trans_9 | Magic and Mystical: Interviews

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Magic and Mystical: Interviews

Nothing felt quite so good as to have a project on its way. If this one features slightly less graphical and arbitrary annihilation of all sense and reason to the universe so that his will and desires may stand paramount in all creation, it's no less important or relevant for all that.

Aibghalien has set aside a few of what appear to be practice areas for interviews and assessments, hoping these are large enough to use for any demonstrations necessary. If not, the courtyard outside allows plenty of space for particularly pyrotechnical displays.

[OOC: Those willing to help interview may start their own threads for people to comment on (but Abby would like to get your own lists!) If your character would have come, but you aren't able to thread it out for any reason, just put the information in the Handwaved thread for later compilation.]

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As Cedric felt the familiar buzz of magic in the air, he thought that he would have liked a robe. The garment had always made him feel like a proper wizard, and to be practicing magic without one was strange.

He tugged on his jumper and entered a rather large space, searching for an authority figure to speak with. With some luck, he found one. "Hello. Are you placing the magical examinations?"

He turned and offered a precise, razor-sharp bow. "That I am. Aibghalien, at your service."

Of course, Aibghalien had a quite impressive robe, but then again, it had come with him, in large part due to its magical nature.

"Cedric Diggory, at yours," the boy replied, inclining his head. He clasped his hands over his abdomen and watched the other wizard carefully. Oh, he hoped he'd prepared enough for this. Did a sixth year have enough training to help? Professor Lupin had thought so, but he'd have to wait and see.

"What sort of magical skills are you looking for? I'll go over everything I know. Unless you wanted to start somewhere else?"

"As much as you are willing to reveal," he said. "First of all, I would appreciate a brief explanation of how the magic you perform works. Do you prepare spells or cast spontaneously, for example? What components are required?"

That was understandable. Cedric lifted his wand, pinching it between his fingers both to display it and to appear nonthreatening. It was best to start slowly.

"It's a difficult question, it doesn't really come up on exams too often," he laughed, "but it might help if I mention my professor, Remus Lupin. He works in this department, and he taught for a year at the school I studied magic in. Hogwarts students study magic for seven years, but I've only completed six."

He shifted the wand into its usual position in his wand hand, pointed straight at the ceiling. "Wands channel our innate magical power. Spells can be cast with an incantation or nonverbally, though nonverbal magic's more difficult. I'm best at spells, but I was also good at caring for and understanding magical plants. Given the ingredients I could also brew a potion, but I'm not stellar at it."

He lapsed into silence to allow for more questions, thinking of how to begin a demonstration.

"Pardon me, gentlemen!" A cheerful, accented voice called from the corridor, announcing the Draenei before she trotted in, a tray in her hands. She gave a nod to Aibghalien and his companion, before setting the bounty in an accessible position to both of them.

"Peacebloom tea, some orange marmalade, and pumpkin spice bread. And a bit of honey to sweeten your tea. Enjoy. Keep up the good work! I should be within calling distance if you would like any more."

She gave them a nod, and trotted back out.

"Thank you!" he called after her.

Then back to Cedric. "So... you utilize somatic and verbal components but can modify your spells to require no verbal components. And rather than a wand being an independent magical item, it is instead a required material focus for your spells, is that correct?"

"Huh?"

Cedric's concentration was broken by the appearance of the cheerful woman. "Oh...thank you, but it's rude of me to eat during an exam. We can share in this later if you'd like!" he called after her as she left. Well, that was new.

A moment later, he was back to concentrationg. "Yes, that's right. There are rumours of the most powerful wizards being able to cast magic wandlessly, but that'd be beyond my level."

With that said, he could describe the different types of spells! "The main spells we learn are taught in Charms, Transfiguration, and Defence against the Dark Arts. In Charms, we learn how to manipulate the properties of an object. We can summon it, grow it, shrink it, bewitch it, make it float, teach it to sing, and more. Is there ab object you'd like me to use, or should I bring my own?"

"By all means, go ahead," he said, gesturing to the food. "This isn't an exam or anything so formal. Just a series of questions."

Having said that, though, he seemed intent on asking a great number of questions indeed. "Do the wands themselves have any inherent magic or are they simply a conduit? Are there any limitations on what spells you can perform at what times, or can you use any you desire at any time? Is there a limit on how many spells you can perform a day?"

Even as he asked these questions, he beckoned casually towards a simple orb sitting atop a pedestal. It lifted off its resting place and drifted towards Cedric as if offering itself up for a demonstration.

Cedric appreciated the offer, really. He was getting hungry, and it would be a perfect demonstration for later on! As he thought, he twirled his wand in his hand.

"The wands have some effect on the wizard's power, but it's fairly minor---as you say, they're mainly a conduit. My wand has a unicorn hair as its core, and it does lend some power. Every wand is unique, and others have different magical cores. I'm not sure how that affects things."

He thought on the next question for a moment or two. "Casting magic only requires the incantation, the willpower, and the energy to cast. We can get exhausted just as with any other challenging mental task, especially after a chain of difficult spells, but I've never hit a limit. I think it would depend on the difficulty of the magic, not the amount of spells."

