A Wand-erful Mix-up

[Ethan Forrester]

Thursday, December 1, 2005, after dinner.

Ethan cried out in pain.

It was times like this that he was thankful that his quarters were adjacent to Elyria's in Ravenclaw Tower. He could only hope that she happened to be in her quarters at this hour.

He stumbled into the corridor and knocked on her door a little more urgently than he normally would have, as he cradled his wand hand. It looked like it had been the target of the mother of all stunner spells, as it was grotesquely swollen and looking quite bruised. "Elyria!", he called through the door. "Help?"

[Elyria Silverberg]

Elyria had just finished plaiting her hair and was brushing the tied-off end when she heard a voice - Ethan's voice - cry out. She froze in place trying to be a still as possible to hear if there was any comotion or signs of a struggle. After what felt like several minutes, she placed her brush down on her dressing table and rose from her seat, inching closer to her wand across the room in case someone had breached the school's defenses.

At the sound of Ethan's voice calling for her, she hurried to the door and opened it with her free hand, wand remaining at the ready. When she saw Ethan and quickly ushered him into her room before securing the door behind them. Elyria guided the man over to the sitting area noting his hand. The more she poured over what she knew up to this point, it didn't seem like there was any intruder... and naturally, it wouldn't have surprised her if Ethan was practicing his spellcraft.

"What happened to you? Let me see..." She pursed her lips together and straightened out her evening robes before sitting down on the sofa, patting the seat beside her. "I should take points from Ravenclaw if you were next door being reckless..." Elyria looked up to him with a sheepish grin.

[Ethan Forrester]

Ethan accepted Elyria's ushering without protest and took a seat, grimacing while staring down at his bruised and swollen hand.

"You may have seen me alternate between two wands," he began. "I started this habit when I became an Auror, so I'd have a backup in case I was ever disarmed or my wand was otherwise lost, without being hindered by having to familiarize myself with a new wand completely from scratch. Every wand handles differently, and some can be stubborn regarding what they'll let you cast, and it takes practice to use a new one proficiently."

"I wanted to practice a curse-detection charm, but to do that, I needed a cursed object to work with. Nothing dangerous, even a mildly cursed object would suffice. All of my mildly-cursed objects, however, are tucked away in the curio cabinets in my office and I didn't want to make the trek up there just to retrieve one of them. So I decided to create a test object by applying an innocuous curse to something mundane, in this case, a book--the curse would just give a shock if the book was touched."

"...unfortunately, in my haste, I reached for my holly-and-unicorn-hair wand. I'd completely forgotten that I've only ever cast light spells with it because of its disposition, so when I tried to use a dark spell to create a cursed object, it violently protested and sternly rebuked me..." He looked up with a sheepish grin. "I doubt I'll ever repeat that mistake."

(My head-canon is that if one wanted to "train" a wand to cast a really dark spell, they'd have to begin by first casting only mildly-dark spells and gradually working their way up.)

[Elyria Silverberg]

"I always thought you were just being a show off when you alternated..." She said as her lips tilted into a smirk. Ethan's training as an Auror was very obvious in his daily practices. Elyria always found it fascinating how the two of them studied so much together and ended up with vastly different styles to practicing magic. She had her rowan wand and no other, so alternating with a different one was an unfamiliar experience. In theory, it made sense to her based on the different properties of wood, core, and flexibility. Aside from trying out wands before her first year, Elyria had never had to switch to a different one over the years.

As Ethan explained what his objectives were, she nodded and gave conversational fillers while holding his arm and hand in her own, observing the damage caused by the recoil. "It doesn't appear broken from the surface, but there is certainly bruising an inflammation setting in. Are you able to move your fingers and the like? I've got a potion and salve that'll help with that. I always keep a few of each stocked in the event I get to duel." Elyria stood up and walked across the room to a small table with a cabinet just above it. She opened the door and pulled out a bottle containing a green liquid, a small art deco-style pedastal jar, and some bandages. After closing the door, she made her way back to Ethan and sat down beside him, rather assertively offering him the potion to drink, as if denying him the opportunity to refuse. She set the jar and bandages on the table in front of them before taking a seat.

