VIP Dinner
8pm

The competitor in Melanthe Grumman planned to follow the Tetrawizard Tournament with interest. And she also planned to offer her assistance to her alma mater where necessary. And she wasn't ashamed to say that she hoped they won by any means necessary, even if that meant beating her beloved Professor Storm, who now taught at the rival school, Hogwart's.

The dark witch wondered if his allegience had truly shifted to the new school or if he might be planning to use his position to sabotague them from within. Even if he wasn't planning such nefarious activities, perhaps it could be arranged.

This thought danced merrily in the back of Melanthe's mind as she arrived to Signature for the VIP Dinner as part of the Tournament Welcoming celebrations. As one of Durmstrang's substantial monetary benefactors (and thus influencers of school policy and activity), the Grumman family had been extended an invitation to attend as part of the school's delegation of dignitaries. Though her uncle normally attended such events on behalf of the family, Melanthe wanted to go to this particular one for sentimental reasons.

It had been ages since she had been able to see her cousin, Aliya, and she was equally excited about the prospect of spending time with Ignan. For all of this, she had made plans to stay few days and had reserved accomodations at Signature.

Upon entering the restaurant, Melanthe approached the person at the door who was keeping track of the VIP arrivals.

"Melanthe Grumman," she supplied him. She leaned closer to peer at his list, eagerly searching for her name among them. Glancing back to his face, she added, "I'm with the Durmstrang delegation. I may be early so if no one else has arrived yet, I can just entertain myself at the bar."

"There are three reasons for arriving early," Professor Storm explained to his dear friend, Professor Trishna as they stepped inside the doorway of the venue of the VIP dinner,
"Firstly, you can meddle with the seating plan if you get stuck next to a certain bore, secondly, you get a good position at the bar, and-," He stopped mid-sentence, having caught sight of Melanthe.
"Thirdly, it gives me great pleasure in allowing time to properly introduce you both."

She looked beautiful, if an old man could comment. Blessed with natural beauty that she preserved so very carefully, Melanthe Grumman rarely looked any older than the last time they had seen each other. Their friendship stretched back several years now and she still remained the closest to a daughter that he had ever allowed. Seeing her here made him uncharacteristically happy, more happy still to be able to introduce another of his good friends - only acquainted at the very start of the year, but through a strange turn of events could have been his step-son.

"Melanthe." Ignan greeted, allowing the pleasant, friendly formalities of exchanging greetings to occur without wincing or avoidance. A first almost entirely, even in Tapendra's presence. Knocking back a firewhiskey before setting out might have helped take the edge off the social demands.

"Very good to see you again. May I introduce my friend and colleague, Professor Tapendra Trishna," he gestured to Tapendra beside him, and stepped back to let them exchange their own handshakes,

"Tapendra, this is Melanthe Grumman, the finest student I have had the fortune of teaching, and now a success far beyond any classroom. Melanthe, you must be here with the Durmstrang contingent, is Auberon seeking your benefaction to prop up the budgets?" Then with a sigh he, added, "Undoubtedly Wolfgang will put in an appearance at some point to help fill school coffers."

His cousin, Wolfgang Storm, Johann's father was both a Durmstrang Governor and also the school's main financial advisor at its bank. The man was not as pleasant as Johann, but those in finance rarely were - the fact goblins did much of it in Britain made good sense to Ignan.

Tapendra faced the VIP dinner with a feeling he'd become swiftly aware of since the arrival of the other schools this morning: He was underdressed. His vest might be well-tailored and his shirts ironed, but the amount of fine silks, gold ornaments and tall hats on display at these events certainly left him in the dust. At least he hadn't been mistaken for a waiter. (Yet)

He followed Ignan, glad of his company as always. He'd been half-listening to the older man, his eyes busy looking at the gathering crowds. Wizards trying to outdo each other in the lavishness of their traditional costumes was something remarkable.

"Hm-what?" He asked, as Ignan abruptly changed his tone and direction. Tapendra followed him, puzzled, as Ignan headed for a lovely young woman at the bar. She was vaguely familiar, though he couldn't place her immediately.