That said, he pointed his wand at the orb and began his routine. Through a series of muttered incantations, the orb grew, shrunk, waved in certain patterns, zoomed toward him and away, changed colours, and made a series of chime noises as it bounced on the walls. That routine had amused Professor Flitwick after one memorable lesson.

"Those are just the simplest charms. My attack and defence spells will be more useful to the war effort overall, but while I have an object here I should show you Transfiguration." He paused for a moment, calling a clear image into mind, and unleashed the transformative magic on the orb. It became a simple dagger, smooth and sharp. He paused to lift it up, rather pleased with his work.

"Interesting. Your spells are primarily enchantment and alteration, then," he said, as behind him the book continued to scribble notes. "What of other forms of magic? Illusions, evocation, conjuration...?"

"That's not all there is to magic, but it's what I'm best at," Cedric thought aloud, flipping the dagger in his hand. With a wave of his wand, it resumed its previous orb form. "Illusory charms work like this, though I've also used it on myself."

He rapped the top of the orb and watched as it vanished from sight, taking on the appearance of the space behind it. Another tap caused it to reappear. "And conjuration works like this, though it has its limits. Incendio!"

A flame burst forth from his wand, maintained for several moments before he extinguished it. "We can do the same for water or ice, and it's possible to summon small objects, such as ropes or chains. It's even possible with small animals. And there are limits---we can't create food, for example."

"So smaller scale conjurations," he repeated, as the quill continued to scratch out words in the floating book. "But for example, a wall of stone would be less possible?"

"Definitely. I can give it a try, but we usually have multiple wizards casting bigger enchantments like that."

He waved the wand, forming the picture in his mind, just as he had with other conjurations in class. His magic started to shape...something, but after a moment it became clear that such a massive wall was not going to happen alone. Finally, he produced the largest chunk he could, a square brick that came up to about his knee.

Cedric looked up awkwardly, tentatively taking a drink from the tray. "It's easier to create a personal shield than to build a wall if the purpose was to protect ourselves. For example---"

After a moments' break, he performed an old enchantment on the orb that he'd learned from Quidditch practice---enchanting a softer, lighter ball to behave as a Bludger does for training purposes. It immediately began attacking Cedric, whacking him again and again until he flicked the wand again. "Protego!"

The orb bounced away from him, careening into the wall.

"Substantial and diverse control of objects and forces on a small scale," he thought out loud. "Decreasing as scale and scope increase. Interesting. That last demonstration seems to lead into battlefield magics, though?"

Hopefully some that could be demonstrated without targets, since he had no ability to conjure here.

"Yes," Cedric began, picking a point on the far wall as his target. "An Impediment Jinx, for example, will stop an object from moving. Impedimenta!"

As he called out the word and targeted the bouncing ball, it stopped where it was in mid-air. "The other dueling spells need a target. A Disarming Charm will remove whatever the opponent has in their hand. In our case it was usually a wand, but it will work on other objects. A Stunning Spell is stronger and will knock the opponent unconscious, and a Reductor Curse will blast an object into pieces. Obviously I can't demonstrate most of them here, but I used them just before my world was destroyed."

"So you don't have combat spells specifically related to manipulation of elements," he said. "And I assume that, again, your spells are generally individually-focused?"

"I do, actually," Cedric replied, "but they're minimal. The fire spell I showed you earlier can be expanded into larger attacks, though I obviously didn't want to burn the building down. I also use water and ice."

He drew his wand again and pointed at an opposite wall. "Aguamenti!" A rough jet of water appeared, rebounding against the wall and soaking him thoroughly---oops. It wasn't meant to be that strong. A few steps back later, he called "Glacius!" and the air around the water chilled, forming it into ice.

"Yes, dueling's generally one on one, but there are ways to attack and defend multiple people at once. It simply takes more effort."

"Would you mind demonstrating? Given the circumstances we find ourselves in, large-scale attack and defense tends to be the most relevant variety, after all."

He spoke a couple of words and made a pass, in an instant conjuring what appeared to be a small group of orcs. It was only illusion, but good luck finding any evidence of that.

"Not at all." Cedric took a deep breath, bracing himself for combat. He'd been trained to blast his way through small threats, but this was different.

He instinctively stepped back, weaving a quick charm over himself before beginning. A wave of his wand sent a stream of sharp arrows as his first attack. If that didn't work, he had a slash of flame to help move things along, which he cast right after.

Conjuring arrows? That had interesting implications, the first of which is that working with a more martial combatant was rare or unknown on their world. The orcish army reacted appropriately for a moment, clutching at injuries or shielding themselves from the flame, before he dismissed the illusion with a wave of his hand.

"Interesting. I think I've learned a great deal. Is there anything else you'd like to demonstrate, or any questions or such that you'd like to ask?"

That was it? Cedric stepped over to the side slightly awkwardly. Was he allowed to eat now?

"Just one, sir. Do I pass?"

He felt like he had covered this before... but then, he had a history of being unclear. Probably his own fault.

"Having some sort of ability applicable to the department is the only criterion for joining, and you certainly have that. You're more than welcome to join."

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Magic and Mystical: Interviews

Re: Aibghalien

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/interrupting space goat. Bleat!

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