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 Posted: Fri May 30, 2025 1:05 pm
 Kasamir Aloysius Patrovna
Slytherin │ Sixth Year │ Sixteen Years Old │ Single │ Chess Grandmaster │ Slytherin Prefect │ Adventurer's Guild & Chess Club Captain
Having passed the sculpture of the forest guardian, the boys continued to venture deeper into the woods, following the path, which was used by horses at some point recently, as the hoofprints were created in mud from the recent rainstorms, which had since dried. They came across a large clearing formed as part of a large roughly bowl-shaped depression in the ground, some fifty feet or so in diameter, and the path took them down into it. One of the sides of the bowl was curled upwards, creating what amounted to a natural lean-to. Near this side of the clearing was a stone-lined firepit.
Alynn hoped the girls maybe stopped here, and that they and their mounts were present. Instead, the established campsite was dark and quiet, though Kasamir thought it worth the bother to check the place anyway, and Alynn decided to sit down, as they’d already been walking for a good bit. Kas sat down with him after a moment of checking out the area under the natural overhang; he took a bowl from the shoulder bag he had, set it on the ground, and poured water from a bottle into it so Medved could get a drink, before sipping at the water himself.
The Third Year looked up and marveled at the silent ocean of stars above the clearing, as it was fully night now, and he was certain he could see into eternity itself. Far enough away from the lights of St. Petersburg, it was a scene he could usually only appreciate from the Astronomy Tower at school. ‘I’m really glad I joined Astronomy Club,’ he thought, as he started to feel a bit of peace. ‘Imagine what kind of world we would have if everyone would just take the time to lay back and look at the stars’
Medved looked up abruptly, turned his head in the direction of the overhang and let out a ‘woof’. Kas, who’d been resting his eyes for a moment, snapped his head around and saw something moving. Without a second thought, he grabbed a rock and whipped it at the four-legged shape slinking low to the ground. The projectile missed the shape and struck something beneath the overhang with a loud metallic ‘clang’. The shape let out a feline yowl of surprise, and the young hunting cat fled from the unexpected sound and vanished into the outer darkness.
Kasamir frowned in puzzlement, having not expected to hit something metallic, when by all rights there should have been nothing there at all except earth. He got up and walked over to the overhang, holding the lantern and shining its light around. He wasn’t sure how he’d missed it previously, but he picked out where the rock dented a metal door, encrusted with many years of mud and soil. It wasn’t a proper door, like an entrance to a building, or a hatch; instead, it looked to be rather like the door of a metal cupboard.
Startled from his stargazing, Alynn saw that his cousin was poking about at a spot under the giant tree which formed the roof of the overhang. He walked over to where Kas was probing the area and turned up a cupboard which at one point was wrapped in an oilcloth tarp and buried in the ground. Countless years of rain and snow and ice, and the freeze and thaw cycles uncounted eroded the ground and caused the tarp to yield to the catabolic forces of entropy, and even the cupboard was no longer in anything like good condition.
“Keep an eye out for trouble,” said Kas soberly, as he turned the latch handle, and it broke off in his hand as though he’d snapped a dry twig. He threw the useless bit of metal aside and fished his knife out again. Inserting the blade in the seam between the door and the edge of the frame, Kas levered it open, causing the rusty hinges to groan a bit before they also yielded to decay.
Inside the cupboard was another water-resistant tarpaulin, though unlike the other one, this was quite intact and was wrapped around something and tied shut with twine. “Anything interesting?” asked Alynn, as he stared out at the darkness beyond their campsite. Kasamir cut the twine and unwrapped the tarp, revealing what was hidden beneath it. “[Yeah, check this out.” Alynn turned and saw that the tarp had concealed a wooden box, which Kas opened, and he saw a staff, a sheathed longsword, a lantern like the one they already had, bundles of clothing, including a wolf fur cloak, and another box with stenciled lettering and the seal of His Majesty King George VI on the lid.
“Whoa, that’s cool, Kas. What’s in the box?” Kas looked at the writing, and said, “British Army field rations from before the First Wizarding War; might still be good.” Alynn replied unenthusiastically, “Sure, Kas, I’ll be sure to try them after you do.” Kas opened the bundle and handed it to Alynn. “Three cloaks, Alynn. Take one if you like, save two for the girls.” Alynn tucked two cloaks into the bag he was carrying, before putting the third across his shoulders with a dramatic flourish. As he turned to ask his cousin a question, he saw his answer as Kas was already shrugging on the wolf cloak, closing it with a silver clasp bearing the same familial symbology he saw on the Portkey the day previous.
Finally, the Sixth Year looked at the weapons. Opening another box, he turned up a set of four daggers in sheaths, which he passed three of to Alynn, and slid the sheath of the fourth onto his own belt. Being a Beater, he’d considered claiming the beautifully carved staff for himself and then passed it over to Alynn without even a first thought. “Why are you taking the sword?” Alynn asked, as he watched his cousin first hold the sheathed blade reverently in his hands, touch the pommel to his forehead and mutter a few words, before attaching the scabbard to his belt. “Because it feels right for me to do so,” said Kas quietly”If I can give you a better answer than that, I will. We need to get moving again. We’ve stayed longer than we should have already.”
The boys heard the howls of wolves once more, and knew they were closer than they were previously, though they could tell nothing more than that. Kas paused long enough to collect the bowl Medved had used to drink from and put it back in his bag as he and Alynn started to leave. As they were returning to the forest, they heard the pounding of hooves only a moment before a massive shape appeared in the light of their lanterns.
The horse burst into the clearing, and at the sight of the two boys it reared up on its back hooves and gave a terrified scream. With a yelp, Alynn jumped back, narrowly avoiding getting clipped across the forehead by the front hooves of the horse, while Kas backed away, and Medved barked aloud. As he retreated from the horse, Alynn saw that it had a saddle, and saddlebags strapped to it. The Third Year raised his hands, and called out, “Whoa, girl, settle down. You’re safe now.”
Kas saw what Alynn was trying to do, and shouted, “Alynn, get out of the way! Let the horse pass!” Rather than follow his cousin’s example and give the horse a clear way to keep running, with wide eyes, Alynn kept watch on the horse and its flailing hooves, and as he continued to wave his hands over his head, he started whistling a few bars of a song, one he only heard just yesterday. The horse bounced up on his back hooves again, though it wasn’t pawing at the air as insistently. Alynn repeated the tune, and he said in as calm a tone as he could manage, “Easy does it, girl. You’re okay, settle down.”
After a moment, the horse stopped rearing up, and Alynn gingerly reached out to pet the side of its head. Kas blinked in astonishment, and he asked, “How did you know to do that?” Alynn drew a deep breath, as he felt his heart stop pounding frantically, and replied with a bit of a nervous chuckle, “I saw Natalya do that yesterday, while you all were doing the whole Game of Crones first-of-your-name dog-and—erm, pony show.” Holding the lantern up to get a better look at the horse, Kas saw she was covered in bite marks and blood coated her flanks, hooves and muzzle. “She’s been in a fight with something,” he observed grimly.
“Three guesses as to what,” commented Alynn, shuddering as they heard the chorus of howls again. “Kas, maybe we should try finding one of the other groups, or….” The Sixth Year looked at his cousin, and said, “If you want to leave, take the horse and go. Medved and I are staying, especially now that we know for certain horse and rider have been separated. For all we know, Natalya got thrown down, or her friend got unhorsed, and they’re in trouble.”
Insistently, Alynn said, “Kas, Artemyi said nobody goes out here alone.” Kas countered with, “I’ll have Medved, and Aunt Faina will be here soon, I should think. Our eleven-year-old cousin is out in this forest, and night has fallen. She could be alone, lost and scared, maybe hurt or worse. We will return with her, or not at all.” Alynn gave his cousin a sharp look, and said pointedly, “I’m sure Hes would be happy to hear her boyfriend say that.” Kas shrugged a fur clad shoulder, and said, “Hes now has Nikolas, she would understand and would do the same. It is what family does. Besides, what if it were Aleksandr or Alenka out here; what would you do then?”
It was then Medved started growling and barking aloud in a fashion Kasamir never heard from him, not even when he was first introduced to Hesperia, and had to get used to the idea of having a supernatural apex-predator as being part of his ‘pack’. Sniffing the air, the horse instantly became restive and neighed in fear; Alynn immediately grabbed the reins as he looked up, and his eyes went wide behind his glasses. Dark shapes were emerging from the line of trees, each of them easily six feet long and three at the shoulder, with thick shaggy gray pelts, glowing eyes and they were growling as they slowly approached.
“Kas … began Alynn, as he risked a glance at his cousin. “I see them,” replied Kasamir grimly, as he drew out the sword from the scabbard it rested in for over a century. The blade caught and reflected the silvery moonlight filtering into the clearing, catching the etchings running down its spine. Though each of the creatures before them were as big or larger than he, the Moscow Watchdog was rooted to the Sixth Year’s side, growling menacingly with paws spread and his fangs bared.
Seeing the gray-furred shapes arrayed before them in a loose semi-circle, with an even larger wolf in front of them, Kas glanced down at his canine companion before saying in a voice barely above a whisper, “Pop a red flare, Alynn. Take the horse and ride like hell; we’ll keep them busy as long as we can.” The Third Year started rummaging through the bag looking for the flares which settled to the bottom, under the cloaks they had just recovered. Grabbing out one of the cylinders, he was about to uncap and set it off, when he felt a wash of heat flash past his shoulder.
A bolt of flame streaked across the clearing like a comet, catching the wolf pack’s alpha in the shoulder, setting its shaggy fur coat alight. The alpha let out a yelp of pain and fear as the flames bit into him. Alynn and Kas both were looking around to see where the bolt of flame came from and saw a spectral firebird swoop over their heads. As large as an eagle, and silently flying on silvery pinions, it flew in front of the pack of wolves and shrieked like a Valkyrie riding into battle. Presented with fire and magic, the wolves immediately bolted back towards the safety and concealment offered by the woods, their leader trailing smoke as he ran away, yelping in pain.
The boys heard a polite cough from somewhere behind them, and they turned to see a familiar figure with long white hair and wearing a greatcoat walking towards them. The ghostly firebird took another circuit of the clearing, before settling upon its mistress’ shoulder. With her hands thrust into her coat pockets, the veteran Auror regarded the boys with a wintery smile. “I leave for a few hours and look what happens,” she said dryly.
“Arigato, Tetya Faina,” said Alynn breathlessly, scarcely daring to believe they were all still alive. Flipping the blade about, Kas homed the sword in its scabbard, before drawing a deep breath, and giving his adoptive aunt a hug. Faina returned the hug, and said softly, “ Ya poka ne gotov tebya sdat, Kasimir, uzh tocno ne stae Volkov.” She then added, for both boys to hear, “Things have gotten more serious than you are aware since you went out. The horse Larissa was riding returned to the estate on its own, and the Moryakova Family has sent members to help search for the girls. As it seems you may have found Natalya’s mount, your efforts have bourne more fruit than anyone else’s thus far.”
Alynn said worriedly, “She’s hurt, and she probably lost some blood.” Faina nodded, and then leaned her head so she might whisper something to the ghostly firebird on her shoulder. The bird gave a silent cry before lifting itself into the air, almost lazily ascending in a curving climb until she was above the surrounding canopy of trees, before vanishing in a streak of azure. “Help will be coming shortly from the estate, she will get Apparated home, and Baba’s veterinary Healer will handle things from there. The question then becomes: what of the two of you? Will you return to the estate with the horse?”
With the wolf cloak over his shoulders, and his hand resting on the pommel of the sword, Kasamir looked very much like the Rus heroes from the old stories, and he told his aunt in a serious tone, “I made a promise, Tetya Faina. I couldn’t go back to the house and look anyone in the eye again if I were to leave now. Be better if I’d been torn apart by those wolves.” Faina nodded, and then looked toward her sister’s elder son, and asked, “And you?” Alynn glanced over at Kasamir and felt a fresh pang of shame, and after letting his breath out in a slow hiss, said, “Yeah, I’m in it to the end, same as Kas.” Faina arched an eyebrow, and said nothing other than, “So be it.”
OOC:Taken by Hesperia Sophia Argyris
 I, I'm a one-way motorway; I'm a road that drives away, then follows you back home
I, I'm a streetlight shining; I'm a wild light, blinding bright, burnin' off and on
It's times like these you learn to live again; It's times like these you give and give agan
It's times like these you learn to love again; It's times like these time and time again
I, I'm a new day rising; I'm a brand-new sky to hang the stars upon tonight
I, I'm a little divided; Do I stay or run away and leave it all behind?
It's times like these you learn to live again; It's times like these you give and give again
It's times like these you learn to love again; It's times like these time and time again
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Posted: Fri May 30, 2025 1:13 pm
Kasamir Aloysius Patrovna
Slytherin │ Sixth Year │ Sixteen Years Old │ Single │ Chess Grandmaster │ Slytherin Prefect │ Adventurer's Guild & Chess Club Captain
It wasn’t long before the search party continued to probe the darkened forest for any signs of the missing girls. Kasamir took the lead with Medved constantly casting about for Natalya’s scent, with his aunt and his cousin not far behind, holding a lantern up to light the way. The passage of the horse churned up quite a bit of dirt, and so it was a simple matter to follow the backtrail, and they soon came upon the area where a fight between the riding horse and the lupine hunters took place.
As was promised, help from the estate did show up not long after Faina sent her patronus off. A couple of the cousins appeared in the clearing, as it would require them to work in tandem to Apparate a creature as massive as the riding horse to the estate, along with the tack, harness and the saddlebags. Faina made a search of the bags while she had the chance to do so, and turned up snacks and bottles of fruit juice, which she passed off to the boys, as well as a handwritten notebook which had been bookmarked. Of further interest was a trash bag filled with the remnants of a meal.
‘Three people ate this, not just two. Who else did the girls dine with?’ wondered the veteran Auror, as she continued her search. Located at the bottom of the bag and packed to keep it from shifting about as the horse moved about, was a large bag with a shoulder strap, and Faina looked inside and discovered sealed containers with flowers floating in water, as well as the stem and root ball in mud, and a second bag just like the first, save that the jars were empty. A cursory look in the notebook indicated the plants in the jars matched the pictures in the book.
Once the Auror was done with her search of the saddlebags, the two cousins vanished taking the injured horse with them, leaving Faina with more questions than she had answers for. Seeing the area where the wolves attacked the horse, she immediately started searching for signs of either of the girls, in case the rider was thrown from her mount, and she might be lying in the underbrush. It wasn’t lost on her just how small both Natalya and Larissa really were, and how they could easily be missed in the dark, no matter how diligent their efforts to locate them were. At one point, Faina took a crystal, suspended by a silver chain from the depths of her greatcoat, breathed the words to an incantation, and set it spinning, but all it did was spin about without pointing in any particular direction.
Medved lifted his head and sniffed at the air as he looked about at the forest, and he gave a slight ‘wuff’. Pausing in his steps, the big Moscow Watchdog continued to sniff and then gave a more insistent bark and tugged at his leash. “What’s the matter, boy?” asked Kas, almost as though he were expecting an answer, or a charging phalanx of wolves pouring out of the dark. Instead, the big dog barked excitedly and pulled at his leash as he wanted to be released.
“What’s going on with him?” asked Alynn, who was also expecting to get jumped in the darkness. Faina said, “He has scented something, that’s obvious. Set him loose, Kas.” Kas nodded, he unhooked the leash, and the St. Bernard-sized canine took off into the underbrush like a furry thunderbolt. The Sixth Year Slytherin ran after his companion, and all too quickly he and his lantern light were lost among the trees from the perspective of his aunt and his cousin. Faina spat an unlady-like oath, and started racing blindly into the darkness, with Alynn bringing up the rear with his lantern bobbing and bouncing along in his grasp.
