A Street...Outside the 3 Broomsticks

Darien raised his paws, the blow going under them.
He snarled and lunged, crashing into the tiger and sending both of them flying...or rolling.

Boris hadn't been expecting to be barreled into. He snarled at the fact he'd been caught unaware and attempted to cuff the wolf about the head with a padded paw as they rolled. Boris ended up slamming into the solid wall of the pub they were in front of, a snarl of pain escaping him and not by choice.

_ _ _ _

Sevastyan Kaminski maneuvered through the village with relative ease compared to the first time he'd ever stepped foot here. He'd just finished running an errand of sorts and had considered stopping into the Three Broomsticks for to brighten his mood. However, the sight that greeted him made him change his mind on the spot.

"Oh, Boris... vot in Merlin's name must I do vith you?" Sevastyan groaned inwardly and withdrew his wand in case this got ugly. He noted that Nicolas was present, as well as a few others.

"The both of you vill return to your human forms at vonce! My patience is not to be tried today," Sevastyan commanded irritably, wand raised defensively. "And I vill not be accepting 'no' for an answer, Boris Kaminski!" Sevastyan added to the tiger. Unfortunately he had no idea who the wolf was.

Darien leapt backwards, slightly dizzy from the cuff to the head.
His wolf mind noted a new threat and he backed to the other side of the street, so both Kaminskis were in his sight.
His hackles raised and he growled a warning.

Somewhere deep inside his mind, his human self swore loudly. A professor? he prayed his wolf self would not go into another Viper encounter...Diana couldn't stop him this time.

The wolf's eyes flashed as he glanced at the new 'danger' and evaluated it's options. Fortunantly, the wolf was in defensive mode, waiting for the new threat to make a move.

Boris swore with a growl and reluctantly reverted back to his human form.

"You vill vait right there, Boris, or I vill personally make sure you von't be making trouble again. You know my methods, and I'm not afraid to use them even vith Kazimir breathing down my neck as it vere..." Sevastyan warned the young man without looking at him. At the moment he was defensively positioned facing the wolf form of another student. Which school said student belonged to was the next question. "Who is your friend, here, Boris?"

"Vaight. And he's not a friend."

Sevastyan had all he could do to suppress a massive eyeroll, despite the wolf a few yards away. "Mr. Vaight, I asked both of you to return to your human forms. I vould appreciate it if you vould comply. Do not tempt me in taking extreme measures, for I varn you now that I vill not be gentle," he requested in a softer but still rather assertive tone of voice. His gray eyes regarded the animagus without fear, waiting to see if Darien would heed him or attack.

Darien's human form sighed. Yup, now he was actually dead. He doubted the Defense Agaisnt the Dark Arts professor would believe him about his 'problem'.

The wolf recognised the assertive tone, and surveyed the target slowly. The wolf sniffed at the air, eyes shining. It paused, still in a defensive position, uncertain.
The assertive tone rather than the aggresion expected was confusing it.
But the speaker smelt vaguely like the enemy...(Boris)

Darien fought to regain control, but it was pointless. He knew he'd lost. The battle was over. And he'd gone for so long without losing control this badly! The past four years...and now he'd gone and lost it again! His anger fuelled his desperation and he fought for control even more. On the bright side, if he was knocked out or hurt, he'd have to revert to human form.

The wolf waited, almost motionless. Slowly, it bared it's teeth. This human had no fear...well neither did the wolf. It's attention was entirely fixed on the humans nearby.

Sevastyan took two calm steps forward, but that was the only advance he was willing to make. He would not harm a child - or a teenager - without just cause. "They are none of your concern at the moment, Mr. Vaight. Your business is vith me at the moment," he said when he noticed the student's attention waver from his, the tone of voice firm and slightly protective but far from aggressive. Recalling what he knew about wolves, Sevastyan assumed Vaight's unwillingness to stand down was because Boris - his enemy of the moment - was a relative. It would make sense if the wolf in him detected at least a slightly similar scent.

"I vill give you vone last chance to heed my varning. If you refuse it, I vill have no choice but to use force..." he said after a moment, a tranquil warning clear in his voice.


