"Good morning Tapendra."

It was far too early to be getting up for any normal classes, for two Professors, but Ignan Storm stood, bold as brass, at the foot of Tapendra's bed, before the fireplace, having flooed internally through Hogwarts for speed and quietness. It wouldn't do to wake the whole castle, just Tapendra, whom had requested to join him that morning to see Sasha. Given recent events, Ignan was actually quite happy for a little company.

Frowning, on realising Tapendra slept as heavily on his own as he did when curled around Ignan after a drunken night out, he unclasped his hands from behind his back, the travelling cloak over one arm, and brought his wand into his fingertips. With a few gestures and a tug to his wand, Tapendra's foot was seized beneath the covers of his bed, and Ignan's spell dragged his fellow Professor from the warmth encloses of the blankets onto the floor with a bump.

Stepping over, to stand just inches from Tapendra's shoulder, Ignan peered down.
"I say, good morning Tapendra. Don't say you've forgotten?"

Waking up by falling on the floor was hardly what Tapendra would categorize in his favorite ways to awaken. He's woken up the moment he was dragged, and the slam to the floor got him to his senses - somewhat.

Why were his bloody classes at bloody midnight? He groaned, and considered just going back to bed - the sleeping potion having not fully worn off - but some part of him forced itself awake. He stumbled to his feet and blinked at Ignan sleepily.

"No, not for-for-" he yawned loudly - "Not forgotten. Mmm, give me...a few minutes..."

Thankfully he'd had the sense to layout some clothes for the trip - as much as jeans and t shirt would have suited him fine, Ignan would have thwacked him for it, and it was hardly professional. He was having to force himself to care about these facts as he grabbed the armful of clothes. He'd slept shirtless, largely for this purpose, and he began quickly pulling his shirt and waistcoat on. Ignan would have to deal with jeans - his slacks had been taken by the elves for cleaning.

He'd have to visit Dolly after the lesson - one of the main reasons he was tagging along.

Buttons done, coat on, hat - he'd turned to head for the fireplace, cussed, scrabbled under the bed for some boots. They were shiny and new - clearly unused.

"Where is it that we're going, any how?" he asked as he pulled on the boots, looking at Ignan over his glasses.

Ignan contented himself with studying the items on Tapendra's bedroom mantlepiece while the other Professor dressed. His posture was proud, commanding, and his gaze curious as he occasionally poked things with a finger or turned them to regard them better.

"London, more specifically where Schlagenweit likes to engage in equestrian pursuits." The Defences Professor explained, glancing back to Tapendra who was pulling on his boots. Ignan had also opted for boots that morning, a little heavier than his usual attire with a suit and academic robes. The previous occasion he'd looked somewhat out of place, balancing his attire between practicality and possibility of encounters with Muggles.

"If you dressed like that more often, Declan would not have such a bone to pick with you." Ignan added, as a hidden compliment for Tapendra's efforts.
"We will need to apparate from the gates - side along, I know the place now. I'll need to place a few repellent charms just as a precaution - ready, very well."

It did not take long in the dark for the two professors to troop out of the castle to beyond the gates, where Ignan held out his arm - the splinched one, resulting in the slightest of pauses between them both - and they vanished with a crack, reappearing hundreds of miles South, exhaling on reappearance. The smell of the air changed, something far more oppressive, mixed with the smell of hay and animals.
"You're going to tell me you're a horse lover now." Ignan muttered, and raised his wand to cast the charms as he had noted before they had left. "This way."

With any luck, their arrival would not be such a surprise to Schlagenweit as it had been when Ignan had appeared the last time.

Sasha was quite familiar with early mornings but, even for him it felt like this morning had come far too soon.  Yesterday had just been one long expanse of pain and awkwardness.  From his meeting with Kronos to his uncomfortable arrival home again and, finally, an extended evening at St. Mungo's, it had just been a long, exhausting day.  And morning barn chores had come far too quickly.  While he was still a little stiff and sore, the fever had broken and the actual, physical wounds were closed and almost completely healed. 

He was still moving a little slower than usual through his morning chores.  It wasn't the achy soreness - that was largely negligible.  It really wasn't much worse than the day after a nasty fall during a cross country course.  He just felt a little more sluggish than usual and he seemed to lose steam more readily than he was used to.  He'd had to take a break halfway through his chores.  Without the distraction of physical labor, he found himself offering Dreogan yet another awkward apology. 

