Flowers Are Dangerous. They Have Pistils.

[Alessandro Darko]

On the outer edge of the gardens, like a paragon of erudition, stood a young Ravenclaw intricately examining the flowers and plants specific to the western quadrant of the gardens. Bespectacled with exaggerated horn-rimmed glasses, a notebook in one hand and a pen wedged between the incisors of the young man, his free hand manipulated the vegetation so he could astutely inspect all sides of the plant. Removing the pen from his teeth, Alessandro Darko quickly jotted down in his typical print-cursive penmanship: ...acuminate shape with no margins. Entire. Glabrous surface with arcuate venation... Replacing the pen between his teeth once more, he used his now free fingers to push the bridge of the glasses higher up on his nose as he turned his sights over to the flower blossom of the particular plant he was studying.

The sight of Alessandro right at that moment may have inspired no curiosity in anyone that didn't know him personally. However, those that did know him would find their curiosities piqued, and questions were surely rising, for, Alessandro did not usually wear glasses, nor was he really that interested in Herbology to an extent where he would know by heart the specific terminology associated with it or even Muggle Phytotomy.

(ooc: I'm choosing to keep this short, but sweet. TAG:Keaira)

[Keaira O'Connell]

The days were bright and sunny, but common rooms that resided in the lower levels of the castle seldom were. Everything that the windows showed of outside revealed the promise of great things that might occur in the light of the afternoon. So, today Keaira was out and about taking in some of the warmth the May sun had given them. With exams on their way most of the students who held jobs were unfortunately removed from their posts so that their grades would not have to suffer due to the students working when they should have been studying. One such student that had to unwillingly give up such a position was Keaira O’Connell. Even with much protest, and proof that her grades had maintained a high level even through her employment, she was denied the ability to spend her weekends and evenings within the confines of Zonko’s Joke shop. Thus in reality, Keaira had nothing to do on one such sunny afternoon, except wander the grounds of Hogwarts.

It would seem that this day, while her robes were still freshly pressed, and her hair still damp and styled from her shower, Keaira allowed her feet to bring her to the gardens. It had been some times since she had last come to take in the beauty that the flowers and other vegetation provided. As always Keaira had her book bag strapped across her chest, carrying the many things Keaira was seldom seen without. Her devil sticks were neatly stowed away amongst her potions kit, her books, and even some travel friendly food for a light snack later. With Artemis following silently behind her, one might have looked upon Keaira and not been able to guess the level of anxiety, and depression that ran through her mind and body. Everything about her appearance, and walk said that Keaira was not plagued by any ailments. At first glance she was everything that one would expect from the girl, who had the highest marks in her house, the responsibility of prefect, and even popularity among the other houses. Yes, Keaira played the part well.

However, just beneath the veneer of this honor roll student, and role model, was the real Keaira. There was something in the set of her eyes, the position of her shoulders, the way her feet touched the path, and the curve of her lips that gave her away. If one knew what they were looking for, Keaira’s ruse would fall to pieces under their scrutiny. Yet, no one had called her out on the guise she had put forth. No one had seen behind her ambitious façade, to take note of the pain, hurt, and devastation that was ridding just below. If she had it her way, Keaira would keep things like this.

The path was a well maintained dirt one, and Keaira had been down it many times with Artemis following beside her. Keaira’s simple black polished shows kicked up a minimal amount of dirt as she walked, and every now and then Keaira would bend down and wipe some of the dust that settled on them away. She hummed a quiet tune as she walked along, and would have been quite content to continue on with her day filling the time with such nonsense until she found something better to do, or it got to dark to continue. That plan was changed, when Keaira set her eyes upon the boy who was busy examining the flowers of the garden. Normally a random student examining the flowers as such would not have been something that Keaira would have bothered taking note of. This student however, caused a change in plan.

Keaira allowed a smile to drift over her features, knowing that it wasn’t real, but also knowing that most people would never see through it. Quietly she stepped behind Alessandro, casting a shadow over the flower he was examining, as well as the general area that he occupied. Her eyes drifted over to the notepad, seeing the notes that he had jotted down just previously. “Since when do you wear glasses? And on that note, when did you begin studying plants? I didn’t think Herbology, or botany was your thing.”