Boris crossed his arms and plastered a smug look across his face that only soured at his cousin's unwillingness to fight the wolf. The warnings had always gotten on his nerves: two or three of the announcements, with approximately the same wording, would always be issued if he were on the verge of going too far. It was difficult for him to believe that this man had once lobbed spells at his enemies without a second thought to whom he harmed.

With a combined snarl and sigh of exasperation, Boris -still a human- withdrew his wand and cast a nonverbal stunner in Darien's direction. If Sevastyan would not do it, then he would at least attempt to do so in the coward's stead!

((Hope it is Okay I can jump in))

Amy and Aiden looked at eachother.

"I think we can step in now Brother, Darian has lost it"

Aiden nodded "I think it is time to reveal my animagus form, I may be able to reach him first.... and I am not a cat"

"Go"

Aiden then transformed into a Doberman, Amy went to cover her brother and Darien from any spells.

"Darien!" Aiden said as he approched the wolf.

Amy at the same yelled "Protego" aganst the on coming stunner.

((Fine with me!))

The wolf blinked and sniffed at the Doberman. A flicker of recognition passed across it's face.
Aiden? Can you hear me? Aiden?
Part of his mind flickered into human existence again. The wolf turned it's snout towards Boris, and noted the failed attack. A growl broke through his teeth and he got ready to spring.
Aiden, if you can hear me, cast a stunner! For merlin's sake somebody just knock me out!

((Fine with me, too! Boris might not like it... but that's his problem considering I'm the one controlling his strings! lol xD))


Sevastyan started as the doberman bounded over to the wolf, while a Slytherin girl blocked Boris's stunner. Dog... girl... dog... girl... the dog was clearly an animagus as well... It seemed a practical certainty that Boris would end up arguing with the girl and would do whatever he could in his power to prevent her from being attacked, or that was his assumption. So, instead, Sevastyan cast a shield around the doberman, and then a kind of magical cage around the wolf. The shield would let things out but not in; the cage of sorts would let things in but not out... Sevastyan would have stunned him, but didn't want to attempt to predict the next move of either canine figure.


Boris veritably scowled at the girl before him. "Vot did you do that for? Vaight is clearly out of control!" he asked bitterly. "Your friend needs to learn to control himself." The Russian teen didn't dare cast any further spells with his cousin right there, and thus would only do so in matters of self-defense now.


"Boris..." Sevastyan warned, "You couldn't control yourself any better than him ven you started exploring your own animagus form."


The look Boris gave the back of Sevastyan's head looked like the lad had swallowed a lemon whole and hadn't enjoyed the sensation even a little bit.

Aiden in dog form thought over to Amy.

"Amy get ready he has lost complete control!!"

Amy nodded breifly "When ever you are ready brother, but do it soon he is about to ponce"

Aiden saw Darien tense and let out a growl to wolf so Amy could make her move and hopefully help Darien regain control.

Amy raised her wand but said to the professor and the Drumstrang boy. "He is our firend, we will help him"

The she yelled toward Darien "Stupify!"

Darien fought to keep himself still. The wolf fought to move.
He ended up leaping and twisting, crashing down to the floor as the stunner connected with his paw.
Darien sighed with relief as he rolled into unconsciousness.
His animagus form slipped and he returned to his human self, lying on the cobbled street, relief evident on his face.

"Do vot you can," Sevastyan agreed, keeping the magical shield and cage up. It would be interesting to see how the youths dealt with this rather unique situation.

Boris looked rather miffed that he couldn't have been the one to cast the stunner, but said nothing...

Once it hit, Sevastyan slowly approached the doberman and, now, the unconscious form of Darien Vaight. From the corner of his eye, he saw Boris sidle stealthily to the side. "Miss Avalon, please make sure my cousin Boris does not go anyvhere vhile I tend to Mr. Vaight... by votever defensive means you feel necessary," Sevastyan requested with a rather peculiar mixture of leisure and exasperation. Boris could handle himself from anything potentially dangerous, and the mere fact that an adult was present ensured that the boy wouldn't do anything too drastic to the girl: a win-win situation for most of them, as it were... except for Boris.

Kneeling next to Darien, but not too close, Sevastyan took note of the cut on the boy's arm. After all of this it would need to be cleaned at the very least, but didn't look to be too serious. The Russian withdrew his wand and aimed it at Darien. "Rennervate," he muttered, fairly certain that the wolf phase had passed.

