wit beyond measure is man's greatest treasure

[alittlemirror]

To say Jade is displeased would be an understatement. It's not that he cares about this detention tarnishing his record, no. He doesn't really care about his record. What he does care about is how it cuts into his studying time. He had just come across a particularly fascinating snippet on the nature of death and the soul...

(And besides, those Hufflepuffs had started it with their incessant chattering. They're like a less annoying version of Saphir, and nobody had ever really objected when he hexed Saphir. And it's not like he used a serious hex; he just sealed and removed their mouths. Easily reversible, if they knew what they were doing - and knew how to use nonverbal spells.

After all, what kind of first-year doesn't know how to use nonverbal spells?)

But someone had taken offense to his hex, and now he finds himself trudging to Professor Rammsteiner's office, growing increasingly irritated at the loss of his study time. From what he's heard of detentions, they usually entail doing useless, mundane tasks easily accomplished with a little creative wandwork. He's thought about ignoring Professor Rammsteiner's orders more than once, but he's also been told that it would just lead to more detentions and thus a bigger waste of time.

Oh well. He's here now. With one last irritated sigh, he raises his hand to the door and knocks.

"Professor Rammsteiner? This is Jade Curtiss."

Comments

[canicide]

To be completely fair, Heine has had uncharitable thoughts towards his students a few times. Well, more than a few times. Kids are so damn loud and always talking about the stupidest shit, even within his earshot.

But still. Discipline is discipline, and Heine has to enforce it. He waves the door open without his wand, staring down at a parchment with a theoretical assignment he can't remember giving. Why would he ever assign something that would end up giving him so much reading to do?

"Curtiss." Right. Heine switches his attention to another scrap of paper with a list of names on it. The list for today is short—just this one. He finally looks up, leaning back in his chair and crossing his arms.

"All right, what'd you do?"

[alittlemirror]

He doesn't even know what he did?

This really is a waste of his time. Jade looks at Heine as if he's the teacher burdened by a troublesome student and not the other way around.

"I hexed a group of Hufflepuffs." He replies flatly, the thought of lying never having crossed his mind. He's never been one to shy away from his own actions. Besides, in this case, he thinks he had acted in a perfectly justified manner.

[canicide]

Heine's had worse looks, so his only response is to raise his eyebrows.

A group of Hufflepuffs had been sent to the infirmary, he remembers that much. They'd been hexed so that their mouths were unusable. Pretty messed up, but the harm had been reversible.

"Well, don't do that." Yes. That's what he's supposed to say. Heine wracks his brain for the rest of the lecture he's supposed to deliver. "It's not safe. Especially if you're doing it to a bunch of people at the same time."

[canicide]

Jade had asked if he'd be in his classroom at a certain late hour, which already raised suspicions, but Heine really hadn't planned to leave until he finished a large chunk of grading. He's rolled up the sleeves of his robe but left a low fire burning in the grate. The latter tempts him to throw some particularly badly written responses in to burn like they deserve, but he refrains. Barely.

A knock on the door. Heine glances up, and lets the door swing open to reveal just the student he's come to know and mostly dislike.

"What do you want?"

Truly the worst professor.

[alittlemirror]

He's taller now, facial features a little sharper, but Jade still wears the same blank expression as he always does. Three years of research, and he's still no closer to achieving his goal. Hogwarts exposes him to new ideas, to old and buried secrets, but not enough.

Three years of fruitless research. He has nothing to show for it except the growing bags under his eyes and a few new scars, caused by his own magic as it lashed back at him.

But it's not a complete loss. He's come to think that part of his answers lay outside of Hogwarts - in particular, in the realm of forgotten rituals and wandless magic. The first he has to research on his own. The second he can learn - and he has a resource at his disposal to do so.

Which is why he's at the door of one of his least favourite professors, staring up at him unblinkingly as the door swings open to let him in. He takes a step forwards, posture straight, head held high.

