The Wolf and the Rabbit PV Howard White closed

@Selim Faust

Howard drifted through the maze of underground hallways and passages that made up the dungeons of Hogwarts castle. His thick, elongated nails idly scraped against the damp stone walls as he wandered aimlessly. The reasoning for his pointless saunter through the bowels of the ancient school was lost to even him. For so long this wretched place had called to him, but the whispers at night had grown silent. Gone was the prickling sensation that marked their wicked presence. The only reminder of the crones was the vial that lay within his pocket, its content the most sinister. Carrying around a dosage of blood may not be too surprising for one of his kind, but one tainted with a living darkness was surely out of the ordinary. It most often laid at the bottom of his trunk next to his other vial of "special" blood, but tonight he had decided to carry it with him. He had fulfilled his part of the bargain, but until they made themselves know to him again, his mission would remain incomplete and for as long as to did its influence would drip him.

Howard spent many of his nights lying awake in bed. It wasn't traumatic nightmares or insomnia that kept him awake, but just the nocturnal nature of an undead predator. While most of his peers slept the night away he would often spend hours in his private room examining his collections. There was a rational part of him that was terrified by the living darkness that swirled through the blackened blood, but it would very much be a lie to say that it still didn't fascinate him. Such raw power could only be enviable. The very person that had given him the sample had gone on to explain a bit about the nature of the darkness. What Howard had once thought to be a creation of the Hags was far from the truth. In fact it was more a beneficial partnership than anything else, which only made it that more terrifying. To know that such a force of nature existed was enough to make anyone weak at the knees. At least the Hags had a purpose, though it was evil indeed, but to simply exist to mindlessly destroy was a real horror. Though it scared him Howard couldn't help but to lay awake and let his dark curiosities wander. How did they gain such a partnership? Would it be possible.... His draw towards power and darkness was strong. Too strong to be ignored. Howard must be rid of it. Much too dangerous to simply be discarded, so, he wandered.

Something would give him pause as he stopped before rounding a corner. His head would tilt back as he sniffed the air. Mixed amongst the the scent of mold and mildew was something else or better said, someone else. It came at no surprise that another would be scurrying around the dungeons. The mostly abandoned and poorly lit spaces were often a refuge for those that were drawn towards the dark, but those that were often required caution. Howard would slow his pacing as he lowered his center of gravity to creep along. No light was required for him to see, but as he came closer towards the room the light of a torch would mark the presence on another. With a quick flip of his wrists the hood of his robe would be drawn as he inched toward the doorway, his head tilted to the side just enough for one eye to peer into the space before him.

How odd. A pair of rabbits sat against the opposite wall. Not the kind for snacking, but a smaller boy with a hare shaped mask and what appeared to be some kind of puppet or stuffed animal upon his lap. The ventriloquist act would soon after commence. His first assumption would be that this was some lonely boy that filled his nights talking to imaginary friends. Perhaps a way to cope after being shipped off to boarding school or a lack of social skills, probably both. It surely wouldn't be the first person he had seen struggling with mental health in this wild and often wicked castle. However, the first words from the boy's mouth would gain Howard's full attention.

Hags.

Knowing of their existence was one thing, but could it be this boy knew more? Howard inched closer. They seemed to know a bit of their nature. No, they were not bloodthirsty destroyers, but highly intelligent and manipulative creatures. That much this boy knew, but as he continued it became clear that he had no first hand experience with the crones. Pity. Although there would be speak of another. "She" had encountered them. "She" could smell the taint of rot. "She" was Erin. The conversation between he and himself would turn sour as they continued, but the mention of the curse would be prove to be too much to be ignored. The boy would return to his craft and Howard would step into the light.

"Oi." A simple introduction as he kept his hands slack at his side. Best to start the encounter neutral. Anyways, it would only take Howard but a moment to pounce if the situation called for it. "If you're tired of arguin' with that toy, might I have a go? I seen 'em ya know. Them Hags you speak of. And I agree with you, that little bunny is wrong. There is a curse and it's probably gonna kill us all. So, what'dya say?spare me some time?"

"Hell is empty, all the devils are here." - William Shakespeare

The sudden sound of someone speaking jolted Selim harshly from his numb state of mind. Hand jerking the thick, curved needle meant to pierce through leather instead pierced through his finger like a hot knife through butter.

He hissed, annoyance flaring. For a moment he stared at his now-hooked finger, before slowly pulling it off the steel thorn, swearing as blood dripped onto his creation. It was ruined until he learned a charm to clean it.

He took a breath, injured finger twitching, and slowly reached into his satchel, pulling out a tissue and pinching it between his bleeding finger and his thumb, blocking the blood flow.

He then looked toward the door, catching sight of the hooded figure, and recalled his words in midst of his startled state. "It's less arguing with a 'toy' and more arguing with the voice that speaks through the 'toy'." His tone was restrained and blank as he responded to the stranger. He continued replying to the ominous figure who had bad grammar, voice slowly becoming less tense, more mildly curious. "You say you've seen the hags?" His calculating eyes tried to take in what he could see of the stranger, beyond the cloak, into the shadows shrouding their face. "Have you perhaps spoken to them as well?"

"Don't be so quick to trust this person for their word." Ronri commented. Selim frowned

'I'm not stupid.'

"I'm always open to more knowledge, traveller." He hummed. "Share what you wish, I'm hardly in a state to use such information anyways, nor do I care to carve out the rotten core of this festering school. I merely wish to sate my curiosity."

He gestured to his workshop, various tools sat strewn on a center table (Which was actually made up of multiple unused desks). Cobbled-together shelves and hooks lined three of the walls, a workbench sat below one, just as patchy-looking as all the other furniture. On the wall across from him sat stretched leather hides from various normal forest animals.

How he was getting them, who knew? Perhaps he ran in the forest ambushing innocent wildlife and using their body parts for his craft.

There was, after all, a deer mask in his collection that had real antlers curving ominously out of its forehead.

His gesture was an offer, to come in, look around, to take a seat where they pleased.

"This is my art, not being a 'hero' for a bunch of sheep."

Aku snorted. "Next time though, perhaps some forwarning, getting impaled by a leatherworking needle is not pleasant... "

The tissue for his injury now soaked through Selim pulled his bandaged hand free of the puppet after he had said his piece. The mangled appendage shook slightly as he dug through his satchel once more, pulling out a first aid kit. Unzipping the package that was stained with age and use, the boy produced rubbing alcohol. which he tipped onto the puncture wound to clean. Then patting it dry, he pulled out a regular sewing needle, and threaded it through his skin, sealing the gash shut as he waited for the 'traveller's next action.

