InsaneJournal

Tweak says, "I may not be human"

in_the_grass (in_the_grass) wrote in wished,
@ 2010-09-01 12:40:00

Entry tags:

!2003: 08, !complete, essery oakby, severus snape

Who: Severus Snape and Essery Oakby
What: Chess.
Where: Headmaster's office, Hogwarts.
When: Backdated to August 31st, evening.
Warnings/Rating: Probably none/low

He wasn't certain who had left this set behind, but doubted it had been Dumbledore. It hardly seemed whimsical enough. By the look of it, it might not have been enchanted at all; it was all perfectly plain black and white stone, and none of the pieces showed any sign of jumping to life and murdering one another. But then, there were probably plenty of things hiding away in this office that weren't what they seemed, and five years hadn't been enough time to make a thorough survey. It didn't seem to be cursed, in any case, so it would serve. He set it out without incident, lining the pieces up with a flick of his wand.

"You can go first, if you like," he said, with a faint smirk. "I believe that's the courtesy usually afforded the party occupying the disadvantaged position?" Not that he saw any cause to doubt her chess-related abilities - but she had set herself up for an unwinnable argument.

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in_the_grass
2010-09-14 03:10 am UTC (link)

"Exceptions," he drawled. "To be expected, considering there's nothing else to do, in History or Astronomy, but publish." He'd never published more than a few articles, himself. His primary interests lay in areas that few people cared to try to put to print. He hardly noticed the fact that she had the names so close at hand; he'd always been almost ridiculously competitive. He probably knew the pagecounts down to the last turn.

He knocked off her castle, with evident satisfaction. "And no one's ever cared to rad about Potions, really. Some subjects are inherently disadvantaged." Which he hadn't helped by souring an entire generation of British witches and wizards on that discipline, but ... it couldn't be helped now.

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oakbye
2010-09-14 03:18 am UTC (link)

Essery nodded. "Well, I'm rubbish at Potions, I think we covered that..." She remembered something though, which she brought up as her remaining bishop took his knight in what didn't seem like a good trade for that castle.

"You did an article on Wolfsbane though, didn't you? Maybe the year after I graduated or somewhere in that area? I remember I was doing some research for the Society - " Which was the way she always referred to The Society for the Support of Squibs that her family ran - "And we had a squib man who'd been bitten. I remember it actually made sense to me, I was so surprised at the time."

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in_the_grass
2010-09-14 04:35 am UTC (link)

"Wofls - ah. Yes." He wondered, suddenly, just what she would think of his motivations for that particular article. It hadn't quite worked - he'd had to beat those Ministry idiots over the head to get anything done - but all the same, perhaps it was better not to discuss it in its true context. "I spent rather a lot of time making it, that year; I thought a few observations were in order. I'm glad you found them useful. It's an admirable cause." He knew about her family's charitable work, of course. "I don't imagine you find very much time for it, now?"

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	oakbye 2010-09-20 01:19 am UTC (link)
	"The Society?" She shook her head, making a play and then realizing she was backed into a corner. She'd thought it would take him a little longer to get her so vulnerable in the game. "It's really my Mother running everything now, of course. I help out during the summers, but they don't need me all that much." (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

in_the_grass
2010-09-20 01:25 am UTC (link)

He looked rather pleased with himself, really, as he usually did when he thought he was in sight of a victory. "I should think she would be rather more busy, these days - tapering off, perhaps, after the war. But still. It left quite a few people in that position in need of support, did it not?" He could think of a few specific examples, having been quite close with the perpetrators. He took one of her pawns. "Check, Professor."

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oakbye
2010-09-20 01:28 am UTC (link)

"It didn't affect Squibs as much as muggleborns," Essery pointed out, "Though she has had the society working pretty closely with the Muggleborn Aide Office. Most of those that we helped to relocate during the war have come back, now, and gone to that office for anything else they may need..." She didn't know the ins and outs of what the Society did, really, these days. She'd been busy with her own work.

At the Check, her lips pursed. She moved defensively, but she thought they could both see where this was headed. "Essery," she said, "Headmaster."

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in_the_grass
2010-09-20 01:35 am UTC (link)

"They wouldn't have been such easy targets, no. I'm glad to hear it, I suppose." He would have to admit that the only Squib he knew he knew was Filch. "It's enough of a burden during peacetime. Without someone marking you for murder." Or worse. He smiled, moving his queen another space, endangering a bishop and beginning to build another path to checkmate. "Essery. Of course. I am sorry. You needn't call me Headmaster," he said lightly, surveying the mess of stone dust on the floor. "You've taken a few respectable pieces, after all."