Despite the slower pace and the delay, chores were finished with just enough time for a quick breakfast of a muesli bar and a first dose of whatever potion they'd sent home from St. Mungo's before the distinctive crack heralded the start of the morning's lesson. 

He moved towards the front of the barn to properly greet Professor Storm if, for no other reason, than to prove his last greeting was, certainly, not the norm. 

"Good morning, sirs."  He glanced over his shoulder in Dreogan's direction with a grin before turning back to the two professors.  He didn't know if word of the slight change of plan - or the reasons for it - had reached the two professors.  He'd been far too distracted and disoriented the day before to notice.  Just in case they hadn't, a quick introduction was probably in order. 

"This is Dreogan.  He's-" Sasha hesitated, not really sure there was a word that really, accurately, and fairly described the man's role in Sasha's life.  Friend, though correct, seemed inadequate.  Guardian seemed to ... impersonal and equally as inadequate as friend.  The term family had always meant less to Sasha than friend ever had.  "He's a really good friend," he finally concluded, though it still seemed inadequate.  "I've been staying with him while they figure things out with where I'm supposed to go.  I - he wanted to tag along today."  Sasha opted against explaining why. 

Long distance apparition...it made him glad he'd had to skip breakfast for this. The twisting, awful feeling of appriation seemed to last far too long and upon reentry he stumbled and had to lean on Ignan for just a moment. He was impressed, though; appriation over that distance was incredibly difficult, and Ignan had pulled it off with apparent ease. (He glanced at Ignan to make sure the older wizard looked alright, but if he was in danger of collapse he was hiding it well) It further cemented the precaution against riling up Ignan.

Not that he had a reason to; Ignan was his friend and... in-law? He hadn't rationalized that out yet. Talking to Ignan seemed the only solution, and that was a subject for both to avoid, at least for now. He'd banished it from his mind for the last few days - too many mixed feels arose when he thought of his mother. Dolly's injury had been welcome, in an odd way; it gave him something else to worry over. Though since Dolly was the only other he could have talked to about this...

"You're going to tell me you're a horse lover now." Ignan muttered, and raised his wand to cast the charms as he had noted before they had left.

The distraction from his inner monologuing was welcome. "You've caught me," Tapendra said admittedly, with a kind of mocking sheepishness. "I am somewhat fond of them. Just not as much as I like cats," he added, as he looked about the stable's grounds - definitely a muggle stable, at least as far as he could tell. The last stable he had ever really spent time is was Vedir's, and that had been built in a much older style.

"Could only fit on the Abraxans anyhow," he added, half to Ignan and half to himself. He stuffed his hands in his pockets as they headed to the barn, walking after Ignan and failing to stifle a yawn.

He closed his mouth with an audible clack as Sasha appeared. "Schlagenweit," he greeted Sasha with a smile, though the boy didn't look at 100%. Given the recent attacks, not exactly unusual; despite his outward peppiness he himself wasn't exactly calm - his mind kept snapping to Dolly, to his mother, to the situation with Ignan, to Georg's injury-

"Good to meet you, sir," he told Dreogan, who looked and whose name sounded familiar, but he was failing to place them. "Good idea to come as two, with this werewolf business," he added, figuring that was why. Cyhirae sure as hell wasn't setting one foot outside the castle's walls without him around, that was for sure.

Dreogan had exhausted his protests of "No -- let me!" and "Please, Sasha, just . . . let me!" which seemed to have no more effect than "Here. Let me do it."

Eventually, when it became apparent that the young man was not going to allow his injury to show--or, perhaps risk Dreogan lack of expertise hinder his efforts--Dreogan had decided to stop protesting and begin helping in what ways he could, clearing out stalls and throwing in new hay. In the space of an hour, his hair had saw dust -- or hay -- or dried. . . well, he didn't know what it was, only that it was buried in his curls and smelled . . . barnsy. His forehead was smudged with some dirt, from the time he'd used his hands to wipe at the perspiration, and his t-shirt was haplessly tucked into his hiking trousers, the most appropriate thing he could think of to wear to a barn.

But when the two professors showed up in pristine clothing, Dreogan felt somewhat. . . unprofessional. And rather . . . feudal-peasant-ish.