@Selim Faust

Howard's sudden presence seemed to startle the other boy as needle pierced flesh. It became apparent that there was no immediate threat as both of them maintained neutrality. So, Howard would let down his hood, exposing pale flesh and blood red eyes. His nostrils would flare as the other's wounded finger began to bleed, the only subtle sign of his reaction to fresh blood. The control had taken a long time to master. Not so long ago, last year even, he would have had to cover his mouth to hide plunging fangs or turn away to keep his composure. Most his age may have long mastered the blood lust, but Howard was still relatively "new", his transformation occurring only a couple years back. With a clearing of his throat he would retrain his focus back to the boy before him.

His brow would raise as the other spoke of a voice that came through the puppet. Howard wasn't hardly the most informed student at Hogwarts. Was this some sort of charm? Some cursed doll that he was bound to? The truth would be something that he was very ignorant to, but before the question could be formed the other would continue. "Seen 'em, talked to 'em, yeah." Howard confirmed with a nod before his eyes again fell to the "speaking" toy. He was slow to pick it up, but it seemed like the boy's inner thoughts were often spoken aloud through the doll. Or did it have its own thoughts? Now wasn't the time.

Howard's red eyes would follow the gesture as he looked upon the other's makeshift workshop. Although it might appear shabby at first, when he looked closer the craft was actually done quite well. He dropped to his knees when the other boy welcomed him closer. The masks were all animal in shape. Almost a form of taxidermy as various hides were stretched out for some sort of tanning process. "You're smart to stay out of it all. Live a lot longer that way." Howard couldn't blame anyone for staying out of the shadow war that was brewing within Hogwarts castle. If anything he envied them all for it."One of the covens lives down 'ere. If you ain't come across 'em yet that's a good thing. Might mean they got no interest in you." He began to explain what he knew. "The other lives in the forest. That curse you was arguin' with your puppet about, not sure it's that simple ya see. From what I've been told it's like, alive." His explanation was simple, but Vladimir was much smarter than he was. The tainted blood that lay within his pocket had come from his very veins. Howard did his best to understand what the living darkness was and what it was capable of. "Ya know, like it's got a mind of it's own or somethin'. Thought the Hags made it or at least controlled it, but nah, they can only influence it or whatever. What do you know about it?" He asked, eager to know as much about this darkness as he could.

Red eyes would agin fall to the other boy's damaged finger as he began to mend the wound. How distracting. With a hard blink he would tear his gaze away. "Name's Howard by the way."

"Hell is empty, all the devils are here." - William Shakespeare

Selim, naturally, took in the sight of the traveller before him when they removed his hood. The pale skin, the red eyes... he noted the flaring of their nose with a sharp gaze, slightly stable mind passively running through the reasons or such an action; the oil he used on the hides, the dank smell of the dungeons itself, a nervous tic-

No, he ruled them all out. It was hard not to realize part of this traveller's identity when he was often wandering the dungeons with another with that same component to their being.

"Ah, another dhampir." He cocked his head, and lowered the hood of his own ratty black cloak, revealing a scarred, pale neck and black hair. He did not remove the mask.

Visage shifting, a glint of pale yellow eyes peered out of the dark shadows of the mask's eyeholes. "I didn't think I'd meet another of your kind so soon." There was a faint echo of amusement in his tone. "Apologies for the... scent of blood." Not that he could've helped it... but he was not simply talking about the injury, he was also talking of the ever lingering smell of it on his being. Perhaps born from his actions in the past, perhaps born of his old wounds brought on by stress-driven injuries. It was stale though, the only fresh smell was from the injury. The wounds had not been often reopened since he had crafted his mask and worn it to the blossom ball.

Though, he was lucky he hadn't died from the infection brought on by those times.

"Yes, you are. This mask has only brought good things, that fact only reinforces our plan of never taking it off unless needed."

More stability.

Artificial stability.

Whenever Selim took it off, it all returned, the bloodlust, the never-ending cacophany of his insanity...

He shook the thought away. After his apology brought on by civility, he returned to the topic at hand, seeming uncaring of the boy across from him that was neigh an entirely different species of wizard. "So the professors announcement last year was based in fact and not just a way to try and get a handle on our peers." He said sardonically. He hadn't been entirely sure that hags were actually lurking in Hogwarts, but now that fact was solidified, the last piece of evidence wasin place for that small portion of the big picture.

"How curious." He mused, slipping the puppet back on his ever-shaking left hand. "If you don't mind me probing further... could you describe them to me? I'm always inquisitive about species I hadn't known about before. Though I have read books about them, the actual information of how they live, act, is grossly limited, or annoyingly biased." His voice was clinical, a part of him had awoken from the depths of his mind, one that had only last been seen in his first year. He sounded like a scientist.

Was pure neutrality a good thing, or a bad thing though?

If Selim wasn't restrained by the chains of his lacking ability to stand up to such apparently dark creatures, wasn't restrained by age or health. He would not stop at the mere knowledge of them, he'd go further to discover things himself.

But he wasn't that unconcerned about his life. So unless he was forced into an interaction, he wasn't about to go looking for them.

The complement about his intelligence gave him wry amusement. "Alas, I may not be fighting against nor for whatever forces of 'darkness' lie in this prison, but I'm sure my craving for more knowledge about the situation will be my death. I already have a few connections to key factors of this charade, already have been endangered from those connections... Though my progress in the situation is sadly limited by my own state of mind. " He was talking a lot, he hadn't spoken in such a way in a long time, his throat was sore.

Selim tilted his head as actual locations of the 'covens'. There was a faint spark of dark humour born from the statement of them having no interest in him, though he didn't comment about it until the traveller was done speaking about the areas the hags lived. "Interesting. Yes, I suspected there was something darker down here with me and my fellow dungeon dwellers. Ironically, your comment about them having no interest in me has been confirmed... if my theory about it is correct, Erin Ryan has confirmed that I am not very appealing to them. Since you were listening in, you likely heard my comment about her claiming I 'smelt of rot'." He snorted at the unnerving yet amusing memory. "Hardly a surprise that I'd be unappealing, with what I've done, and with my... degraded state." Madness was a rather counterproductive state of being.

The rabbit-headed boy listened intently as the traveller spoke of the curse, amber hues glinting with interest from within their shrouded state. He nodded at the confirmation that it had a mind of it's own, before answering the question.

"I know next to nothing about the magic-oriented side of it, but, I did collect a sample when it was first distributed to the Slytherins last year. Pulled it right from one of their bodies. Since my ability to experiment and learn more about it was limited, I tried to send by owl to my father since he had more connections." The second-year shook his head lightly at the memory. "I got a letter back from my father asking why a shadow-possessed owl demon was holding a torn envelope, signed by me talons and why it had tried to murder him." He snorted.

He wishes it had followed through with its goal, but one measly shadow-owl was nothing against his clansmen.

