Three's a Charm

She grabs the hand towel to dry her hands after washing the dishes with Misaki following the delicious breakfast she had helped Hei make.

When she's done she turns to where Hei is resting on one of the couches and he smiles at her, “Why was that November guy so nervous about you yesterday when we swung by to pick up my gear?”

She snorts as she settles on the couch as well, Misaki plopping down on another, “I'd like to know that too.”

She props her elbow against the back of the couch and her face against her fist, “He's from, or at least works for, the British government, right?” Misaki nods, “Assumably, his superiors warned him against screwing with me or making me mad, which puts him in a bit of a tricky spot, since you already don't like him, Hei. That, and he's probably not used to having to be careful about people who are just shy of fourteen.”

Hei raises an eyebrow, “Why would he have to worry about you?”

She grins, “I'm just assuming they warned him since I kind of have majority control over the British magical government now.”

Hei lowers the mug he'd just about to take a drink from to blink rapidly at her, “Beg pardon?”

Before she can answer, Misaki, whose eyebrows are furrowed, also asks, “How could you even take control?”

She snorts, “I wasn't kidding yesterday when I told your friend that Britain still has nobility. And while the non-magical world kind of has them in name, in the magical world over there at least, the nobility runs the government, being both the highest court of law and also parliament.” She waves her hand, “I got majority control, which means I kind of control the whole thing in general.” She shrugs, “Obviously I don't have the same sort of pull in the non-magical world, but I can only assume it makes them awfully nervous given I'm again, just shy of fourteen and have already achieved it.”

Hei nods in understanding, but Misaki crosses her arms in thought, “How did you even swing that?”

She shrugs, “Combination of overcoming shitty situations and then spinning them around to be to my advantage. It probably doesn't help with how nervous it makes them that I didn't lurk in the shadows or anything but rather immediately started using that control to change things.”

Misaki raises an eyebrow, “In what way?”

She shrugs again, “The UK isn't, or wasn't rather, as understanding of the so-called creatures that things like werewolves and vampires and the like are classified as. And while I'd been steadily chipping away at it, it gave me the ability to get the rest of the reevaluation of the laws regarding them done in one push. They also had lumped White, Black, and Dark magic together from a legal standpoint and made them all illegal, and I undid that too, so now only Black magic is illegal.”

From her expression, Misaki gets a bit lost there, and she sighs, “The short version is like this. Dark and Light magic, while there are differences, are more akin to a positive and negative electrical charge, alright?” Misaki nods, “White and Black magic, despite what some people may think, are not more extreme versions of them. There is Black Light or White Dark magic. This is because Black and White magic actually refers to sacrificial magic specifically. Black magic is unwilling sacrifices while White is willing sacrifices. Sacrifice doesn't just mean death of course, but anything that requires the sacrifice of a life is included in those.”

Misaki gets an understanding expression for a moment before her brows furrow again, “And they were legally all lumped together as Dark and made illegal?” She nods, “Why?”

She shrugs, “Hate to break it to you, but it's mostly influence from the non-magical world being brought over. Muggleborns or halfbloods that have good ties to it tend to hear light and dark and have knee-jerk reactions, because the non-magical world kind of primes them to think of something like Dark magic as inherently evil and Light magic as inherently good. Don't give me that look, before I explained it, it was obvious from your expression you were drawing your own conclusions about what those names meant too.”

Misaki blushes a little, “I-...” She sighs, “Yeah, I guess I was.”

She chuckles, “In fairness, a lot of it comes from stories and media. I wasn't kidding about them practically priming you to draw those conclusions.”

Misaki nods, “There is that I suppose. So you were just fixing things then?”

She hums, “Partly. Partially it's because it's more critical in the short term than the vast majority of people realize.”

Misaki tilts her head, “In what way?”

She sighs, then turns her gaze to Hei, which seems to startle him a bit since she was mostly talking to Misaki since he already knew all that other stuff from letters with her, “Don't get all mad at me. I had every intention to bring it up today. I just didn't mention it yesterday because sue me but I wanted to enjoy at least one day of being back with you before such crap came up.”

He nods, and she sighs again as she turns back to Misaki who's brows are furrowed again, “Because when I was a baby there was a wizard trying to take over the magical world over there who was preaching that pureblooded magicals should rule over everyone else, and everyone else should kneel or die. And he's not only not as dead as everyone assumes, but all the signs point to him being on the cusp of coming back. Considering those used to be pools of manpower he could pull from, in the form of the creatures who were tired of being beaten down, and the Dark magicals who were terrified of being persecuted unjustly with both groups desperate enough for change that even as terrible as he was he seemed like the lesser of the two evils, fixing those problems cuts off his inroads to them.”

She glances away, “It should make it so the only ones who follow him are people who genuinely believe in his cause. Well, mostly. His side were very fond of both using mind control magic on people as well as threatening people into compliance. It made the cleanup last time one hell of a mess from my understanding. Trying to work out who actually supported him, who was being mind controlled, who was being threatened…” She waves a hand, “There's a reason it was a mess. Actually, one of his followers that wiggled out of trouble is both part of the reason I have control and how I know he's regaining power.”

Misaki gets a funny look, “In what way? And why would you work with someone like that?”

She snorts, “If you're asking how he wiggled out of his charges, it was a mixture of bribery and claiming Imperius, the mind control spell that is. If you're asking how I got him on a leash, he made a huge fuck up that told him Voldemort, what the wizard he used to serve and that was trying to take over calls himself, was both still alive and would kill him if he realized what he'd done.”

