Pacing at the Edge of Reason

[Carmen Peregrin]

Carmen was walking through out the dungeon waving her wand back and forth, casting lumos and nox as she made her way along. The Yule Break had been a welcome reprieve from the school and the heat and constant sunshine of New Zealand. She had thoroughly enjoyed the snow and for the first time since she was about four or five, had been able to enjoy her fathers company again too. Though now of course her grandfather and father were more at loggerheads than usual.

Her grandfather had been about to pull Carmen from the school the previous semester and place her into the Scotland Hogwarts but for some bizarre reason, her father had stood up for her. She also found that she had acquired a back bone of her own and the thought of never seeing Kaleb or Charlie again had buoyed her determination to plead her case. With only three days to go, her grandfather had finally relented and this she knew had more to do with Kaleb saving her life than anything else.

She had much to think about, school work which in her mind she wasn't doing to the best of her ability and her behavior here at the school. Carmen felt as if she were no more making an impact upon the Slytherin house than a mouse in a vat of soft cheese. She was simply too nice and too ... homely. Her inventions had been cast aside so she could concentrate on her studies but she had also noticed that not many Slytherins seemed to bother with this either.

What to do? She would have loved nothing more than to go and speak with her Head of House or even a prefect but seriously didn't know any Slytherin ones. Did Slytherin students set good examples? She sighed as she walked deeper into the dungeon, deeper than she had ever gone before.

 

[Henric Lee]

As his footsteps echoed and bounced off the dungeon walls, seemingly hollow with his leather boots, Henric Lee moved along the cobbled ground of the dark pathway, his cloak slithering behind him like a flowing silky river of glittering cloth. His brows arced and eyes gray, intense, and piercing, they flicked from side to side at a regular speed, as if scanning the area for intruders. Like an intimidating sentry, the pale boy moved quietly, then paused, turning his attention to the sound of footsteps coming from another direction.

He took a sharp turn, swiveled on his heel, and changed directions, his dark hair waving slightly as he moved. He tilted his head as the person came into view - a girl - young - most likely a first year. Either a lost first year, or a first year who wasn't thinking where she was going, by the looks of it. He closed his eyes for a moment, then opened them, replacing his sullen features with a charming mask upon his face and a dazzling smile that appeared to illuminate his every feature.

"Hello." He greeted in a silky voice, his eyes half-closed, giving Henric a dangerous feel to his presence. "Haven't seen you around here before..."

 

[Carmen Peregrin]

Carmen turned abruptly at the sound of the voice, the boy seemed shrouded in the darkness of the dungeon and she had to raise her lit wand a bit higher in order to see him properly. He was very pale skinned but he was familiar, a fellow Slytherin but one she had not spoken to before. Of course, she hadn't actually spoken to any of the older Slytherins as it just seemed like something they simply didn't do. She ventured a smile.

"Not this deep in the dungeons no, but I'm the same house as yourself" she told him having seen him often enough passiong through the common room, he was also the boy that had been in the last gossip magazine issue. The one the girls diary had been about. Carmen had thought this girl had been very stupid for writing in something that had been so easily stolen and used against her.

Something about him made her shiver a little, so she decided to continue walking.
"Well it was... nice... to see you" she faltered.

 

[Henric Lee]

"It's a dead end there..." The boy offered, gesturing to the stretch of hard, stone walls she was about to walk into. "You want to take a left to go down to the Potions Storerooms." Henric blinked lazily, judging her youth and wandering without a semblance of direction, "Of course, I don't see why a first year would want to go there. Or are you a genius that takes advanced potions at 11?" He chuckled, a light, airy sound that floated through the air.

"I'm Henric." Henric offered, tilting his head inquisitively, beckoning to her for to introduce herself. "You've got a name, haven't you?" He flashed her a wan little smile.

 

[Carmen Peregrin]

Carmen raised her wand a bit more until the wall infront of her became visible.
"Oh" she muttered, as he chatted on she frowned. She certainly didn't need the potions storerooms and was embarressed as she felt his scathing sarcasm brush off her. It was when he introduced himself and seemed to goad her that her aristocratic upbringing came to her aid. She turned to face him fully, her stature poised and perfect as she executed a perfect curtsy.
"I am Carmen Peregrin from the House of Peregrine. I have a name and I am more than just a name" that had been the first instance that she had introduced herself here at the school as being of the House of Peregrine, she had rebelled against her noble upbringing all her life and yet, the first time her name was challenged or lack of a name, it came out immediately.

 

[Henric Lee]

Henric surveyed her with cold gray orbs that seemed to pierce her own eyes without effort, or even very much intentional. Boring into her, it was an uncomfortable, if oddly soothing sensation - like someone was stirring the murky depths of your thoughts with a silver ladle. "Hi." He replied with a little smile that twitched at the side of his lips; if she expected more of this Asian boy's expression or reaction, she would be disappointed. The way he stood comfortably in the darkness, as if he could see without the aid of light - or could he? - Would have unnerved others in his presence.

