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Pandora Montgomery ([info]pandacharms) wrote in [info]finnigans_rpg,
@ 2015-04-15 23:30:00

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Entry tags:character: dominic chambers, character: pandora montgomery

RP: A confrontation
Who: Dora and OPEN

What: A confrontation

Where: Inside and Out and Monument Alley

When: Wednesday April 15

Rating: NSFW for language


Dora’s last nerve was done. The last straw of temper met. She trembled with anger, and magic sparked off the ends of her hair. “Just pay and leave, ma’am,” she said in one last ditch effort of salvage this quickly deteriorating situation. Considering the level of rage she was experiencing and how badly she simply wanted to blast someone into little bitty pieces, Pandora Montgomery really was doing rather well. No one had been punched yet, nor had she cursed anyone.

Of course, the fact that the Aurors would be all over her like white on rice – an expression she’d picked up from a Muggle in her building – was a good enough detterent.

“I will not pay for this… this!” the witch drawled, fingers twitching in disgust at the prosthetic wrist and hand it had taken Pandora a couple of weeks to modify, painstakingly, with all the spells and comforts this woman had wanted for her son, who was an Auror.

Dora’s lips compressed together so tightly they were nearly invisible. The woman had been thrilled to receive it – until she’d seen and recognized Pandora from the news during the war, and she’d realized that Dora was the Charms mistress who had just been spelling her son’s prosthetic.

“I did everything to it you asked. It was hours and hours of work. You will pay for it,” she said, voice cold, flat, and empty – utterly unlike the normal Dora, who was relatively warm and definitely more animated than this.

“I will not touch something made by Death Eater filth!” the woman hissed, pushing it across the counter. Dora barely caught it before it hit the floor. “You probably cursed it! You’re trying to kill my boy!”

“I am not! Just fucking pay already!”

“No! Keep it, you murdering bitch!” the woman yelled shrilly, and she stalked to the door.

Dora vaulted easily over the counter and followed her into the Alley. “You owe me the fucking money!” she shouted, very loudly for such a small person. “Pay now before I involve the authorities!” She still trembled with rage, and she was quite a sight; she looked dangerous, even in the sunlight. Perhaps it was the way she stood, or the way magic still roiled around her, tightly controlled. Or maybe it was simply the look in her eyes and the tone of her voice.


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[info]knowhow
2015-04-16 12:10 pm UTC (link)
Dominic was retracing his steps along Monument Alley, eyes on the ground looking for the gobstone he'd enchanted to spray glitter, instead of the usual putrid liquid. He was sure he'd had it in his pocket the day before, and yet today it was nowhere to be seen. He could always enchant another - would probably have to do several more if he wanted to get the enchantment exactly right - but he still didn't like the idea of having lost it.

He stopped when first one, and then another very angry woman crossed his path, raising an eyebrow slightly at the mention of the authorities. At first glance, it would be easy to assume the young, vigorous woman shouting at someone evidently a few decades senior was the one acting out of order - but Dominic wasn't a Gryffindor to go blundering into a situation without first making sure he knew exactly what was going on.

Though he had no legitimate authority to do so, he stepped up to the two women. He didn't quite put himself between them, but close enough that they could hardly ignore him. He was no particularly imposing figure - not tall or broad, though he had muscle showing in his arms - but that might help him in this situation. He wasn't a threat, nor looking to get involved in a physical fight. "What seems to be the problem?" he asked, feeling like a policeman from a bad and dated television drama.

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[info]pandacharms
2015-04-17 03:41 am UTC (link)
Dora's eyes narrowed unconsciously at the intrusion of someone into her line of sight of the woman. Not that she wouldn't mind someone with sense, but she really didn't want anyone in a path of a curse. She was in that headspace she often got when dueling, with not much of fucking anything else aside from what she was doing actually mattered. It was a dangerous place, both for her and for others.

"She left without paying for a very expensive upgrade to her son's prosthetic," Dora said in a flat, calm voice, which was at odds with how upset she obviously was.

"She cursed my son's hand!" the woman shrieked, almost hysterical. "That Death Eater bitch wanted to curse my baby!"

Dora's cheek noticeably ticked a couple of times, and she balled her hands into fists to keep from doing something that would get her arrested. "You owe me money for my work!"

"You're not fit to do anything but rot in prison!"

"Fuck off and give me the money!"

"Screw you and die!"

She sucked in a loud breath, fists tightening further.

