The Fountain

"True, true. Faith in a job completes it. Speaking of muggle inventions, I have always been fascinated with all of their computer devices. Have you a computer? I brought one with me to Hogwarts, keep it to keep in contact with my muggle research friends... faster than owls..."

"Forty-one! Good gracious, you have excellent health then, my dear sir. Good diet, I assume. I'll keep the pup idea in mind, sounds perfectly sound to me, eh my dear?" He asked, looking at Eglantine. She wondered briefly if Professor Addams knew that Horatio had been referring to a person as the "cat"...the nerve of him calling her that anyway, she thought.

"Indeed it is." She responded to his question about the Triwizard Tournament. At his 'not biting' comment, Eglantine raised an eyebrow. Speech was something given to muggles and wizards alike to treat as a means of communication; and Eglantine was a firm believer in only using said communication to say what was needed. Horatio apparently had no such convictions. He chuckled softly.

"They are a bit quiet, but both charming and polite, I assure you."

Kiara nodded to the Triwizard Tournament question "Yes it is being held here this year, the Headmistress of Beauxbatons is here in fact" Kiara said.

She wasn't sure how Madam Lashanra and Ethan would get along how ever. She doubted they would knowing Lashanra and her aditude. As well as the fact Jazzy seemed to be a constain compaion to Ethan.

No they would not get along... she concluded.

"I do, actually: a laptop. The battry power or whatever the thing runs on in the Muggle world is supplied instead by magic. The only thing I never really understood was the whole 'crashing' business: it doesn't go anywhere, yet Muggles are always complaining of computer crashes. Best I can figure is it's one of those jargon terms. And why isn't there side-loading? You can upload and download, but you can't side-load?" Ethan replied and went off on his own tangent.

"Do either of you own a computer, ladies?" he asked, being true to his silent vow to ensure they were included in the discussion.

"Why, thank you! I'm not so sure on the diet part... but between the herbs, a transportable garden, and a great deal of fish and poultry... not to mention the constant moving from place to place and continent to continent... I'd say life's treated me quite well. I've been a resident of Tiree - an island in Scotland - for near four years now, though I was born in America. Where might you all be from?" Ethan discreetly shifted his weight from one foot to the other.

"Oh, is she? I should probably her ask if a Laura... I have no bloody idea what she's using for a surname these days... has asked about enrollment options. Ah, sorry: rambling," Ethan mused aloud.

Noting Eglantine's raised eyebrow at approximately the same time as Horatio chuckled, Ethan gathered that humor apparently didn't visit Professor DeLanquar very often. Professor DeLanquar, plus comical figures of speech, equal very bad idea... he made a mental memo.

"Side-load? Hmm, I never thought of that, interesting question. Perhaps muggles find up and down more interesting that sideways." Horatio stated, his mind already wrapping around the question and wrestling with it. Quite curious by nature, he was a man who needed to answer as many questions as he could... of course he had already learned to stop prying into a certain fellow professor's affairs. Eglantine was a very private person who barely allowed herself to be curious about things. She believed if it had nothing to do with her, then it was meant to be left alone. Horatio had no concept of leaving things be... at least not that he was aware of.

"I do not own a computer." Eglantine murmured. She had when she had lived with her husband and worked at a muggle university. But that was a long time ago.

"Oh, I'm from Dysart, wizarding area of course, not the muggle one. Though on occasion I visited. Its a town here in Scotland, nice and cozy. Of course I haven't seen it in about sixty years, maybe more. Time is fluid they say. If you haven't a bucket and a careful eye, it slips away." He placed his pipe into his mouth again, which he removed to speak and puffed out several cartwheeling smoke mice.

"Originally my family is from Ireland and Scotland. But we also have very close ties to Germany." Eglantine offered. Horatio blinked.
"I didn't know that, my dear. No wonder you speak Gaelic and German. Careful Ethan, if you ever anger Professor DeLanquar. She speaks a good forty languages, I'm sure and can send you to hell and back with any of them that she pleases." He winked at her and she looked away, slightly exasperated.

"hmm I used to own a computer when I was a kid at the rear moments I lived at my mothers house. An old slow thing with dial up internet..." she mumbled.

"I have lived in England all my life, made visits to germany and france but that is it. Although I do believe my Mother was Canadian originaly when she met my father. never been there though. I can understand french, can't speak it very well though" Kiara said tring to gettin to the converstion,

"I suppose you have a point there," Ethan nodded reasonably to Horatio's hypothesis. He almost made a comment about diagonal directions, but decided amongst himself that 'diagonal-load' clearly didn't sound right even to him. Little did Ethan realize that the older wizard was just about as curious as he was. It seemed the two would be taking several moments to combat the question on their own planes of thinking.

