Council of the Round Table

This circular room has fifteen easy chair-type seats around, you guessed it: a round table. The upholstery of the seats is naturally gray, but it can be easily charmed a certain color. Like with the dining room, there is no particular seating protocol... but Valerio tends to inevitably take the seat to Tav's left. The table around which the chairs are situated is a dark mahogany. Tile lines the floor in an ornate, geometric mosaic.

Interactive portraits of Albus Dumbledore and Severus Snape, salvaged from the ruin of Hogwarts, line a small portion of the wall. A unanimous vote was made to have a portrait of Headmistress Kiara also featured in such prominence. Whether portraits of the other professors - specifically interactive reminders of loved ones - has not yet been decided on.

((when/if it is, I think we should have the pics on display here! ))

The purpose of the Council of the Round Table is simply that of a conference place to debate and take votes on different, important decisions that would affect them all.

Have an issue to peacefully work out? Need to get something off your chest? Acquired a bit of news important to our cause or came up with a theory to overthrow the purgers?

Come here and tell us all about it!

Val sat at his usual place around the table, in debate with himself over several topics. How far were they to go back, when they were to go back... and then there was the matter of the Vipera Dagger, which he hadn't yet decided on. The Kaminski kids really needed to know about it, but was now the right time? Was there any right time, for that matter?

The matter of time and timing was giving the wizard the start of a massive headache.

And then there was Demyan's trio of ghosts... he had to approach them as well at some point. Though Valerio was all up for lightheartedness and humor, he couldn't help but be a bit disturbed about the rumors having been true. It wasn't a story he'd spread, that's for sure!

The portraits of Snape and Dumbledore could do nothing but look on with curiosity. There really wasn't much of anything to do... watching a man of twenty-eight think was hardly entertaining.

Val ran a hand through his curly blond-brown hair, the other fingering the hilt of the Vipera Dagger absently. "Thanks a lot for putting me in this situation, Dad..." he muttered, his musings always leading him back to a metaphorical Square One. He knew he shouldn't feel quite that resentful, but he couldn't help it. Surely they would ask about the dagger, meaning he'd have to tell them the whole story. Valerio didn't want the images of anyone the kids cared about tainted in any way... though if Viper could be redeemed it'd be a plus. The most Val could do was try, he supposed.

"Lucifer? Lucifer what the hell do you think you're doing?" Maximus asked in hysteria as he followed his older brother along Morpheus Keep. "Oi! You deaf, now? I asked what you're doing! I swear, next time Father can do his own damn ghost-sitting!"

"Shut up, you cretin. I'm trying to concentrate!" Lucifer retorted sharply, his eyes scanning the area intensely, searching. "Can you not sense that?"

Maximus raised a eyebrow. "Sense what?

"Magical energy. Viper magical energy. The air is thick with it!"

Green eyes rolled in irritation. "You do realize that three Vipers inhabit this domain, don't you?"

Lucifer hissed in response. "Not that magical energy, you prick! A different one., an object's!" he stood still for several moments, focusing before his eyes widened in amazement. "The Vipera Dagger!" he exclaimed in breathless delight, eagerly sticking in his head through various walls, searching for the heirloom.

"Impossible!" Maximus breathed out. "Lucifer, you know that dagger is lost, has been lost for years!"

"Not anymore! It's here Maximus, I can feel it! It's near!"

"Are you sure you are not... mistaken?" Maximus tentatively asked.

Lucifer roared in anger. "I bore that dagger for nearly thirty years, fought numerous battles with it. I would know how it feels.

Come to Me... Hearken to Me...

"I-It's calling for me!" he gasped as he sped up , gliding through the walls, finally arriving at a circular room with his brother mere feet behind him, revealing a young man, not even thirty, sitting at the table.

"Vipera..." Lucifer gasped out, his eyes fixated on the weapon, although his mind seemed to block out the wizard it was attached too. "Maximus, observe! The Viper Dagger!" he exclaimed in delight.

"Yes, I see that Lucifer." Maximus nodded, a bit uneasy at the extreme delight lighting his brother's transparent form. Clearly the ghost had missed a rather important detail. One that Maximus deemed necessary to point out. "But who's the bloke wielding it?"

