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(Athens, Greece) Indulgence Greek Style
Author: Adina Blackwood
Date: 09-16-11 20:14
She'd flown out two days after getting home, with only a day to spend time with Arthur before going to Greece. She promised she'd try and see him at Emry's Fest if she was home in time for it, but otherwise she would see him when she got home in August.
She'd touched down at the airport in Athens and instead of being met by her father, she was met by Mikos, Athena, and Mika. "Where's dad?" She asked, curious as to why her dad didn't show up when she thought she was meeting him.
"He had a business meeting that couldn't be postponed. One of those emergency type things." Athena said as she hugged Adina tightly.
"So, how did your year go? Any thing interesting that happened?" She demanded as they walked toward the baggage claim.
"Seeing a guy, named Arthur, kinda happened spur of the moment thing but been together since Valentines day. Was part of the Quidditch team that went on the International Quidditch tournament, but had to drop quidditch for the remainder of the year because of my marks. Hopefully will try out next year. Working with one of my Professors to help deal with the anxiety or whatever the bloody hell this is of being an animagus." She said lightly, filling in the trio as to what had been going on during the last school year.
That had been several hours ago, and right now she was gorging herself on homemade Greek cuisine. Her father had come home just in time for dinner and Athena, Mika and Mikos had been invited to join them for the feast. There was dakos, pita with tzatziki, trahana and as the main course there was moussaka, pork with celery, xiaphias*. Dessert, that was a whole different type of indulgence - no where near what piled the tables at Hogwarts, but decadant enough that she was careful enough not to over do it. There was baklava, milopita, and spoon sweets**.
After dinner they lounged on the porch and breathed in the sea air beneath the flickering flames of the torches. "So, tell me about your school year Adina." He said, and she again recounted what had been going on throughout the year, he was of course displeased with her marks dropping but understood the reason for it, and beyond that he was overly pleased with the fact that she'd managed to pull her grades up by the end of the term.
Foods:
-Dakos, a Cretan salad consisting of a slice of soaked dried bread or barley rusk (paximadi) topped with chopped tomatoes and crumbled feta or mizithra cheese.
-Tzatziki (from Turkish cacık): yoghurt with cucumber and garlic puree, used as a dip.
-Trahana soup, a mixture of fermented grain.
-Moussaka (from Arabic مسقعة musaqqa'): an oven-baked layer dish: ground meat and eggplant casserole, topped with a savory custard which is then browned in the oven. There are other variations besides eggplant, such as zucchini or rice, but the eggplant version, melitzánes moussaká is by far the most popular. The papoutsákia ("little shoes") variant is essentially the same dish, with the meat and custard layered inside hollowed, sauteéd eggplants.
-Xiphias: swordfish.
-Baklava, phyllo pastry layers filled with nuts and drenched in honey.
-Milopita, apple pie with cinnamon and powdered sugar.
-Spoon sweets (γλυκά του κουταλιού) of various fruits, ripe or unripe, or green unripe nuts. Spoon sweets are essentially marmalade except that the fruit are boiled whole or in large chunks covered in the fruit's made syrup.
Out And About
Author: Dante Knight
Date: 09-16-11 22:39
In the weeks since being offered the job at Hogwarts, getting moved in there, and meeting the people he will be working with and a number of the students he'll be seeing around the school, Dante has fielded a number of questions about himself. He doesn't care to be asked so many personal questions but he's long become used to it. The lifestyle he grew up in meant always being the new kid. He can well imagine how much worse that would have been had he attended regular schools, be they Wizarding or Muggle.
This time the questions have ranged from Where did you move from? to How old are you? He'd been able to anticipate most of the questions and, thankfully, had been able to tell the truth when answering, even if at times he didn't go into any great detail.
Where did you move from? Dante's instinct is to keep it simple and reply, "The United States," but that always prompts a follow-up question of Where in the US? so he goes straight to responding, "Alexandria, Virginia, in the US."
How old are you? A few of his Hogwarts colleagues have asked this as have a few of the students, each one of them an older girl. He thinks the question a little on the rude side yet at the same time entirely understands the curiosity behind it so he always very politely answers with, "Soon to be twenty-three."
Where did you go to school? I was tutored by my parents.
There are variations on What do your parents do? to which Dante always replies, "They've held a number of jobs over the years." Anyone pressing for more information on his family gets an exceedingly polite but firm, "I don't care to talk about my family, thank you."
Dante answers these and other questions as succintly as possible or, when necessary or uncomfortable, finds a way to deflect. It's fine with him if people perceive him as shy to talk about himself.