Professor Rammsteiner gets straight to the point (unlike that detention in his first year), and Jade returns the favour. "I want to learn wandless magic."

[canicide]

Heine leans back in his chair, crossing his legs, watching Jade silently and without a change in expression.

It's a reasonable desire, he guesses. They don't teach it at Hogwarts but it's common enough in other schools. But...

"Why can't you learn it on your own?"

Just like he's seemingly learned whatever else he wanted to know?

[aseptic]

[Dark magic. That's what the Durmstrang Institute is famous for, but so far, Jade hasn't been terribly impressed. It's small, its hallways and rooms always drafty and cold. Surely, with all the witches and wizards here, someone would have given the castle proper magical insulation. Jade might have grown up in a frigid climate, but that doesn't mean he enjoys being cold.

Cold, and unusually weary, and a little lost. Well, maybe that's not the best word, but he does feel a little...disoriented. Earlier today, his name had been picked out from the Goblet of Fire. He had never been terribly popular among his fellow students, but the Hogwarts delegates had still seen fit to party all night in his honour. As far as he knows, they're still celebrating.

He had slipped quietly away, casting a disillusionment charm on himself as soon as nobody was watching. It's late. Usually he'd be practicing wandless magic on his own, but he has yet to have the opportunity to explore Durmstrang and find a private place he can use.

Could Professor Rammsteiner be of use, perhaps? Jade knows he has his own private rooms. He might be asleep already, considering the late hour, but Jade doesn't really care. He heads towards his rooms.

Predictably, the door is locked. He opens it with a flick of his hand, then locks it again behind him. It's dark - Jade pulls out his wand, casting a quick lumos to light the tip of it, heading deeper into the room.

As he thought, Professor Rammsteiner is asleep, tossing and turning. A nightmare? It's not really his business. For a moment, Jade idles at his bedside, wondering if he should ask for permission to use his rooms or if he could just get down to business.]

[canicide]

Bad dreams aren't uncommon for Heine, and there are days when he stays up late as possible in an attempt to keep them at bay. It doesn't often work, and Sleeping Draughts are even worse when the magic in them reacts badly.

It isn't often, however, that he wakes up with a gasp in his throat and sees someone standing by his bed.

Immediately, his reaction is to throw a wordless, formless force at the figure, to just get it away. He throws his arm out in a sweeping gesture just as he sits up. Already he's preparing a second spell to pin the intruder to the wall.

NOOOOOOO NOW MY FORMATTING FAIL IS IMMORTALIZED

[aseptic]

Something hits him like a punch to the gut (did Professor Rammsteiner actually punch him? Jade wouldn't put it past him). Jade goes stumbling backwards, and it's pure instinct that has him hurling a silent Stupefy at his attacker, his wand slashing through the air in a precise swipe even as he struggles to regain his footing.

[aseptic]

It takes a bit of luck, a bit of ingenuity, and a lot of charmwork, but finally he discovers what the First Task is.

Fiendfyre. Jade knows how to Conjure it, and more importantly, how to control it - but only if he was the one that had Conjured the bewitched flames. If he's working with flames Conjured by someone else, he's less certain of the results.

Which is why he heads to Professor Rammsteiner's rooms again late one night, knocking on the door and waiting for him to respond. He doesn't bother announcing who he is; he figures he's the only one who would be visiting Professor Rammsteiner this late at night.

[canicide]

Heine is awake this time, somewhat uncharacteristically reading a book at his desk while he waits for exhaustion to overwhelm the feeling that he's going to have nightmares as soon as he falls asleep. At the knock on the door, he glances up before sighing and closing his book. He opens the door manually, letting Jade in.

"What is it now?"

[aseptic]

"I've figured out what the First Task is," he says without preamble, and without bothering to say exactly how he figured it out. The rules say he isn't supposed to, of course, but only a fool would walk into a potentially fatal task unprepared. "Can you Conjure Fiendfyre?"