Following his faithful companion, crashing through the leaves, twigs and other detritus that covered the forest floor, Kas came upon another large moonlit clearing, formed by the ancient ironwoods that ringed it and whose massive, exposed roots ran across its floor like gigantic vericose veins. Medved stopped at the edge of the clearing to give his human companions a chance to catch up, and his deep barks carried through the night air. After a few moments, Faina was standing behind Kas, with Alynn huffing and puffing as he arrived shortly thereafter.
Surveying the clearing, Kas quickly picked out a form nestled in a niche in the ground formed by a pair of the exposed roots at the base of one of the enormous trees. With care, he picked his way as he climbed down into the bowl-shaped clearing, while Medved simply hopped down to walk along beside him. As he got closer, he saw the form was that of a girl curled up in a ball, wearing hiking boots, jeans and a grimy pink hoodie, her long blonde hair spilling out from under her school cap that had been dislodged from the top of her head. Her knees were pulled close to her chest as were her arms, while her head was tucked in, and her face obscured from sight.
“Oh, God, please don’t be dead, please don’t be dead, please don’t be dead …” said Alynn, repeating his fervent hope as though it were on a loop. Kas walked up slowly, as he studied her condition, and it wasn’t until he got close when he saw she was shaking, and her eyes were squeezed tightly shut as she muttered something in a voice barely above a whisper. It wasn’t until he was kneeling beside her when he recognized it was the Russian Orthodox Lord’s Prayer, that she was breathing the words to.
Medved whined softly as he sniffed at the preteen girl, and Kas said in a soft tone, “Larissa, as he reached out and placed a hand upon her small shoulder. At his touch, Larissa let out a gasp, her eyes flashed open, and she sat up on the ground, and immediately started looking around frantically. “Boze moi, boze moi, boze moi,” she gasped, as she fixed her gaze on the teenager beside her, and she started babbling as she was at the point of having a full-blown panic attack. “K-kas? Kasamir? Kasamir, what are you doing here? What am I doing here? Where am I? Where’s Nat, where’s the horses, why is it dark?”
Kas pulled a bottle of fruit juice from his bag and handed it to Larissa, and Alynn got one of the spare cloaks from his bag and passed it over to her as well. Faina listened to the younger girl’s litany of questions, and suspicions began to form in her mind. She said, “You’ve been missing for several hours, the horses are safely back at the estate, and we are still looking for Natalya. What was the last thing you can remember … Larissa, is it?” Larissa nodded as she cracked open the bottle and took a drag of the contents. She closed her eyes, and blew out her breath, before answering in a calmer tone, “We were by the river, at this place somebody set up to have like a table and seating. Natalya made this lunch, you know how she overdoes things, but it was so good, and she made a blueberry crumble, the crust about melted in my mouth….”
The Sixth Year chuckled softly at the account, and the dog started licking Larissa’s hand and whimpering softly. Faina said gently, “Try focusing on what happened, not what you had for lunch, Miss Moryakova.” The girl nodded her head, and she added slowly as she tried to piece together events in her mind, “Well, we were about to have lunch when this older lady came over. She said she was a friend of Baba Patrovna, and she used to go to our school, and we invited her to have lunch with us, and …. then I woke up here.” Larissa blinked a couple times, and she looked about at people around her as she absentmindedly petted Medved. “What’s going on? Why can’t I remember anything in between then and now?”
“This older lady, Larissa. What did she look like?” asked the veteran Auror. “Its all right, I am an Auror, and Kasamir’s guardian, tell me whatever you can. Anything at this point will help us.” Larissa scrunched her nose and ran a hand across her forehead, as she struggled to produce an answer. “I … I …don’t know. I can see her clothes, I can sorta remember her voice, but there’s no face. What’s going on, what’s wrong with me?” Looking around at the group gathered about her, the preteen reached out a hand and grabbed for Kasamir’s.
Kasamir took the girl’s small hand in his, and he looked over toward his aunt, who now had a scowl on her face. “Without any way to judge things, I would say you were the focus of memory-erasing Charms, which suggests Natalya may be in considerable danger. My priority is getting you to safety; your parents are at the estate, and they are understandably concerned for your well-being and your safe return.” Kasamir stood and held out his other hand to help pull Larissa to her feet. Larissa looked around, and she said, “I should stay and help; Nat’s my best friend, she’s probably looking for me right now.”
“I know she will appreciate your willingness to help, I also know she would never want for you to put yourself at risk for her,” said Faina with an understanding tone and smile. She held her hands out for Larissa to take. The little blonde gave Kasamir a hug, and said quietly, “Spasibo, Kasamir,” before going over and taking Faina’s hands. The Auror looked at the boys and told them, “Stay put until I get back, and try not to get eaten.”
In the blink of an eye, Faina and Larissa were gone, leaving the boys in the clearing with the dog. “Stay put and try not to get eaten,” repeated Kasamir dryly. Alynn nodded, and replied, as he felt his resentment reaching a point where he didn’t feel like containing it any longer. “Yep, that’s what she told us. All right, how about explaining something to me. Why does everybody treat you like the older brother in this family? That girl did, and I’m pretty sure she’s not even related to us. Heck, Aleksandr and Alenka come to you before they even think of coming to me when you’re staying at the house. I overheard Mom telling your aunt how much she appreciated having you around, because it was like having an extra adult in the house. What gives?”
Kasamir weathered the storm of Alynn’s diatribe without flinching from the anger fueling it. The chess master looked at his younger cousin and asked simply, “Feel better having vented all that? I certainly hope so. They treat me like the older brother because I am older than you, Alynn. I also take on the responsibilities of one, so, if you want to be treated as an adult, then carry an adult’s load. Whenever I attend one of those tournaments, I am representing my family and my House, and I am all that’s left of my part of the family, so I represent my parents as well. Every day, I hope I can be at least half the man Dad was and live up to his expectations of me. Larissa knows me because I’ve been there when she’s come over. Matter of fact, I’ve helped them with homework and cooked the occasional dinner for her and Natalya.”
The Sixth Year drew a deep breath before continuing. “You really want to know why your brother and sister come to me? It’s because I’m there and I take an interest in what they’re doing and when they need help, I’m not hiding in my room watching anime. I watch over them, I watch over you, Alynn, because that is what the eldest is supposed to do. I also help around the house and run errands when they need doing, usually before anyone thinks to ask, because that’s what I do when I’m home with Tetya Faina. It’s also my second chance at being an older brother.”
Alynn’s eyes narrowed, and he asked, “What are you talking about, Kas? You were never an older brother.” At that point, there was a haunted look in Kasamir’s eyes, rather like his aunt’s, and when he spoke next it was with a tone that was a ghost of its usual timbre. “I nearly was. A few days before … before the accident, Mom had a doctor’s appointment. Dad had work and couldn’t go with her, so he had me take part of the day off from class and I went in his stead. When I asked him why, he told me ‘that was what a good son does’. I didn’t argue it, because I was a good son, and did what was to be expected of me. She found out she was pregnant, and she told me I was going to be a big brother. I was so excited and wanted to tell everyone at school, but Mom asked me to say nothing, since we were going to the family reunion, she wanted to give everyone the good news all at once. Of course, that never happened.”
The Third Year Gryffindor closed his eyes, and lowered his head before saying, “Gomen nasai, Kas. I had no clue.” Kasamir shrugged and said as the imagery of his past welled up from the depths of his mind, like blood from a wound, “Nichevo; no reason for you to know, and it doesn’t matter now; they’re all dead. You know, six years later, I still hear the screams, especially at night when it’s quiet in the dorms. I see the faces in the flames, still feel the heat of the fire, and on occasion I can still smell the burning flesh. Lana, Vsemogushchy Bogue, please watch over her soul, I can still see us pulling each other out of that wreckage, and her telling me we needed to hang on and survive. The last image of her I see in my mind is Lana covered in blood, her long blonde hair burnt, the pretty dress she picked out that morning all torn and blackened. Six years later ….” Kasamir drew a deep breath, and let it out in a long, slow fashion, before adding philosophically, “ Well, we all have our burdens to bear.”
OOC:Taken by Hesperia Sophia Argyris
I, I'm a one-way motorway; I'm a road that drives away, then follows you back home
I, I'm a streetlight shining; I'm a wild light, blinding bright, burnin' off and on
It's times like these you learn to live again; It's times like these you give and give agan
It's times like these you learn to love again; It's times like these time and time again
I, I'm a new day rising; I'm a brand-new sky to hang the stars upon tonight
I, I'm a little divided; Do I stay or run away and leave it all behind?
It's times like these you learn to live again; It's times like these you give and give again
It's times like these you learn to love again; It's times like these time and time again
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Posted: Sun Jun 01, 2025 5:55 am
 Faina Patrovna Slytherin Alumnus │ Veteran Auror │ Thirty-Nine Years Old │ Single
Chapter Four: “The Hag”
After all the harrowing events she’d seen of late, it bolstered Faina’s spirits considerably seeing Larissa rush over to her parents. It reminded the world-weary Auror that good things could still happen in her life. She was safe and mostly sound, at least physically, even if she was shivering still despite being wrapped in one of the cloaks the boys found in that stash of supplies. Larissa was desperately worried about Natalya, and begged her parents to let her go back out to help look for her best friend. Faina was thankful when the parents concurred with her own judgement.
When Faina departed to continue the search, Larissa was getting hugs from her much-relieved parents, and Kotenok was getting ready to check the child over. The Moryakovas were fortunate in that not only was there conveniently a Healer present, but she was a Senior Pediatrician at St. Mungo’s. Reappearing in the same clearing she departed a few minutes previously, she was quietly relieved when she saw Kas and Alynn were still standing more or less where they were when she left. “Oh, good, you haven’t been eaten in my absence,” she quipped dryly. “You will be glad to know, Alynn, that your mother is checking over Larissa, even as we speak.”
“Good, that’s good, Tetya Faina he said distantly, as his mind was focused on the things Kasamir told him, and maybe more so on what wasn’t said and perhaps inferred. Was the family expecting him to be more like Kas? Weighing heavily on Alynn’s conscience was the certain knowledge his older cousin had been prepared to possibly be torn to shreds by those wolves if it meant giving him even a slight chance to get back to the estate. If Aunt Faina hadn’t arrived when she did it was likely they both would already be dead, and Natalya would still be missing.
Faina glanced at the boys and the look in their faces, and she asked, “You are thinking about what happened, and what … almost happened, aren’t you?” In a silent duet, both boys nodded their heads in unison, and she said soberly, “It is understandable and normal to be fearful when confronted with our own mortality. There are two certainties in life: Time and Death. Time wins all arguments, and Death will come for us all. We have only so much of the former, and all we should tell the latter is ‘Not today’. A bit of advice I will give you both: never think of pain or danger or enemies a moment longer than is necessary to fight them. Now, we still have business to attend to and promises to keep.”
The moon was high in the sky, shining like a silvery lantern when the search party reached the river valley. Above them was a cloudless sky full of stars, and the river was a wide silvery ribbon, while the landscape was rendered in shades of azure, shades of blue and impenetrable black. It wasn’t long before they found the campsite Larissa spoke of, and the veteran Auror noted how clean the scene was. There was no trace of anything that took place here, and she and her younger companions carefully combed the area for anything they could maybe find. Having seen the bag of trash on the horse, it looked as though everything was carefully packed up before ...
Medved let out an excited ‘woof’ a couple times, sounding nothing like he did earlier that evening. Pulling out the socks Artemyi provided, Kas gave them to the faithful Moscow Watchdog to sniff again, and he started pulling at the leash to go in a particular direction. The Sixth Year Slytherin took the lead, with the dog guiding his steps, while Alynn was not far behind, clutching his newly acquired staff in both hands, with Faina watching all around them as they followed the course of the river.
As they continued to probe the night, various spectral forms of Patroni sought out the veteran Auror, giving her reports of how far the parties had penetrated the forest, and how they found nothing. Faina sent back replies telling them how they had a scent-trail and that the other search parties should adjust their routes through the forest accordingly. Thinking on the incident she foiled, and what she knew of wolves and their habits, she suspected there was more to it, and hoped she was wrong.
The possibility of there being a Dark Witch operating in the area put Faina on alert and caused for her to assume anything and everything taking place had a nefarious human agency behind it. It explained why somebody would use mind-affecting Charms to hoodwink a child, even if it didn’t explain why one child was sent on her way while another was taken. One thing Faina knew for certain was when it came to a stolen child there were never enough ticks on the clock left. She spat an oath and conjured her Patronus. The ghostly firebird landed on her shoulder, she whispered into its ear, and when she was done it launched itself into the air.
“What was that about?” asked Alynn. Grimly, the veteran Auror said, “Praying I’m wrong.” Faina knew from experience summoning backup was the wisest course of action, and before long a cadre of her team would assemble at the estate before moving out to meet her. In her gut she knew her prayers would be unanswered, and she would need to deal with matters with the assets she had at hand, and waiting likely meant a greater tragedy to come.
Like the arrow sprung from a bow, Medved moved without hesitation or doubt, as though the path before him was as clear as an empty hallway at the school rather than a narrow footpath along a rain-swollen river in the night. Kas picked up his pace to accommodate his canine companion as he felt the urgency in the dog’s stride. With the occasional ‘woof’ the dog encouraged his human companions to keep up with him.
The black outline of a large house loomed into view on a rise overlooking the river, and Medved was unerringly going towards the front door. Around the house was a low wall composed of fieldstones, and Medved led the way to the closed gate. The trio of searchers could see that while all the drapes were pulled shut the glow of lights could be seen, at least on the ground floor. The Moscow Watchdog tugged insistently at his leash, wanting to continue the hunt, and Kasamir held him back and told him to heel.
Faina gestured for her companions to stay put as she stepped forward and approached the simple wooden gate, noting how well maintained it was, as was the fence and the old house, which also looked like it was built from stone. Breathing the words of a couple spells and gesturing with her hands, the house seemed to ripple as though it were an image projected upon a cloth sheet, and she soon saw a tracery of lines and patterns along the fence, the gate, the paving stones leading to the porch, and the area in front of the door. The Auror also studied the glowing lines and circles of thaumaturgical force and the accompanying frieze of lettering rendered in neon blue along the walls and every window.
Alynn marveled at the tracery of lines and inscriptions floating on the air, as the glow reflected off the lenses of his glasses. “The house is warded,” Kasamir observed, as he studied the lines with his usual level of intensity. Faina nodded in agreement, and added, “And I had to penetrate two layers of obfuscation to get this. Alarm wards to be sure, those are harmless enough, but there are other, more proactive wards which are also active.” Kasamir asked, “I’m guessing the front door is trapped?” Faina shrugged, and replied, “The easy way is always trapped, you are a Game Master, you should know that. Should be safe enough to knock on the door to say ‘hello’, though. It would be … poor manners to blow up the pizza delivery driver.” Looking around at their darkened surroundings, Alynn quipped, “I’m pretty sure we’re out of everybody’s delivery area, Tetya Faina.”
The veteran Auror chuckled, and said, “You two go up and see if anyone answers the door, I’ll stay back with the dog.” Kas simply nodded and passed the leash off to his aunt, opened the gate and started towards the front door. After a moment, Alynn followed his cousin, pausing to glance back at Faina, and as he watched she and the dog stepped into a shadow and effectively vanished from sight, along with the glowing lines and magical writing. Kas walked up to the front door and knocked on the door.
For a moment there was silence as the boys stood on the front porch, as they exchanged looks and started to doubt there was anyone to answer the door, they heard a heavy deadbolt being dragged. The heavy door was opened, and the boys were confronted with the vision of a wizened House Elf, whose long hair was thinning and silvery, and his skin resembled cracked leather, and his spindly body was covered in a ragged old pillowcase, splattered with stains from fluids neither of the kids could identify.
