside of my regular winter correspondences since he says hearing from me is like a splash of color that often gives him inspiration."

Art thought that sounded about as French as French could get. "Oh," Art said. He couldn't really think of anything else to say to that. Still, Adriel was making himself very comfortable taking off his shoes and laying out on the couch as he was, and it made Art even more aware that he was standing on the opposite side of a bookshelf that Adriel had offered up to him and while he wanted to check it, it still felt wrong because this wasn't his or Adriel's home. A home that had things that could actually be in a museum. It made him wonder how close they actually were. "Did you uh... date him before?" he asked, hesitating since he knew Adriel said he didn't date, but maybe they had dated when he was younger.

Adriel looked over to Art and raised an eyebrow since Art had not really entered the room and was still looking nervous and fidgety. Hm, maybe not the birds, then? "No," he answered while wondering what was wrong with Art. "Maybe I might have if my lifestyle had allowed it, but we are close enough to be more than just friends I guess."

"Mon beau!" a voice suddenly called out right before a handsome blonde wizard in nothing but open red silk robes and a pair of matching boxers swept in and all but leapt on Adriel who caught and held him with a laugh. They shared an affectionate close-mouthed kiss as the other wizard sprawled out over Adriel and snuggled into him. "Oh, I 'ave meesed you!" he exclaimed. "So long wizzout your beauty, mon bijou, and yet you appear as a sparkle of light during my darkest of days! Matty says you 'ave a guest as well? Where is 'e or she?"

Art froze since a man had just entered the room without getting dressed at all and was nowhere near decent to be in anyone's company, then he jumped on and kissed Adriel! It was jarring and he was confused and didn't know what to do, the whole situation was so out of his depth that nothing felt real anymore and he really wished he had stayed on the boat or that maybe he was dreaming though the scratches from the bird claws had felt painful. The new man was attractive and the two of them on the couch like... like that while one was not even dressed was... He pushed aside the thought and stared blankly at the bookshelf instead.

Since Antoine was very thin with the delicate bones French aristocrats sometimes had, Adriel was easily able to shift Antoine in Art's direction and gestured to his very confused friend. "That is Artemis Reyes, archivist of Oxford and magical archeologist, but he prefers to be called Art," he explained before he tightened his hold around Antoine's waist when the lithe wizard went to spring up. "Ah ah, no touching him, mon trésor, he is mine until we reach England and does not like to be touched. Anyway, he hired me and we have been sailing the Greek islands since the beginning of August together."

Adriel had meant 'he is mine' as in 'he is under my protection' and Antoine damned well knew it since he had known Adriel for so long, but the blank confusion on the adorable man's face was priceless and he was feeling mischievous. Plus, he knew Adriel. If this Artemis had even a tiny amount of attraction towards men, he most likely had a crush on Adriel since the Navajo was the most caring person Antoine had ever met. And he knew how to have fun! Honestly, he still had a crush on Adriel and wished he had been smart enough when they were both young to try to snatch him up on more permanent terms, but he had been incapable of that back then and Adriel was incapable of it now. He knew better than to push and could be happy with what Adriel gave. "Oooh, 'as someone finally snared your 'eart?" he cooed as he looked back to Adriel to hide a sly and playful smile from Art while he placed a hand sensually on Adriel's chest. "One of ze wildest and most wanted bachelors 'as been leashed by big pretty eyes and curly dark 'air? I would 'ave changed my 'air to a darker color if I knew you were attracted by zat!"

Art was even more confused now. Someone stole Adriel's heart? What did that mean? Whose big pretty eyes and curly hair? He couldn't help but watch what was happening from the corner of his eye and felt his face start to heat up.

Adriel subtly rolled his eyes since he knew Antoine was playing, but he figured he could play along a little since the blonde had been having a rough time lately. He covered the hand on his chest with his own hand and sat up just enough for Art to see his now serious expression. "Mon cœur, you do not need to change yourself at all," he purred while softening his expression to look down at Antoine in an adoring fashion as he brought his other hand up from where it had been wrapped around Antoine's waist so he could bury his fingers in the pale hair. "Your own locks remind me of spun gold while your sapphire eyes make even the Greek waters jealous since they cannot compete with the beautiful blue hue. You are the jewel, not I, and you already have a place within my heart."

Antoine all but melted against Adriel - they had already been as close as it was physically possible to get without having sex, but he relaxed his body to settle down between Adriel's legs and rubbed up against him teasingly and was amused to find that they were both turned on a bit. "L’amour de ma vie," he wistfully sighed in reply while he shifted up a little to bring their faces closer. "Ah, if only I did not 'ave to continue my bloodline, I would marry you and only you! Even zen, 'ad I any siblings at all, I would 'ave given all my riches and castle to zem and run away to live wiz your tribe! I savor zese moments I can steal from-"

They both looked over when they had heard a thump and saw Art had fainted. The compliments Adriel had said had made all the blood rush to Art's face, but the marriage confession and a wish to throw away everything here including the family library with its books had been far too much for Art unbeknownst to the two men on the couch. Adriel sighed and thumped his head back on the arm rest though he didn't let go of his hold on Antoine's hair - he started rubbing the blonde's scalp in a soothing way instead.

"Oh, did I upset your friend?" Antoine curiously asked even as he leaned into the hand on his head. "Zis is ze first time I 'ave 'ad someone faint in my 'ome from shock. Matty, ze smelling salts please!"

"He will be fine, he has just had a long day," Adriel said, feeling a bit guilty now and removed his hands off of Antoine. "Come, sit up and close your robes before he wakes - or rather, I'll give you some clothes you can throw on real quick if you get off so I can get to my pouch. He would appreciate getting to see the ancient texts in your library though - it would probably make up for this."

Antoine giggled even as he got off. "Oui, 'e 'as my permission!" he chirped, excited enough to agree to anything Adriel wanted at the moment and looking forward to a potential rendezvous much later tonight. "Do you 'ave anyzing new from Italy? Your tastes in clothes eez eexquisite!"

Adriel huffed a quiet laugh as he pulled out a red silk shirt he had picked up when he and Art had been in Rome and added a pair of black harem pants he had gotten in Crete. "You can have them," he said as he handed them over with a smile. "I wore the pants once though they are clean now and were bought in August, and the Brioni shirt was bought less than a week ago so it is unused and fully up to date." Adriel got a kiss on both his cheeks before Antoine casually shrugged his robes off to the ground to put the shirt on. Matty popped in with the smelling salts at that point, but Adriel cleared his throat before the little elf could put it to Art's nose. "Just give Antoine a second to finish dressing first, my friend is British and has delicate sensibilities." Antoine giggled again while he put on the pants and Adriel nodded to Matty to go ahead while the French wizard worked on the folds and ties of the pants.

"Oh, I do so love zis style of pants!" was the first thing Art heard when he was brought back to reality by a sharp smell he wanted to escape from. Thankfully, the house elf immediately withdrew the bottle as soon as Art's eyes had popped open, and he groaned when he realized he had not been dreaming after all. The image of Adriel and Antoine leaning towards each other with the expression of star-crossed lovers would forever be branded into his mind now!

The Curse on Art's Journal

I was thinking that the curse got stronger the more a person writes in it, but since Art's initial entries were very short, it wasn't too bad in the beginning
Things didn't really start to happen until after Fort island when he wrote down stories - there was only a completely random encounter with a cat that went nowhere in Crete, and the fall on the island , Then suddenly there is spiders and cats and arguments and concussions lol


What the journal looks like: