Guest Lecture: History of Enchantment

Eros had been surprised to receive an owl from a school he'd heard little about, a wizarding university, of all things. What the point of such a place was he had no earthly clue, but he'd accepted out of curiosity. Perhaps it was also a convenient excuse to see Mano's new location and residence. Their Asian holiday had been entertaining and enlightening, and a great deal of fun, but there had been some greatly-appreciated distance over the past weeks as they worked to settle things into their rightful places.

Eros himself wasn't seeking anyone else. He had no issues with Mano playing the field as he always had, so long as it remained casual. They'd had no issues thus far. He, however, was content. It was an odd state after years of restlessness, and he wondered if it would last.

The lecture he prepared could have been quite boring, and he was certain that the school expected as much. The students likely did as well, judging by the many glazed-over looks as he stepped up to the podium at the head of the Great Hall. He wore pressed robes of a respectably dark and muted violet, and had his hair pulled back, his usual diamond earring or occasional small hoop replaced with something subtle enough not to be noticed unless one knew to look. He'd become a bit more comfortable with it over his holiday, but still wasn't bold enough to glitter in open rebellion.

He began with ancient Egyptian charms, those which had protected tombs and pyramids for centuries, and those which still hid things from questing Muggles. He visited Rome as well, and showed the slight differences in wandwork between the same spell performed by different cultures. He performed a few flashier bits of magic, the evolution of some better-known charms, and ended with some experimental charms which had caused infamous disasters.

There were, of course, things that students learned in History of Magic, or in Charms itself, but they were only ever touched on then. He knew far more than the basics, having devoured books of all kinds simply for the knowledge they provided. He also had a knack for picking out odd details and the stories behind them.

"Are there any questions?" he asked, idly tying a ribbon around his notes as he looked into the room.

"Have you ever put thought into creating charms?" Evelyn asked, twirling a stick of a quill. "My favorite part of the topic is experimenting and as far as I know the number of new spells created is going down every year." She was dressed slightly more conservatively today, though plenty of ink still showed and her heels were no less high, and she sat in the first few rows. His performance had been rather impressive, especially from so close.

"I have," Eros replied, "Though I've created no charms of my own. As for the world at large, we are at a bit of a standstill regarding enchantment. Countless spells have been improved upon over the past fifty years or so, but creating is a dangerous business, and there are few willing to take such risks.

"If you'd like to talk more on the subject, come up when we're done. I've other questions to answer, I see." He called on a young man near the back, who wanted to know why the same spell could be done differently from place to place with such similar results.

As usual, there was inevitably someone else who had some mundane question as the session wore on, then those with even more mundane ones who were too embarrassed to ask them in front of the audience gathered to ask once the lecture was officially over. Once the room was a little more cleared, Evelyn said goodbye to her room mate, who gave her a look with a bright smile. "I quite liked the lecture," she said when she came up to him, a smile of her own on her lips. "Charms is my favorite subject."

"Quite an interesting one," Eros said. He only gave the briefest pause before he paired her face with an earlier question. "Ah, you asked about creating charms," he noted. She was quite an attractive thing, and petite as well. If not for the bits of tattoo he saw here and there, and the air of confidence she gave off, he might not have believed her the type.

"I'm a history buff myself, but if you've dabbled in creation, I'd be most interested in hearing about it." He waved off the school staff member who was approaching. They could put their Hall back to rights if they wished. A conversation like this could take a while.

"I've only managed to...I suppose the best way of saying it is edit, a few spells. I haven't been able to create one from scratch yet," Evelyn said. "It seems easier to make new potions than new spells." A new potion could be made simply by throwing things into a pot. It may not be a useful potion or one she was willing to try, but it was possible.

"Ah, potions as well," Eros said. "Are you a bit of a private scholar, then? I don't quite understand the point of university, but searching knowledge for the sake of it is a hobby of mine." He was well rooted in the wizarding world, and though he knew of the existence of Muggle universities, wizards had never found them necessary.

"I don't know about scholar, I just like tinkering and being creative. When something works, it's a bonus. I came here to learn, of course, but I was looking for a little bit of a change of pace," Evelyn said. She looked at the man curiously, wondering how he had managed to get a guest lecture invitation when he didn't seem to be completely sold on the idea of a university. "I"m Evelyn Fiore, by the way."

"Evelyn, a lovely name," Eros said. "You know mine, but please, call me Eros." He'd been introduced by his full name, but referred to as Mister d'Avonderre afterward. This didn't feel like a place to hold so strictly to such things. "You aren't, by chance, related to the Fiores of Southern Italy, are you?" She had a rather exotic foreign look to her, but very little accent, to speak of. He was certain he should have met her at some point.

"Is that a lucky guess?" Evelyn asked. Just a little bit of a tease sneaked into her voice and expression. "My parents moved to England before I was born. I visited Italy every so often, then I spent a few years there after graduating. It's a beautiful country." A beautiful language, as well, and one she was proud to say she knew.

"It is," Eros agreed. "I've only briefly visited, but the art and culture are unforgettable." He'd considered beginning his Grand Tour in Italy, though his plans had changed quite a bit by the end. He quite liked that sly look she'd given him. "As for luck, it is an illusion. I prefer educated guess." His closest friends thought him an oddity for the way his memory held names, but had no qualms about coming to him with their odd questions.

"If you ever want an insider's look at Italy, come find me, I didn't spend the last three years there doing nothing, you know," Evelyn said, winking. "I mean, I got to see all the sights, learn the language, meet good people." She loved sharing her knowledge, it was always a good bit of fun. "Learn the ways of the locals, so to speak."

"Ah, si parla italiano," Eros said. She'd said she was born and raised in England, and so he hadn't been sure. "Mi piace lingue e parlano anche un po ' di esso." It sounded like quite the adventure, and he envied her the experience. He really had been interested in that Grand Tour, whatever his reasons for deciding to go in the first place.

---

You speak Italian. I enjoy languages, and speak a bit of it also.

When Evelyn spoke again, her words were in Italian. "You are quite the scholar, aren't you?" she asked, impressed with his smooth transition. "You won't quite pass the local test, but you're very good." She barely passed the local test and her success was mostly because she had been living there for so long.

"My French is better," Eros said. It was flawless. His love of France and all things French had spurred him into eradicating any trace of English from his accent. His Italian and Spanish were excellent, but imperfect, his Russian quite good. He was considering adding an Asian language or two. The bits he knew had been quite difficult, and so he'd focused on the details of those he had already learned.

"Will you walk with me?" Eros asked. "I believe we're in the way of the staff table." It was hovering uncertainly nearby, as though waiting for them to move aside.