The Gazebo-Office of Prof. Ethan Addams

Professor Addams's Office... well, Gazebo, really. It sits a little ways away from the Greenhouses, and is surrounded by trees and shrubbery. A subterranean passageway from the castle dungeons leads to a trapdoor covered by an ornate rug. Yes, everyone knows where the passageway is. Charms around the perimeter of the "office" keep out unwanted bugs (but will let in the occasional bee or three... and ladybugs) and keep the space well heated despite the weather outside. Chinese Lanterns charmed to hover about the room come out as if by magic at dusk so long as there is an occupant within. There are a plethora of bamboo wind chimes affixed to hang down from the ceiling.

One will almost always find Ethan here during his downtime... he truly loves his plants, and considers this a choice place for writing. Don't be surprised if you find him sleeping peacefully on one of the guest couches some weekend.

A variety of potted plants and vines can be seen in various stages of their life-cycles. At the easternmost point of the octagonal structure is a lovely, quaint little writing desk of antique cherry, with a comfortable looking swivel-rocking lawn chair, lavishly cushioned and charmed to hover several inches off the floor. A photograph of three children, identical twin girls and a young boy of about 2 years younger, is pretty much the only non-plant-related item of decor that adorns the desk.

Seating for guests looks very much like cushioned lawn furniture. Despite how unappealing the seating appears, those in the know are aware that they too are charmed for maximum comfort.

The small coffee table which the couches surround contains a skillfully-arranged conglomeration of issues of The Practical Potioneer, a scholarly publication (("Look for the name Eli Brewer!")), and Hybrid Magazine: Ethan's own publication regarding Herbology. His literary works, while not all of them new, are also discussed therein due to his hiatus from the writing world. It would seem as though the magazine is run by a man named Dorian Browne, though there are a few that rightly suspect that this is merely a pseudonym used by Addams.

A water cooler with a myriad of nozzles in the shape and color-coding of a rainbow stands against the northern wall. Each nozzle on the water cooler is labeled accordingly:

• Coffee (Select Strength and Flavor)
  
• Pumpkin Juice (Hot, Cold, Spiced)
  
• Tea (Chant Your Choice)
  
• Mint Leaf Dispenser (Mutter your Mentha preference)
  
• Ice Water (Invoke Your Choice of Ice Bits)
  
• Butterbeer (Hot, Cold, Spiced, With Rum, Extra Froth)
  
• Brewer's Choice (State Age of Drinker and Choice of Beverage)

((Note: the Mint Leaf Dispenser is not a beverage choice, but in fact dispenses a mint leaf to add to your drink... and yes, the details in parenthesis can be read by characters. ~_^))


Beside the water cooler is a charming china cabinet with a variety of drinking vessels in it.

Against the west wall is a wicker lounge chair that Ethan refers to as his Thinking and Nap Center. The gazebo-office is accessed from the outside via the south.


Images:
Lounge Chair (a.k.a. the Thinking & Nap Center)

Swivel Rocker (Ethan's Desk Chair)

Writing Desk

Couches (Technically loveseats... there's 2 in the room)

Coffee Table (I know, it says a dining table... but I liked it....)

China Cabinet (near water cooler)

((This is not a double-post... ^_^))


Ethan approached his gazebo-office via the south entrance, carrying with him a rather large, full jar of dirt. The greenery of his office could use a little more, and he was planning to do arrange a few more pots. Between him and the House-Elves, Ethan was certain anything he planted would not go unattended for long. Once he was done with the planting, Ethan wasn't quite sure what he'd do with the remaining dirt. Perhaps he'd charm it to be layered in different bright colors, and the colors could transmute into other ones... similar to but not quite at all like a lava lamp. Either way, the added piece was placed upon the topmost corner of the desk. It was a beautifully-crafted jar, hand-blown in Italy. At one point it had belonged to Laura... his ex-wife... who was part-Italian.