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	oakbye 2010-09-20 01:46 am UTC (link)
	She took one of his pawns for the trade, since she was sure she couldn't save the bishop, and laughed. "Is that how someone gets to be on a first name basis with you, then? They have to make a good show in a chess game?" (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

in_the_grass
2010-09-20 01:58 am UTC (link)

"Or similar." One couldn't always play chess with everyone. "How else does anyone decide? I understand dueling used to be the standard, but I find this way is a little less painful." He moved his remaining bishop in a little closer. "Check, I'm afraid. Essery. Where did you learn to play?" There wasn't an insult lurking in the question, as there well might have been had he been feeling at all spiteful.

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	oakbye 2010-09-20 02:00 am UTC (link)
	"My dad played," Essery smiled, and she looked for a way out of the check but then shook her head. "That's a checkmate in two however you look at it, Severus." Using his name to his face was a bit halting, but she took to it easily enough. "I think I ought to concede now." (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

in_the_grass
2010-09-20 02:08 am UTC (link)

"It is. A wise decision - time-saving, at any rate. Some people insist upon being chased about the board for half an hour." Which was nothing he begrudged them, as he'd developed a taste for slow victories. "You're quite good, though. Learning young would seem to have its advantages. I'm terribly out of practice, myself - luck, mostly." With a wave of his wand he brought the shattered pieces back to the table, where they began to reconstitute.

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	oakbye 2010-09-20 02:11 am UTC (link)
	"Well, perhaps we can make it a standing game. Repeat performances. Chances for me to redeem myself." She laughed again, but the offer was serious. "Dad was a Squib, of course. We had board game nights when I was younger and went through all the muggle standards. Have you ever played Monopoly?" (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

in_the_grass
2010-09-20 02:18 am UTC (link)

"If you'd like to try, certainly." He was a little surprised at how readily he extended the invitation (even if it was coupled with a challenge). He couldn't think of very many people he'd worked with over the years that he'd have let into his office without pressing business, especially not on a regular basis. "I can usually find a couple of hours. ... No, I haven't. It sounds dreadfully ... commercial." He couldn't imagine his father sitting down to any sort of game at all, Muggle or not. Anything he'd learned in that part of his life had been from schoolchildren.

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oakbye
2010-09-20 02:21 am UTC (link)

"It is. All about the buying and selling of property, but it can be great fun. There's also the game of Life. Where you drive a car about and try to be a successful muggle. Oh!" She looked suddenly like she'd just thought of something. "I could use that with the third years! They'd love it, and it might be better than lecturing on why muggles feel university is important."

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in_the_grass
2010-09-20 02:27 am UTC (link)

Fun and buying and selling property weren't the sort of things that Severus generally included in the same sentence, but he was feeling strangely willing to attempt the novel, this evening. He arched an eyebrow at her, though, as the board folded itself into its box and floated back to its place on one of the shelves behind his desk. "Not actual cars, of course? We've had quite enough of those, I think. The Willow makes short work of them. I would hate to have to extricate any more third-years."

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	oakbye 2010-09-20 02:29 am UTC (link)
	"Actual.... No." She chuckled, shaking her head. "No, it's a board game. I might have go out for a shopping spree and get a few boxes. I'd like to keep my third years away from the Willow when at all possible." (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

in_the_grass
2010-09-20 02:38 am UTC (link)

That sounded much safer. He was more concerned for the Willow, really. As little affection as he had for it, it was a feature of the landscape that had been here exactly as long as he had, and that meant something. "So long as you submit your receipts in Galleons. The board doesn't care for sterling, stiff old things that they are." He didn't even take issue with the thought of third-years playing board games in class. "Some of them would do well to be encouraged to university, really. The options straight out of Hogwarts are limited."

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	oakbye 2010-09-20 02:40 am UTC (link)
	Essery was surprised again, but she nodded. "I think university was likely the best thing I ever did. You get to grow into yourself more than I think you would going straight to work right after Hogwarts. My brother and I both went." (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

in_the_grass
2010-09-20 03:26 am UTC (link)

"It can be moderating." There were some who would never consider it at all; he was quite certain it wouldn't have done him any good, as his only interests had been magical. And he didn't see any particular value in letting students loose for a few years to find themselves, but there was value in education for education's sake. He hadn't entered academia for altogether practical reasons. "It's an addition we might consider making to the fifth-year career advice sessions, I suppose. I don't think we ever have, before."

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