"I tried to find out how that happened with what resources I could access in the Room of Requirement." He leaned back, rubbing at the stained blood on the mask he was holding. Mildly frustrated, he gave up and continued binding leather to cloth, bloodstain and all. "Ironically, the girl I had stolen the sample from, and who had almost been killed because of the resulting blood clot, offered herself up as a volunteer. I ran tests, pulled more samples, studied it with rudimentary muggle science equipment. What I gained from it all is that you cannot force it to activate and 'possess' other creatures... and that it essentially rots your blood, degrading it. That is why their skin was black, likely the rot had spread to it." He finished the last stitch in his creation, and stood, walking over to the workbench and grabbing an ink and brush, along with jars containing two unknown substances, a grey liquid, and a deep, rich brown one.

He padded back to his spot on callused feet, settling down and pulling a water flask out of his satchel, along with a wooden bowl he poured it into. Dipping the brush in the ink, he began painting finer details on the freshly bound white fabric with intense focus, and perfect precision. Somehow, he could still speak.

"Replacing the rotting blood did nothing, it just got infected as well. So in the end I couldn't recreate what my father described what happened to the owl. Truly a pity." He hummed, adding the last inked detail. Sitting back, he smeared the ink under the eye holes, creating a haunting look to what was slowly looking more like a wolf. "It did tell me one thing though." His tone was dry, "Even without the magical side effects after that 'venom' started spreading, everyone bitten should've died." He glanced up, "Dead blood veins, vessels, tissue, it would all get infected. The 'disease' would've spread to major arteries, bringing the infection almost immediately to their hearts, killing them if the blood clots didn't already. By all the muggle medical knowledge I know, those children should've died before they hit the hospital beds." He wasn't an expert, but that curse obviously worked fast. Their hearts should've succumbed to the rot rather quickly if bites landed near or on their chests. Any bites further away should've created clots or blockage that could be carried to the heart through nearby arteries and major veins. Yet somehow they all survived.

(Again he was not an expert, but the fact that all of them could continue their lives only mildly hindered was ridiculous.)

Selim shook his head in mild bafflement. "It shows just how unnatural magic is, how they survived such a devastating curse. If any muggle ever got bitten by the spiders that transmitted that curse, they would be dead... No wonder witches and wizards were burned at the stakes by muggles back in the days." He snorted, "It makes one wonder why whoever is distributing this curse limited themselves to the magical world. With that curse, they could've caused much more damage to the world if they were indiscriminate of their targets... and it shows that whoever is doing this is either dumb or has a much more intelligent, much more cunning scheme. Beyond hangs, beyond this school."

He dipped his brush in the brown substances, drawing it down and over the fabric in small, rapid, precise strokes, dotting it in seemingly random places. He paused, glancing at the observing traveller from the corner of his eyes, "I'm inclined to believe the latter."

Were these assumptions the ramblings of a madman or actual plausibilities?

There was a moment of silence as he focused on his art, adding more and more small strokes of brown, curving over the forehead, cupping the cheeks and lining the muzzle. Then stopped, shifting to get a better view. He let out a brief, dry laugh, the sharp focus of his mind releasing him of the haze often shrouding his life. "But, perhaps I am jumping to conclusions. I've had many theories spinning in my mind, clouding it. This conversation has brought them to the surface more clearly." He cleaned his brush and dipped it into the grey substance, and layered the brown, spearing it, blending it, and slowly... it began to come together.

"Hopefully I'll be more able to explore these theories next year..." The rabbit-visaged Slytherin commented idly, brush shifting and twisting almost hypnotically over the once-undetailed mask."I hardly have anything to lose... besides it can hardly be more dangerous, damaging, than what I've already experienced." He drawled with dark humour.

He added the last few strokes, "In the end, this is just one of my driving ambitions..." He stood, walking carefully over to the slanted rack beside him and gingerly placing his new creation on it to dry and stain properly. He then stepped back, a coiling sort of deep satisfaction filling his chest. Every time he did these masks, it was a glimpse of what he wanted, "To see the bigger picture."

Before the boy was the end product of what the visitor had only gotten glimpses of around the movements and position of Selim's body as he worked. The end product of those snippets of what was to come, of what the secluded, rabbit-masked boy's vision of his creation was.

A wolf. The eerily neigh-realistic mask of what seemed to be a timber wolf. What would've been a noble visage of the rendition of the canine was marred though, in an eerily haunting way. The dark, smeared circles under its hollow eyes seemed to bring attention to the dark sockets, the inked lines adding an unsettling depth. On its white cheeks was the smear of red from the punctured finger of the mask's creator. To Selim, it stained it, but some may find it just adds to the ghostly creation.

Selim was annoyed it had been marred, but dismissed it, hoping one day he could clear the stain with some charm or another. He glanced back, the slight pause after the traveller's introduction broken by his own.

The boy tilted his head, pale mask prominent in the slightly dimmer light around the drying rack.

"A pleasure I am Selim Faust... the 'puppet' is Akuryō."

@Selim Faust

Howard would reply with a simple nod to confirm his species. For a moment he would mimic Selim's movement with a cock of his own head as the dungeon dweller removed his hood as well. Was his statement just to confirm what Howard was? Or was he too an undead creature that walked amongst the living? He thought he knew of all the other Dhampirs at Hogwarts, but perhaps he had overlooked one? The flesh lacked color. His isolation amongst the shadows reflected his own behavior, but as the other continued to speak, he would confirm his humanity. However, as Selim spoke he would mention another. "It's fine." Howard said with a quick exhale through the nose to expel the scent of blood. With enough effort he could focus on the different scents that filled the room and considering what they other boy was doing it made it all the easier. "Come across us often, eh?" It did peak his curiosity to who Selim might be speaking about. Considering their current location, Howard could make an educated guess.

The sudden movement of the puppet's mouth would again catch him off guard. His red eyes noticeably bouncing back and forth between the doll and Selim. Howard very much lacked the wisdom to understand what was really going on here. Eyelids would narrow as he looked them over. Was this some sort of joke? Some trick to play on Howard? Deceit was something he responded to poorly. The very reason he often didn't get along with Slytherin's. Always plotting, always slithering about. What he couldn't easily see and understand frustrated him. Howard opened his mouth to question Selim, but would fall silent as he continued.

"Yeah, they wasn't lyin'." He confirmed that the existence of the Hags was indeed true. "Yeah, sure." Howard hesitantly agreed to give his testimony. Although he didn't prefer to speak of them, he too had that dark curiosity. His attraction to power was what had lead him to where he was now. Whether it be good or evil rarely mattered when he came across substantial forms of it. "Uh, they look like women, I guess." He said with a shrug, unsure of how else to describe it. "But they seem...rotten?" Another shrug. The mental image would flash across his minds eye. A few greasy strands of hair clung to blading heads. Dark eyes squinted to slits as wicked smile spread across their lips to reveal yellowed and greened teeth, all cracked, broken and infested with insects. The flesh hung and sagged off hunched bones. Their stench reeked of death. "Nasty business." Howard lacked the words and vocabulary to properly describe what he could see in his head. "Never let em close though. They got talons like razors. Cut through flesh like butter." He finished his description with a warning.