She shrugs, “Which means he kinda has to hope Voldemort is taken down before he realizes what he did, and his only options there are Dumbledore,” Misaki gets a scowl, making it clear she knows at least a bit about the truth regarding him, “or me. So he kind of has to do what I tell him to and influence his own voting bloc my way too. At least for now. Once Voldemort is dealt with he won't, but considering how many seats on the Wizengamot, that's the name of the wizarding body that's both the highest court of law over there as well as the parliament, were left vacant during Voldemort's last reign of terror since he was wiping out entire families and they need to be refilled with new people, then as long as I can find ones that'll listen to me it won't matter when he stops.”

Misaki shakes her head, “What a mess…”

She snorts again, “Tell me about it.”

Misaki tilts her head, “How come he was gone for so long though? This Voldemort that is.”

She hums, “Because everyone thought he was dead, and for good reason. Technically speaking his physical body was completely destroyed. But he'd used incredibly foul black magic to make something called a Horcrux. When you make one, it rips your soul in half and stores the removed part in an object, and as long as it continues to exist, the magical who made it remains tethered to life and can be revived.”

She shakes her head, “Crazy fuck made seven as far as I can tell right now. Which is actually why Lucius, the follower of his that does what I tell him to, came to be in the position he's in. Voldemort entrusted one of his Horcruxes to him, but he didn't tell him what it was, and he got it destroyed. And at that, as far as I can tell, not only did he get one of his Horcruxes destroyed, but it was the first one he made, which means it would have a full half of his soul.”

Hei purses his lips, “But all of this means that another war is coming.” She nods, and he gives her a flat look, “I hope you realize there's no way in hell I'm letting you have any part of that without me.”

She nods, “I assumed that would be the case.” She smiles a twisted little thing, “There's a reason I didn't want to bring it up yesterday. It's your choice to make and you know full well how I feel about people making choices for others in general, but sue me I wanted one day at least.”

He nods in understanding and Misaki draws her attention, chewing on her lip slightly, “And you're sure this… Voldemort is coming back?”

She nods, “He put a magical mark on all of his followers, and they all faded almost into non-existence when he fell, but Lucius’ has been getting darker. And Snape, one of his followers who got out of trouble last time but recently got arrested, managed to escape as he was being transferred to prison. He has nowhere else to go, and between that and the mark getting darker not too long after he escaped…”

Misaki gets a dark look but nods her understanding, before she asks, “But… why do you specifically have to have anything to do with it?”

She shrugs, “A combination of moral obligation and the knowledge that last time, because of the fact the British Wizarding World has long been lulled into an almost sheep-like nature, the vast majority didn't even try to resist him. They all just kind of kowtowed to him. There's not a lot of options for people willing to defy him to begin with but… prophetic magic is a thing, and some things that have happened made Moody start to suspect there was one at play between him and me. If that's true, then I don't actually have much of a choice, even if I was willing to abandon all those innocent people to him.”

Misaki nods in understanding, “That's why Moody took off basically as soon as he wasn't needed for the evidence and trials anymore, isn't it?”

She nods in return, “Yeah. To some degree he actually wanted to return to the UK the moment he found out Voldemort was still alive, but…” She glances at Hei who raises an eyebrow, “I pointed out that as things stood at that time, no one would really listen to him, but also that, one, since we didn't know the Syndicate's overall plan at the time we had no way of knowing they probably wouldn't care in the slightest or be inclined to take advantage of the chaos to get some control, and two Hei was likely to get involved the moment he realized I was, and to be honest he's one of the best assets we have. Period. Best assassin in the world and fully capable of taking on multiple people with powers even if he doesn't have some of his own and all that.”

Hei seems to get a little smug at that, and she can't exactly blame him, given what it says about his abilities that Moody listened and chose to continue trying to track him down and get him free rather than rush back immediately and try to start making plans.

She shakes her head in mild amusement, “Moody is probably going to want to work with you a bit to make sure you're fine to take on wizards specifically since we don't exactly just have one power at our disposal that only has so much wiggle room in what we can do with it. And one of us is going to have to teach you how to recognize the signs of someone being under the Imperius curse, since while unfortunately it's sometimes unavoidable depending on the situation, we'd both prefer for as few of them to die as possible.”

Hei nods, “That makes sense. And from what you told us about Moody in general yesterday, about just how good he is at his job, he's probably the best person to work with a bit. Though it'll be a bit complicated to constantly go back and forth to work with him and return for my mandatory counseling and so Misaki can continue to keep an eye on me so the court doesn't get nervous and all that.”

She nods in return, “Nah, that over there isn't a coat cabinet. It's a Vanishing Cabinet, a magical artifact where you just step in, close the door, and when you reopen it you'll be where its pair is. That one leads to another in my London apartment, but there's another in my room that leads directly to one in my trunk. And undoubtedly he's the best, yes. Even if it's probably gonna be painful. Which I am not looking forward to, since he made it abundantly clear that he intended to give me some training too. Well, in person training. He's been teaching me since my first year, sending me memories to watch in a pensieve both to learn spell work and just for general lessons on mistakes he made so I won't have to repeat them to learn the same lessons.”

Hei looked over at the Vanishing Cabinet in interest when she pointed to it, then turns back to her in amusement and laughs a little at her for her mixed feelings of being somewhat excited because she'll be getting training from Moody and that will be incredible in general and unbelievably useful if she ends up fighting someone like Voldemort and mild dread because Mad Eye Moody will be training her.

