A Chain of Debt (A Matou Shinji AU Quest)

[Daiki]

[x] Ask why Lord Black teaches Muggle Studies.

Learning about legilimancy is fine by me too.

[Dracueri]

[x]Ask why Lord Black teaches Muggle Studies

[skulkidcachi90]

[x]Ask why Lord Black teaches Muggle Studies

[Skull Leader]

[X] Ask what it must be like to casually read people's thoughts

[alfheimwanderer]

[X] Ask why Lord Black teaches Muggle Studies

---

"On a completely different note," Shinji said, changing the topic entirely, "why is it that you teach Muggle Studies, Lord Black? I would have thought a practitioner of witchcraft as esteemed as yourself would have preferred something more...magical."

Next to him, Draco's expression grew tight and pinched, as if to groan 'not again,' though to his credit, he refrained from saying it out loud.

"Because magic is not the end all and be all of the world we live in," the dark-haired Lord responded after a moment, his raptor stare fixing the boy in place. "It is easy, when all one knows is this small world of us, for us to think ourselves masters of the earth, lords of all we survey. For us, what muggles could consider miraculous, we think mundane, and it makes us...soft."

"Soft?" Shinji echoed, sounding somewhat uncertain. "What do you mean, sir?"

"I mean that we are not used to dealing with setbacks, because being able to undo small, everyday losses and tragedies is something we take for granted. For a muggle, if one breaks a priceless heirloom, stains an expensive garment, or loses contact with a friend, there is no recourse - one has to accept what has happened. For a wizard, we wave a wand and the heirloom is fixed, speak a spell and the stain disappears, send out an owl and that friend can be found." Lord Black chuckled quietly, a sound that Shinji found almost disturbing. "We become used to the idea that we can wave our wands and fix things."

"Fix things?" Shinji repeated. "You make that sound so...negative. Isn't it a good thing we don't have to suffer as those without magical abilities do?"

"Not if we begin thinking that everything that can fixed should be. For instance, if one...says harsh words to a friend in anger and loses their trust, could one not 'fix' this with a Memory Charm? If one was in danger of failing an important examination, could one not Confound an examiner to believe that a failing mark was passing, or a wrong answer, right? If a person refused to do what was right, would it not be easy for someone else to compel them to do so, perhaps with the Imperius?"

"Not that I disagree, but using the Imperius in itself is considered Unforgivable, godfather," Draco interjected.

"According to the Ministry, this is true," Lord Black agreed. "Any use of the Imperius or one of the other Unforgivables on a fellow human - without the express authorization of the Ministry - is enough to earn the user a life sentence in Azkaban."

"...even if it was necessary?"

"Necessary?" the Professor inquired.

"Say, if someone was about to go and kill a theatre full of people, or a school," Shinji temporized. "Would stopping them, no matter what it took to do so, not be justified in the name of the greater good?"

"The Ministry would disagree," Lord Black noted solemnly.

"It would punish you for saving people? For doing what was right?"

"In this case, yes. Would it be wrong to do so?" Lord Black inquired.

"Yes," Shinji responded immediately. "Yes it would."

"The same would be true if it passed any other law you found unreasonable or unjust, yes?"

"Yes," Shinji said again.

"And if you had the power to do so, you would try to make them listen to what you believe was right, wouldn't you? To force them to change their ways, whatever the cost, even if you needed to do evil in the name of the greater good?"

"Well...who wouldn't?" Shinji asked, puzzled.

Lord Black chuckled mirthlessly.

"Congratulations. You are rather...notorious company. Company that includes individuals such as Gellert Grindelwald, who started the Great Wizarding War out of a belief that anything was permissible in the name of the Greater Good, as well as Lord Voldemort, who terrorized Britain for over a decade as he believed the Ministry and those who supported it trampled on our birthright as magical beings, and so espoused the idea that might made right."

"...isn't that true, though?" Shinji mused. "I mean, he was beaten, right? So in the end, might did make right."

"You aren't wrong, exactly," Lord Black noted, shaking his head. "It's odd, really, how most in our society believe that Dark Lords and dark wizards are so very rare. That they are unusual. That they are twisted individuals willing to destroy everything that is good and right in a quest for power. Such explanations are convenient, but so very mistaken."

"Oh?"

