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[darkart]

Does there exist documentation or any record concerning the use or effects of magic on the ship? I am interested in notation on repeated instances of magic during menial or daily activities as well as during times of flux as has recently passed, irrelevant to 'type' or origin of said magic.

I have perused the informational guide as well as backread through the network but this technology is not in use where I am from; I am unsure if I have missed anything due to unfamiliarity with the interface.

Comments

[thebreakingwave]

Harry places the box in the middle of the floor, but before he steps away he and opens it and takes out an object wrapped in a heavy, raw silk. The scarf is beautiful and clearly expensive. It's an odd thing for a young man to own, but whatever meaning it has for him is less important than its value as a sturdy and safe way to keep the basilisk fang separate from the diary.

Coming to stand back, beside Snape he looks from the man to the box and then back again. Will he feel relief once it's gone? Harry isn't sure.

[darkart]

There's no relief during wartime. And as far as this ship goes-- the war is still on. It still practically is for Severus at home and even if it's not for Harry, here is an open door to any time. Any wizard.

Wand in hand, Severus murmurs something in his low voice that sounds both commanding and enticing, drawing an arc in the air before him. Flames leap from the tip of his wand in an arch, pitching downwards like a waterfall made from fire, bouncing elegantly on the floor and dragging behind it a comet's tail, before it begins to whirl around them against the edges of the room. When Severus lowers his right hand he raises his empty left one, palm out, the head of a dragon crafted from flames of dark magic comes flitting up to him as if in greeting.

It is - to him - beautiful. The fire is hot but not in a way that might burn them; his control is precise. It feels unearthly. Severus's eyes shine as they reflect his fiendfyre coiled around the room and them; they are illuminated by the laboratory floor around them remains pitch black, leaving them adrift as if in space without the protection and confinement of the ship around them. For a moment he seems distracted, lost in his own world. But then his hand lowers and the dragon's head turns, gaze matching Severus's, falling onto the diary.

The sound it makes as it moves is the roaring of a fire and the growling of an animal turned ethereal and monstrous. It slides away from them and circles once, twice, then leaps up, slamming down against the dead horcrux with open jaws.

[thebreakingwave]

Despite the ship's name, there's no respite here. While Harry can and does smile with ease, talking about the war as if it was a thing that came and went, he knows that while they're on the ship, there's no end in sight. Each jump brings the risk of an outbreak of violence.

It's been long months since he's seen magic that's not some small, practical charm designed to make life a little easier and it does him good to watch something so strange and beautiful. There's some small part of him that can recognize that it's unwise, but he's always been seduced and swayed by wonder. The spell is beautiful, precise, and he wonders if he'll ever be able to be that controlled in his casting. (Probably not.)

There is no pain when the diary is destroyed and so Harry doesn't speak. He's been learning to think before talking and, on rare occasions, that it's better to just watch without filling the air around him with words and ideas.

[darkart]

The little diary, harmless now as it is, lies defenseless under the onslaught and is turned to ash in an instant. They probably could have just held it up to a candle. But there's no escape from a bit of drama when your world is a surrealistic magical war zone.

Their current drama swirls and growls like an angry animal searching for something else to hunt down and destroy. Severus extends his hand and the dragon-shaped fire whirls around the edges of the room again hard and fast enough to send a force of air at them, but then it slows and settles back towards him. It begins to taper, thinning, like steam vanishing. The fiendfyre flits in a delicate circle around the professor's hand, almost twining between his fingers like a brilliant orangey-gold ribbon, before vanishing completely, leaving them alone in the darkness.

[thebreakingwave]

His eyes flutter at the rush of hot, dry air and Harry is briefly reminded of the Tri-Wizard Tournament. The colour of the fiendfyre more like the Chinese Fireball than his own dragon, but the feeling of being in a confined space with something so powerful is still the same. He likes it more than he is willing to admit to himself.

"Thank you." As much as he'd like to tell Snape that he's grateful and that the spellwork was brilliant, Harry doesn't think the other wizard would care to hear that from him. He blinks a couple times and suppresses a shiver before offering up the silk-wrapped item. "I promised you the fang that came with it. I brought that. I...well, I thought you'd get more use and enjoyment from it than I would."

[darkart]

'Thank you' is an odd thing in itself to hear. Severus still can't muddle out why Harry is at all cordial to him. Anything more sincere would (will) probably just make him suspicious of mockery.

Which is why the first look he gives him is a bit sharp. He remembers the Basilisk fang being mentioned but other more pressing matters shoved it out of his mind and-- why? But it only takes a moment's consideration to decide he shouldn't turn it down, and furthermore doesn't want to. Severus takes it from him, staring at it for a moment before looking back at Harry.

"Do you want the scarf back?"

If he sounds a little flat, well. How do I shot niceness to Marauderspawn, etc.

[thebreakingwave]

"No, I don't need it." It's not said, but there's a space where the word 'anymore' should be tacked onto the end of that sentence. "And it's a useful enough way to carry the thing without risking poison. I've done it and wouldn't recommend the experience to anyone else."

He looks away from Snape towards the dirty smudge of ash where the diary once sat and fixes the image of it being utterly destroyed in his mind. It's not a perfect solution, there's always the risk of another horcrux or the man himself, but it's enough. For now. "Is there anything I can do for you or should I just leave and give you your space?"

[darkart]

"I'm--"

He cuts himself off abruptly from what was obviously a scathing counter-quip because he realizes a beat too late that Harry isn't actually needling him. Or at least, not in the way he expected. He eyes Harry skeptically, not liking the feeling he just had, of an easy long-ingrained response to what sounds a whole lot like passive aggressive 'kindness'.

"Perfectly fine," is what he ends up finishing with, still giving Harry an odd look.

[thebreakingwave]

The odd look is mutual. He's not really sure why Snape is being so kind to him and he wants to suspect some sort of ulterior motive. There's a disjointed collection of thoughts running through his mind and gut instinct tells him that he's missing something important. There's a prickliness, but it's not cruelty, and he wonders if this is how Hermione would be if she hadn't joined with Ron and himself.

"In that case, I'll make my way back out. Goodnight, Snape."

[darkart]

"Professor Snape," is the automatic correction. Yes he is totally defensive about that EVEN NOW. But then--

"Unless you're just going to call me Severus."

(It doesn't sound like an invitation. More like a dare. Cowboy up, Potter.)

[thebreakingwave]

When has he ever been able to resist a dare? Especially one that will result in the most amazing story after his return to Britain.

"Goodnight, Severus." He's not overly bold or brash with the name and seems almost baffled that he's said it, but the deed is done.

[darkart]

This shit is why the Marauders could never leave him alone, probably. (Definitely.) Severus gives him a look that's not much reminiscent of a professor staring down a student, but still somehow antagonistic. Maybe how he looks at certain PA gold medalist werewolves.

"Goodnight, Harry."