She turns to Misaki to jerk a thumb in his direction, “He laughs even though I know full well that even if I don't say anything it won't take long for him to get it in his head to start working with me too.” Hei's laughter abruptly stops as realization washes over him and he swiftly gets a gleam in his eyes, and she shakes her head at Misaki, who tucks her smile behind her hand, and she dryly continues, “And I'm not eight anymore. He's not gonna go easy on me. Or. Well. Not as easy. I'm not a world class assassin after all.”

Misaki shakes her head in amusement, “No, just being trained by one.”

She shrugs, “Whatever it takes to walk away the victor. The stakes are pretty damn high with Voldemort after all.”

Misaki hums in agreement, and they quickly turn to the three of them discussing details about Voldemort and the plans she has in the works.

She's just about to enter her room when she hears the bathroom door open as Hei finishes his shower. Remembering that Moody had sent her a note asking when Hei wanted to start getting adapted to fighting magicals while he was in his shower, she turns to ask him about it.

And is promptly drawn up short.

Hei was rubbing at his hair with the end of a towel resting on his shoulders with one hand, holding a shirt in the other, having not put it on yet. He was still a bit wet.

As he asks Misaki about if they'd gotten back to her about when his mandatory counseling would start, practically outside of her control, her eyes follow a bead of water as it makes its way down his torso.

Her face heats a bit as she realizes that Hei is… kinda hot. Confusion sweeps through her, given how well known it is that bonds block feelings when one soulmate is a minor, her mind whirls away trying to figure out what is happening with her. Realizing she's staring at his six pack and not wanting to potentially make him uncomfortable, given the whole thing about her being a minor and knowing he'll notice if she stares too much longer, she whirls away.

And promptly realizes she's misjudged the distance to the doorframe when she smashes into it, pain flaring in her nose as a ‘CRACK’ echoes out. She stumbles back, falling on her ass as she brings her hands up to her face reflexively, barely managing to stop herself from touching her absolutely broken nose.

“Calanthe! Are you alright?!”

She looks up through teary eyes at Hei, who was both the one to speak and was currently standing over her, expression concerned. Misaki pops up at his side a moment later, equally as worried, and she murmurs back, “I- I'm fine. Just broke my nose I think.”

Hei reaches down to help her up, and she pulls one hand away from her face to grab onto his arm, “How did that even happen?”

She shakes her head, “I just… misjudged the distance to the door frame as I was turning away is all.”

His brow furrows, eyes still worried, “How did that happen? It's not like you.”

She shrugs, unable to look at him, “I was distracted is all.” She shakes her head, stopping him from asking why with a question of her own, “Where's the potion kit I gave you? Minors aren't allowed to use magic outside of school due to a combination of potentially damaging their growing and therefore unstable magical cores when they're younger without supervision and also because there's a lot more room for things to go wrong before they have a firm grasp at magic. Not much point in going to a Healer for something as simple as a broken nose though, since a mild strength bone healing potion will set it and heal it. It'll just take longer.”

He quickly tosses the towel on a couch and starts off towards his room quickly as he mercifully tugs on his shirt, “I'll go get it.”

Misaki carefully pulls her hand away from where it’s cupped over her nose to see how bad it is, and she's so mortified by the situation that she can't meet her eyes. Misaki smiles reassuringly, “You don't have to be so embarrassed Calanthe. No one is perfect. Things like this happen sometimes. Especially when you're a teenager, since their growing bodies make them a bit clumsier.”

And she has to bite back the reflex to correct her as to why she can't meet their eyes, since honestly? She is embarrassed, and if they think the embarrassment was due to the miscalculation, that it’s the reason she can't look at either of them right at this moment, then it suits her just fine.

Hei comes back out then, with both his potions kit and a box of tissues, and she's given a healing potion and quickly nudged into sitting on a chair at the dining table so he can pull one up to her and check the damage as well as carefully clean some of the blood off.

When he's satisfied, he shakes his head as he rolls his potions kit -which he'd almost absently tossed on the table- back up, “Well, it looks like it's just your nose, and it isn't too bad. Just hold that tissue to your nose for now to keep any more blood from dripping on your face or on your clothes.”

She nods, “Alright. Thanks.”

He flashes her a smile as he climbs back to his feet. Setting his now rolled up potions kit back on the table and heading over to make some tea, “Anyway, what were you saying about some issues they were having Misaki?”

As the two of them start talking, she pulls her phone out to look up the answer to her question online. It's not particularly obscure or deep knowledge. The answer pops up immediately, though it itself outright says that it's not well known, since the focus on soulmate pairings with age gaps has always been the reassurance that it neither forces nor even allows the older to prey on the younger. But apparently, that whole block on soulmates developing romantic or sexual feelings when one is a minor and there's more than a year in the age gap? It only goes one way.

And she wasn't an eight year old anymore. She was a teenager, who was actively going through puberty. And the soulmate connection may not force feelings or attraction, but while she'd been too young for the latter the last time they saw each other and their relationship hadn't been romantic, they had still had time to build a relationship, so it was already there.

Which, on one hand answers the question of whether they had a romantic bond or not, and it even makes sense why it hit her when it did. In retrospect, the fact she kept turning boys down because they weren'tHei should've tipped her off, but it had only hit her now since yesterday they had been talking about Voldemort's imminent rise, and before that she had been focused on either Hei's new freedom or getting said freedom. On the other? She was only fourteen. Which means the bond would be blocking Hei, and later Misaki if theirs was also romantic, from feeling anything romantic or sexual towards her for three years.