Until Ignan introduced her, of course. Tapendra smiled widely, sunny as ever, and took her hand with a half-bow. "It's a pleasure to meet you, Miss Grumman," he said. There was a moment of awkward, at least for him, as he tried to remember what the proper custom for greetings was here. Wasn't hand-kissing involved? Safer not to, especially since mucking up something like that was much more embarrassing than...politely not doing it. "Ignan has had nothing but good things to say about you."

Melanthe had just finished giving her drink order to the bartender when she heard the echos of a familiar voice. She heard her name being called before she turned to see her beloved former professor and surrogate father figure, as if he had been summoned by her thoughts (which was quite possible given how close they were). Her brow furrowed momentarily as she saw that he was accompanied by another man who was exceptionally tall, even relative to a woman as tall as Melanthe was. She also noticed his other unusual features, including his rust colored hair and his skin dusted with cinnamon hues. And then there was his styling choices that stood out among the attendees. Not altogether horrible, but certainly not as refined as the rest of the people mingling about.

With one last glance over Ignan's companion, the dark witch smirked. She then turned to give her former professor an affectionate half-embrace and quick peck on his cheek, knowing full well that displays of affection were not something he particularly enjoyed. "Pleased to see you too, as ever, my dear Professor."

With his formal introduction of the man standing beside him, Melanthe returned her curious eyes upwards towards his face. She also politely extended her hand. "Pleasure to meet you as well, Professor Trishna. Ignan flatters me too much with his praise. I am only as talented as his teachings have managed to make me," she returned with a smile.

Though her gaze darted back to Ignan, Melanthe still clasped Trishna's hand. She chuckled at the mention of money. "Ah, yes. I'm sure the likes of Auberon would be thrilled if I would just cave to the idea of being a Governor so that the school would more regularly be gifted money from the Grummans. But you know as well as I do that that Board is a bunch of old men these days." She lowered her voice and added, "I would be bored to tears."

Melanthe whipped her gaze back to Trishna and gave his hand a squeeze, essentially letting him know that she hadn't forgotten about him. She joked, "And Ignan must think very highly of you too if he has not managed to scare you off just yet."

Finally, Melanthe released his hand and indicated to the bar, asking brightly, "Are the two of you drinking this evening?"

"Pleasure to meet you as well, Professor Trishna. Ignan flatters me too much with his praise. I am only as talented as his teachings have managed to make me,"

Ignan was glad they had already exchanged natural pleasantries,
"Ah, yes. I'm sure the likes of Auberon would be thrilled if I would just cave to the idea of being a Governor so that the school would more regularly be gifted money from the Grummans. But you know as well as I do that that Board is a bunch of old men these days. I would be bored to tears."

Ignan hooted momentarily, imagining Melanthe amongst the Durmstrang governors. Most of them would not be able to keep their tongues in their mouths.

"And Ignan must think very highly of you too if he has not managed to scare you off just yet."

"Either that or he's too thick." Ignan commented, but his smirk indicated it was a joke.

"Are the two of you drinking this evening?"
"As much as the bar tab allows, should one exist." Ignan replied swiftly, setting off towards the lines of bottles. "One should probably choose some wine for dinner, and save the whiskey for when the conversation has started to flow and we can't shut someone up." His eyes traced along the bar as he placed his hands on the top.

Suddenly he glanced back to Tapendra,
"But make sure he doesn't have too much - bloody hundreds of stairs up his tower..." and Trishna was not sleeping in Ignan's bed again.

"Hey!" Tapendra said, a few moments too late - which of course did absolutely nothing to counter Ignan's accusation of him being thick. He shook his head, smiling slightly; Ignan was an unusually good mood, which made it difficult to stay even slightly upset - not that he actually was, but still.

He followed the two of them to the bar, leaning on it with one arm as Ignan eyed the bottles. "What evenings doesn't Ignan drink on?" He remarked dryly. Ignan's dig about the stairs earned him a snort and a slight, knowing smirk; he sure as hell didn't want to wind up under the bed again, either.

"I'm not so unprofessional as to get sloshed in front of our new Headmaster, Ignan! I'd like to keep the job, you know." Tapendra said, with mock offense, one hand to his chest. He wasn't going to argue the fact he was terrible at holding his liquor, of course.

"Besides, I'm not at the tower quite yet. I'm not too keen to try and floo home drunk, frankly."