Howard's lips would part in a smile as Selim referred to Hogwarts as a prison. Although the castle seemed doomed to the forces of evil, he must admit that he could only think of this place as a sanctuary. Funny how these stone walls could mean so many different things. He would shake the thought away as the other spoke of connection, especially when he dropped the name Erin Ryan. "Sounds like her." Howard replied with a raised brow. "Always on about somethin' wild, but she was the one who brought me to 'em. She's connected to 'em somehow. They've..done somethin' to her, just not sure what." His last interaction with Erin had been unlike any other. The violence was hardly a surprise, but the deterioration of her mind had surprised him. Was the same happening to Selim? "What do you mean? Degraded state?" Again, Howard would lack the wisdom to fully understand any mental health issues.

As the conversation shifted back to the curse, the Dhampir would straighten up. Of all the things that lurked in the shadows of Hogwarts, this was the one he yearned to know more about. For one, he was tasked with retrieving it for the Hags. This was always something that stayed within the back of his mind. For such powerful creatures, why would they need a mere teenager to get it for them? What power did it hold that would keep something as wicked as the Hags at bay? Red eyed would widen as Selim spoke of collecting the tainted blood, his long finger instinctively covering his pocket that held a vial of just that. "Shadow possessed?" Howard repeated the words softly, almost to himself. If the blood was able to corrupt an owl is such a short amount of time, what did that mean for the humans? "I think I've seen somethin' like that before." His memories would drift back to that fateful night. The very one in which he lost his humanity. Morgantha, his creator, had been running from something that sounded just the same. A creature made of shadows that had nearly torn her apart. Had she not sacrificed him she may very well have died, but that was a story for another time.

"You sampled the blood?" Again Howard would repeat what had already been said, but it was this very thing that often gripped his mind. How does the darkness work? His shoulders would visibly slump as Selim reported that he had found no way of activating the darkness. "There must be a way." Howard muttered, a flash of obsession sparking through his eyes. "If the Hags can do it, it's gotta be possible, yeah?" He asked as his gaze followed Selim as he stood to retrieve what seemed like paint. "Like I said, I been told they can only influence it. Guide it to do what they want. I just don't know how." Howard mused out loud before acknowledging what the other said next. "That's just it. All it seems to do is destroy. Like you said, degrade it or whatever until dead. But then how was that owl not instantly killed? Why was it turned? There's gotta be somethin'..." The thought would trail off. The very one that Howard would spends full nights mulling over in his mind for hours on end. "Could it be the magic?" A new train of thought. "Ya know, that's like in us?" A simple question, but one that might have substance. "If by all the normal (his word for anything Muggle,) ways they should be killed, then must be somethin' about us wizards that makes it different. Just like that owl, yeah? They got some magic in 'em too, don't they? What if that's what it feeds on? Magic I mean. Maybe that's why whoever's doin' all this chose Hogwarts. Chock full of the stuff, innit?" A since would fall between them as Howard thought it over. There were so many moving parts. Too many to keep straight sometimes. "Yeah, who knows." He agreed with Selim about the many theories. "Probably won't live ta see it." Howard added his own dark humor before letting his gaze slip to the mask Selim and been working on.

"A wolf, yeah? Why do you make these?" His curiosity getting the best of him before proper introduction were made. Howard would simply nod in greeting, but the puppet would warrant a suspicious glare.

"Hell is empty, all the devils are here." - William Shakespeare

Selim watched Howard steadily, noting that, unlike Deathmote, he seemed a tad less lacking in control. Kaegen had been slightly disturbed by the scent of blood but rather quickly seemed to dismiss it, or take that red powder that sated his urges. This boy didn't seem to want to brig out that powder, or simply didn't have it, and it seemed to take him a bit longer to dismiss the triggering scent.

Perhaps Selim was jumping to conclusions though.

Idly, he wondered what it would be like to see two dhampirs fight. A passing thought that he didn't ponder on long as he continued on answering the light inquiry.

"No, not often, you are the second. I'd assume dhampirs would keep track of each other, so you likely know Deathmote. We are allies, made a deal to be able to call on each other's help when we need it." His words were simple yet the actual situation was much more complicated than them just being 'allies with a deal' but the traveller had no need to be privy to the more intricate workings of his and Kaegen's connection. "In this school allies are a rather valuable resource to have."

He glanced up after fitting Aku more snugly on his hand, testing the movement of his mouth. He noticed the newcomer looking between him and Aku, eyes narrowed like a suspicious cat eyeing their medicated food.

"I don't think he much likes me." Aku snickered, Selim sighed.

"I suppose that's something me and him have in common then." Selim drawled. He glanced up at Howard, brow raised behind his mask. "If you're wary feel free to ask questions about it. I'll answer them the best I can so you don't misjudge the situation and feel the need to strike." His tone was non-judgmental. Humans had widely varying levels of comprehension. Some could easily comprehend one thing, but be unable to wrap their mind around another. It changes with one's perception of the world, and no two people could ever have the same perspectives of the world around them.

Hardly their fault, individuals' experiences could never be predicted, they veered widely in all directions, unable to be traced or tracked, each painting the world differently for those they are one with. This is the reason one's clone could never be an exact carbon copy of the original, because, inevitably, their personality will be different, because their perspectives are different, because their experiences are different.

Minds were wonderful, confusing, and terrifying things. They could never be tamed, could never be fully understood. They are like paintings of the abstract, one could never understand what drove the artists to make them, what the artist's original intent for them was unless they are asked to explain it. It all depends on the eye of the beholder.

Though sometimes, even the artist cannot explain their own paintings.

He paid rapt attention to the very brief description of the hags, humming after it was complete. The mental image he got reminded him of a zombie with werewolf claws... so probably still wrong. He let out a puff of air, if he saw one that description would probably be enough anyways. Noting the warning he nodded.

Likely meant that even if they just grab your arm you would get gashed with likely-infected claws. That would be dangerous for Selim, his aversion to magical healing, and nurses or adults, in general, would likely force him to treat his own injuries once more... and he was no doctor. First aid skills can only take you so far.

The boy's response to his description of Erin Ryan was met with familiarity, though his questioning of 'what they did to her', made him hum. "I have a theory on that." He paused, "I think she might be... becoming, one of them, the hags." His tone was uncertain, for he had a lacking amount of evidence to fully confirm this. "I hardly think her tendency to sniff others is born just from her unpredictable nature. If hags do crave those that are innocent to feast on, then they probably hunt with their sense of smell. Erin going around smelling people could be because, subconsciously, she wants to feed on those that are innocent

His tone lacked the abhorrence that would likely come from such a revelation, still clinical as if talking about a lab rat that has turned on its kin to feed, not a fellow student that was looking to harm their few untainted peers in Hogwarts.

