.: EVENT; History of Magic Class ::

[Rea Fines]

Rea walked into the History of Magic class to see it was already packed. She was not wholly surprised as it had now been a week since the murder and she thought that it was getting a bit out of hand how some people were missing class under grounds of compassion for the Mark family death.

Rea crossed the room sighting Alex and came to sit in the seat just in front of him, most of the others were full by now and Rea knew there could not be many more people to come.

[Shane Moonraker]

Shane had been standing outside with the others, though when they all forwarded in he was paying attention to a crack in the wall outside. He had been so engrossed in something so simple that by the time the rest of the class was already in the classroom, he was still following the crack with his eye. It made a really interesting pattern right up the wall, and when Shane went to follow it onto the roof, he looked down to see everyone was gone.

He scrambled into the classroom and immediately located the other Saphricorn’s. He wondered where Jay Rastan might be though knew also that the boy had been acting very oddly lately. He wondered if perhaps there was more to Jay’s strange attitude then he had previously thought there might be.

He had been told that Jay went to the duelling competition, though he found it strange that Jay did not actually compete, this made absolutely no sense. Shane knew he was a pure blood and a bit of a show horse, and so Jay would definitely suit the character of someone who would be a champion in the duelling arena. Or at the very least someone who would like to show off his talents for all intensive purposes.

Shane had been considering this for a week, and had come up with the realisation that it was always possible that Jay could have slipped out during a duel. Everyone would have been paying attention to the duel and he would not have meant anything to anyone. None of Jay’s friends were with him at Blood Lust as none of them were pure blooded and so he could have easily slipped out without being noticed. Shane knew that if Jay wanted to sneak back to the castle, he could have.

Shane also knew that Jay had returned from the duelling with Lady Saphricorn. He knew this could have been organised by simply going back to the duelling after the murder was performed. And coming back to the castle later on with Lady Saphricorn at his side would have meant that he would never be a suspect. It was so clever, and so possible.

Shane had not mentioned any of this to his friends though. It wasn’t something he liked to do, going around the castle accusing people of having anything to do with any murders in the castle, but the evidence was mounting and Shane did not know how much longer he could keep his mouth shut.

He came to sit near Tye and Mariana and contemplated this further while he waited in silence

[Andreas Mark]

Being able to hear people’s thoughts was both a gift and a curse. While Andreas could turn it off at will, and indeed had through the course of the week. He had found that more and more people had nothing better to think about then the death of his brother. Andreas’ parents had been concerned about how quickly Andreas seemed to get over the murder after his little blow out at the scene of the crime. Though in the week pursuing it, Andreas found that he could concentrate on nothing, and so went back into old habits to try and get his sanity back.

This meant his school work.

Andreas had returned the school the night before in secret. No one had seen him arrive and Lady Ameraid had had the sense to say nothing stupid to him, like offering for him to confide in her if he ever needed someone to talk to. She seemed to understand that he just wanted to move on, though the thoughts of a thousand students, focusing on the death of his brother pained him more and more as moments past. He had only been back in the school one morning and he was already so overwhelmed by the school’s reaction that he was thinking of nothing else.

The thoughts of the boy, who entered the class in front of him, were interesting ones. He believed his own friend was capable of murder. Is this what the school had become in a week. Casting aside friendships in the wake of an unknown killer. All the same though Andreas thought there was some logic in the boy’s thoughts and made a note to look up this Jay Rastan sometime. Andreas’ skills of reading minds were quite perfect, and if Jay Rastan had anything to do with his brother’s death, he would know soon enough, and retaliate appropriately.

He took his seat as far away from everyone as he could before shutting down his thought reading. He wanted to focus on the class, and there would be a buzz of noise floating in the air at the mere presence of him. This was, after all, his first class since returning to the school.

[Barnak Pengryffin]

Barnak paused for the briefest moment in the doorway of the classroom: it was full of Emerindyls and Saphricorns. The very thing that could ruin your day.

He glanced at the teacher's desk and found his own head of house standing there. He had been oblivious as to any change of staff, but then again he had been as oblivious as possible to any changes lately... The presence of Lord Ruberagon, as well as that of another Ruberagon in the class, eased Barnak's mind. He went and sat just far enough from Lucius to be polite, feeling comforted by the darkness and vaguely hopeful that this class would be more interesting than it had previously seemed.