[aseptic]

He hasn't been to Professor Rammsteiner's rooms again, not since that night. He could probably have avoided ever coming again.

But Jade isn't in the habit of letting things hang, unfinished.

So, when the clock strikes midnight, he heads to Professor Rammsteiner's rooms one last time. He knocks sharply, then settles down to wait. Durmstrang is as cold as ever, but tonight he barely notices; he's too busy wondering if he'll need to break down the door. He doesn't intend on letting this go unsolved.

[canicide]

Even though Jade has stopped coming, Heine expects it to be Jade. No one else comes to visit him. He takes a moment before opening the door to collect his thoughts. After last time, he doesn't think he can face his student with the memories in mind.

When he lets Jade in Heine's expression is mostly blank. He doesn't even ask why Jade's there.

[aseptic]

Oh. He's being allowed in. Good; it's not as if he came here to pick a fight.

Jade walks in a few steps then stops, staying close to the door. It's not as if he plans to stay for long.

Still, despite his plans of saying his piece and then leaving, he's unable to resist casting a quick glance around the room. There's the desk and chair, and the bed, just as he remembers them.

(Being with Professor Rammsteiner had felt so different. Not that his new teacher is bad, no. It's simply different.)

He looks back at Professor Rammsteiner.

"I just wanted to tell you not to expect me any more," he says, face blank. "I found a new teacher."

[canicide]

A ball is far from Heine's idea of a good time. Dress robes are uncomfortable, teenagers are uncomfortably hormonal, and he's let down by a punch bowl that isn't spiked. He sips at a cup of it while glaring out at the crowd, daring anyone to touch more than hands.

By the time it winds down, Heine is ready to go to sleep. He plans to drop by the kitchens on the way. Right as he's about to go around a corner he hears the murmur of voices and he slows his pace. In the hall ahead are two familiar figures. The temptation to turn around is strong, but there's no other route. And anyway, Jade is about to leave, Heine notes. But just before that, he sees Eichel lean over him.

Maybe they kiss, but all Heine sees is that Eichel initiates.

After Jade turns the corner, Heine walks over fast. It makes him angry to see Eichel doing things like this--again.

[aseptic]

The ball had been a waste of time. He had gone with the first girl who had asked him out, and she had left him alone for most of the ball once she realized he wasn't at all interested. The only high point of the ball is speaking with Professor Eichel - and even then, they're restricted in what they can discuss while out in public.

(He had also been a little amused to see Professor Rammsteiner looking even more irritated than he feels, but then he decides to go back to ignoring him. It's easier that way.)

He's glad when it's over. Professor Eichel offers to walk him back to the dormitories and he accepts. They talk as they go, Professor Eichel's hand resting against his back; warm seeps through Jade, emanating from that point of contact.

They part ways just before they reach the dormitories. Professor Eichel kisses him - come see me tomorrow night - and Jade accepts the kiss quietly and nods.

All in all, the night could have been worse, he supposes.

And, just like that, it does get worse. He rounds the corner, only to be confronted by Professor Rammsteiner, striding right towards him. He looks annoyed, but Jade doesn't think much of it.

"Oh. Professor." He greets him flatly, and tries to walk past him.

[canicide]

"Stay here." The command slips out before Heine catches himself, and he knows the look he's giving him is angry. It's his own fault for letting Jade begin this in the first place, and now, for some reason, he just can't leave it alone. Eichel hasn't moved yet, and Heine closes the distance between them at a fast walk, leaving Jade a few feet away if he obeys the order to stay.

"What are you doing?" he demands of the other professor. Heine finds himself almost growling the question, but a deep breath and he pushes the strange fury down to something quieter, more contained, even as he looks Eichel in the eye. "You—you wanted this."

Maybe Heine had wanted it too, but Jade had asked it from him. With Eichel, what he'd seen, and what he'd heard about him during his years at Durmstrang, he thinks that Eichel had been the one to bring it up in the first place. Even if Jade had agreed, it's—it's on Eichel, who's older, who shouldn't have.