He glanced back up to the one that joined him, "She's a danger, more of a danger than she was before if that's even possible." He said in dark humour. His seeming unempathetic view on the situation was born of the confidence that he wasn't on her list of future meals. A dangerous stance to take, but she had had a chance to eat him that fateful day, and she didn't because he was simply too unappealing. If she was becoming a hag it would make sense, Selim was the opposite of innocent, his personality, the way he did things, his lacking empathy... it was a sharp contrast to those that Hags actually had an interest in.

... Though Erin was hardly innocent as well, and the hags still took note of her...

He took a mental pause in that.

No, he still would likely not be sought out. He remembered the words of that girl when he had been in that room with his dormmate bleeding out in front of him by Selim's own design. She had bluntly despised him, called him, oh so eloquently 'An asshole'. While the statement was rather hypocritical it was still accurate. Selim was self-aware enough to know he was the lowest of humanity, born from those who think of children more as objects to be used than actual people.

... He wouldn't be sought out, hard to manipulate a manipulator after all, and hardly worth the effort of trying.

He glanced back to Howard as they spoke up once again. A question. The boy was probably not taught about mental illnesses, and Selim didn't blame him. Hogwarts was sorely lacking modern educations. He hummed, trying to think of the best way to explain his situation. "I mean my mind is degraded, it is ill. Most would simply call it 'insanity', but the best way to actually explain that title is... well..." He mulled over the words he'd use to help the boy. "It's... imagine your thoughts are constantly turned against you. It's as if your mind has become independent of you, it shows you things that are not there, makes you hear things that are not real, forces you awake with fear you cannot control. It's almost like it's eating itself, and you can't do anything about it other than watch your body decay with it." He paused, "That is what I deal with, hence, I am degraded."

The reaction to his tale about the shadow-possessed owl immediately caught his attention. He looked up sharply, it had actually been seen before? Selim knew his father wouldn't lie about such a ridiculous thing, but the fact that this boy had experienced it made his eyes narrow. He mulled it over... his own shadow had come to life before as well and had murdered a student right in front of his eyes... but Selim had not been bitten by a spider, so he had written it and the possible tie to the owl situation off. He did not know how his shadow had come to life, and largely he thought it a hallucination that had simply triggered him to murder another soul, and that the 'hallucination' was just how his mind viewed the event.

Perhaps it was tied to the curse though... but there was a piece missing and the mere fact that such a 'coincidence' existed that could possibly have a connection to fact made him want to tear at his own scalp in frustration.

"I have... also had a similar personal experience... but it doesn't make much sense." He hummed "If you read the student newspaper you may have heard about the 'fight club' Slytherin went through... Well, during that even I refused to fight because it was rather illogical and stupid. I ended up heading back to the tent aboveground. I couldn't escape due to some illusion or magic though, so I sat and waited." He paused. "Vladimir Anthanatos spoke to me during that time, conjured up tea while he spoke into my mind and I responded verbally. Was hardly a bad or suspicious chat, he's rather good at conversations. During this, though my shadow came to life, he warned me that I shouldn't startle it because it could easily get aggressive." He paused in his work, focused intently on the memory. "At some point though, my idiot housemates were trying to escape and burst through the trapdoor I was sitting on while chatting with Athanatos. They wanted in but I knew that if they burst in the shadow would likely get aggressive. My dormmate was trying to talk to me through the door but I refused to answer, to shift, to make any sudden movements." He scowled behind his mask, the annoyance from that time reflecting in his voice. "The idiots rammed the door in. Immediately the shadow began to attack, my housemates were throwing spells at it but each either missed or did no damage."

His tone grew more serious, "My mind was turning against me, and it caused me to have a blind moment of pure terror. While that was going on, at some point, the shadow attacked a student, one of its claws extended and stabbed Victor Moore in the chest, instantly killing him."

Selim waited a few moments so his listener could let everything sink in, then continued. "I had thought that, in a fit of hysterics, I had killed Victor Moore, and that the shadow was just some sort of hallucination that my mind conjured up so I wouldn't break down... but now I'm wondering if it was in some way, tied to the curse. You say you had seen something similar to the owl my father had seen... but there's a piece missing. It sounds so similar but I am not cursed, I was not bitten by one of the spiders that some of my housemates were assaulted by, which gave them that curse."

The end of the brush he had been using tapped rapidly against the hard leather mask, and after a moment of mulling it over, he sighed... he couldn't think of anything. Instead, he focused on the next bit of information Howard was relinquishing. Observing the disappointment the boy showed through the slumping of his shoulder, he hummed as the traveller began doing some theorizing themselves.

"The owl could've been killed." Selim idly interjected, "The curse from the blood may have just been controlling its rotting corpse, or may have taken its place in reality entirely after dissolving it into nothing." He listened as Howard began pointing both their theories toward magic, and nodded along with his words, agreeing with the highly likely possibility that that is why the students infected were not dropping down dead... and also why that potion they were getting was only temporarily stopping the curse from spreading.

"I've come to the conclusion long ago that the unnatural healing abilities of the magical are because of the magic we have. It's almost as if magic is another source of life our bodies run on, like blood, oxygen, food, and water, a whole other source that a wizard's body draws on to survive. Drain it, and they are weaker, more prone to injuries and illnesses because their body had lost a vital source of life and energy. That is one of the reasons I try not to rely completely on magic while doing mundane tasks or fighting, so then I will not be helpless if it's taken away. Sure it makes me weaker at magic than most of my peers, but a simple blade can do enough damage to a wizard to win a fight if used correctly, no?" He gave his own self-concluded insight on magic before focusing on the curse once again.

"It's highly likely that is what the curse draws upon... and if that is the case, there may be a solution to getting rid of the curse... one that is unthinkable to normal wizards." He paused, "Cut off the afflicted's magic... if the curse has nothing to feed on then it has no reason to continue ailing those it has infected." A dark smile caressed his sharp features, hidden by the mask upon his face. "The only way to test your hypothesis though.... is to get a test subject and figure out how to do exactly that... cut out their magic." A burst of motivation, of energy. He mulled it over more.

"If what you say is true, it also explains why the golden potion those cursed get is only temporarily effective. The potion is magic, so its effects would only work for a bit until the curse adapts and devours the extra source of food, no?" There was an amused smirk in his voice, "If that is the case, then our dear professors are simply feeding the curse, I wonder how long it will take for it to adapt and simply use the potion immediately as a source of food? Then they will just be helping it spread. It's a pity that I don't have the means to actually cut off a test subject's magic though... perhaps this will take some outside help... if you're curious we can work together to do perform such an experiment."

