Company is Always Desirable

(( Internet malfunction, again. UGH))

After taking such a massive decision, Albus ought to have felt thrown. Unsure. Doubtful, reluctant to talk. To say, or do, anything at all for a long time.

But he didn't. He had chosen a.....middle path, of sorts, and for now the decision gave him clarity. Peace, even. The conflict that had been raging in his mind, heart and soul for ages seemed quenched for the time being, and a curious equilibrium was formed, of logic, reason and erring desires. Albus did not delude himself, he knew this was a temporary measure. He could not go on hanging in the middle, tottering on the edge of the abyss forever. He had to fall, or step back. But for now......there was peace.

So with a remarkably clear head, Albus heard Katrina-Carlotta's decisive words, and felt his eyebrows flicker to his hairline inspite of himself. She was....supporting his decision. Approval colored her words, and a momentary confusion shot through Albus's head, on the reason behind such words being uttered by a Dark Witch. Then his thought stream paused. Maybe, maybe that's where he was making a mistake. Katrina-Carlotta had held the upper hand all along, because she had opened her eyes to him, seen the undercurrents wafting beneath the polite charade. Throughout their meeting, he had seen her as an infamous killer, nothing else. Shades of black...... her words whispered through his head. His eyes opened a bit further, and understanding flashed through his mind: maybe she, her reputation, was a charade too. If he wished to retain his footing, and not be further drawn by this dark witch, he would have to see her too. It would be difficult but.....a dry smile passed over his lips. He always had been good at psychoanalysis.

When she murmured, almost to herself, Albus knew what he had to do. Knew what she wanted to know. With a brief sense of exhilaration running through him -only one living person on earth knew this right now- he confessed, "I have always been interested in the mechanics behind magic, especially the...Dark Arts. I've researched, compiled Arithmantical equations to build up power behind spells and wards, and eventually...." His voice hitched slightly, "Invented them."

Albus had been surprised at her words. Of course, it was hardly expected for someone like her to condone anything but the darkest of mindsets. The woman could only hope that the man across from her wouldn't get lost in the darkness. If the wizard ever let go and lost his sanity, there would be no bringing him back. Furthermore, with the mind and power that lived underneath his skin, Albus would be incredibly difficult to terminate.

When Albus admitted to inventing spells, Katrina-Carlotta's left eyebrow shot up. The reaction would look like a query more than anything else, and the witch was grateful for that. Potter was a spellcrafter? A dark spellcrafter? That was incredibly impressive, and equally as dangerous. The woman herself had never taken to spell invention. She'd modified a few spells and curses here and there, but creation was on a whole different level. The assassin probably could've, if she'd ever set her mind to doing so. But it had always made more sense to find and master existing magic, it took less time for one.

Tactically, Albus would have an amazing advantage in battle. His opponent wouldn't know the spells being used against them, and would therefore not know how to block them. It was one of the reasons Katrina-Carlotta had learnt magic in over a dozen countries. Each region had a bit of their own unique magic, so even if the dark witch was dueling a scholar, they would hardly be able to recognize everything she cast.

"I have to say Mr. Potter, impressive," the woman admitted quietly. It didn't pain her to say so. Most of her fellow Death Eaters would despise saying such a thing, but Katrina-Carlotta had never had a problem with recognizing power. She was prideful, of course she was, but not to the extent that would get her killed. It was one of the major flaws of the British purebloods, their pride. Well, the European mused, their need for certain comforts was certainly a weakness as well.

Thought suddenly coming to mind, the witch's head snapped towards Albus's face. Looking deep into his eyes, the feared woman refrained from using her skills within the mind. "Are you are parselmouth?" she asked sharply, not give any reasons for her sudden inquiry.

It was ridiculous, really. The woman hadn't even begun to start telling him, or teaching him anything. But still, as Katrina-Carlotta Du Hunt quietly complimented him, Albus felt.....pleased. Maybe it was because of the distinct lack of compliments, praises or appraisals that had been directed his way throughout his life, because of being outshone in every field. And the one field that he knew he excelled in.....had to be kept a secret. But not anymore. Now there was someone who could actually appreciate his spells, give him critiques, correct him on his manner of casting...the tiny amount of guilt that still existed in Albus's mind for agreeing to Katrina-Carlotta's proposal, disappeared.

