Closed Practising

[Callie Cardoso]

Callie hadn't obviously been able to practice magic while she was at home, being both under age and because her parents had very specifically asked her not to. But she was back at school, and one glance at her textbooks and she knew what she needed to do. She knew she needed to get her spells practised. She had to be good at the ones from the previous year to be able to get good at the ones from the next. Callie had found the duelling chamber and was just using the space to practice all of it. "Lumos," she cast, and "Accio," just any of the spells she had learnt in the previous year, in this space which she was sure was very specifically for spell practising.

 

[Dante Styx]

Dante Styx was feeling a little better from the previous year, now that Cassius was on his side. He felt more relieved, but he still had to hide his werewolf side from his grandfather and father. For now, he wanted to just live life while he still had it. Dante decided that he was going to head to the dueling chamber so that he could keep his magic skills up to par. Dante needed to learn to protect himself after all! He walked in the dueling chamber, and immediately saw that it was occupied. A part of him was about to turn around and leave, but he recognized this Hufflepuff. Callie! Dante approached the second year and took out his wand as well. "Hey! Have a good break?" Dante asked as he verbally cast Lumos to light up the tip of his wand.​

 

[Callie Cardoso]

Callie had been practicing for a little bit, and turned as someone walked in. Part of her worried that she wasn't supposed to be there, and this was someone coming to give her into trouble. But instead it was someone she knew. Dante. "Hey," she greeted with warm recognition. She knew slytherins had a bad rep, but Dante was pretty solid. "Yeah, though I wish we could do magic outside of school," she said. "I feel out of practice. How was yours?" She didn't add that given that she was in a non-magical household, she didn't even really see any magic until she came back.

 

[Dante Styx]

Dante verbally cast Nox to put his light out, and set his arms loosely at his side. At least Callie recognized him, and did not immediately dismiss him. After all, some Slytherins had a bad reputation. It would be worse if people knew that he was a werewolf too. He still had not told anyone in his friendship circle, albeit his small friendship circle. Even now, werewolves still had that stigma about them. "Me too, but the Ministry don’t like kids apparently. It isn’t like we can do much of anything with the spells that we learn in school." Dante shrugged as he raised his wand to cast a trip jinx on one of the dummies, making it fall to the floor. "Mine was okay. I spent a lot of time with one of my older brothers. He owns a shop down on Bleak Street, but he would not let me in."​

 

[Callie Cardoso]

Callie was in agreement that the ministry must just not like kids, if that was why they were not allowed to do magic outside of school. "Is that why?" Callie did still ask, Dante knew more about magic than she did, he would know. "They don't like kids?" she clarified, not so much about it just being a limited amount of spells that they could do. She nodded, "Do you have a big family?" she asked, before then wondering why he wouldn't be let in. "Why weren't you allowed in the shop?" she asked.

 

[Dante Styx]

Honestly, Dante had no idea if he was right about the ministry not liking kids, but it was the best idea he could come up with on why they did not want them to do magic outside of school. "That's my opinion. My family is sort of anti-ministry. They don't like them." Dante was too young to really understand why that was, but he also did not ask those questions either. He was always more into things that he found fun. When asked about his family, he could not help but laugh, genuinely. "You must be new to the magic world if you don't know about my family! My family is the Styx and Zhefarovich family. Really big and ancient. We probably have the purest blood. But there are some that aren't, and that's okay too." Dante wondered if he was even a pureblood now because of his lycanthropy. "Bleak Street has a lot of bad places. My brother's shop has a bunch of dark items and stuff. Probably afraid I might touch something I'm not supposed to. I heard there are cursed earrings that will melt your earlobes right off!"​

 

[Callie Cardoso]

Callie didn't know much about the ministry, she had heard about it, of course but she didn't know much else. "Why are they anti-ministry?" Callie replied with a little curious expression, she just was curious about it. curious if she should know something. She knew she'd learnt a lot in the first year of her schooling, but clearly, not enough. "I am new, completely new, as of last year," she said, really hoping Dante didn't mind that she was clueless. "Wow, that's...a lot of pressure, but cool. It must be nice to know of your ancestors and to have always had magic," she said. She couldn't trace her family back too many generations, since lots had been lost. Her eyes widened at the mention of the shops having dark items and that there were earrings that could melt ear lobes, before she laughed. "Your brother is right to keep you, and likely most kids out,"

 

[Dante Styx]

That question made Dante think, and even he did not know why his family was against the Ministry. "You know, I have no idea. I know that none of us are allowed to be Aurors. I had an uncle that was one, and he got crippled from the job. And then he was poisoned to death. Maybe that's why?" Dante did not know the full story behind Jaken, but that was what he heard. It was watered down so much that it was practically fiction. "So, that makes you muggle-born or raised in the world of muggles at least. I've never been around muggles before. Mother always said they are violent beasts." Dante shrugged his shoulders, but the talk of ancestors made him roll his eyes. "Nothing says interesting like learning about a bunch of dead people. But maybe Daemyn is right about not having kids in there. But what if what he says is not true and just trying to scare kids off? Could be hiding some neat magic in there."​