((You are short and sweet but still effective TAG: Alessandro)

[Alessandro Darko]

Alessandro Darko was a curious creature indeed, from the moment of his birth, to the day he crossed the threshold of the Hogwarts foyer into the Great Hall. The Sorting Hat had noticed his quirky eccentricities and aptitude for great knowledge. His mind was truly his greatest privilege, aside from magic. Though for a brief moment, Slytherin had been contemplated, the hat decided his greatness would not come from the house of Salazar, but from that of Rowena Ravenclaw. Of course, having several relatives having passed through that house -- his mother included, it was no surprise for him or his family. Over the years he had displayed quirks typical of a Ravenclaw; he was shy (at first), he craved knowledge, and usually held many answers to the various questions encountered in the academic life of a student at Hogwarts. Today...however, Alessandro was not exhibiting typical behavior.

As his hand explored the large petals of the strange and rare breed of flower only cultivated in the Wizarding world, he was just about to take note of something else that he found particularly interesting, however, a familiar voice not only broke his concentration, but startled and jarred him completely. The reaction that Keaira's query elicited seemed to be completely, and utterly dramatic. Alessandro had been too busy examining the flower's enlarged pistils to notice the change in lighting as Keaira's shadow swept over the flora. Whipping around jerkily with an alarmed yell, short and accented, the pen merely dropped from its place between his teeth, but he sent his notebook flying onto the lawn several feet away.

Taking a deep breath after blinking profusely through his horn-rimmed lenses, he shook his head slightly which tossed a strand or two of his long dark hair across his forehead. "Keaira! I would sincerely appreciate it if you wouldn't...just....sneak up on me like that..." He said, throwing his hands up into the air as he accented the word "sneak". His glasses jostled a little bit as he made his exaggerated movement and he rearranged them promptly. Bending down to pick up his pen, he began to reply to her question, making his voice sound muffled. "And I'll have you know...I actually find Herbology quite interesting...I just never..." at this point Alessandro had straightened up and looked over his shoulder for his notebook. "...I just never had the urge to learn about it as I have lately..." He said, his voice sounding a bit deceitful right as his gray-green eyes stole a quick glance at her through his specs. He trotted over to the notebook to pick it up and returned back over to Keaira, scrunching up his nose and tilting his head back to get a better look at her through his glasses.

Alessandro was no fool, and he knew Keaira wasn't either. It was apparent to Alessandro that she had a lot going on lately, as he was sure she understood the same about him. Keaira did her best to plaster on a smile and offer a sense of aloof friendliness, while Alessandro sensed that there might be a bit much for her to handle on her plate all at one time. Zane was gone, and for that fact alone, Alessandro suspected that deep down, Keaira was a mess.

Hugging his notebook to his chest and bringing it up to his neck where it looked as if he was peering over a wall, his chin hanging over. "I don't normally wear glasses...to answer your question, but they help me see clearly when I need them to. Since when do you wear smiles in front of me when I clearly see that's not how you feel?" He arched an eyebrow at her at that notion. Didn't she know that he knew her almost as well as he knew the back of his hand? What happened months ago felt like years to him, and now that he had made his peace with what had happened, after ALL that had happened, he wanted to offer her support if she needed or wanted it.

[Keaira O'Connell]

Alessandro’s reaction was frankly quite startling to Keaira. As he jumped up, she stumbled backwards, nearly tripping upon the dirt beneath her feet. It was only her honed reflexes that kept her from landing directly on her butt. Sure she was several feet further back than when she began, but she was still standing. Keaira after all had never been a clumsy girl, and generally kept her balance. For a few short breaths, Keaira’s shock at the level of reaction she received from Alessandro was clear on her face, and then she forced the shock away, and the smile, with all of its lies about how she was, returned.

“Gee Alessandro I don’t remember you being ever so jumpy either… but I suppose life happens and people change. And I didn’t intend to sneak…. I guess I’ve just gotten stealthier this past year.”

Having to sneak around your enemies fortress ever few months or so will do that to a person.

As she spoke Keaira ran her hands down the front of her robes, smoothing everything back down into place. When she felt satisfied with her appearance again she moved to reach for the note book that Alessandro had moments before flung away from him. Alessandro was however faster on the pickup, and she ended up straightening up after a half motion to assist him. Her thoughts flitted here and there about the many times her learned stealth had been a bit of an asset, and the many times she had wished she was better at it.

The statement that Alessandro had an urge to learn about Herbology sent Keaira’s thoughts into overdrive. What exactly did he mean by an urge? Was it a compulsion? Something someone was forcing on him through so magical means, or maybe he had come in contact with another book that he should have left alone. These possibilities and many more swam through Keaira’s thoughts each one being filtered through, and filed into differing categories for further analysis. First thing first though, Keaira needed to know if there was a real danger or if she was just jumping at shadows again.