"So, Carmen, this is a purely wild guess, but..." He gestured for a moment in the air, then directed his hands to her with a kindly - if artificially crafted - expression carved upon his features like a wax mask. "... I think you're lost."

 

[Carmen Peregrin]

"Lost? Being lost would indicate that I was actually intent on reaching a destination. I was merely walking through the dungeons"
she did not know why this boy infuriated her so but he did and she found herself once again betraying the years she had rebelled forcibly against everything that the gentry stood for only to call upon it so blatantly with Henric. She turned around in the direction of whence she came and taking a deep breath lit her wand once more.
"Now if you'll excuse me, I'd like to simply walk".

 

[Henric Lee]

A faint smile like that of a Cheshire Cat illuminated the darkness. Apparently, he looked like he wanted to warn her about something if she was heading in the direction of the potions storeroom, then he halted, and his cold gray eyes simply locked onto her casually, with all the air of a serpent poised in mid-strike. "Don't let me stop you, Carmen." Standing with folded arms and leaning upon the cold wall of the dungeon, Henric, with the same smile fixed upon his face, simply held back and stood there. The question of why he was so comfortable being so deep in the dungeons - and why he was in here in the first place, tended to avoid most peoples' heads.

 

[Carmen Peregrin]

She looked at him then and did not know what to make of him. Was he making fun of her or what?
"And just how do you think you could possibly stop me Henric?" she spoke his name almost as insolently as he had hers, the boy was only a bit older than her and yet he behaved as if this was his domain. Carmen was such a gentle person, loved human contact at any possible chance but with this boy she saw and felt no necessity in wanting any type of contact with him. He was just too damned creepy and then she stopped herself short. There were many people in this world not blessed with the benefits and privileges that she had and it was her duty as a witch of noble breeding to take the higher ground.

 

[Henric Lee]

"Not me." The boy replied with easy calm, turning to glance at the cobbled path where she was about to head into. "The Caretaker, on the other hand, might stop you for going into a place where only advanced potions students are supposed to go." He turned his piercing gaze back to her. "With a teacher's note, or supervision." He smiled at her again, that usual artificial smile that lit up his face with a glow of lingering danger. "I have no idea why you want to simply walk into detention, but it's going to cost Slytherin, isn't it?"

 

[Carmen Peregrin]

Carmen looked back over her shoulder to where he said the potions storeroom was before looking in the direction she was now facing.
"Is it the darkness or did you simply think I turned around to amuse myself? I am no longer going in that direction or are you simply goading me to keep yourself amused?" Carmen wondered if Henric literally just lay in wait here for any unsuspecting first years to come along so that he could play some moral high ground and bait them with his arrogance.
"I wish you wouldn't think you had to trouble yourself with concern for my actions. I have not cost our house points before and I know I will never do so. Can you say the same?"

 

[Henric Lee]

"Yes I can." Henric lightly rebutted with a light chuckle, his eyes flashing in the darkness, his teeth, like fangs, illuminating the pitch-black of the cold dungeon walls. "Well, as you seem to be leaving now." The boy gave a little bow, then raised his body to face her. "It's been nice making your acquaintance." Then he spun on his heel, cloak fluttering, and turned to face a bucket of glittering silver powder which he appeared to have been concocting, from the looks of several vials and potions ingredients scattered next to him.

 

[Carmen Peregrin]

Carmen preferred it when he wasn't talking down to her like a silly kid, he didn't seem quite so creepy either.
"It was.. nice making yours too" she wasn't sure if she had meant it or not but as she was about to walk away she noticed the bucket and stopped. Curiosity got the better of her and she moved closer to see what it was. It was most likely the inventor in her that made her so intrigued.
"What is that stuff? What are you actually trying to brew?"

 

[Henric Lee]

Henric made no reply for the first few minutes, stirring the glittering mixture until it turned pale silver, then he dipped his hand into it, and pulled it out, letting what seemed like silver mist drip from his fingers as he cast it over the dungeons, drawing intricate patterns of oriental designs upon the walls, sliding his hand here and there. As soon as the silvery mix hit the walls, they dulled and faded out of sight. Henric continued in silence for the next few minutes, then inclined his head slightly as he turned to Carmen. "Art." He replied with a lopsided smile, raising his wand and tapping one end of the silvery trail, lighting up the entire wall to show a massive silver oriental Chinese dragon decorating the walls with immense detail.

 

[Carmen Peregrin]

She was left standing for what seemed an eternity but she didn't mind, knowing full well that when she was in the throes of an experiment or invention, any body speaking was nothing but a nuisance. So she stood quietly not asking him anything else but watched with interest instead.

Eventually he dipped his hand into the bucket of silver stuff and when he pulled it out a silver mist seemed to spread across the dungeon. She didn't understand the symbols he seemed to draw on the walls but she appreciated them. They were beautiful, very slowly she sat down near the bucket to watch as he continued to paint with the stuff he had made. When he created the dragon, she was completely blown away. She could make out the fine scales across it's back, the iris, every tiny detail was so intricate.