 

[Callie Cardoso]

Callie considered what he said, curious to know why someone would be against a ministry or government. But the answer was that he didn't know. "Aurors are like police..security," she tried to find the words that would help her understand it and help him agree to the comparison. "That's awful, though, were you close to him?" she got the impression he wasn't, but it never hurt to ask. "I was raised by muggles, they aren't really any more violent than magical people," Callie countered, given what she'd learnt in Defence against the dark arts in the year before. But in both worlds, she had never had a problem. "Would Daemyn lie to you?" she asked, thinking there probably were dangerous or possible illegal to children things in it, so that would be a logical reason to just blanket ban them.

 

[Dante Styx]

Dante shook his head, "No, that is Hit Wizards. Aurors are the muggle equivalent to the NZSIS." Dante knew a little bit since he had done very little reading, but still wasn't fully aware of the muggle world. Just some of the things, and he heard his father talking about the police and NZSIS. Dante shrugged, "Friends to his kids and grandkids. Never even seen him beyond pictures." Dante did want to see Jaken one day, but he never returned as a ghost, and he was gone. Way back when. But Callie revealed that she was raised by muggles, and how they were no more violent than magical, which he averted his eyes to the ground. He just knew what he was told, but Callie had first hand experience. "Really? I just listen to my mom. I should ask her why..." Dante was a little afraid of his mom though. Not that she was violent, but more like of what she would say. He shook his head after some thought about whether or not Daemyn would lie to him.​

 

[Callie Cardoso]

Callie nodded along with what he said, absorbing the information since it was useful for her to know what the equivlants were. "Okay," she said with a bright tone, wanting to thank him for giving her the information she needed but fearing it might not seem genuine. "My mum always says it doesn't matter who you are, it's what you do," she replied as he seemed surprised that muggles were no more violent than wizards. "So, it's like that here, muggle and magical people don't have the same issues, but they aren't too dissimilar and people are unhappy on both side, and unhappiness and anger lead to violence." she said with a small smile, hoping she was expressing herself right.

 

[Dante Styx]

Callie talked about her mom, and Dante thought that her mom sounded really smart if that was what it was. And the more she explained, the better he understood. He should know. He was a werewolf now, and even if things were better, there were people - even in his family - that loathed people like him now. "That is very true. Like, the history of how the magical population treated those that were born different, or had a disease. Part-goblins, goblins themselves, giants, werewolves... But Veelas were okay probably because they are super pretty, you know?" Dante did not want to tip off what he was, even if it would eventually come out in the open. He wasn't exactly careful with how he wore his pants. "I do have a temper... I smacked my roommate with a textbook."​

 

[Callie Cardoso]

Callie nodded at what he said, she didn't know much about magical history - apart from what they'd learnt in class - and so she was very curious about what he was saying and was keen to try to understand it. Understand the dynamics which existed in this world. "That's terrible, really," she said. "The people who are born or become any of those things aren't a disease. I hope people don't still treat them terribly because of it." she said, before raising an eyebrow about what Dante had done. "Why did you do that?" she asked, with a slightly gentle tone, sure that Dante would've had a reason for it.

 

[Dante Styx]

Dante did wonder how she would react about the mixed breeds. He had a disease now. He hated it. But what could he do? There was no cure. He did manage to hide his laugh when Callie hoped that people didn't treat them terribly. Things have been better nowadays. A werewolf even ran for minister! And lost, but the fact that she was a candidate! "It depends on the person or the family. Like my mom hates muggles and muggle-borns. My dad doesn't care as much. Then you have people like my great-grandfather, who hates everything but purebloods, but even then, there are some that he doesn't like." Dante wondered how in the world he was still living. He was over a hundred! "Enoch... Well, my sister was killed last year by a werewolf. He was being a prick and said it was fake or something, so I hit him with a book. When you see something like that, and someone says it was fake or I was lying, then I sort of correct it. He tackled me afterward though."​

 

[Callie Cardoso]

Callie didn't particularly understand why someone would hate all muggles or all muggle-borns, but she equally wouldn't understand if someone hated all wizards. People were different, people were good and could be bad. She wondered how difficult this made Dante's family, how tricky it was to figure out ones own path or introduce people to it. She was a little surprised by the nature of the fight, but felt sympathetic towards him. It had to be hard to lose a family member and then have someone call it fake. "Well, I don't condone violence, but I also don't condone calling someone a liar like that," she said. "I am sorry about your sister, would you like to tell me about her?" Callie asked gently, taking the words from what she'd heard her father say to people.