He offered a wavering smile at the two as he was introduced, wiping his hands on his trousers before offering it to Tapendra. "You must be his astronomy teacher," he said, smile growing more enthusiastic, the name rolling off of his tongue with a familiar, Middle Eastern accent.  "Sasha's told me you've been using Muggle science to explain magic!" The grip grew somewhat tighter, and certainly more amiable at this. Biting back a grin and blushing at the unbidden exuberance, he looked towards Ignan, who he could identify because according to Sasha, he'd wrangled out that Storm was stern and, well, old.

"And you must be Professor Storm. Thank you for making it out here." For Sasha's best interest, he found the involvement with Storm to be most beneficial. A good background in defensive magic. "I've put up some protective wards -- defenses against tracking and black ma-- Dark Arts," he corrected himself, somewhat self-consciously, "and, if you've the time, I'd like to see what additional measures you're adding. . ." He was also particularly curious how he would handle Sasha, given their history.

Accompanying Sasha had been first and foremost  to make sure he didn't get into any more trouble in his injured state, but provided him the additional benefit of understanding the rather complex interactions between him and the Hogwarts staff, which had been increasingly troubled this year and, he suspected, led to his eventual dismissal. Leave of absence . . . Dreogan still didn't know exactly how to term it.

To understand this, Dreogan was willing to smell like a horse for a week. He just wasn't getting on one. In fact, Dreogan had no real plans to be involved in the tutorials. He had brought his work with him -- explaining to the increasingly concerned but always-understanding Murray-Harker that he needed to do some work away from home for personal reasons. In the space of two and a half months, Dreogan had already blown through two weeks of leave. How fortunate for him that this month looked particularly gruesome -- he would make up for it in overtime very shortly. 

At the mention of the werewolf attacks, Dreogan's face grew somewhat strained. "Yes, absolutely," he agreed. "I've never heard of anything quite like it. . ." He frowned, looking from one to the other, wondering if either of them had heard more from their circle than what he'd gleaned at Mungo's and from the Prophet.

"You've caught me," Tapendra admitted, though with a hint of humour that often joined his voice in warning of mischief or rebellious defiance. "I am somewhat fond of them. Just not as much as I like cats,"

"Hmph." Ignan replied in non verbal acknowledgement of Tapendra's love of cats. He'd thankfully had very little interaction with Tappy's cat. It did however leave hair everywhere.

"Could only fit on the Abraxans anyhow," His younger colleague stuffed his hands into his pockets, managing once again to make his more formal attire appear quite casual by his treatment. Ignan supposed he should be glad Tapendra even wore shoes some days.

They headed to the barn, Tapendra a couple of strides behind Ignan who led the way.

"Schlagenweit," Tapendra greeted Sasha, and Ignan nodded to the student rather than repeat his name as they appeared before each other.

"Good morning, Sirs." Sasha glanced over his shoulder to draw attention to another figure with him.

"This is Dreogan.  He's-" Schlagenweit hesitated, "I've been staying with him while they figure things out with where I'm supposed to go.  I - he wanted to tag along today."

Dreogan wore a wavering smile at Ignan and Tapendra throughout the introduction. He wiped his hands on his trousers before offering it to Tapendra. Ignan's eyes flicked between the student and the fourth party.

"You must be his astronomy teacher," Dreogan shook hands with Tapendra, Ignan noted the accent, and his mind ticked backwards through memories to place him. His immediate thought was that Johann had mentioned Dreogan, but he couldn't be absolutely sure. Johann mentioned a lot of people, Ignan didn't listen to everything.

"Sasha's told me you've been using Muggle science to explain magic!" Uh, not another one of those types, honestly they popped up everywhere. For all his acceptance of Tapendra and his ways, Ignan still found it very hard to deal with the concept of science.

"Good to meet you, sir,"

Pleasantries exchanged, Dreogan's attention politely turned to Ignan, who exchanged stiff handshakes with Sasha's guest.
"And you must be Professor Storm. Thank you for making it out here."

"Not at all, Schlagenweit makes his own arrangements with me, with all of us." Ignan maintained lingering eye contact with Dreogan, not entirely sure of his need to be present.

"I've put up some protective wards -- defenses against tracking and black ma-- Dark Arts," the third adult of the group stumbled over the phrasing. "and, if you've the time, I'd like to see what additional measures you're adding. . ."

"Mostly Muggle repelling for the statute. it depends whom you believe to be your foe, Sir, as to the wards you place." There was an uncomfortable pause as Ignan had implied that Dreogan and Sasha had need to hide from someone.