"Maximus, observe! The Viper Dagger!" Valerio heard an unearthly voice exclaim in delight. That snapped him out of his musings quicker than... well, quicker than a lot of things, really. Brown eyes focused immediately on the spectral forms before him.

"Yes, I see that Lucifer. But who's the bloke wielding it?"

The young man blinked in surprise as the two spoke as though he wasn't even there. It was actually kind of funny, since he was tangible whereas they were incorporeal, but he decided not to mention it. Nearly Headless Nick always gave him a hard time when he mentioned it... back when Hogwarts still stood.

Considering what generation they were likely from, Valerio stood to regard the pair. The robes he wore fell away to reveal fully the dagger and its sheath, which was attached to his belt. "You must be the ones Demyan's told... I'd say roughly about a third of us... about. I'm Valerio Addams, his... I guess I'm his substitute Godfather since my dad passed," he offered by way of greeting, adding a slight bow of deference.

"Aren't there... three of you?" Val wondered aloud.

Maximus smiled a half smile in approval of the demonstration of deference. While the girl from earlier had bowed, it meant nothing to the ghosts considering the way she had acted afterwards. That and her ancestry...

"Pleasure." Maximus managed to reply briefly before getting cut off by Lucifer.

"Are you a pureblood?" Lucifer asked the man bluntly, though he kept his eyes on the Vipera Dagger.

Lucifer rolled his eyes. "Lad, just because we're stuck with each other for eternity doesn't mean we have to do everything together. Believe it or not, we do have our own lives!" He sighed. "Father is in the chapel, should any other wish to approach him."

Valerio barely blinked at the bluntness of Lucifer's question, and found it a bit unnerving that this particular ghost seemed fixated on the dagger. He took a moment to consider. "Erm... no. Both of my parents were Halfbloods. The Addamses are an American pureblood family, and on Mum's maternal side it'd be the Mancini family," he explained, all the while musing on how bloodstatus really didn't mean much of anything these days. It never really meant much to him, either...

"Sorry - I just thought that... well, it doesn't really matter I guess..." Valerio muttered apologetically. It made sense, really. The young man mentally cursed what was surely his father's hereditary 'speak now, think later' gene.

"Might I ask how you know about the Viper Dagger?" He sincerely hoped these ghosts weren't old enemies of the clan... for there were technically three remaining survivors of the family here, even though they were born with a different surname. Ghost-busting wasn't really on Val's list of favorite chores...

Lucifer smirked. "I knew it. It's all in the eyes, you know."

"Damn." Maximus sighed. "Are there even any purebloods left? Bloody purgers..."

"Sure, you can ask. There's just no guarantee we'll answer though." Maximus smirked.

"Very well. However, you must first inform us how you came into possession of the Dagger. It is, after all, no mere trinket." Lucifer replied in a dull flat tone. "And also, why you stil have it despite three of the proper owners are on-site, one over-age and another male and near of-age." Eyes narrowed in suspician as the ghost awaited the answer.

'Yeah, I'll give ya it's all in the eyes...' Valerio thought darkly, though on the outside only appeared slightly miffed at what he perceived to be an insult. It took quite a lot to get him or his father truly angry.

"You could try grilling the purgers for their bloodstatus... but I don't recommend it. They hardly give anyone long enough to exchange pleasantries and 'vital' statistics," he remarked with just a slight undercurrent of sarcasm. In fact, if you didn't know how to read Valerio you wouldn't even know it was there.

At Maximus's remark, one corner of Val's mouth twitched upward. "Fair enough. You must be Maximus - Demyan mentioned one of you had a sense of humor he could relate to..."

Blond-ish brows settled solidly over their owner's brown eyes in concern as to why they were so interested in the dagger. "I didn't steal it, if that's what you're implying...

"To make a long, probably sketchy beginning short, I seen Demyan's father with the dagger when I was a boy. It was only months before he married Professor Amaranth Viper. He had the dagger on him when he died at the hands of purgers. They took it, and from what my father was told and assumes they attacked Viper Manor only weeks afterward.