"....Thank you. Of course, I haven't yet been able to test them properly. There's only so much that you can try on animals." Albus spoke, and then inwardly marveled at his own words. This felt so unreal. Walking into a random club, then meeting one of the most infamous witches since Bellatrix Lestrange herself, then the witch seeing past him and offering to...show him the path, in a way. There were so many questions running through Albus's mind, so many things he yearned to ask. "I....I don't suppose you've found a way to test spells without ....abducting test subjects, have you?" Oh he had heard of spells, highly illegal ones at that, like the Body-Replication spell. It sounded God-gifted for a practitioner like him, who was disinclined to capture Muggles for testing, like so many others did. Albus's mouth twisted in revulsion at the thought.

Moreover, a couple of his inventions required pin-point accuracy and deadly control over one's own magic, or the results could be disastrous. Albus's eyes almost glowed at the thought....if he could get Katrina-Carlotta to consent to try his spells out, research would be speeded up and the results would be splendid. Which of course was the biggest understatement in the world.

Then she asked a question which made him twitch. "I don't know." The words escaped his mouth and they were.....true. "The ability is exposed if you come before a snake....and I've never tried to speak to one." Or rather, Albus had actively avoided ever coming before the class of reptiles. Even if he glimpsed an adder in the Hogwarts grounds, he would turn tail and walk in the opposite direction. People had made fun of him and his apparent phobia for snakes, irony being in the fact that he was a metaphorical 'Snake' himself. But he hadn't wanted to know, to take the chance. The hatred against his father had been nurtured in his heart for long, and apart from looks, he hadn't wished to be similar to his father in any aspect. Even if it meant running away from snakes for the fear of being a Parselmouth. Sure, after last night's talk with Jack, Harry Potter had started acquiring a new position in Albus's mind's eye.....but he was still reluctant.

When Albus asked if she knew of a way to practice dark magic without having to use muggle test subjects, the witch smiled. "Of course," Katrina-Carlotta stated lightly, before launching into mentor mode, "the most commonly used spell for such purposes is the Body-Replication Spell. I will teach it to you, but it will not be for regular use, I have a different spell for that. To successfully cast the Body-Replication Spell, once has to be replicating a willing body. This means that your targets will be either copies of yourself, or of a training partner. This tool is useful for seeing how different curses affect your body, and how you would go about healing or dealing with them during a fight. Furthermore, it is important to be able to cast deadly curses at oneself. I once knew a man who was one of the best warriors I have ever met. An enemy came to fight him, using polyjuice potion to look like the warrior himself. The warrior was thrown by having to fight himself, and was killed by a man with a third of his skill." Katrina-Carlotta paused for a moment to give Albus a serious look. If she was attempting to warn him of what he was getting himself into, or attempting to check if he understood her tale, even the witch herself was unsure.

"The spell I will be teaching you for regular curse practice is Egyptian. It's unknown in this country, and on it's way to becoming lost in Egypt as well. Correctly cast, the spell will transform a target of any material but solid gold into a human target with the correct organs, pumping blood, etcetera. The more practiced and powerful the spell, the more humanlike the target becomes. When learning this spell, functioning organs and circulating blood are the hardest parts to achieve. When mastered, anything cast upon the completed target will affect it exactly as a human would be affected," the dark witch told her student. The assassin allowed herself to study her student's face for a moment. This was the very spell she used for her own practice.

The ability is exposed if you come before a snake....and I've never tried to speak to one. Albus was quite possibly a parselmouth, and he never thought to check? But that wasn't true, he'd thought about it, surely. Looking at the man in front of her, the woman realized that Albus hadn't wanted to know. She wasn't exactly sure why, as it was likely a combination of many reasons. To her, hiding a part of yourself like that was no different than the way Albus had hidden his darkness.

"You mean you didn't care to try," Katrina-Carlotta corrected gently, but with an undertone of sternness, "the serpent tongue has a deep connection to dark magic. There are said to be certain spells that only parselmouthes can use, or that parselmouthes can use better. There are even legends that say magic cast in parseltongue has special strengths. Then again, you're powerful enough to do without it. Just know that hiding from yourself is never worth it, in the end." With that ominous message, Katrina-Carlotta took a sip of her drink, and was quiet.

Sorry, wrong place, >.<

Albus had never been so absorbed in someone else's words. But here he was, hanging off each and every word of Katrina-Carlotta Du Hunt.

"Well, he would have to be remarkably self-absorbed then. I have no qualms about casting curses at myself." In fact the idea sounded....interesting. In a twisted way. It might even be relaxing if he was in a particularly intense self-hating mood, which he tended to fall in many a time. Then Katrina-Carlotta recounted an Egyptian spell for target practice, which made Albus stare in shock, if only for a minute. Transfiguring a target into a human body....it sounded implausible. Impossible. Ridiculously so. He himself had been trying to conjure blood for a long time, only succeeding halfway to create a sort of pseudo-blood which lacked two main corpuscles. Yes, Transfiguring an existing thing was easier than Conjuration, but to make actual human organs....Albus swallowed slightly. For the first time, he was actually beginning to appreciate who he was talking to, who was actually going to teach him.

