fourfiveseconds

See all of my kindness

Is taken for weakness

Agreeing to take on an apprentice was something that Nell had done strictly for her dragons. She didn’t take alchemic apprentices. It wasn’t that she wouldn’t teach it, she had made a new career out of teaching alchemy to the next generation, but there was something intimate about taking on an apprentice. It was something else, to teach one so directly, and while she didn’t think that there was anything wrong with that, and she encouraged that sort of supplement to anyone that wanted to truly pursue a career in alchemy, she had never taken one herself. She couldn’t.

Or rather, she wouldn’t. Not until she was sure that she had found the right one. It was impossible, to think that such a thing would be possible. For a long time, her grandfather had been the only known maker of a Philosopher’s Stone. She had his journals, she had his notes, and now, finally, she had a stone of her own. It was kept locked away, safe in her lab in the castle. Hidden in a room that only Draco and the elves knew about. And the elves were not allowed in. She had made that perfectly clear. The only living souls that had been in that room were her, and Draco, and she intended to keep it like that.

There was something sacred about that. To her, anyway. She was Perenelle Flamel. She was the thirteenth Perenelle. The twelfth doppelgänger after the original. And she knew that that was special. She knew that that made her special, and being a doppelgänger left her with more questions than answers sometimes. It left her not quite knowing who she was at times. But out here, with her dragons, she knew perfectly well who she was. Nell had bought this parcel of land years ago, because of its location.

Settled between two mountains up here in the highlands, it was secluded from most people. There were very few humans that ventured up here, and in ancient times the castle would have been a full day’s ride through the woods to reach the main road on the other side. Now it was better connected to the living. The Flooplace did that, but it was still plenty secluded from anyone that happened to stumble by. The wards protected it as well, and it was hard to get there without her knowing that you were coming. That was partially for safety, and partially because of the other inhabitants of the land.

In the caves, in the northern mountain, there were dragons. Three of them, that had been on the land longer than Nell had owned it. But she had purchased it knowing that they were there. She had purchased it because of them. So long as they didn’t hurt anyone, and so long as nothing more than a few spare cows or sheep went missing in the area, Nell thought that they could remain rather undetected. Of course, the Ministry had been informed that they were there, that had been done by the previous owners, but she had made sure that they had allowed her to keep them. She was a Dragonologist, and she was a Flamel. And it had been a favor, of sorts, to let them stay.

She was not crazy; however, she knew that they were dangerous creatures, but that hadn’t stopped her from caring for them. And she knew that spring was breaking in the mountains. That the days were warming, and that soon they would emerge from the caves. It was time for Naël to meet them. Everything that they had covered so far had been done at sanctuaries around the country, she had not even told the boy that the dragons lived in the mountains around the castle, but today she had invited him out here. And she would call them, if it was truly spring in the valley, they would come.

Smiling she stood from where she had been seated on one of the large boulders when she saw the boy approaching across the valley. “Good afternoon, Naël.”

Naël Étienne Bonaccord • 680 • perenelle's outfit

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[attr="class","title1"] FOUR-FIVE SECONDS

[attr="class","subtitle1"]Woke up an optimist
Sun was shinin', I'm positive

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Naël's nineteenth birthday day came and went, the first without Noémie at his side. His sister had always been there, through Grandmother Marie'ss suspicion that their father had had an affair and produced him, the times that Aleron had fled from him, when he and Aleron had had to break up, when they'd found out about their adoption, and everything in between. He'd been there for her when she needed him, when she had to be convinced not to seek out her biological parents, when she railed at him for being fine with everything, when she'd suffered her own heartbreaks.

But they weren't there for each other physically, not now. He'd passed his month in Pyxis without his twin by his side, lost his magic while she kept his. She'd read his many many letters about how he'd been scared he would be dropped as an apprentice when he'd lost his magic. He'd been terrified that would be the case-- what use would he be without it? This was Perenelle Flamel they were speaking of, a talented woman from a talented family. She'd been born and raised in Alchemy, and her family had certainly been inspirations to Naël when he'd dove into the subject. he knew well enough that no Flamel would take him on as an Alchemist, and he hadn't quite the . . .