"Though Dad was to be their Godfather, Amaranth took the kids instead to a place where she thought they'd be safer, and then went after the witches and wizards that killed her husband. This dagger -" Valerio paused to gesture to the weapon, "-is what killed her, though she managed to end her battle in a draw. My dad, a friend and mentor of sorts to her that had been near the battle, removed it after she died because she wanted it to go to the kids. So he kept it until he thought they'd be ready...

"Or rather, that's what he intended. A few years later, the purgers got him, too. But dad, he told me that if anything were to happen to him I would be runner-up for his god-parenting duties, which included passing on the dagger. And that's pretty much it," Valerio explained, trying to keep it as concise and unemotional as possible. He did not look for pity: he was just telling it like it was.

"As to why I haven't passed it on, well, have you even seen let alone spoken to all three of them? I can tell you right off the bat that the eldest - Larissa - loathes her mother and anything that so much as sounds like the name 'Viper'. I'm not sure even I can get her to take it. As for Demyan... you've said yourself he's not of age, yet. Far as I'm concerned he can wait just a bit longer...

"...Unless you'd prefer to teach an emotional, highly-touchy, teenage King Cobra instead of a resolved and dedicated boy willing to do whatever it takes to learn what you have to offer?" Valerio's blond eyebrows rose upward, curious to see which side of Demyan they'd rather instruct. He personally seen both sides, and preferred the boy rather than the snake.

"You could try grilling the purgers for their bloodstatus... but I don't recommend it. They hardly give anyone long enough to exchange pleasantries and 'vital' statistics,"

Maximus, dim to the sarcasm woven into the remark nodded eagerly. "Now theres an idea! Lucifer, let's add that to our agenda after educating them all."

Lucifer rolled his eyes. "Sweet Slytherine, is this truly what the world has come to? Having the noblest and purest of families annihilated by Mudbloods? The horror!"

The two listened closely to the tale of how the wizard came into possession of the dagger. It made sense and seemed rather logical. Not to mention that using the knowledge their Mother had bestowed upon them regarding body language, the ghosts were able to judge that by the way the wizard stood and spoke, he was being honest. No matter how harsh the truth was.

"Unbelievable. I'm the second born son, managing to live longer than the first-born and a half-blood gets the dagger before I do!" Maximus muttered to himself with a slight scowl.

Lucifer ignored his brother, acknowledging the entire explanation with a nod. "Indeed. Well then, as the wielder of the dagger, you are aware of course that by having such an heirloom in your possession, you are therefore bound to fulfill duties in the true Heirloom Owners stead, such as managing Viper Family affairs?"

Maximus frowned as he took note of the conversation took a more honest turn, one he did not necessarily appprove of. As inconspicuously as possible, given the circumstances, he directed his brother a few feet farther away from the wizard to have a semi-private conversation in muttered parseltongue.

"What do you think you are doing? You have known him for mere minutes and already you plan on being more honest with him than you ever were with your own wife?!?!?" he hissed. "You could undo everything we have strived to achieve!"

"What choice do we have?" Lucifer more or less roared in anger. "As much as I hate to admit it, he is right. The children aren't ready for the Dagger, meaning the only way our efforts will amount to anything is to inform him on everything. Maximus, I refuse to have bent over backwards, teaching those of impure blood all I know for nothing! I will have my reward as promise and if it means going to another for help than so be it!!!"

Maximus stiffened, slightly unnerved by his brother's outburst. "So be it..." he muttered grudgingly, in English this time before approaching Valerio.

"What do you know of the Vipera Dagger? Other than who it belonged to?" he inquired, wishing to find out if the wizard had managed to discover any of it's magical properties.

Valerio had to resist rolling his eyes upon receiving their blood-related statements. He did really well, all things considered.

"Indeed. Well then, as the wielder of the dagger, you are aware of course that by having such an heirloom in your possession, you are therefore bound to fulfill duties in the true Heirloom Owners stead, such as managing Viper Family affairs?"

