InsaneJournal

Tweak says, "ALL GLORY TO THE HYPNOTOAD"

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

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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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	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." (Reply to this) (Parent)

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