Ethan shoved that thought out of his head as soon as it had arrived. Even after six years, it still hurt. The cheerful, talkative face everyone here had seen thus far hid that ache rather well. No one needed to know it still bothered him, or that a large part of their breaking up had been his fault. It didn't help the anger in learning Laura had been having an affair as well, but still.

Don't go there. Do not go there. ...Get a grip! She's not exactly torn up over your bleedin' not bein' with 'er! She has what she wants... and the kids... what more could she possibly want or need?

With a loud thud Ethan slammed the jar on the desk, though it was hardly enough force to cause it to break. The exertion didn't make him feel any better, though, so he once again crammed the thoughts into a tiny little box at the back of his mind and subsequently piled other thoughts on top if it.

There. You won't be coming out again for a good long while, now... will you?

The wizard just barely over the age of fourty-one then contented himself with reclining in the area he'd dubbed as his Thinking and Nap Center, and lit up one of his herbal cigarettes. In a way he wished he smoked pure tobacco, but he wasn't about to change his ways.

"Never have, never will..." Ethan muttered under his breath, the pale blue paper of a hand-rolled cigarette bouncing as he spoke to himself.

Viper walked towards the Gazebo entrance rather nervously, biting her lip as she moved. In about an hour she was to have a conference with a student's parent. A parent who Viper knew was apart of the Ministry Law Enforcement and would most likely feel the need and have the paperwork to conduct a search of Viper's area using various detectors and spells, making it unwise to be flaunting any of her recently aquired ingredients.

Knocking on the door, Viper waited patiently, hoping her favor wouldn't be too much to ask...

Ethan sighed, the air and smoke from the cigarette released via his nose as well as his mouth. It was odd that back at his place in Tiree all he wanted to do was to get away and write, and experiment with his plants. But, now that he was here at Hogwarts, relaxation and teaching had clearly taken up the bulk of his time when not tending to the various garden spots he'd set up or volunteered to tend.

"Mmm!" he exclaimed with surprised curiosity the moment the knock reached his ears. Immediately Ethan sat up, removed the cigarette from his mouth, waved the smoke away with his free hand, and hid the possibly offending item behind his back. "C'mon in!" he crowed cheerfully, snapping his fingers once as his way of wandlessly and non-verbally opening the door.

At his admittance, Viper entered the door with a smile. "Ah, Ethan. There you are, I was looking for you. Are you free or should I come back later?"

Obviously the wizard was relaxing and Viper knew just as much as the next person that relaxing was a rare, but wholly needed, part of teaching and didn't think it was right to intrude on a colleague's freetime unless welcomed.

"Oh! Viper - for a minute I thought you might've been a student or concerned parent," Ethan sighed with relief and revealed that the hand behind his back contained a lit cigarette he'd been attempting to hide. "Please come in and make yourself at home, in a manner of speaking. My office is your office and all that. I have absolutely nothing pressing at the moment. Least I could do for you taking the time out to see me in your own office," he greeted her with his usual bit of ongoing chatter.

"You can even sit at my desk chair if you'd like. I'm takin' up seating right here, 'f you don't mind that is - never really been the formal type," Ethan added with a stretch as he reclined again on the lounge chair and replaced the cigarette to his lips.

"What brings you out from the semi-aquarium that is the dungeon and its environs, eh?" Ethan rather got a kick out of being able to see the inhabitants of the lake out of certain dungeon walls, hence the aquarium crack and the laugh that soon followed.

"No, thank Merlin I'm neither one." Viper laughed as she entered the office, politely declining his offer to sit down anywhere, opting to stand.

"Actually I have a small favor to ask..." Viper began as she conjured the silver jar which rested the merman's heart, opening it slightly and revealing the contents.