He loved Alchemy. Had loved, because that was yet another thing he could no longer do. Dragonology, he'd had a better mind for besides, and so he'd decided to go along that path instead of pursuing alchemy. he'd sent out his resume, and it had truly made his year when a Flamel had offered to take him on as a dragonologist apprentice. He knew well enough that he was not to request to learn Alchemy from her, that he was to focus solely on Dragonology, and English customs, how to settle in. Still, it had been amazing to simply watch her confidence, to watch her work with dragons. To learn from her, truly.

He'd been invited to the lands belonging to her château and he found himself enjoying the open air. There were certainly a few rocks half hidden under snow-- his hands itched to pick them up and examine them, but he would not. Not now, not yet. He wasn't a child, he was an adult and a Bonaccord. There was a reputation, after all. There would be time to explore later, and he was not to run around like a giddy child in front of his mentor. Not when she'd kept him on. He was nineteen now, after all. Not that he'd done it at eighteen, but still.

He spotted his mentor across two of the rocks, and his eyes brightened. He was in the right place! Definitely. He'd made the right choice in acting mature. And it was certainly proper to pick up the pace and rush over to her. "Good afternoon, Madame Flamel!"

[attr="class","tags1"]☆@perenelle  , 493 words☆

[attr="class","credz1"]❤fai

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FOURFIVESECONDS

SEE ALL OF MY KINDNESS

IS TAKEN FOR WEAKNESS

Buying land that was known to house wild dragons had been a decision that she did not make lightly. There was something about knowing that they had been here longer than she had been in this country that was something that she had to respect. The Highlands were her adopted home, and Nell held a fondness for Scotland in her heart, but that didn’t change the fact that she was the foreigner here. That she was the one that had come onto their land. But they had accepted her. And while she didn’t think that there was anything remotely domestic about them. They were magnificent creatures.

They were not her pets. Not in the way that Baldoin was. Not in the way that Maldiction and Cordelia were Draco’s. The dragons were something else. They were a different category. Something that was harder to classify. They were dangerous. And it wasn’t that the snakes weren’t. They were just as dangerous in their own ways, but she thought that there was something spectacular about the dragons. Something that most people couldn’t say that they had, and those were the types of things that Nell enjoyed. The things that people were going to stop and look twice at.

She was waiting for her apprentice to arrive. It was time that he learned that there were dragons here. It was not a fact that she shared with the world. There was protection here, and it had been part of the reason she had offered the castle to the Order, should they ever need a safe place. The castle was so far away from humanity that it was hard to reach without magical means, and it was safe guarded by three very large dragons. Ildreon, Leva and Onnias were all at least half the size of the castle itself, and that alone was intimidating enough.

Letting Naël in on this little secret was enough of a lesson for today. She thought that there was a decent chance that he was going to be awed by the fact that they were here, let alone actually get the chance to learn about them. If he was too starstruck by them, they would be keeping their distance. She wasn’t going to risk him getting hurt simply because he didn’t have his wits about him. That would never do. Nell wasn’t about to be responsible for killing the child. She didn’t think that that would go over too well with either of their families back in France.

It was still winter, and they were high enough in the mountains that there was snow about. But she hadn’t let it phase her as she had settled on the rocks. It was close enough to spring that they were going to come. Somehow, she just knew it. She knew that they were going to answer her today. There was something in the air. Something that foretold of the spring that was to come. The dragons would answer her. But it was Naël’s approach that she was focused on for the moment. The trek from the castle into the valley was not an easy one without guidance, but she had left him to navigate it on his own, and he had.

First test passed.

Smiling warmly, she beckoned him over to her and nodded to the rock at knee level from where she was seated on the boulder. “Have a seat. I have something I wish to show you.” There had been plenty of lessons that were practical in nature, but they had always been at one of the reserves. Carefully guarded. He was going to get a much more intimate approach to dragons, and the trust one could build with them, if this went the way that she had planned. "I hope the journey from the castle went well?" Leaving him to navigate on his own had been important to her. She had wanted him to truly appreciate this, and if he had had to work for it a little bit, she thought that he just might.

@ apprentice • 676 • perenelle's outfit

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