Ignoring the fact that her nose was still broken and sore and the possible of hurting it, she locks her phone and thunks her forehead on the tabletop.

Can she just fight the Basilisk again instead? Fighting the Basilisk was way easier than the next three years were going to be.

He's looking up at the fake stars in the sky as he walks along the paths with Misaki and Calanthe, intending to find some place to put down their blanket and turn on his Real Sky Astrolabe when movement draws his attention in front of them.

He's absolutely stunned to see Amber again. Even more so to see her wearing that same gentle smile she used to like nothing had ever gone wrong as she greets him, “Hello again Hei.”

He narrows his eyes a little, “Amber. What do you want?”

She pouts a little, “Is that any way to greet your old girlfriend?”

He stares her down, “When said girlfriend was linked to the disappearance of my sister for what the released footage of the court case against the old chief of police revealed was because they made a plan to get rid of the Gate before its connection to all the Contractors and Dolls could be used to kill them all at once, then didn't bother to fill me in on what happened to my sister and left me in the dark for years? Yes. Yes it is. The most you'll ever get from me is being vaguely cordial, if clipped, since you do have some sort of soulmate bond with my sister. You burned the bridge for anything more years ago.”

She blinks rapidly at him, then tilts her head in confusion, “You're still upset with me even after finding out what happened?”

His eyes narrow further, “Yes. I won't be hostile towards you for the sake of not making things difficult for whatever soulmate bond you and my sister have, but that's it. Now, what. Do. You. Want.”

Her face blanks out and there's a beat before she replies, “I still need BK-201's power to get the Gate out of the reach of people like the Syndicate.”

He's fully aware he's giving her a look like she's crazy, because she is, “Excuse me? Why the hell would you still want to do that even after the evidence Calanthe submitted for the courts making it clear the Gates, Contractors, and Dolls was magics way of trying to rebalance the number of magical to non-magical beings in the world as well as the fact there's a build up of magical levels similar to what happened right before the Gates appeared, making it clear that magic is basically waiting on standby to create another pair of Gates and wave of Contractors and Dolls if the current ones disappear entirely."

"It made it very clear to both individual people and governments that it's something similar to a MAD doctrine if they try to wipe out Contractors and Dolls. Especially, with the evidence she submitted to the prosecutors making it fairly clear that whenever a large number of magicals are killed by non-magicals quickly, magic tends to release something that kills a lot of non-magicals like it's trying to balance the number of deaths between them! Or more accurately, trying to rebalance the population levels by getting rid of some non-magicals.”

Amber purses her lips, “You can't really trust them to actually weigh the scenario properly and act logically. It's us versus them Hei! It's a matter of survival!”

He shakes his head, “No Amber. Your own logic is being blinded by both your need to protect your own life as well as an inability to realize that even despite being emotional creatures, the non-contractors are still capable of logic and understanding that it’s mutual destruction. The only one seeing it as ‘Contractors versus non-Contractors’ now is you. I will not help you with this madness.”

She steps forward desperately, “Hei-!”

He narrows his eyes further, “No Amber.” He looks over at Misaki who already has her phone in hand, “Done reporting this?”

Misaki nods, “Yeah. There's already an officer already on the way, but they didn't bother sending more between the fact her power itself isn't combative and the fact that with her ability to freeze time, even if they were already here she'd undoubtedly get away. They're mostly coming to get our statements for the report.”

Calanthe leans forward, “Given that it is mutual destruction, it shouldn't be hard to convince them to set up a ward around it that keeps anyone who means to do anything like what they did to the Heaven's Gate or what the Syndicate was planning with the Hell's Gate out.”

He nods, “That's a good point.”

“Would you really try to turn me over to the police when I'm just trying to ensure the lives of Contractors and Dolls and you know that and the full truth of everything now?”

When he turns back to her, he finds her gazing at him with a heartbroken expression. He shakes his head, “Yes. Because the very fact that it is something of a MAD doctrine situation, means it is more madness on your part then an actual attempt to protect anyone.”

Amber shakes her head, stepping back. Her eyes start to glow red with the activation of her Contractor power, and instinctively he summons his coat and mask the split second after they do. Another split second later he recognizes that they aren't really necessary since Amber's power isn't combative in and of itself, but before he can put them back away, she activates her Contract.

Then things grow weird. He recognizes the flash of feeling that means she's activated her power on him, but… he's still aware of the world when that isn't what's supposed to happen.

He isn't fully frozen either, his body feels like it's dragging itself through molasses, but he can still move. He knows he can from a twitch of his fingers wanting to reach for his knives the minute he felt her power gripping him. 

His mind races, trying to figure out what the hell is going on. As the identification aspect opens up on the one way glass that makes up his mask's eyes, it clicks. Calanthe had told him that the mask and coat had an incredibly high magical resistance, and the identification potion from so long ago had made it perfectly clear that a Contractor's powers were a kind of magic. They couldn't negate her power's hold on him completely, but they were resisting it. Further, now that he thinks about it, she'd mentioned that the mask would ‘petrify’ power that kept attacking it over time. On top of that, while it wasn't strictly a mental ability, who knows if the mask would interpret its effects on his mind as such and strike back.