Blond brows rose. Sitting up again, Ethan magically extinguished his cigarette the moment he spied the silver jar, not wanting to corrupt its contents with smoke. It didn't take much of a peek into the container to realize what was inside. ((rofl...xD)) "Merman's Heart, right?" Ethan asked, surprised. "Where did you happen to get that?" His tone was merely curious, far from accusing. After the trouble they could've landed themselves in with their past "herbal transactions" he really wasn't one to be lecturing her on anything. Not to mention that she was no longer his student but a colleague.

"You want me to hide this for you?" Ethan asked wryly, adopting a rather comical look on his face. There was little doubt just by the look in his eyes that he would refuse to offer ingredient sanctuary.

"A swim in the lake." Viper replied in an amused tone, recalling with irony that her trip to retrieve the heart could hardly be called a simple swim.

At Ethan's expression Viper barely fought a laugh, nodding silently. "That would be lovely. I've got a kid's father dropping by my office for a lovely little chat by the fireside. He works in law enforcement so you can guarantee he'll be searching through my things. Do you have a safe spot I can stick this in?" Viper asked, relieved that Ethan was willing to help her.

Ethan's expression turned to one of amusement at the simple reply. He knew all too well the only two ways she could have acquired the... relatively fresh-looking cardiac organ. Neither option was likely to have resulted in an amicable encounter.

As he listened to her dilemma, Ethan was already trying to think of a fairly neutral place where they could stash it. Most of his containers were open-air pots for plants, which would surely dry out the valuable potions ingredient. Prolonged shrinkage within a tiny phial with which to store herbs wouldn't be good for its potion-making properties, either.

That was when he spotted and remembered the jar of dirt upon his desk....

Would that work?

I dunno... certainly big enough though, innit?

"I might," he replied tentatively, not quite sure how she'd feel about his proposition. "With the proper charms, of course... we could keep it right here in me office. Easy to get at, and entirely inconspicuous in the jar over there," Ethan elaborated, gesturing behind Viper to the jar of dirt on his desk. "After all, who's going to look for anything odd in a jar of dirt?" The wizard grinned at the idea. Perhaps a little daft, but it worked for him.

With a barely concealed laugh, Ethan could not help the joke that came to mind. "And please don't tell me the merman's name was Davy Jones..." Mirth drenched the words and dripped from his voice as he said it.

Viper raised an eyebrow. Dirt and sand were neutral compounds so it wouldn't alter or have any effect on the heart. Not to mention it was quite crafty.

Slowly, a smile spread across the witch's face. "I think the sorting hat may have made a mistake with you, Ethan. With thoughts like that you ought to have been in Slytherin!"

She shook her head, amused by his joke. "No, I believe his name was Barbosa. Can't be too sure though, his minions weren't really in the mood for a chat when I snagged the organ." she replied dryly with a smile.

"I'll take that as a compliment," Ethan said honestly and nodded with a grin. "The way I see it, Ravenclaws and Slytherins are be quite similar... and a few nigh interchangeably so. Sometimes I wonder if some of us aren't sorted rather a bit earlier than we're meant to be, though..."

"Hmm... dunno why. It's not like 'e needed it - when you took it, it wasn't like it was still all thump-thumpy, right?" he inquired with a straight face, pretty much oblivious to the fact that his descriptive preference sounded rather comical. This was what he'd really wanted to know: how Viper had acquired it, and if by herself than precisely how so. Not that it was really any of his business.

"And why can't they pick easier, more logical names? Like Hector, for example? A chap could get the mickey taken out of him with a name like Barbossa: 'specially if his mates decided to just call 'im Barbie..." Ethan added with a snicker as he stood and crossed the short distance from the lounge chair to his desk, opening the metal clamp on the jar and separating about a third of the dirt contained within with a nonverbal spell.

((lol, Hector...xD))

Viper nodded in agreement. "True...but to be honest I can't imagine myself being in any other House than Slytherin. And I suppose everyone has other House's qualities in their own way..."

"No, not at all. The bloke was dead by the time I got to it. Problem was, it was the merman king...Who knew the fish-folk could be so sensitive about their dead royalty?" Viper laughed at the memory.