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[info]knowhow
2015-04-17 12:45 pm UTC (link)
Dominic listened as the two women turned his question into another excuse to argue. It didn't take him long to decide whose side he was on - the words 'Death Eater bitch' confirmed that for him, and not int he direction some would expect. He'd lost a year of his schooling to Voldemort and his ilk, but he'd also spent enough time too much time around Seamus to really carry that prejudice with him into adult life.

When it seemed they'd run out of insults to hurl at one another, Dominic stepped in. "First," he said, addressing the older woman, "that's no way to speak to anyone. Second, if that's your opinion on former Death Eaters, I don't think you'll find much to suit you on Monument Alley." Part of the point of the Department of Rejuvination, and Monument Alley in particular, was to heal the rifts left by the war - and anyone shopping on it ought to know that.

"Now," he half-turned, so that he was addressing Pandora as well. "If you are still willing to part with the prosthetic -" he tried to indicate with his tone that he didn't at all think she should be obligated to after being spoken to that way, then turned back to the customer - "then I suggest you take it and have it checked out by a third party. I'm sure someone at the Ministry would be willing to look into it for you, or if you'd prefer not to wait I can do it myself." He was no dark arts expert, but nor did he think it particularly likely this woman would back down without some reassurance. "Either way, you agreed to pay for the prosthetic. If it turns out there's something wrong with it, you can request a refund."

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[info]pandacharms
2015-04-18 02:30 am UTC (link)
Dora crossed her fisted arms over her chest, another way to keep herself from going off. The downside of being very good at wandless magic was being able to do it with a gesture and a thought. "I'm willing. Her son is a good guy, and a far sight nicer than she is." She glared daggers at the other woman. "I wouldn't sabotage this business by cursing anyone, anyway." It might not be her only source of income anymore, but Charms had become her passion over the years, and this job allowed her a work room even better thn the one at the flat.

"Though if she'd going to get it looked at by a third party," Dora said flatly, "Then I'd really rather a third party take care of it in the meantime, so she doesn't put some curse on it in the interim and try to pin it on me."

Because she'd had shit like that happen before, and if it made her paranoid, well, it was justified. She took several deep breathes of the sort Rich had taught her, trying to calm her raging pulse. She heard something fizz and pop in her left ear and her glare only intensified as she realized her anger had managed to magically fried one of her hearing aids. Fuck. Like she had time to make a replacement this week, with all the other things she had on her plate, and the celebrations coming up, and the things her Aunt Medea would want her to do.

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[info]knowhow
2015-04-20 02:03 pm UTC (link)
Dominic nodded to Pandora's concerns, than turned his attention back to her customer. "Well?" he prompted, "what do you say?" She seemed to have deflated somewhat, probably not comfortable screaming at someone who was talking to her in such a reasonable and unemotional tone. Just as Dominic's hopes of this all being sorted calmly were on the rise, she took a breath to fortify herself and glanced between the two of them.

"How do I know you're not more Death Eater scum she's roped in to help murder by baby?" she shrieked, her voice going hoarse on the last words. "What were you doing just conveniently waiting here anyway? It's suspicious, that's what it is."

Dominic barely resisted the impulse to roll his eyes. "To the best of my knowledge, Voldemort didn't want much to do with muggleborns," he said. He looked up and down Monument Alley, mentally assessing where his best support and references were likely to be found. Seamus, obviously, but though he was well known among their generation, he might not be known to someone older unless this woman were a regular at the pub. "I was here, on this public street, because I have business here. Charlie Weasley can confirm I do work on the buildings here. Or, if he's not at work yet, I'm sure Ron would know where to find him." He would never normally try to drop names this way, but he had a feeling getting the situation dealt with as quickly as possible would probably be for the best.

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[info]pandacharms
2015-04-22 02:38 am UTC (link)
Dora couldn't help it -- she snorted in a scoffing manner when the woman accused this guy of being in conspiracy. "I don't know him from Adam, apart from seeing him around the Alley," she added, some of her rage dissipating in face of utter absurdity. Her fists loosened and she became aware of a distant feeling that could be pain. She glanced down and noticed most of her nails had drawn blood in her palms. Great. Wonderful.

"Sir, can I give it to you, then? She can pay half now and half after it's verified by someone else. I'm not responsible for any of those fees, however. Though Filius -- Professor Flitwick -- can vouch for me," she told the woman pointedly. "He's the one I earned my Mastery from."

She had peripherally realized his name dropping; she'd be more wary, but he was actually sticking up for her, so he couldn't be too bad.