Heine shouldn't have either, of course. Even with the excuses he could make, he can admit that it's guilt that's eating away at him, piled on top of that regret crawling up his spine, the same as it was since he hurt her. He's angry with himself, too, and it shows.

[canicide]

After the odd night of the Yule Ball, Heine's experience at his old school settles down. Mostly. He helps with events and discipline if necessary, and meets with the few people he still stayed in contact with since leaving Durmstrang.

The tournament goes on too. Heine is... proud of Jade, in some way, even though he suspects he shouldn't be. So when Jade comes by his room, and asks him to come with, he doesn't think too hard before following.

"Where are we going?"

[aseptic]

He had spent some time wondering if he should go to Professor Rammsteiner or Professor Eichel. In the end, he's not exactly sure what prompts his decision, but he finds himself heading towards Professor Rammsteiner's rooms.

Professor Rammsteiner comes along without fuss, and he's glad for that. Jade is in a good mood, and there's a teasing lilt in his voice as he asks: "Don't you like surprises?"

[canicide]

"No," Heine replies, near immediately. He's at least sure of that. As they go down a floor, and around to a part of the building he doesn't even remember, Heine doesn't slow down even though he wants to.

[aseptic]

It hurts.

He's in a daze as he passes through the halls of Durmstrang, clutching his robes tight against his body. Every step sends pain throbbing through him, through his body, through his mind. His head is a mess of splintered thoughts and shards of memories, all jagged edges, whispers of you're mine, I want you to remember that looping over and over again in his ears.

He doesn't remember everything. Professor Eichel had seen to that. He remembers only enough to know that he had fought and lost; Professor Eichel's power over him is absolute, and his teacher had made sure that particular lesson had been firmly imprinted into his mind.

It hurts. He hates coming out on the losing end. And while there's an urge to curl up somewhere out of the way to lick his wounds, the greater part of him would much rather find a way to gain the upper hand over Professor Eichel.

But to do that, he needs help. Or, more accurately, he needs a test subject.

He turns the last corner, coming to a stop in front of Professor Rammsteiner's chambers. (It hurts.) His hand is shaking slightly when he raises it to knock on the door. He takes a breath, forcing himself under control. Control - that's what it's all about, isn't it?

[canicide]

Over the past few days, Heine has been finding himself abruptly awake in the middle of the night more and more often. He'll come to with his eyes already open, focused on something in the dark, but there's never anything there.

It's weird. Not much weirder than usual, however, so he comes to answer the door without much more than the usual trepidation when he hears the knock. Jade is there as he expected. What he doesn't expect is the sudden rush of unidentifiable emotion that subsumes him for a moment, so strong that he feels his stomach drop.

"What is it?" At least his voice is level. What on earth was that, though, that he'd respond in such a way? Heine shakes the thought off after a moment. He'll deal with it later.

[aseptic]

He knows Professor Rammsteiner is hiding from him when he shows up at his door early next morning as promised, only to find no one there.

It's annoying, but he supposes dealing with Professor Eichel is a big step for someone as passive as Professor Rammsteiner is. Jade decides to give him some time.

He gives him one day. Then another.

The third day is a school holiday. Jade breaks into Professor Rammsteiner's rooms, as is habit by now, and when he finds no one there he simply sighs and leaves. This time, however, he doesn't go back to his dormitory. Instead, he stays outside Professor Rammsteiner's rooms and Conjures up a book and chair, settling down to wait.

[canicide]

Heine does have to come back eventually. Unfortunately. He returns from a late night meal (for some value of that word) in the dining hall, only to see one of the two people he's least inclined to speak to sitting outside his door.

For a second Heine pauses, down at the other end of the hall. Then he just sighs and walks the rest of the way to his door and starts to unlock it without looking at Jade. If he follows through the doorway, however, Heine says nothing.