In the past few weeks Keaira had been experiencing a growing paranoia. Each new face that came to the castle was one that was most likely an enemy. Each concerned professor was just trying to exploit a weakness she had, and every helping hand was really a dagger or worse. She kept thinking the worst of everyone and everything, and perhaps it would help her, but more likely than not it will hinder her and cripple her perspective. Sure she was being more cautious but at what cost.

However, Alessandro’s comments pulled her away from those thoughts. It cut something inside her to know that her façade wasn’t nearly as perfectly fortified as she thought it was. She knew Alessandro pretty well, and if things had gone differently there was a chance that she could have had a serious relationship with him. Her thoughts traveled to the night of the Masquerade Ball, and she recalled how happy she had been then. But with everything else that had happened that seemed like a lifetime ago. For a few moments Keaira said nothing, the smile sliding away, to reveal a small amount of the turmoil she was going through. There were lines on her face that hadn’t existed a year ago, as well as a dark set to her eyes and a hollow look to her face. Over all she looked very tired when she stopped pretending, and that was only a small glimpse. In the past year she had done a lot of things that she knew would slowly eat away her soul. She had killed people, she had seen monstrosities, and she had nearly died many times over. There was only so much a girl could take, especially when she was missing part of her soul. Keaira had grown distant and detached, but she needed to keep that her secret.

The emptiness that Keaira had was plain to see when she chose to let it through. It was the outward showing of the darkness that she had to deal with internally. So she covered it up when she could, and tried for a more normal look whenever possible. “When you discover that all you have left are the lies that you don’t want the world to know, you take action to prevent them from seeing what really is on the inside. Besides I think more people would notice I wasn’t smiling if I stopped than the people who would actually see through the show I put up for them.” Keaira was cold, and it wasn’t the type of cold that you could warm yourself from. It was the kind that would eat at you from the inside until there was nothing left if you allowed it to. Her arms came up from her sides and she wrapped them around her, hugging herself as if it would help chase away some of her thoughts and less than helpful emotions.

[Alessandro Darko]

Alessandro scrunched up his nose and pushed his glasses back up onto the bridge, surveying Keaira as she spoke. The signs were all very clear to him, yet, seemingly there was nothing he could do to help. It would have been awkward for him to ask about Zane when the two of them never truly were able to get past their egos and be friends. At least they were able to be team mates....at the very least. But, he had a feeling that things went far beyond just one Zane Lucifer Bishop. Having a super-storm of conflicting emotions take him prisoner on the inside, Alessandro gritted his teeth as he held himself back from saying something stupid. Why was she so important to him...still? As much as he had resented her decision to go with Zane, he was still able to just see past those mistakes, and see Keaira. The same girl from the juniper tree, and the same girl from the fifth floor corridor, and the same girl that he danced with at the ball. For some reason, those memories dredged up a rather horrible sensation that felt like his thoracic organs were on fire. Scrunching up his face for a moment as he cast the memories away from his consciousness, the burning subsided and he looked at Keaira once more.

"Keaira...of course people would notice you weren't smiling..." He said. ...though...it may be healthier for you to stop...so many people would be asking 'whats wrong?' and you'd be forced to let it out... Whether she heard it or not, he didn't really care. He was going to segue into it verbally anyhow. "Why don't we go over there and sit down and just have a chat? You can talk to me, right? It will give me a chance to try and wind down from all of this influx of knowledge." He said, subtly hinting at something. He would eventually tell her what he had done, but later. First it was more important to him to give Keaira an opportunity to confide in him once more, perhaps strengthen their waning friendship back to what it used to be before things were complicated.

He motioned to her and then began walking toward a stone bench located just several paces across the gardens directly in front of them. It faced out toward the grounds of Hogwarts, displaying the forest, lake, and long winding path down the way that would take one on the road to the next town. He stood by the bench and waited for her to either come and have a seat or let him know otherwise.

Oh what a long year it had been so far.

(ooc: I love how we've had almost 3 years of RPping this storyline in like...only 4ish months of their 5th year.)