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[info]knowhow
2015-04-22 01:21 pm UTC (link)
Faced with both a staunchly anti-Voldemort family and Hogwarts charms professor, the customer seemed to realise she was caught between and rock and a hard place. She sputtered, mouth opening and closing like she was trying to catch flies. Dominic raised an eyebrow at her, mentally counting how many Aurors he knew on a first-name basis and how quickly that might prompt her to carry on about her business.

"I want your name!" she eventually said, pointing at Dominic and taking a breath to puff herself up. "My son is an Auror - he can check for dark magic himself. I don't need you doing it for him." Dominic was about to ask what she wanted to do, then, when she started fumbling with her purse, counting out what was presumably half of what she owed and shoving it at Pandora so violently that she nearly spilled the coins out across Monument Alley. "You can take it and I'll send my son to check it when he finishes work. If he agrees it's safe, he'll give you the rest of the money."

With that, she swept away, leaving Dominic and Pandora standing in the middle of the street. "It's Dominic Chambers," he called to her back, realising that for all her blustering demands she'd actually forgotten to get any identifying information from him. When she half-turned and then ran off again, he supposed she'd at least heard him. "Well," he said, glancing at Pandora and keeping his tone calm. "That was dramatic. Shall we go inside? Apparently I have a prosthetic to babysit for a few hours."

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[info]pandacharms
2015-04-23 04:09 am UTC (link)
Dora caught the falling money with a wave of her hand and wandless magic, glaring at the other woman. She really didn't want to touch it, but most especially since she was sluggishly bleeding. "Gods above and below, if the shop could afford to lose money over her," she muttered. In a louder tone, she said, "Thank you for your business," though it came out rather flat and ungrateful.

"Thank goodness her son isn't nearly as awful as she is," she said, turning toward the shop. She sighed and looked up at Dominic and gave him a tight smile, still stuck in a mode she didn't prefer when interacting with people. "I'm grateful for your intervention, Mister Chambers," she said. "I am responsible for what comes in and out of that shop, and I've worked very hard on that prosthetic." She gestured toward the door of the shop, inviting him in. The money drifted in front of her and then landed on the counter with a clatter. "Please, have a seat, I'll grab it." Another gesture summoned a chair closer to him, so he could sit if he wished. She went behind the counter, first hunting under it and taking out gauze to temporarily cover the gouges in her palms. They didn't hurt her, not yet, but would later. "I'm sorry you got pulled into everything, however."

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[info]knowhow
2015-04-24 01:19 pm UTC (link)
Dominic followed Pandora, watching as she fetched the guaze. He hadn't noticed her bleeding before, but now he knew it look he could spot it. "Need a hand with that?" he asked. "I'm not particularly great at magical first aid, but if it's your wand hand it's going to be tricky to deal with yourself." He didn't take the chair offered immediately, instead waiting to see if she took him up on his offer. "I think this is enough of an introduction that you can call me 'Dominic'," he suggested.

Her tone was fairly formal, but Dominic couldn't tell if that was just because she was still biting back her anger or if she genuinely wanted to be that way. Either way, he didn't have to play along. As far as he was concerned, there was a huge gulf between 'casual' and 'rude', and he didn't consider not putting himself on ceremony as any kind of insult. "I wasn't really 'pulled' into anything. I stepped in of my own free will. And I'm glad, though I'm sure you could have handled it yourself."

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[info]pandacharms
2015-04-24 09:36 pm UTC (link)
She fumbled faintly with the gauze and sighed. She hated accepting help, especially in her current mood, but she seemed to have little choice unless she wanted to bleed over the prosthetic. She came back around the counter. "If you know how to do it," she said, once again vowing to learn more healing spells and such and knowing she probably wouldn't. They weren't her forte. She held out the gauze carefully between clean fingers. "Dominic," she conceded. "I'm Pandora." She didn't realize she'd retreated behind a curtain of formality, a product of her upbringing and her personality. She felt vulnerable, though she'd never admit it, and so she held people ever farther at bay than normal.

"Well, it would have been tricky without intervention," she said, holding one hand out to him to quickly wrap. "Especially since I'd rather have frozen her there in the street. I don't think the Aurory would look kindly on me for that."