"Dark wizards, whether followers or lords, are those who most deeply buy into the most central tenet of our society - that if one has enough power, there is nothing that cannot be fixed. That we, as people gifted with magic, can - and should - fix what is broken by imposing our will upon it - much as we learn to do as children. After all, if wounds can be mended with a wave of a wand, broken items made whole with no scar, with no trace that anything ever happened, then what does it matter what evil is done in the name of the greater good, if everything can be made the way it was with enough power?" The man paused. "You asked why I teach Muggle Studies, Mister Matou? It is because I feel the need to remind them that there are people who live in a world where there are things that cannot be fixed. A world of limits and tragedies. A world where even simple things cannot be easily undone." He shook his head. "Some bemoan that such a world exists, or pity the muggles who live in such a place, yet it is not the Muggles who hide from us, but we who hide from the Muggles, given their hardiness and tenacity as individuals. We undo tragedies as they occur, but they change the world to prevent tragedies from occurring in the first place. We linger in our thousands, eking out our existence in the shadow of their billions; our nations as made of small towns scattered across vast expanses, while they rule continents; we pride ourselves on having a single great school in Britain - and eleven around the world - they have thousands upon thousands. They have done this because they do not pour their efforts into fixing what is broken, focusing instead on creating something new in its place."

"You almost sound like you envy then, Uncle," Draco pointed out.

"I do, at times," Lord Black acknowledged. "After all, when one is free from the burden and responsibility of trying to fix everything in one's sight, one to look to the horizons and the world of countless possibilities beyond."

"Beyond?"

"Beyond the certainties we already know."

The man goes on to ask Shinji about why the boy decided to reconcile with Draco after their...disagreement?

[ ] Because he felt it was safer
[ ] Because he saw an advantage in it
[ ] Because there wasn't anything personal in what had happened
[ ] (write-in)

Any other questions for Lord Black?

[ ] (write-in)

[Skull Leader]

[X] Because there wasn't anything personal in what had happened

[X] 1)What skills does he consider most useful for being a better wizard beyond learning about the muggle world? 2) If there is a muggle studies class yet not wizard studies class, how should Shinji go about learning more about the Wizard culture here in Britain since he is a foreign wizard? Any book recommendations?

So might as well get Snape thoughts on what skills Shinji should be learning. And the second question, getting reference books for Shinji to look up about wizard culture would likely help Shinji interact with his classmates.

[Dracueri]

[x]Because there wasn't anything personal in what had happened

[x] 1)What skills does he consider most useful for being a better wizard beyond learning about the muggle world? 2) If there is a muggle studies class yet not wizard studies class, how should Shinji go about learning more about the Wizard culture here in Britain since he is a foreign wizard? Any book recommendations? What does he think of the subjects taught at Hogwarts?

[alfheimwanderer]

[x]Because there wasn't anything personal in what had happened

[x] 1)What skills does he consider most useful for being a better wizard beyond learning about the muggle world? 2) If there is a muggle studies class yet not wizard studies class, how should Shinji go about learning more about the Wizard culture here in Britain since he is a foreign wizard? Any book recommendations?

---

"Nothing personal, you say?" Lord Black repeated, as if tasting the words. "That is certainly a safer approach to experiencing Hogwarts than holding grudges and making enemies, as many Gryffindors do. A true Slytherin knows that gaining an advantage often means acting with a certain...sang froid, that one must be as cold blooded as the serpent that is the mascot of your house. To know when to take chances and when to refrain, when and how to use another, and when to look past being used."

"To look past?" Shinji echoed. "Why...?"

"It is tempting to simply declare one's undying enmity, but life is often unpredictable, and there may come a time when someone who has wronged you may be a necessary part of your plans. That perhaps you will need a favor to best a coming trial, or their aid against a common foe." The man paused, before looking at the boy, his gaze eerily intent. "Even if you should hate someone with all of your heart, loathe them with all of your being, it is best you...detach yourself from that situation, lest your emotions consume you and lead you to folly."

Shinji flinched at this.

"What would you know about--" he began, only to fall silent as the man simply looked at him. "I see."

"I doubt you do, but if you are unlucky, you may one day."

Shinji blinked.

"Uh, on a completely different note," he said, blatantly changing the topic, "what knowledge would you consider most useful for a wizard, beyond knowledge of the muggle world?"

"The knowledge of what has come before, that the mistakes of the past do not become yours, and the knowledge of what is to come, that you may prepare for it, or reject it."

"The knowledge of--"

"History and Divination, if I were to choose classes at Hogwarts," the man noted severely. "And Astronomy, as the future is often written in the heavens, even as the lights we see in the firmament are windows to the past." The man sighed. "In my youth I...did not appreciate these things well enough. I, like many others, was far too fixated on charms and potions and the obvious sorts of magics. At the time, they were the clearest way to power for a young man who had never had any." He chuckled, shaking his head. "I was good at them, too. I invented new spells, created new potions - or better ways of making old ones, became a figure who was respected, feared...and hated," he added. "I was proud of what I could do, and my enemies knew it, so they turned my creations against me, humiliated me in front of those whose respect I desired most, inflamed my hatred and my rage."