[Keaira O'Connell]

Time had seemed to drag on forever this past year, and Keaira was a very different person because of it. The fifth year at Hogwarts was supposed to be one of the harder ones for most students. Yet, somehow Keaira didn’t think that many people would have been able to account for some of the thing she had managed to do during her fifth year. Sure the classes were more difficult, but that was hardly a thing that Keaira found troubling. In fact, many times she was disappointed with the level of material that her classes presented. Keaira was definitely not struggling with her school work thus far in her student career.

No, other things weighed heavily on Keaira, other things that she could do nothing about. Alessandro’s words were true, and Keaira was well aware of them, just as she was well aware of his thoughts. He hadn’t bothered shielding them, and so she had heard them as clear as day. Her moral decision when it came to other people’s thoughts only truly applied to actively snooping on them, not to casually overhearing. His thoughts also held bits and pieces that Keaira knew to be true as well, however, even if it were for her betterment, Keaira would probably still remain the way she was.

At his suggestion to go and have a nice little chat, Keaira nearly refused. Her immediate thought that Zane would be unhappy if he heard of her meeting alone with Alessandro. Zane often times was far more jealous, and concerned with Keaira’s wellbeing than she really needed him to be. However, as soon as the thought passed through her mind another one followed quickly behind it. Zane wasn’t here. And Zane wasn’t responding to her letters. Perhaps Zane no longer cared about anything but his revenge. It was a thought that struck her to the heart, and she felt a small part of her break with the realization that Zane might not come back to her. All this happened within a span of a few short seconds, and Keaira knew that she had not shown any bit of her thoughts to Alessandro. If there was one thing she had acquired from her time connected to Zane, it was how to lie with your expressions, covering any emotions that she might be feeling with the one that she wanted seen. Even though she had just had a heart breaking revelation, Keaira was able to remain pleasantly smiling.

“Alright I guess so, I mean it’s not like I have anything else to do. Apparently as exams approach, all the Hogwarts students are removed from their jobs so as not to interfere with their studying… So I’m at a loss for what I should be doing now.”

She followed him over to the bench that he had motioned towards, and took a seat, half of her expected this meeting to hold some of the sour tones that the meeting they had in the ballroom held, while the other half of her was hopeful that they had both managed to move beyond that.

“So you know vaguely what I’ve been up to, all this pretending and what not… What have you been up to since you got back from the US? We haven’t really talked much since then… so I don’t really know.”

[Alessandro Darko]

He followed her with his eyes as she closed the distance between them and joined him over by the bench, and then took her seat. Following suit, he too sat on the bench next to her (with a decent amount of space between them) and put his notebook on his lap. She had mentioned that the two of them hadn't really had a good chance to talk since they returned from the United States, and this was true. Alessandro had been spotty since they came back, since HE came back. He had been trying his best to put memories of his time in an eternal prison made of flames behind him and move forward, but something was wrong. He had been suffering from bouts of moodiness, and at one point, he almost incinerated the entire Forbidden Forest from the Astronomy Tower before he came to his senses and restrained himself. There was something missing, and as time went on, Alessandro realized that he had been missing a certain part of himself that he had only just discovered a few months before his cremation, so-to-speak.

Alessandro had keen intuition several months ago. So keen in fact, that sometimes he was able to receive fragmented images of possible future scenarios. In the time that Alessandro had been back, he had yet to get a feeling, a glimpse, a notion of anything remotely precognitive. His preparedness, and readiness for certain things had taken a diver and this frustrated him so much, he had turned to his trusted allies for help; Spell Books.

"Oh, you know...this and that really..." He said shrugging and looking off into the distance, not exactly how sure he was of what Keaira's reaction would be to what he had done to himself. He sent her a surreptitious glance out of the corner of his eye, pondering on whether or not it would be beneficial to tell someone. It wasn't the first time a spell had backfired, or caused the most inaccurate of results to occur, but he sure was not ready to admit that he, Alessandro Darko, a walking compendium of spells, was unsuccessful in an attempt to cast some rather complicated ritual magic.

