Portkeys (The Cursed Kind) Makaio Kāne Office Finished

Beady eyes peeped upward towards the girl who walked into the office. She seemed not to have noticed the plush cushion underneath the solid desk. So much more the better, the mongoose thought lazily, having just awoken from a light nap, not avoiding grading at all. Stretching his long slender body, the animal disappeared unnoticed, slipping back behind the desk. Within on swift motion, the mongoose hopped on his delightfully comfortable desk chair, spinning around and transforming. As he spun he made a grand gesture as if he was there the whole time, and not, as happens to be the case, having a snooze.

“Ah, Ms. Greymond,” the gruff Transfiguration Professor greeted, his large hands folded on his desk. Piercing eyes watched her sitting in the chair across the way, she appeared calm enough, perhaps a little too eager since she came in unannounced and without permission. No matter, if it was an important matter, Makaio would be equally as eager to hear her out.

“What brings you in? Care for a cup of tea?” He asked with snap of his finger, two teacups appeared, one for him and one for her, already filled with the delightful scent of earl grey. Taking his and sipping it gingerly, he waited for Avis to decide what it is she wanted to do.

@Avis Greymond

tags: @Makaio Kāne | date: 29-09-2025 | fit: x

An Animagus, Avis thought in awe, her eyes widening with wonder. It seemed there were new things to learn about her professors at every turn and Professor Kāne only seemed to prove that theory.

She gave the man a smile at the mention of her last name (it had only been a month since school started. How did he already know?) but her smile faltered just a tad bit at his piercing gaze, as if it could see right through her. She cleared her throat but paused at his offer of tea.

"I'm alri—" she began but the cup had already appeared in front of her, a soft curl of steam rising from the tea's surface. She swallowed, offering an apprehensive yet grateful smile and picked up the cup, lowering it with both hands into her lap without sipping. "Cheers," the Ravenclaw said, the liquid warming her palms through the porcelain. She chewed the inside of her lip for a moment before beginning.

"I—I've come to ask about something my older brother, Will, mentioned...if you remember him," she added, realizing Will was probably in one of the professor's seventh year classes. She went on. "He was babbling about portkeys the other day—something mentioned in a class I think—and then told me they could be cursed and that they could trap people in a sort of warp...like, they could get stuck in a loop of endless portaling but to lots of different places for only short periods of time," she rambled, the words flooding out like a river breaking through a dam. "And I was wondering if you'd ever heard of that, what with all your adventures before you got here and...and if you have, well, did the person ever escape the portkey?" Avis finished, silence swooping in. She glanced back up at the professor for a moment before taking a quiet sip of tea, which was surprisingly even better than Mam's. Blimey.

Setting the tea cup down on the desk, Avis sat back with a quiet huff, eyeing the dagger paper weight before looking up at Kāne expectantly.

Makaio watched Avis’ face do what looked like facial gymnastics. From shock to smiles to a rather frenzied spewing of words. Whatever she reason she found herself in his office, one thing was certain, she definitely needed help. He got the suspicion that this was about more than a curiosity - after all portkeys were Charms territory not Transfiguration. People normally only came to him when they were in trouble, the kind of trouble that wasn’t easy to get out of - that would take someone of his size and skill in fact to fix. He let her finish what she had to say though, his expression turning darker and more serious with her arrangement of words.

Makaio was often jovial, and perhaps not all together appropriate for being a teacher at Hogwarts, but he had only just started teaching the closing weeks of the previous semester. If there was one thing he didn’t mess around with it was retrieving people from the grips of dark magic. “Ms. Greymond,” he said slowly, setting down his teacup, his voice solid like a rock. “Curses of the caliber you speak of are vengeful and are often filled with such hatred it can be hard to escape,” he continued. He realized he was talking to a child just before he added ‘hard to escape alive.’

He looked at her, his hard expression turning to pity. He wasn’t talking to an adult who could apparate at will. He was talking to a student who probably felt very powerless over whatever situation she was in. It wouldn’t be her brother, of course, probably someone close still like a family member. It would have been hard to get stuck in such a cursed trap by accident but he didn’t know the situation and he didn’t want to frighten the girl anymore. Typically this kind of retrieval was handled by professionals.

“If I were you,” he said at length after giving her more consideration, “I might start with the library. See if there are any records of whether or not such an item matching the description you gave me exists - and what is known about it. Knowledge is power.” Was she likely to find anything relevant at a school library? MoM probably kept those secrets locked up tight, but the Hogwarts library was a very surprising place - who actually knew what copies of what documents were actually kept there. “If I can be of any more service, don’t hesitate to find me,” he said, his voice softer than before but still very serious.

@Avis Greymond

tags: @Makaio Kāne | date: 29-09-2025 | fit: x | notes: avis has left the thread.

A cold feeling gathered in the pit of Avis' stomach as Professor Kāne replied in a very serious tone indeed. Perhaps Da was in a bit more trouble than Mr. Dogwood was letting on.

"Oh...I see," she replied in a small voice. The Ravenclaw began fiddling with her hands, the nerves suddenly acting up again. She'd once been told that the more vengeful and hate-filled the magic, the harder it was to counteract. But it could always be counteracted somehow. That was the trick with good magic versus dark, she supposed. Da always said that the light prevailed. She swallowed nervously, letting the thought settle over her as the professor continued.

The Ravenclaw nodded as he mentioned the library, as her sister Prim had. It seemed all trails led to there and being a student, it was also the only place she could go to even think about helping.

Her eyes widened slightly as Kāne talked about records. Of course! There had to be some sort of dusty old ledger that kept track of cursed magical transportation incidents...or something of the like. Avis wasn't sure she was going to find it in the Hogwarts library but she did know a very smart and trusted person that might be able to help. Her mind was racing but one more thing that the professor said stuck out. Knowledge is power.

The statement warmed her chest. She had indeed felt completely useless, powerless and otherwise defeated up until the letter the Greymond siblings had received. Even if it was a distraction devised by Dogwood to keep them occupied, Professor Kāne couldn't be argued with. Anything learned about the subject could be used and Avis wouldn't be one to stand by.

Her shoulders straightened of their own accord and Avis gave the professor a small determined smile.

"Alright, I suppose I can do that," she replied, rising from her chair, the tea sitting forgotten in front of her. "Thanks, Professor. I'll let you know what I find...for research purposes."

With that, Avis turned to leave but glanced back for a moment, hesitating. She opened her mouth slowly.

"Everyone just keeps telling me to be brave, you know," she said quietly with a pause. "Thanks for telling me how."

She left the classroom feeling more hopeful than she had in months.