"Ah! Another 'up' reference!" Ethan exclaimed the moment Kiara had completed her train of thought on the topic. "Muggles certainly are forward thinkers with all of this 'up' business, aren't they?!" His voice was happily animated.

"Dysart... I may have been there once. Lovely place. And I have plenty of buckets... it just so happens they're full of plants at the moment," Ethan remarked, the smile on his face clear he understood the older wizard's bucket remark yet supplied his own for the sheer sake of humor, or rather an attempt at it. Professor Addams blinked a couple times with interest at the smoke mice: he'd never seen anything quite like that before, and it showed. Not that he hadn't seen someone smoking or hadn't smoked, himself. It was just he never really gave much thought into conjuring different shapes with it. Apparently, neither had anyone else he'd hung around. Boy, must I have been in a dull crowd, Ethan silently wondered in amusement. He rather liked this Horatio McKevin chap.

When Kiara and Eglantine mentioned where they were from, Ethan's blond head bobbed to show he understood and found this all highly fascinating. Even the glasses upon his nose twitched lightly in time with the movement. At Horatio's comment, Ethan couldn't help but smile congenially. "I shall endeavor then to stay within the lady's good graces," he remarked with a semi-flamboyant bow. The thing is: had he meant one 'lady'... or 'ladies'? "It would hardly do any good for me to be making enemies out of potential friends..."

"So... have the delegates from Beauxbatons and Durmstrang already arrived then? I'd read in the Prophet that there had been a change of plans due to a .... er.... sticky situation at the initial host school," Ethan asked the group at large, attempting to keep the conversation alive and, as he would put it, 'peppy'.

Kiara laughed in relate to the up and down joke about the computers, she never though about that...

She looked a Ethan rather amused with how he reacted to Horatio's sence of humour. Eglantine of the other hand she could almost see rolling her eyes.

At the mention of the triwizard tournament Kiara nodded "Yes they have arrived ....and yes drumdtrange was supposed to hold it this year. but a student died at the hands of a professore there so that is why hogwarts is holding it now" kiara explained.

"Well, muggles do attempt to work upwards, no doubt they attempt to fit a feeling of up into their daily lives. Strange isn't it how quickly computers took off in the muggle world. One day nary a soul used one and then the next day, they were every where like a bunch of newly hatched crickets." Horatio puffed a long draw from his pipe to accommodate his next smoky creation, a replica of Hogwarts castle, fairly well crafted even to the banners.

He spent his free moments or bits of free time coming up with new smoke creations he could puff out with the right spells and effort. So far the only person who had not seemed the least bit impressed with his smoke work was Eglantine.

"Yes, it is a lovely place. Or at least it was last time I saw it. Places change though. I may have to visit one of these days." Horatio stroked his beard in thought. Most likely the muggle part of the town had modernized... but the magical part was probably still the same.

Eglantine did not look at all amused by either Ethan's comments or his bow. Horatio on the other hand smiled and nodded in agreement. "Good idea."

"And speaking of the Beauxbaton's delegates... You'd best be on your guard when it comes to the Headmistress. She is practically a Count Dracula in a skirt and heels." Horatio became serious so quickly at the mention of the student death at Durmstrang that it was as if someone had turned a page on his face.

"Most unfortunate events from what I hear. Can you imagine a teacher killing a student in a damned attempt to bring Voldemort back from the dead! I can't see why we even let Durnstang continue to teach their dark arts."

The bobbing of Ethan's head did little to straighten the messily-arranged locks of hair. "Indeed, indeed, professor! And they've made them portable - and still without a single spell or magical aid whatsoever! One indeed must give them some credit for their achievements," Ethan agreed pleasantly.

"It would seem you have a great deal of artistic talent, sir," he offered, clearly impressed by Horatio's talent. "In all of my years never did me or me mates ever think of attempting to create such works of art from smoke! Then again, some of the blighters were remarkably lazy," Ethan laughed reminiscently. "You'd honestly think, if the Sorting Hat's Song were taken lit'rally, that Hufflepuffs would have the best work ethic. Not those gents! Those were the days..."

Ethan wasn't sure whether to laugh or not at Horatio's assessment of the Beauxbatons Headmistress, so settled for a tentative chuckle. "I'll be sure to keep a weather eye open. Dracula, you say? Hmm..." he remarked, though left it at that out of respect for Professor DeLanquar whom - Ethan was fairly certain - was likely a former employee and possibly a good friend. Plus he hadn't exactly met the woman in question yet.

