timeskip logging.

[brainiest]

Comments

[gordianknots]

I have never had to rub a person behind the ears before. Forgive me the novelty of this.

[And, very carefully, he does just that, laughing at the absurdity of it all, along with Padfoot's reaction.]

You know if the White Heart ever gets you stuck in this mode during Yule, I think you'll have a good, long week of relaxation.

[brainiest]

[ Padfoot just keeps trying to shove himself under Hermione, who ends up allowing herself a moment of fake feline happiness (how many people can say they've had their ears scratched?) before she leans back and nudges his hand as a thanks, a little bit of instinct before she settles back.

The dog at her side is already whining a little, as if he knows what's coming, and then with a bit of magic Hermione has turned back into herself, cheeks a little bit pink. ]

I think I've probably earned a week or two off, don't you?

[ At least she didn't beg for belly rubs. ]

[gordianknots]

Oh, I think everyone's earned it, but I don't know if anyone's going to get it.

[His hand is now, rather amusingly, covered with thick lion fur. Waver takes a beat to try and get most of it off, but it instead clumps onto the leg of his trousers, and he decides it isn't worth the fight anymore.]

Magic back home would never allow for this kind of thing.

[brainiest]

[ She bites back her laughter, biting at the inside of her cheek before she grabs her wand - a quick spell later and his clothes are hairless. You get used to magic like that when you have a dog and a cat around. ]

It'd be a nice thought. Maybe at Samhain?

[ Because there's going to be one this year, surely. ]

At home we would call something like that an Animagus. Wizards and witches can learn, through a lot of patience and study, to transform into an animal that reflects who they are, their personality.

[gordianknots]

We might have to settle for it. Although if I don't have a naked beach adventure again, that'll be for the better.

[Thank you Brucolac, Harry, and Voljin.]

That's incredibly useful. Forgive me for never having mentioned it before - I've found the element of surprise helps me here - but the way magecraft works for us back home, such work would be seen as sort of frivolous.

[brainiest]

... I don't think I want to know, do I?

[ Definitely not. She doesn't want to picture Waver without his clothes -- no offence, of course, she's just pink enough already. ]

I can understand that. A lot of the magic in my world feels very easy and quick for us - like our teleporting, Floo powder, animagus, Portkeys... It's strange to see magic that's not as simple.

[gordianknots]

You really, really don't.

[They were so drunk, Hermione.]

I'm jealous, in many ways. What we do is a lot more scientific in how it's approached. Studies are done over years, families do experiments from one generation to the next, that sort of thing. I actually appreciate the simplicity of what your system's like.

[brainiest]

Oh!

[ Hermione leans forward, almost instantly. ]

Wait, um. Magic Crests? Things that have the knowledge of previous generations?

[gordianknots]

Ah, Kayneth told you?

[brainiest]

We had a bit of a discussion about it, yes.

[ There's a bit of pride, knowing something, and she takes a sip of her drink before she leans on the counter. ]

We decided that the Crests were a bit like having the formula for a mathematical problem but never being taught exactly how to use it.

[gordianknots]

Good metaphor. [Waver takes a long sip of his own.] And nice to know he's better at teaching one-on-one. I always hated when he lectured.

[brainiest]

He was your teacher?

[ ... That she can't imagine, but she supposes it makes sense. ]

I'm not the only one with a Professor here, then. We've got more in common than I thought, Waver.

[gordianknots]

Unfortunately. [Waver doesn't hide the disdain, or the grimace on his face.] I like to think that what I disliked, I've actively worked against in my own time as a professor.

[But very, very willing to step away from the matter of why Kayneth is the actual worst ever, Waver seizes on the opportunity for a topic change.] Lupin, yes? I met him at the Barrel's party in December.

[brainiest]

Should I be calling you Professor Waver? I've never really known what formality to take.

[ They went straight from research to their friendship, of sorts, via Harry. She's never really asked much about his history of position beyond what she knew about him here in the Drabworld. ]

That's him. He was my Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher in my third year.

[gordianknots]

Waver is fine. You've definitely earned the right to no formalities between us.

[Equality's hard to win here, honestly. Waver likes to enforce it when he can.]

Oh, well that's a department more impressive than anything we've got back home.

[brainiest]

Oh. [ Well.

Her smile is a lot softer, now, and she glances down at her drink, a bit more shy. ]

I could tell you about all the subjects, if you'd like. It's not all Potions and teleporting.

[gordianknots]

I would be delighted.

[brainiest]

[ Now you've done it, Waver.

Hermione moves and sits down, looking more than a little excited. ]

Most of them are self-explanatory. Transfiguration, Charms, Potions, History of Magic, Defence Against the Dark Arts, Astronomy and Herbology are the lessons we all have to take in our first year. From our third year onwards we can also take Artithmancy, Muggle Studies, Divination, Ancient Runes and Care of Magical Creatures.

[gordianknots]

[Hermione, he lives for this kind of stuff.]

That's a practical core. No alchemy department?

[brainiest]

[ And this is why she adores him. ]

Only if there's enough interest. We learn aspects of it in Potions but the specialised teaching? Only if it's worth the time it would take, I think.

[gordianknots]

[What nerds.]

Ahhh, okay, that makes sense. Potions and alchemy probably have enough in common that the latter is just a specialized version of the former, isn't it?

[Guess what he is really, Hermione.]

[brainiest]

[ Her lips twitch a little and she leans forward. ]

I have a question for you, Waver.

[gordianknots]

Shoot.

[brainiest]

Do you want to see my Potions lab?

[ No, that isn't an innuendo. ]

[gordianknots]

--Oh my God are you serious?

[Is it Christmas?!]