 

[Dante Styx]

The werewolf laughed at her stance, mainly because it was easy to see both sides, and how they were both in the wrong. Dante knew that he should have just reacted a little less...so. But he was pissed off because not only had he lost a sister, but he had seen her death, and was bitten in the process. "Her name was Vervara. She would have been nine next February." Dante's expression immediately changed to sadness, because of how much he loved and missed her. "She was a bit of a trouble maker. She loved to sneak out at night. She could get out of any sort of trap, honestly. She was an escape artist. Her death wasn't the only thing that happened that night." Dante assumed that he might actually be able to trust Callie. Something in him told him that he could. "Can you keep a secret, Callie?"​

 

[Callie Cardoso]

Callie listened eagerly as he talked about his sister. It was very clear to her, that his sister was someone he'd been very fond of, someone who had probably been loved and someone that was missed. She reached out to put a hand on his shoulder, to give a comforting feeling after the admission. "She sounds like she was wonderful," Callie told him softly. Before she nodded. Callie could keep a secret, and Dante was her friend, she could keep a secret for him. "Yeah, I can," she said. "For you, Dante, I can,"

 

[Dante Styx]

Even now, Dante really appreciated the comfort that Callie was giving him. It was more, honestly, than any of his family had - but they were not an affectionate family as a whole. Some branches might be, but his? Hell no. He smiled as she said that she could keep a secret. Dante explained, "Well, I'm a pureblood, obviously. I told you about some of my relatives and how they feel about other beings." Dante got down on one knee, and raised his pant's leg up to show the silvery scar on his calf. It healed up to a point, but it was still scarred pretty bad. "The werewolf had a hold of me by my leg. With its teeth." Dante had not told anyone in the school yet, and he just prayed that he would not regret it. "Every month, I have to drink a potion that tastes like butt for a week and transform every full moon."​

 

[Callie Cardoso]

Callie was watched him carefully, listening to his words and beginning to piece together what it was before he even showed her the scar. The scar was pretty terrible. She wandered if it ached still, if it caused him pain. She looked at him, figuring out that the bite that had caused the scar had been what made him a werewolf. Callie had a sympathetic expression. She moved her hand back to rest upon his shoulder, to give him more comfort if he needed and wanted it. "That must've been terrible, and it must make your family life difficult," she said. "On top of the loss of your sister,"

 

[Dante Styx]

Dante truly did not expect the physical contact, but he welcomed it. Callie was not off running, screaming. She actually seemed to worry and care. It was the exact opposite of what he expected, and she was muggle-born to boot! She likely did not know much about magical werewolves. “My parents don’t know. Two of my brothers know. Daemyn is helping me a lot, and Cassius seems to be determined over something.” Dante had no idea that Cassius was working to keep him safe in the family, since the patriarch had a special hatred for werewolves. “If you have questions about werewolves, you got the source of one!” Dante smiled, which was actually genuine. ​

 

[Callie Cardoso]

Callie was surprised that his parents didn't know about it, was surprised that he was able to keep it a secret from them. She didn't know how she might be able to. But at least someone people did know if not his parents. Some people, and her. She didn't really have any questions, or well, she had questions but she would be unwilling to ask them, since she didn't want Dante's life or friendship with her to just be about something bad that happened to him. "Are you okay?" she instead asked. "It must be really hard, to both keep it a secret and then, it itself,"

 

[Dante Styx]

Expected a ton of questions about his condition. Like, what was it like, what color was his fur, anything like that. Instead, Callie asked if he was okay. Dante's smile faded to a look of confusion. He had to think about it. Was he truly okay? Dante liked to think that he was, but maybe he wasn't. But he was not going to trauma dump on his friend. "It isn't that bad when you have support from the people closest to you. The potion I have to take, Wolfsbane, tastes really bad. I have to chase it with pumpkin juice." Dante placed his hands behind his back and smiled, "It is nice to share a secret with someone that you care about. You are a pretty cool Hufflepuff, Callie."​

 

[Callie Cardoso]

Callie wasn't really expected Dante to tell her honestly about how he was, he just didn't seem like the type who would do that. She was pretty happy to just take what he did say about chasing it with orange juice and she was sure, just someone else know was good enough to spread the load of that knowledge to others. She gave a warm smile. "Thanks!" she said. "You're pretty cool too," she replied.

 

[Dante Styx]

Dante could honestly say that he really liked Callie. She was going to be a good friend - if not a best friend. He hoped that they would not go their separate ways anytime soon. Callie was the first, and only, one that knew his secret outside of his two brothers. “Do you want to go to the kitchens and raid the food with me? I bet the elves stash a bunch of candy there.” Dante did love his candy, especially sour gummies. And raiding it with Callie just seemed like fun.​

 

[Callie Cardoso]

Callie nodded eagerly. "Let's go," she said, she felt awkward around the elves, but she was happy to do this for a friend, and she liked Dante, he was cool. Calm in a way she really enjoyed being around. She put her wand away and began heading towards it. "Do you know how to get into the kitchens?"