Darien opened his eyes.
"Thanks Amy, Aiden. No thanks Boris."

Aiden turned into a human, "Glad to have you back Dar"

Amy kept her gaze on Boris her wand not really aimed at him but she could zap him with was quick leg locker if he took off.

"Yes, a relief you are back, want a hand with your Occulmency shields so you keep control till the castle? Just in case? I can help to strengthen them, temporary anyway?" she said.

Boris bestowed the Slytherin with a rather haughty countenance, an eyebrow quirked in a self-confident manner. "You vouldn't dare..." the Russian drawled, grinning as he tried to estimate the power and speed this new adversary could feasibly wield. He hadn't exactly dueled with many girls... unless the occasional slap to his face counted; which, he would like to assure you, he very rarely deserved! ........ yeah, don't let him fool you - Boris deserved every one of them.


Sevastyan stood up from his position. "Can the two of you see to it that he gets votever assistance he may need?" he asked the Avalon twins. "And keep his animagus form contained... vithout putting yourselves in danger?"

"And as for you, Mr. Vaight..." the Defense Professor addressed the boy on the ground. "I am not sure how this duel got started, but I have a pretty good guess. Given the circumstances of my suspicions there vill be no detentions from me this vone time, but I am reqvired to mention this to your Head of House first thing Monday afternoon.

"...However, I am going to give you a varning: the Durmstrang delegates are not here for you to declare personal vars on them. It vould be in your best interest, as vell as everyone else's, to promote international magical cooperation. Do I make myself clear?"

Without waiting for an answer, Sevastyan veritably stalked over to Boris and grabbed the teenager by the forearm. "Двиньте…" Sevastyan urged his cousin, who stood rooted to the spot. "ТЕПЕРЬ!"

At the sharp command Boris started and was caught off guard just long enough to be roughly hauled off by the arm. They didn't even take two steps when the Professor lit into the young man with an angry stream of Russian words, a few of them distinctly sounding like obscene curses. It was almost odd to hear the pair speak in their native tongue: not only were the phrases unfamiliar, but Boris spoke and sang in a significantly deeper pitch than his elder cousin.

It looked like Boris was going to be reamed out for dueling in the village every step of the way to the castle by a highly irate Defense professor...



((If anyone's interested: 'Двиньте' translates as 'move' and 'ТЕПЕРЬ' as 'NOW'))

Darien smirked as Boris was dragged away. He slowly pushed himself off the floor, when it didn't hurt he let himself drop down again to push himself all the way easily.
Noticing some mud on his robes and hands, he groaned.
He glanced around. "Where's my wand?"

Svetlana stood next to the doors to The Three Broomsticks, her hooded fur cloak pulled snug about her slender frame. It wasn't nearly as cold here as it was in her mother country, but she was still chilled by the winter weather. She knew she could've just gone in without her escort to the castle - the Headmistress herself at the least - but she did not want to seem rude by entering the establishment without her host.

She smiled lightly at the faces that came and went, speaking to only those that spoke to her without her usual accent. When working in the medical field, it was good not to have others mistake your 'w's for 'v's and thus she adapted. But, in an informal context she spoke a bit differently.

With a smile she watched a pair of local children having a snowball fight not too far away. It brought a fond memory to mind of her and her brothers, and the way things used to be before the fraternal fallout.

Kiara walked along the edges of then villiage, she had apperated from the end of the hogwarts wards to here.

In her thick cloak was wraped around her from the cold, the was a layer of snow on the ground, winter was offically here. As much as she hated the cold, she loved that it was christmas. She was rather looking forward to this meeting.

Coming up on 3 broomstick she saw young woman outside the popular pub, smiling she walked a little bit closer before removing her hood.

"Svetlana Kaminski?" she asked holding out her hand in greeting.

"Kiara, Head of Hogwarts.but you may call me Kiara if you wish. You haven't been waiting long I hope?" she asked politely.

Svetlana shook herself from her reverie upon hearing a feminine voice call out her name. Caramel-brown eyes looked to Kiara with curiosity, then enlightened merriment. "Da... I mean, yes - yes, I am Svetlana Kaminski... Zdravstvujte!" she replied and shook the woman's hand.

