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Post by Catherine Dunham on May 31, 2009 9:09:46 GMT -5
"I got here almost 2 months ago... But I have been so busy to get used to all the routines, and getting to know the students that I haven't been able socialize much with the staff. Which I regret now, meeting you..." She knew that she was flirting, but it was very innocent flirting - and life would be so boring without it! Hopefully, he wouldn't get offended. "Besides, I don't like spending much time inside..." Which made her very happy that they were about to enjoy the Greenhouses.
Archer's mood seemed to have dropped a little though, despite the fact that they were out of the Castle now and was breathing fresh air. He seemed to be anxious about something. However, when he started to talk, Catherine started to share his anxiousness. Not go out in the forest? At any rate?! Catherine loved the forest and had created a lot of relationships with the life in there - and now, when summer was coming, her little project at the end of the lake NEEDED to be done! Maybe he just wanted her to be careful, disappearances was a serious business, but why would she be in the risk zone?
"It sounds horrible. How come... I mean, why hasn't it been made official?" She knew the reason - not wanting to start panic based on rumors. Another thought caught her. "And you think that you're...next?" Her big eyes almost popped out of her face as she stared at him with pure concern and worry.
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Post by Alexander Archer on May 31, 2009 20:18:38 GMT -5
"You have been here a little while, it's interesting that I've only seen you a few times before then," he replied with a small smile. As she continued speaking about getting into the routine, which he fully understood, he frowned in slight confusion as she finished that comment. "Oh... yes, I know what you mean about getting used to the routine," he said quietly, thinking she was extremely friendly if she already thought it was so nice to meet him. Of course, being quite out of the loop where flirting with a woman such as this was concerned, he was completely, innocently oblivious to it. "Yes, I much prefer going out into the grounds than staying inside the castle, myself," he agreed quietly as they stepped beyond the castle.
As he warned about the forest, he thought she looked perhaps a bit distraught at the news. "The Headmistress, I believe, doesn't want to cause panic," he said, slightly two-sided as to the actions of Headmistress LaPointe. He realised that panic would be a disaster, but he also thought that everyone should be informed of the very real dangers; it would put people on the alert, and make them much harder targets no doubt. He believed that the safety of both students and faculty at the castle was paramount, so Alex wasn't entirely aligned with the woman in power at the moment.
"Well, not necessarily," he replied, slightly surprised but grateful for the concern she showed, even though they had only just formally met. She really was a very friendly person. "But I believe anyone could be taken, student or professor. I'm slightly surprised that Headmistress LaPointe hadn't informed you or at least given you a bit of warning when you started teaching, but then I never received anything of the like when I began either," he said with a slight frown of concern. He hadn't wanted to panic the young woman, but her eyes appeared quite large and her voice quite worried as she spoke. "It's alright... well, no, it's not... But I just thought you deserved to know," he said, his voice light and caring.
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Post by Catherine Dunham on Jun 5, 2009 16:28:49 GMT -5
"Yes, yes..." Catherine said, not really listening to the assuring words Archer used to comfort her. She had heard whispers about dark things among the students, always wondering why everyone seemed so afraid of the Forest. When she attended school, she had never cared much about the rules of not attending the forest - but that had been another time. Now, it really seemed to be a mess.
However, she would not make any promises of not entering the forest. All these years she had spent with her... unpleasant husband had made her quite unaware of the world around her and she wanted no part in this newly Dark business. Especially not Dementors. The thought made her a bit annoyed - why must things she wants no part of get in the way?
"I really thank you for the warning... " She said, smiling at him with new found confidence. "I will be very cautious when entering the forest. Without wanting to sound arrogant, but for some reason, very few things can hide from me there..." She said it with a laugh, he probably wouldn't understand - she had always been the way she was, and no one knew why. "I think I'll be safe." With another smile, she realized that they had reached the end of the greenhouses, and soon they would reach her office.
"You want to come in for some tea? I have a few nice projects going on, which might help you understand my interest in the forest..." Without waiting for an answer, she entered and waited for him patiently to follow.
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Post by Alexander Archer on Jun 22, 2009 5:23:19 GMT -5
An uncharacteristic frown briefly crossed his features; she didn't seem at all concerned with his comments. She was either extremely convinced of her own abilities, or thought he was exaggerating. The alternative, of course, was that she was protected within those borders, a slave to the Shadow Mage, or that she was perhaps stupid in some way. The expression passed quickly however, driven away by a small smile that looked far more comfortable being presented on his face than anything as negative as a frown ever did. At her comments, he assumed that she probably underestimated what was in there, thinking that the entire school was overreacting. Apparently she was very sure of herself, however, and Alex doubted whether he could change her mind. He hoped that she could realise what awaited her in those woods without getting hurt, and sooner rather than later.
Then again, perhaps he was underestimating her. Odd, that it should be the last thing to cross his mind; perhaps simply because he knew exactly what was within the forest, and not much at all about Catherine. Certain members of society were known to almost communicate with or feel the trees and various plants of the world - he himself had always felt a rather special bond with nature, but only because he loved it so much. The smile on her features melted away his slight anxiety, however, and he surmised that he had warned her, at least, so that might help if ever she ventured near the forest.
At the mention of tea, his smile grew. "Tea sounds great," he said pleasantly, though her follow up comment made him slightly anxious, albeit curious. The Herbology professor entered ahead of him and he followed quietly, looking around the previously-familiar surrounds to see what kind of touch she had added to the Greenhouse. "I like what you've done with the place," he said with the barest hint of a smile playing at his lips. Taking a few steps and facing her, his smile grew.