Another reason for his lack of a multitude to say was due to hearing about the death of a Durmstrang student. "Simply dreadful business... I agree. Who would want to be so reckless as to kill a student? Regardless of the goal? I admit even the most docile sprouts can get a little unruly, but really that was surely uncalled for - unimaginable!

"And that is a mystery, this, isn't it? I suppose the Dark Arts is what makes Durmstrang unique... not that I condone such a thing of course. I'd rather feed meself to a manticore before sending any man's lad there..." All during this speech, Ethan appeared rather serious and sincere about his views on the topic.

Kiara couldn't agree more with Horatio's creative method of dealing with the smoke, and was thankful for it. If he didn't they would not have such plesant converations. They would be much to painful.

Kiara laughed at the discription of Lasharna, she didn't particularly like the woman and she knew the feeling was mutual.

"Don't let her called her that, she'll hex you from here to the astronomy tower if you let her" she said remembered in the attempted hex the french woman had cast on her for the slytherins prank on her daughter.

At the mention of Drumdtrange Kiara pipped "Someone reckless enough to want to bring Voldemort back, I attemted to inform the ministry of it before any students were killed. They were however to late"

In reguard to her opinion on Drumstrange teaching Dark arts she simply said "Perhaps they believe understanding the dark arts it a good defence against it."

"Why thanks you, Ethan." Horatio bowed, quite pleased that the younger man enjoyed his talents.

"Yes, I would be careful to not say such things to her face. Though she hardly frightens me." he chuckled. "I have a good 50 years of experience on her after all." he stated, jokingly.

Eglantine kept her face neutral at the mention of Voldemort, but had to almost bite her lip to remain that way. Despite the fact that the Dark Wizard was no more, she still disliked speaking about him or hearing other speak about him. It reminded her who Edwin truly was and frightened her to no end about what he could possibly become.
"Understanding the dark arts allows them to deceive themselves into believing it can be defended against." she stated, softly.

Kiara nodded to Eglantines statment "I believe you are right, I truely don't understand the reasoning behind the dark arts class at drumstrang. And teaching it to students isn't something I understande either. I hieghtends the risk of them exploring to deep. Nothing good comes from that........" she said.

"All of these thoughts have merit," Ethan declared, agreeing with both ladies yet remaining the proverbial fiddler on the roof in this matter. While he was not a practitioner of certain Dark arts, he did have a few figurative skeletons in the closet. "It is indeed a shame when a student decides to take things too deeply in regards to such a subject. I myself am the believer of being aware of both sides of the fence, but I would surely not offer it until the sprouts have at least grown out of the terrible teens, as it were."

Horatio nodded along with Ethan's statement. "Indeed all have merit. And I have never heard it so rightly put, my good man. It is wise to allow children to make a choice by teaching them the good and the bad...in a way that they can view both for what they truly are." He glanced at his muggle watch, which was beeping. "Ah, so sorry. Time for my daily tune-up. It was a pleasure meeting you, Ethan and speaking with you, Kiara." He bowed, to each and kissed Kiara's hand.

((different timeline))

Ana wandered aimlessly, noticing a fountain and making her way towards it.
She hadn't expected her father to react so badly...
But that only made her more determined to prove him wrong.
She sighed. You bend one tiny little age restriction and suddenly everyone hates you.

Miranda walked through the Hogwarts Gardens in an effort to clear her head and relax herself. Her mind filled with thoughts and worry for the youngest champion and what lay ahead for the young girl. She gave a small start when she noticed said girl by the fountain.

"Hello," she greeted pleasantly.

Ana snapped out of her thoughts upon hearing the greeting.
"Hi..."
She had no idea who the speaker was, but at least she wasn't yelling at her...yet.

"Are you Ms.Vaight?" Miranda asked gently, not wanting to startle the girl or cause any defensiveness to emerge.

"Yes." Ana replied, slightly warily.

Miranda smiled kindly in response, extending her hand. "Miranda Maecer. I've just started working here at Hogwarts. It's a pleasure to meet you, Ms.Vaight."

Ana shook the extended hand, smiling slightly. "You too..."

Lightly, and with caution, Miranda added. "I'm the new school counselor. I'd like to speak with you a moment, if that's alright..."

"Is this about the triwizard?" Ana asked, voice and face expressionless.

"No, not necessarily. In fact, we don't even have to talk about the tournament."

"Okay..." Ana frowned slightly, wondering why the counselor wanted to talk to her.