The Great Hall

((Okay, thanks.))

"Yes Professor," Diana replied.

((Where's this detention?))

((Oops sorry in the AP spells classroom))

Sevastyan, being relatively new to the rivalries about the school, watched and waited as the Headmistress dealt with the students. He hadn’t really too much to say on the topic, preferring to keep his thoughts to himself for the time being. An object meant to be used against the Deathly Hallows? That was a new piece of information he hadn’t heard of. Then again, he admitted to himself, he initially thought the Hallows were restricted to legend until the Dark Lord Voldemort’s second defeat. It would be intriguing to learn what these two youths knew of the mechanics of this magical device, but for now he wouldn’t display interest. After a moment’s awkward hesitation, Sevastyan finally chimed in neutrally, “I vould also like to know about this Daglock Cavill and how it vorks.” Without any further words, the man separated from the group and returned to his seat. The students had their punishment decided; there was nothing left for him to take part in that he was aware of.

- - - - - - - - - - - - -
((KD, I’m going to assume Viper and Sevastyan’s discussion resumed after he returned to his seat if that’s okay. If not, let me know and I’ll edit it. . . it just seemed like the best way to meld the two things together.))


“Ah, the curiosity of youth,” Sevastyan muttered under his breath as he sat down once again at Viper’s side now that the matter of the Daglock Cavill seemed like a closed case for the time being.

He smiled at Amaranth’s offer to use her given name in response to his asking the same. “Very vell . . . Amaranth,” Sevastyan replied, his accent requiring a roll of the tongue on the ‘r’ in her name. “For some reason, ven fellow adults address me as ‘professor’ I feel very much older than I vould like. And ‘Mister Kaminski’ is more my father’s title than mine, even if I do have the same last name.”

Sevastyan listened with interest as Amaranth told him about how involved with potions she and a relative or two of hers had been. In a place at the back of his mind he wondered what sort of health condition would hinder one’s becoming an auror, but decided not to press the issue. She could have prodded him about his own past a little further – something that had not escaped his notice – so he would return the favor. There was no need to be quite that informed, anyway.

The sudden straying from the topic of potions to her family line caught him off guard, noticeable by the slight rise in altitude of his eyebrows. Almost like the situation between Miss Vaight and Miss Casillas, Sevastyan was once again the odd one out. Unlike the Gryffindor/Slytherin rivalry, however, Sevastyan had heard the surname ‘Viper’ before, but assumed the person he knew of wasn’t a relation to the woman sitting beside him. He wondered if he could assume the reason for her family’s bad reputation, but he hadn’t needed to wait long.

Gray eyes turned thoughtful in response to this candid information, holding nothing that resembled condemnation or spoke of judgment. It almost sounded to him like Amaranth wanted to be different from the flock, though his analytic mind presented some interesting side-thoughts to that observation. When she sat up straighter Sevastyan made a similar move, determined to not fall out of his chair a second time with the help of a student just dropping by.

“Not at all, Amaranth,” he assured her, using her given name for the second time in a row. “You and my sister vould get along vell, I think: she made her first potion at the age of five. I remember this because I vos vot you vould probably call the ‘guinea pig’ – as a dare, mind you. I have no idea vot she thought it vould do, but I doubt my early allergic reactions to valerian root vos vot she intended.” As opposed to the last delving into his past, Sevastyan was actually cheerful in talking of his sister despite the nut-shelled explanation of what had happened to him.

“Since ve are talking of family ancestries. . .” Sevastyan broached the topic cautiously, under an assumption that she hadn’t meant to share facets about her family history, “. . . are you familiar vith the Kaminskis at all?” He had some doubts as to whether or not she did, though specifically wondered about two particular Kaminskis as opposed to the whole clan. Removing his goblet from the table, Sevastyan glanced quickly at its contents before taking a sip from it. “Ve are an old vizarding family vith a rather checkered past,” he admitted freely, almost stoically, though didn’t offer much of anything more about the subject. Despite the light gray hue of his eyes there was a sort of darkness about them the moment the words left his lips.

((lol, yes that would probably work best. I didn't read all the way through so I didn't see the added things, XD))


Viper smiled at his affectionate mention of his sister. "Oh dear, was she much older than you? I'm afraid I was the second to last born in my family so there really wasn't anyone for me to play "guinea pig" on."

She paused for a moment as she adressed his last question. Kaminski...yes the name did sound familiar. She was sure she heard it a few times though she couldn't be sure. But judging by Sevastyan's actions clearly his background was more similar to her's than either would like to admit.