"...and what happened then?"

"My hate made me powerful, drove me to seek victory against my enemies at any cost."

"Did you win?"

"I did." He shook his head. "But doing it cost me far more than I would have been willing to pay, had I known. That victory...it nearly destroyed me entirely. Would have succeeded in doing so, had I not met the woman who would become my wife, to who I owe the world and more."

Lord Black's children shook their heads, obviously not quite comfortable seeing their father go...mushy over their mother.

Shinji, too, wasn't quite comfortable with this, and looked away as the man took his wife's hand and squeezed it tenderly, though eventually the moment passed, with the man clear-eyed again.

"So there is my advice. Learn from the past, that you not repeat the mistakes of history, as so many do. Consider the future, for it always in motion, even as we go to meet it. Do not become so fixated on what you see as power that you lose everything in the process."

"...speaking of the future, when would we learn divination?"

"Were it offered normally, it would be an elective starting Third Year, though we have no current teacher for it," the man noted. "Instead, my lovely wife will teach it to individuals who are interested as an independent study course, and allows those of any year to study under her."

"I see."

"Well, since you show some promise as a Slytherin, I suppose I can allot some of my time to you - provided that you help out with the children in the future. How does that sound?"

[ ] Like a great deal
[ ] Like a waste of time

If he accepts the deal, Shinji will ask for...

[ ] Lessons in spell-casting from Lord Black
[ ] Lessons in divination from Lady Black
[ ] "...the whole reading people's minds thing. Can that be taught?"
[ ] Lessons in how to make a map of the castle that can track people
[ ] (something else)

[Skull Leader]

[X ] Like a great deal
[X] Lessons in divination from Lady Black

We have a book on this subject, so a trainer for this will go nicely in our quest to become a Card reader (maybe not the same kind as we thought). I am curious what this skill tree will unlock for Shinji.

Other choices are fine. I would lend towards the map cause that would be super useful but while its useful its a map for just the castle so its biggest limit is that its not useful outside of Hogwarts. I rather work our way on a skill tree for the time being.

Since I can't ask someone to be my stealth coach, our secondary divination will have to do.

[Dracueri]

Like a great deal

Lessons in divination from Lady Black

[Daiki]

[x] Like a great deal
[x] Lessons in divination from Lady Black

I guess we can try to improve Occlumency with the kids over time, too.

[alfheimwanderer]

[X] Like a great deal
[X] Lessons in divination from Lady Black

---

Divination, as Shinji would come to learn over the next month, was a fairly complex discipline, one in which being still and listening to what the universe had to say (to say nothing of trying to interpret that message) was vital if he wanted to get anywhere. This, sadly, was something he'd never been very good at, as he'd fancied himself more of a man of action (well, boy of action - even if had read the entire Matou library) than a thinker or scholar, which made the first few lessons quite interesting, as rather than having him learn to read the future (no matter how crudely) via some technique, she had told him to be still, to listen.

"Divination, you see, is a subtle art, and one that takes time to learn if one is not born with the ability to peer into the future," Lady Black had explained during their first session together. "True Seers are very rare, you see, arising perhaps once every several generations."

"What's the difference between a Seer and someone who learns Divination?" Shinji had inquired, not sure why there was a distinction being made. "Don't both see the future?"

Andromeda had chuckled at that.

"A Seer's Inner Eye sees fragments of the future in painful clarity, oftentimes unprompted - or seemingly so. For a Seer, it is vital to learn to close their Inner Eye or at least to organize their thinking enough to filter the many images and slices of what may come from what is, so they can function as people in the present."

"Function as people?"

"For a Seer, there is always the danger of believing the future is immutable and acting accordingly, of essentially following certain paths based on the outcomes you have foreseen, without contemplating if you should, what that outcome means if you have not seen beyond it, or whether your assumptions of what leads to those outcomes is correct."

"'If King Croesus crosses the Halys River, a great empire will be destroyed,'" Shinji had murmured, with Andromeda raising an eyebrow as she recognized the quote - as she should, as they were a rather famous example of how the words of the Oracle of Delphi were often true - but not in the way one expected.

"Yes. His own, as you no doubt know, if you know those words," Lady Black had murmured approvingly. "In more recent memory, of course, there is Grindelwald, an untrained Seer who saw a future where muggles had obtained destructive power beyond any wizard, and sought to stop that from coming by plunging the wizarding world into a great war, one that spilled over into the muggle world and...well, you would know of how World War II ended."