“Ah, Young Masters. I am honoured to greet you,” said the House Elf bowing his head as though he were greeting a pair of young nobles. Alynn launched into an explanation, “Well, we were hoping you might have seen our younger cousin, Natalya. She hasn’t come home, and we’re all very concerned for her.” The House Elf made a show of looking concerned, and he said, “A young mistress lost in the forest, it is important she be found and brought home. Of course, I shall go fetch Milady at once to handle this very important matter. I will return, Young Masters.”
Once the House Elf was out of sight, Alynn looked inside the house with wide eyes, and said softly, “What the f—.” Kasamir was also looking inside the entry hall, while also taking care to note which side of the wards they were on, and unsure of which side he wanted to be on. While he figured they were safe enough outside, he was pretty sure he didn’t want to cross the threshold uninvited. ‘Now I understand why Tetya Faina doesn’t like House Elves. That … whatever the heck … is nothing like the ones I know at the school,’ thought Kasamir repressing a shudder.
When the House Elf returned, he was accompanied by an older woman wearing what amounted to a dressing gown and a housecoat. She gave the boys a querulous look, and she said, “I understand you have some pressing business to be at my door at this late hour.” Kasamir said, “We’re looking for our cousin, Natalya. She and a friend were riding their horses earlier in the day along the river. She hasn’t come home yet, and, as you’ve pointed out, it is late. Have you seen her? Perhaps she came here; it wouldn’t be the first time she’s gotten lost.”
“Well there’s no girl in this house, and I haven’t seen any around my property, and I’ve been here all day,” she said with a dignified sniff, as she looked down her nose at the two young men standing on her front porch. The House Elf stood in front of his mistress, looking at the boys rather like a bouncer at an exclusive club who controlled who got past the velvet rope, and who didn’t make the cut. One of his ears seemed to p***k up, and he glanced back into the house briefly. The older woman noticed his furtive glance and then returned her attention to the boys in front of her.
In a cold tone, the woman said, “I haven’t the patience to deal with children. Now, if you don’t mind, you have interrupted my preparations to go to bed, and it would be appreciated if you were not to bother me any further. Good night, to you both.” With that the door was closed, and the boys were left standing on the front porch.
With his wolf cloak swirling, Kasamir turned on his heel and walked towards the gate, his hands tucked in the pockets of his jacket, and Alynn hastily turned to follow. Only when they were closer to the line of woods a short distance away, did Faina step out of a patch of darkness along with Medved. “Well?” she asked expectantly. Alynn blew out his breath, and commented, “What? We just got blown off by Queen Douche---.” Kasamir interrupted his cousin, saying in a quiet tone, “Natalya is in there, or, at least, she was.”
“Whoa, what?” exclaimed Alynn, before sputtering, “How? Are you sure about that, Kas?” Kasamir looked back to his aunt, and said, “I saw her windbreaker, and a Marakov School cap hanging on the coatrack.” Alynn nodded along: he’d seen the jacket and the cap as well, though he hadn’t made the connection, and he hadn’t been able to decipher the Cyrillic lettering on the cap. “Is that what it said on that cap?” He asked sheepishly. The veteran Dark Wizard catcher nodded her head, as she looked at the house, and then glanced down at the watch in her hand.
While her Patronus certainly completed its errands by this point, it would still take time for her crew to assemble. They would know to gather at the estate, her message told them as much, and it would be only a short bit after that before they’d be here with her. However … ‘Tick, tock, tick, tock, there’s never enough time. Sobaka ne nastolko glupa, chtoby gadit vieu sobstvennoy posteli, and yet whoever this witch is, was stupid or crazy enough to steal a child practically on her doorstep.’ Faina drew a deep breath and looked at the boys and the dog at Kas’ side, ‘The assets I have at hand ...’ and breathed a guilty curse. “My backup may not get here soon enough, and Natalya’s time maybe running out …”
 "You told me something that scared me to death
Don't take me home, I can't face that yet
I'm ashamed that I'm barely human
And I'm ashamed that I don't have a heart you can break
I'm just action, and other times reaction
All I own, all I own, are the strides I spend to the finish line.
All I own, all I own, are the strides I spend to the finish line
And I'll give you those, just don't make me go home."
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Posted: Sun Jun 01, 2025 6:10 am
 Natalya 'Talya' Stepanovich Patrovna
Unsorted │ First Year │ Eleven Years Old │ Single
Natalya was struggling to escape; her brow was furrowed, her nose scrunched, and she grunted softly as she focused on her efforts. At some point she regained her wits and discovered her circumstances changed at some point after she passed out from having tea and biscuits in Olesya’s sitting room, and not for the better. She had a pounding headache, and she was feeling a bit nauseous, and there was an oily aftertaste in her mouth, although these were the least of her issues at that precise moment.
Rather than finding herself laying in a bed or maybe on a couch, the eleven-year-old witch found she’d been placed onto a hardback chair and then tied into it. Her wrists were tied to the arms of the chair with cord, while her ankles were lashed to the front legs of the chair. She could feel another cord wrapped around her waist and the back of the chair, making sure she stayed seated in place. Natalya was dismayed to discover her captor took her shoes and socks, and she could barely feel the carpeted floor with the tips of her bare feet, and that something was stuffed into her mouth, and a sash had been wrapped around the lower part of her face and under her hair to ensure she stayed quiet.
Her chair was in the middle of a room that was no more than eight feet square and seemed to serve no other purpose than to act as a passage between various parts of the house, as there were doors on all four walls. She tried to call out and get the attention of her captors, and found her voice was reduced to whining, and Natalya quickly discovered the cords holding her in her chair were secure, and she couldn’t move her legs or much of anything else.
At some point a door opened and a woman she hadn’t seen previously shuffled into the room. She was maybe a teenager or perhaps in her early twenties, it was rather hard for Natalya to guess at, and her appearance didn’t help, as her blonde hair was long, lank and lifeless, and her skin pale. What scared Natalya was the lifeless look in her eyes, and she moved about like an automaton. The neophyte witch might have guessed she was a zombie, except she saw the woman blink and could hear her breathing, even if she didn’t register her presence.
The woman took a duster from her apron and started swiping it at the surfaces around the room, while Natalya struggled with her bonds and tried to speak to her even though her mouth was stuffed with something. Not only did the woman not acknowledge her attempts to speak to her, but she also actually started to run her duster over Natalya and her chair. The young girl let out a loud sneeze as the dust around her was stirred up, and the woman continued her work unabated. Eventually, when she was done with her dusting, the woman shuffled away, going out one of the other doors, closing it quietly behind her.
Eyes wide over the gag, Natalya whined softly and started working on trying to get loose. Shifting the cords holding one of her wrists down to the arm of the chair, she worked to loosen it, as there was no way she was getting her fingers around to pick at the knots. Whatever was going on with the maid, she was determined not to share her fate, and Natalya methodically tugged and shifted the tough cotton cord back and forth along the arm of the chair as best as she could, pulling at the knot. As she was working on getting at least one arm free, she heard a knock on a door. It wasn’t a door to the room she was in, but Natalya guessed it was in a room on the other side of one of the doors to her prison.
She heard the voice of the House Elf, and then heard another voice, and it took her a moment before realizing it belonged to … Alynn. Suddenly, her heart leaped in her chest. ‘Somebody’s looking for me,’ she thought, choking back a sob, and she fought even harder to free a hand from the cords. After a moment, she not only heard Olesya’s voice, but she also heard Kasamir’s voice, and she let out a whine as she struggled even harder. Though she wasn’t all that strong, she managed to cause her chair to shift slightly on the floor. Folding her thumb in, she yanked her arm back, her slim hand slipped loose, and she slammed her elbow into the back of the chair.
As tears of pain started running down her cheeks, Natalya was reaching up to wrench the sash cord away from her mouth, when the door to her prison flew open. Instead of her cousins racing in to save her from whatever fate that other poor soul suffered, it was Olesya and Malyshev who appeared instead. Instantly she reached out and grabbed Natalya’s wrist, and then looked down at her diminutive henchman, and snapped, “Dubiina! Fool of a Took, you should have been watching her! What if she got loose and escaped?”
The wizened House Elf bowed his head, and answered apologetically, “You are right, Milady, a most regrettable oversight. It would not do to have the entrée escape our clutches.” The older woman scowled, and retorted contemptuously, ‘Balvan! Is that all you’re good for, thinking with your stomach?” The House Elf looked at the girl trapped in the chair, and gave her a smile, showing off the rows of pointed teeth. “Please, you cannot fault me, Milady,” said Malyshev unrepentantly, “How else should I think when prey wanders so close to our home?”
Oleysa shifted her gaze back to the girl, whose wrist she still held, and she patted her hand, and then her cheek consolingly, as she looked at her wide brown eyes brimming with tears. “Oh, you poor dear, I can see it in your eyes. You weren’t expecting those boys to rush in to rescue you, were you? Admittedly, the older one looked the part, but you should be grateful you were unable to draw their attention. No, much as it might have pained me to do it, I would make certain you would have watched them perish for trespassing upon my demesne and interfering in what is to come.”
The witch held Natalya’s hand, and she set it back upon the arm of the chair and then gestured with a couple fingers. The cords writhed as though they were living and wrapped themselves around her wrist once more and knotting. An extra tug was given, causing Natalya to gasp as she discovered it was tied tighter than it was previosly. More cords appeared, and they wrapped themselves around her forearms, at the elbows, ensuring Natalya would be unable to move her arms. “Wouldn’t wish for you to get any more ideas of attempting to escape, my dear,” said Olesya, patting Natalya upon the cheek once more, before shifting her attention back to Malyshev. “Plucky little thing, isn’t she?”
Malyshev gave another shark’s grin as he leered at the girl, causing her to whine in fear. “Indeed, Milady. Little to be sure, barely enough meat on those bones for a couple decent sized meals and sandwiches afterward.” Olesya chuckled indulgently, and commented, “Well, we mustn’t forget the sandwiches. Finger sandwiches, perhaps?” Malyshev bowed his head, and replied, as he started examining their captive’s slim fingers, “Milady makes an excellent decision. Perhaps a salad and the 2042 Bordeaux we have in the cellars as an accompaniment?” Natalya tried to get off a terrified shriek as she realized they were seriously discussing the idea of eating her, the wad stuffing her mouth reduced what should have been an ear-piercing scream to a mournful gurgle which she doubted would pass beyond the walls of the curious little room they were in.
“They can’t hear you, dear said Oleysa gently, as she lifted Natalya’s chin, so she could look at the curves of her roundish face, and her brown eyes. “I sent the boys on their way, unharmed and blissfully unaware of how close they were to seeing you again and dying for their efforts. Oh, no, I’ll not be denied what I seek, only part of which is having the pleasure of knowing what will become of you, while your precious Baba will mourn the loss of one of her little ones while ignorant of your fate. I never lied to you, Natalya, your Baba and I were friends, the stories I told were true, but I fell from her circle when I chose a different path.”
Natalya stared in mute horror as she watched the woman start to change, her hair becoming long and white, her face pale as a cadaver with as many lines and cracks as a rotted piece of leather, while the hands became long and bony, her flesh pulled taut and nearly transparent and her fingernails ending in claws. “Tick, tock, tick, tock, we are slaves to a clock which never stops advancing. Only fools meddle with Time, but who needs to do that when one simply needs to keep one’s own body from suffering from its ravages? I gain much satisfaction from outliving my enemies, at least the ones we don’t kill and eat.”
Malyshev cleared his throat, and said, “Milady, I beg your indulgence. I should like a bit of her blood so I might start making the gravy.” Olesya’s eyes flashed with annoyance. “I do not wish for her to exsanguinate, Malyshev; she is no good to us if she’s dead,” she told the House Elf, and then shifted her attention back to her captive, and added with a nasty laugh, “At least, not yet. There was a reason I only claimed you, Natalya and not your little friend as well. You are a young witch, newly blossomed and coming into your birthright, and I need for you to be all warm and breathing when I take your magic and your youth, rip them from your body, and claim them as my own. It will be a frightening and painful process, one you will not survive, but I am not such an awful soul that I won’t make it as easy for you as I can. It will all pass as a dream for you, dear, and you will be the guest of honour at the feast we will hold afterwards.”
The neophyte witch stared at her captors with wide eyes, and she started to frantically struggle with the cords holding her in place in the chair, trying her best to plead for her life. With the wad of cloth stuffed in her mouth it was impossible for her to find some way to reason with them, assuming there was even a way to find accommodation where her demise wasn’t figured into the bargain. Olesya used her bony fingers to caress Natalya’s hair, as she tried to shush at her to calm her down. “Malyshev, fetch the draught. We have work to be done tonight before I indulge you in your … culinary passions.”
 "Precious and fragile things, need special handling
My God what have we done to you?
We always try to share, the tenderest of care
Now look what we have put you through
Things get damaged, things get broken
I thought we'd manage, but words left unspoken
Left us so brittle, there was so little left to give "
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Posted: Sun Jun 01, 2025 6:18 am
 Dymitri Alynn Quinlan
Gryffindor │ Third Year │ Thirteen Years Old │ Single
Alynn pulled the cloak around his shoulders a little closer about him as he felt it getting chillier, though it was a given that he was accustomed to the chill air in Glasgow and the snowy winters at Hogwarts, he wasn’t so certain it was because it was colder or that they were standing in a private cemetery under the light of a nearly full moon. After retreating to the relative privacy and cover of the small woods near the house they were sure Natalya was in, and they saw the small graveyard which was clearly the private final resting place for members of whatever family used to live in that large stone house.
The graves were quite old, and the thirteen-year-old Gryffindor spotted dates on some of the markers predating the October Revolution, and there were some impressive pieces of statuary, including a giant stone sculpture of an angel bearing a cross. It was many years since the cemetery saw any bit of upkeep, as the grounds were overgrown with weeds and tall grass obfuscated some of the smaller stone markers. However, what caused Alynn’s blood to run cold was seeing fresh graves off to the edge of the boundaries of the hallowed ground. ‘Fresh graves, and nothing to mark who’s buried there,’ he thought, then looked back towards where he knew the house was and shuddered.
Faina glanced at her watch and muttered another guilty curse under her breath. She turned towards the angel standing on a pedestal, drew out her wand and started casting a powerful Charm. “Arise, Mikhail, you are needed this night. I promise you will be restored and returned to your duties when we are done here.” The statue juddered and trembled as though stricken with palsy for a brief moment and then stood up and stepped down from its pedestal, its stone cross balanced over its shoulder as though it were walking to the Quidditch pitch with a broomstick. With his mouth hanging open, Alynn looked on in disbelief, as the angel lumbered behind his aunt, and as he was about to say something, she gave him a ghost of a smile, and said, “Do not try that with the statues at school; most of them wouldn’t appreciate being animated without due cause.”
Kasamir stood at the edge of the woods keeping watch over the house with his faithful canine sidekick at his side. He glanced back as he heard the approach of the two-ton stone angel, and he saw Alynn and Tetya Faina walking in front of the lumbering giant as though this were completely normal. Faina looked expectantly at her nephew, and she asked, “Well?” Kasamir shook his head.
Faina breathed another curse and then replied in a solemn tone, “Pust budet tuck, we move now.” As the three of them gathered, Faina began breathing the words of a series of Charms and then touched each of the boys and the dog in turn, before casting them upon herself. Kasamir instantly recognized them, having needed to use them himself during the previous term at school.
When she was done, she looked at the boys and told them, “You three have exactly one job: find Natalya and get her and yourselves out of that house alive and in one piece. Leave the fighting to me, and don’t stick around to help; I’m speaking to you, Kasamir. I know what your grades in your Defense Against the Dark Arts classes are, and that you took an O-level in your OWLs, you’re not ready to deal with what’s potentially in that house. They won’t care about the rules of a duel, or that you’re just students, and have absolutely no reason to hold back.”