Viper silently nodded. "Then it is something we both have in common and can have an understanding on. Although, you seem to have had more of a success moving past your family stereotype than I have." she added as she looked down, not wanting to make eye contact.

Thankful that Kiara had been temporary distracted from both her health and the triwizard tournament, Eglantine continued to eat her sardines. To her absolute horror, her water glass began to shake. Finally after several moments it shattered, splashing water droplets on the laps of almost everyone at the table.

Sevastyan’s lips split into a wide grin. “She is tvelve years younger than me, actually. I’m the oldest of three children. One of my cousins dared me to take the potion. Ve had no idea the plant she’d used vos valerian – they vere not more than ‘roots from some pretty flowers’ to her, to use her childhood vords,” he explained pleasantly. “After I recovered, ve made it a regular little game amongst ourselves but kept her vell avay from allergenic products. My cousins – the ones old enough to be going to Durmstrang – and I created a second, similar game. Ve called it “Potion Roulette” and thought ve vere very clever about it because ve deliberately made the vord ‘Potion’ sound very close to ‘Russian’.” A pleasantly reminiscent chuckle punctuated his story, though suspected that it probably sounded absolutely insane to someone with such skill in potions as Amaranth professed to be. It was the risk that had drawn them to the game, though unless someone got hold of some stuff they shouldn’t have had in the first place it was pretty tame.

Cocking his head slightly in her direction and raising one of his heavy brows, Sevastyan was actually quite relieved that to hear the first part of her next statement. It was refreshing to not have one’s family reputation be based on how one was supposed to act and think and feel, even if he had prescribed to it at first. “In a vay, I vish your analysis vere true,” he trailed off, not quite sure how to respond to that one without telling the whole story of his past. “On the other hand, if it vere true, I vould never have learned about my field qvite as thoroughly, I don’t think.” An additional, unspoken sentence seemed to cling to the air; begging to be formed. Sevastyan denied its formation, however, preferring instead to stare blankly into the goblet he still clutched in his left hand.

“Tvorozhniki?” he offered Viper semi-awkwardly after placing one of the curd cheese pancakes typically served for breakfast or as desert in the eastern parts of Europe onto his plate. It was the closest plate of food nearest him, and hence a decent distraction. How the House Elves managed to learn of their international professor was beyond Sevastyan, but he wasn’t about to complain.


By the time he’d heard the glass shatter, there really wasn’t time at all to react. He hadn’t received the brunt of the spray, and even if he had there was a simple charm to dry the cloth. Leaning forward to observe the others further down the table, Sevastyan silently surveyed the scene for cause of what had happened or possible injury from broken glass shards. Oddly, there didn’t seem to be any cause for the incident at all.

Eglantine sighed as she noticed that the glass had shattered into dusty particles no larger than powdered ash. Aware that her magic was becoming unstable and she was demonstrating her weakness in front of hundred's of possible witnesses, Eglantine longed to apparate away. To hurry back to her rooms or maybe to the forest...

Yes, that was where she wanted to go. Back to the wolf body that had had no fear and no weakness. She had felt powerful, in control and safe, something that she had not felt since... had she ever felt that way before? For a brief blissful moment when Dracovan had disintegrated by Excessum Neci, she had.

Alarmed to where her thoughts were taking her and how dark they were, Eglantine raised both her hands to the sides of her head, trying to focus her mind.

Don't try to suppress it

Use it

Control it...let it grow...let it consume you

The Great Hall and all of its loud students vanished to be replaced with an empty courtyard.

"This is not real." she muttered to herself. Cerise appeared, looking rather smug.

"It is real enough, Eglantine. It can be real if you wish it to be."

Eglantine looked about her, to find the courtyard stained red and black with blood and grime. Strangely indifferent, she identified a body lying over the branded stone.

"Kiara." There were others...

"Viper... Miss Casillas... Mr. Vaight... Bella... Severus... Miss Vaight..." she stopped suddenly aware that they were actually dead, arrayed around her like trophies of sorts.

She blinked and the Great Hall returned. Cerise was becoming more powerful despite the cage and wards...

Kiara loocked around at the droplets of water.

Noticing the look of horror on Eglantines face she moved over to her, and asked quietly .

"What is wrong?"

Viper smiled at the fond memories. Growing up with her background, she didn’t have anyone to really play with. All her other cousins and siblings were dead or in Azkaban. She wondered for a moment if she did have playmates, would they have played “Potion Roulette” as well. It sounded absurd to Viper but she was positive it was a game she would have enjoyed at some point. “Your family sounds wonderful. You must be very close to them.”