An offer, Selim wasn't sure if they'd ever be able to actually perform such an experiment, but he wasn't about to give up about the idea itself.

"But this experiment may also have another effect different from simply eradicating the curse... it may trigger it to consume its hoast's body as well." His tone grew a bit more cunning as he fit together the pieces of the puzzle. "If your hypothesis is correct, it may explain how the curse is activated. Owls do not have much magic in them, hm? So perhaps the sample infected the owl, and the reason it arrived as a violent shadow to my father is because it ate all of the owl's magic, and it was searching for more food. Ironically this curse may indeed be like an infection, like rabies."

He continued, tone darkly excited, "So, going off that, the curse would infect one magical being, and slowly eat away at their magic. When that source runs out, it completely takes over the being's mind, making their only drive to find another being to infect so that the curse may live on. If that is the case, removing its source may just speed up that process, it would swiftly take over its host, infesting them with tendrils of darkness as it drives them to spread the curse to as many things as possible, as quickly as possible."

Selim smiled. Aku spoke up, "Those two possible outcomes are vastly different... it would be quite a dangerous experiment to perform if there's a 50/50 chance that our test subject would get fully consumed by the curse and try to infect us with it as well." What was supposed to be a rather worrying sentence was instead spoken with dry amusement by the puppet,

"True that." Selim chuckled turning from the hand puppet back to Howard. "You say you were told that only hags could activate the curse, perhaps the reason that is the case is because the hags have the ability to take away someone's magic? Or perhaps their dark abilities can speed the process up? That would mean that they don't activate the curse, they simply hasten up its feeding process, assisting it so it will finish off its meal quicker and then consume the host to search for more..." A moment of silence, and then Selim grinned widely.

"Mr. Howard, we may have just figured out how to singlehandedly cure our peers of their curse, or have figured out how to decimate the entirety of Hogwarts itself." He chuckled darkly. "If this is the case, whoever made this curse is a bloody genius. So simple, yet so effective..."

Upon finishing the mask, he looked it over, mind's gears churning at this new information. So many possibilities, so many discoveries, yet nothing to truly meet them. All they could do is theorize... but perhaps...

The hags, mayhaps they would indulge in such fleeting curiosities of their prey. Speaking of, how did the hags get into Hogwarts? When did they get into Hogwarts... and who arrived at Hogwarts the same time they began showing their decaying visages?

The school is protected by a magical barrier so how in Merlin's name would they have gotten into Hogwarts... if not thanks to inside help?

The curse though, the hags were tied to the curse, but did they actually craft it themselves... or did they just crave its power?

Chills ran down the boy's spine, only making him grin wider. When was the last time he had felt so energized? When was the last time he had felt so alive? He felt motivated for the first time since 'the Snap', and he did not want that motivation to slip through his fingers once more.

He was jolted out of his deep musings by the one who awoke them. Glancing up from where he was vacantly staring at his new mask, he hummed.

"I crafted mine to provide a shield against both myself and my dark desires. It helps stabilize me enough for conversations such as this one. Occasionally though, I have to indulge, or the desires will grow too strong to hold back." His free hand brushed the mask, avoiding smudging the fresh paint. "For the rest of the masks, it is merely something to keep me rooted in reality. Occasionally I make them for those who I feel should have them. Such as Deathmote." Selim glanced at Howard, pale yellow eyes scanning him from the depths of his visor, and posed a question. "Would you like this one once it dries? I feel it would suit you, and a work of art is always much more captivating if held by the one it was truly made for."

He gestured idly to the hood the boy once had up, "And it would hide your identity much better than the shadows of a cowl would."

An offer, one that could be denied without consequences, if the traveller so wished.

Going back to his musings from before, he finally spoke his thoughts out loud. "About our hypothesis... The professors have likely actively been trying to hunt down and eliminate 'the threat' AKA the covens for a while now... do you think perhaps all of them have been eradicated?" His eyes narrowed. "If so, that may pose a problem for testing our idea. They have a better understanding of the curse than we, and if they bothered to indulge those they likely view as prey, we perhaps could verify our theory swifter and more effectively..."

Truly, it could be a conundrum for both of them. Hopefully, they'd be able to discover the secrets of the curse without the hags if it was the case... if not they may just have to try and find the one behind it all.

This curiosity could not be ignored in the slightest for Selim, and he knew that until he sated it, it would gnaw at his mind until he fell deeper into insanity.

"... I do hope our deaths do not lie at the end of this road" The quiet mumer of Ronri made Selim narrow his eyes.

He responded to the internal voice with a solemn mutter into the uncaring stagnant air."Even then, so be it."

This simply could not be ignored.

@Selim Faust

Howard nodded, confirming that he kept track of the other Dhampir students at Hogwarts. Not that there were many and the new ones that showed up often didn't stay long. Couldn't blame the parents really. The school had a terrible safety record. For those that did stay he kept at arms length, preferring to keep an eye on them from afar. Grouping together would draw too much attention to Howard. He had learned his lesson from his little demonstration in the Great Hall, the time wasn't right to organize. Howard's brow would raise at the mention of Deathmote, a Dhampir he had known for a while, even back when he was still human. "Yeah, I know him. A bit too chaotic for my liking, but can't blame ya for keepin' your options open." Howard had always been a lone wold until this year. Not having to depend on other meant you only had yourself to disappoint, but as he slowly gathered a small group of friends he could now see the benefit of having allies.

His red eyes would again fall to the doll as it's mouth began to move once more. "Rarely strike first." Howard said with a shrug and it was true. His temper might be a thing of legends and when released he could leave quite the path of destruction in his wake, but he was rarely the instigator. Sure, punching or clawing someone for getting cross with you was a bit extreme, but had they just left him alone they could have kept the blood on the inside. Another thing about the teenaged Hufflepuff was that he rarely judged anyone, talking puppet or not. He had seen far too many crazy things since coming to Hogwarts to allow an imaginary friend to upset him. Although his mind was simple, it was rather open. "I don't mind." Again, another shrug.

Howard's expression would hardened as the topic shifted to Erin Ryan, his red eyes widening ever so slightly as Selim suggested that she may transforming into a Hag. Could it really be? He had never thought about how such vile creature were created and as the thought crossed his mind he would realize that made the most since. The Hags were all women. Deformed, grotesque, but still feminine in physique. However the thought of one reproducing in a human way just seemed impossible. To infect another and use them as a host while their wicked magic consumed and transformed the body was way more fitting. Although there were still questions. "Hmm, maybe, but me and her was hardly innocent when they came for us. There also always seems to be three of 'em. Never seen 'em without each other. If that's right and Erin is turning, surely there must be others to complete the new coven? Or perhaps they've lost one? Need a replacement?" The possibilities of what was happening to Erin was enough to make his head spin, but there was no doubt in his mind that something horrible was happening to her. The memories of their last encounter flooded his mind's eye. How her flesh seemed...so tight, so smooth, so fragile. Like it could split apart at any moment. He shook the thought away. "Whatever it is, you're right. She's a terrible threat and she might need to be...." Howard wanted to say destroyed, but he held his tongue. "locked away or somethin'.