[Romulus Silvia]

Romulus arrived unable to focus on hsi studies. So many things had been happening today and most of them surrounded things he had interest enough in to be bothered. He saw at once that the class was being run by the Ruberagon head teacher and wondered for a moment what the hidden agenda behind this staff change was. There was always a hidden agenda regardless of what anyone thought. That;'s what made life interesting.

He sought out a chair in the classroom far enough away from Lucius to show that he had no interest in sitting with the other Ruberagon's. He dropped his bag on the desk in front of his chair and said nothing more while he waited for something slightly more interesting to occur.

[Lakasha Shocanis]

Lakasha walked into the classroom suspiciously close to the time that Romulus had arrived. At least she knew it would be seen as suspicious by Lucius and for that she would need to ensure it did not happen too many times. She moved in the direction of Lucius and sat a little closer to Lucius then perhaps Barnak had thought was comfortable, but then she was female and so she not bound by the laws of respect and masculinity as she was sure he was. Even though he was scarcely more then a boy.

She sat in her chair quietly noting that no one else in the room was speaking or making a noise. She watched Romulus take his seat on the other side of the room and knew what was meant by it. Though this would be no surprise to Lucius; Lakasha was sure of that at the very least. She looked around for Jessica and saw she was not present, though likewise she could also see that Natalie was not present, she wondered if there was more to that.

[Lord Rubeus Ruberagon I]

Lord Ruberagon waited quietly as his class arrived. He didn’t really approve of the way a lot of them wore their uniforms and made a point to later bring up standards of conduct with the Headmaster. In day’s when Rubeus had more of a hand in the school no student would dare convey themselves in uniforms as shabbily worn as the kind he now saw before him and he was already grading these heathens with dismal marks in his own mind.

“Silence is to be maintained throughout the length of time this class is being held,” he started speaking looking up at his students as he did. He knew he did not need to introduce himself, they all knew who he was, and surprisingly (they might have thought) he knew each and every one of their names. “You will speak only when spoken to or when you are called upon to give an answer – there will be no foolish hand raising in this class – if you are not directed to speak, you will not, any whom break this rule will find themselves spending their weekends cleaning the scum from the unused dungeons – do I make myself clear?” he expected the computed reply of ‘Yes Sir,’ from his students and knew he would not be disappointed.

“I know a great many things have occurred recently that some of you might wish to speak about-“ he then added very quickly, “However you are not permitted to speak, and so these things are to be pushed from your mind, if you do not understand anything or you have any questions, there will be opportunities presented to you throughout the class, should you choose to utilise these opportunities your questions will be answered,” he continued also with, “A question from a student will be answered by myself alone, if you already know the answer yourself; feel smarter but keep your mouth closed,”

He stood slowly from his chair and prowled back and forth in front of the blackboard while he considered the approach for today’s lesson, “Forget anything you think you know about Koalingo Academy and when it was first opened, and most of you probably know the version that people have read in books, the version that was approved for publishing by the Ministry of Magic,” he said as he looked down at a student in the front row, always calculating this kind of student, who on earth would voluntarily sit in the front row. It seemed strange to him and was a motive for suspicion at the very least.

“Koalingo Academy was first opened in the year 1788 the same year when modern day muggles arrived on what was once the worlds last known entirely magical communities,” he said as he continued to pace back and forth, the chalk on the chalk board had sprung to life and was taking notes, “The castle itself, as you might know, belongs to me,” he stopped moving and looked at all of his students when he said this, he wanted to make that particular piece of information quite clear.

“I was minding my own business when I was approached one evening by a very loud and rude knocking at the door:

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The fire was crackling at the far end of the cavernous study. The study itself was filled with many books piled here and there on desks that had never been used but were of very fine quality. A tray of food lay cold and untouched on one such desk beside a man bent over a scroll peering at it through a magnifying glass. He was speaking in a low volume that was scarcely more then a whisper and might have been misconstrued as a chant of one did not listen closely enough. The firelight danced across the high ceilings, the intricate designs plastered onto the cornice cast their own shadow into the more secretive parts.

The weather outside was rather ordinary. It had been a disgustingly cold winter and the lack of rain and snow had cast questions as to why it had so far been such a harsh June. Rubeus, the Lord of the Ruberagon family and final living descendant looked up from his reading as a rude sound interrupted his private silence.