"And no, I have not been vaiting long. Maybe five minutes, give or take," Sveta answered, lowering her own hood to reveal a cascade of wavy raven hair that looked perhaps a bit softer than her brother's. Not to mention quite a bit longer. "And please, if I am to address you as 'Kiara', then 'Sveta' is vot you may call me."

Viper made her way down the streets of Hogsmeade rather hurriedly, well aware that she was late. She intended to have left Hogwarts earlier, preferably before Sveta arrived so she could meet the witch, but, well, she had gotten rather distracted...

A smile graced her face as her green eyes landed on two familiar sights. She quickened her pace slightly, arriving at Sveta's side. "Sveta, Kiara, Hello! I'm sorry I'm late. I lost track of time, I'm afraid." she greeted the two other women, though her eyes stole a very quick, wary glance at the Pub behind them. Forcing her gaze away, she looked to the other witches.

"So how have you been?" Viper asked, smiling brightly.

"Viper!" Sveta exclaimed happily. "Oh, do not vorry... I've only been here a few minutes - it is wonderful to see you again!" It took all of Svetlana's self control not to kiss Viper on both cheeks in greeting. She didn't think that would be an acceptable greeting upon the second meeting with the other witch.

The Russian witch's smile widened before she even began to reply to the question. "I am well, thank you! And the both of you - how have you two been?" Svetlana noticed the glance Amaranth gave to the pub they were standing next to, but decided not to pay it any mind for now. This was just the meeting place: they didn't have to go inside. She was fairly certain that she'd likely get the grand tour of Hogwarts and this little village twice: once with someone on the Hogwarts staff, and then again with her brother. Sveta decided she would greatly enjoy both a great deal.

Kiara chuckled, Sevastyan was right, her and Sveta would get along wonderfully.

"Very well, Sveta it is then" she said with smile.

When Viper arrived in a hurried huff she smiled and gave small laugh. "No worries Viper I just got here myself"

Kiara chuckled when Sveta asked how they were, "It has been a interesting month to say the least, but I can't complain. I am sure Sevastyan and Viper will tell you about the latest venture" she said, talking about the recently ended prank of most of the hogwarts staff turning into 5 year olds. It had been rather interesting, and in a way funny now that they thought about it.

"Shale we be going to Hogwarts? did you have some thing to do here first?" she asked.

Viper smiled at both witches, glad she wasn't as late as she had feared. "Likewise, I've been very well." a laugh soon followed, hearing Kiara mention the prank that had been pulled. She had been rather embarassed having revealed to Sevastyan exactly how she had been at that age and basically what she had been like prior to him meeting her but the feeling didn't last long. After all, the past is the past and it would be pointless to dwell on the "was".

She nodded at Kiara's question, looking at Sveta. "Which would you prefer, Sveta?" she asked the other witch. At some point, Viper wanted to take her on a tour of sorts, whether it be Hogsmeade or London's nightlife, though she wanted to be sure Sveta was up for it, or if she wanted to get settled first and take a moment to just relax.

Sveta smiled and nodded, glad to hear both were well. This month had been rather uninteresting for her until she'd received Kiara's letter, and met Amaranth in person at the apothecary in Saratov. A different kind of interesting occurred when her second cousin was killed by purgers... but other than those occasions nothing of too much import had gone on with her. The witch was curious what the 'latest venture' was, but decided to wait until a better time presented itself to ask.

Caramel-brown eyes turned thoughtful as she considered her options. "I have nothing pressing to do here. But I am not picky - votever you two vould like to do is fine by me. Though... if my brother is in the village ve'd probably better get to Hogvarts," she stated with a slight laugh. This surprise for Sevastyan partially reminded her of the time when she spied on him and a girlfriend of his kissing at the manor, but kept the memory to herself. She'd only been between 4 and 6 years of age at the time. There was little difference in the sense of secrecy between then and now.

Kiara smiled, "Well I don't think Sevastyan is here, but I could be wrong and I have nothing else to attend to here, We can head back to hogwarts... figure how to " she then turned to Viper.

"Unless of course, you have a better idea before going back Hogwarts Viper?" she asked curious if perhaps the younger woman had a better Idea.

Either way was fine with her she was rather looking forward to getting to know Sevastyan's younger sister.