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Post by Catherine Dunham on Jul 6, 2009 6:17:54 GMT -5
[OOC: There's a plotline in the plot forum, about us. Just so you know. And sorry about late reply!] That smile, friendly and somewhat mysterious, made Catherine's breathing somewhat heavier, everytime he did it. What exactly did he do? Nothing, except making her unable not to start feeling unsupported by her knees. Blushing again, at his compliment about her office, she started to talk - fast, as she always did when nervous. Explaining to him how she wanted her office to feel alive, and since trees had away of obeying her, she was able to form all these shapes of furniture without magic. The chairs actually formed themselves after the body that sat on them, and the bed was nothing but amazing. Few people believed her when she said that her bed was made of wood, with nothing to make it softer, and that it was the most comfortable place on earth. Until they tried it, and realised she was right. The whole office wasn't made of dead, chopped wood, it was alive and formed after her will. "Maybe you want to try the bed yourself?" she asked, before realising how inappropriate that offer was. "I mean... I wouldn't be suggesting... " She trailed off, blushing furiously yet again. The man hadn't showed any anger of her previous behaviour before, in fact, he seemed oblivious of any flirting at all which actually made Catherine a little bit disappointed, but before finding out how he would react to this, she hurried away to her bookshelves and took out the old artifacts that would explain her interest in the forest, but would also change the subject. "Take a seat" she commanded, and hurried back, excited to tell him about her discoveries. As if he wasn't obeying her fast enough she placed a hand on his chest and forced him down on the couch behind him, not wanting to wait a minute longer before she could start with her little lecture. Instead of taking a seat next to him, she knelt in front of him and placed the papers on his lap. She hated not to have eye-contact with people, and therefore, she looked up at him from the floor, making sure he would take in every word. Having no thought on how he would react to all this, she began. "I have a friend in Italy who showed me these old papers." she said, handing over the artifacts about the ancient plants that said to be connected to the World Tree. "He's a muggle, but amazingly sharp when it comes to the magical history. Of course, he calls everything a 'myth', but nevertheless, he has spent his whole life on finding information about the 'mythical' world tree." "When Greece was one of the biggest civilizations, the ancient wizards guarded something called the World Tree or the Tree of the World together with women who was able to talk to the tree. It was said these women were born from it. The Tree was a very powerful existence, almost like a God, and the wizards linked to it were amazingly powerful since the Tree gave them God-like powers. They were betrayed by something I can't seem to find, something about a shadow." "This is the myth, and I haven't found more information on it, or who these women were, but I have, however, found some old Herb lore, which explains how to grow some of the extracts from this very Tree. If it works, and I'm soon on my way to find out, it will be a revolution to the Wizarding world and everything we know about it! If it works, we would be having pieces of a... God!" Her eyes glittered when she talked, and she hoped he would undesrtand. How could he not, knowing how extreme all of this was? "I have begun in the forest with plants of rare cases, and it's a very small chance that I actually succeed with something, but I can't just sit here, knowing about these things and do nothing, can I?"
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Post by Alexander Archer on Jul 11, 2009 4:12:41 GMT -5
((OoC: I saw, just wanted to see what the admins thought about such a large sub-plot))
His eyes widening slightly as she asked if he would like to try her bed, he laughed once, only slightly nervously, as she continued, trying to rectify how that statement had sounded. Clearing his throat lightly. He noticed that she was blushing rather profusely and assumed she hadn't really thought out what she was saying before it was out of her mouth. As she hurried off to one of her bookshelves, he wondered if there was a real reason or she simply wanted to get rid of the blushing; he soon found however, that she had indeed gone to retrieve a particular item or items.
Feeling this was taking a definite turn in mood as she commanded him to sit, then following it up by putting a hand to his chest and pushing him down, he took on an expression of polite shock. Of course, he was too pleasant to really say anything, despite severely disliking the fact that she had effectively pushed him. Clearing his throat lightly once more, he no longer wore his typical sunny disposition, but remained nevertheless in the seat she had forced him to take. Not only was he too polite to rise, but she was kneeling before him, effectively preventing him from standing up anyway. A few papers were cast onto his lap and his brow furrowed slightly; if this was something to do with why she was within the confines of the forest so often, he wanted to stay out of it. The less people in that forest, no matter their reasoning, the better.
Clearly, she was excited, as if she had been waiting to divulge this information for some time. As she spoke, he refrained from interrupting, his expression neutral. She continued on about a World Tree and people that could supposedly speak to it; a tree that was almost a God. At these words he was unable to help the small furrow in his brow from cropping up, but other than that he showed no signs of displeasure. He started to pay a bit more attention when she spoke of something being betrayed by what could have been a "shadow". That was interesting... but she moved on and didn't refer back to that topic again.
"So if I have this correctly..." he said carefully, not wanting to outright dismiss this. If she was right and had indeed cottoned onto creating some mythical tree, it could be extremely dangerous - especially if it was within the forest, the realm of Dark Phoenix. He didn't want her to think he would destroy this for her... he still didn't know her very well, so who knew how she would react to that? "This tree... could give someone powers similar to that of a God? And these herbs that you're using to try and recreate it... you're doing this all in the Forbidden Forest, in the realm of the Shadow Mage?" he questioned lightly, not wanting to sound at all like he might be accusing her of being in allegiance with her, but merely as if he was trying to get the straight of things and warn her of exactly where this supposed tree was being concocted.
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