Walking along Diagon Alley, Dante isn't looking for anything in particular though there are still some things his Hogwarts flat could use. If something in a window catches his eye he'll stop and have a look, sometimes going into the shoppe. Mainly, he's just enjoying being out and about, thinking about what he'll take to a barbecue he's been invited to at AJ Hodfuffer's. Everyone's to bring a dish of some sort. Until taking his last job, Dante never did things like barbecues. The family lifestyle didn't allow those sort of friendships to be made. The couple of jobs before the last, if any of his coworkers ever got together for more than a beer after work, Dante was never aware of it. At his last job, he got invited to a couple, though one of them doesn't count as a casual deal since it was a company sponsored gathering. Still, his experience with such things is very limited and he really has no idea what one takes to such a get together. Maybe he should ask.
Someone steps beside Dante, coming to stand looking in the same window as he is. He thinks nothing of it until the person says, "Hello, little brother."
Eyes go up from the object on display that had caught his attention to fix on the reflection in the window of a man slightly shorter than Dante, with close cropped dark brown hair. The mouth quirks up into a smile.
"You don't look happy to see me."
"Should I be?"
"It's been a long time. I would think you'd be happy to see a friendly, familiar face. Still going by the same name as last time?"
"It's necessary for holding steady employment. You?"
"Xander Castro, son of Maurice and Sara, brother of Ellen."
They all here?"
"No, just me. Dad needed something and the only place he knew to get it is Knockturn Alley. Didn't want to do an owl order."
"Of course not."
"What are you doing here?"
"Nothing really, just out for the day."
"Living in London, are you?"
"No."
"Come on, baby brother, you can tell me where you're staying these days."
"You mean just like you'd be forthcoming if I were to ask you?"
Xander shrugs.
"That's what I thought. Don't you get tired of only staying someplace, never living there?"
"Not so far. You grew up same as sis and me. We don't understand why you want anything different. When you started insisting on keeping the same name, she and I should have taken you for a private chat and knocked some sense into you."
"I was wanting to have a decent job. Every time we moved I had to start over with no references, which meant decent jobs weren't easy to come by. Not that it matter I guess since it became an issue of not being able to hold onto a job once I had it because of having to pack up and move yet again."
"You always were the odd duck. Well, best be off. Dad's not grown more patient since you saw him last. I'll tell Mum you said hello. See you around, Dante." His brother says the name with smirked emphasis.
"Bye."
Xander melts back into the crowd leaving Dante standing at the window. The enjoyment of being out and about now gone, Dante makes his way back to The Leaky Cauldron, apparating from the patio area that opens onto Diagon Alley.
Summoned
Author: Lysander Stratford
Date: 09-17-11 07:14
The stark, sterile environment at St. Mungo's Hospital differed greatly from the warm setting of Twice Told Tales, where Lysander felt most comfortable. He'd never liked hospitals. He wished he could say he'd never been a patient there or that no one close to him had been, but accidents and illnesses were unavoidable.
The reason he found himself at St. Mungo's now wasn't to visit a family member or friend, however. He was there to answer Kristos Fox's call.
Lysander had put it off since first hearing about it from Aralyn. He'd felt a mix of emotions upon learning that Kristos wanted to talk to him. Lysander had good reason to believe he knew what it was all about, and he feared the absolute worst. At the same time, he wanted confirmation one way or the other. If Kristos remembered everything, then Lysander would deal with it somehow. If Kristos didn't remember anything, then all the better.
He approached the reception desk and inquired after the appropriate room number. Then, Lysander took the lift to the correct floor and walked with heavy footsteps to the right room. Kristos had a small, private room. He appeared to be sleeping when Lysander poked his head in the room. Lysander almost turned around and left when Kristos opened his eyes and croaked, "Lysander."
Lysander tensed and didn't move from the doorway.
Kristos cleared the frog from his throat and said, "I was hoping you'd come."
He sounded totally differently from the last time they'd talked. Then, he'd been smug and taunting. Now he spoke to Lysander as if they were friends or at least on friendly terms.
Lysander took a few tentative steps into the room and then moved over to the window. There was a two-seater sofa under the sill. He sat down and stated, "Aralyn said you wanted to see me. Why?"
Kristos had followed Lysander's movements with his head. He closed his eyes shut for a long moment, such that Lysander wondered if he'd just fallen asleep, or better yet, died.
But then Kristos reopened his eyes and said, "I'm missing chunks of my memories. Just recent memories as far as I can tell. It's all very confusing and I know you must find it strange that I've asked for you when we haven't talked since Hogwarts, but I wonder if maybe we have talked recently? Maybe at your shoppe? I have this strange feeling that we've met recently, but I can't help but wonder if I'm only thinking that because I know Aralyn has gotten back in touch with you. At least, that's what she's told me during her visits."