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[info]knowhow
2015-04-27 09:06 am UTC (link)
Surely there must be spells for closing over such wounds completely - but Dominic didn't know what they might be, so he had to be content with a cleaning spell and then a mild sticking charm to keep the gauze in place. "Does it hurt?" He didn't really know what he could do about it if it did - except offer to take her to St Mungo's, or maybe just Alicia, if she were in her office at the Foundation. "Nice to meet you," he added, giving a wry smile. "Though it would have been nicer in better circumstances. Still, can't be helped." The name was wringing a vague bell for him - probably he'd seen her posting or commenting on the journals. He wasn't as good as Seamus was at putting names to faces, but 'Pandora' was sufficiently unusual that even he could remember it.

"You were provoked, and if all you did was freeze her without hurting her I certainly wouldn't blame you." He allowed her to take her hand back from his now that he'd done more or less all he felt confident doing. "Then again, I'm not an Auror." He glanced around the interior of her shop. He'd definitely been in before, but he was pretty sure someone else had been behind the counter then.

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[info]pandacharms
2015-04-29 03:13 am UTC (link)
She blinked at his question and shook her head after a second. "Not right now. It will later." She shrugged slightly, careful not to move her hands. It would be quick work. She only wanted them covered so she didn't leave blood laying about. Bad things could be done with blood.

"The pleasure is mine," she said, half automatic. She was still coming back into herself, but childhood training always held true when it came to manners. "Especially since you managed to help me out at your own expense of time." And the verbal abuse he'd been on the end of as well. She was used to that sort of thing, but not everyone was.

She snorted softly, taking her hand back. She could do the other. She was ambidextrous with wands but some things like wrapping gauze weren't the easiest. "If you did it, I'm sure you'd get away with it fine," she told him matter-of-factly. "But like she said, I'm that 'Death Eater bitch' and they'd try to have me back in Azkaban if I so much as point my wand in the wrong direction."

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[info]knowhow
2015-04-29 01:26 pm UTC (link)
Dominic watched as Pandora dealt with her other hand. "Hopefully it won't be too bad," he said, thinking about the pain. "Annoying if it gets in the way of working, though." Or at least, that would be his primary concern - not being able to flex and stretch his hand the way he wanted without disturbing the wounds.

"It's not as if I was busy," he said, then frowned at his own words. "Though I like to think I'd have stopped even if I was." He had no particular love for Death Eaters - but somewhere down the line he'd drawn a distinction between those of his own generation and those who'd infiltrated the Ministry and Hogwarts and indirectly ended up getting him locked in a Ministry holding cell. "If she objects to the prejudice of the Death Eaters then she shouldn't be prejudiced." That was no way to fix things - it would only skew them in another direction and end up with the children of other families locked up even though they hadn't done anything.

He sighed at her matter-of-fact words. "You're probably right, I'm not going to try and tell you you're not - but I wish you weren't." He could have said more - about trusting that the Ministry made the right decision about who to release from Azkaban and when, but decided he was probably talking too much, and to someone whose situation he didn't really know. He could easily end up saying the wrong thing completely by accident. "Either way, in my personal opinion she's the bitch and you seem perfectly nice, if justifiably annoyed."

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[info]pandacharms
2015-04-30 06:02 am UTC (link)
"I'll drop by the apothecary on the way home this evening. I'm used to worse, to be honest. I duel frequently still." And Rich had certainly roughed her up worse than this before, and she him. "I just loathe to bleed on things." Too many nasty things one could do with blood, if one were willing. She knew some of the spells; she never used them.

"Well, I wouldn't have blamed you for not wanting to get into the middle of it." And she wouldn't have. Most people would walk by with their heads ducked when people were yelling at each other in the street, even today. She shrugged at his next words. "Most people are, and I can't really blame them, but I'm not the enemy. The war messed me up as much as it did anyone." Moreso in a lot of ways; the spell damage and the emotional and physical backlashes would never go away, at least not completely.

She nodded. "Thank you. Your opinion is most appreciated." She padded back around the counter, heels of her boots clicking very softly, and picked up the prosthetic. It looked almost exactly like a real limb, which was part of a charm and part of its actual make up. She brought it over to show him. "I am not a great person nor a horrible one. Everyone did what they had to do to survive." She held it out to him. Running a finger over where it would fit onto the man's stump, she touched the individual places and the fingers moved in turn. She smiled, the first genuine smile since earlier in the day.

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[info]knowhow
2015-05-01 03:43 pm UTC (link)
Her words made Dominic suddenly wonder if he'd seen her at duelling club and not remembered her name. He did usually stay and watch, but with four matches frequently occurring at once he couldn't see everyone. "There's a small part of me that'd like to see you take on your customer in a duel," he admitted. "But obviously not if it would get you into trouble." It was amazing, really, that the woman had risked shouting at Pandora in the street when she not only believed she was an active Death Eater but could see that Pandora was obviously much younger and more vigorous. "She must have been a Gryffindor," Dominic decided. No other house was so foolhardy.

