faderift | (no subject)

WHO: Harry Potter and OPEN
WHAT: Realising that a cracked wand is no good for fighting demons, Harry seeks out some mages who might be wiling to teach him how to fight with a staff.
WHEN: Throughout the day
WHERE: Warden Camp and Skyhold Proper
NOTES: This post is specifically for him to begin to learn Thedas style magic BUT it also functions as a general OPEN post which means even if your character isn't a mage feel free to reply to ask him why he's looming around or to just say hi!

Skyhold

He's learned by now that his wand is not reliable anymore and it pains him to even try to cast spells and risk it breaking completely again. He doesn't have the Elder Wand to fix it this time and he can't risk losing it completely again. It feels as if a part of him has cracked and he feels real remorse over not being able to easily use magic. It's almost as if his senses had been dulled.

Eventually, though, he realizes that he might be able to use the staff based magic that the mages here use. He won't be floating teacups across the room any time soon but it's better than being defenseless. He knows enough by now to know that he can't just make a declaration that he wants to learn magic here without some people misunderstanding his motives so he doesn't make a loud announcement using the crystals.

Instead, he spends the day around where he's learned some mages meet to teach and learn. Maybe if one of them doesn't seem as busy he can ask for help.

Warden Camp

He also treks his way to the Warden Camp because he knows that they have mages there and tend not to be as distrustful of them. At least, that's what he's heard about them. He's still having trouble remembering all the different factions of Thedas and keeping which ones hate which other groups straight.

It's the first time he's ever been to the camp so he also can't help but feel a level of curiosity. He volunteered to help bring them supplies so his visit isn't too awkward and once he's done unloading it (again wishing for the use of his wand so that he could just float the crates where they need to be) he wanders a little deeper into the camp to see if he can find any Warden mages.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

"The rules here do take some getting used to," he admitted. It was the way people distrusted magic that was the most difficult for him, but he had managed not to step on any toes so far.

He found himself curious about her world and what her kingdom was like too. It had probably been a bit easier for her to settle in Thedas than it had been for someone from a high technological world, but that didn't mean she was any less homesick so he didn't want to pester her too much about it.

"Do you have dragons too?" he asked instead, because that was at least something he had in common with this reality.

Ariadne nodded. "Oh yes. There used to be a great deal of them. Not as many in the last thousand years or so, though. A lot of them were hunted down by Elves and Humans who didn't know any better and thought they were dangers."

Well, to be fair, dragons were dangerous. But not if you knew anything about them, other than the fact that they looked a little scary.

The same could be said for Alastrians.

"Do you?" she asked.

"We do," Harry replied. "I've only seen a handful in my life though because they tend to live in areas where people don't." There had been the one under the bank in Diagon Alley, but he and his friends had freed it so he wasn't sure it counted anymore.

"I had to get around one once using a flying broom," he added, though he knew that probably sounded a bit mad without the right context. "I wouldn't recommend it."

"A flying broom?" Ariadne tilted her head to one side, giving him a second look. Now that she was really paying attention, there was a certain scent of ozone in the air between them. Much fainter than she would have expected for someone who knew how to enchant a broom.

But it wasn't unheard of.

"You must be a witch," she said. Perhaps she should have used the word 'mage,' as they did in Thedas. But given the number of worlds and words out there, she defaulted to the term from home.

"Well, a wizard," he corrects, but his tone is very light. He doesn't mind being called a witch so much here - not when so many brilliant people he knows are witches.

"I was trying to find someone who could teach me how to do magic the way they do it here."

Wizard. She would have to remember the word. Vaguely, she wondered what the difference was, to his mind, but decided now wasn't the time to ask. She didn't want to seem rude.

"A Mage?" She nodded knowingly. "There are some very nice ones around Skyhold. I've met a few at the healing tents."

A pause.

"I wasn't hurt or anything. They just sometimes need someone to fetch and carry things for them and, well, I have two arms and two legs." She shrugged. Anything she could do to feel useful was always welcome.

He nodded at that. "Given how many people do get injured I'd imagine they need supplies rather often," he offered, along with another encouraging smile.

"I've heard good things about some of the mages here too. I was hoping to see if any of them were willing to teach. I learned most of my magic from teachers, it seemed to be the best route to go to learn it here."

"What sort of magic could you do? Back home, I mean." Ariadne had been in Thedas long enough to know that the Rift had a tendency to completely upturn someone's magic. She didn't even have magic, and her whole being had been tossed and turned.

She paused again.

"I'm sorry. Is that too personal a question? I don't want to intrude on something private."

"It's not," He reassured her easily. "It's a welcome question. Back home, the wizards have their own community where they openly practice magic and magic... It..." A pause, as he wasn't sure how much he could give away. "It saved my life."

He had to think for a moment how to explain his magic back home. "We use wands instead of staffs and the magic there... It's more precise and practical. We could summon a fire ball if we had the right spell, but people are more likely to use it to do the washing."