She raised an eyebrow at his seemingly broken response. Maybe she and Sevastyan are more similar than she had first thought, although she knew he wasn’t going to go iinto details with her. At least, not at this point. Perhaps in the future though…

Viper shook her head and politely declined. She wasn’t much of a breakfast person, preferring a beverage to start her day. “Thank you, though.” She said politely.

She raised an eyebrow as she heard Eglantine’s glass shatter, wondering momentarily what was the matter with her lately. She fought back a laugh as some of the other Professors she had the most issues with got hit by the glass. “Karma is wonderful…” she thought to herself.

Unknown to Viper, a small, but nonetheless lethal looking shard had aimed itself at her neck, coating her with crimson liquid, cascading down to her chest.

Kiara's eye caught something a miss, looking over at Viper she eyes widened.

"Viper? what is with you and glass huh? your bleeding" she didn't have her healing on her so she cast a wandless healing spell, won't be nearly as effective.

Viper raised an eyebrow. "What are you talking about I-" her mouth formed an O as she noticed the blood stains on her and the faint scar from the cut. She tapped her fingers on the table, summoning a vial to pour a few drops unto the scar, vanishing it. "Thank you." she nodded, slightly disturbed by the Transfiguration Professor's lack of control over herself.

“I vos close to most of my extended family, at least,” Sevastyan admitted with a nod. “But there have been a couple of . . . irreparable squabbles vithin the ranks, you could say.” He decided he would leave it at that for the time being. Viper seemed congenial enough and apparently had some understanding about living within and as a part of a family involved with the dark arts, but he didn’t think she really wanted to hear about the falling out between him and his brother.

Her polite refusal earned a nod and a shrug from him as he placed the platter of pancakes back on the table. Perhaps she wasn’t too keen on the appearance of the food. Or maybe she just wasn’t the kind of person to partake in a substantial breakfast. His sister was like that, too, now that he thought about it. ’And so vere you, as a boy,’ his own voice echoed in his head.

When the Headmistress mentioned that Viper was bleeding, Sevastyan snapped his head back in her direction with alarm even though the situation was well under control. In a way he found it odd that Viper hadn't noticed anything at first. "Are you all right?" he asked, one brow hiked up further than the other in question.

Viper silently nodded, thinking of Odessa and the issues between them. Again something they had in common. "I can understand the conflicts. I have a sister who I have not spoken to in sixteen years, despite the fact that she is my last living relative. Even though she was disowned legally and magically." Viper didn't add that thyey had seen each other recently. She didn't really know how to explain that small aspect.

She bit her lip nervously when Sevastyan asked how she was. "Yes, I'm fine, thank you. I..suppose I was not paying attention..." She finished rather weakly. She sat in silence before throwing caution to the wind and answering honestly. After all, it wasn't much of a secret anymore. "I... can't feel pain..." she sighed, unsure of how he would react to that revelation.

Sevastyan made a noncommittal noise in the back of his throat, not sure entirely how he was to respond to the dilemma of sibling hostility. How long had it been since he’d spoken and been on good terms with his brother? Surely not since his early teens to mid teens at the earliest . . . A line between Sevastyan’s eyebrows creased with the thought. “I don’t remember the last time I spoke to my brother and actually found myself on good terms vith him aftervard, though neither of us vere disowned,” he admitted to Viper eventually. In fact the last time he spoke with Grigoriy both of them parted ways by casting a curse on the other, and that was a little over six months ago.

In response to Amaranth’s reply he nodded, satisfied. It would not be unheard of for a cut to go unnoticed, he knew, and was about to say something along those lines when Viper spoke again. She couldn’t feel pain? Sevastyan blinked once as he processed this information. Was it couldn’t, or wouldn’t? Either way the fact that she hadn't realized she'd been cut by glass seemed to make even more sense with this new piece of news. “I have heard of people who refused to feel pain. . .” he began, feeling as though he was treading on unsteady ground. “But not to feel pain at all . . . if you vill forgive my candidness, I can see how fate has dealt you both a blessing, and a curse. If you vould rather not discuss this. . .” Sevastyan left his words hang in the air to emphasize his point.

In casting about for some other topic to dwell on, Sevastyan took a deep sip from his goblet before speaking again. “Do you support a Qvidditch team?” he asked, getting the idea from a student at the Ravenclaw table who was designing a banner for their House team with some help from others clustered about him.

Viper smiled in gratitude at the change of topic, although she felt a pang of regret there wasn't much she could say on the topic. "No, I'm sorry. I don't quite follow the Quidditch teams, not being that good of a player myself. I suppose Slytherin would be who I support, although for the wrong reasons. I'm Head of Slytherin, having been in Slytherin barely five years ago, and I haven't quite outgrown the old House-rivalries." she laughed. "If anything, I think I only spurn them further."