Faina continued with, “I do not want to bury my adopted nephew, and I don’t want to have to explain to my baby sister why her elder son died in my care. I’ve buried enough people of late; I’m not burying you two as well. So, stay alive, and don’t do anything to get yourselves killed. Both of you need to work together, no matter what happens inside or happens to me, because each other will be all you have, and your little cousin is depending upon both of you to succeed. Once you get outside, my team should already be out here, at least they damned well better be, and they know you, Kasamir, you’ve met them often enough, let Pavel know what’s going on, and he will take care of matters from there. Khorosho?”
Kasamir nodded his head, and replied in sober tones, “My uvidim, cack eto budet sdelano.” Faina nodded, and she stepped out of the cover of the woods, and started towards the house, the tails of her greatcoat flapping about her, while the stone angel lumbered forward in her wake. Kasamir was close behind her with Medved at his side, with Alynn bringing up the rear. As they closed the distance, Faina called out, “Mikhail, raschistite put vpered!”
The angel picked up speed and was moving at a lumbering trot, sounding much like a thundering Clydesdale, as it approached the gate, and it unshouldered the stone cross. With a single swing and a crash of unyielding stone meeting wood with the force of a battering ram, the wooden gate was shattered into kindling and the angel passed through the opening without a pause. As it reached the front steps, Faina gestured again, spinning her arms over her head, and pointed towards the windows near the porch at the front of the house. Alynn glanced back as he heard branches being snapped and saw paving stones erupting from the woods.
Faina timed her actions, so the paving stones arrived as the angel mounted the steps. The massive statue caused the steps to crack under its ponderous weight, and it swung its cross at the front door as the wards were triggered. The stones struck the windows instantly shattering the glass and causing the hexagrammic wards to detonate as their magical potential was liberated violently in an instant. Sheets of flame enveloped the angel, and there was a thunderous explosion as arcs of electricity flashed about the porch, while lethal volleys of razor-sharp shards of flying glass from the large, shattered windows shot outward as flechettes, falling just short of where Faina was standing at the edge of the property.
The veteran Auror ran towards the open gateway, raced across the intervening distance, fallen glass crunching under her boots, and then leaped up and through one of the windows without a moment’s hesitation and with the preternatural ease of a gazelle. Kasamir was right behind her, and he vaulted through the splintered window frame, with Medved making the leap without missing a beat at his master's side. “Bleedin' bullocks, they’re freakin’ nuts!” exclaimed the thirteen-year-old Gryffindor, as he hurried to catch up with his cousin, and found he was running faster than he was used to without difficulty, though he was doubtful about the eight-foot standing high jump he saw his aunt, his cousin and the freakin’ dog do barely without any effort.
As Alynn brought up the rear, the angel was wreathed in fire so hot the tips of its wing were beginning to melt. The animated statue brought it’s stone cross to bear, striking the door with sufficient force to crack it on the first hit, causing another explosion to envelop it, and causing bits of stone to be chipped away. With another swing, the heavy door yielded to the force of the impact, and chunks of wood were sent spinning into the entry hall, while the follow-up swing shattered it, and cracked the door frame. Another roaring explosion ripped through the area of the entrance, as loud as an artillery shell going off. The angel used one of its wings to shield it from the worst of the flames, as it bulled its way inside, heedless of the fact the doorframe was nowhere close to being tall or wide enough to accommodate its bulk.
 Never made it as a wise man
I couldn't cut it as a poor man stealin'
Tired of livin' like a blind man
I'm sick of sight without a sense of feelin'
And this is how you remind me
This is how you remind me of what I really am
This is how you remind me of what I really am
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Posted: Sun Jun 01, 2025 6:44 am
Natalya 'Talya' Stepanovich Patrovna
Unsorted │ First Year │ Eleven Years Old │ Single
Natalya did what she could to resist Olesya, but there was only so much she could do after having been tied down to a chair. When Malyshev arrived with the draught, she whined and tried once more to beg for her life even if she couldn’t articulate so much as a syllable, emoting with her brown eyes. She knew she was running out of time, and she wanted desperately to escape what the wizened hag in front of her was, as this was what she clearly was, having revealed her true appearance, had in store for her. The neophyte witch twisted and turned her head, as the older woman pulled the gag from her mouth.
When the wad of fabric was pulled out, she started to babble a torrent of words. “Please, please, please, don’t do this, please don’t do this, Lady Olesya,” gasped Natalya with a sob. “Please, just let me go, and I promise I won’t say anything about what happened. They wouldn’t believe anyone would want to kidnap me, and it can be our secret, I can just tell everyone I got lost in the forest, they’ll believe that.” The old crone fixed the young witch with a look, and she said, “We are past the point of trying to make bargains, Natalya, and you need to understand this has nothing to do with you.”
Snuffling as tears flowed down her cheeks, Natalya said in a small voice, “I just want to go home, I don’t want to die.” Olesya shushed her, and told her in a gentle, grandmotherly way, “Nobody wants to die, dear, but such is life. It stinks, but there it is. Take the draught, and I promise you will feel better; it will be as easy as falling asleep.” As the crone took the glass from Malyshev, Natalya twisted and turned her head and shoulders in a desperate bid to avoid taking a drink of the contents. She ducked her head down and tried to use her shoulder to block the crone’s hand, as she clamped her mouth shut, clenched her teeth and whimpered in pure terror.
As Natalya tried to fight off her captor, Malyshev reached up, grabbed a hank of her long sandy-brown hair and pulled her head back with a savage yank. The girl opened her mouth to scream, and that was when the hag poured the contents of the glass down her throat. Natalya sputtered and coughed aloud, and tried hard not to choke on the liquid, which had the thick consistency and the heavy-handed flavour of cherry-flavoured cough syrup, and she felt it burn as it slowly worked its way downwards.
“There, all done. That wasn’t so bad, now was it?” said the crone, speaking as though she were giving cold medicine to a recalcitrant child, as she passed the glass off to her House Elf assistant. Already, Natalya was feeling numbness spread through her body, and everything was growing hazy and distant. “Why are you doing this, Lady Olesya? Why?”she asked dreamily. As her world started to fade, and it felt as though she were floating away, she heard the hag tell her, “Because that is how the game is played.”
"Precious and fragile things, need special handling
My God what have we done to you?
We always try to share, the tenderest of care
Now look what we have put you through
Things get damaged, things get broken
I thought we'd manage, but words left unspoken
Left us so brittle, there was so little left to give "
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Posted: Sun Jun 01, 2025 6:53 am
Dymitri Alynn Quinlan
Gryffindor │ Third Year │ Thirteen Years Old │ Single
Alynn tried to make the jump he just saw the rest of the search party undertake, and ended up slamming into the wall just below the window instead. He grabbed the edge of the window and discovered it was completely absent of broken glass despite having been ruined by a large stone being magically propelled through it, as the magic trap used the glass to create a storm of shards which exploded outwards and were now in the grass out front. The thirteen-year-old Gryffindor levered himself up, using strength he didn’t know he had, while still hanging onto his staff.
He looked inside and saw a ruined sitting room, the walls and furniture scorched by the explosions from the detonating wards, while the wall opposite the window now featured a gaping hole here a paving stone passed through. His aunt and older cousin were standing inside the room, and they were facing … well, Alynn was pretty sure they were zombies. The men were dressed in rags, and they were carrying simple clubs, their faces were deathly pale, with wide staring eyes and drool pouring from the corners of their mouths. They shuffled forward, as though the simple act of walking was a difficult chore.
Having entered the house, Kas drew out his longsword from its scabbard and swung it in a glittering arc just in time to avoid getting nailed by the club swung by the one of the men, and then used the backswing to swipe at him return, the blade catching his ragged clothing. A second of the gray-faced automaton-like men swung his club at the Sixth Year Slytherin, or at least in his general direction before staggering to one side as he nearly flopped over onto the carpet. As Kas positioned himself to face his two opponents, he heard Faina shout to him, “Kas! Don’t kill any of them, they’re still living. Use the flat of your blade, not the edge!”
Seeing the shambling men gave Faina a sick feeling in the pit of her stomach, having encountered them previously on other missions. Though they looked rather like zombies, ‘the Harrowed’, as they were referred to by the coven of crones she and team crossed paths with previously, were alive at least in the sense their hearts beat, and their lungs still drew breath. They were likely Muggles who had the misfortune to cross paths with the crones and earn the ire of one of those evil-tempered witches. Tortured well beyond the point of having their minds and spirits shattered, what was left was given simple tasks to do and nothing more.
Alynn slid over the windowsill and fell onto the carpet inside the sitting room. It wasn’t the most graceful thing to see, but he was inside the house, and he rose to his feet with his staff in hand. Two of the Harrowed shuffled around to get behind the veteran Auror and Kasamir while they were occupied with the shambling mooks in front of them. As the first one was about to take a swing at the back of Kas’ head, Medved lunged in and with a menacing growl grabbed the Harrowed by a leg and pulled him down.
The young Gryffindor didn’t have time to be horrified, not when he saw another of the creepy men moving to take Faina’s head off her shoulders from behind. “Oh, heck, no!” he declared, as he rushed up behind the Harrowed and swung his staff as hard as he could muster. With a swing which would have done a Knapp proud, the end of his staff struck the Harrowed in the side of his chest hard enough Alynn was sure he heard bones snap, causing the unfortunate man to stagger and slam into a wall.
As one of the Harrowed struck the wall hard enough to crack the plaster, two more shuffled towards Alynn, swinging their clubs at him. The young Gryffindor swore and ducked his head in time to avoid one of the swings directed at him, while he brought up his staff in time to intercept the other swing. The Harrowed’s club hit his staff with sufficient force that Alynn felt it transmit up through his arms, and he looked up to see the absolutely vacant look in the man’s eyes, as well as the trail of drool rolling down his face, and hear his breathing as he tried to battle him.
Kas was vaguely aware his canine companion pulled one of the attackers to the floor, as he was more focused upon the pair of brain-dead men trying their best to beat him to death. One of the Harrowed was swinging his club, and Kas swatted his wrist with the flat of his blade with stinging force, causing the club to tumble from the man’s grasp, before bringing his blade around to parry the club swing of his other opponent, and striking him across the shoulder.
Medved chomped on the leg of the Harrowed he’d pulled down to the floor, immediately drawing blood, and he growled as he shook the leg trapped between his jaws. The gray-faced mook flopped around and did nothing else, while clutching his club in one of his hands, staring unresponsively at the floor and drooling on one of Kasamir’s shoes.
Faina glanced about to count the number of Harrowed who were present in the area, and grimaced as she saw the fire and explosion- damaged stone angel was destroying the entry hall simply by trying to move through it. She saw one of the unfortunate Muggle serfs approach the angel and swing his club at the impromptu automaton. The wooden bat snapped in half as it struck stone, and the angel turned its attention to its opponent …
Before she saw the results of the meeting, the door in front of her slammed open, and a fresh phalanx of Harrowed poured from the next room, bearing clubs and whatever else was available. The Auror gestured with both of her hands, and she seemed to push at the air with her arms, causing the Harrowed to be blown back into the room from whence they came. With another gesture, the door was shut and, with an audible ‘clack’, locked.
As his arms and hands tingled as though they’d been afflicted suddenly with carpel tunnel, Alynn was faced with a pair of Harrowed, who were swinging their clubs at him. One of the serfs struck his upraised staff a glancing hit, while the other swung his club at the thirteen-year-old Gryffindor with murderous intent, and Alynn jumped back with a yelp as he avoided having his head removed from his shoulders. ”A little help here?” he shouted over the din of the melee.
The Harrowed whose club slipped from his hand, stood stock-still, and looked down helplessly at his fallen weapon, unable to process what just took place or what to do about it, and Kas lowered his shoulder and slammed into him like he was bodychecking an opponent in a hockey game. As he knocked down one of the Hallowed, he raised his sword to block the swing his other opponent took at him in turn. The club skated past his guard and connected with his chest with an audible ‘smack’. The Sixth Year Slytherin felt the all-too familiar sensation of bones snapping, and he clenched his teeth so only a loud hiss of discomfort escaped from him.
Medved let out a painful yelp as another Harrowed in the room smashed his club into the dog’s flank. Letting go of the Harrowed whose leg he’d ripped open, the Moscow Watchdog spun around and jumped on his new opponent. Landing with his paws squarely on the serf’s shoulders, the St. Bernard sized hound used his seventy kilos of mass to slam the Hallowed to the ground.
Faina heard her younger nephew’s cry for help over all the thumping and banging taking place around her and saw that Alynn still had a pair of Harrowed trying to kill him. She raised her arm and pointed at one of them and spat the incantation of another Charm. A silvery bolt of magical fury erupted from the end of her outstretched index finger and streaked across the sitting room, striking one of the Harrowed with the force of a Bludger. The mind-wrecked serf was caught full in the chest and stumbled backwards before tripping and falling across the windowsill behind him. Without so much as a cry of distress the Harrowed slid head over heels out the window.
Heedless of any of the things going on around him, the remaining serf fighting Alynn swung at him again, this time catching the young man full in the stomach. As the wind was knocked out of him, Alynn let out a dry gasp of pain as he doubled over and dropped to his knees on the carpet, along with his staff. Gasping like a dying asthmatic, he tried to raise his staff to defend himself, as the serf moved to deliver a finishing strike, but found his arms felt as though they made of lead and he couldn’t lift his weapon fast enough to save himself …
‘I’ve been hit worse in matches,’ Kasamir told himself, as he snarled, “Gospadar!” and launched himself forward at his foe. Swinging his antique blade, Kas struck the serf across the shoulder with the flat of his blade and then delivered a backswing connecting with him in the opposing leg. The Harrowed’s leg shuddered for a moment, and then he fell over backward onto a coffee table before crashing to the floor in a spray of splinters and shattered wood.
As Kasamir stood over the fallen serf, catching his breath, a flash of movement in the corner caught his attention, and he shifted his head over in time to see his beloved canine sidekick had a second Harrowed on the ground, and he was about to rip the serf’s throat out. “Medved, nyet! Stoy! Na meste!” he shouted, as Medved only took commands in Russian. The Moscow Watchdog pulled his teeth back from the serf’s exposed throat, growling menacingly as he breathed heavily and slowly retreated from the fallen body to rejoin his young master.
Seeing her younger nephew was about to have his skull bashed in by the remaining Harrowed in the sitting room, Faina shifted her aim and spat out a spell. The lone Harrowed was swinging his club over his head with the aim of bringing it crashing down upon the intruding youth’s skull, when Faina’s spell caught him at the top of his sternum and knocked him off his feet. The mind-wracked serf landed ungracefully atop an antique end table, while the back of his head met the corner of a nearby windowsill. Leaving a bloody trail down the plaster, the Harrowed slid down and slumped on the floor.
The veteran Auror glanced about at the scene of wreckage and chaos which had been somebody’s well-appointed sitting room not so long ago. She tried hard to ignore the collection of slumped figures in the foyer, and that Mikhail’s stone cross was slicked with blood. “ Igraite se ognem you uvidite posledstvia,” she said softly, with a bit of sadness, as the Harrowed neither deserved what was done to create them nor the gruesome fate they suffered. She looked over and saw Kasamir down on one knee, holding his sword with one hand, the point resting on the carpet, while petting Medved.
Medved whimpered in pain as he looked to his master with sad brown eyes. Kasamir harfed up a wad of blood, and he told his companion in a reassuring tone, “Khoroshi malchik, khoroshi malchik.” He coughed again as more blood welled up through him, and Medved started licking the side of his face. The Sixth Year Slytherin was looking at the men they’d fought, and saw they were thrashing a bit as they tried and failed to even sit up, let alone attempt to regain their feet. Disturbingly, though many were grievously injured, not a single one of them made a sound of protest.