“I see, it is you,” he said before turning back to his reading. The door opened without the handle moving and in walked a man looking much younger then the Lord Ruberagon. He was clad in an emerald green travelling cloak and looked pathetically happy considering the weather he had just travelled in to arrive at this point. “It is customary to knock at the door of the house rather then letting yourself in and knocking on the door of my study,” he grunted before a moment of silence past he added, “How did you get past my goblins,”

“Employing Goblins Rubeus, what on earth must I think you mean by it?” Elwyn Emerindyl moved through the room and allowed the door to shut behind him, he did not seem to notice the temperature in the room was stiflingly hot compared to the corridor just beyond. And if he did, it didn’t seem to effect him in the slightest. The silence that followed his entry was then punctured by the returning whispers of the Lord Ruberagon as he continued with the scroll in front of him, totally ignoring the interruption.

“Fair enough, I cannot say I expected much more,” Elwyn said as he gestured politely and a chair appeared for him by the fire. He sat in the chair without a further sound and proceeded to look directly at Lord Ruberagon as if he had nothing better to do in the world. He even did not follow the usual procedure of looking around the study in wonderment as most did.

“Well what do you expect, you bring out House Elf reforms and suddenly we have to pay for help, why then would any of us bother paying for sub standard services,” Lord Ruberagon muttered in the guttural sound of a voice so far aged that it didn’t have a lot of time left in the world.

“I have found the services of the elves in my employ to be anything but sub-standard,” Elwyn replied in a sincere voice that was neither challenging nor rude. It bothered Lord Ruberagon how Elwyn always managed to disagree with someone without giving them reason to dislike him.

“Of course!” Lord Ruberagon barked without taking his eyes from his scroll, “They have served the family Ruberagon for a long time, they are well trained,” he said still looking at his scroll stubbornly. In truth he had lost his place the moment the door had opened and had been reading through to try and find it again.

“Twenty-third line down, begins with ‘and he shall find everlasting life’ and so on,” Elwyn said knowing exactly what the Lord Ruberagon was studying, having read the scroll himself many times in the course of his own life, “But surely you understand that I have not come here to discuss house elf reforms with you, Rubeus,”

Lord Ruberagon looked up outraged. He liked it less and less these days when some thought they did not need to address him via rank and family name. Ruberagon was a proud standing name for all recorded history and while Rubeus himself might disagree with the actions of his forefathers, the name was still very dear to him, and his title even more so.

“If you were not a Lord yourself, I would slice out your tongue with my thumb nail,” Lord Ruberagon growled at him in a low rumble that challenging the howling wind outside.

“I don’t doubt that, Cassius Malaki came into the Wizengamot with the most outrageous claims that his ears kept springing to life, expanding and slapping him in the face for hours on end whenever he tried to sleep, he was in a terrible condition according to the medical report he presented as evidence, you wouldn’t know anything about that of course?” Elwyn said politely as he maintained his pose upon the chair while the fire reflected from the gold pattern on leg of his cloak.

“You shouldn’t wear that mask Elwyn, its unbecoming of someone as subtle as you,” Lord Ruberagon rebutted, mentioning nothing of any such curse he might or might not have put on that slimy little worm Malaki whom had approached Lord Ruberagon with the ludicrous request that he lease that castle to him that Ruberagon owned in the mountains, he had said he planned to turn it into a hotel for imbound magical tourists. Lord Ruberagon thought this was very unlikely the true use Malaki had in mind and cursed him out of his home – and apparently into hospital.

“This same argument, Rubeus? You know I am older then you why do you act so indignant on my appearance, if I am to live forever I might choose the appearance I wish to maintain for said period of time,” Elwyn said to him as even now his face altered slightly from that of a twenty-five year old man to a fifty-five year old man, “See I still look younger then you do,”

“What do you want!?” Lord Ruberagon barked in outrage. The youthful bantering of Lord Emerindyl disgusted him; a man who was older then old before Rubeus was even born and now apparently so much younger. It was unnatural.

“You know what I want Rubeus, I have been writing you for a year,” Elwyn said to him now in a much more serious voice.

“You all want it, well you know what, none of you can have it, it is mine, and it always will be” Lord Ruberagon spat

“It will not,” Lord Emerindyl said to him maintaining a stern look upon his face, “You know it will not, one of the curses of my position is the knowledge that all around me will pass and be replaced, just as you will be, though you have no heir,” it was a harsh reality, but a reality nonetheless.