Lysander had relaxed during the course of Kristos' dialogue. It would seem that the memories Kristos had managed to recover had gotten suppressed all over again, thanks to his amnesia. Lysander hoped and prayed that it would stay that way.
"You're right," Lysander said, after a brief debate on how to answer. He knew that it wasn't impossible that somebody had seen Kristos around the bookshop at one point or another, so Lysander didn't want to get caught in a white lie. Maybe his honesty would keep the bigger lies hidden.
"Aralyn has stopped by a few times, and so have you."
Kristos gave a little nod and sighed, "That's good, then. It means my head isn't entirely broken."
Too bad, Lysander thought. He got up and prepared to leave. "Is there anything else? You look like you need rest."
Kristos replied, "No, there's nothing else. And yes, I think you're right. I'm feeling a bit tired. Thanks for stopping by, Lysander. I appreciate your help."
"Not a problem," Lysander replied. He said goodbye and breezed out of the room, feeling less burdened than he had in ages.
Henshaw Raid
Author: Griffin Price
Date: 09-17-11 13:24
Griffin nods at seeing Harry's signal then shifts slightly to pass that signal down the line. Griff has an urge to pinch himself to make sure he's not dreaming that they are finally moving in on Rufus Henshaw. About damn time. He was beginning to think they'd never stop the leaks of information slowing down the investigation.
Nancy Oyelowo ended up being a huge help. Either out of extreme arrogance or excessive stupidity she'd been a fount of information on Henshaw's operation. Griff hopes she was such a blabbermouth out of arrogance because if it was stupidity, it doesn't say much for the hiring and performance review practices of the Auror Department. Also, the few times he'd worked with Nance, she never came across as being an idiot. Whatever the reason though, for someone who was sleeping with Henshaw and is so confident in his power, she certainly was quick to dish on him, which in turn helped Harry and him immensely. So far, of what she's given them that they've been able to verify has turned out to be spot on. They both think, however, that she slipped in some false tidbits here and there, including something that could lead to people dying if they aren't careful in how they proceed with bringing Henshaw in.
Everyone's in place, just waiting on Harry and Griff to give the next signal. When it's given, they will lock the building down so that no one inside can apparate out. At this very moment all Floo conduits into the building are being closed off as well. Griff and Harry are waiting for confirmation that's done. No sense in preventing anyone from apparating out if a working Floo is right there to provide an easy escape route. Intel doesn't indicate there are any port keys inside though someone quick thinking, with the talent for making port key on the spot might whip one up and escape that way once the Aurors and Hit Wizards move in.
There's movement off to his side. Harry's gotten word about the Floos being closed off. Griff raises his hand, giving a gesture of acknowledgement. Another gesture from Harry and Griff is passing along the signal to begin laying down the anti-apparition charms. That done, Griff concentrates on breaking through a defensive barrier Nancy had told them about. While he's doing that Harry's working on another one of Henshaw's security spells that guard the building.
By the time each has broken through the first two obstacles and they've had their circle around the building tighten the net more, those inside know that something is up. Most likely Henshaw had some sort of alarm built into one or both of those spells Harry and Griff just disabled. For all Griff knows, someone inside could have attempted to leave in the past two minutes or have looked out a window and spotted one of the law enforcement officers.
Reaching a side door, Griff can no longer see Harry but Geoffrey Blackwell is near. Geoffrey moves to cover him when Griff uses his wand to force the door open. Using caution, Griff eases through the opening, Geoffrey close on his tail. Sounds of others encountering resistance reaches their ears but so far, as they move along a hallway, neither Geoffrey or he has spotted anyone. Would have been nice to have an accurate count of how many were in the building but while they were monitoring the Floos, there was no way to account for how many were apparating in or out before they got the anti-apparition charms in place.
A flash of bright yellow light sizzles close by Griff's head. He dives through the open doorway to a storeroom that Geoffrey and he had just checked out. Crouching, he peers back around the jamb, looking for Geoffrey and for whomever had fired that blast. Geoffrey is flat on the floor, inching forward but the shooter isn't visible. Griff covers Geoffrey, allowing the other Auror to move more quickly. Geoffrey slithers into another room they'd already checked that's just down and on the opposite side of the hall from Griff. He says in a loud whisper to Griff, "I can't spot the shooter from here."
"Neither can I."