"Good idea to come as two, with this werewolf business," Tapendra followed up, oblivious, and Ignan lowered his gaze a moment, stepping away before looking up and glancing around their surroundings.

"Yes, absolutely, I've never heard of anything quite like it. . ." Dreogan agreed.

The memory of how the wolf had torn into Georg so easily tugged at Ignan's mind and he found it difficult to contribute readily to the conversation.
"Best tackled by a group." He finally chipped in, and looked to Sasha.
"We will need the space of the arena again, Schlagenweit to demonstrate concurrent casting techniques, though Professor Trishna is also here to speak with you on Astronomy. Though it could also be morbid curiosity at my wish to batter you with hexes while running quite literally from A to B."

The humour could have passed entirely unnoticed, given the absence of smirk on Professor Storm's face.
"Trishna, will the astronomy wait?" He turned to his colleague.

"Sirs," Sasha offered in returned greeting.  Professor Storm's quick glance between Sasha and Dreogan wasn't lost on the Ravenclaw and he offered an apologetic grimace.  So, word hadn't gotten to the Professors as to the change of plan.  Chances were, neither had the reasons for the changes. 

He watched as Dreogan exchanged greetings with Professor Trishna, unsurprised that his far dustier guardian would be intrigued by Professor Trishna.  It was quite apparent, as Sasha stood next to Dreogan, that the later hadn't quite mastered the art of cleaning a stable without transferring the moved debris to one's own clothes to the degree that the former had. 

A tinge of color rose in Sasha's cheeks and he shifted awkwardly in the wake of the far less warm greeting between Professor Storm and Dreogan.  "I'm-" he started to offer but quickly swallowed the apology when he remembered the instructions from last time.  Sasha glanced at Dreogan as the man inquired about the protections the professors were placing on the stables.  Storm's response had been distinctly vague and ... unsettling.  Sasha was fairly certain Dreogan had a very clear picture of who this 'foe' was.

Of course, after tomorrow they wouldn't matter all that much.  At least not here.  Sasha assumed there were already plans in place to transfer the protections here to his own home.  Perhaps Dreogan was doing some research. 

The subject turned towards the werewolf attacks and Sasha immediately noted the tension in Dreogan's features.  The topic alone would have made Sasha uncomfortable.  The obvious reminder of how his attempts to make things easier had backfired only compounded the issue. 

At least, as far as Sasha knew, both Dreogan and Akiva remained in the dark as to where Sasha had actually gone yesterday.  He wasn't confident either of them had bought his story of flooing down to the wizarding hospital in Munich but he was even more certain that, if they'd determined the truth, he'd have heard about it.  Kronos Malvivicus simply wasn't a topic most people around Sasha usually let slide.  He shifted, uneasily, again under Professor Storm's obvious glance in his direction and nodded in an unspoken agreement. 

Given the way introductions had gone, Sasha was visibly relieved when Professor Storm obviously steered them towards the lesson.  "Yes.  Of course, sir," Sasha offered as he shrugged his barn jacket from his shoulders and hung it on a hook outside of Wobias' stall before leading the way to the arena. 

"I can move those out of the way, if we need to," Sasha offered, gesturing to the two vertical jumps at the far end of the arena, left over from the previous nights' lessons.  "We can use the office for Astronomy, as well."

Tapendra shuffled his feet uncomfortably; Ignan was certainly in a good mood today. He sighed, quietly - this might be more awkward than he'd anticipated. Oh, well - hopefully hopeless optimism might do the trick. He settled for that, his smile unwavering and sunny.

"The office should do just fine," he said cheerfully as they got to the arena. "It's not too much - just some points that are difficult to explain via a letter..." Sasha had been doing well, anyway - he didn't think it'd take that long. He'd had the boy working on higher level stuff than the OWLs required without telling him; a little mean, perhaps, but it'd help when the OWLs rolled around.

"Ignan - do you need my help with the actual lesson?" He added, leaning on the railing of the arena. "If not, I can find something to do til you're done-" He glanced at Dreogan. "If you still need help in the barn or something...?"

"Not at all, Schlagenweit makes his own arrangements with me, with all of us."