He snaps out of his racing thoughts as Amber sighs sadly and starts to walk towards him. It's incredibly slow and makes his body feel like an old rusted doll with slow creaking joints, but he slowly turns his head to look at her as she approaches.

Amber looks a bit confused for a moment, then she seems to realize it isn't her imagination that he's moving and she scrambles away with a terrified expression. She runs off quickly, and a bit more than a minute later the power disappears and his body goes back to feeling normal right along with the regular state of things returning to the rest of the world.

Misaki looks over at him, “Hei?”

He shakes his head as he activates the bracelet to send the mask and coat back to its storage, “It was habit when I saw her eyes start glowing.” He looks over at Calanthe and raises an eyebrow, “You did a stupidly good job with the mask and coat though.” She tilts her head, and he grins and explains before she can ask, “Her chronokinesis didn't freeze me. It slowed me down an incredible amount, but I wasn't frozen.”

Calanthe's eyes go wide and Misaki chokes on that revelation. Not that he can blame them. He's still struggling to wrap his head around what exactly the mask and coat pulled off himself. But Calanthe really did do an incredible job on them. And Horace's comment that no one would touch him when she was done had a bit more weight after that taste of the coat and mask's capabilities.

She frowns down at the book, then sighs as she leans her head back against the couch. Misaki looks up in concern, “Everything alright?”

She waves her hand, “Fine, fine. Just not entirely sure what I'm supposed to do with something I have is all.”

Misaki frowns, “What is it?”

She shrugs, “You remember the Basilisk I told you about?” Misaki twitches at the reminder, but nods, “When I had the goblins render it into parts, I kept all of it, and there are uses for the vast majority of it, but… there's no good use I can find for its meat, which I still have under preservation charms.”

Misaki tilts her head, “If you don't have a use for it, you could just throw it out?”

She winces, “That's what Hermione has said, but to be honest… after growing up with the Dursley's it feels… way too wasteful. I can't really bring myself to do it.”

Misaki nods, “I can understand that, still though, a snake that size… what on earth are you going to do with so much meat?”

She shrugs, and Hei leans around the kitchen door from where he'd insisted on making dinner himself tonight, “Could just use it as, well, meat.” She and Misaki give him weird looks, and he shakes his head, “Snake meat tastes like chicken. So unless there's something weird about Basilisk meat in particular, could just use it as a stockpile of meat.”

She tilts her head, “Honestly, I wouldn't think it would taste any different.” She shakes her head, “Especially given how a Basilisk is made.” Hei gives her an odd questioning look, so she pushes her hair back, “Barring a Basilisk laying eggs directly, there is another way to make them. Actually, since they aren't a naturally occurring creature, it’s the source of the species. I have no idea why it does it, but for some reason hatching a chicken egg under a toad makes a Basilisk. Given that the egg was initially a chicken egg, that just reinforces the idea it would taste like chicken.”

Hei tilts his head, “How on earth was that even- You know what, never mind. But there you go, that's its use. Unless we specifically want beef or pork or something, we have a ridiculous amount of meat and don't need to buy any anytime soon. We'll, unless Basilisks taste terrible. But barring that, you don't have to toss it out and waste it and it still gets used.”

She hums, “Works for me.”

Ron and Neville are straight up laughing while Daphne was looking away, mouth twitching in amusement and Hermione and Susan are more giggling, mouths tucked behind their hands as the group walks down the rows of stalls set up for the Quidditch world cup. She didn't have a whole lot of interest in the sport, but Ron's family had won tickets, and Neville and Susan had some of their own, so she also hadn't particularly wanted to turn down the invitation he'd extended to her and Hermione.

She gives them all a dirty look, “I was looking for a bit of sympathy, not your laughter.”

Susan shakes her head, “No, sorry. We totally get where you're coming from just…” She gives her a sheepish smile, “It's a bit hard not to laugh, when you basically just told us you broke your nose after an ‘Oh shit. They're hot.’ revelation about your soulmates.”

She shakes her head, “Yeah, yeah, Calanthe panicked and broke her nose, haha. But seriously, has it really occurred to you guys what this means? The bond will block them from feeling anything not platonic towards me for the next three years. It will not be merciful enough to do the same for me. Which means I'll just be… forced to hide any hint of it for the next three years, lest they start to question everything I do, even though I absolutely respect the fact that my being a minor would make them uncomfortable with anything non-platonic and I've never meant anything more regardless.”

The humor evaporates, and Neville looks down with furrowed brows, “When you put it that way… It really is a pretty unfortunate situation, isn't it?”

She nods, “Yeah. And if I ever slip up on hiding things, then that's also going to make them both uncomfortable and have them questioning things, because even if I explain why I hid it in the first place, they're probably still going to have thoughts in the back of their mind that maybe my hiding it or the things I do aren't so innocently intended. So it would make things worse, but if I just told them…”

Daphne purses her lips, “You're right back to the initial problem of making them uncomfortable and questioning things constantly.”

She sighs as she shoves her hair back, “Exactly. Like… I want to be able to curl up on the couch with Hei or- or like the other day, being able to help Misaki with a stubborn zipper in the back while Hei is busy without them automatically starting to wonder if I mean anything by it when I don't! Because, again, if nothing else I respect the fact I'm a minor and it would be inappropriate as well as make them uncomfortable otherwise.”

Hermione chews on her lower lip, “It… is kind of a tricky situation, isn't it?”