"I had a feeling it might be something like that... though I wasn't exactly informed on the particulars," Valerio managed to say before one of the ghosts pulled the other aside for a semi-private conversation.

While he tried not to eavesdrop, the young wizard managed to catch snippets of their conversation. Unfortunately, it wasn't exactly clear-cut sentences but rather the language used. If he really tried to tune them out it almost sounded like hissing, but yet he could make sense of the cadence with which each spoke as though they were doing so in English.

"Not much, I'm sorry to say," Valerio replied when questioned. "I mean, it certainly looks like a family heirloom and is beautifully crafted... and I can almost sense the enchantments on it," he added, pausing to take further inventory on what he knew of this artifact. Unfortunately he came up with almost nothing.

"Just now, though I was trying to not overhear much... I could've sworn for a moment you two were conversing in English. Until I heard the hissing that is... Considering I never learned parseltongue, or anything close to it, I'm going to guess it helps the bearer understand what's being said?"

Maximus nodded solemnly, with an almost pained expression. "Karma indeed!" he muttered shaking his head, mentally rambling on the injustice of it all.

"That is partially correct." Lucifer nodded in forced politeness. "Yes, a heightened understanding of Parseltongue is one of the enchantments on the weapon." he hesitated a moment to gather his courage together befoe adding. "It was always a helpful tool to myself when educating my non-gifted children on Parseltongue." He replied, seeing if his confession would bestow any comprehension on the living wizard.

Valerio glanced to Maximus, but re-focused his attention on Lucifer the moment he detected the faux courtesy. The wizard nodded as he was given the information, though blinked at the revelation occurred to him. A congenial smile spread across his face. "Does he know who you three are? He would so be doing cartwheels down the tunnels if he did... well, okay, that's an exaggeration.

"Either way, that explains Demyan's question..." Valerio replied initially, going from semi-light hearted to seriously and pensive murmuring to himself.

"What must I know to make sure your clan's affairs are managed, sir? Excuse me: sirs?" he asked, correcting himself to acknowledge Maximus as well. "Unless you think Demyan is ready for the dagger? Personally I wouldn't recommend it, knowing him practically since he was born, but you two are his...well, I dunno exact relation but you're his family at any rate." Valerio got the feeling that, with at least the first of the pair, that humor wasn't an often-visited state of mind.

"No! No, by all means do not give it to him! Not yet." Lucifer nodded eagerly in agreement. "He's still a child. Maybe not physically, but mentally he is. And as to our relation, as difficult as it is to admit, well., his mother was my youngest daughter."

Maximus nodded. "And I'm the Uncle. Well, technically for the kid, Great-Uncle."

"However, it is imperative that the boy, or anyone else for that matter, do not find out of the bonds between us." Lucifer instructed Valerio sternly, as though he was warning him of what would happen should his instruction be ignored.

"Although, t'would be a site indeed to see him cartwheeling..." Maximus mused with a rather faraway expression, smirking and chortling at the mental image he received.

Lucifer rolled his eyes at his brother, refocusing his attention on the living wizard. "In regards to clan affairs, well... as difficult as this is to admit... our fate: mine, my brothers, and my father's fate is in your hands..." he confessed with much sulking and difficulty.

Valerio nodded his comprehension, but stayed quiet. He was slightly surprised at the gravity Lucifer was using in regards to how serious their particular situation was. Why all the mystery? he wondered to himself. "I've no problems keeping secrets... I doubt the kids really even know about the dagger, aside from it being an accessory their father kept close at hand," Valerio stated with the same seriousness. "As for anyone else here... they really don't need to know - I can understand that."

At Maximus's comment, though, Val couldn't help but smirk. It would be quite the sight to see Demyan cartwheeling, exaggeration or not. Regardless, to know that the ghosts were his ancestors would surely enthrall him. But, Valerio had already just basically given his word he wouldn't say anything.

Blond brows furrowed in confusion, not quite following what Lucifer was admitting to. Valerio nodded anyway, to at least acknowledge that he would do whatever it was that needed to be done. "Your fate? ...You three are bound to the dagger, then?" he asked, finding such a practice if that was the case rather horrible. While Valerio wasn't too keen on dying, he wouldn't want to be trapped and forever bound to an object in order to cling to some semblance of life. But then again... perhaps that wasn't the case. Neither he or his father knew too much about Viper family affairs.