"You might not have blamed me, but I would have done. I guess there's a bit of a Gryffindor streak in me too, and I shouldn't throw stones." Dominic shrugged, looking a little uncomfortable. He didn't like to talk about the war - what good did it do to talk about a past that couldn't be changed, after all? He'd prefer to talk about the effects it was still having, and what to do about them.

To escape from the conversation, he took advantage of the opportunity to watch her work the prosthetic. "That's some impressive magic," he said. "Suddenly I understand why someone might want to get out of paying - it can't be cheap." He took the prosthetic as she offered it to him, careful to touch only what he needed to and not experiment with the fingers as he was honestly dying to. "If I'd known you did work like this I'd have spent a lot more time lurking in your shop."

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[info]pandacharms
2015-05-01 09:32 pm UTC (link)
She laughed softly. "She'd have been out cold in no time," she said with amusement. "Unless she surprised me somehow." She had to laugh again when he pegged the woman as a Gryffindor. "I wouldn't be surprised. My brother was a Gryffindor and it's just something like that that he would do, foolish though it would be to tread into an unknown situation.

Dora let the subject drop gracefully. She'd been raised by a Slytherin to be a somewhat politic creature, even if she'd never used it in more than her regular life. "It's appreciated, either way," she said simply and let the subject change naturally.

"It's actually what the shop's been known for since the Grindlewald war. My grandmother was a drab hand, and my aunt took it up as well. That was her specialty. But I think the magic's been passed down a bit through my father's side since, well, ages." Since her father's side went all the way back to the Picts and likely farther, she really didn't know. "We're the number one provider of prosthetic devices in the UK, at the very least. And we customize everything according to your desires. It's one reason the shop is called Inside and Out -- the Out is for the prosthetics and costume embellishments and even the disguise charms we used to sell when it was legal. The Inside is for our tents and trunks and extradimensional spaces."

It was obvious she was (rightfully) proud of it, even if the shop wasn't hers. "I've learned a lot about the prosthetics since coming here."

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[info]knowhow
2015-05-02 05:44 pm UTC (link)
Laughing with her, Dominic nodded. "Exactly why I'd want to watch," he said. "Sometimes I don't know how I ended up in Ravenclaw," he admitted. "Not that I'd want to be in Gryffindor either." He knew he was smart - but he didn't revere books the way most Ravenclaws did and had honestly found it hard to make friends within his own house sometimes. They'd all wanted to study when Dominic had preferred to go out and explore the frankly astonishing castle and its grounds. "I like to at least know what the risks are before I take them." He liked his fast car and his fast broom, as well as some other adrenaline-based pursuits - but he liked knowing that accidents were really relatively rare, and that St Mungo's could work literal magic on broken bones.

"I knew you did prosthetics," he clarified. "I guess I just didn't put enough thought into what magical prosthetics would be like." He'd been at school while Mad-Eye Moody (who'd turned out to be someone else entirely) was there, of course, and had thought his magical eye was brilliant. On the other hand, his wooden leg had been a sore disappointment. He nodded to the rest of her words. "I work a little in extradimensional spaces myself sometimes." It was one of the things that continued to amazed him - though it was sufficiently difficult to do on the large scale he worked in that it was still rare. He smiled at her obvious pride in the work. "It's always nice to meet someone else who loves complicated magic as much as I do."

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[info]pandacharms
2015-05-03 12:28 pm UTC (link)
"Look before you leap," she quoted with a nod. She'd never understood just leaping completely into things. The only time she'd done it had ended her with a mark on her arm and a lifetime of broken pain, though it had been an impulse to save her family. "I've never understood it, but magic takes care of fools and children, I suppose." She shrugged.

"This," she paused and looked it over with a small smile, "I have to say this is the best I've ever done. Glamours generally burn out when around a lot of other magic, so I really had to work to find a way around that. Most of the time it isn't worth it. He was happy enough with a wooden hand that moved like that, but his mother and his girlfriend were... not." She grimaced faintly. "But working with him on this actually gave me a lot of ideas, and hopefully this one will work. Here, let me show you." She took the arm back and pressed a spot, and it popped open and she pried a runic charm out of it. Immediately the glamour went away. "Replaceable and hidden away from the magic governing the movement," she said. "For someone like Moody or in active duty, it might not be feasible, burning through them, but he won't be doing that for a while yet, at least." She popped it back in and handed the restored glamour back to him. She lit up a bit as she talked, enthusiastic as always about different parts of her work.

