eachdraidh | ( video ; seelie locked. )

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[ The locket opens on just Hermione's face; behind her there is nothing but a blank wall, at least until she turns. Then there's a small bookshelf, a series of vials and a cauldron before she sits down and refocuses the camera on her and nothing else. It takes her a moment to speak but she does - after taking a long, deep breath. ]

For anyone that doesn't know me, my name is Hermione Granger. We're about to enter a war and I don't think it's right that any of us enter entirely unprepared - there's only so much we can do, but I intend to do whatever I can to make sure that everyone is ready and as capable as they can be.

[ Another deep breath and she turns, so that both her cauldrons are in sight. ]

I've been brewing potions for the last few days, as much as I can and as quickly as I can. I have things for cuts, scrapes, wounds, for loss of blood and for burns, anti-paralysis... I think you get the idea. I've got a lot of stock and I'm ready to give it to anyone who thinks they might need it before they go and fight. If you need it after then you know my name and how to contact me, right?

[ She looks troubled, still; war isn't something she is entirely comfortable with, even now, even with how familiar she is with it. ]

Just let me know if you want or need something and I can pop over and deliver it. And if you have, um, friends that might need it but can't read this? Let me know. I'm an equal opportunist potioneer, I promise. Thank you for your time.

[ And, added a little later, if the change in the shadows of the room are any indication -- ]

You don't have to pay me for them, but if you can find ingredients or donate something that would be nice. Just so I can keep this going.

[ Happy, Mako? ]

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I'm rather jealous that your world actually has that sort of magic, honestly. I don't think it would be impossible in mine, because very little is, but it would take someone with rare talent to manage it.

Well, are there any downsides to experimenting with it? ...I'd assume there were, but magic usually runs the gamut from "it simply doesn't work" to "death would have probably been more merciful."

It's more dangerous than you'd think. If you apparate you run the risk of splinching if you don't do it properly - which is the possibility of leaving bodyparts behind, from a piece of your eyebrow to an entire arm. It takes a lot of concentration to perform without hurting yourself.

[ Splinching in the Drabworld might not be too terrible, but she'd rather avoid it. ]

Flooing is generally safer, but if you're not careful about your pronunciation you could end up anywhere.

...no, that's effectively what I assumed would happen. It's nice to know that unpleasant magical experiences are all unpleasant in their own unique ways.

That's... at least less heinously unpleasant, I suppose. Certainly, you could find yourself somewhere awful, but at least you'd have all your bits attached.

Getting lost is a better alternative to forgetting an arm or accidentally getting your chest ripped open, it's true.

[ She crosses her arms, lips pursed. ]

If there were more fireplaces perhaps apparation would be less necessary, but...

Of course, in a place like this, it seems like getting lost in the wrong place could lead to roughly the same result... if you were unlucky, that is.

Tying that sort of thing to fireplaces seems... really unnecessarily specific, if you ask me. Why not anywhere with a door? Well, I suppose it's better than nothing, at the very least.

That's true. You never know where you're going to end up - and it could be in territory we're not prepared to handle.

[ Still. She shakes her head, lips twisting a little. ]

The magic works using the flames and some powder designed to take advantage of that. Magical doors would be much easier, but maybe a little less safe.

Or somewhere in the middle of the ocean, for all we know.

Ah, I see. And you mentioned pronunciation, so I imagine you'd have to have a reasonably specific location name in mind, making just using fires in general a bit touchy.

...and now that you're mentioning it, I can only imagine how wrong magical doors could go...

Magic is, itself, a little bit tricky. I think finding the best means to do certain things was hard enough without much fiddling about with doors and windows. Fireplaces are dangerous enough.

[ She's grinning, though, all the same. ]

I can't imagine walking through a door and ending up, oh, I don't know. Falling off a cliff.

It's really a bit disappointing that something resembling True Magic still has a great deal of rules, but I suppose it would be much more common if it wasn't absurdly capricious.

Or ending up right in the throne room of Caer Scima. I would imagine the Unseelie monarchs would be happy to see you, granted, but not for reasons that you would be terribly happy about...

Magic is easy enough to understand in my world as long as you have the mind for it. That's why some people have subjects they're better at - it's easy to forget that when the scale of the world is so large here. --

But you're right. I might be able to claim sanctuary, but, really. I've seen the throne room, I don't want to go there.