"What tasks do you require of me?" Valerio asked, sounding more in agreement to do whatever was needed rather than hesitant to comply.

"Indeed." Lucifer nodded in agreement. "Especially considering there are mudbloods running amuck. No, that simply will not do." he muttered.

The ghost hesitated for a moment, contemplating how to best explain the entire scenario as shortly as possible. It seemed the first step was to silence his brother who had opened his mouth to speak. "Our Mother had us swear to protect Larissa, Demyan, and Ethelinda to the best of our ability, our abilities including teaching our knowledge and passing it on to them. Only by doing that shall we fulfill our promise and, well, move on." Lucifer confirmed with a nod. He was rather pleased with his explanation. Short and sweet, revealing as little as possible. Yes, a perfect explanation indeed, he thought.

"See that trinket you have there? By wielding it, only you can hold our oaths fulfilled. So as cliche as it is to admit, our fate is in your hands..." Maximus added irritably, still irked at the fact he had never been able to wield the dagger.

Valerio sighed and attempted to pray for patience without making it obvious. 'They're from an entirely different generation... they can't be blamed for their archaic ideals...' he thought, hoping that logic would infuse patience into his system a bit faster. "We don't judge people by their blood here: we're all refugees more or less, and basically equals," Valerio stated neutrally, without taking offense or fading into submission. It probably would have very little impact on them, but at least his views were made clear and without fanfare. While these two clearly held blood in high regard and Valerio didn't, that did not mean he wouldn't respect those who were his elders. There was no need for hostility, anyway.

Enlightenment dawned on his face at Lucifer's explanation. Admittedly, he still had questions, but some of said inquiries would surely be seen as being nosy. Val was about to ask what this had to do with him and the dagger, when the second ghost added that piece of information. It didn't seem to be that difficult a task, but Valerio was glad he knew about it. He had no idea what it meant to the family to wield the dagger. How could he have known?

"You have my word that I will do so when the time comes. Or one of the kids, if they are ready at that time to wield the dagger," Valerio stated solemnly, nodding to both ghosts that he understood and would comply with his unexpected end of the 'bargain'.

He vaguely wondered with more than a little bit of internal comedy if now was a good time to mention he'd been sorted into Gryffindor. Given the fact that Amaranth Viper was the head of Slytherin, and the family was likely highly loyal to said House, Valerio decided that that piece of information was best kept hidden.

Lucifer shuddered and gagged violently at the thought of his "precious" pureblood descendants being referred to as equals to those of less. Even Maximus winced slightly in response. "Do you mean to insult us with that unjust statement or is that your way of seeking revenge for not being a pureblood like one of us?" the older ghost inquired with an irritated note.

Both ghosts nodded in response to Valerio's statement, though green eyes narrowed slightly. "We'll hold you to that promise." Lucifer replied with a hint of a warning note in his voice."Which child do you intend on passing it unto?"

Maximus listened intently to this portion of the conversation, mentally hoping it would be to the boy. While he had yet to meet the other two Kaminskis, there was something about the kid he rather liked. A certain spunk, he supposed would be the best way to explain it. "What House were you in?" he blurted out curiously. Judging by the lad's appearance, he looked to be one of the older ones and certainly had the opportunity to graduate, if not come close. He hoped it wouldn't be Gryffindor...


Well, no. He hoped it wouldn't be Hufflepuff. But Gryffindor would be nearly as bad!

Valerio had not anticipated such a reaction from either of them, and had to summon pretty much all of his self control not to rise to the responses of the ghosts in a way that would cause this conversation to become any more negative than it was starting to become. "With all due respect, I hold no biases based on pedigree nor have or would I encourage it," Valerio replied levelly. "Besides, last I looked, survival was on the very top of our list..."

"We'll hold you to that promise."