“Koalingo Manor was not meant to stand an empty hall for the remainder of time, and when you pass it will fall into the ownership of the Ministry of Magic unless you name it to someone,” Elwyn said to him as he stayed in his seat. His voice was still level and he had not raise the volume of his words one decibel.

“I never pictured you as much of a vulture Emerindyl,” Lord Ruberagon’s growl eased up a little and his voice became clearer. It surprised himself as much as it might have surprised Lord Emerindyl; except that it apparently did not surprise him at all.

A moment of silence past where Lord Ruberagon raised his hands before his face and stared at the wrinkle-free surface, “What is this?” he said with some sound of horror in his voice.

“It is a proposition,” Elwyn said to him and quite suddenly without a hesitant moment, his chair was in position opposite Lord Ruberagon at the same table, it even surprised Lord Ruberagon how fast Elwyn had been, “Help me prepare the new generation for what is ahead,” he said to him as Lord Ruberagon reached for a looking glass and stared into the wonder it reflected. “You know what is coming to our world,”

“Muggles,” Lord Ruberagon growled in disgust.

“I don’t care if you disapprove, but it is coming, and the next generation need to be prepared for it, the future has caught up with us,” Elwyn stepped away from the desk. His chair had disappeared without Lord Ruberagon noticing, “It is up to you whether or not you decide the future is your business,” Lord Emerindyl closed the door behind him as he left. Lord Ruberagon looked back into the looking glass. But the wonderful reflection he once gazed into had returned to that of the old man he knew he was. He grunted in disgust and cast the looking glass aside.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“A week later, I was standing at the front of the school with three women and our friend Headmaster Emerindyl, handing over the keys to the golden gates,” he said as he leant back in the armchair he had drawn up while the class was lost in story, “Any questions?”

[Rea Fines]

Rea listened to the professor tell them about something she knew had occurred long before she or even her parents had even been considered as a possibility. She was interested in the discussion as she never really understood how Lord Ruberagon managed to share Headmaster Emerindyl's longevity when she knew it was only Lord Emerindyl whom had, what she had come to believe, was a sort of pact with some being far greater then her scope of understanding. She also found it interesting to think of Lord Ruberagon as a shrivelled old man when he appeared anything but old or weak now.

Shedecided she had no questions though, she was eager to continue listening and so did as much and nothing more.

[Lucius Sinister]

Lucius listened to the story with wrapt attention. He had heard nothing of the inner workings of how the founders came to be… er… acquaintances. He never really thought of Lord Ruberagon and Lord Emerindyl as being friends, and this gave him an insight he never thought he would have. It was almost as if something had been told to him that he was never supposed to know. Lucius could not have been paying more attention.

As he listened he was making mental notes for later. He would not be so rude as to take notes, as he was sure it would never make it into an exam that Lord Emerindyl bribed Lord Ruberagon with life to allow him to use the castle as a school. Lucius Sinister was vastly aware of course that the deed to the Manor was securely locked in a safe at his own home as he had inherited it when Lord Ruberagon was declared dead. He had never asked for the deed back. Perhaps he was waiting for Lucius to just give it to him, or maybe he thoughts he didn’t need the deed and that the castle was beyond such trivial things as pieces of magically and legally binding paper.

[Mariana Torrenne]

Mariana paid as much attention as she could, though it was difficult to maintain focus when the happenings of history seemed so story-like tat for a moment she thought she had actually slipped into the past to see it as it happened. This was why she liked history of magic so much, it seemed almost as if the professor was simply telling them a story, and by doing it that way, she would remember it whenever it needed to be recalled upon.

One thing she didn’t understand though was how he had said three women. It was common knowledge that the school only had four founders. Though Professor Ruberagon had said to forget about anything they knew and to listen to what he was now telling them; perhaps there was something in this that he was about to reveal. She thought about questioning it, though decided not to; believing he would prefer she remained silent.

[Barnak Pengryffin]

Barnak had always considered history to be exactly where it ought to be: in the past. He had fallen asleep in most of his early history classes, and been soundly whipped for nodding off as his father related parts of his own family's past. This was, however, a very non-standard history lesson and, when the Professor asked if there were any questions Barnak had to try to order his appropriately so that they didn't all come out in a garbled stream of enthusiasm.

His hand rose slowly into the air.

As Lord Ruberagon's eyes settled on him he brought it down just as carefully and tried to ignore the deafening silence of the enthralled classroom.

"Why was it so necessary that Koalingo Manor be the site of the school? And... and how might one find it possible to control physical age as you describe?"