The statement carried the air of an indictment--its assertiveness extended beyond Storm to Dreogan, in which Storm tried to outline Sasha's relationship to others as much as he did to himself. Dreogan resisted the instinctive, defensive impulse.  In his two years as a mediator and vocational peacemaker, he'd learned at least this skill. And he'd hoped he'd learned a little of people.  Storm's defense seemed a strong offense. While not entirely agreeing with this measure, Dreogan could appreciate it and the underlying goal. Each of Storm's responses were meant to drive him away or to -- but, inexplicably Dreogan got the distinct impression that Storm wished for him to apologize for something. 

Professor Trishna seemed discomfited; Sasha, as he often did, appeared uncertain of himself, and Storm, -- as comfortable and as sure of himself as he pleased. Dreogan felt sorry he'd given any sort of leeway in bothering to correct his terminologies at all.  Considering his company, he determined to minimize the effect.

And so, Dreogan considered with calculated placidity Storm's terse response: "Mostly Muggle repelling for the statute. it depends whom you believe to be your foe, Sir, as to the wards you place." His answer to this had no technical incongruities. It was perfectly agreeable, concise, and definite.

"Yes, that is the art in it," Dreogan input in firm agreement. If Storm had meant to drive at anything more telling, he would have to be disappointed.

For a boy so young, Sasha's list of "foes" was growing steadily; Dreogan suspected there may be some overlap, but between his recent kidnapping, his father's murder, and his involvement in the Grovernor's murder, no amount of prudence or precision could be unwarranted. The boy attracted death like sugar did honeybees.

But of all the foes, "Muggles" were not one of them. Dreogan wondered, for a moment, if this had been Storm's secondary -- perhaps tertiary -- meaning. Assomeone who wrote into the Daily Prophet regarding what he was now commonly calling "Muggle Affairs," Dreogan knew his ideas were neither wholly popular nor wholly private. 

But the air hung tensely about him -- both Sasha's enemies and Dreogan's championed causes laid open to comment with each passing moment. Dreogan, with a gracious nod towards Storm, provided an alternative quarry: "In fact, precision is one of the attributes which Defensive Magic and Divination have most in common--I find them interesting to use collaboratively." There. Let that be chased down and ripped to pieces. Dreogan didn't care; he'd heard it enough before.

The rigidity of Storm's proceedings left no room for question, and Dreogan had none for him. Were he a business associate -- someone with whom he would need dealings or information from, he might have resisted capitulation. However, Storm demanded to be in control of the situation, and to Dreogan's reckoning, this did not put his plans out any. Unperturbed, Dreogan continued to smile amiably.

"I've brought my work with me," he said, gesturing over to a forgotten and discarded satchel, "so I'll be over there." He had no inclination that he'd be needed -- it was merely a stage direction, as one was so often required to give upon exits. Professor Trishna seemed also to be seeking the same exit, but, looking towards too many directions seemed, as a consequence, directionless.

"I always need help in the barn," Dreogan laughed and looked to Sasha. "I'm rather directionless there, it seems. But with just the two of us, I'm afraid it'd be a case of blind leading blind." His gaze flickered to Storm as he spoke: "If Professor Storm doesn't require you, though, I wouldn't mind hearing your thoughts on an idea or two of mine."  For himself, Dreogan felt he could perform like this--confident, smiling--for as long as was needed, but was happy for the opportunity to step away for a time.

He sent a commiserating smile to Sasha, who did not have this option. He trusted Storm -- perhaps he didn't think him the softest touch, but this was perhaps constructive when trying best to simulate actual attacks.  Dreogan was aware that the present Hogwarts Staff had been known to show unwarranted force upon students -- including their Headmistress, who only last year had magically silenced Sasha -- but, if anything, Storm's persona of blunt force at least carried with it the requisite level of candidness to be wholly credible.

And if it was not, well, Dreogan would intervene.

"No, both of you to assist will be most useful considering the subject matter. Schlagenweit does not have the luxury of classmates to work on this technique, though I trust the two of you to ensure you match him, rather than the other way round - at least to begin with. None of us have the time to add to the workload at St Mungos."

His abrupt nature was intensified simply due to the fact he had an audience. Working with Sasha alone the previous occasion had gone well. Although they were a little uneasy given the fact they had never been alone for any length of time together, they had reached an understanding. Ignan didn't know anything of Dreogan really, and his suspicions about Sasha receiving tuition from someone who was appeasing his skills for reasons that were frowned upon by the local Ministry, made him particularly suspicious.