Eglantine ignored Kiara, pushing her wheelchair back from the table and leaving the Great Hall as quickly as she could. She hoped that Kiara would not follow her.

Sevastyan nodded pensively. "I used to play ven I vos at school, though I vos by no means the best one on the team," he said conversationally. It was the truth: the star player for his team was actually his best friend rather than himself. With this thought in mind, Sevastyan made a mental note to write to Evert Rosenberg once he was able and could find a variety of topics to touch upon.

"I do not see how supporting the house you are Head could be a wrong reason," Sevastyan offered, choosing for the moment to ignore the whole House-rivalry thing she had mentioned. Yes, he knew of the Houses and yes he knew there was likely a professor to head them. However, Sevastyan didn't think it was a prudent time to show that he was uninformed on that point, actually contemplating on challenging himself to spot the rivalry - or rivalries - without aid.


His eyebrows rose at Professor DeLanquar's hurried exit, though that was the only movement he'd made. It was actually rather odd, in his opinion, but decided to drop the idea of voicing an inquiry. Unfortunately his mind had drawn a blank in the attempt to search for another topic to discuss, so he contented himself with pouring a bit of honey on the Russian-style pancake, which was actually still a little warm yet.

Viper nodded. "You went to Durmstrang, correct? Was it very difficult to play in the snow? I'd think the icy gale would make the game more challenging." She contemplated attempting to catch the golden fluttering snitch in the snow and how cold it must feel. Not to mention flying against the wind. She shivered at the thought.

She smiled slightly at his comment. Durmstrang did not have any houses so Sevastyan was probably not aware of how deep some of these rivalries run. Viper didn't see anything wrong with that though. He was sure to be a fair, completely un biased teacher because of that, which is exactly what the students needed.

Viper noticed the long silence between them as the defense Professor poked at his pancakes and she sipped at her goblet, looking to fill the gap. "Do you ever feel homesick?" she asked softly. He had mentioned his family quite a bit so Viper assumed it was only natural that he would miss his home country and family's presence.

Sevastyan nodded in the affirmative when she asked about his academic background, and gave her inquiry a bit of thought. "It vos challenging, and the ice storms and the strong vinds that came vith them made it all that more difficult. But ve persevered, and openly challenged the conditions that vere beyond our control. The snow, at least, broke any falls a bit more pleasantly than the ground vould have. Generally the nastier the veather the more the team and crowd enjoyed it . . . but if it vos too great a danger, ve vould play somevere else," he explained reminiscently. All the members of the teams loved challenges and risks almost as much as the spectators enjoyed watching the games, though the team's passion for it occasionally bordered on an extreme. "I played the position of Beater."

He had taken a bite of pancake before her question had been fully stated, and hence had some time to ponder the question while he chewed. Was he homesick? Well . . . yeah, he had to admit that much at least. Sevastyan swallowed. "Vos I that transparent?" he asked first, with a smile to show it wasn't meant to be an offensive comment.

Then Sevastyan got to the point, "I must admit that I do miss Mother Russia. . . but she vill alvays be there. On the other hand, I also enjoy traveling the vorld. Perhaps not as much as. . ." Sevastyan paused abruptly, not expecting to have thought about the person he'd been about to name. He had vowed to himself not to think about his ex-fiancee the moment he received the invitation to her wedding with another man. It had been one thing when they had broke up, but to have shortly thereafter joined in wedlock with another? It was unforgivable. "Perhaps not as much as certain other people, but it satisfies a certain curiosity, to experience how and vere ((where)) other people live," he amended for the unintended pause.

"And then there is my family. Certain individuals, yes: I miss them, and I vorry about one or two the most. But, I should hope every family has at least one body that one vouldn't care less to see or hear from again. . . I should say that I regret to admit to having a few of those, but I vould be lying if I said it." Surely Viper would understand his take on things? After all, she'd just told him not long ago that communication between her and her sister was pretty much nonexistent.

Sevastyan felt it was his turn to pose a question. It didn't really feel appropriate to ask a native of the country he was visiting if they in turn felt homesick, so a different vein of thought was probably best. "May I ask vot you do to keep yourself busy ven the duties of being a professor are complete or not required for the day?" he asked.

Viper smiled. She had worried her question on whether or not he was homesick would be far too personal so it was a relief that he did not find her to be too prying. She nodded in understanding on his statement regarding strayed family members.

