faderift | Our aspirations are wrapped up in books

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Our aspirations are wrapped up in books

WHO: Hermione Granger and Open!
WHAT: There's a new ~~witch~~ mage wandering around Skyhold. Come say hello?
WHEN: Backdated to her arrival near the end of Guardian and onward throughout Drakonis.
WHERE: ~~The library.~~ All over Skyhold. ~~But mostly its library.~~
NOTES: Feel free to run into her pretty much anywhere, or have her run into you. And be prepared for all the questions about your character and Thedas/their homeworld and everything in between.

If not for the fact that Hermione had spent so many of her formative years in Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, Skyhold might have been overwhelming

As it was, the sprawling fortress was a little hard to get used to, since the academic environment that had given Hogwarts some sense of structure amidst the chaos wasn't present here. There was a library, thankfully, and she spent much of her time there, though it was so small that she was certain she'd end up reading every book in there in two weeks' time if she didn't actually go out and explore the rest of her surroundings.

And so every so often, she pried herself away from the cold little corner she'd set aside for herself and wander the rest of the area, though granted, she more often than not was carrying at least one book with her. Usually it was one of the books that had survived the trip through the Fade; anyone who might spot her in the garden or tavern or a safe distance away from the sparring going on in the training grounds might notice her engrossed in such unfamiliar titles as Hogwarts, A History or occasionally digging through Spellman's Syllabary in the vain hope of finding recognizable runes on various inscriptions throughout Skyhold.

After all, just because she was endlessly fascinated by all the new people and cultures and history and magic, it didn't mean she didn't occasionally need a bittersweet reminder of home. Especially when her other major reminder was her wand, which - despite the fact that she'd taken to finding the most solitary places she could find and practicing with it harder than she ever had the night before an exam - still wasn't behaving properly at all. Apologies to those of you who end up slipping on some wayward ice or getting sprayed with pebbles from a spell gone wrong.

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Hermione hadn't really had a chance to avoid using her magic; arriving via dropping into the middle of a demon battle meant that instinct had taken over. Once other Thedosians had seen that she had magic and told her that magic existed out in the open here, she hasn't really seen a reason to hide it (despite the fact that mages don't seem to be universally liked outside of Skyhold).

The admission of having magic makes Hermione perk up immediately, though she soon realizes that, if this blonde woman were from her world, she would have simply identified herself as a witch rather than say she has magic. It puzzles her a little, but at least she's found someone else from outside of Thedas who can do magic; she'd been beginning to think that she's something of a rarity.

"It has to do with the Fade, I think," she replies, obviously having spoken to a lot of people and read up on the subject extensively. "I haven't been able to come up with any solid explanation, but the mages here draw their magic from the Fade, and as outsiders, our magic is being filtered through it. It still works, but I'm assuming you have to put in more effort to do half of what you used to be good at before, right? That's because of the interference of the Fade. Some people have told me that it may be possible to learn to work with the Fade to have better access to my magic - one person suggested I trade out my wand for a staff, but I'll likely end up tripping over something so big - and while I'm not sure it would necessarily work, at least it's worth a try."

Ah. Right. Rambling before she even makes introductions. She's been doing that since childhood and had hoped she would have gotten better with that by now. Carefully stepping past the ice, she smiles a bit sheepishly and offers her hand. "I'm Hermione, by the way. Hermione Granger."

On the off-chance that they are from the same world, it may be a possibility that she's heard her name before, but she isn't holding her breath.

"The Fade, that's how we got here, right?" Emma is still picking together the story of her new reality, and there's a lot she still has to learn. She thinks she has the basics, though — the Fade was an otherworld where magic and other, usually dangerous, things stemmed. Sort of a different plane rather than an alternate world, if she understands correctly. She wasn't sure how or why it would affect her magic, yet it sounded like nobody else did, either. Honestly it was more of a relief than anything else. There was no dagger to stop her if the darkness got out of control, but surely she'd exhaust herself thanks to the odd restrictions suddenly set upon her. Right about now? She really needed restrictions.

The idea that learning more about the magic in Thedas, that it might help her find better control of her own, was definitely something she'd have to remember. Though unlike Hermione, she was not particularly interested in sharing her abilities with the natives. If they hated dangerous magic, then well, chances were they weren't going to like meeting a Dark One. She didn't need any more threats hanging over her head as she tried to find her way back home.

