Our aspirations are wrapped up in books

[bookish_lioness]

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.

Comments

[dreamcatcher]

"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?"

[bookish_lioness]

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."

[dreamcatcher]

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."

[bookish_lioness]

"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."

[dreamcatcher]

"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.

[bookish_lioness]

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."

[dreamcatcher]

"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.

[bookish_lioness]

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."

[dreamcatcher]

"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."

[bookish_lioness]

"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."