She nods morosely. Ron bumps her shoulder with his own, “Cheer up Calanthe. There's no point constantly being afraid of them realizing. You'll just have to take things as they come.”

Susan nods, “Besides, constantly fretting about them noticing is just going to make them more likely to notice.”

She sighs again, “I suppose that's true. And I guess there's not a whole lot of reason to keep talking about it either.” She shakes herself out and forces herself to start really taking in the items on the stalls, “Well! Let's see if they have anything interesting for sale!”

Her friends, though a bit more concerned now that they've understood the full situation rather than just originally finding humor in her accidentally breaking her nose, take the shift in topic fairly easily.

Even as she studies some rather interesting binoculars, or omnioculars as they're called, her mind continues to wonder how the hell she's supposed to keep a world class assassin and an incredibly experienced police officer in the dark.

She's walking around the campgrounds as they enjoy the post game celebrations, when she suddenly spots Draco Malfoy hovering in a dark spot between tents. The moment she looks at him, he waves her over, so she subtly separates from her friends. Susan and Daphne notice immediately, but seeing what she's looking at, Susan glances at Daphne before mouthing at Calanthe that they'll cover for her.

She slips over to him, and without preamble, he murmurs to her, “My father said to come warn you. Some of the Death Eaters are talking about causing some mayhem. With the mark darkening, it's making them bolder, and on top of that they feel a… pressure to put on a show, to try to smooth over the fact they seemed to abandon the cause after he fell.”

She frowns heavily, “So they're going to attack tonight then?”

He nods, “Probably. Father said he doesn't think they're bold enough yet to kill anyone, but even if they aren't aiming to kill, it would be all too easy for deaths to occur.”

She looks back at the crowd, “I need to warn Amelia to have the Aurors on high alert.”

Malfoy nods, “Just be careful how you go about things. If they start to suspect there's a traitor this early… He also wanted me to warn you that for that exact reason, he's going to have to be with them.”

She nods back, “Amelia can probably pass it off as them just being more watchful because some of the celebrations got out of hand.” She shakes herself, “I need to go though, so she has as much time as possible.”

He nods and she quickly slinks back to Susan, leaning close to murmur, “Where's your aunt?”

She glances over, “At our tent enjoying a calmer celebration with Andromeda. Do you remember the way?”

She nods, “I do. Gather everyone up and take them back to where the Longbottom, Weasley, and Sirius’ tents are. There's a good chance there's going to be an attack, and they need to stick together and with some adults.” She glances over at where Daphne had sidled up while she was asking about Amelia and tensed at the last part, “Go get your parents. Get them and have them go there as well.”

Daphne nods and darts off, and she heads off towards the Bones’ tent as Susan starts to corral their friends. She quickly makes for Amelia, and even with all the revelers in her way, it isn't too long before she's bursting in on the two sipping at something. Their expressions had been pleasant as they started to look over, but they both straighten up and become serious the moment they get a look at her.

Amelia sets her glass down, looking seconds away from rising to her feet, “Trouble?”

She nods tensely, “Malfoy just warned me. Some of his old crowd are talking about stirring up chaos tonight.”

She quickly shoots up, “Death Eaters? Here? That-”

She shakes her head, “He doesn't think they're bold enough to start killing again yet, so it's not as bad as it could be if they were up to start firing killing curses into the crowd. He's also going to have to be with them to keep his cover, and needs you to be careful in how you go about getting the Aurors to be on high alert. I figured we could claim a party got out of hand.”

Amelia nods firmly, then glances at Andromeda who grins as she rises, “Well then. Guess I need to go make sure a party gets out of hand and enough so that they won't miss it, now don't I?”

Amelia smiles back, “Ah, Blacks do tend to get rather rowdy and stir up trouble, don't they?” Then she tilts her head, “If we're lucky, it may even scare them off of trying anything.”

She presses her lips together, “I doubt it. Part of their reason is because they essentially want to put on a show after basically abandoning their master's cause when he fell now that the mark is darkening.”

Amelia nods, “If that's the case, probably not, but they can't suspect anything if there's a perfectly reasonable excuse.”

Andromeda squeezes her shoulder as she slips by her, off to make the excuse for the Aurors. Amelia pushes her hair back, “I suppose I should go speak to the Aurors. Let them know what's going on.”

Despite saying that, she hesitates a moment, so she smiles reassuringly at her, “I told Susan to take our group back to the cluster made up of the Weasley, Longbottom, and Sirius’ tents. She knows what's going on, so she's probably warning the adults there.”

Amelia relaxes slightly, then nods firmly, “Well then. I need to go speak to the Aurors. Head back to your friends.”

She nods back and they both head out, immediately splitting up. She quickly makes her way back to the cluster of tents, finding Ginny hovering outside of the Longbottom tent. She waves her over when she spots her, “They wanted us all together for now, but they realized you wouldn't know which tent we were in, so they asked me to wait for you.”

She flashes her a smile, “Thanks Gin.”

They walk into the adults arguing about whether it was better for the minors in the group to head off to the forest or stay put.

She inserts herself into it without hesitation, “We need to stay put atleast until they know where the attack is coming from, if they start closer to the forest…”

Molly, who had been the loudest for them leaving, blanches at that. Sirius nods at her, “Like the pup said. If it comes from the other side of the camp ground and starts to make progress, yes, it's probably better for them to retreat there just to be safe, but otherwise they need to stay here for now.”