The two go silent scanning the other open doors down the hallway, looking for any signs of movement, each wondering if they missed someone in one of those rooms or if it's someone who came up on them from further past the door they entered by. Geoffrey makes a motion with this hand, finger indicating a spot along the same side of the hall as Griff. He nods but can't do much more than wait while Geoffrey either picks the shooter off or smokes him out. He's ready to leap out and aid Geoffrey if and when it's needed but for the moment, Griff sits tight.
Geoffrey fires down the hall and receives another yellow blast for the effort. Geoffrey starts laying down rapid fire shots, forcing the person to keep cover, and also allowing Griff to finally move. Griff begins blindly firing down the hall, more to add to those of Geoffrey's, forcing the shooter to stay shielded then because he's actually trying to hit anything. It better enables Griff to get across the hall and back behind cover from where he can actually do some good. Resituated, he takes a second to locate the exact position of the target then works with Geoffrey to take down the man.
Thirty seconds of heavy firing, Geoffrey getting grazed by one blast in the process, and the man lies stunned, his body partially sticking out into the hallway. In case it's a bluff, Geoffrey covers him while Griff moves in closer. He kicks away the wand, makes sure the man is really out then uses his own wand to bind the man. Next, he takes out a small object, slides it into one of the man's pockets then activates it. The object is a port key ready to be used that will take the prisoner directly into a holding cell at the Ministry.
After double checking their rear, Geoffrey and Griff continue on down the hallway, alert for more of Henshaw's people or, better yet, Henshaw himself.
Second Trial of Hattie Harsnip
Author: Ethan Somerset
Date: 09-17-11 14:02
"The Wizengamot calls Ethan Somerset to the stand."
Ethan, who'd been sitting in the spectator's gallery in Courtroom Two, got up from his seat and made his way down to the main floor of the chamber. He took a seat in the chair adjacent to the one in which Hattie Harsnip sat. They were separated by several meters and were differentiated as prisoner and witness by the magical bonds that tied Hattie to her chair.
"State your name for the court," instructed Griselda Marchbanks, one of the elders of the Wizengamot.
"Ethan Somerset," Ethan said.
"It is the court's understanding that you were known under other aliases during your lifetime," Ms. Marchbanks said as she looked up from her notes.
"That is correct. Silas Emeric and Finn Towneley."
"When were you known under these names?"
"I was born Finn Rorey Towneley. I became Silas Emeric a few days later. At age four, I became Ethan Somerset and have used that name ever since."
"How do you know the defendant?"
Ethan looked at Hattie. Since the trial had begun, he'd sat in the audience and watched as she'd answered questions from her past life to her most recent activities from within the body of an eleven year old boy. She smirked at him.
"I met her five and a half years ago, after I learned that the couple who'd raised me weren't my biological parents. She had a different body then, her natural one, and introduced herself as my aunt, the sister of my alleged father, who by that time was known as Robert May."
"Describe for the court the last time you saw Mrs. Harsnip in her actual body," Ms. Marchbanks said.
Ethan took a deep breath. He could remember that meeting as if it had only just happened.
"It was three and a half years ago," he began. "The Ministry of Magic had begun to release prisoners from Azkaban. Hattie was one of the ones pardoned. She stopped by the office––I was working as an auror at the time––and gloated about her newfound freedom. She died shortly after initiating the conversation."
Ethan shook his head. He could remember details from that day, like the red high heels she wore. He remembered how she looked when her soul left her body and went into the body of somebody else.
"At the time, I knew what had happened because of a conversation we'd had while she'd been in prison. I probably should have said something to somebody, but it was many years before she resurfaced, and though I had my doubts about the first year Slytherin student in my Defense Against the Dark Arts class, I never guessed it was her until it was too late."
"What doubts did you have?"
Ethan shrugged. "I don't know. Something seemed off about the boy. He seemed isolated from the other students. He always had this look about him––a dark look. In hindsight, his brilliance and ability to do advanced magic makes sense. He'd learned it all before when Hattie had gone to school."
"So it was just a feeling?" Ms. Marchbanks asked.
"At first, yes. I received confirmation something wasn't right when a sneakoscope went off in my classroom while he and I were alone."
"How soon after that incident was Ms. Boggs killed?"
Ethan's calm façade started to shatter. Although there'd been talk about Rosamond already during the course of the trial, this was his first time discussing her in court.
"Two days," Ethan replied. He kept his gaze forward, though he couldn't help but see Hattie in his periphery.
"There were no witnesses," Ethan went on, "not even the portraits that seem to fill every inch of the castle walls. I don't know why she sent them on a fool's errand when she confessed all too easily to the murder."
"I had a change of heart," Hattie said, speaking for the first time since Ethan took the stand. "Without any witnesses whatsoever, I could have easily gotten away with the crime. But it was while holding your little girl, Ethan, that I thought it would be worth getting caught if only to see the look on your face."