She grinned when he said he worked some in that too. "Do you! Working in extradimensional is so... hm, I don't know how to word it. I am getting to hate those epically sized tents, though. Potions bases and spell work and all." She waved a hand to encompass all the work. It exhausted her sometimes, but all intense Charms work did to anyone. "What do you work on?"

She nodded. "I love the complicated work. The puzzles. Creating new spells and charms." It was something she was good at, too, with all her focus being aimed at whatever problem was before her. It made all her other problems recede for a while.

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[info]knowhow
2015-05-06 01:18 pm UTC (link)
Dominic's face grew thoughtful as he processed her words, which sounded like a proverb in their own right. "Do you think that's true?" he asked. Everyone had heard of someone who'd discovered their magic by some dramatic means like bouncing after a fall or flying out of the way of an oncoming car - which did suggest that children had some sort of instinct about their own capabilities, even before they'd been formally explained. Dominic's mind was spinning out to all the possible repercussions of that. Had there been a time in history, before the advance of muggle medicine, that more muggle children had died in childbirth while the children of witches and wizards survived more easily? Witches and wizards could heal broken bones and fight infection with a single word - hadn't that caused resentments? Was that the origin of the old woman who lived in a shoe with all her so many children?

When he snapped back to reality, Pandora was giving him a look that managed to mingle confusion and politeness. "Sorry," he muttered, lifting a hand to scratch behind his ear. "Bad habit. I get distracted by the weirdest things." He focused his attention back on Pandora and her work with a sheepish smile, watching as she slid the charm from its compartment. "Now that's clever," he said, never stingy with a compliment. "I've never done much with runes. Looks like I've been missing out." He was almost tempted to ask if she could teach him, at least the basics, but he didn't really know her well enough.

"Exhausting?" Dominic teased, suggesting a word to finish her sentence about work with extra dimensions. "Not physically, but keeping the 'real' parameters and then the new parameters in mind so you know what space you're really working with... I don't tend to do it alone. Everyone wants a tardis bedroom, but usually it's actually much easier to extend the physical space. Except in London." He nodded to her passion, shoving his hands into his pockets for a moment. "I do a little bit of everything. Small work, mostly just for myself, and then architectural stuff for a living."

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[info]pandacharms
2015-05-10 04:31 am UTC (link)
She paused and thought for a moment. "Well, it is rather true, isn't it? Magic always seems to protect children -- so innate within us from a very young age, keeping us rather hale and certainly safer than those without magic when it comes to accidents." After all, most children tended to bounce when it came to magic and such. "The same can be said of fools as well, I think." It was a saying she'd grown up hearing. She grinned just a trifle crookedly when he came out of whatever mental rabbit hole he'd gone down, though; believe it or not, she was familiar with taht sort of thing.

"Do not worry," she assured him. "I have done the same." She looked very pleased at the compliment, especially since he did seem to know his way around a spell. She loved talking shop with people, except most people either weren't on her level of skill or had no desire to talk with her. "I took an extra focus on Runic Warding last year, swallowed up six months of my life but it was very much worth it," she told him. "Now I don't have to outsource a lot of the warding work, but it also adds an aspect to this. I did it because I was studying some old Norse charms, but their charms work and their rune work are all tangled up in each other. I don't regret doing it in the least." And she'd gotten an acclaimed article out of it, at least, her alter-ego had.

"Yes. The focus is all consuming, working on multiple levels of thought." She waved her gauzed hands in the air slightly. She then shrugged. "I almost always end up working alone. Elroy, the usual shop boy, he isn't advanced enough. And my aunt has pretty much given up the work, except to assist with a few things here and there. She handles the business end of things."

She listened closely and nodded. "Still, rather interesting. I'm sure the variety keeps you on your toes." Though she wondered, a little, if focussing more strongly would give him more pleasure. She knew it did her. "So long as you get to practice, right?"