They reminded him of the accounts he read of Russian soldiers, fighting to defend the Motherland against Napoleon’s advances, who wouldn’t cry out even after being gut-shot with muskets and run through with bayonets, as they’d been ordered by their officers never to let their enemies know they were wounded and hurt, and when dying would drag themselves eastward so they could die that much closer to their homes, and the French soldiers questioned whether their opponents were human.
‘Are you all right, Kas?” asked Faina as she walked over to check on the youngest of their party. Kasamir drew a deep breath, and said, “I’ll manage, Tetya Faina, but Medved’s been hurt.” As if on a cue, the big hound looked over at the veteran Auror and he whimpered softly as he looked up at her. It wasn’t lost on her that Medved’s muzzle and forepaws were splattered in blood, while Kasamir had blood trickling from the corner of his mouth. She then asked, “What of you, Alynn?”
Gasping in pain, Alynn slowly recovered from having the wind knocked out of him by the wallop he took in the diaphragm. “Oh, crud,” he managed to wheeze as he clutched his midsection, knowing there’d be a huge bruise to mark where he’d gotten hit. He just hoped Mom wouldn’t freak too much when she saw it. It was when he looked up did his face blanch even further than it already was, as he took in the sight of the bodies strewn about the floor of the sitting room, and the coppery stench of spilled blood.
“Oh, God,” he muttered, as he heaved up what he had for a snack earlier in the day. Playing video games and reading books and manga was no preparation for what he was seeing, and there would be no unseeing any of it. He glanced over as his aunt approached and offered a hand to help him back to his feet. She cast a Charm, and he could feel the worst of his pain lessening when she placed a hand over his midriff.
Faina bit back another guilty curse, as she started tending to the injuries inflicted upon her nephews and the dog, knowing she had no business bringing them into this worsening situation. She also cast the necessary Charms required to extend the duration of the enhancing Charms she cast outside, reflecting that if it were required to extend them beyond that, their situation was likely already beyond dire. Closing her eyes, the veteran Auror said to her sister’s eldest child, “If you can’t deal with this, go wait outside for my team, Alynn,”
The thirteen-year-old Gryffindor gave her a look of silent gratitude for giving him an out, and then he looked over at his cousin who greatly resembled an ancient Rus warrior wearing the wolf cloak and kneeling by his dog, the hilt of his longsword clutched in his hand. Gratitude was replaced by guilt. “I’m not leaving if he isn’t leaving,” he said, pursing his lip, and nodded towards his older cousin.
Before she could ask him anything, Kasamir said soberly, “I made a promise, Tetya Faina. We return with Natalya, or not at all.” He was drinking from a water bottle and passing it down to Medved so he could have a drink as well, as he prepared himself mentally for what would come next. Faina drew a deep breath, and said gently, “Nobody expects of you to keep such a promise, Kas, not even Artemyi. He would understand.” Kasamir shook his head, and said, “I would have made the same promise if were Alynn, or Aleksandr or Alenka who were lost. Natalya’s time is running out, if it hasn’t already.” As he said the last bit, he glanced around at the bodies sprawled around the room and the foyer, and the scene of the train accident flashed through his mind, along with the stench of all the blood and the flames and death.
After healing up ‘the assets she had at hand’, Faina walked over to the stone statue, and it turned to look at her, and she said a few words to it out of earshot of the boys. She then told them, “The angel will watch over the foyer and the door and none shall pass. If you need to leave, simply tell him the password.” Alynn looked at her and asked, “Which is?” Faina shrugged, and replied, “You say ‘Saint Mikhail, please let us pass', of course. It’s not rocket science, Alynn, and it never hurts to be polite.”
Never made it as a wise man
I couldn't cut it as a poor man stealin'
Tired of livin' like a blind man
I'm sick of sight without a sense of feelin'
And this is how you remind me
This is how you remind me of what I really am
This is how you remind me of what I really am
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Posted: Sun Jun 01, 2025 7:12 am
Faina Patrovna
Slytherin Alumnus │ Veteran Auror │ Thirty-Nine Years Old │ Single
After catching their breaths, Faina and her nephews continued to move deeper into the old stone house. They entered a small square room with doors in each of the walls and they found a chair with ropes hanging off of the arms and draped across the seat. What was more disturbing was the pile of clothes that were left on the floor, and the three of them tried hard not to dwell on the possible implications of their find. Medved immediately started sniffing at the clothes and he started to ‘woof’ excitedly and pulling at the leash as he wanted to lunge through one of those doors specifically.
The veteran Auror cast a quick Charm, and the door the dog was determined to charge through swung open, and she led the way into a side corridor. Various bits of art were hanging on the wall, and Faina glanced at them as they passed. The figures in the paintings started muttering gibberish and averted their eyes as Kasamir passed with his lantern, hissing and snarling oaths in his wake, while Alynn tried to give each of the paintings as wide a berth as he could in the narrow hallway.
It was the stomach-churning smell of something cooking which told the three of them they were getting close to the kitchens, and Faina grew concerned their canine companion might have trouble figuring out where to go next as he paused at the doorway. She pushed open the door and peered inside. A pair of Harrowed women, wearing old-fashioned maid uniforms were standing at stoves stirring the contents of pots. Neither of them responded to the door being opened, and Faina suspected they wouldn’t react to anything short of being knocked over. Her jaw tightened as her eyes fell upon a Dutch oven that was roughly the size of a baby’s coffin, and a butcher block counter large enough to conduct an autopsy stained nearly black from repeated use and dried effluvium, and channels to catch the blood.
Faina turned to the boys and put a finger to her lips to bade them to keep silent, before turning about and walking through the kitchen. Glancing back, she was gratified to see Medved was unconfused by the foul stench, and Natalya’s scent hadn’t been obfuscated. The Auror carried one of the lanterns in one hand, while flames began to coalesce and swirl about her other gloved hand. Kasamir stared straight ahead as he strode purposefully in Faina’s wake, the other lantern in his grasp, and his longsword in his other hand. Alynn was looking about at the kitchen, fully expecting one of the maids to react to their presence, his staff clutched in both of his hands.
They passed through a set of doors and into a dimly lit room which greatly resembled the one they just walked through. Holding her lantern aloft, the light grew in intensity and became as pure as unfiltered daylight, causing the denizens therein to gasp and cry out. “It burns, it burns us!” gasped a small voice, while another added with a note of genuine fear, “It’s an Auror. Is Milady in trouble?” As the Auror shined her light, the group saw there were several child-sized creatures in the room who looked as though they had as much in common with albino rats as they had with House Elves, with their pale skin, red eyes, rather elongated mishappen heads, pointed ears and elongated noses. They were in a kitchen which clearly had seen little use in a long time, and yet they were in there cleaning.
“Mercy! Have mercy, Great Lady,” cried one of the spindly creatures, as it averted its eyes from the light of her lantern. “Please don’t burn us, don’t set your beast upon us. We do no wrong.” Another of the rat-like House Elves added to the plea with, “Good House Elves, we are. Do the bidding of Milady, no more than that.” Another of the creatures, who wore a dish towel as a shawl snarled, “Silence, fool. Milady hears you speak, punished we all will be. Say nothing more.”
The light from Faina’s lantern seemed to focus and illuminated each of the House Elves in turn in its cleansing illumination. She glowered at all of them, and barely restrained flames seemed to cause her carnelian eyes to glow like red-hot irons in a forge, as she spoke to them in a low, sibilant, malevolent tone. “Think so little of what I might do? Mercy is earned, time grows short, as does my patience. Your Mistress has stolen a child today, a member of my family. Where are they? Answer me truthfully or learn the consequences when we meet again.”
Immediately, the veteran Auror was rewarded with the scent of fresh urine and feces striking the floor, as one of the creatures soiled itself before dropping to its knees and sobbing. The one wearing the shawl crossed its small arms, and said defiantly, “Say nothing, you cretins. Milady will punish us all if one of us proves a traitor.” The lantern light was now focused upon the one who was clearly in charge of the others, and Faina spoke again, this time the sound of distant thunder could be heard. “If harm comes to my niece, you share your Mistress’ fate. One last chance: where are they?”
Another of the creatures looked up at Faina, and she spoke in a small quavering voice, “Great Lady, please, spare us. By the Old Gods, I swear, they’re down in the catacombs under the house, Milady and … and … Malyshev … and … and …” It was then whatever reserves of courage the House Elf possessed were spent, and it started sobbing uncontrollably next to the other one. One of the other House Elves was nodding along with what the other was saying, and silently pointed in the same direction Medved was already looking as he tugged at the leash attached to Kasamir’s belt. “The door’s open,” said the House Elf, as he stared up at the Witch Hunter and her assistants and desperately hoped to avoid being eaten by their beast, whose muzzle was already splattered with blood.
Looking at the rat-like House Elves, she told them, “Leave, and do not let me catch sight of any of you again. I am granting you a small mercy, I do not vouch for what the rest of my men would do were they to find any of you.” The rat-like creatures scattered like cockroaches, one of them leaving a trail of urine and feces as it continued to empty its bowels, before vanishing from sight as Faina and the boys rushed off in the direction their canine companion was trying to lead them in.
"You told me something that scared me to death
Don't take me home, I can't face that yet
I'm ashamed that I'm barely human
And I'm ashamed that I don't have a heart you can break
I'm just action, and other times reaction
All I own, all I own, are the strides I spend to the finish line.
All I own, all I own, are the strides I spend to the finish line
And I'll give you those, just don't make me go home."
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Posted: Thu Jun 05, 2025 12:09 pm
Faina Patrovna Slytherin Alumnus │ Veteran Auror │ Thirty-Nine Years Old │ Single
Chapter Five: “The Rescue”
The entrance to the catacombs was at the back of the kitchens, and as the one House Elf indicated, the door was hanging wide open, giving Faina reason to smile. If there were wards on the door and the doorway, they wouldn’t be active. Unfortunately, the stairs leading downward were not illuminated, the Auror and her nephews would need their lanterns as they descended into the stygian gloom. Faina maintained the Charm causing her lantern to cast a light mimicking daylight in its clarity if not the intensity.
They soon discovered the stairs took them deep below the foundations of the stone house above. Alynn hoped the House Elves had meant a simple cellar with a few rooms and nothing more; instead, the stairs reminded him a bit of the ones at Hogwarts, particularly some of the small, narrow stairs leading down into areas of the dungeons he didn’t care to explore, and none of his classes were being held. As they finally made it to the bottom of the stairs, he started to wonder if they were below the level of the river.
In spots along the walls were patches of phosphorescent lichen, and the rough-hewn stone-faced gallery was slicked with condensation. It had grown chilly enough to see one’s breath in the air, and Alynn drew his cloak closer about his shoulders, while his cousin and his aunt seemed not to notice. They paused as they approached a side gallery, and Faina shined her lantern to see what was inside. There was a series of racks constructed of heavy wooden battens with iron fasteners at the joins. Situated in the racks were wooden casks, and there were bottles stacked on their sides, each in their own holder.
Medved continued to pull at the leash attached to his young master, beckoning for them to venture further into what appeared to be a much more extensive underground structure than anyone bargained for. Satisfied there were no other tunnels leading away from the wine cellar, the veteran Auror led the way, with Kas and Medved close behind, and Alynn not far behind them, occasionally holding up his lantern and checking behind them.
They passed a thick heavy wooden door set in a wall, and a quick check told that it was locked, warded and there were other magical defenses, though those were on the other side of the door. Taking out a handkerchief, Kas knelt on the stone floor and held it in front of the bottom of the door and saw it fluttering ever so slightly. Glancing up at Faina, he saw her nod and she gestured with a finger at the door. Glowing letters appeared on the wooden surface, forming the word ‘EXIT’ in Cyrillic.”Use it if we need it,” she said quietly, before they continued along the darkened gallery.
Another side gallery was seen, and as the searchers got closer, they caught the unspeakably foul stench of unwashed bodies and excrements, slow lingering death and decay and suffering wafting from it. Faina breathed an oath, dreading what she was likely to find. “Stay out here and watch the hallway,” she advised soberly. “You will have nightmares enough already without having to see this.” Alynn asked breathlessly, “What’s going on, Aunt Faina?” Faina drew a breath, and answered, “Things no human being should ever have to endure.”
Faina stepped into a scene that wouldn’t have looked out of place in Dante’s ‘Inferno’, as she was confronted with a profusion of stone-walled cells, fronted by iron bars, with human beings contained within them. All of them were dressed in filthy rags and looked as though they’d been systematically starved and beaten and had unspeakable things visited upon them. Seeing her, and her lantern light, many of them started shying away from her, and several were now crying and muttering disjointedly.
‘More Harrowed being made,’ thought Faina with a thrill of silent horror, as she looked around simultaneously hoping and dreading to find their missing cousin in one of the cells. As she swept the cleansing light of her lantern about, she heard giggling coming from somewhere near the back of the cells, and she spotted one of the debased rat-faced House Elves poking at one of the prisoners through the bars of the cage. The little creature was laughing like a child poking at a dog or a bear at a zoo, while the target of the creature’s amusement was sobbing, and then it saw Faina as it was illuminated in the light of her lantern.
“Uh-oh,” it gasped, as it stared with its red rat-like eyes, and realization dawned in its mind that this wasn’t the lady of the house visiting. Faina spat an incantation and gestured emphatically, and the corrupted House Elf was sent flying from where it was kneeling in front of the cage, dropping its stick. The creature hit the back wall of the stone-faced gallery head-first with a fatal-sounding wet ‘thump’ and slid to the floor leaving a streak of blood down the wall, and it didn’t move afterwards.
Right then, Faina didn’t care if the creature was alive or dead and she was in scant mood to be kind. As she told the creatures up n the kitchen ‘mercy was to be earned’, but this didn’t apply to the unfortunate wretches in the cells. “Help is coming shortly,” she told the prisoners with calm assurance, in a voice loud enough to be heard, though not so much to carry past the immediate area. “I promise you; nobody will be left behind. Just hang on for a little bit longer.”
"You told me something that scared me to death
Don't take me home, I can't face that yet
I'm ashamed that I'm barely human
And I'm ashamed that I don't have a heart you can break
I'm just action, and other times reaction
All I own, all I own, are the strides I spend to the finish line.
All I own, all I own, are the strides I spend to the finish line
And I'll give you those, just don't make me go home."
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Posted: Thu Jun 05, 2025 12:13 pm
Kasamir Aloysius Patrovna
Slytherin │ Sixth Year │ Sixteen Years Old │ Single │ Chess Grandmaster │ Slytherin Prefect │ Adventurer's Guild & Chess Club Captain
At the end of the gallery was another wooden door set in a stone doorway, and fortune favoured the searchers in that, like the door upstairs, it also was hanging wide-open. Medved woofed enthusiastically as he continued to follow the scent he’d been given. Approaching the doorway, they saw there was another flight of stone stairs leading downwards, with a soft glow of light breaking up the stygian gloom, its source being around a corner.
Faina took the crystal on a string from her pocket and gave it a spin. After spinning about on the end of the string, it settled and tipped over to point downwards. ‘Nice to see old tricks still work. Thank you, Mother.’ Satisfied with the results, she pocketed the crystal. She glanced at the boys, and said, “Remember, you boys get Natalya and run, I’ll handle the fighting.” She glanced over at Kasamir, worried he would stay there to help her no matter what she told him or how desperate things might get.