This was...exhilarating.

"I'll master it." He was probably going to have a sleepless night today, tossing and turning, mind whirling over possibilities. One chance meeting....leading to so much. The Fates were finally beginning to smile upon him.

Then the topic turned back to Parseltongue, and Katrina-Carlotta's reprimand stung, if only a little. Albus restrained the urge to cast Serpensortia, then and there, to prove that he wasn't that big of a coward. But reason, and his ever dominating nature stopped him like nothing else could. This was madness. But the thought of Parseltongue actually helping him along.....maybe the time had come to look into the verdant, reptilian eyes and face his destiny. But he would have to try it in seclusion. Not now, where his hope and disappointment would be all too visible to dark eyes. No matter how much the knowledge she offered him was worth, he would have to maintain his guard around Katrina-Carlotta. Dark witches weren't exactly known to stay true to their words.

"I....have a request to make. If at any time and place, I do meet you, I wish our meetings to remain a secret. No one should know about it." This request shouldn't take her by surprise. She already thought he cared too much for his reputation, which he did. But something more tangible than reputation was at stake here, if the news were to come out that the son of Harry Potter was dabbling in the Dark Arts. Albus didn't care to quantify to himself what, but somewhere before his mind's eye, flashed a wisp of red hair and pale eyes.

If Albus was half as smart as she thought he was, the witch knew that his mind would be absorbing and dissecting the spell she'd just promised to teach him. It was considered impossible to transfigure something into a true, working, human body. The spell wasn't transfiguration, however, hence Katrina-Carlotta's very careful wording. The witch had used the word transform instead of transfigure, and had done so quite deliberately. The spell was pure dark magic. Sure, the creation had almost certainly involved some transfigurative aspects, but dark magic didn't exactly follow normal spell laws. Not always, at least.

When Albus said he'd master it, the woman nodded her head in approval. It was far from easy, but the man had power and talent. And her for a teacher, that certainly had to count for something. When it came to serious dark magic, Katrina-Carlotta was primarily self taught. She wondered how things would be different, if she had ever met someone like Albus had met her.

The Potter dropped the topic of parseltongue, and the European allowed it to happen. The young man was definitely thinking about it now, and the witch would only step in if the wizard continued to avoid his possible ability.

"Of course," the dark witch agreed. Now that she'd calmed down, the woman thought she understood a bit better why Albus had been so wary. Not only was his reputation at stake, but everything in his life was. His life as well, or his soul really, if he were to get caught. "The facades we maintain are always important. Besides, I know a young French lady, you two would get along quite well I think, whom would never leave me alone if she heard of my association with you," she admitted, amusement in her tone. Marie had always been the owner of an odd sense of humor. Katrina-Carlotta wasn't quite sure if the French witch would find more amusement in that she'd taken on a student of sorts, or that she'd corrupted the Albus Potter. Either way, Marie was the woman's go-to for assassination jobs, meaning that she'd never hear the end of it.

Jack was getting really tired of holding up two businesses. Especially two businesses that needed more work and love than delivered her any benefit, too.. She kept Satan's alive because, frankly, she felt responsible for it. If Satan's was the brainchild of the poltergeist she had created, who was (in essence) her brainchild, it made Satan's sort of like her... brain grand child, or something. She felt obligated to Satan's upkeep.

Still, she could not do this service with a happy heart. It just hurt, coming into Satan's. It was the biggest monument to her failure to the human race. She had created a being who had murdered, stole, and created this temple of sin. And yet, she was oddly fond of this temple of sin. She could not help it. But all she was fond of, was gone. The owner, the bartender, the master suite - gone. All that remained was her favorite booth.

Even her favorite booth could not make her any fonder of having to come in every month to work the finances out with the manager. She'd collect the earnings, dole out the paychecks, and pay all of the bills - often finding she was paying more than they were earning. Satan's was a suck on her life - not just emotionally, but financially too. She found herself wondering month after month why she was coming back.

Yet... Here she was. Again.

She came in, skipping the door charge everyone else usually paid and walking straight in. She stopped by the bar to get her usual drink - because, frankly, she needed a drink before she sat down with the bills.As she waited, she swung around to view the kingdom, her inherited kingdom, when her heart briefly stopped.

What was Albus Potter doing in her nightclub?

