Darkness Wakes (and stirs imagination)

[Professor Tobias Isthil]

The insights into Arcane's personal life, however interesting, were not what Tobias was here to talk about. Having said that, they were a step in the right direction. In the year since her arrival, Tobias had learned little about Arcane, and had sought to remedy that. The Head of House position was not one that Tobias wanted to reassign frequently if at all possible, and that meant he needed to know his staff. Time was the key factor, of course, but after ten years of this job, Tobias found that it was all too fleeting in too many cases.

The rumours truly were nothing more than that, and Arcane was not about to name names, even if the talk amounted to treason, and Tobias would push her no further. Voldemort was effective at stamping out rebellions, but he could only be in so many places at once, and people did tend to talk, even if most of them would never actually do anything about it. "A good policy," Tobias agreed at Arcane's statement about action. Still, as much as rumours were often unfounded, there was also frequently some truth to be found within them, but then that was really no surprise. The Dark Lord was not exactly popular with the general population; his reign was one of tyranny and fear, not love and respect. Tobias often wondered if that was what he truly wanted, but it mattered little; it was what he had, and it was why it would not last. Not forever, anyway.

Arcane said as much and Tobias inclined his head in agreement. "There will always be be someone that thinks they can do a better job than the man in charge. The question of peace is whether or not the two sides can be diplomatic about it. Unfortunately, there is no negotiating with the Dark Lord. This is what he wanted, and if his rule is ever going to change, war is inevitable." It was a sad fact, but an honest one, and Tobias had been preparing for that war for a decade now. It was coming, and he would stand ready to fight. The question was, for which side?

"I think you would find that returning home would afford you little protection." One did not just leave the position of Head of Slytherin House without drawing unwanted attention from Voldemort. "He is expanding his grip. I estimate two years before he has all of Europe and turns his eye either to Asia or across the water to America." Control of the Ministry here in England was not enough for Voldemort; he was a man with worldly ambition, and the patience to execute those plans over a long enough period of time that they could be possible. Arcane could run, but only for so long. Voldemort's forces expanded daily, and there was no organized resistance slowing them down. Not yet, anyway.

Shaking his head, Tobias took another drink. The fiery potion had lost its sting on him now, and he made a note not to order this again. "Enough about rumours and the future then. We have a school to reopen soon enough and students to attend to. I think I shall be rewriting the Dark Arts cirriculum yet again. I am finding that, even after a decade, it is as hard to teach as it is to learn." Seven years sounded like a long time, but for Tobias, it few by. There was so much he wanted to teach them about the fundamentals of magic, and so slow a pace he had to take, that he often found himself struggling to keep up with where he knew he should be. Sometimes his nature to make sure he left no student behind backfired on him. "I would suggest that you begin work on Potions as soon as possible. I will assemble Professor Barnes' most recent notes for you."

[Professor Arcane de Winter]

Arcane didn't see how a rule such as the Dark Lord's could succeed. When people feared their leader they were more likely to rebel against them, whereas those who trusted their leader would often obey without question. They would be willing to fight for them, to die for them, and that was where she could see Voldemort's flaws. Well that and his view on muggles. There was benefits on either side, though. "It helps to remain oblivious to a lot of things. I have opinions and I keep them to myself, it's more appropriate that way". She said nothing more on the topic for the moment. There really was nothing that needed to be said on the topic or done about it. "That is true, there is no doubt about that. Unfortunately it turns out that they're either no better than the person they've succeeded or have absolutely no idea what they're suppose to be doing." Arcane shook her head lightly. It didn't matter what the situation was, the result was always the same and that was the unfortunate truth. Arcane knew that war would come the moment that someone tried to overthrow the Dark Lord, she just hoped she was far enough away at the time. She was not a fighter, she was a researcher, a scholar. The problem was, in times of war even those who wanted to be separated from it got thrown in head first when they were needed.

Despite that, she had no idea who she would side with. It was always a choice between two evils and it was a matter of finding the lesser of those two.

"Perhaps not but it would make me more comfortable, that is for sure. I feel at home in Oulu, it is where I was born and raised, for the most part. I am not foolish enough to think that the Dark Lord will settle here and ignore the rest of the world". She knew that his reach would extend, but moving to Finland, returning home, it would afford her time if he suspected her Unfortunately, there was no way to leave without drawing suspicion to herself, unless she faked some family drama. The only issue was that two of her three brothers lived in Britain, her sister in America. Leandro was still living in Finland and was only safe while the Dark Lord was not there. He worked with Muggles, something that she was sure would bite him in the ass soon enough. Something that would bite the rest of the family in the ass if the Dark Lord found out.

"The Potions curriculum won't take too long, Ancient Runes was done months ago so I have nothing else to attend to until I return to the school. Thank you, though, it will make things far easier" she said. Potions would be easy enough, but she was sure she would be making edits to what Barnes had already done. She'd never really seen sense in the way that he taught classes. "I will have something on your desk for review the week before school resumes" she added, nodding lightly. Arcane was extremely efficient when it came to her work, that was something people learned right off the bat. Still, the rumours, the current politics, it played on her mind far more than she cared to admit. It drove her insane, that was for sure. She didn't want to think about just what the world was coming to. She had a desire for a family, for things that she wanted to achieve, and none of that could be done with things the way they were, especially if she drew any suspicion to herself.