With the door open and the wards functionally disabled, it was a simple matter to cross the threshold and start downwards again. Alynn felt this subconscious urge to duck his head, as much because the stone ceiling was so close as it was the feeling of having the earth above pressing down upon him. ‘This place could be our tomb,’ he thought, as he followed Faina and Kasamir down the steps. Condensation on the walls glistened in the lantern light, and Alynn was sure he may have seen a patch of frost or two as they descended the stairs. ‘Cripes, how much further down are we going?’
Reaching the bottom of the stone stairs, Faina peered around the corner and saw what amounted to a laboratory which looked as though it might have been lifted from the halls of Hogwarts itself. There was an alchemy set-up spread out across several tables, metal cupboards arrayed against one wall and an iron cauldron in the hearth, hanging on a metal swing-arm, its contents bubbly happily as it was presently over a fire. In the center of the room was a large table constructed of heavy wooden battens, covered in a cloth of undistinguishable colour and dubious cleanliness. Set at the corners were four crystal globes with greenish mists swirling therein, however what immediately caught the veteran Auror’s attention was seeing the small form of their eleven-year-old cousin laid out in the center.
Natalya was presented on the table, rather like the bas-relief of a Crusader on the lid of a sarcophagus, her eyes closed, and her small hands folded upon her chest, with a bouquet of flowers from the nearby meadow, rather than a sword. Flowers were worked into her long hair like a crown, and she was dressed in a long pristine white robe, and her bare feet could just be seen past the hem. The neophyte witch’s face had a peaceful, seraphic expression, though her visible skin was as pale as an alabaster death mask.
Standing over the young girl was the hag, her long taloned fingers brushing her soft hair, as she was taking care that all was in readiness. Faina breathed the words of a Life Detection Charm and knew that not only were Natalya and her abductor there and very much alive, but so was a House Elf, as well as several of the more rat-like House Elves. ‘Interesting, she thought, surprised there was enough of a difference for the Charm to differentiate between them, and filing that tidbit of knowledge away in the back of her mind for future consideration.
Faina glanced back at her young nephews, and she started giving a series of hand gestures, indicating their responsibilities and the direction they needed to travel, and then held up five fingers in a silent countdown. When she reached zero, she gestured for them to move forward, and with their lanterns raised, the four of them rushed into the chamber.
The veteran Auror was drawing breath to declare who she was, and what authority gave her lease to be present, when she was spotted by a wizened-looking House Elf, who didn’t have rodent-like qualities. Malyshev screamed, “Milady! Witch Hunters!” Olesya looked up from her work, and she screeched, “Malyshev, you fool! How did they get down here? Kill them all!” Malyshev regarded the boys and their dog contemptuously and laughed maniacally as he drew out a wicked-looking flensing knife from under the cord around his waist. “It’ll be a pleasure, Milady.”
As Olesya spun around to face the Auror, snarling the Stop-Breath Hex at Faina to hopefully catch the Dark Wizard Hunter off her game, the House Elf launched himself at the boys like a whirling dervish. Kasamir brought his sword around and intercepted the House Elf’s flensing blade as he closed to attack the Sixth Year Slytherin. “Finally enough meat to have a grand banquet!” crowed the little psychopathic House Elf. “Tonight I will have your liver and drink your blood, boy!”
Alynn reached down and unhooked Medved’s leash before hurrying past Kasamir, though not before Malyshev took a swipe at him, slicing open his trouser leg and instantly causing a line of blood to appear across his thigh. The thirteen-year-old Gryffindor let out a hiss of pain, and he continued towards the table, where there were three of the relatively diminutive rat-like House Elves arrayed between him and Natalya, each of them holding rusty-looking daggers, while three more were cheering on the others from the comparative safety of a nearby table. Two of them rushed at Alynn, while the other had the thankless task of fighting the big Moscow Watchdog.
Kasamir hastily knocked aside the attacks of the House Elf as it tried to get close enough to stab him with his blade. He tried to swing at the House Elf, but the creature leaped weightlessly over his blade and then ducked as the backswing came near. Meanwhile it was laughing maniacally and calling to the others. “These aren’t Aurors! They’re just boys pretending to be Witch Hunters. Cut and slice them, maim and kill them. Whoever kills them gets the dog’s pelt!”
“Like hell!” snarled Kasamir as he drove the point of his blade at the taunting House Elf. While Malyshev avoided being skewered on the end of Kasamir’s sword, he still got cut open by the blade. As his blood sprayed onto the stones, Malyshev taunted in a sibilant tone, ‘Oh, nasty, nasty boy, playing with blades. Listen to the White-Hair, you should. Flat of your sword, boy, unless you are as eager to kill as I. Shouldn’t have come here, boy; meat for our table you will be. Leave the pretty-pretty to us, and we might let you run away tonight.”
Two of the rat-like House Elves swiped the air menacingly in Alynn’s direction, but none of them managed to connect with him, while Medved was shaking his head and growling as he had the third creature trapped in his jaws. The House Elf attempted to swipe at the dog’s eyes with his knife, and then screamed as a sickly crack of bones being snapped was heard, before going limp, and blood started trickling from it’s mouth.
As one of his opponents moved around to the right to flank him, the other House Elf lunged at him, Alynn swung his staff, and connected, knocking the creature from its bone-thin feet. The first creature scurried about to try to get a swipe at Alynn from the side and got clocked by Kasamir who caught the movement in the corner of his eye. As Malyshev reminded him, the young Slytherin used the flat of his blade and struck the flanker hard enough to knock him over.
Malyshev laughed aloud as he launched himself at Kasamir again and tried to slice him open with his flensing knife. His blade caught in the thick wolf cloak, and Kasamir backhanded him with a sword-hilt reinforced fist. As the House Elves battled the boys, a tongue of flame flashed in front of them, catching one of the spectators who’d jumped down to get into the scrap, and incinerating him instantly. For the rat-like devolved House Elves, they’d seen enough, and the ones who could still run fled in multiple directions like skittles in an alley.
“Cowards! Gutless dogs!” howled Malyshev to the heavens. “Kill them both, I will. Claim all the meat and the dog pelt for Milady and myself!” As he said this, he was facing Kasamir and Alynn, while Medved turned to look at him and growled, while the former said to him in a low tone, “Care to put that to the test?” With a blood-crazed look in his eyes, Malyshev launched himself at Kasamir, his flashing blade a blur of motion. In an instant both boys were cut open, as Kasamir got slashed across his stomach and Alynn got his arm opened up, skin parting as though it were gauze as gouts of precious blood started welling up instantly.
Malyshev laughed aloud as he caused sprays of fresh blood to fly through the air of the laboratory, and then screamed as Medved got around on him, and clamped his jaws around one of the House Elf’s legs. Kasamir struck a blow with the flat of his sword, and Alynn brought his staff crashing down on top of the House Elf. Only when the dog succeeded in snapping the creature’s leg was Malyshev allowed to collapse to the floor.
With shaking hands, Kasamir opened the bag over his shoulder and got out the first aid kit. After passing over gauze and tape to his cousin, he started doing what he could to staunch the flow of blood from the vicious belly wound already soaking the front of his pants. While they were black and hid the severity of the blood loss, runnels of vitae were drizzling from his black trousers and upon the cold stones of the laboratory. “You all right, Alynn?” he asked between clenched teeth. The Third Year Gryffindor nodded, and said with a nervous titter, “Been better, you?” The Sixth Year Slytherin grimaced, and commented, “Been hurt worse playing Quidditch.”
Alynn was about to make a comment when an explosion cut through the air. The laboratory was a shambles as the veteran Auror battled the hag, neither woman giving ground as they sought to kill each other. Though not a word was spoken between them, it was understood no quarter would be asked for and nor offered. The alchemy set-up was burning and the contents of the cauldron exploded as though a grenade were inside, throwing a foul-smelling liquid and unidentifiable chunks around the hearth and sending an evil-looking green cloud roiling upwards to the ceiling. As a stray spell caused another unguessable-looking experiment to detonate like a bomb, the boys glanced at each other, and in silent assent, Kasamir homed his sword before rushing towards the table, while Alynn stood watch with his staff held at the ready.
After being forced to imbibe the draught upstairs Natalya felt as though she were floating on a cloud, as though all the pain and fear she was subjected to was happening to somebody else at another time. She gave Olesya a soft smile as she saw the grandmotherly face she wore once more, banishing the image of the hag to the far corners of her drug-induced stupor. She thought she heard voices, but they were on the edge of her consciousness, along with the other things going on around her. Feeling as though she was drifting along on a lazy river current, she was vaguely aware of Kasamir looking down at her, as she felt the cool, comforting waters pulling her under again …
While Alynn clutched his staff, Kasamir hurried over to table, and he started pulling Natalya across its surface. She was unmoving and unresponsive, offering neither resistance nor assistance, and her head lolled as he collected her in his arms. Cradled in her cousin’s arms, Natalya had a slight smile on her face as her eyes fluttered and closed once more. Kasamir glanced upwards and hastily ducked his head down as something sailed mere inches above him. Tucking Natalya’s head close to his chest and shielding it as best as he could with his hand, the black-haired teenager started running towards the entrance.
As the boys were hurrying towards the relative safety of the stairwell leading upwards, Kasamir happened to look over and saw that Malyshev wasn’t where they last saw him, and an awful thought crossed his mind. He whistled aloud, and shouted, “Medved! Edie siuda, paren!” Almost immediately, he heard a loud ‘woof, and he soon saw his canine companion was there at his side pacing him stride for stride. While the boys were running there was another loud scraping noise of metal being dragged across stone, and they turned the corner and were running up the stairs as a mangled metal cupboard crashed into the bottom of the stairwell where they’d been mere heartbeats previously.
With Medved leading the way, the boys raced up the stone stairs with their precious prize cradled unconscious in Kasamir’s arms. They topped the stairs as they heard another thunderous explosion from the magical laboratory down below, and Alynn glanced back and saw a tongue of green fire as it was rolling up the stairs, scorching the stones as it passed, instantly incinerating the lichen with its barest touch, and then it slammed into the roof of the stairwell like a tide upon the shore.
Kasamir was starting to feel light-headed, and he was seeing sparkly bits at the edges of his vision, and he was starting to wonder at what point would all the enhancement Charms his aunt extended the durations on were going to expire, and would he still be on his feet when they did. He clenched his teeth and lowered his head as he pushed himself to keep moving, determined not to fail Natalya. ‘Get outside, meet up with Pavel and the others, and I can pass out, throw up, whatever then.’ A quick glance behind him confirmed Alynn was right there with him, although he was looking as pale and shaky as Kasamir was feeling.
Medved let out an excited bark, and Kasamir almost dreaded what he might see. However, he saw a group of men, and a young woman with long blonde hair marching down the gallery towards them, dressed in long black greatcoats, and holding lanterns aloft. The young woman with the long blonde hair was wearing a Cossack style hat, carried a shashka curved sword in one hand while she had her wand in the other, while a large man with a full red beard and long red hair was carrying a massive hammer with glowing runes etched along it’s sides and already liberally coated in blood, in both hands. At their fore was a gruff looking older man with a full gray beard and moustache, wearing a black fur Cossack hat, and walking along with a heavy wooden cudgel.
“Pavel!” Kasamir called out, and he started moving a little bit faster, even though he was feeling as though he were running through a pool of molasses. Medved barked happily again, causing the man to laugh aloud, “Rasputin’s Beard, Kasamir, you brought the dog along as well?.” Kasamir laughed along with the man, as a dizzy spell washed over him, and he came to stand with the group of Witch Hunters. “We wouldn’t have found Natalya without him, Pavel. He’s a good boy, a very … good …b-boy.”
It was then the Sixth Year Slytherin felt as though every bit of his strength was draining out of him like water from a tub. All of a sudden, Natalya’s unconscious form became this great weight, and his shoulders ached from the strain of carrying her, his arms shook as his muscles screamed in protest. His legs gave out on him as he was suddenly aware of blood washing down from the front of his trousers again. Like the Russian soldiers of yore, he was feeling an imperative to keep bearing his burden, crawling along if need be, as he was determined to keep going forward even if all it accomplished was to get Natalya just one more footfall closer to home, but his body was no longer cooperating.
As he started to fall, Kasamir tried to maneuver his failing body so he wouldn’t drop Natalya onto the cold stone floor. “Pavel, there’s prisoners … Aunt Faina’s downstairs … she’s …” he gasped as his vision was graying out. “Got to get Natalya …. ” He needed to tell Aunt Faina’s comrades what was going on, and that he and Alynn hadn’t simply run away from the fight with the hag, but …
Pavel caught Kasamir in one arm, while one of the other Aurors helped to get Natalya, before she fell out of the Sixth Year’s grasp. As Kasamir passed out, he heard the senior Auror tell him, “Don’t you worry, Kas, we will take it from here.”
OOC:Taken by Hesperia Sophia Argyris
I, I'm a one-way motorway; I'm a road that drives away, then follows you back home
I, I'm a streetlight shining; I'm a wild light, blinding bright, burnin' off and on
It's times like these you learn to live again; It's times like these you give and give agan
It's times like these you learn to love again; It's times like these time and time again
I, I'm a new day rising; I'm a brand-new sky to hang the stars upon tonight
I, I'm a little divided; Do I stay or run away and leave it all behind?
It's times like these you learn to live again; It's times like these you give and give again
It's times like these you learn to love again; It's times like these time and time again
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Posted: Thu Jun 05, 2025 12:30 pm
Faina Patrovna
Slytherin Alumnus │ Veteran Auror │ Thirty-Nine Years Old │ Single
The warm sun felt good against Faina’s face, as she sat in a chair on the deck, idly watching the horses as they ran around the fenced-in area not far from where she was. ‘I shouldn’t be this lazy,’ she chided herself mentally. It was three days after Natalya and Larissa went overdue from the ride into the woods out back of the property, and Faina still felt mentally and physically exhausted from her battle with Olesya.
Faina was wearing a nightgown and wrapped up in her well-worn housecoat as she worked out the reports she needed to send back to the Ministry. Once the rest of her team arrived inside the house matters were settled quickly. The veteran Auror managed to blast Olesya down, though the interior of the chamber containing her laboratory and much of her experiments were destroyed in the course of their duel. As it worked out, Olesya hadn’t lied to the girls when she sought to abduct little Natalya, in that she was an old friend of Baba’s and they attended Marakov Preparatory as young girls. However, she started becoming obsessed with extending her life when her father died very suddenly at a young age for a wizard.
Rather than allow things to take place in their usual fashion and experience the long summer and autumn of maturity Witches and Wizards typically enjoyed, Olesya began conducting unnatural experiments and drifted from the orbit of Baba and their circle of friends. Natalya’s abduction was as much a crime of opportunity as it was a means to an end, a vehicle by which to gain a measure of revenge against an old friend who was no longer a part of her life, partly because of happenstance and partly due to a change in life focus, and a means for Olesya to extend her life and expand her magical power by stealing the youth and magic of a younger witch.
‘Natalya was to be murdered simply because she chose her kinsmen poorly, and because she was at the right place at the wrong time,’ thought the veteran Auror with dismay, as she worked on the pile of forms stacked on the side-table, and took a long sip of hot tea from the beaker next to her. While Faina was reading through her papers and notes to piece together what she was working on, Pavel was taking the lead on the investigation, managing the physical efforts, as she recovered from her injuries.
Olesya’s experiments bore fruit, if one cared to call it such, in the form of those stunted rat-like House Elves. The mutants lacked much of the innate magic House Elves possessed, and they were less intelligent, however they retained the rat-like conniving and an ability to chew through things they shouldn’t be able to and do anyway. According to her notes, she reckoned they needed to be constantly chewing on something to file down their teeth so they wouldn’t grow to the point where they would cause harm to the owner. Rounding them up was posing its own set of issues, and Faina was regretting her advice to the ones she dealt with that they should leave before getting caught.