Shinji had winced at that, given that like every Japanese schoolboy, he knew of Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

"...that was all...Grindelwald?" he'd asked, his throat strangely tight as he'd said this. "Because of him...because of him..."

"Not entirely. He may have started the war, but that does not absolve the others of responsibility for their choices."

"...that's..." Shinji had grimaced. "That's fair," he'd said eventually. "He knew. He saw it and..."

"He did what he did out of a belief that it served some greater good, though of course, in the end, his actions to avoid what he saw, ended up bringing it about."

"...how very Greek," Shinji had muttered, recalling the many occasions when kings and princes, in trying to avoid a future, ended up bringing it about through their actions.

"It is, though the danger is much...less if one learns not to look so far into the future, to bring their Eye under conscious control. At least the dangers to self and others from unintended consequences. Mind you, trained Seers are exceptionally dangerous to oppose, given how they can use their ability at will."

"What about people who aren't Seers?" Shinji had asked. "What is seeing the future like for them?"

"Picture the future as the bottom of a lake," Andromeda had said after a moment. "From above, one cannot usually see the bottom - mostly, one sees reflections and ripples. To see the bottom of the lake, you have enter the water. Yet, depending on how you do so, you may stir up a great deal of sediment, making it impossible to see anything around you."

"So to better see the future, someone practicing divination - getting into the lake - has to make less of...a splash?" Shinji had reasoned. "While a Seer...is already in the water?"

"More that they have a pair of magical eyes drifting in the water which they can see through. Eyes that sometimes see the bottom, sometimes the present, sometimes just the expanse of water all around them."

"So they have to learn to control their eyes, while we have to learn not to...splash when we dive in."

That's right," Lady Black had agreed. "The less 'splash', the better, but getting there takes time and patience. I won't lie to you, Mister Matou - the road to becoming a competent diviner is long and difficult, one that will demand a great deal of patience and restraint, as your progress will not be as flashy as charms or transfiguration, especially without a tool to divine the future with."

"A tool?"

"Yes. Unlike Seers, diviners do not see the future directly, and require a medium of some sort."

"Oh, so like tea leaves, the entrails of birds, or cracked bones?"

"...yes, exactly. For a student though, especially a Slytherin, it would probably be a bad look to begin with sacrificing animals so that one can use their body parts as a medium. A less...bloody focus often raises less questions, and is easier to use, for those new to this art."

"Ah."

"Still, you are not quite ready to begin attuning a focus yet. You have not even yet learned how to listen." She'd smiled faintly then. "The focus is what will help you to perceive the future, yet to understand what it tells you, you must understand the instrument that interprets the message, to know its ebbs and flows and perturbations, and how these things shape what you finally see in the end."

"The instrument...?"

"You. Which is why we start every lesson with meditation, with you learning to still the noise in your mind and soul, that you might hear what is around you. For a month, during our lessons, there will be no speaking save that which is absolutely necessary, as even the words we use can color our thoughts and moods. You will come in, you will meditate, you will listen to the world around you, and to yourself."


Until Halloween came to pass, that was what the boy did for four days out of the week at Divination lessons (while taking care of the twins for some hours on the weekend, with Draco). Listening. Meditating. Learning to accept what he had previously thought of as silence without immediately trying to fill it, to hear what was present in what he had assumed was merely absence. The sound of his own breathing, speeding up or slowing down as his thoughts changed. The quiet rush of blood through the vessels of his ears. The faint - almost inaudible - beating of his heart. For someone who was impatient to learn techniques, to move quickly, to become great, having to restrain himself was...a trial, to say the least, more so than it would have been for most any other eleven year old, since unlike others, the boy had a massive debt hanging over him.

And yet, he persisted, learning to still even the thoughts racing through his head by focusing on the breath, on the ebb and flow of air - a task that grew harder once he was given a dose of Mopsus and told not to manipulate things with his mind, merely to be...aware of what was around him. Once his senses expanded, once he could move things with his mind just by thinking about it, well, it was understandable that some mishaps occurred, especially as Lady Black would put things like glasses of water or candles around him sometimes, and it only took the slightest of distractions for him to cause the water to ripple, or to snuff out a flame as she moved around him, setting things down or picking things up - all sorts of things, really.

Dice. Cups of water. Lit braziers. Coins. And more.

They were distracting in their novelty, in their transience. But then, that too was part of the lesson, a lesson he strove to internalize - to be still as water, clear as glass. He didn't manage it perfectly - none did at his age - but by Halloween, he had come close enough that Andromeda finally broke the silence.