"Believe it or not, I ask myself similar questions." the witch replied as she opened the jar all the way, prepping it for hiding.

((xD))

"Ah, the King-Fish. Had no idea they'd be that way, either... 'xcept maybe its mum," Ethan laughed along with her.

"I suppose every culture needs their plethora of difficult to pronounce names, though..." he commented and watched the witch's every move. Ethan had only heard about merman's heart and read about its proper methods of preparation, but couldn't recall ever doing it himself. It's not like the bloody things grow on trees, he thought, the slightly dark-humored jest withheld for the time being.

Once the heart was safely transferred to its new hiding place, the dirt could be placed on top of it. While he doubted they would need any more, Ethan had plenty more dirt stored in the Greenhouse Six if need be.

"Indeed. They do seem to like their Mummy Dearests." Viper nodded.

"Lucky for us there aren't too many tongue twisting names. Aside from plants and potions ingredient, of course." she mused, thinking of all the five or more syllable names. Using a levitation charm to keep it steady, Viper cast a few protection charms on the organ just for caution's sake.

"You know, I always wondered why Valentine's Day cards depicted hearts in such a different shape then real ones." Viper commented as she levitated the heart closer to Ethan so he could poke and prod at it as well.

"An interesting question... I don't rightly know the answer, to tell ya the truth. Aesthetic value, perhaps?" Ethan suggested with a shrug.

While the handle and care of creature parts was far from his specialty, this was a fascinating find Amaranth had acquired. Ethan was fairly certain she didn't come out of the confrontation unscathed, but wouldn't ask considering that she appeared to be all right now. He was personally thankful that it wasn't freshly taken and still oozing blood every which way - that would have made him sick to his stomach. His threshold for gore wasn't that large.

"If you could remind me, Amaranth..." Ethan began, giving one of the ventricles of the heart a good poke and hiding a wince at the sound of a particularly moist *squish*. "...what is Merman's Heart used for in potion making?"

Viper mirrored his shrug, not knowing the answer herself and satisfied with the answer given.

She pondered for a moment, wondering how to answer his question with as much intelligence as possible. In other words, how to answer a question which answer wasn't entirely sure of. Sighing, she tried her best. "It's difficult to say for sure. Considering how difficult it is to get its not an ingredient used lightly for experimentation. Back at ECHO we had one heart but any use with it took a good three years of paperwork to request a sample.

Considering its properties, however, I'd say it has the potential to mimic another ingredient's abilities. A copy cat, if you will. You take a small quantity ingredient like nymph's tears and attach an extrcact of the heart, you could double the power of the tears in a smaller quantity. Maybe even use the heart's extracts to manipulate the properties in different ingredients to more advantageous ones. The possibilities are endless!" Viper concluded, looking at the heart with excitement.

As Kiara waited for Ethen to return setup the poatches and started to burn the wood with her fire.

Controling her fire and the ashes that came from the wood she formed neat piles and wandlessly tied up the potches.

She was just finishing that Oak...

((Ethan's que ^_^))

Ethan walked into his office carrying a small amount of chestnut branches. He wasn't sure what she needed them for, but he picked five good wand-type lengths. Whatever she didn't need, he would ask her if he could donate it to the wandmakers in Diagon Alley.

Being that he was raised in a mostly-magical family, Ethan was not at all surprised to see a magical fire burning near Kiara. "I wasn't sure how much you needed... perhaps we could donate what you don't use to the wand experts?" he suggested by way of greeting, as though they were merely resuming a conversation they'd been having before they parted company.

Kiara give Ethan a small smile as she finished burning the Oak wood to ash.

"Do what ever you wish to Ethan, it would be lovely though" she said, as she leviated a stick of the chestnut over to her self and a began to burn it as well.

"I suppose you are curious as to what I need this for?" she asked as she magicked the ask to fall in to a neat pile.