"I can understand that, Sevastyan. While my clan stands annihilated, had they been alive now I am positive that I would have many of those that I would not care to see. Truth be told, seeing as how half of them are now ghosts, I honestly do not care to see them. Unfortunetly they are bound to Viper Manor so there are times where I have no choice. Rest assured, Sevastyan, you are not alone when it comes to not wishing to see certain families. As I said before, I myself have not spoken to my sister in years." She replied, meeting his gaze so he would know she was being truthful and not just saying this to make him feel better.

Viper hesitated a moment when he asked his next question. Technically, acoording to the Ministry's decree, she really wasn't supposed to continue her experiments and potion creations, especially since students were within close range, but despite all that she continued. It was all perfectly safe, of course. She had strengthened the potion dungeons with all the spells she knew.

Still, she wondered if Sevastyan would share her views or be aghast at the thought of possibly placing the student body in danger with her potion experiments. "I continue my work I did at the Ministry, merely in a new location." she admitted quietly.

Sevastyan listened to Amaranth's statements regarding her family. It seemed almost as though she had more relatives than he did that she didn't want to see, though as he'd already admitted he wasn't one to talk. She seemed honest about what she said; it was more than superficial reassurance, and he sensed at least that much. Sevastyan nodded slightly, though it was clear he was by no means about to get emotional any time soon over it. The wounds left by certain members of his clan had had a few years to form semi-numb scars before he'd come to Hogwarts.

Just as he had sensed her sincerity, so too did he sense the reluctance in the air. Or maybe it was hesitance. Naturally, it made him curious. Then again, given what he had already been told, should it really surprise him to find she was less than willing to divulge much practically in front of the entire school?

With all of the noise in the Great Hall, Sevastyan had to strain his ears to hear her but they had done their job in snatching her every word from the air. "Ah, I see," he replied with a rather more accentuated nod of his head, as if he'd had a revelation or been told something particularly enlightening. "Another sensitive topic - I von't say a vord about it." Sevastyan added, just so she knew he didn't exactly find the hobby of sorts to be something horrendous. He wasn't naiive, but nor was he overly concerned.

To say that Viper was suprised at Sevastyan's reaction would be an understatement. She had expected him to be at the very least uncomfortable at the prospect of having experiments be performed so close at hand. But to be sure, she added a bit hastily. "I have many wards surrounding the potions dungeons so the risk of a lethal accident occuring and harming Hogwart's inhabitants is incredibly small. Should there be any accidents at all, Merlin forbid, it will be me alone who bears the burn, so there is no need to worry at all." she said smiling wryly, sipping at her goblet.


"What of you, Sevastyan? What are your interests?" she asked curiously.

“Amaranth,” Sevastyan half-sighed, lightly amused, one hand lazily raised in a gesture to more or less ask her to slow down. It wasn’t that he couldn’t understand her – far from it, in fact. “I had assumed as much, eqvally assuming the Headmistress vouldn’t allow such a thing had you not taken such measures. And, vhile ve are on the subject: since ven does a professor refrain from attempting breakthroughs in their field?” he stated quietly, the question as shrewd – and dare we say almost knowing? – as the half-smile on his face. Sevastyan appeared and sounded about as far away from being worried as humanly possible. Though he hadn’t exactly been in the confines of a school during one of his own investigations, he had experimented with his own branch of study several times before.

When attention focused to him again, this time about his own interests, Sevastyan could think of a few he could get away with listing. “I have qvite the variety, actually. My grandfather insisted every Kaminski vot called him some form of ‘father’ vould learn an instrument, so I chose guitars – Russian seven-string, acoustic, vot the muggles call an electric guitar. . . that kind of thing;

“Like you, I also have an interest in potions and the effects they can have. Though, I daresay I’ve already told you about this, and that you vould know a bit more about vot you are doing than I vould;

“Then there’s Qvidditch – mostly vatching, but I used to play unprofessionally vith friends even after Durmstrang. It is almost more fun than dueling, vich happens to be my favorite sport. Aside from that and living life to the fullest, I cannot think of other things I enjoy that vouldn’t bore you to hear about. . .” he explained at length. Perhaps they would have something more in common than an interest in potions?

“. . . though, I confess that I have left out my own branch of study, vich has been a rather top-priority interest since I vos a boy,” Sevastyan added in an undertone, deliberately leaving the statement open for interpretation as he occupied himself with a few swallows from his own goblet.

Viper nodded, listening to every word he said. "Nothing you say is boring me Sevastyan. Believe me, you would know if you were boring me." she said good naturedly.

She noticed how after his last sentence he indulged in his goblet, noticing the familiarity of the gesture. She had an idea of what branch he spoke of but did not want to presssure him into sharing with her, especially when the student body was only a few feet away. "You do not need to say a word." she said softly in an understanding tone.