"Wiggenweld potion should help with the stuff. If this doesn't do the trick, you better sprint to Tatiana. This salve will help reduce the swelling and bruising, too. Let me know if I press too hard." Elyria lifted Ethan's hand and rested it in one of her own before leaning toward the table to remove the lid from the jar. The smell of eucalyptus and mint slowly started to fill the air. She dipped her fingers in to collect some of the salve, which was a little thicker than a traditional lotion. "So, aside from nearly losing limbs, how is everything?"

She couldn't help but let out a little chuckle as she covered Ethan's hand with the ointment. There were a few emotions going through her head. First, there was relief that the injury didn't appear to be too serious. Second was a mix of worry and frustration that Ethan may have been pushing himself too hard with his work. But, last was a confusing feeling of amusement that Ethan made a mistake. Surely, it was from their friendly rivalry from when they were students. Maybe it was less amusement and more of a feeling appreciation that he thought of coming to her for this. Though, Elyria was hardly the right person and their rooms were near each other. Nevertheless, she was in nurture mode and wanted to make sure he was okay.

[Ethan Forrester]

Ethan quirked an eyebrow at Elyria's stated assumption. "It's not in my nature to show off," he protested. "I apologize if it came across that way."

At her prompting, he tried curling and flexing his fingers a bit. "I can move them a little," he confirmed. "But it feels like I was hit with a bloody strong stinging hex." That was about as close to swearing as he ever got around Elyria. He made no attempt to circumvent Elyria's ministrations; he'd come to her because he trusted her, after all, and her proximity had made her the logical first choice. He drank the potion without question, though he did make a brief face at its bitter flavor.

"Aside from my pride, I'm fine," Ethan said as he patiently kept still for Elyria to apply the salve. "I suppose I've had a lot on my mind lately, what with the Forbidden Forest investigation going on, and worrying about some of my students. The Winter Solstice Dance." And a certain upcoming proposal. "Distractions."

[Elyria Silverberg]

Elyria carefully examined Ethan's hand as they spoke, trying to make sure the salve covered the afflicted areas completely. Once the salve covered his hand, she reached for the bandages and places the strip at his wrist, holding it in place with her thumb as she wrapped his hand, only releasing the starting point when it was guaranteed not to move. It wasn't the best job, but she attempted to keep his fingers free without it being a giant mess of gauze.

Once the bandages were secure, she lowered his hand to his thigh and listened to him discuss the goings on at the school that had him busy. "Just be sure to not spread yourself too thin, Ethan. If there's anything I can do to help or anything I can take over, let me know." She placed a hand on the back of his shoulder and flashed an kind smile to him. "I mean that. You're one of the best at what you do, and selfishly, I'd rather not lose you."

As she poured over the items Ethan listed out, the Winter Solstice Ball came to mind. There was a lot of preparation that went into an event like this. Decor was only a small part of what all went into it. Patroling and making sure students didn't leave the castle in the middle of the night would be a major concern. The thoughts ran through her head of all the tasks that still needed to be completed. She hugged Ethan's arm and scooted in closer to rest her head on his shoulder. "I'm still taking points from Ravenclaw for this..." Her tone was cheeky, trying to lighten the mood. Even as students Elyria remembered how studious and focused Ethan tended to be about his studies. She always tried to help get his mind off things, though she wasn't sure how successful she ever was, save teaching him to waltz that one time. Still, even as adults, those qualities were what she admired about him. Mistakes like this, however, are what caused her to worry about him.

[Ethan Forrester]

"What, me, spread myself too thin?", Ethan questioned. "Absolutely unheard of." He couldn't help but smirk. "I still have time to experiment with curse-detection charms, after all. I used to be an Auror; kids are a lot easier to manage than dark wizards. Though, I will concede, that I have to manage a lot more kids now than I ever had dark wizards. There's probably a poignant life lesson in that observation somewhere."

He relaxed, closed his eyes, and took a deep breath when he felt Elyria's head rest against his shoulder. "Things should be a lot less hectic once this term's finals and the dance are behind us."