[Romulus Silvia]

Romulus was paying well enough attention to the professor, though he could not help but be slightly surprised by the question placed by the younger boy in his house. He thought it might sound a little intrusive, it was not half obvious that there was a hidden agenda behind this request, all the same though Romulus knew it was not his place to say anything about it now, and if he was lucky, Professor Ruberagon might actually answer the question; Romulus doubted it though.

He sat back and listened quietly; trying to pretend that he was not as curious about the information as Barnak seemed to be.

[Elouise Sullivan]

Elouise listened to the Professor’s side of a story he thought they might all find earth-shattering. Elouise was not nearly as impressed as some of the Ruberagon’s appeared though. How could Professor Ruberagon expect any of them to believe that Elwyn Emerindyl was capable of something so underhanded. In his opinion it sounded like Lord Emerindyl had bribed him with life to give him the usage of the school. It seemed somewhat ruthless that Lord Emerindyl would threaten someone with death if they did not allow him to use the castle as a school.

Elouise was horrified that Lord Ruberagon would dare spread such rumors in a classroom full of under aged wizards.

[Lord Rubeus Ruberagon I]

They were always the same questions, which amused him most of all. Lord Ruberagon had told this story many times in the two centuries since the school opened. In that time the first two questions would always be these two, not surprising was the fact that the second question had come from someone in his own house. Lord Ruberagon had pondered this occurrence at length many times in his life, as yet he had simply decided that curiosity was the nature of all children, and that it was only those in his own house that were bold enough to ask about it.

‘I can tell you a few things in this class today young Ruberagon,’ he said looking towards Barnak with darkening eyes, ‘One of them is this; if I knew how Lord Emerindyl managed to do that, I would not be standing here in front of your today, likewise you would not be sitting in the classrooms of the finest school of magic in Australia, to that end Koalingo Academy would not exist, you see our mutual friend Lord Emerindyl knew exactly how to play me that day, and he did it was the masterful concoction of potions master of souls,’ he said. It was a trifle blunt to tell his class that he would not still be chained to the school if he did not require Elwyn to maintain his age, but then again it was how he felt, and he had always felt it was necessary to keep everyone clear to understanding as much of him as he would allow them to.

‘Now as for why it was so important for the school to be in this castle I can tell you a lot more about that and you might find it a little more interesting,’ he said as he lifted his hands and seemed to spin a spherical rubyof about fifteen centimetres in diameter out of thin air. The ruby cam to rest on his fingers and he held it up for them all to see, ‘I show you something today that very few people still living have ever seen, and fewer know more about it then what I will share with you today,’ he raised his hand and the orb moved up beyond his reach a flicker from within it caught the eyes of any whom dared look upon it directly and the orb hovered through the air to the centre of the classroom so that everyone could see it.

‘This is one of only five remaining orbs of its kind existing in our world,’ he said looking up at it with a glint of adoration, ‘This is the most valuable thing I own and the most valuable thing any one of you will ever lay eyes on, it is know by many names, and it has achieved itself a certain reputation throughout the world and through history, but for me, and for the purposes of our class this day I will tell you that it is called, quite simply, The Ruberagon Ruby,’ there were very few gasps in response to this, and most of them came from the Ameraids in the class. Lord Ruberagon knew that this was likely only because they alone knew the history of the orbs of power.

‘The orbs of power were numbered sixteen in the beginning, but eight of them were destroyed before their existence spanned a millennia, the orbs came into existence around the world and were gifted only to the families that were, already at the time, the most ancient and respected families of the magical world, they were each mined from the same earth, and they were sent from their home by the elders of the ancient world,’ he said as he watched the eyes planted firmly upon his orb, ‘The elders themselves were the ancients of a world that existed beyond this one, many believed them to be the forgotten remnants of gods cast from their worlds and dumped on this one to die a mortals death, still with the knowledge of their deification, they sought out this special place and mined these stones to increase the power of the existing magical forces in this world, perhaps so that the boost of power might be used to return these fallen gods to their former glory, no one really knows what they had in mind when they handed out these orbs, either way one thing was certain, in the hand of its true owner, the orbs multiply the magic essence by tremendous effect,’

‘You may or may not be familiar with a place called Astilon, I imagine some of you were around some years ago when our school competed against the Academy of Astilon in a challenge of schools, what you might not be aware of is that the very school is built from the ruins of a vast fortress city which predates any structure known to this world, the exact location of Astilon is a mystery, as is the case with most magical schools, it holds many secrets and those in charge at Astilon wish to keep those secrets for themselves, though who would begrudge them their choice, i certainly would not allow one of them here to unravel the marvels of this manor,’ there was a bite in his voice, and old pain. He had been one of many to request access to Astilon, though his requests never made it to those in power in Astilon, it had always been Lord Emerindyl who had forbid it.