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[info]knowhow
2015-05-19 04:09 pm UTC (link)
Dominic gave a sheepish laugh. "That's what I was thinking," he admitted. "But why does that go away? Even as teenagers, I've seen people fall from their brooms and be badly hurt." It had been very strange, as a muggleborn, to see the serenity with which some of his teammates accepted their accidents — because they'd known it could all be fixed in a moment, no matter how much it might seem to hurt. Presumably, those who'd grown up isolated from the muggle world completely had never seen (as Dominic had) a child with his arm or leg in plaster. Did they know that these things took weeks for muggles to heal? Realising he'd gone off into his own thoughts again, he held up a hand, "I'm not expecting you to have all the answers to that," he said. "You just keep giving me new things to think about."

He nodded as she explained about her recent experience with runes. "I was never very academic," he said with a slight shrug. It wasn't really a problem, as far as he was concerned, it was just a difference in style. He tended to prefer practical methods to months of study. In his chosen profession that had been fairly easy to accommodate. "I can see how that'd be interesting, though. Getting a look at some of the old magic in Hogwarts, the really deep structural stuff..." He trailed off, not sure what point he was trying to make. It had been fascinating, but he still hadn't wanted to go off and read essays about it.

"Does he seem keen to learn?" Dominic asked. Given his own preferences, it seemed likely that he'd taken an apprentice at some point - pay forward some of his own training. "Are you teaching him, or do you just use him to help when he can?" Dominic couldn't imagine working in a shop like this and not begging to be allowed to watch everything Pandora did. He was only barely restraining himself now because they were equals and because he knew some people could be secretive about their methods. Though it didn't seem likely in this case.

The variety was exactly what Dominic liked about his work, and he nodded. "I call myself a handyman, so it's the architectural stuff that pays the bills, but I couldn't just stop playing around with whatever I could get my hands on. Flitwick used to despair of me - I took apart more things than I knew how to put back together. I think I might just be evening that balance out now."

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[info]pandacharms
2015-05-28 04:08 am UTC (link)
"Probably because we start thinking and stop trusting that we're immortal and second guess our instincts," Dora said after thinking on it for a moment. "Besides, by then I expect magic expects us to be able to take care of ourselves a bit better." She shrugged slightly, theorizing off the top of her head and not certain if she made any sense. It was something she rather suspected she'd think on more.

"I like study and learning. But I also like applying the knowledge and inventing new things," she said. She was a Slytherin, and it must benefit her -- but knowledge was power, after all. "At some point, nearly everything I've studied benefits me when I'm creating something new." Everything had a purpose, if you looked hard enough. At least, most of the time. She didn't study the useless things.

"Elroy prefers the business end of things, I think. He mostly helps my aunt with that, and keeping an eye on me if I'm deep in spell work." Making sure she didn't blow herself up, in other words. "Whenever he's interested, I help him out." Sometimes she wondered if she'd make a good teacher, but she also wasn't sure anyone would dare risk having her as a teacher. Especially lately.

She laughed softly. "And Filius often despaired of me because I couldn't stop trying to make things better," she told him, voice fond. She loved Filius, possibly more than she loved her own parents any more.

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[info]knowhow
2015-05-29 01:42 pm UTC (link)
Dominic wasn't at all sure he thought magic was actually capable of thinking for itself - even metaphorically - but arguing the point would just lead them further and further into conjecture. It would likely be interesting, but Dominic did prefer to have some basis in fact, or at least to be able to test his theories in some practical way.

He smiled to find that Pandora liked at least some of the things he did. It didn't come as a surprise by this point, she had made the prosthetic that had started all this, after all. "That is where my method falls down," he admitted. "Even if I try to learn things academically, I really struggle to remember it. Which means when it comes to solving a practical problem, I have to go learn it again before I can apply it." Once he'd practiced something in some tangible way, then it tended to stick. He'd more or less given up learning things in the off chance he'd need them months down the line - far easier to go away and learn once he had a problem to apply the technique to.

"I think Filius likes despairing of his most promising students," he said, chuckling slightly. "If nothing else I'm glad I was sorted in Ravenclaw for him. Much better to be in a head of house whose subject you don't despise." McGonagall would have been fine, of course, but Dominic had failed OWLs in both Potions and Herbology.

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[info]pandacharms
2015-05-30 08:26 pm UTC (link)
"That can happen. Copious notes are a good way to bypass that," she said. There were times when her memory was as sharp as a razor, but other times it could fail her. This was, she suspected, a result of her spell damage. Sometimes it was the stupidest things she'd forget and have to go look up. "I do that because I do forget things sometimes.