Her crew found the poor souls locked up in the cells, and they were transported to hospital in St. Petersburg. They were unfortunate Muggles who were made to disappear and then abused in a fashion Faina cared not to dwell too long on. The Healers were unsure if their minds could ever be fixed even magically, and if the Obliviators could undo the damage done. Of the Harrowed who survived the incursion she and the boys made, at least physically speaking, they were passed into the dubiously beneficent custody of the Ministry until somebody could figure out how best to treat them.
What concerned Faina was this wasn’t the first time she and her team encountered Harrowed while on an investigation, leading her to suspect Olesya wasn’t acting alone in the wilderness. Among their other projects was attempting to locate members of a cabal of witches and wizards known only as ‘the Winter Council’, whose mere existence was whispered about by her sources. Who they were and their ultimate ends have yet to discovered. However, the Harrowed were used as servants and disposable troops to bulk out their numbers. They weren’t Inferi, not by any stretch, but as Josef Stalin once remarked, ‘Quantity is a quality all of its own.’
Olesya survived the duel with the veteran Auror, though she received the worse end of it, Faina dragged the woman out of the laboratory and threw her down on the floor in front of her crew before dragging herself off to check on her nephews. The hag-like witch was taken to Lubyanka, pending an open-and-shut trial, the same location in Moscow as the infamous headquarters of the Federal Security Services of the Russian Federation and the attendant prison.
Well beneath the Muggle facility was where the Wizarding prison was located, deep enough underground the Muggle caretakers would have no clue anything was taking place beneath their feet. Each prisoner dwelt in a stone-sided oubliette, bound in chains enchanted to sever their connection to their magic, and condemned to spend their sentence never seeing another human being, never seeing daylight, with only silence, solitude and darkness as their companions. ‘Who needs Dementors?’ thought Faina idly, considering anyone who comes out of Lubyanka does so with mind and soul broken by the experience.
While her crew got out of the incursion without anything beyond scrapes and bruises, the same could not be said for her and the boys. Even the dog was injured in the rescue of Natalya, though it didn’t keep him from being at Kasamir’s side for the whole time. Kasamir was nearly gutted by what Alynn described as a psychotic House Elf who wielded a meat cutters’ knife and would have bled out had Pavel and the rest of the crew not got to him. Worse, the wounds he suffered were infected as the weapon in question was likely rusted and not properly maintained. Alynn told her how his cousin carried Natalya after they were wounded by the creature.
Alynn had his arm ripped open by this same creature, which Faina was disturbed to note this House Elf, despite being grievously injured by the boys and getting mauled by the dog, vanished without trace. Thinking about this House Elf reminded Faina of the creature who still owed allegiance to her father’s side of the family, and most importantly, her grandmother. The creature hated Faina simply because she existed, and so as a child she dubbed him ‘Jeeves’ as an insult it could do nothing to avenge.
‘Why must it be only the bad things in history that repeat themselves?’ wondered Faina, as she compiled her report. Jeeves was involved in the abduction of her younger sister when she was just a little First Year, and he escaped during her rescue. He popped up periodically over the years, as Faina was certain she spotted him at her sister’s wedding to Cian many years later, causing him to abort whatever he had planned, and he tried murdering Faina a couple times over the years, always vanishing before she could end his miserable existence. ‘What I wouldn’t give to send Grandmother Harcroft his ears in a box.’
The veteran Auror started coughing aloud, a rasping, hacking wet coughing fit that caused her body to stiffen and she curled in upon herself, rather like the way her mother did since she ‘recovered’ from the fire nearly three decades ago. ‘Sound like a tuberculosis patient,’ she chided herself internally. ‘Worse, I sound like Mom, and that doesn’t bode well for me. Not considering what’s likely to come.” The air inside Lady Olesya’s laboratory was an unbreathable and toxic stew of unguessable combinations of substances and alchemical concoctions by the time their duel ended, and the Witch Hunter knew her lungs were scorched from the inside out, and it was possible the damage might be permanent, magical healing notwithstanding.
“Conducting our rounds are we, Kotenok?” asked Faina quietly, as she looked up from her reports at her sister, as though thinking about that long ago event, as well as her current infirmities were sufficient to summon her. The blonde-haired Healer emerged from her hiding spot, the corner of a doorway, even if she really hadn’t been hiding. “You knew I was there,” she commented. Faina replied, “I am an Auror, Kotenok; I wouldn’t have survived as long as I have if I didn’t know when I was being watched.”
Kitty Quinlan sighed, and she said, “You’re my most difficult patient. I thought I told you to rest, Faina.” The Auror nodded, and said, “You did, and I am being about as lazy as I can be, doing my casework in a nightgown. Pavel and the others are doing the real legwork while I handle the administrative end, and I am only doing so much of that, as I am already feeling like I’ve put a full day in at the office.” The last bit Faina said with a long slow release of breath, as she was feeling the weight of fatigue on her shoulders once more.
The Healer replied dryly, “Hardly surprising given your job, and the amount of magical healing you’ve needed in the last few days. While we’re on that subject, I should also take you to task with your practicing medicine without a license. I detected the patch-job you did on the boys -- and the dog—at some point.” Faina shrugged, and countered with, “I paid attention in Professor Deschering’s classes at school and did my internship with Matron, like anyone else would, yourself included. They were injured and I did what needed to be done; my crew and I do nothing different in similar circumstances.”
There was a soft huff from Kitty, and she replied, “Your crew doesn’t consist of two kids and a dog, Faina. After they got injured the first time, you should have had them wait until your actual crew showed up. Kas, I can understand why he wanted to stay with you, but my son? I don’t see it.” Faina gave her sister a thoughtful look, and she said, “Alynn was given ample opportunities to stay outside and wait for Pavel and the others. He chose to stay with Kasamir and I, though I believe it was out of a sense of guilt.”
“Guilt?” queried the Healer, a frown creasing her face. ‘Why should he be feeling guilty?” Faina gave her sister an appraising look, and said, “Partly because Kasamir made a promise to return with Natalya or not at all.” Kitty closed her eyes, winced and said, “Well, that almost came to pass. You said partly; what else?” Faina arched an eyebrow, and said rhetorically, “Can you think of nothing of what has taken place in the last few days which might have given Alynn cause to want to earn back a place in your good graces?”
Kitty drew breath to give her sister a response, and then closed her mouth, as she started thinking, as it wasn’t like Faina to pose open-ended questions to her like that unless it was to get her contemplate something. After a moment, she lowered her head and answered, “Chirt, Ya uzhasnaya mat, ne tuck Lee?” Faina shrugged, and said, “I suppose the answer would depend upon what you choose to do about it, otherwise, I’d say join the club. Now, I believe you have a patient who requires extra attention, and I should like to have the time and peace to finish my work.”
"You told me something that scared me to death
Don't take me home, I can't face that yet
I'm ashamed that I'm barely human
And I'm ashamed that I don't have a heart you can break
I'm just action, and other times reaction
All I own, all I own, are the strides I spend to the finish line.
All I own, all I own, are the strides I spend to the finish line
And I'll give you those, just don't make me go home."
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Posted: Thu Jun 05, 2025 12:39 pm
Kasamir Aloysius Patrovna
Slytherin │ Sixth Year │ Sixteen Years Old │ Single │ Chess Grandmaster │ Slytherin Prefect │ Adventurer's Guild & Chess Club Captain
‘It’s going to be a cold night,’ thought Kasamir as he stood on the ridgeline and appraised the way ahead. There were hills and valleys as far as the eye could see, and he knew the area was dotted with tiny hamlets and villages, some of which rarely received visitors, and might not take kindly to having a party of heavily armed travelers in their midst. ‘With any luck we can sleep at an inn tomorrow night and eat something other than travel rations.’
The full moon hung over the lands like a silvery lantern, and now that night settled in the landscape was rendered in shades of silver and blue, with deepest black where its light could not touch. He could just make out the river they were told to find, as they needed to follow its course to find a settlement where tired and hungry travelers might find food, lodging and the company of others to replace the wilderness’ silence, at least for a time.
‘Hold on, Natalya, we are coming,’ he told himself, as though he could somehow send his message of hope to his stolen little cousin, and he renewed the promise he gave Jarl Artemyi a few days prior, ‘We will return you home, Natalshenka, though Hell itself might bar our way.’ He glanced over at the encampment, and saw his cousin, Alynn was curled up in his bedroll by their carefully steeped campfire, his brass spectacles set aside not far away, along with the rest of their traveling companions, while he stood watch over their rest, with Medved at his side. The Moscow Watchdog now wore a collar giving him the size and might of a dire wolf, while his coat was grown in thick with the approach of winter.
As the black-haired young man slowly patrolled the area immediately around their tiny campsite, he saw a figure emerge from the woods and placed his hand over the pommel of his sword. Kasamir drew in a deep breath of the cold wintry air as the figure approached, and he studied them, trying to determine if she were a threat or not. It was a young woman dressed in a long, embroidered skirt and a fur-trimmed jacket with fur-lined boots and a long-hooded cloak which obscured her face, though he could see the long blonde hair that spilled out and hung to about midway down her chest. When she got closer, she drew back the hood of her cloak, and he saw she had a long, oval face with bright blue eyes, her fair skin pale and completely unblemished, and her hair was so pale, it was difficult to say where her hair ended and the moonlight started. It was a face he’d seen in his dreams for six long years.
“Lana,” he said in a voice barely above a whisper, as he saw a face he so desperately wished to see again. The young woman smiled, and she said, “Kas,” she then frowned, and added, “Not fair, you grew. You’re not my ‘little’ brother anymore.” Kasamir smiled, and said, “You’re still my big sister.” The two of them chuckled softly as they embraced each other, and Kas felt her arms around him as he hugged her in turn and found she was so light it was as though he were hugging air.
“How are you here, Lana?” he asked her. For an instant he saw her as he last did, after the accident, the images of then and now flickering before him, with her hair having been partially burned away, and her soft skin burnt and coated in blood, her pretty face cut by glass and metal, while her blood was getting in her eyes. When he was a young kid, Kas didn’t appreciate it, but now he saw how pretty she really was, and how much he looked up to her. Lana smiled, and she said to him, “We live in these lands now, Kas, the three of us.”
With a thrill of realization, Kasamir asked, “’The three of us’? Are Mom and Dad here as well?” The teenager replied, “Of course, we live in a village a couple valleys away. Dad is the blacksmith, and he owns the village smithy, and Mom runs a bakery.” The Sixth Year Slytherin smiled, as he tried hard not to start tearing up. Dad made knives in his spare time, and there was a shed behind the house where he kept his tools and his gas-fired forge, and Mom would fill the house with the wondrous aroma of fresh-baked bread. Some of his fondest holiday memories of home were of him sitting on a tall stool, watching as all these amazing treats came out of the oven. “Can I visit them? It doesn’t sound like its too far from here.”
“It’s not yet your time, Kas,” she said gently, and she gave him an understanding look. “I know how much you want to see us all again, and how much we wish to be together once more, but you cannot visit us here any more than we can visit you in your lands, and you, dear brother, have strayed closer to the borders between us than you should have any business doing. I wish I could stay with you, Kas, but my time to be here with you is short. When your time is done, and the things you must yet do are completed, you will be welcomed home.”
Kasamir nodded his head, and he said, “You saved my life, Lana.” Lana chuckled softly and replied, “Of course, I did, Kas, that’s the job of the older brothers and sisters; we’re supposed to do our best to look out for the younger ones. But you already know that.” Kasamir added, “You got both of us off that train, and then ...” His voice trailed away upon the breeze, as he remembered waking up in the hospital in St. Petersburg and being told Lana died the night before. Lana gave him a sad smile, and she said, “I know, Kas. I wish I could have stayed with you, but it wasn’t to be. It wasn’t because I didn’t want to be there with you.”
The blonde-haired Russian girl looked up at the brilliant silvery moon above them, and she said, “My time is almost up, and I still have gifts to grant you, Kas.” She reached around and slid a large sling bag over so she could open it, and she drew out a longsword in a sheath with a belt. He saw the family crest etched in bas-relief upon the pommel. “Father forged this sword for you from steel harvested from the train. Wield it and know you are free from that terrible day.” Kas accepted the sword from his sister and replaced the sword belt he already wore.
Out of the bag came a bakery tin, which Lana presented to her brother. “This contains an Apple Cake that Mom made and baked for you just this morning, and it will remain as fresh and as warm as when she baked it, and so long as even a crumb remains in the tin it will be replenished. Whenever you open it, may it always remind you of the warmth and welcome of your home.” Kas tucked the tin away in a pouch hanging from his belt, and Medved started sniffing about at it. With a chuckle, Lana added, “Oh, and don’t let him get into it.”
Finally, Lana reached behind her and unhooked a thin silver chain which was hanging around her neck. Hanging off the chain was a silver medallion with the image of a mountain, and she placed the chain around her brother’s neck. “This is from me. Keep it close to your heart, and know you are loved and wanted.” Lana hugged her little brother once more and kissed him on the cheek, as tears rolled down his cheeks. A cloud drifted across the face of the moon, and she vanished as though she never were …
“Lana! Lana, please, don’t go …” Kasamir called out, as he woke straight out of … well, he didn’t know if it were a dream or not. As he sat up in bed, he reached up to his chest, and his hand closed about the silver medallion and felt its warmth. “Lana, please … come back …”
OOC:Taken by Hesperia Sophia Argyris
I, I'm a one-way motorway; I'm a road that drives away, then follows you back home
I, I'm a streetlight shining; I'm a wild light, blinding bright, burnin' off and on
It's times like these you learn to live again; It's times like these you give and give agan
It's times like these you learn to love again; It's times like these time and time again
I, I'm a new day rising; I'm a brand-new sky to hang the stars upon tonight
I, I'm a little divided; Do I stay or run away and leave it all behind?
It's times like these you learn to live again; It's times like these you give and give again
It's times like these you learn to love again; It's times like these time and time again
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Posted: Thu Jun 05, 2025 1:10 pm
Natalya 'Talya' Stepanovich Patrovna
Unsorted │ First Year │ Eleven Years Old │ Single
Natalya felt as though she was drifting lazily on a cloud, as though she hadn’t any cares in the world, and the world no longer existed for her. Warm and safe, she felt as though she could stay like this forever, and then she felt something tap her nose. A moment later, she felt something tap her nose again, causing her to wrinkle her nose and turn her head from side to side. When she got tapped upon the nose once more, Natalya opened her eyes.
A pair of large, luminous green cat eyes were staring back when Natalya looked upwards. The big Russian Blue was moving to bop her on the nose again when he saw she was awake, and he made a sound that was a mix of a meow and a purr, as he leaned in and licked her nose instead. Natalya started giggling aloud, as she reached over her head and started brushing her fingers along the cat’s sleek coat, as he sat on the pillow where her head lay.
“Serebro, what are you doing here?” she asked, as she lifted her head and started looking around with bleary eyes. She lay in a large bed under layers of covers and a thick comforter, and it took Natalya a moment to realize she was in one of the guest rooms at the estate. Laying at the end of the bed was her little sister, Froskaya, who lifted her head to look over at her when she started speaking. While she was blue-eyed like their older sister, the slim eight-year-old had nearly waist-length chocolate brown hair and a button nose, and was wearing jeans, a sweatshirt, and bare foot. Upon seeing her moving about, she rushed across the length of the bed and Natalya was getting glomped on.
“Natshenka, you’re awake, you’re going to be okay,” said the little sister who tried to be like her as much as Natalya tried to be like Raisa, in an excited tone. She gave Natalya an enthusiastic kiss on the cheek, before getting off the bed and rushing off. The littlest of the family sped out of the room, leaving the door hanging open in her wake, and Natalya heard her announce, “Momma, Daddy, Natshenka woke up! She’s going to be okay!”