He took a deep breath and pushed his glasses up again and then looked at her, then sort of just blurted everything out quickly. "Okay, actually, since we've been back, I've been feeling rather strange lately, I mean, at first I thought I was fine, never better, but really, lately I have been a bit moody, and I almost burnt down the entire Forbidden Forest one night on the Astronomy Tower, but luckily Cait came and I came to my senses but that isn't really what the problem is, the problem is, is that I seem broken to myself, like, something needs to be fixed and I realized that I haven't been able to see anything since I've been back and I did this really complicated ritual magic the other night to try and fix myself, however, the magic didn't work quite right...." He said with a heave at the end and took in a big breath to compensate. "So...instead of giving me back my seer ability...my brain has started to soak up EVERYTHING. I just know things now. Like, for instance, did you know that there actually is an outdated wizarding law that states that witches and wizards may only apparate within 2.3 meters of a muggle community, not directly in it? Now I guess it doesn't really matter, we do that anywhere now. And, there has only been ONE documented case where a glumbumble sting proved fatal, and that was to muggle botanist Hans Friedrichsen from Denmark. A local witch was cultivating the flowers that glumbumbles are drawn to, and one sting was all it took to kill him. Insane!? Right? I'm ALLERGIC to glumbumbles...but, I don't suppose the same reaction is elicited...I mean, he must have had some very strange physiology..."

Everything that Alessandro was saying to her was coming out so fast, and like he was bursting at the seams to share his information with someone. His excitement about random facts and knowledge was intense, by far, and he made several gestures in the air as he touched on certain points, adjusting his glasses frequently.

[Keaira O'Connell]

When he sat down next to her she noticed that Alessandro had left a large amount of space between them. It was something that in the beginning half of the year Alessandro wouldn’t have thought that such a distance was needed. They were friends then, and it wouldn’t have mattered if he had left only two inches or three feet. Now however it did matter. Too close would have be construed that he was moving in on her when Zane was just barely gone. Too far away said that he had no interest in her, and that he thought she was untouchable. The space he left wasn’t necessarily too much, but it was just shy of it. Anymore and she would have automatically assumed that he was clearly in the friend box, yet this left her perplexed. Did he think he had a chance to rekindle what they might have once had, or was he just unsure of things himself. She didn’t know her feelings were still so very much confused, and so time would have to be the telling factor here. After all, she still felt like she loved Zane, her heart pinned after him even though he had been gone for a while, yet he abandoned her, and had not returned a letter in the entire time he had been gone. Things were confusing.

His response was just on this side of avoidance. He danced around the topic, even if it wasn’t particularly on purpose. She shot a strange questioning look at him. Her forehead furrowed in small lines, and the curve of her lips turning up ever so slightly. ”What are you hiding Alessandro Orion Darko?” The question wasn’t necessarily one she wanted him to answer, but shortly after she asked it, he exploded with words. He went on for a full two minutes or so spewing out things at a rate in which she had a slightly hard time following. As it registered in her mind what was going on, a look of shock crossed her face, her eyes widened, her cheeks slackened, and her lips parted a small amount. What had he done to himself…?

“Alessandro…Hang on, hang on. This could be very serious, what spell did you try to use, does anyone else know about this? Where did you find the spell? Are there any other side effects that you’ve noticed? Gee Alessandro why didn’t you come to someone sooner when you noticed this, what if it never stops, what if it becomes an obsessive need that you end up devoting your entire life to? Oh Alessandro, just tell me it wasn’t a potion, you’re so hopeless at most potions.”

Keaira was shaking her head as she began responding to what he had told her. This was probably one of the worst things that could have happened. There were so many ways spells could go wrong, some of them could never be healed, and would always be a burden. There was an entire ward in St Mongos devoted to things like this; it wouldn’t do for the lightfighters to have one of their best a permanent resident.

“What to do with you Alessandro, what to do?”

[Alessandro Darko]

He was not surprise when Keaira reacted the way she did. He had actually calculated that she would respond in such a manner, but he was off by .02 seconds with her anticipated reaction time. His eyes fluttered as she asked him if he remembered what spell it was. That was one thing that he wasn't entirely sure of. In fact, he was predominantly sure he might have made it up as he went along. He was slightly resentful that she brought up the potions bit. Of course he was disastrous when it came to that dastardly class. He had no passion for it, therefor, his potions were miserably executed.

"Well you didn't have to bring THAT up, I think it's safe to say that I steer clear from the potions cupboard..." he said slightly on the defense.

"...and no, there're no other side-effects to my knowledge. This spell was designed to 'acquire knowledge that I do not possess', and, clearly, that's a lot. Besides, I've already tried to dispel it, and it won't work. And hey, it's not all bad. I read quite rapidly and I can tell you which chapter contains what information on any of the text-books. This is going to be GREAT for O.W.L's..." He said deviously as he tightened his fists and looked off into the distance as if he was imagining getting O's on everything and being made into some sort of paragon of knowledge.