She stared for a moment. And then her eyes drifted over to his companion. Katarina-Carlotta du Hunt. Only the most respectable of people did not know the other witch's name, and Jack would not consider herself respectable. Jack knew exactly what sort of witch Kat-Car was, and to think Albus was now in her company... set Jack very much in a place of discomfort. She knew Albus had dark tendencies, but Jack knew he was good at heart. And someone like Kat-Car would be sure to use everything she had to manipulate him to her side.

Jack wanted to go over there. Do something. Say something. But what? What would she do? Grab Albus by the ear and berate him for talking to strangers? What right did she have to impose herself? Two nights of camaraderie and she now thought herself Albus' counsel? She forced herself into stony indifference. She was not vying for Albus Potter's soul with Katarina-Carlotta du Hunt. Why should she?

"Jack. Jack."

She turned, meeting eyes with the bartender. He held out her Firewhiskey and she grimaced, taking it from him. She turned and began to head towards the office, offering one more glance at the table.

To see they had turned their attention to her.

She swallowed and withdrew her gaze, assuming the dignity and professionalism of a business owner. She turned and headed for the office. She had business to attend to.

He was expecting more opposition. Really, he was. An angry, impassioned, fired tirade on why 'we should never hide ourselves', how 'in the end lying to yourself solves nothing' and all the shit he had been filtering out from one eardrum to another for years. Of course, Katrina-Carlotta was bent on proving him wrong at every turn, which is why she agreed promptly. She mentioned a lady in passing, and Albus opened his mouth to affirm that he would like to meet her, when he snapped it shut again. No. No one was to know of his connection to the Du Hunt assassin. Fewer people knowing, meant fewer mouths to blab.

"Very well. I shall owl you to settle the date for our next.....meeting. You're free to decide the venue." It was a good compromise, he could decide the day, she could decide the place. It placed a huge advantage in her hands, if she so wished, she could ambush him easily. After all, there were still people who hated his father, his family, and automatically transferred that to all who bore the Potter name. Albus wouldn't be surprised if someone had payed a price for his head. But that was the whole point. This was meant to be symbolic, a show of trust. A deal, that they were going to ignore each other's names and all that they implied, and simply judge one another on future actions, not past.

He stood up, pushed aside the curtain cloaking their booth, and looked straight into Jack Dyllan's eyes.

The world froze. She stared at him, emotions swirling on her face....confusion, surprise. Disappointment. And a flash of something, gone before it had come. Hurt? Albus felt a cold, cold fist squeezing his chest, compressing his heart till it felt like it would explode under the pressure. His eyes drifted. A delayed pang. That wisp of red hair, floating beside her cheek as she cooked breakfast for him this morning -could it be? Had it really happened not four hours ago?- was still caressing the side of her face.

He pulled the curtain back and dropped on his seat, body coiled, fists clenched, heart burning.

The European allowed a slight smile to curl upon her lips as Albus mentioned their next meeting. There was something about the male, something special, the dark witch was certain of it. There was an aura about the wizard that screamed of untapped potential. Katrina-Carlotta found herself wondering if after a meeting or two the wizard would allow her to get a reading on his magic. It would certainly be helpful towards teaching him, and she was undeniably curious.

The assassin simply nodded in consent to Albus's words. The woman wasn't blind to exactly what the man was offering. It would be more than easy to set up a trap for the Potter under these conditions. The witch didn't even consider it for a moment though. Not only would she loose Albus, she'd also have little to gain from it. If she wanted money, all she'd have to do was kill off a politian or two, and they would put up far less of a fight than Albus would.

Then something rather unexpected happened. Albus drew back the curtain hiding their booth, and froze. Immediately searching for what her companion was ensnared by, the witch found the eyes of Jack Dyllan. The two younger magic users seemed to be unable to break eye contact, and the dark witch felt her left eyebrow twitch. Katrina-Carlotta had made it her business to know the important figures of England when she had first moved here. While Jack Dyllan wasn't quite what the dark witch would consider an important person, the redhead had seemed to be, or at least have a connect to, practically everywhere. The assassin had pegged her as someone to keep an eye on, especially since her own connections had told her that the younger woman was definitely involved in the Order. Taking in the emotions flickering over the Dyllan's features, the well-travelled woman automatically jumped to a conclusion.

Watching Albus's reaction once the eye contact was broken, the witch realized that this chance sighting may very well set them back. "My apologies, I should have replaced the glamour," the woman said after a moment. She knew it was in no way her fault, but the European wanted to reassure the wizard somehow. After a few more beats of silence, Katrina-Carlotta figured that she might as well share her observations with the wizard. "Dyllan wants you to be hers, you know," the dark witch stated simply.