Thinking of how quickly Erin seemed to be degrading made Howard question what Selim meant when he spoke of his own. It would seem that there were similarities between the two. Seeing things that didn't exist, a growing paranoia, it all seemed the same, but there was no physical degradation happening with the other boy. Yes, he was perhaps malnourished and a bit too pale, but it was nothing in comparison. "Ain't there somethin' they can give ya? They got potions fer everythin'." Another statement that showed Howard's simple train of thought. It was true that magic could heal the most sever of illnesses and injuries, but the mind was a whole different story.

As the conversation shifted to the curse and the living darkness, Howard would provide his own details before listening to Selim's experience. He had heard the whispers about Victor Moore's death and the events of the "Fight Club". Selim questioned the connection between his shadow and the curse, but it was another name that would stick out to Howard. Vladimir Anthanatos. The same who had given him the cursed blood that now sat in a vial in his robe pocket. Howard's expression would harden as a possible realization dawned on him. Selim claimed that as Vladimir spoke the shadow came to life. He would worry that it was his own mind revolting against him, but perhaps it was something else entirely?! Did one have to be cursed to control the darkness?!"You're not cursed...but Vladimir is." Howard wouldn't provide any information on how he knew that before continuing. "Maybe he figured it out. How to influence the living darkness!" Red eyes would again flash with obsessive enthusiasm. "You say he was talkin' in yer mind and then the shadow showed up, yeah? Just like when I seen the Hags. It was there, all around 'em. It snaked and swirled all about. I bet if they had wanted it would-a ripped me to pieces. The time I seen it before it nearly killed someone the same way too. Stabbed her right through the chest." Howard let his thoughts end there as he took a moment to calm himself.

Whatever Selim might think about Vladimir, they would agree on the link between the curse and magic. How those energies worked was something that still seemed debatable in the magical community. Was it genetic? Something that flowed through the blood? Perhaps a mental ability to control the magical properties that naturally flowed through the world? Selim would suggest its was a life source all of its own. The theory made sense. There had to be a limit to how much magic a witch or wizard could cast, but how was it replenished? Was it like normal energy? Through rest, food and water the body would metabolize and create more? Howard's head spun at the thought, but an inkling of an idea would make its way through the mess.

"Cut out their magic?" Howard repeated. "Is that even possible?" If magic was a life source for those that could wield it, surely the body would die or at least be irreversibly damaged if the energy was removed completely. "Wouldn't even know where to start, but check this. Like you said with the potion, if it is only feedin' the curse to keep it from eatin' away at the wizard, maybe somethin' even more powerful could draw it out. Like one of them magic artifacts we've read about. Open them up and hold the power source close. Maybe it couldn't help its self." Howard finished with a shrug. Both theories were long shots, but neither of them could resist. For Selim it would be a dark curiosity, for Howard a yearning to control something so powerful. Both would likely end up dead. "Have to try both I reckon."

Selim's inner voice would warn them of the dangers of such dark pursuits, but nothing would deter Howard. "I was told they could influence the darkness." He corrected Selim. "Like some kinda deal they got. Some mutual benefit or somethin' like that. At first I thought the Hags made the darkness, but no. Whoever made the curse must-a made a deal with the Hags. It also mean the darkness has some kind of free will, yeah? A virus would just destroy everythin', no questions asked, wouldn't it? Like they took somethin' alive and turned it into that, then it spread from there." The thought drifted as so many of them swirled around in Howard's head.

Selim's craft would provide a temporary distraction. The masks providing a way for him to stabilize his shattered mind. He would offer Howard the wolf. Red eyes would fall to the mask. The idea of a spirit animal never much crossed Howard's mind, but there was something about the form that called to him. "Yeah. I'd like that."

"I dunno. I haven't felt them in a while." He spoke of the Hags. Perhaps they all had been destroyed. "Doubt they would tell us anyways, unless...we offered payment. Another deal. Have to find 'em first though." There was no telling when they would return if they still existed. "Erin's the only one who ever knew where they was, but she'll be no help. We'll just have to keep lookin'."

Howard would offer his own dark laughter as Ronri warned again. "So be it."

"Hell is empty, all the devils are here."- William Shakespeare

Selim rose a brow at the dhampir's mild 'locked away' comment, before he could talk though Aku chuckled. "Locked away? No, she needs to be killed. A pity though, it'd be interesting to dissect someone halfway-turned into such an intriguing creature."

The rabbit-masked boy huffed at that, gazing at the masks he had crafted stored away around him. He looked back at his visitor when he rose the of treatment. The mention of potions made the Slytherin's stomach churn. Still, he forced himself to reply levelly.

"Mental illnesses are a bit harder to treat then something like a broken jaw or gashed side. The brain is a complex organ, and the way it acts is commonly hard for humans to comprehend. Therefore, creating spells or potions for something that one can barely understand would be... difficult." He glanced away. [/color][/size] "Ironically, muggles have a foot up in that field of research, they have medication already created to help stabilize those with such issues. It's not a cure but it alleviates symptoms."

His finger twitched at the thought. "The problem is that my guardians don't care enough about the issue to try and find ways to treat it. It's an illness common in my kin, and those affected just get tossed to the side instead of helped."

The boy lightly scoffed at that, "In light of that, I'm rather stuck."

His father was a powerful man, but he was stuck in the past. Tradition brought with it hindrance, and lacking growth. Unlike the world around his clan, they were contained in a little bubble of history, and very rarely cared about the ongoing of the muggle or wizarding world beyond searching for their enemies or connecting with the modern era through their business.

As a result, the elders, nor his father, saw mental illness as an issue that they could put effort in treating. Those with what they dubbed 'the curse' were shoved in a far corner of their compound and left to rot, already dubbed as lost causes.

Selim looked over and caught the stony expression his visitor donned at the mention of Athanatos, and immediately switched his focus from his art to the conversation.

"You're not cursed...but Vladimir is."

The second-year's eyes widened slightly at that. Athanatos was cursed?

His mind flashed back to the memory of that girl, Marion, throwing up that viscus black bile, then further back to the boy he watched his shadow kill, how frail he had been, how pale and corpse-like.

The boy pulled himself from the memories, listening to the now-enthused upperclassmen. The ties he was making to the curse and the living shadows were rather logical given the situation. The realization that the infamous trio of Victor Moor, Vladimir Athanatos, and Marion Davenport were likely all cursed came secondary to the headway they were making with their theories.