She offers a weak smile at the introduction, taking the offered handshake — though she notably lets go the second it's over. "Emma. It's nice to meet you." There's no recognition for the name, unfortunately. Frankly Emma is pretty sure they're from different worlds, since the only place hers has magic is a tiny place in Maine, and in that case she'd definitely remember a face, even if she didn't keep up with all the names. "You've been asking a lot of questions about magic already, I take it. You're not worried about the anti-magic types running around?"

"Through a rift in the Fade, yes," Hermione replies, as though she's lived here her entire life. Asking a lot of questions has the benefit of obtaining a lot of answers in a short amount of time. She's no expert, but it would surprise no one from home if she became a Thedosian scholar within her first month here. "Think of it as a tear through the fabric of space and time. Or through a veil, if that expression means the same for you as it does for me." But then, that just reminds her about Sirius, and she doesn't want to think about something so depressing right at the moment.

Noting nothing off about the brief contact, Hermione shrugs. "I haven't had cause to worry, really. Most of the people I've been running into have been mages themselves. The few that aren't have been remarkably accommodating. I think Skyhold has something of an open door policy, from my understanding of things. Even elves are discriminated against outside of here, but then, they don't seem to have a good time of things anywhere."

Peering at Emma curiously, she asks, "Do you have elves where you're from? We call ours house-elves, but I'd prefer to think of them as just elves, since they are what they are regardless of where they are."

"It makes sense, yeah." Maybe it wouldn't have, a few years prior. After Emma has ended up in a handful of different magical worlds, though, that the idea of gaps and slips through the lining doesn't surprise her very much anymore. She's not an expert on how all the worlds connect, yet she knows that they do, that's how she has been able to travel from Maine to the Enchanted Forest to Neverland and back again. Maybe the Fade was the pathway to getting back home... it was something worth looking into, though she'd have to do it carefully.

Emma can't say she agrees with Hermoine's sentiment. While plenty of people in Skyhold were friendly, it was impossible to ignore the air of distrust toward certain parts of the population. Individuals with magic and individuals from different worlds, especially. It's hitting her how cruelly elves are treated, also — it reminds her of the cruelty and hatred toward different races back in her own world. It's not exactly enjoyable.

"Uh... you know, I'm not sure. I guess it's not impossible. My introduction to magical worlds has been very recent, I don't know everything yet." She's met goblins and trolls, giants, dragons and ogres. Who is she to say elves weren't around somewhere in the Enchanted Forest?

While Hermione has spent almost half of her life in the magical world, it was still just a community within the same world as Muggles. Actually traveling through different worlds or realities or what-have-you? It's not exactly something she's overly familiar with.

Hermione has likely been lucky in most of her encounters with people here in Thedas. Or perhaps it simply has to do with her being young and honest, and so likely not widely believed to be a threat. She can prove that idea wrong easily enough, but at the moment, it doesn't seem wise to antagonize anyone, so she doesn't.

"So you mustn't be from one of the old wizarding families, in that case," she decides when Emma claims not to know about elves. "But at the same time-... er, don't take this the wrong way, but you look a little old to be a Muggle-born who's recently discovered her magic. I only say that because my school accepts witches and wizards when they're about eleven years old, give or take, and even the Muggle-borns start showing signs of magic before that. Is that not the case, where you're from?" Whether that's America, Canada, or a distant land Hermione's never heard of.

It's not a surprising question, that bringing up magic opens the avenue for more questions about it. That doesn't make them much easier for Emma to answer, though, especially when she tends to be closed-mouthed about her family and her history. It is clear that whatever Hermoine is used to, it's not what Emma is accustomed to at all. As she understands it, Earth had no magic at all until the curse brought it there — she was an early precursor, considering she had intrinsic magic thanks to being a product of true love.

"No, not really. I guess I've always had it, but I didn't realize what it was until I was older." She'd used magic on accident on occasion, and only hindsight explains what she explained away with logic. It hadn't been frequent but it'd been there. Now she feels foolish for how stubbornly she'd refused to see what was right in front of her. "There's not a school, or anything like that. Not as far as I'm aware of. You went to a magical school, really?" Emma is almost envious; most of what she's learned, she's hobbled together on her own. Maybe her control of the dark magic would be better if she'd been trained in it properly.

Hermione knows that North America has a magical school, and so Emma's claim that there isn't any and that none had reached out to her makes her think that maybe this woman isn't from the same place as her after all. That's... disheartening, to say the least, but at least it means that she has the chance to discover a bit more about a different... reality or plane or whatever the proper term for it would be.