"Also...I didn't quite follow the instructions of the ritual to the 'T'...I took a couple...liberties..." He said sheepishly, giving her yet another surreptitious look as he anxiously fiddled with the hem of his sweater vest. Suddenly he gasped and looked up at her as if he suddenly had an epiphany.

"Do you think that in my current state, I could be sort of brilliant at potions??? Yes...I can see it now...just a dash of this...a spoonful of that...mix it all around...instant 'O'. He said erratically and made to get up off the bench. If Keaira so desired to prevent him from getting up completely, all it would take would be a simple yank on his robes, or to catch his arm and pull him back into his seat.

[Keaira O'Connell]

Keaira waved away his outburst at her inquiry of his potion use, and shook her head, dismissing him. It was a good question, and it was one that she felt the answer was needed. After all she knew, as well as many other people, that he was just dreadful at any such mixing of ingredients. It really was of no fault of his own, some people were just bad at certain things. But still it did ease a little tension from Keaira to know that he wasn’t foolishly mixing hemlock and dragon’s blood blindly.

“Well that’s a bit of a relief.” She said in response to hearing that he neither used a potion, and that there was no other side effects. Still this wasn’t something that could just be brushed aside and ignored. She was already frowning at this point, but when he added that this was a good thing she couldn’t help but further deepen that frown. He apparently hadn’t realized that there was very little about this that was good. And then he continued to force her to frown further, he hadn’t even followed the directions that the spell or ritual or whatever had supplied.

This was sounding worse and worse by the minute. But she waited for him to finish speaking first. There was no reason to interrupt him multiple times, and she was already building up quite the argument for this problem of his. However when he was finished he stood up as if he was going to rush off and try his luck at mixing up some complex brew. Keaira was almost shocked into not moving by this, but she snapped out of it quick enough to grab his hand and yank him back down on to the bench beside her. There was a slightly wild look to Keaira’s eyes that touched on anger, and fear, as she spoke rapidly, but clearly to Alessandro, her hand still firmly grasping his.

“What on earth possess you to do this? Don’t you know that some magic is not reversible? You might never be the same again. AND NO! This isn’t going to be great for O.W.L.S. This is going to be awful. At best they will know that you messed up on a complex spell by accident, and will send you to St Mongo’s for help. At worst they will think you did it in an attempt to cheat, which would mean failure, and expulsion. Did you consider that? And what was the source of this ritual, did you consider that? I’m sure you remember the last book that you delved into without considering the source carefully.”

Keaira had raised her voice a touch when she said And no, but by the time she had reminded him of a previous book, she had dropped to a whisper. It wasn’t something that she should have been so worked up over, but she couldn’t help it. He was a friend, and she was sadly short on them lately, so she was a touch more protective than she may have otherwise been. Keaira had almost forgotten all about Artemis, until the cat jumped up on to the bench on to her lap. He meowed in her face, with his head tilted to the left as he did it. He could tell that she was bothered, and so he expressed his concern in the only way he knew. It was endearing, but did little to calm the knotting emotions in the pit of her stomach.

[Alessandro Darko]

Her firm grip was enough to encircle the palm of his hand and reverse his motion back into his seat. Falling backwards into the bench with a small gasp as he felt the wind escape his chest, he looked over to Keaira with slight astonishment as she had just derailed him from his train of thought and also brought him back down to Earth. She had begun to speak to him quite firmly and he had waited for her to release his hand, but it seemed as though she thought to hold on to it to impress an importance upon him with her words.

Alessandro felt his cheeks heat up as he received his talking to, his eyes darting here and there, averting from her own piercing gaze as she spoke with him. All of a sudden he felt so small, as point after point was brought up to make him feel like he had made a big blunder out of the whole ordeal. It was true, though, with all of the knowledge he had absorbed, he never once thought with his common sense that the whole thing might be a bad idea and have negative consequences on his life. He had been so blinded by his feelings of brokenness that he willingly (and brashly) dove into a pool of potentially hazardous materials.

As she mentioned him having to go to St. Mungo's, and the facts that they would think he was trying to cheat and could possibly be expelled, his eyes widened with fear. He absolutely couldn't get expelled. His mother would surely be a force to be reckoned with above all three unforgivable curses, including Hewlett to boot. There would also be his future (if he even had one for he couldn't even gain a proper vision these days) to account for. What would he do with his life? Serve Firewhisky and Butterbeer at the Three Broomsticks for seven galleons and a sickle an hour? He began to blink rather rapidly as all of this flashed before his eyes.