"A valid conclusion... but if the curse is tied to the ability to control shadows then why haven't more of my housemates gained such an ability? Is there another key to gaining it? Do they need to have direct contact with hags? Some sort of training? Did Vladimir even meet the hags?" The boy's fingers drummed rhythmically on his leg. "I can't help but think there's another party at play, one far more powerful and far more cunning than the covens, then Athanatos... Hogwarts is in a barrier though, for 'safety', so no one outside it could be meddling. In light of that, either we have a traitor inside Hogwarts pulling the strings... or someone from outside was invited inside and set things up during their time here..."

Selim glanced up at the dhampir. "I've been rather cut off from the going-ons inside the school. So if I may ask, Mr. White, have you seen anyone suspicious these past two years that come to mind... likely an adult?"

Only a faint, muddled memory came to Selim's mind, set during the time the student body was summoned for the announcement of the new curfew. He remembered seeing a stranger among the staff, but he couldn't recall their face, only the abject terror that arose at the unexpected addition to the group of adults he already feared. During the time the announcement was happening Selim still hadn't been fully lucid, so even now he wasn't sure if the faceless stranger had been a hallucination or reality.

Despite that chills crawled up his spine at the memory, and he felt distinctly uneased, the uncertainty of if it was another hallucination or not just made it more unnerving.

The proposition of giving the curse another target made Selim hum, and he scratched the side of his mask. "Perhaps, though if that were possible I'd think it'd be feeding off the various magical items in the school as well, or if one student had higher magical levels than an other they'd all be drawn to them instead of their current host. Still, it's a theory to experiment with if we do end up doing so."

He nodded at the next bit of info the dhampir proposed. Humming at the implications he made an absent-minded comment of interest. "A deal, hmm? Perhaps... this theoretical third party's deal had the terms of getting the Hags into Hogwarts so they could feed on the students, and gained something in return, the curse, the living shadows, or maybe something else entirely." He looked up. "I doubt the hags could've infiltrated Hogwarts without outside help, this third party could be the perfect explanation if there was a deal involved."

A hidden smile graced the Slytherin's face when the older boy accepted the mask from him. He was glad his art could be appreciated by another person. While he did make masks just to help keep his mind from spiralling, he also wanted his art to be admired by others, besides, masks were incomplete without faces to conceal, that was their purpose after all. The wolf suited his new aquantence, and now that it had an owner, his art was truly complete.

"I trust that you'll care for it well." Satisfaction echoed in the mask peddler's voice. Standing Selim walked over to his crude mimic of a drying tack, gingerly placing his new creation on it.

Turning back to his visitor he grabbed a chair, flipping it so the bank faced the other boy and sitting on it backwards, arms propped on the backrest as he peered at the dhampir curiously. "You think we could actually find them? I know for sure that living shadows dwell down here, but I'm unsure if hags do. All I've seen is the darkness and those pesky dolls, and the last I, or, well, my housemates saw them was back in November." He sighed.

The puppet on his hand spoke up once again, interrupting the conversation to say his own two cents. The appendage he dwelt on rose from its relaxed position so he could look at the two boys, ears flopping to the side of his crudely stitched head. "Speculation is all well and good, but don't you think you're getting ahead of yourselves? We need evidence, and getting excited over theories is a bit premature. Do you two think you'll actually go through with these plans? With how alert the professors are right now, do you think you can actually reach the hags? Even though they might all be dead right now?"

The hare shook his cloth head, "I hate to be the voice of reason right now, trust me, but with your condition, Selim, and the lack of materials to go off of I'd rather not deal with your crushing disappointment on top of your breaks from reality. Your theories sound probable, but we barely know anything about the situation after trying to keep ourselves from snapping and attacking other students or having mental breakdowns in the middle of class for four months straight. We are both literally and figuratively in the dark about this." The puppet's stubby arms shifted from their crossed position.

"I'm just saying, you're rushing ahead, and we don't know how our mental state will change over the summer, or even where we're going to be. After what happened last summer do you really think you're going to be in the same mental space as you are now? And if you aren't then what happens to all this planning you're doing? It'll be left to gather dust, just like many of your past plans. " The rabbit shifted, poking Selim in the forehead with one of his arms. "You're ridiculously unstable right now, it'll only be a matter of time before your lucidity gets swallowed by your sickness and you forget all about this, or you lose any motivation you have now to go through with it all."

The puppet shifted back again, looking between the dhampir and his host. "So, what do you plan to do if that happens? Most likely none of what you're envisioning will actually be followed through with, especially if those professors eradicate, or have already eradicated all the hags. You're all gung ho right now but that motivation isn't going to last forever."

Selim blinked at that, stepping back from his previous tunnel vision brought about by all the exciting theories he had been bouncing off his visitor. After mulling it over he sighed, the fuel taken from his fire. Scoffing, he replied in a drawl "I never thought I'd see the day you'd be rational, baka usagi." He glanced up at Howard idly.

"Do you really want to dive into this mess with me? You seem rather motivated, by what I don't know, but it doesn't really matter in the end." He frowned, scratching the side of his mask. "I want to sate my curiosity as well, but with everything else, I'm dealing with I'm unsure I can fit it in. Aku is rather accurate about my rather unpredictable mindscape..." He huffed, resting his chin on his free hand. "No matter how much I hate it it's likely that I might lose focus of that goal unless I'm dragged back to it again like today."

He was rather annoyed at the realization and wanted to deny it completely, but he knew it was true. On top of dealing with his mental instability, his family, school, new connections and whatever else would be dumped on him in the future, it seemed rather pointless to chase after a goal he could barely focus on in the chaos of his day-to-day life.

It was a troublesome thing, but this year alone spoke volumes about how constantly changing his life was in the blink of an eye. Who could focus on some secret plot going on in Hogwarts in such a mess.

He swore in his first language, clenching a fist. Irritation flared in his veins, and he felt a strong urge to make someone bleed for his struggles. If he could barely reach for this short-term goal what hope did he have for his long term one?

Teeth gritting, he forced himself to breathe, hand loosening. "It seems I can do nothing with this burning curiosity. How infuriating." He muttered. Well, at least he was able to impart his ideas onto his new acquaintance, "I apologize, White." He tilted his head to peer at the dhampir through the sockets in his mask, a glips of his yellow eyes shining through the shadows. "While I do hope I could assist you in your endeavours for both our benefits, I am unsure if I can follow through on such a thing..." Oh how he longed to, he hoped to, but he lost sight of his goals once thanks to the roadblocks he faced constantly, it was likely to happen again depending on what the future held for him in the coming months.

He hated the thought of being hindered from his goals once again, but with ever-shifting identities and influences, he could never be sure if he could reach his ambitions.

The future itself was an unknown for him, and Selim hated unknowns.