"Most regions have a magical school, hidden away from non-magical people so children can go there and safely learn about their magic," she explains. "I'm currently in my last year. After graduation, I'm going to attempt to get a job somewhere in the Ministry of Magic and see about encouraging significant change insofar as our treatment of elves and other sentient beings."

"I didn't know about my magic until I was twenty-eight, but I don't think there's anything like that in my world." In fact, Emma is pretty certain there isn't. Tamara and Greg had apparently been determined to remove all traces of magic from Earth, and apparently they'd even been pretty good at it before they ended up in Neverland. Magic was pretty far removed from the modern world, only brought to Earth thanks to Rumpelstiltskin. Emma can't say for sure, but she highly doubts there's a magical network hidden just beyond reach.

"That's good of you." Emma doesn't even know what Elves are in Hermione's world, but she still thinks that any thing with sentience deserves the same respect as anyone else. "It must have been nice, to have a place with a bunch of other people like you. Even after learning about my magic, there wasn't many others that had it too."

"I wouldn't think so," Hermione agrees. "I've never heard of magic not manifesting until after adulthood, and if you'd had it when you were a child, someone would have known about it and would have seen to it that you'd had the proper schooling." After all, they'd found Hermione, and the Grangers had been as far removed from magic as any normal Muggle family.

"I... had never really thought about it until now," she admits softly. "Granted, I'd been a bit of an outcast, since the vast majority of my classmates came from wizarding families and I hadn't, but even then, I've never really considered what it might be like to have magic without a magical community to support me. It must have been difficult."

"We must be from different worlds." Which defeats the purpose of answering in the positive in the first place, Emma just doesn't have it in her to try and lie, especially when the truth seems so very obvious. She showed magic as a child, Ingrid had tried to draw it out of her, even, and nobody had ever found her or tried to explain it to her. She probably wouldn't have believed them if they had. It'd taken Henry nearly dying for her to believe in magic, even with it constantly at work in front of her face.

"A wizarding family?" Emma looks perplexed, since Hermione has already admitted to being a witch. Wouldn't that make her from a wizarding family, too? Still, she shrugs at the idea it was difficult. Yes, it was, but that's her problem to bear, not Hermione's. Emma has found a way, like she's done everything else. "I didn't even know about it until I was nearly thirty, it didn't affect my childhood that much." Hermione didn't need to feel too bad for her.

"It seems that way," Hermione murmurs, a bit disappointed. "But at least I know I'm not the only one outside of Thedas who can do magic, even if our magic might differ."

Deciding that Emma must be confused by the different terms, Hermione immediately goes into her well-rehearsed explanation. "In my world, if a person can use magic, he's referred to as a wizard if he's a man, or a witch if she's a woman. We keep magic a secret from non-magical people, whom we refer to as Muggles. While most wizards and witches come from wizarding families, there are some who are born to Muggle parents. Like me. I'm known as a Muggle-born. It doesn't really mean anything, in the long run, but there are some who are more narrow-minded and like to think of themselves as 'purebloods' because they can trace their magical line back generations and generations. Usually, all that really meas is that there was a lot of inbreeding in their family tree." Shrugging, she concludes, "But children like to tease, and even adults can be spiteful. I'm just pleased most of the people I'd met were much better than all that."

It seemed no matter the world and no matter the differences, people still found a way to look down on others for being different. In Thedas it was mages and elves, for Hermione apparently it was individuals who didn't have a strong magical family tree. Emma frowned and crossed her arms, a little disheartened by the realization.

"There's always a way for people to make themselves feel better than others," she notes sympathetically. As for her, "My parents don't have magic. I think they'd be happier if I didn't have magic, either." She shrugs, shaking her head. She does not want to delve down that thought process too deeply, honestly.

All things considered, it's a bit odd for Hermione being on this end of things. Oh, she's used to being looked down on, but that had been because she'd bee raised a Muggle. Now, some Thedosians will likely look down on her because she can do magic. People will never be satisfied.

Frowning a little at the mention of Emma's parents, Hermione's face takes on a look of genuine sympathy, with a bit of dread mixed in. She'd heard of people being surprised that her own parents hadn't abandoned her because of her magic, but she'd never spoken to anyone who'd actually experienced that sort of thing. "I'm... sorry. Do you just mean that they think magic complicates things, or do they bear some sort of actual grudge...?"