Melanthe could already see that this Tapendra fellow was quite close to Ignan, something she knew did not happen with ease. This, by default, made him of interest to her -- in both a good and a bad way. Melanthe was understandably protective of her mentor and mad it her mission to do what she could to help him when he needed it and to keep undesireable people from exploiting him. Ignan was aware that she helped fund the rebuilding of the Durmstrang wing that he had destroyed most recently before leaving. But he probably didn't know that she had done some maneuvering to upset some of his notable opponents on the school board and administration at the time he took leave. There had been plenty of old misers who had been all too happy to see his demise and there was no.way Melanthe would stand for tha. Just as the dark witch had made those who killed her real father pay, she had done all in her power to rendor useless those who sought to ruin her surrogate father figure.

The other motive in her interest in those close to ignan was pure selfishness. Melanthe wanted to believe that she was the only one who had such a relationship with the ever stoic defenses instructor. It was easy to be jealous when she witnessed the rare moments of his affection being bestowed on someone else.

So whether Tapendra was to be someone she protected Ignan from or was jealous of his feelings for was to be determined. Luckily for the subject in question, Melanthe did not decide such matters hastily or lightly.

She decided to keep the mood jovial and continued to observe their exchange with a smile. Then she interjected, "I think he is simply being choosy about what he drinks around me. He knows I am a snob when it comes to what I will drink and may not wish to let on that he has allowed his tastebuds to be so severely offended since his time here began."

The words came out in a stoic Russian drawl and realizing her new acquaintance might not be able to pick up on her humor, she teased, "If you were falling down drunk with him at some point, then there may be something that I was able to teach him - to keep drinking and everything becomes more fun..."

"I'm not so unprofessional as to get sloshed in front of our new Headmaster, Ignan! I'd like to keep the job, you know." Tapendra pretended to be offended, "Besides, I'm not at the tower quite yet. I'm not too keen to try and floo home drunk, frankly."

They shared a chuckle.

"I think he is simply being choosy about what he drinks around me. He knows I am a snob when it comes to what I will drink and may not wish to let on that he has allowed his tastebuds to be so severely offended since his time here began."

Melanthe's velvet tone of voice was both pleasing on the ear and rather attractive, and caught the ear of others in the room who were having trouble keeping their eyes from her.

"If you were falling down drunk with him at some point, then there may be something that I was able to teach him - to keep drinking and everything becomes more fun..."

Ignan smiled, to have two of his closest companions with him made him happy, happier than he had been in quite some months.

"Well, as the one with the most equisite pallate, you should be the one to choose." Ignan outstretched the beautifully calligraphed wine list, and then retracted it between his fingers, "unless one should first consider the menu for this evening to best compliment the meal, forgive me."

He glanced around and leant to Melanthe,
"I must admit I had forgotten how many eyes tend to follow you in a room, I will do my best not to throttle any of them." he explained in a lower voice, resting his fingertips lightly on her arm, "I suspect many of them are more jealous of Tapendra in honesty though, he's far more suitable an age of a suitor than I have ever been." He gave a smirk and stepped back, not before placing the wine list in her hands.

Tapendra, quite predictably, blushed at Ignan's comment, his initial reply a kind of nonsensical mumble that was exactly what one would expect - he was married (sort of) he wasn't the right kind of person (maybe) and even so they'd just met so it didn't matter (probably).

All in all it was best ignored, and he seemed to full expect that to be the case, because he cleared his throat. "I'm sure they appreciate your restraint, Ignan," he said, calmly. Part of him had a comment about the fact that older suitor had their advantages, but he was wise enough to keep his mouth shut and the comment back, shelving it next to a rather nastier thought of what his mother'd do if she found out.

Not that Ignan might mind a cat fight over him. Tapendra wasn't sure he knew any man what would actually find that situation distressing. Other than him, of course.

He looked at Melanthe, smirking slightly in his usual playful manner. "I find it hard to believe you taught him to drink," he said. "From what he and Kirchlehner go on about Ignan's been drinking himself stupid since before he was legally allowed to do so." He glanced at Ignan. "Seems to be a point of pride."

"Perhaps we should pace ourselves then," Melanthe returned with a laugh.

When Ignan spoke of the eyes that followed her, she turned to glance around. "Oh, I had hardly given it a second thought, Professor. I don't really pay them much mind, you see. Not when I'm already in fine company anyway."