"It is for a ash weave to protect Hogwarts, and the people in it...." she said not waiting for him to answer.

"Have a seat Ethan, what I am about to tell you may come as bit of a shock"

"Wonderful! I'm glad you like the idear," Ethan beamed, though was curious about the purpose for the wood that was being burnt. Not that he had anything against wood-burning - not at all!

"Starting to read me like a book you are," he laughed when she asked about whether or not he was curious. Curiosity happened to make up a good chunk of his personality. However, he was slightly confused about this 'ash weave' despite the context in which it had been used.

Brown eyes widened with suspense at what she'd say. "Whoa... one moment, Kiara..." Ethan asked. With a few muttered spells the door was locked, blinds drawn and sound-proofed, and lanterns enough for them to see as though it were daylight sprung to life.

"I've no idea what an ash weave is, other than the context..." Ethan said as he sat down and made a gesture to do the same purely out of habit. "...but if you need to go through all that to fortify the castle then it must be serious." Perhaps slightly ironically, Ethan had chosen to sit at his Thinking and Nap Center: it was a place of informality. This chat didn't seem to be formal, though even if it were he'd still have sat there.

If this was as much of a shock as Kiara claimed it would be, Ethan wanted to at least be comfy...

Finishing with the chestnut she wrapped it in a potch and put the rest if the potches in to her rodes.

"An ash weave is a old brand of magic, very power protection sheild designed to protect things... or people precious to us" she explained she explained as she made her way over to him.

Taking out the scroll she sat in a chair across from him.

"You, and pretty much the whole staff are in very danger, including myself..." she said as she picked up scroll and handed it over for Ethan to see as she continued she explaination.

"There is a organization who call them selves purgers, they are dedicated to wipping out any and all people assosiated with the dark arts. This association could be anything. To being a relative of a dark wizard, having expiriance with dark arts them selves, or simply being firends with one. The scroll you hold in your hands is a partail list if all the people they wish to eliminate. Hence why the ash weave is going to be cast within the hour..." she finished her explination and looked up at Ethan prepareing for whatever is reaction would be.

"Ah, that explains why I've never heard of it," Ethan nodded in understanding. Though the old magics were intriguing, he never really got into it all that much despite the Ravenclaw in him that practically hungered for information.

As Kiara removed a black scroll from her robes, Ethan got the distinct feeling he really didn't want to know what that was for. It didn't have a very pleasant 'vibe'. Quite frankly, the news she had for him wasn't exactly peaches and cream either. The pupils of his brown eyes, initially dilated just a little, had turned to pinpricks the moment the word 'danger' had left the Headmistress's lips.

"Wh-what are you talking about?" he asked a little nervously, taking the scroll. Ethan unrolled it and glanced down to find a list. A list of names... a list of names, written in blood:




Ethan's eyes jumped upward to meet her gaze briefly, wondering if 'Riddle' was in fact her last name. However, as she was still talking, he daren't interrupt.

A long line of Vipers were listed next, though the last two stuck out like sore thumbs to him. Though he didn't really know Dracovan that well, Ethan wondered briefly if Amaranth knew that she and her family were on this list...

Next came the Rosiers... Ethan didn't know them that well, but he did post Professor Eglantine DeLanquar's name upon the list. Odd... he didn't peg her as having been involved with anyone or anything of a dark nature...

The wizard wasn't even going to attempt to pronounce the next clan's names at all: they were Russian - Sevastyan's family. He was a bit more of a believable dabbler than Professor DeLanquar: the man had a dark and brooding air about him sometimes, though was basically congenial enough. Bit better in temper around the women of the staff, it seemed. Perhaps Vastyan was a unicorn in another life... or at least that was Ethan's analysis. As humorous as it normally would have been, the thought did not provide any sort of mirth.