Honestly, this is a rawer wound than Emma is letting on. It wasn't even that long ago that her mother wouldn't trust her to hold her baby brother because of her magic. That losing control and nearly hurting her father had earned her mother's fear and revilement. Emma can't quite imagine what it must be like, if she were in Snow's shoes. She just hopes that her reaction would be a little different. Instead of making her feel like a monster. Or trying to suck all the potential for darkness out of her before she was even born.

"They don't have a great history with magic," she decides on, and that is certainly not untrue. Considering all her parents have gone through at the behest of dark magic and curses, she can sort of see why it wouldn't be an exciting ability in their daughter. "It's fine. Can't be easy, especially when they don't get what it's like."

"So they know it exists, and they've seen the dark side of it?" Hermione can understand that, she supposes. She'd done something that she'd considered unforgivable in order to keep her parents safe during the war, erasing their memories and giving them new lives so they could effectively keep their heads down. Once the war had been over, she'd been terrified of going out in search of them to undo the spell, not wanting to see the look of hurt and betrayal on their faces when they realized what had happened.

But her parents hadn't looked that way at all. On the contrary, they'd been happy to see her, to remember her, and they still hadn't thought of magic as inherently evil, even with the way it had completely disrupted their lives for so long.

"Have you tried talking to them?" she asks carefully, not wanting to make it seem as though she's glossing over Emma's problem. "Parents can be more understanding than their children give them credit for, sometimes. Maybe if they knew how you feel about what you're going through, they won't worry about whatever their history is with magic. After all, they have to know that you wouldn't hurt them, right?"

"Yeah." To say the least, her parents have seen the worst magic has to offer. Thanks to the curse, it had stolen decades away from them and kept their family apart for so long, it was hard to feel like a proper family anymore. Her mother was stuck with a woman that had grown up all on her own and didn't turn out quite the way she'd hoped. Emma frowns and looks down, because this wasn't the way she expected the conversation to go — especially not here.

It's sweet of Hermione to be concerned. Emma doesn't think that the cracks in her relationship with her parents will be fixed with words, though. She hopes that, for the most part, things are well. Granted, that had been before she took on the curse. If her parents had been afraid she couldn't handle her magic before, were the chances really that great they could trust her with dark magic thriving inside of her?

"Hard to talk when they're not here," she says, and it's mostly an evasion. The conversation has gotten a great deal more personal than expected, and that means Emma is quick to change it to something else. "Has practicing your magic made it easier to use it here?"

Hermione knows this is a somber sort of conversation to be having, but if it's been brought up, then it's certainly worth having. She can tell by Emma's body language that it's been weighing heavily on the other woman's mind, so she's glad to help her talk it out, if she feels that's what she needs.

But given the sudden shift in the conversation, that's not how she feels at all, and Hermione's willing to accept that. "So-so," she answers with a bit of a shrug. "At least I know not to put in so much energy in some of them and to put in more in others. Part of how I direct magic is with the movement of my wand, you see, so I've had to experiment a bit with focus and directional shifts. So I'm slowly relearning even my most basic charms. It's been helping, more or less. I haven't started any fires or blown anything up, so that's a start!"

She's not sure how facetious she's really being, and that's sort of depressing, so she shakes it off with, "If you'd like, maybe we can practice our magic together. I'm sure there must be other rifters who know magic; if they've figured out their way around the initial bumps in the road, they can surely help us and any other people who might come in later down the line."

Don't worry, Hermione, it's not personal. Emma struggles even admitting upsetting things to herself, when it comes to other people her track record is even worse. She's more likely to tell her boyfriend than she is her parents, and that's because she suspects she's not going to get any judgement from him. She's experienced first hand, multiple times, that's not the reception she gets from her parents. Maybe that's the problem with being the daughter of Snow White and Prince Charming — there's no way to measure up to the standard they'd left behind.

"That's got to be hard, not to have it," Emma frowned. She had used a wand a grand total of once, so her magic wasn't really predicated on it. If that was what Hermione was used to, it had to take a lot of dedication to circumvent the way she had learned. Dedication, and bravery; what if something went wrong?

At the offer, Emma is quite conflicted. Being open about the fact she has magic does not seem like a good idea to her, not when it's discouraged in the natives and she's not exactly welcome in Skyhold just being a Rifter. That said, it would be good to have an ear to the ground, and an understanding of how others were able to manipulate their magic in a new world. Maybe it could help her manage her control a little better. "I don't like everyone to know, not with things the way they are." She doesn't regret that decision, either. "But if we can find a way to be careful, that might help."