She laughed softly, taking the prosthetic and idly playing with making the fingers move. "He does, I suspect. I got along well enough with Professor Snape, but Filius was the one who really could foster my talents." Potions had not by far been her best subject, though she'd worked very hard to get decent enough marks so she could enter the Aurory. A broken dream, now, and one she was still sometimes bitter over, but she also liked her job now and found it challenging and thrilling at times, even if tent making was also very boring sometimes. "I never did great in potions, but I managed to eke out decent enough marks."

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[info]knowhow
2015-06-01 01:30 pm UTC (link)
Dominic made a face at her suggestion. "Notes and I don't get on," he admitted. "It's my own fault - no real system of organisation, so I'll have a notebook that goes from tables of extradimensional dimensions to lists of background ideas to note on advanced charm layering. I can never find anything when I want it. Not to mention the number of ripped out sheets that get lost of burned or soaked. It's a wonder I ever finishing anything - but I do, somehow." He'd toyed with the idea of some kind of magical organisational system - but just the idea gave him a headache.

"Snape hated me," Dominic said easily. He wasn't bitter about it, like some had been. "In my case, he had every right. I barely paid attention and had a bad habit of trying to do another teacher's homework while his back was turned." Sometimes he wished he'd paid more attention, especially given his interest in photography. Knowing that he'd have to work twice as hard for half the marks, though, had put him off. He snorted when he remembered Flitwick's reaction to his detentions. "That made Filius really give up, I think. I may have been the only Ravenclaw to ever cheerfully fail an exam."

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[info]pandacharms
2015-06-06 12:10 pm UTC (link)
"It's finding a method of organizing that works for you. It was rather emphasized at home. My mother was very firm." But in a lot of ways, Dora was grateful for it. She'd learned young how to aim for a goal and achieve it, and organization helped a lot with that.

"Professor Snape hated pretty much everyone. He wasn't fond of me, but he tolerated me, if only for my mother's sake and the fact I worked very hard to make up for my problems with his favorite subject." And she really had -- she'd pulled just enough good marks to qualify for the Auror academy, if she'd been allowed a different life. She snorted. "Oh gods, you really did make him despair, didn't you?"

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[info]knowhow
2015-06-08 11:57 am UTC (link)
"My mother also despairs of me," Dominic said, but his smile showed it wasn't a serious complaint. "She's a teacher. Could never understand why I didn't want to bury myself in books like she did." Of course, Dominic knew she loved him anyway - just like she loved his dad, who thought reading for pleasure made about as much sense as showering to get dry. "I've mostly worked out my own way. Once I've actually done something with a piece of magic, it tends to stick. It's not perfect - but what is?"

Dominic could only nod at her words about Snape. In a way, it had been easier for Dominic who'd at least chosen to earn the hatred. Others hadn't been so lucky, and nothing they'd done had been enough. He laughed and shrugged. "I knew what I wanted to do, I knew what subjects I needed for that and I wasn't interested in much else."

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[info]pandacharms
2015-06-11 03:06 am UTC (link)
"Well, don't all mothers?" she asked, wrinkling her nose slightly, her voice a little flatter than it had been, but just for a moment. "Practical application always cements the knowledge. Also trying to teach others something. I found that out when I tutored others while I was at school." She'd been an excellent prefect and not only catering to her house. It still rankled, just a bit, even after all this time, that she hadn't been made Head Girl. She'd been the perfect candidate, aside from the fact she'd been a Slytherin.

Sometimes she wondered if she had been Head Girl, if she'd have been able to get the help she'd needed to avoid what had happened after.

"I was the same way, except that I needed potions." She shrugged. "That, and I can be a bit of a perfectionist at times." Not like some people, but she had ambition to spare, even now, though not quite in the same vein as she had in school.

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[info]knowhow
2015-06-15 04:05 pm UTC (link)
"I don't think it's exclusive to mothers," Dominic said, shrugging. He'd noticed the slight change in Pandora's tone and decided to steer clear of that particular topic. He didn't know her nearly well enough to engage his curiosity. "Fathers, teachers, grandparents, aunts. All perfectly capable of despairing of our generation both in general and in particular." A snatch of something - poetry or an idiom - flashed through his mind but it was gone before he could fully grasp it.

Dominic glanced up at the clock on the wall, then down at his wrist to confirm on his watch. "I should be going," he apologised. "But I'll definitely back to have a look around at the rest of your work."

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[info]pandacharms
2015-06-21 04:24 am UTC (link)
"Thank you again, for your help," Dora told him, her voice warmer than it had been when he'd first met her. She would have managed, but his assitance had diffused what could have been a dangerous situation for her. "Do come by again, under better circumstances."

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