Ethan didn't notice the name he'd overlooked... his own name... and instead moved on to the next one:



Well, given the wizard's age it could be plausible. Especially given how little he knew about the man. A jovial personality really wasn't the best defense for someone's alignment... Ethan knew that from his own dealing with those that dabbled in the Dark Arts of his own past. Not only that, but Horatio seemed old enough to have been alive during the time of both Grindelwald and both reigns of Voldemort... but surely a wizard as advanced in age as he could manage?

It was then that Ethan spotted his own name. Ignoring Horatio's name in between, the wizard glanced at the last name on this partial list and could feel the blood draining from his face:




"What the bloody hell............" he whispered, feeling a numbingly icy chill cascading down his spine.




The gulp Ethan forced his throat to take could be heard by both parties in the room. "I... suppose I must be owing you an explanation, then? After all, only I would know why my bloody name - no pun intended - is on the list..." he said after a moment. It was sort of gruff, the way the words were said; as if he really didn't want to say them.

"What can we do to get these beasties off our backs? Aside from the obvious 'keeling over without a fight' plan, which'll only happen willingly when Hell freezes over?" Ethan asked seriously. Despite his usage of the word 'beastie' he was far from chipper. Nervous, afraid, and cautious was more like it, though.

While he was the chattiest of the group, Ethan's personality did a complete flip when he or someone he cared about was in possible mortal peril...

Kiara saw caught his gaze when he first looked at the list, "Ah yes, Riddle..... yes it is a part of my name. there is a reason why my name is on the top of the list. Voldemort is my cousin on my fathers side" she explained.

Kiara observed Ethan as he read through the list, waiting for him to find his and Juria's name.

At the line,

"What the bloody hell............"

She inclined her head waiting for the info and shock to sink in. At the gulp and the question as to why he was on the list.

"You can explain it if you want Ethan, I doubt what ever you did to get on it you deserve to be hunted down and killed for it. Not many people on that list that is alive deserves to be killed" she said.

"As for what you can do to get them off your back... not much. Once your name is on that list the is nothing you can do to have it removed. Even is they wanted to remove you they couldn't. Not even death can remove you from it. The only way a life will be speared if they get something more valuable in return. And the deal will need to be made before that person becomes a target. Once someone is targeted the won't go after anyone else. Or it will put a spot on their record... So if you think of a solution for that one let me know... I am still trying to figure that out."

"This is a very dangerous situation we are all in here Ethan, the purgers are not idiots I had the "pleasure" of meeting a team of them a few days ago... it was not pleasant"

"Ah, I see," he replied distractedly when Kiara provided background info on her last name. Ethan hardly seemed judgmental, but there was a flicker in his eyes at the mention of the Dark wizard's name. What precisely that split-second emotion was, was hard to tell.

"Hardly... a fine or two perhaps, but... not an execution," Ethan replied, his voice oddly distorted with a repressed hysteria. The wizard cleared his throat before continuing. "I... erm... had a business in the less-than-savory aspect of herbology. Growing and making some rather icky stuff that a simple bezoar wouldn't be able to cure. Given that information I doubt you really need a description on the kinds of clientele that came to call...? Laura... never knew... though I imagine she began to suspect after a time."

Saying his ex-wife's name made him come up with something he really didn't want to contemplate, but he had to. Ethan scanned the list again for a Laura Amello or a Laura Addams, but found none. "Damn - we could really use the full bloody list... what if Laura and the kids are on it?! Practically everyone else is... even Juria!" Behind the lenses of his glasses were a pair of panicked brown eyes. It tore at his heart to know that the woman he was starting to fancy was also marked for death...

"Oh, I can tell they're not idiots, Kiara... not just anyone will write a list of names in blood no matter whose blood it is," Ethan replied automatically, voice acquiver but not going far beyond his normal octave range. There was a brightness in his eyes as he said it, a mix of worry and negatively excitable panic.

"H-how did this all start? I've not noticed creepy stalker-type people on and about before. Even Merlin knows I've lived quite soundly by me lonesome in Tiree for some time now..."