"The ritual..." He began as he gained his bearings again. "The ritual was angelic in nature. I'm sure there was no mal-intent from dark forces...though, in history, angels haven't exactly been the cherubs that muggles believe them to be..." He said softly as he allowed his gaze to pan down from Keaira's face to her hand gripping his. "It was all in Enochian....a rather complex and obscure magical language, not many wizarding folk even recognize it as a practical use of magic and have since eradicated it from lesson plans. I found the book in the restricted section." After a brief pause, he added "I think that I may have botched some of the phrasing...my translation must have been off -- It's not a precise language." He added the last bit quickly to explain the nature of his mistake as if he was excusing himself from making one.

[Keaira O'Connell]

Keaira released Alessandro’s hand from her own after she finished her rant. It freed her up to caress the small spot between Artemis’ ears. She scratched here and there absentmindedly as she mentally poured over the various ways to dispel a hex or to make an antidote to a poison. Although, surely there wasn’t much that those things would do to help the situation that Alessandro had managed to land himself into now. She had turned her attention away from Alessandro as she saw his cheeks flare red, it must be something else to have someone point out the very flaws in something you thought imaginatively cleaver. What she had intended to be an exasperated sigh escaped her lips more like a sigh of someone who had seen too many things, and done too much in their lives, someone who was tired of the way things were going, and wanted a change.

He rambled, it was something he had done before, but then it was far more charming than it was now. Of course he gave her a good amount of useful knowledge about the ritual mixed in and threaded about with his babbling. When he mentioned the location of the book she rolled her eyes. Of course the book was in the restricted section, where else would a book that contains forgotten knowledge and complicated rituals be located. “Alessandro how on earth did you convince a professor to give you a pass into the restricted section this close to exams…. Do you remember the title of the book so that we can get back in there to find it, or are we going to have to stab at this in the dark….” Keaira paused for a moment, and stared off into nowhere. There was a lot to consider still about this. It seemed as if this was a pretty complex bit of magic he managed to do wrong. Breaking the enchantment might take more skill than either of them possessed. After a short bit of staring off into the space 10 feet away, Keaira nodded and then turned to face Alessandro. “We need to tell D’rorah, she’s probably the best chance we have of fixing this without getting an adult involved. And we need that book, and probably a slew of other things, but first thing first, let’s go see if we can find D’rorah.”

[Alessandro Darko]

She sounded as if it was a surprise that he managed his way into the restricted section of the library. He was sure that he had mentioned to her before that the Sorting Hat had debated on whether or not to place him in Slytherin House -- not saying that being in Slytherin was a harbinger that its students were deviously evil, cunning, and conniving, BUT, most were. The qualities that usually dominated a Slytherin student's personality were those of determination to succeed. Alessandro just tapped into that determination, and deviated it toward deception as he caused a mild distraction for the librarian by bewitching some books to flap around like mad bats, disillusioned himself, and swept away into the restricted section.

It was his thirst and aptitude for knowledge which ultimately secured his spot in Ravenclaw. Qualities which allowed him to attain a vast knowledge of spells to use at his disposal in such cases as the librarian distraction.

Feeling a slight smirk cross his lips, he changed it into a frown as the scenario ended in his mind and his ears were picking up more words from Keaira.

"Err...stab in the dark...?" He mumbled after she said it. He wasn't quite sure what he did with the book because it sure was gone after he woke up off of the floor, as a matter of fact, nothing was left there that he had been using; none of the sigils he had to draw around himself, the cauldron he had been using to combine ingredients was bare and cold-- as if nothing had really happened. What on earth had happened to his materials, including the book, was beyond him.

"Well...see, the thing is that...it's sort of...gone. Wasn't there when I woke up...none of it was." He said with a small shrug. One could tell he was just as confused as anyone else would be.

D'rorah. The thought of him going to Dee for ANOTHER session for salvation absolutely turned him off to the idea. She was basically the team leader, true. Basically the one who knew the most about basically everything and how to reverse, cure, or heal whatever ailment. But it only took so many times of him being saved by her to make him feel like a complete idiot for always getting in harm's way. He shifted uncomfortably as Keaira seemed more than prepared to go to D'rorah. He shouldn't have told her, he should have just kept his trap shut (which was almost impossible, actually, what with the knowledge he was acquiring ready to burst from his lips on a whim). He shook his head quickly and looked away from Keaira, not really wanting to justify his decision.

"No..." He said softly.