Remus hums, “Especially since the cheaper rental plots were over there, since it's further from the temporary stalls and therefore less desirable. The muggle family that owns the land is also a draw for where to hit, but otherwise that'd be their most likely target.”

Things quiet into a tense, uncomfortable silence at that, and it stretches all the way until they start hearing shouts. Sirius and Remus immediately poke their heads out of the tent, then Remus looks back, “It looks like that warning was enough that the Aurors are already on them. We're going to go help, and at minimum Arthur should probably come since I'm sure they'll want all the proverbial hands on deck from Ministry employees, but it's far enough away that the rest of you should stay put for now. They're coming from the other way, so if necessary you should be able to retreat to the forest.”

Daphne's mother nods, “I don't know who all is going, but a potion spill permanently messed up my leg, so I'm not really spry enough to be much help in a fight. I'll stay with the kids with Augusta and keep an eye on how close things are getting. Get them out if it starts getting too close.”

Sirius flashes her a smile on his way out, “Thanks Evangeline, Augusta.”

He, and most of the adults for that matter, quickly hurry out to help, leaving them waiting while Evangeline waits by the tent entrance, keeping an eye on things even as Augusta watches over them like a hawk.

It's uncomfortable, waiting for things to end or for them to have to move. She thinks about texting Hei, but a glance at the second clock on her phone screen that she has set to Japan's time tells her it isn't even six am there, so he's probably asleep. The Aurors should have things handled anyway, but if things really start getting bad, she'll call him.

Her discomfort isn't helped by the fact she's more used to taking part in things when they go down, not sitting back doing nothing. While she knows it's not fun, nor is she delusional in thinking it'll be an adventure or something, she doesn't much enjoy staying behind while others fight. It honestly takes everything in her not to get up and start pacing to try to burn off the energy that had surged up the moment she got word, which… honestly probably said a bit about how used to being in the fray her first few years had made her. Given their states though, she knows it wouldn't be good for her friends’ nerves, so she does her best to look simultaneously alert, yet calm.

They're all taken quite by surprise when a wave of screams echo out, but a quick glance at Evangeline watching out of the flap shows her being confused. After a moment of hesitation, she fully steps out of the tent to see what's happening, but she's back in moments.

Before she can even ask, Evangeline shakes her head, “A dark mark was conjured. Pretty sure the screaming was just from that.”

After the burst of noise from the dark mark, things get significantly quieter. A few minutes later, Sirius and Remus return. Her godfather shakes his head at her interrogating look, “The Aurors had things pretty under control with your heads up, though the situation was shaky enough that they weren't inclined to turn away our help. They scattered after the mark was conjured though. Guess actively attempting to kill people wasn't the only thing they weren't bold enough for.” He shakes his head, “Seemed to have come from a stolen wand they found with a House elf, but there's no way she cast the spell, so Amelia is looking into it.”

She nods in understanding, “So what happens now?”

Remus sighs, “They were starting the clean up and assessing injuries and the like, but we were cleared to head out. Arthur was busy helping with that, so he asked us to get his kids home, and Molly should be back soon to help. Amelia asked us to let Susan stay the night since she couldn't get back to return her as well and she doesn't know how late she'll be out. So now I guess it's just getting things together and leaving.” He glances over at Evangeline, “Your husband was assisting with the clean up, so he said to let you know to just get back to the tent and pack up, and if he's not done and back by then to just take Daphne home.”

Evangeline nods, “Alright. Thank you for passing it along. Come on Daphne.”

Daphne gives them a subdued farewell and heads out with her mom. As she looks over her friends, it's obvious Daphne isn't the only one affected.

She sighs. Things will likely only get worse from here. She idly notes that she'll have to shoot off a text to Hei and Misaki about what happened. Better for them to hear it from her then somewhere else after all.

She gives Moody a suspicious look as he comes stomping into their first class. While he wasn't a Potions Master, a NEWT in the subject is required to be an Auror, and she knows he'd been offered the Potion Professor position, and had even accepted to be close at hand, but he'd suddenly stopped sending or responding to letters a few days ago.

Which was… not like him at all. Especially given how certain he was that there was something more at play, like a prophecy, was making him so determined to train her.

She'd been suspicions right from the moment he entered the Great Hall because of it, but it's only made worse by the fact he's acting like they don't know each other.

She acts as normally as she can through the first lesson, but after the students start to dissipate from the hallway after the class releases, she tugs the Marauders Map out and quickly activates it. Moody was not listed as being in the Potions classroom. There was only one person in there, and it was reading as ‘Bartemius Crouch’.

She purses her lips. Then flicks over to the Defense classroom. It was empty with Remus in the attached office, which means he doesn't have a class at the moment. Given she also has an empty time slot, she immediately heads off to his classroom, brushing off Susan and Hannah's concerned questions with a vague mention of going to see Remus.

She quickly makes her way up, bursting into his office without knocking. He looks up in surprise, but she tosses the Marauders Map, folded back to the potions classroom, on the middle of his desk, “That Bartemius Crouch tag has been in Moody's classroom, alone, since I left it.”

His expression becomes serious as he picks it up, eyeing it in thought. He readjusts it, his expression becoming all the more serious as he does. Then he sets it down and taps his finger on another ‘Bartemius Crouch’ in Dumbledore's office with the man, “I suspected as much, but the only way he could be in two places at once would be if he was using a time turner, and he has no reason to do something like this. To pose as Moody that is.”