"Henric that is beautiful" she was completely in awe, the stuff she made seemed useful at the time of conception but she was soon moving on to something else, but this... what Henric was creating was as he said, art.
"How did you learn to do that?"

 

[Henric Lee]

The boy glanced up at the massive dragon with it's glittering scales and leering eyes that seemed to look down upon all the world and claim all glory to it's almighty self. "Practice." Henric replied, waving his wand at his silver-stained hand and blowing away the glittering mixture. "Lots of it." He added, picking up the bucket and leaving his silver dragon apparition glittering behind him as he strode forward, probably to sit there and serve as a mystery for other students who stumbled upon it by accident, since nearly no one ever came down here. "Sometimes, gifts are cursed." Henric murmured as he stretched, his eyes aglow with enigmatic emotions, he smiled at her, gave a mock bow, and made for the Slytherin common room.

 

[Carmen Peregrin]

Carmen was entranced by the dragon, could not take her eyes off of it in fact. She understood the concept of practise and extreme amounts of it and wondered if she would ever be able to do anything even remotely like this. She had no outstanding gifts of her own to speak of, sure she loved tinkering with things to discover how they worked and often attempted to put them back a better way but most of the time she knew her way was not always best. That sometimes perfection could not be added to.
It was with a start that she noticed he had begun to walk away after actually smiling and bowing to her. She didn't know why she did it but she got up and ran after him until she caught up to him, falling into step beside him.
"Would you show me? could you... how to do that?" she glanced up at him hoping he would say yes, "I'm a fast learner and a hard worker... please Henric."

 

[Henric Lee]

Henric glanced back while he walked, waving his hand down at her, indicating for her to follow; he slowed his walk so he fell in step with her. "This is not something you can just do from fast learning and hard work." He lightly rebutted her, his reprimanding voice playful and filled with false cheer. "But if you want to learn, you just practice. And practice. And practice." His eyes were cowled by the shadows briefly as he walked, then illuminated once as he came into the radius of lamplight. "My practice was not a pleasant memory..." He mused.

 

[Carmen Peregrin]

"Alright. I get that I do. Not everything in life can be acquired by those means but practise makes perfect right" she offered up and when he trailed off about his own time practising she glanced up at him. Wondering just how unpleasant an experience it was.
"Will mine be... unpleasant I mean? If you were taught a certain way, it only goes that you will teach the same way unless you try to break the cycle and altar details".

She was curious about him now but the lore of what he could teach her, the silver concoction that he had brewed were infinitely more tantalising to her.
"You haven't said whether or not you would ... let me be your apprentice" she smiled at him, her hazel eyes held a warmth that always shone from them. Carmen held a gift alright but one she was not aware of much, she could calm those in an argument with ease. She could calm just about any warring soul, it was something she had been able to do since she was a very young girl. It had helped over the summer break when her grandfather had wanted to only rant and rave about her attending the other Hogwarts instead but found he did not have the heart to argue but discussed the situation in a more humane manner.

 

[Henric Lee]

His cold eyes seemed to mirror her warmth and throw them back at her while presenting a glacial ice wall of emotions as he snapped back to the present, out of his daydreams. "No... It won't be unpleasant ... or as unpleasant as my experiences." He brushed his dark hair back, sliding one free hand into his pocket, as was his habit. "The potion I used was easy, it's just a long lasting glow effect ... detail, art, appreciation, is hard." He tossed her what looked like a resilient transparent plastic cube, with four hoops intertwining, each larger than the next, and a small jewel balanced precariously in the middle. Each shake would make the hoops spin and change the jewel's colour.

"Break the hoops, but not the jewel. Then come find me." Henric said, his usual lopsided smile presented on his face as he left for the Common Room, leaving her with what seemed like an impossible task.

 

[Carmen Peregrin]

She would probably never get used to how cold he seemed but she didn't want to be his friend, she wanted him to teach her the stuff he could do so she didn't care if he was rude or obnoxious or any other way with her. Providing of course that she did actually learn something. At least he had said that it would not be an unpleasant experience or as unpleasant as his own. This rendered another smile from her.
"Detail, art and appreciation. Got it" she nodded her head, not really sure if she did get what was hard about those things. Henric tossed her something and she scrambled to catch it before it fell. Her hands held it carefully as he spoke. He then proceeded to walk off leaving her standing there looking down at the strange object he had given her. It looked like a small cube with a jewel in its center and around the plastic walls of the cube were 4 hoops all intertwined within one another.

Carmen shook it first and watched as the hoops surrounding the cube spun around violently and the tiny jewel changed to a deep scarlet colour. She sighed, blowing her hair up out of her eyes.
"right then.. get your thinking cap on Carmen" she held it carefully and decided to go somewhere where the light was decidedly better inorder to figure out the cube. She went in the direction of the library and hoped it was quiet enough for her to concentrate.