"Oh, I still have my wand. It's just... slightly better than useless here, unfortunately." In all fairness, it might be broken, but she doubts that anyone here would be able to repair it properly. Unless someone wanted to take on a project of searching for vine and dragon heartstring, but she doubts she'll find anyone who'd take that upon themselves, and she certainly isn't going to ask. "I've been told using a staff might be easier, but I don't know; potentially running for my life with a staff strapped to my back or in my hand just sounds like a recipe for disaster."

At Emma's confession, Hermione's about to explain that she'd be in no more danger than the entire Council of Mages combined, since Skyhold doesn't exactly seem to hold much of a grudge against them. But it's Emma's choice to keep her magic under wraps, and the least Hermione can do is respect that.

"Fair enough," she tells her. "It doesn't have to be advertised that you can do magic. After all, from what I know about your world, it would make complete sense that you'd be interested in magic whether or not you could do it, so no one who isn't a mage would have to know what you're capable of. Or no one outside a smaller group of mages, if you really feel the need to hide."

"Huh." That's all Emma has to say as she contemplates the idea of a magical item from a different world not working in this one. It makes her wonder if that means if the dagger ever showed up here, it wouldn't work the way it was supposed to. That is sort of a terrifying thought, because Emma desperately believes she needs something that is capable of stopping her if she needs to be stopped.

It is her curse that keeps her more evasive about her magic. In a better circumstance, she might be willing to participate or be open about what she was capable of. Not now, not when she was basically a monster, haunted by darkness that always clung to her thoughts. She wasn't sure it was wrong to be afraid of her, yet she didn't want people to know and try and do something to protect themselves from her. So far she'd managed to control herself, if she had to try and fend off attacks... she couldn't know what would happen.

"Sounds good to me. Thank you." Emma wanted to learn more without painting a target on her back. Hermione was a great deal braver in that respect.

Hermione had just been in the unfortunate situation where she'd instinctively fallen back on magic upon finding herself confused in a new world and faced with an unknown enemy. And she'd assumed that she'd found herself in a magical community, since really, what else could those demons had been but Dark creatures, even if she hadn't seen anything like them before? Once she'd figured out her error, too many people had known about her magic and she'd understood her situation well enough to know that, technically, she isn't actually breaking the International Statute of Secrecy by discussing her magic here.

If Emma can keep her magic under wraps and thinks herself better off for it, what else can Hermione do but support her until it looks like it might be a bad idea?

"You don't have to thank me," she tells her with a shake of her head. "I'll speak to Councilor LeBlanc and see if she wouldn't mind an observer in one of her classes. Though to be fair, she's probably one of the few that should know about what you can do. That way, if you'd like to practice whatever it was you'd seen, she might be able to see you for a few minutes after class to go over it with you, after everyone else has gone."

"Let me know what she says about the spectator." Emma isn't sure about admitting her abilities to a stranger without knowing a little bit about them. Still, it seems easier to cross that bridge when she comes to it. Frankly people of Thedas were the last that she was inclined to mention her magic to, but that disagreement didn't need to be aired.

"I guess I should leave you to your practice." She'd distracted Hermione more than enough by now.

Given that Emma doesn't say anything about being comfortable with Councilor LeBlanc knowing about her magic, Hermione assumes she'd still prefer to keep that secret to herself. She can certainly respect it, if nothing else, and she proves as much when she gives her a single nod of her head. "I'll ask her the next time I see her. Where do you usually spend your time?"

While Emma certainly doesn't have to leave, Hermione assumes she's looking for an out, since she seems rather guarded about how much people know about her. So she offers her a small smile, mentioning, "Thank you. I'll take care to put up signs next time to make sure no one ends up taking a tumble."

"You can usually find me in or around the courtyard. And if it's late, my friend and I are staying in the barn." Really late, and Emma is back to wandering around the castle again, insomnia keeping her from properly resting. It shouldn't be too hard to find her, if Hermione should want to.

"It's just my luck, I always manage to trip into magic." Others probably wouldn't have ever noticed. Emma smiles back, even if it's a small one. "I'll see you around, Hermione."

"I'll keep that in mind," Hermione replies, trying not to frown. "Though, I hope there's a safe place to start a fire in the barn. The nights can get quite chilly here." If not, Hermione might just have to pop by for a visit and offer Emma one of her waterproof, non-burning fires in a jar.

Returning that small smile with one of her own, Hermione nods and tells her, "Take care of yourself, Emma. It was nice talking to you."

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Our aspirations are wrapped up in books

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