She nods, “I thought not, but how…”

He eyes the parchment before slowly saying, “Crouch did have a son of the same name, a Bartemius Crouch Junior, though he was found to be a Death Eater and thought to have died in Azkaban… that being a lie and him somehow getting free may be far fetched… but it's the only thing that makes sense to be honest.”

She presses her lips together, “So, we call Amelia?”

He nods, “I'd say so, yes.” He gets up, “The saturation of magic in the Ministry and its underground placement concentrating said saturation prevents any phone signals from getting through though, so we'll have to call her on the floo. Give me a moment.”

She scoops up the Map and deactivates it and tucks it away as he quickly tosses the powder in his fireplace as he calls out her office address, and once it connects after being authorized by her on the other end after she undoubtedly checked who made the call, he crouches down and sticks his head in. He's like that for a few moments before he pulls his head back and straightens up as the fireplace dies down, “She's going to gather up some Aurors and be here shortly.”

She nods, “Should we meet her down at the gates?”

He shrugs, “Couldn't hurt to make sure Dumbledore doesn't try to give her problems. She doesn't have a class at the moment either, so I'll send a Patronus to Septima to have her meet us down there just in case she needs to let them in.”

She blinks rapidly, “Send her a Patronus? How does that work? And how is it helpful?”

He glances over at her, “Ahh. I forgot I intended to tell you that little trick after you got the Patronus down, just in case you ever needed it.” He shakes his head, “It was something Dumbledore worked out and had the Order use. The word Patronus usually is taken as guardian or protector, but it can also mean things like counsel. He got the idea that if you focused on that while you were casting it, then you would get a Patronus that would ‘counsel’ someone else for you, that is to say, to carry a message. He wasn't wrong either, so if you focus on that meaning, you can use it as a messenger.”

She tilts her head, watching in interest as he casts it and gives it a message and target to relay it too. As they set off when that's done, she's hardly paying more than habitual attention to her surroundings in case of attack. She's far more focused on the absolute fascination of this variation of the Patronus. Just how far can changing one's thinking about it be taken?

She's so distracted that it's only because of how Hei and Moody had drilled a constant awareness of her surroundings in that she even notices Amelia and her Aurors being let in the wards by Professor Vector. Amelia steps over to her without hesitation, “Remus said you suspected, then confirmed someone is impersonating Moody?”

She hesitates as she flicks a look at Remus, who nods seriously, then at the Aurors before tossing out a Muffliato spell before shifting so Amelia is between her and everyone else before tugging the Map back out, “It was an invention of my dad and his friends when they were in school.”

Amelia nods in understanding, and she quickly activates it. Amelia is immediately astonished as she unfolds it, letting her see the footprints of them all by the gates before she shifts the folds to the potions classroom, pointing at the tag, “I was admittedly already suspicious because I'd hired him for something the moment his forced retirement was announced. He's finished it up, but we've been in contact since. He suddenly stopped writing and replying though, which I already found suspicious, but during the first class, he acted like he'd never met me before. So I checked it as soon as we were let out, and it's been reading his tag like this since.”

Amelia hesitates, eyes lingering on the Map, then shakes her head as her expression turns grave, “None of those are good signs, and you aren't wrong that they point to an impersonation going on.” She looks over her shoulder at her Aurors and Calanthe releases her spell, letting her call out, “I have every reason to believe Lady Potter-Black is correct in her suspicions, so we will be heading out to catch whoever this is that's impersonating Alastor Moody immediately.”

There's more than a bit of nervousness at her proclamation, which makes sense given Moody's reputation, but they also seem determined. Amelia turns back and flashes her a smile, “Thank you for letting us know, Lady Potter-Black. We'll take it from here.”

She nods, and watches in mild concern as they head towards the castle. Professor Vector chews on her bottom lip, “Hard to believe that Alastor may actually be a fake… I mean, who could have possibly gotten the better of Mad eye Moody of all people?”

She hums, “Which is presumably why the Aurors are nervous to be going after whoever it is.”

Professor Vector nods, “Can't blame them for that…” Then she shakes herself and flashes her a smile, “Good job Miss Potter-Black. Thirty points to Ravenclaw for spotting it and swift action in letting a teacher know and contacting the authorities.”

She nods, then sets off back to the castle. Amelia or Moody would undoubtedly let her know what had happened later. For now, she had… ideas regarding the Patronus to think over.

She sighs as it sputters out again, pushing her hair back as she looks at the ground with pursed lips. It wasn't failing entirely which means she isn't wrong. So what was the issue?

Well, assuming it wasn't just her upset at Snape managing to ambush the Aurors and grab Crouch Jr enroute to Azkaban with his little father, who they killed before fleeing. As she flops on the couch the Room had conjured behind her, she contemplates alternatives to the problem. Maybe… maybe it was because it was whole? Perhaps if she split it up?

She chews on her lower lip. Remus had showed her his own little trick to purposely make his Patronus non-corporeal while retaining power, and that makes it more misty and easier to separate, so maybe…

She pushes herself back to her feet, focusing on the non-corporeal Patronus. When she has it, she focuses on the somewhat arduous task of separating it. It's harder than she predicted, since it doesn't really want to, but she gets it eventually. The second half starts to drift off at her mental direction, but it soon dissipates.

It's not great, but she's starting to get somewhere. Maybe… if she alters the incantation itself? That would require some research since she isn't exactly fluent in Latin, but that could work.

As a book appears on a coffee table in front of her couch in the Room, she settles down to get to work.