"I think you are ready to begin attuning a focus," she said simply, her voice - which he hadn't heard except at Astronomy in months - seeming strange to him, oddly rich with its cadences and inflections. "We will cover those in the months to come, as well as a basic survey of techniques - though you will be meditating for the first half of our session - but before that, does something

[ ] A coin
[ ] A deck of cards
[ ] A set of dice
[ ] (something else)

---

Halloween is one of the most celebrated holidays of the Wizarding World (at least the British one), so perhaps it was unsurprising that the Defense Professor has chosen that day to announce a new practical training program he calls Wizards Unite, with participants being issued a special set of glasses powered by the ambient magic of Hogwarts. These glasses would allow them to interact with a virtual layer of reality overlaid onto the physical reality of Hogwarts - a layer on which one could find - and gain experience facing - magical creatures of all sorts, allowing students to test their skills without the danger of a true life or death battle. (To prevent injury to bystanders, the glasses would also project a shield of a sort to cancel out stray spells if a "miss" might result in a spell hitting someone not involved in the project).

Defeating a creature, of course, gives a person a certain amount of points (tracked by glasses), depending on the challenge rating of the encounter (determined from type of creature, size / age, and amount / age of people who participate in a given fight), with some creatures being simple enough to take down even for a first year working on their own, others almost necessitating good teamwork from a group of seventh years if they wanted to even stand a chance, and most being somewhere in between. Of course, if one "died" in an encounter, one would lose all points accumulated to date, so a bit of caution was advised.

Points would also be given to the team a person was registered to, with every participant being assigned to one of three depending on what they saw as the most critical element for victory: Valor, Instinct, or one's skill with the Mystic Arts. The team with the most points would receive a feast in their honor the day before the Christmas break, and a day at Hogsmeade exclusively for them...generously subsidized by Lord Black.

The best scoring individuals of each team (and from each year) would receive some sort of monetary reward and what Quirrell promised would be a nice Christmas gift.

Will Shinji participate in Wizards Unite?

[ ] Yes
[ ] No

If yes, what does he believes is key to victory?

[ ] Valor in battle
[ ] Trusting your Instincts
[ ] Skill at Mystic Arts

[Skull Leader]

[X] A set of dice

Any here is fine, but I think I rather go middle road here. Not to simple like a coin flip where its only two outcomes and not more on the complex side like cards would be. Dice allows for a more quick use of them than the cards will be.

The idea here is that we can upgrade to a better more complex divination tool when we level up Shinji's ability and he has an area to better set up more special tools.

As for the Wizards United, I am torn on this one. On one hand, Shinji is already extremely busy if he is going to keep up with classes, continue his History class extra credit, learn divination, watch the twins, care for his dodo and learn from his stealth book. On the other hand, cash prizes and other rewards...I just don't know here. It's only a two month event and Shinji would be able to use his new skills in this so it might be worth it, but how much time does he have to sink into this? If I had to pick a team to join it would be Team Instincts.

Edit: I divinated for an answer consulting the bones IE rolled dice, the fates tell me to vote [X] No on prop Wizard United.

[Dracueri]

[x]A deck of cards

I'm choosing this so Shinji can get used to using cards as a focus. Cards can do more complex readings and if lucky we can get a nice deck from Lady Black.

I'm on the fence for Wizards United for the same reasons stated by SL. Is playing the game for two months worth the sacrifice of doing other stuff because after New Years something new could pop up and take our personal training time away. The downside of playing is not winning anything since one death reset points back to zero. If group decides to play I would choose Team Instinct.

[X] No

[Daiki]

[x] A deck of cards

Follow the theme.

[x] No

Going to not vote for the extra Quirrell event this time. Sounds good and all, but we should focus on what we have on our plate right now.

[EmperorBR]

[x] A deck of cards

Either that or the dice works well for me, but i think we could use what we already have some familiarity with, so a deck of cards sounds more reasonable.

[x] No

Better to focus on divination this time, and as much as this concept is tempting, as well as the rewards, there's too much at stake and the possibility of losing is too damm high. Sorry Quirrell, not this time.

[alfheimwanderer]

[x] A deck of cards
[x] No

---

A deck of cards it is. As it happens, there is someone else who has an interest in cards and using them to foretell the future - Amber Noel. It occurs to Shinji that if he introduced her to Lady Black and mentioned her as someone who might be a good student, this might reduce the burden of how much...babysitting he had to do, as well as give him a basis for comparison for how fast he is learning.

Invite Amber to join Divination Studies?

[ ] Yes
[ ] No

[Skull Leader]

[X] Yes

Sure why not have a partner in cards.

He already has a partner in crime (Zabini).

[Dracueri]

[x] Yes

[Daiki]

[x] Yes