No, it would be very good to see what Dreogan got up to, and how he and Sasha interacted. Tappy would have his back... he looked to his colleague a moment, and hoped he would, considering what had occurred between them of late. He hoped that Tapendra hadn't instead decided that Ignan was not to be trusted. He wouldn't blame him for it, in honesty.

Taking charge, if they hadn't already seen that, Ignan turned to the other three, but looked to Sasha directly once they were within the arena.
"This is technically only part of your written examination, but was taught to your counterparts this week. One can always write far more intelligent and informed answers if one has performed the spells in question."

He explained to Sasha, and tried to ignore the query in his head that suggested he could speak particularly knowledgeable on certain other illegal curses having performed them. As he thought it, his gaze turned to Dreogan, rested there a moment and then back to Sasha.

"Concurrent spell casting is where two or more magicians cast the same spell at the same time towards the same target. This can be defensive, or offensive. The analogy I used to your classmates is for two people to be stood beside each other yelling the same thing - the volume overall increases. The spell patterns match - even if one is slightly weaker than the other, they combine to form one spell of greater strength."

Seeing that was understood, Ignan decided to skip ahead a little, rather than demonstrating levitation spells of desks as he had in the lesson for those a little slower on the uptake, they went straight in.

"Schlagenweit, use Protego Durus to defend yourself." Raising his wand, he tested Sasha's shield, which took a little more force than he had anticipated.

"Trishna, cast together Schlagenweit - speak together."

Sasha nodded, admittedly looking forward to whatever Professor Trishna had to go over with him.  Actually being in a real honest math class, where he had started out actually behind most of his classmates and in which he had a professor who'd made himself more than available to offer help outside of class - an offer Sasha had taken full advantage of -  had made this month an exceptionally productive one as far as his math skills went.  Each time he returned to the exercises Professor Trishna had sent, he found himself more and more capable of focusing on the concepts behind the math rather than the math itself.  And, he was thoroughly enjoying the challenge.

But, in the light of the tension in the group, Professor Trishna offered to help Dreogan in the barn.  Sasha met Dreogan's glance with an alarmed grimace and shook his head, though the gesture seemed unnecessary.  Dreogan had come to the conclusion on his own that Sasha had hoped he would.  It wasn't really a surprise; even if he hadn't known before, this morning had probably revealed to Dreogan how particular Sasha was with the way things were done in the barn.  Especially since only three of the resident horses were his - the rest belonged to the stable owners and other boarders.  "I'll - I'll have plenty of time to finish up with everything when we're done here," he reassured both of them.  "I'll be here all morning, packing.  It's fine." 

Sasha glanced between the three grown, fully-trained and capable adults and nodded in agreement when Professor Storm reminded them to match their efforts to Sasha.  He was, understandably, still somewhat stiff and sore though he was determined to not let that show if he could.  He couldn't, however, ignore the St. Mungo's comment.  He snorted a sardonic something that might have been a laugh as he cast Dreogan a slight grimace.  It had, after all, been less than 12 hours since he'd been there last.  He suspected St. Mungo's would consider locking him up if he were to show up, again, with a whole new crop of injuries. 

But, with his attention focused squarely on Sasha, Professor Storm pushed forward with the lesson.  Sasha nodded his head as Professor Storm explained the concurrent casting.  "So, like waves," he offered as an additional example, remembering the chapter on wave amplification from physics last year. 

With a nod, lifted his wand and blocked Ignan's first spell successfully.  He grinned, admittedly pleased at the performance (he was quickly growing more and more fond of his wand, despite it's disastrous origins).  And, if he could avoid falling flat on his face too many times, this time, he'd be quite pleased. 

"Alright," Sasha offered with a nod as he took a deep breath.  "I'm ready."  He lifted his wand, again, not entirely sure what to expect but ready to cast the shield.  He glanced between the two Professors, watching for any signs of incoming hexes. 

Tapendra looked to Dreogan and shrugged; he'd offered, at least, though Ignan and Sasha seemed to have over ruled it. He stepped into the arena, drawing his wand and coming to stand next to Sasha as Ignan instructed.

He looked at Ignan for a moment; sizing him up, and pondering for a just a moment how exactly Ignan intended to test the shield. Given who he was having cast with Sasha, he had a feeling it wasn't going to be easy to block whatever Ignan blasted them with. And honestly - as a point of pride - he'd rather not let the old man through it. Defense teacher and friend or not, he didn't really feel like being on the receiving end of another of Ignan's hexes.