Still quite groggy, the neophyte witch started speaking slowly as she tried to work out in her mind what happened to her. Very little right then made any sense to her, and there were gaps in her mind of her recent experiences which needed resolving. The memories were slow in their revelation and asking her cat a question as if she were expecting him to answer her seemed to help kickstart the process. “How did we get here, Serebro? I was at Lady Olesya’s house, having tea and she was telling me stories about what she and Baba were doing at school, and then …”
It was then memories started flashing into her mind, like snapshots appearing one after another. Natalya gasped and sat bolt upright in the bed, and words came tumbling out of her, “Oh, Boze moi, Olesya turned into this hag … and then there was this creepy House Elf … and they were planning to have me for dinner … and …” It was then she felt a gentle hand upon her shoulder, and she heard a familiar voice at her side. “It’s all right, Natalya, you’re here, safe and among family.”
Fully awake now, Natalya realized there were others in the room besides her cat. Her cousin, Kitty, was there beside her bed, helping her settle down, and looking around she saw Faina standing by the wall, dressed in a housecoat and looking rather unwell and decidedly not-Auror-like. Near her were Alynn and Kasamir, both looking like they were ready for bed more than anything else, wearing pajama pants and loose-fitting Tee shirts advertising their respective Houses’ Quidditch teams. The door opened and Mom and Dad were walking into the room and going over to the bed to hug their middle child, however, somebody else with a head of long blonde hair darted into the rapidly filling up bedroom and rushed past to wrap her arms around Natalya.
“Nat!” cried Larissa, as she landed on the bed and gave her best friend a big hug, expressing her relief and joy. “I thought you’d never wake up again, like ever. You’ve been asleep for three days.” Natalya returned the hug with equal fierceness. “And be separated from you, Rissa? No way.” The girls laughed happily, and Kitty stood back and watched them, seeing this as a positive sign that the last of her patients to wake up was on the mend.
After a moment, Natalya asked, “Three days? I was sleeping for three days?” Clutching hands, Larissa nodded her head, and she said as she started snuffling, “I was scared to death when the Auror came in the house with you draped in his arms. I thought you were dead, but you weren’t thankfully. He said that Kas and … um … Alynn? Yeah, Alynn, that’s right, got you out of there, but they were hurt too, so … But, yeah, you’ve been asleep for like three whole days, Nat.”
With her big brown eyes wide, Natalya exclaimed, “Three days? I don’t have time to sleep for three days. We missed ... our meeting with Baba, and the sleepover, and the lesson. I was going to show Coach, and Mom and Dad that I’m ready to ride Cross Country on Nochnoy Ogon …”
"Precious and fragile things, need special handling
My God what have we done to you?
We always try to share, the tenderest of care
Now look what we have put you through
Things get damaged, things get broken
I thought we'd manage, but words left unspoken
Left us so brittle, there was so little left to give "
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Posted: Thu Jun 05, 2025 4:58 pm
Kasamir Aloysius Patrovna Slytherin │ Sixth Year │ Sixteen Years Old │ Single │ Chess Grandmaster │ Slytherin Prefect │ Adventurer's Guild & Chess Club Captain
Epilogue: “The Departure”
Kasamir and Faina were walking towards the library together. “Any idea what this is about?” asked the Sixth Year Slytherin, looking over towards his adoptive aunt. The young man was dressed in a light blue Russian Federation hockey sweatshirt, a pair of comfortable loose-fitting black pants, and a pair of soft-soled moccasins. Faina was wearing a pair of beige slacks and a Hunter green sweater.
After the battle with Olesya and her minions, the damage done to her lungs from inhaling the poisonous air in the hag’s laboratory as well as the rough stint of duty she experienced before that, the veteran Auror was put on an indefinite medical leave to recover mentally and physically. It was something her sister reacted to with a smile, and a comment of, “Good, now you get to be my patient for a while longer.” Being in a position where she wasn’t allowed to get involved in any of the ongoing cases was a frustrating one of Faina, though she was taking advantage of the chance to catch up on her sleep, read and get fattened up –er, regular meals that didn’t come from a certain diner.
“Events of late have caused certain changes to be initiated. I’m afraid not all parties will be pleased to hear them,” she said, as she placed a hand upon Kas’ shoulder. “First among them is you are going back to England when the reunion is done, Kasamir. After what happened in the house the other night, it won’t be safe for you, or anybody else, to stay in our house for the foreseeable future. Right now, the plan is for you and Medved to stay with Tetya Katya and Alynn.”
Kasamir looked over at his aunt, and he asked, “What about you, Tetya Faina, where would you stay if it isn’t safe at our place?” Faina shrugged and replied, “It would not be the first time in my life where I’ve not slept in the same place twice on consecutive nights, which is another reason you cannot stay with me. Two people and a large dog cannot move as swiftly and inconspicuously as one. The people coming for me would see you as a lever to use against me, so you need to be at a safe distance, and I will need to have the time and space to be dangerous without concern that someone I care very much about could get in harm’s way.”
“What about the tournament in Madrid? Will you be able to make it?” asked Kasamir evenly, as he digested the news. He hadn’t counted on a return to Glasgow, and definitely not a stay for the duration of the summer. News of his moving in would go over with Alynn about as well as seeing his favourite Quidditch player getting traded from the Montrose Magpies to the Chudley Cannons. The chess tournament in Madrid was an event he’d been looking forward to, as depending on his performance he could earn his Grandmaster rating almost a full year earlier than he expected. Faina answered, “One of the cousins will escourt you as usual, however, I will be there for the awards banquet so long as I have say in the matter.”
As they walked through the house, Natalya appeared from seemingly nowhere as they passed a hallway. The eleven-year-old witch was looking to be in better shape than she had been since she was pulled out of Olesya’s laboratory, and she walked along with a bit of a skip to her step. She was wearing a bright yellow floral print sundress with a long floaty skirt with a white long-sleeved Thinsulate turtleneck sweater underneath, with a pair of slip-on shoes on her small feet. Almost immediately she twirled about and was walking backwards with her arms tucked demurely behind her back as they went towards the library.
“So, you two going to the meeting as well, huh?” she asked almost rhetorically, as she looked at them with excitement in her eyes, adding breathlessly, “I’ve been looking forward to this since spring.” Faina arched an eyebrow, and replied, “You have?” Natalya answered with a bit of a laugh, “Well, yeah, I have. I’m getting accepted into Durmstrang, that’s what it’s got to be about. Unless there’s even more going on.”
Since waking straight up out of her three-day long nap, Natalya received visits from various Healers who were checking on her well-being, as Kitty wanted to make sure there was nothing else going on that she didn’t know about or know how to manage. Larissa was her companion during much of the time since the nightmare ended, so they had their planned-for sleepover, just three days later than planned. Today marked the first day she had a good bit of her usual verve, and getting her summons from Baba had to mean she was formally getting her letter from the school her older brother and sister were already attending.
Arriving at the French doors, they saw Alynn was already there, waiting on them. “Well, hail, hail, the gang’s all here,” he quipped. The Third Year Gryffindor was also much improved from the condition he was in when he got back from the expedition into the woods out back. Natalya looked around, and she said with a smile, “Yup, my heroes. You all saved me from being eaten by that crazy old lady and her cannibalistic House Elf.”
Faina kept silent; she didn’t want to scare Natalya any further by telling her about the unmarked graves in the old family cemetery from where she borrowed the statue. Those graves held the gnawed bones of several other children and more than a few House Elves. Identification would take some time, but Pavel told her it was likely several cases of missing magically gifted children might soon be closed. Natalya was fortunate indeed not to have had her bones added to the makeshift ossuary. ‘How does one explain to a parent that their child was eaten?” she asked herself.
With the four of them assembled, the doors opened of their own accord, signaling that the appointed time had arrived. As they walked into the library, they quickly saw that there were others present, specifically, Reyna and Sergei, Faina’s mother and her cousin, and father in all the ways that really mattered, as well as Artemyi and Evelenya. Natalya gave her parents an eager smile. As a group they filed between a set of stacks towards the back of the library.
At the table where Kas had his materials set out a few days before, Baba was now seated, with an antique samovar on a stand and teacups were set out. She smiled and gestured for everyone to sit in the chairs near the table. Once everyone was seated, Baba said, “It is good to have all of you here this morning, and we have much to discuss. The first order business concerns little Natalya’s recovery. Kasamir and Alynn, I want you both to know, you have my gratitude for taking the risks you that did to get Natalya back to us. Your aunt hasn’t disclosed much about what took place, as the case is still under investigation and she isn’t allowed to divulge details, other than you performed heroically.”
The family matriarch continued on with a sigh, “To some degree, I suppose, I bear some responsibility for Natalya’s disappearance, since she was kidnapped by an old school friend, who at one point in my life was very dear to me, and who has since lost her way in the world. It pains me to think I played an indirect role in the manner Oleysa’s life was ruined. She was a friend, and she came from a proud family, and we had many good times together many years ago, and maybe I should have been a better friend to her. For that, I am certain I will pay a penance for in the next life, just as Natalya nearly paid a steep price for a lapse on my part.”
After a moment’s pause, Baba smiled, though it wasn’t as radiant as it might otherwise have been. “The second order of business concerns little Natalya’s continued education, now she has been spared a horrific fate. I am quite certain she has been waiting for this moment with great anticipation, since it is something she has been talking about for weeks on end.” At this point Artemyi and Evelenya chuckled softly, with them both patting the young girl on her shoulders
Natalya nodded her head as she bounced to her feet, and she said happily, “I promise to work hard, and make you and Mom and Dad proud of me, Baba. I just hope I will be in Keltainen, so I can be just like Raisa.” Baba gave the girl an indulgent smile, and she said, “My dearest child, your mother and father don’t want a second Raisa, they already have one; what they want is a Natalya, the one they nearly lost. The path you take won’t be the same as hers.”
At this point, Baba glanced over towards the white-haired Auror and gave a nod to indicate it was for her to take up the next part of the explanation. Faina looked at the assembled members of the family, and she said, “I am not permitted to provide details on an ongoing investigation, as a matter of security, however, I am allowed to divulge a few things. My office has been investigating rumours and whispers of rumours of the existence of a cabal of witches and wizards known only as ‘the Winter Council’. Their aims and goals are not known, but the word of informants suggests they seek to destabilize the Ministry and depose the current government.”
Alynn muttered darkly, “Great, Dad was right; there really is a ‘Game of Crones’.” Faina gave a slight grunt of agreement, and said, “Indeed so, and in this game, you win, or you die. After that it’s a matter of cleaning up the collateral damage and counting the cost, which brings me to the next point. Experience battling such people has taught us that they don’t care who else gets hurt or killed so long as their cause is advanced. Bystanders don’t get a pass. For this reason, I’ve already asked that Kitty and Cian take in Kasamir for the duration of the summer, and there is the concern Natalya may be a target as well, at home and at school.”
Natalya looked about worriedly at her parents and then at Faina. “You mean they might still come after me, even at Durmstrang?” Faina nodded, and answered, “You escaped their clutches once, Natalshenka, they won’t forgive your good fortune, especially since you will need to testify at Lady Olesya’s trial. She will likely spend the rest of her natural or unnaturally extended existence inside the bowels of Lubyanka, and they will have reason to take their revenge against all involved. She also had a House Elf named Malyshev in her household; the boys told me they were barely able to fight him off, and he injured them both, as you well know. My grandmother’s House Elf major domo has periodically attempted to murder me over the last three decades, and he may have attempted to disrupt Kitty and Cian’s wedding, as we saw each other there and he vanished shortly thereafter. Durmstrang employs large numbers of House Elves, more so than Hogwarts, they may not notice an extra slipping into their ranks; not until one or more of their students has been murdered in their dormitory.”
“As I have no fond wish to bury a grandchild, I have been in contact with the Madam-Governess of Hogwarts, Nora Heulwen, on your behalf, Natalshenka,” added Baba, picking up the explanation. “We had a good long discussion about you and your grades at Marakov and your interests. It helps she is also a mother and understands my concerns for your wellbeing. Congratulations, my dear, you have been accepted into the Hogwarts School for Wizardry and Witchcraft.” Baba got up from the table and walked over to hand Natalya an envelope with the Hogwarts seal upon it.
The neophyte witch looked at the letter as though somebody were attempting to hand her a dead squid and took it only because she didn’t want to hurt her Baba, and she looked at her and then her parents who seemed quite at ease with the situation, confirming in Natalya’s mind they already knew what was taking place. With a crestfallen look in her brown eyes, Natalya said, “It’s not that I’m not grateful for what you’ve done for me, Baba, but I’m supposed to be at Durmstrang. That was the plan: I’m supposed to get Sorted into Keltainen, like Raisa was, and then I go to class with Rissa and my other friends from Marakov who are going. Zoya’s going to laugh when she finds out I’m not coming, and Rissa and I have a competition in a few weeks, I can’t miss that, and her birthday that I’m helping to plan.”
“Plans change, Natalshenka,” said Faina simply, stating the obvious. “However, it is either this or potentially getting murdered in your bed in the middle of the night by a cannibalistic House Elf who might fancy having a bit of your liver as a midnight snack.” Baba cleared her throat, and said gently, “[bThe matter is settled, my dear. You will need to pack your things, as you will leave with the others.” Faina added, “My mother and Sergei have offered to take you in, Natalshenka. They have a house in Surrey, not far from London, and you will have the room that Kitty and I grew up in.”
Baba cleared her throat once more, and she said, “Which brings us to the next piece of business. Kasamir?” The sixteen-year-old Slytherin was a bit startled, having thought his part in the family meeting was done, and he stood up after a moment. “Yes, Baba?” he said, as he looked at the family matriarch, unsure of what was going on now. With a warm, grandmotherly smile, Baba told him, “Kasamir, as you are the eldest, Natalshenka becomes your responsibility while at school. I am certain you will do as well for her as you have for Dym –Alynn. You should start with helping her with her English..” Kasamir nodded his head and answered gravely, “Of course, Baba, I will do my best for her.” Baba glanced towards Alynn and gave him a considering look, before shifting her gaze back towards the raven-haired Slytherin. “Of course, you will, Kasamir. I will expect nothing less from you.”
Alynn had been annoyed with the idea of having his cousin back in the house in Glasgow for the summer, now he was feeling bad for Natalya who looked like she was about to cry after having been told how her life just got thrown up into the air, and Kas just got hit by the ‘Responsibility Hammer’, and been on the receiving end of a not-so-subtle rebuke from their grandmother, which felt almost like getting a letter from Santa Claus informing you that you are one step removed from being put on his Naughty List. ‘Dang, he took that like a trooper,’ he thought, as he was suddenly glad that he hadn’t earned any further attention.
Kasamir then said, “Baba, if it is all right with everyone, since I am responsible for Natalya, I should like to stay with Aunt Reyna and Uncle Serghei as well, so we can start on her English tutoring immediately.” The matriarch glanced toward the couple who were seated at the edge of the meeting, and the two of them nodded. Baba replied, Done.” Kasamir drew a deep breath, and he leaned back in his seat and whispered into Alynn’s ear, “Now I can take a bus and visit Hes.” Alynn smiled and he replied with a soft chuckle, “Well played, Kas. Well played and thank you.”
OOC:Taken by Hesperia Sophia Argyris
I, I'm a one-way motorway; I'm a road that drives away, then follows you back home
I, I'm a streetlight shining; I'm a wild light, blinding bright, burnin' off and on
It's times like these you learn to live again; It's times like these you give and give agan
It's times like these you learn to love again; It's times like these time and time again
I, I'm a new day rising; I'm a brand-new sky to hang the stars upon tonight
I, I'm a little divided; Do I stay or run away and leave it all behind?
It's times like these you learn to live again; It's times like these you give and give again
It's times like these you learn to love again; It's times like these time and time again
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