It's roughly the same in my world, though there are some fairly notable differences. Specialties aren't really just about what you're good at --- it's what your family was good at, as well. Granted, they're usually the same thing, though I've always felt it was better to dabble in every discipline than to overspecialize. You hear some rather unfortunate things about once-powerful old families who spent so much time focusing on one discipline that they can barely do anything else... it's sad, really.

...and, well, I'll admit I'm curious, but I tend to err on the side of caution. If I could be guaranteed sanctuary, I'd at least love to visit their library... but that's seeming less and less likely.

So it's a genetic thing? If your father and mother were good at one aspect of magic it would be logical that you would be as well? Does that mean there are no children in your world that are the children of people without magic? [ She shakes her head. ] Trust me, I know all about old families and their ideals about magic.

[ Not good, obviously. ]

I wonder if there would be any way for a friend in the other court to get some books for us, especially if we met somewhere neutral.

[...is this gonna be another Waver Velvet and does he want to disappoint himself

eh, yolo]

Ah, no --- it's really that there's just been a system of inheritance developed that influences it, I suppose. All established mage families have what are known as Magic Crests, which contain the sum of the magical knowledge of all the previous bearers and are generally passed on from parent to child. In essence, it makes it easier and more efficient to achieve real progress --- after all, if you don't have to spend the better part of your life re-learning all the secrets and spells your ancestors have figured out, then you can get on to making new discoveries, can't you?

Of course, there are plenty of individuals with the talent born to those who don't, and they easily could prove be the originators of their family's crest. It's really something you have to commit to past your own lifetime, though... but anyone who's really cut out to be a mage has already accepted that.

[Or you could win the Magic Lottery and kill Servants because your deep, ingrained survivor's guilt gave you a cool superpower.

That works too.]

That is something I've been wondering... I'm really thankful that there are plenty of neutral spaces where that would be a possibility, honestly.

I see. So all the knowledge of past generations is just - given to you through these Crests? That's an incredible way to learn but it does take out some of the fun. I loved reading and learning about magic in school - being given it seems a little bit like a waste, to be honest.

[ But that's how magic works in other worlds. It's fascinating, and she supposes not everyone has access to things like Hogwarts or Durmstrang. She has to understand that not everyone has the same opportunities as she did; magic school is a unique thing. ]

I think it's something to look into, at least. Knowledge is something we need to survive and understand what we're doing here.

Hm, well, I wouldn't say it's like that? It's more like... you still have to put in a great deal of study to be able to effectively use the knowledge you're given, and as it's part of an inheritance you're generally going to spend several years learning how to use magic without it.

And anyway, no crest has the complete encyclopedia of magic written into it, so there's always still plenty to learn. The progression is usually more about educating yourself before you begin university-style education at Clock Tower, so while the academic setting for it comes later it's not actually absent.

[...let's not talk about the fact that Magic College politics are hell. Well, he doesn't care, anyway. Magic College is great.]

Exactly. Of course, there are several people dedicated to that sort of thing already, aren't there...?

I see. So it's a little more like being given, say, a mathmatical formula and not being given the information you need to actively solve it? You have the information but no active means of understanding how to use it.

[ That seems to make a little more sense, at least. ]

That does sound better than just shoving information at descendants and hoping they use it properly - or even understand it. The Clock Tower must be a little like Hogwarts, then - that's where witches and wizards in my world go to learn how to use and control their magic.

[ Which has it's own set of problems, of course. ]

I think so. It wouldn't surprise me if there were more we didn't know about, too.

You know, I was trying to think of a good analogy. Yes, that's exactly it --- it'd be fairly disastrous to transplant a Crest into a child and have everything instantly work... magecraft is dangerous enough in the hands of people who actually have the maturity to realize what they're dealing with.

...Hogwarts, though...? What is that like?

[...probably simultaneously aggressively whimsical and just plain aggressive, given what she's explained about her world thus far.]

It would be more surprising to me if there weren't, honestly.

I see - that does make sense. It would backfire entirely on people if they weren't educated on how to control or use their powers, right?

It's incredible. We have students from ages eleven to eighteen and we are taught how to use our magic and how to control it. We learn other things, too - potions, herbology, the history of magic and all other related things. There aren't really any specialisations until you decide what you want to do for a career.

[ ... Yes. ]

Very much so. In my world, it's honestly a bit dangerous to use magic in the first place if you don't know what you're doing... not just to the people around you, but to you, as well. Even if the spells aren't destructive, you can still do some damage to your own body by using them the wrong way.

...ah, that... well, it sounds like Clock Tower for children, honestly. I'm not entirely sure how I feel about that, but I imagine it can't be too bad.

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