That, and an annoyed and aggressive Ignan was probably a better lesson in defense than a simple and calm volley of spells. Even if it did tempt fate a bit.

"The incantation is Aegis," he told Sasha, raising his wand and waiting on the boy. "Ready? Good," he smiled quickly at Ignan. "Aegis!"

Dreogan halted his progress back towards the stable area at Ignan’s concise—and terse—“no.” Turning and regarding the man with passive attentiveness, he nodded at the man’s justification and returned back to where they had previously been conversing. Only Ignan was leading them to the arena. Hands in pockets, thumbing both the protective rune and the hamsa charm in his pocket, Dreogan grounded himself.

Work could wait, and so could conversation with Professor Trishna. He was doubtless more curious about this man than the man could be of him. Dreogan supposed, to nearly anyone, that he appeared the quiet academic. A diplomat: reticent to ruffle feathers, guarded in demeanor and words. And these assumptions would be right.

Dreogan himself didn’t seem to have evaded escape from Ignan Storm, but as of yet had escaped any real attention. Trishna having been assigned to partner work with Sasha—and Dreogan finding himself without appointment to a particular task—left him the idle observer.

He gave Sasha a broad, encouraging smile and a wink. From a natural sympathetic response, he hedged more closely to the two defenders as Ignan gave his instructions. Though, he supposed he might anticipate the time when Dreogan would be asked to be Ignan Storm’s partner.

Should that time come, it would be a moment of displayed weakness, he was sure. For all Dreogan was an accomplished defender, he had next to no skills on combative casting. A fact all too publicly demonstrated in the Hogsmeade duel with Terry Katsaros. Dreogan had considered the even frequently in the four months following and felt that if he had not divided his attentions in an attempt to destroy the man, that he might have kept the man off indefinitely. Without a doubt, long enough for reinforcements to arrive.

And so, the growing spark of paternal pride increased when Sasha’s shield—protego durus—withstood its purposes. Sasha was growing confident, bolder with this success. Which was, no doubt, a contributing factor to its effectiveness in the first place. This was the sort of magic Sasha ought to be using; not the Karathic ritual—the disturbingly violent and incriminatingly Middle Eastern spell he’d used on the home intruder.

Protego durus was a staple in the defensive canon. It was largely uninventive, but it was reliable. Predictable—and for that reason, easy to circumvent for the more creative duelers, like Katsaros—but a building block for more interesting casting later. A good first choice.

Which was why Dreogan raised an eyebrow as Tapendra Trishna deviated on the second round, instructing his partner in a low voice. Aegis—strong as well. Dreogan had used it himself on many occasions, but certainly not an instance of Trishna meeting Sasha’s skill.

He looked at Ignan, contemplating Trishna’s motives in disregarding Ignan’s instruction. They were equals, yes, but it was Ignan’s class. A rivalry, perhaps. Or . . . something else.

As the casting took place, Dreogan decided that, yes, in all likeliness it was expected of him to pair up in some fashion with Ignan Storm and so, crossing once more over to the man, he pulled out his wand, looking at the man expectantly.

Professor Storm had meant for both Schlagenweit and Tappy to cast Protego Durus together, but instead Trishna had to switch it to Aegis.

"That was not the same shield." He stated firmly "The purpose of the exercise was comparison rather than extending Schlagenweit's shield repertoire." The second part was directed completely at Tapendra.

"The original spell." He stated with his authoritative tone, aware Dreogan had joined them a little closer.

"Concurrent casting improves the strength, breadth or coverage of the spell, the curse had far less impact on either of you together. Had you been casting two different shields - you would have unpredictable results, either conflicting shields deflection or the curse could force the two defending parties apart." He turned to Dreogan, "We shall be the defending party - first against Schlagenweit alone, and then Tapendra with him." He turned back to Tappy and Sasha and looked pointedly at Tappy.

"Match Schlagenweit, don't exceed him." His eyes slid momentarily to give a sidelong look to Dreogan. "I will attempt to match you, probably safer." He explained - meaning it politely, but undoubtedly it came across arrogantly.

Raising wands, they cast.

"Quite clear?" Storm asked Schlagenweit following the reciprocal demonstration. "Now, if Dreogan and I were to cast two different shields against your combined attack…" The Defences Professor looked to Dreogan. "But not the original, if you please." He would see what Schlagenweit's new guardian picked, whether safe or something a little exotic. It might be telling.