She chuckled lightly at Storm's his protectiveness over her. Melanthe glanced over her shoulder at the onlookers that her professor spoke of and gave them all a cool glare. Then she turned back to her company and attempted to soothe his worries.

"Throttle? Is that what you call what you'd do, Ignan?" she lightly teased. "Then a lady's honor would never be in danger." She nodded sagely to Tapendra. Then she patted Storm's arm affectionately. "But you shouldn't worry, Professor. I can take care of myself. Only the way I throttle a man leaves marks."

The way she said it made it difficult to discern if she was deathly serious or seriously playful. Her facial expression did not help either. Perhaps both men were still making sense of this when she returned the discussion back to drinking.

Melanthe glanced over at Tapendra again and addressed his comment about Ignan's drinking. "Well, perhaps he already knew a thing or two about drinking before he knew me," she conceded dryly. "But I always made sure to introduce him to the good stuff. He knows my cellars are full of it. And...well, there's not much else to do in Siberia but drink to stay warm."

"I can concur the cellars are well stocked." Ignan followed quickly with a nod. "And there are some most delightful wines. Only so little time to enjoy them." He shrugged to convey his disappointment at the lack of time rather than the selection.

"When will you be back at the castle, Tapendra? With the students?" Ignan asked. He missed his friend about the place, and even missed the students some days. The place was vacant and echoed without their life. He'd never agree he thought so come midway through the term ahead. He'd want rid of every single one of them.

A figure behind the bar alighted politely, awaiting Melanthe's wine selection.

We never got to finish this, which is probably my fault for tardy replies. Apologies.

"Then you have my envy, madam - for both your wine and your company," Tapendra said, with a jesting smirk. He wasn't going to argue with well-stocked wine cellars, though wine wasn't...well, to use the muggle term, it wasn't his thing. Ales, mixed drinks...drinks of that sort tested better on his palette. And ice wines, of course.

He grunted as Ignan spoke to him. "Honestly, as late as possible! I like my tower, but my own home has things the school can never provide. Internet, for example. Besides, I missed my muggle friends. They think I'm teaching in some tiny regional school, sadly. I'll probably have to find a different excuse soon enough."

Tapendra shot Ignan a smile. "Besides, it's nice to deal with the university's students again. I adore the wee ones, but students that take their studies seriously seem a rarity these days."

Melanthe set about ordering their drinks, selecting a vintage Russian sparkling wine which she was actually surprised Signature had. But then, the owner may have started getting it after her previous jaunts to Hogsmeade where she mentioned he should update his menu with some more exotic selections.

Melanthe figured they could move onto harsher drinks later should the meeting go well. Turning back to the continued conversation as three glasses of the red sparkling wine were placed before them. In response to Ignan's disappointment regarding the time to enjoy a plethora of fine wines, she smiled brightly. "Well, we're in luck that you can at least enjoy this one." She pointedly added, "And I can certainly request a few shots of vodka chase it with if you like."

Nudging one glass closer to her professor, she picked up her own and took a moment to savor the first sip as she listened to the two men talk about work, which for them consisted of school and students. Melanthe tried to hide the fact that she was interested in neither aspect of being a professor.

The word 'muggle' presenting itself in the conversation immediately caused her features to darken and it was decidedly more difficult to mask her feelings of disdain towards the shift in subject. The way this Tapendra Trishna spoke about "muggle things" must mean that he was one of them. What a shame; he seemed so nice. And Ignan seemed to enjoy his company quite a bit. Could Melanthe fault him for his blood being tainted?

Yes.

So unyielding she was to society's ever changing ways. And such a snob.

Making a more concerted effort to be pleasant to him for Ignan's sake and join in the conversation about academics, Melanthe cleared her throat and quizzically asked, "So the students at Hogwart's are not serious about their studies?" She aimed a smirk at her former professor and playfully chided, "My dear professor! Why haven't you set them straight and shown them how Durmstrang students learn?"

"Oh I try, but there's restrictions on how much I can beat it into them." Ignan replied quickly, with a smirk.

There were more faces amongst them now, and their attention was turned to polite greetings and comments on the time and the location, pleasantries that would become tiresome as the year wore on with so many guests. Though the new faces would become familiar by the close of the summer term, and they would probably all be sick of the sight of each other enough not to bother. But for now, the 'pleasure to meet you', and 'have you travelled far' lines would prevail.