"That's why you came to me first when you got out of Azkaban," Ethan replied hotly. "You wanted to get off on seeing the look on my face more than you wanted to visit your husband in prison!"
"Leave Gerard out of this!" Hattie cried out. She'd not seen him since he got arrested for shooting Ethan several years ago. If anybody meant anything to her, Gerard Harsnip did.
"Order! Order!" cried out Griselda Marchbanks. She picked up a gavel and banged it several times. "Let's take a recess," she decided, since it was obvious both Hattie and Ethan needed cooling off. Both looked fuming mad.
Ethan couldn't wait for the trial to end so that Hattie could go behind bars again and with any luck stay there this time.
Off-Campus
Author: Griet
Date: 09-17-11 16:56
Since the founding of St. Emrys University, off-campus housing in Stratford-upon-Avon had flourished. Of course, being wizards, it wasn't necessary that one lived close to the university, but even Griet had to admit that there was a certain ambience to living in a "college town".
Prior to the trip to Costa Rica, which had fabulously occurred when there wasn't a full moon over which to worry, Griet had found an off-campus flat that catered to her very special needs. The building itself consisted of six flats over three floors and was owned by a wizard in his early twenties who'd inherited some money from a wealthy great-grandparent. He'd purchased the building with that money and converted the cellar into accommodations for wizards like himself––werewolves.
To date, he'd been the only one to use the cages downstairs. All of his tenants had been ordinary wizards. That would all change soon.
Fresh from her trip, Griet was excited to be moving out of her parents' home and into her new flat. It consisted of one bedroom, a single bathroom, a small living room, a dining nook, and a tiny kitchen. Her flat was on the third floor.
"Tell me again why you are moving in so early?" Oberon asked. Griet had enlisted him to help her cart boxes from her room back home to the new flat.
"Because I don't want to live at home anymore," Griet replied. "Besides," she went on, drawing closer to him, "it means we can have alone time anytime we want!"
"Griet!" Aleydis shrieked, having just arrived via floo. "Look what I got!"
Oberon wasn't happy for the interruption but Griet couldn't help but laugh. "You have good timing, you know that, Sis?"
Aleydis waved something shiny and silver. "Look! I'm a prefect!"
"Hey, congratulations! What did Cornelia say?"
"And I quote," Aleydis said, making quotation marks with her fingers, "Big deal."
Griet snickered. "Figures. You didn't come here empty handed, did you?"
"Well, I've got my badge..."
"You could have brought a box, if you were coming over here anyway," Griet replied, sticking out her tongue.
"Knock, knock."
All heads turned to the open front door. A good-looking, young wizard stood in the doorway.
"Oh, hi, Tucker," Griet greeted. "Come on in, but mind the mess."
Tucker entered and extended his hand to Oberon. "Tucker Chepstow. I live on the first floor."
"He's also the owner of the building," Griet added.
"Oberon Smith, Griet's boyfriend," Oberon answered.
Tucker turned to Aleydis next.
"I'm Aleydis. Griet's sister." She was all smiles for the handsome newcomer.
"Nice to meet you, Aleydis." Tucker turned to Griet. "Do you need help with anything?"
"No, we've got it, thanks," Oberon answered.
Griet shot Oberon a look but echoed what he said, "Thanks, but I think we've got it under control."
"Okay, well if you need anything, just holler."
"Will do. Thanks, Tucker," Griet said.
Tucker said goodbye to Aleydis and Oberon and then left the flat. Griet waited until she couldn't hear his footsteps on the stairs anymore and whirled on Oberon. "What was that all about?"
Oberon acted like he had no idea what she meant. "What are you talking about?"
"You were really rude to Tucker."
"How?"
Aleydis jumped in, "I guess I'm gonna go now. See ya."
Griet waved distractedly at her sister while keeping her gaze firmly on Oberon. "He was being nice, and you were being mean."
"How was I being mean, Griet?"
"You were really abrupt. It was totally uncalled for."
"Why are you being so defensive of that guy, Griet? Did he cut you a special deal to live here? Do you have to do him some special favors?"
Griet balled her hands into fists. "I can't believe you just said that."
Oberon kept her gaze for a long while and then dropped it. He hunched his shoulders forward and mumbled, "Sorry, I didn't mean it. He just seemed to friendly, is all."
Griet allowed herself to calm down and then crossed the space between them. "You don't have to be jealous. You know you're the only guy I care about. Merlin knows why, but I do."
Oberon actually cracked a grin. "Ditto."
They kissed for a long time and then got back to work.