‘Anyway, while half the orbs were handed out spread around the earth, two of which came here to this continent, which was to become the last great magical nation, the other half, in total eight orbs went to Astilon, all in one city,’ he said as he continued, he could not show this story as he had the previous as it had been long before his time, in fact he mused that it was also before Elwyn Emerindyl’s time, which said enough to be called a very long time. ‘As I said, a thousand years after the orbs were handed out to the greatest families, half of them were already lost, the orbs themselves caused war and misery, those that had them wanted more of them some succeeded but were put down by the others who knew multiple orbs in the hands of one would cause unending horror for the world and ultimately anarchy.

‘Six of the lost orbs came from Astilon, it seemed in the closing years of the great empire that crumbled ultimately to the site of a single city, there was a final struggle for power, and in the end two families came out on top, though I have my reservations on the stories I have heard, I have been given the explanation that the two families succeeded in putting down the rebellion together and that neither of them sought to control the other orbs, in the rejection of these orbs, the two families destroyed them and were left only with their own, personally I believe something else happened to the other six orbs, though it would be speculation and my job here is to share with you only what I have been led to believe are the facts,’

‘The final families of course were eight, as I told you, there was one from the America’s, The Amethyst of Ameraid,’ he said to the rising noise in the classroom, ‘Yes I imagine you have heard of that one, I believe a few of you have perhaps seen the Amethyst, I’ve not seen it myself, but I have been told your lovely house head uses it to decorate that wonderful common room of yours,’ he said with a question in his eyes as he said it, he had tried this ploy many times, but none of the Ameraid students had been silly enough to take his bait, and so never had his belief been confirmed or denies, he didn’t know where the Amethyst was kept all the time, he had only seen it once over one hundred and fifty years ago,’

‘From Northern Africa came the Topaz of Topaur, which was destroyed just after the fall of the Pharaoh’s two millennia ago,’ he said thinking back to what he knew of the others. ‘From South Africa there was the Diamond of Diatyr, we don’t know what happened to it, though we do know the family no longer exists, and without the family, the Diamond cannot exist either. Now lets see, oh yes of course, there was the Garnet of Garnoll from, which ended up somewhere in the middle east, the gemstone itself was shattered in a war back in the year 513 A.D the family of Garnoll existed for three hundred years after the loss of that stone, ultimately the loss of it became too much for the family to bare, and they destroyed themselves all at once, wherever they were, their pain seemed to be higher than reality, not more than two members of the family were side by side when all fifty or so family members suddenly ceased to be,’

He checked to make sure they were listening, it might have seemed to them that he was going off on a tangent here, but he didn’t believe any student had the right to lose sight of the fact that he wanted them to listen most intently, ‘Then as I said earlier, there were the two orbs from Astilon, the Emerindyl Emerald, and the Sapphire of Saphricorn, I am sure you understand where they might be now, the remaining two are in Australia where they have always been, the Onyx of Oniada and the Ruberagon Ruby, which you’re all now looking at,’ when he finished the ruby moved smoothly back across the ceiling and settle again on his hand. He stowed away seemingly in the arm of his thick cloak. Though if you were to look there for it now it would no longer be there.

‘Now, back to your original question young Barnak, why was the castle chosen to be the site of the school, well, I would have to be honest and expect that you should not get offended by the knowledge that the school is only here as something of a diversion for our mutual friend Lord Emerindyl, you see child, there was always more to this manor than even Old Elwyn can understand,’

~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The flimsy flickering of candlelight was hardly what you would call good enough to see the details of ancient carvings, but it was evening and the Lord Ruberagon had missed the fact that in the setting of the sun the light of the candle became less and less prominent. His son Rubeus was sitting on the floor looking rather sullen. His father and mother had been here all day, having discovered this cavern after they had both gotten very drunk the previous night, they had slaughtered a muggle or two at the order of the Dark Lady and had danced their ceremonial night away.