"I'm a wizard of my word," he replied, not particularly intimidated by a glaring ghost. "And as for who I intend to pass it on to, I was honestly thinking Demyan. Between the three, I think he has the greatest love of all things Viper. Lynn - Ethelinda, that is - is a long ways off from being ready to wield it."

"What House were you in?"

Valerio glanced from one ghost-wizard to the next, curious as to how his personal bit of humor came to the surface in the form of a question. However, he couldn't help but laugh slightly. "As if my ancestry alone wasn't upsetting enough to the both of you..." he remarked. Valerio hesitated for about three seconds before answering, "Gryffindor."

"With all due respect, I hold no biases based on pedigree nor have or would I encourage it,"

Lucifer shrugged, clearly unimpressed by the lad's choice to not judge others on blood. "To each their own. Although I daresay, despite being the half-blood you are, you still count as one of the better bloods. Especially as the present is so grim that mudbloods dominate..."

"Besides, last I looked, survival was on the very top of our list..."

"You should try multi-tasking, then!" Maximus replied, snickering wholeheartedly. He mentally cheered when he heard Valerio reply that Demyan was the likely candidate for the Dagger. "Excellent choice! I would have chosen him myself."

Lucifer nodded. "Likewise. At least, assuming he made a few changes in his life..." he frowned.

"As if my ancestry alone wasn't upsetting enough to the both of you... Gryffindor."



Both ghosts groaned audibly in irritation at the reply, though both knew deep down that Gryffindor was a likelihood. After all, Gryffindor did have the poorest reputation when it came to blood purity...

"Damn you, fate!" Maximus pouted in frustration. To the youngest ghost, it seemed as though he never could get a break in life. Or beyond it, for that matter!

"To each their own. Although I daresay, despite being the half-blood you are, you still count as one of the better bloods. Especially as the present is so grim that mudbloods dominate..."

One corner of the young wizard's mouth twitched upward at what he perceived to be about the best compliment he would likely receive from ghosts of their caliber. "Indeed: to each their own," Valerio echoed and once again inclined his head respectfully. He wasn't about to assume that this was a compliment verbally, just in case it wasn't, but at least the deferential nod of sorts said something to that affect.

Despite the nature of what was being implied, Valerio couldn't help but appreciate the humor of Maximus's snickered suggestion. In return he chortled and shook his head very slightly. A slight smile crossed his face at both ghosts' approval, though couldn't help but glance curiously at Lucifer for his comment. Valerio chalked it up to likely being another matter concerning blood, even though he was fairly certain Demyan's was pure. Though, there were times when Val wished the boy's mouth was as pure as his blood was apparently considered. Perhaps that's what Lucifer was referring to, in the event he had come across one of Demyan's foul moments...

Even Valerio tried to steer clear of those particular instances!

While the spectral apparitions were busy groaning, Valerio snickered very quietly. Now, this was a reaction he expected! And yes, even a decade or so out of Hogwarts he still found Slytherins' reactions to truthfully declaring himself Gryffindor to be comical sometimes. Especially when said Slytherins reacted the way these two did. "If it makes you two feel any better, both Lara and Demyan managed to snag spots at the Slytherin table before Hogwarts fell," Valerio informed them with a slight mirth still in his voice. However, it was a very slight undercurrent of amusement.

The ghosts noticed Valerio's gesture of respect, acknowledging it with a slight nod.

"For a half-blood I must say, your manners are fairly decent." Lucifer commented with, half-heartedly offered observation with a ghost's whisper -no pun intended- of a compliment.

Maximus grinned in response to the laughter at his joke. After decades of only him and his kin who never hesitated to tell him to hold his tongue it was quite refreshing to see for once his rather demented sense of humour appreciated. That was the odd thing about the after-life to Maximus. While living, things were always so grim and dark and serious. Pulling any smart alec comments or jokes would get you hexed, or worse, especially when around the dark lord! In the after life, things always seemed a bit more light hearted. Not much more, but enough to be of notice.

Lucifer snorted at the mention of two of his grandchildren following family tradition. "Indeed. But apparently not long enough to be properly schooled in the proper manerisms and way of life." he replied neutrally with not so subtle disapproval.