‘I don’t like her,’ the young boy said as his parents continued reading at the markings on the wall. He had drawn a woman dressed completely in black on a piece of parchment his parents had given him to shut him up while they worked. He had filched his father’s wand from its holster on the table near where his parents hung over the ancient wall with its engraved patterns that made no sense to him. They looked upon the wall with adoration and fawned over it, muttering here and there about how they were receiving information that was not for the eyes of the common. Rubeus ignored most of what they said and viciously stabbed at the page with the wand in his hand. The parchment caught alight from the sparks that spat from the end of the wand; catching fire it flared up only once before dying into ash, his parents seemed not to notice.

‘She will want to know about this Ramaos,’ the boy’s mother called from where she was inspecting the wall, her sharp nose within a mere inch of the surface which could not be very nice to touch. Rubeus shivered a little as he sat there in the ground, having finally destroyed the parchment that had kept him busy all day, he was now wholly aware of just how cold it was getting. He hated it here in this castle, he knew if he ever got the chance he would leave and never come back.

‘I never understood this place, the Golden Hall was the cave my dear, the very cave they dwelt in, it makes so much sense now, nothing is that solid of gold and the formations look natural, it happened when they touched the earth, that could be the only explanation,’ Ramaos was a relatively young man. His clothing smelt outrageously of stale mead and a week without washing. His dark hair was a mess about the frame of his pale face and his eyes, usually expressionless, were alight with delight. He reached into the wide sleeve of his cloak and drew out a curious looking ball. It was red in colour though it looked black in the failing light.

‘When can we leave, father I just want to go home,’ Rubeus asked his parentls imploringly. They had arrived at the castle a week ago and the Dark Lady had held ceremony every night. Rubeus avoided the ceremonies, he was not used to this cold and horrible place, he wanted his warm home, his many house elves, and his private rooms where he could bury himself in stacks upon stacks of scrolls and books and avoid his parents and their amusements.

‘Come dear child, are you not comfortable in my presence,’ the voice was rich and throaty and it seemed to tumble from the darkened lips of an almost perfect face. Rubeus stood quickly and looked at the ground with his hands securely at his waist as the Dark Lady entered. She laughed slowly. Rubeus hated the woman but more than that he was scared of her, and she knew it. ‘My friends,’ she said as she approached his parents slowly, ‘What have you found?’

‘The castle was a place of worship My Lady,’ Rubeus’ mother swept into a florid curtsy that was diminished none by the dirty rags her once expensive dress had been. There was something wrong with both his parents, Rubeus could see that, they did not act like this, at least not before that day a month ago when this lady first introduced herself. At first it was greet and be polite, but now it was keep quiet and keep out of her way. His parents almost grovelled at the dark lady’s feet and they stared at this wall for days when not at ceremony to discover the obscurities of the castle.

‘Worship for whom?’ the dark lady asked as she came to the walls herself, the darkness consuming the corridor did not seem to make her sight any less acute.

‘It doesn’t say my lady, there is some vague reference to deities, but whoever these giants worshipped here, they died a long time ago, so they could not have been gods,’ Rubeus’ mother announced.

‘Perhaps.’ Was the Dark Lady’s only response

~~~~~~~~~

‘You see children, this knowledge became public amoung those who knew what it meant, I don’t think it was coincidence that Elwyn Emerindyl ended up in Australia, for who would not come to the very place where the mortal gods plucked the orbs from the earth and turned the walls of the very cavern they plucked them from; to Gold?’ he didn’t smile. His face was quite serious when he finished the story.

[Allora Thunder]

Allora listened to the Professor knowing that there were probably some in the class who would never have listened to a Professor of Koalingo say so much without dropping off to sleep at least once. And so she was surprised when she looked around when the Professor stopped to see that everyone was still watching him intently. Everyone she could see without making her momentary lapse in attention upon the professor obvious.

She considered a lot of what he said, thinking it over in the depths of her mind. It seemed incredible to think of deposed gods being here in the very place where the school was built, though it seemed to make sense. She considered though that had she been given half a moment to think on what she already knew about the school she could probably think up a story at least half as believable again and so she didn’t know how she felt in regards to the legitimacy of the Professor’s claims. She wasn’t one to start contradicting someone like him though.

“The names of the stones have similarities to the names of the families they were given to sir,” Allora commented after raising her hands politely, “Though the names of the stones were probably not that in the thousands of years since they were presented, or were they? Is it a coincidence that they seem similar, sir?”