Manerii Solis Orientis
Sunset

It was a rather nice evening at Manerii Solis Orientis, and Ventus stood on the balcony watching as the last rays of light slipped behind he horizon. With small downward glance at the pocket watch in his hand, he noted the time. Certainly today was the longest day of the year.

With a small click, the closed the watch and slipped it back into the breast pocket of his black vest. Wordlessly, he turned and stepped back into the parlor of his beloved estate. It was quite dark, now that the sun had departed, and with the flick of his wrist Ventus ignited the large fireplace. With that done, he summoned a book from the shelf, and promptly sat in a plush leather chair.

He wondered idly as he read how long he would be kept waiting. After all Ventus was a rather busy person. Ah well, one must make sacrifices for the sake of knowledge. And after all, he had all night to wait for his delivery. It was only his impatience, his desire to push forward with experiments that made him wish they'd hurry themselves up. Ventus gave a small sigh and irritably flipped the page of his book.

Tick, tock.

Some distance from the door a boy was recovering from Apparation via elf.

Really, this all wasn't necessary. The delivery could be made simply with the elves, like left on his doorstep. But Casey had volunteered to oversee the parcel. Not to apologize for the lateness even though it was an effect to his cause; upon hearing of the Hands of Glory commission, Casey had fudged the order to ensure one for himself. He knew what it was capable of though robbery was an unneeded pursuit for the ludicrously wealthy. But undetectable light in the darkness was a very useful tool. So Casey could see keeping one Hand, maybe a backup if the first was confiscated.

Why on earth would anyone want five?

Curiosity was the nature of this visit. Casey ordered Dingy to remain out of the way. With the parcel containing the remaining Hands of Glory from the deal, he rang the doorbell.

Ventus twitched slightly as he heard the doorbell. It was understood by him that they would be sending their elf with the package. And houselves didn't ring doorbells. However, due to the timing he figured it was still likely to be someone from the O'Doherty's, so Ventus simply marked his spot, set down his book, and headed down the stairs.

From the top of the landing he spotted Jordan already at the door, wearing a very lovely evening gown. Even to a cold heart like Ventus, she still radiated enough heat to cause him to smile as he reached the foot of the stairs. Hearing his approach, she turned, smiling, to him.

"I do believe this young man has something for you, dear," Jordan said happily, gesturing to the incredibly small child Ventus now saw at his doorstep. "I'll put on a kettle of tea," added still cheery, and seemingly floated out of the room. It never ceased to amaze him how happy she was all the time.

"You must be from the O'Doherty's then?" Ventus asked, doing his best to keep his voice even. Did they really send their youngest spawn to deliver such items? He wondered, if only for a second, how he had managed to get to his home. But then his eyes drifted enough to the elf that stood nearby and it became clear.

"Please," Ventus said, remembering his manners. "Come in and have a seat in the living room," he took a step back and ushered the boy and the elf inside, closing and bolting the door behind him.

Casey had smiled politely at the woman of the house, then Ventus Shang himself appeared. "Yes, I am Casey O'Doherty."

"Thank you," said Casey, entering. As Dingy was expected to enter too, the elf did his best to stand off to the side and be unnoticed, clutching his pot in security. Casey skimmed the design of the manor as he was lead to the living room. Stylish, it fit together rather then the eclectic mix of home decor at Doherty Manor.

Casey took a seat on a sofa and placed the package on the coffee table. "The remaining items you requested, as promised."

"Marvelous," Ventus said clapping his hands together. "Simply marvelous." He could already see it now. With six hands of glory he could raise six different corpses at the same time, even if they were slightly useless. At least that was the theory, and that theory worked well with raising two bodies at once.

But even better, was the idea that had stirred him to order five more in the first place. Ventus couldn't help but wonder what would happen if he used six of the hands in a single resurrection, replacing the candles at each point with on hand, and using the sixth like he had been. The potential of what could happen made him shake with excitement.

Just as Ventus reached out a hand for the package, Jordan returned and set two cups of tea before them, along with the kettle. With a smile she kissed Ventus on the cheek and then glided out of the room.

He could barely suppress a smile as he once again addressed the boy. "I take it you had no trouble, ahem, acquiring such objects?" Ventus asked, hoping they had enough sense to go about business as discretely as possible.He figured they would, but one could never be sure.

"I must confess," he continued casually. "That I was rather surprised to see them send one of their young for the delivery. I had expected an elf," Ventus's eyes shifted to the one the boy had brought with him for a moment, " to have been the courier."

Casey took the time to scrutinize the man. He carried himself well, dressed immaculately, but a certain bit seemed to be for show. He must be heavily occupied with his...divertissement, whatever needed so many rare artifacts.

Casey smiled benignly at the question. "Driving the commission was not a problem. Several prisoners at Azkaban had reached the end of their life sentences. My father was able to secure the cadavers from his Wizengamott contacts. Then it was a simple matter of paying the workers." Who would miss criminals slated to be executed?

For the latter question, Casey's smile strained a little harder. "Yes, the elves are useful things. We determined a live meeting would be useful, good faith that there are actual people on the other end of the money and letters, should we do business in the future. Someday I may step into the role of the O'Doherty patriarch, so it is good practice to familiarize with the duties now."

"Besides," Casey paused to sip tea. "Given the nature of the venture, a boy is naturally curious as to the full intent of such an unusual package."

"Naturally," Ventus replied, also taking a sip of the tea. It was quite good really. Jordan always had this knack of making it so it was the perfect temperature and sweetness for everyone. Which was interesting because people generally had different tastes. But for some reason it was as if she instantly knew exactly how a person would like it just by meeting them.

"Unfortunately," Ventus continued, setting his cup back down. "I can not reveal the true purpose. I can, however, tell you that if the theory holds, they will help with a great break through in magic." He gave a slightly wicked smile as he thought of this. "It is not something any ordinary wizard could accomplish, I assure you."

"I takes one of power to control forces such as these," Ventus tilted his head slightly. "But perhaps you have the potential."

For research, then. The kind of research into magic most people didn't trust if he was looking for underworld financial banking and apparently his personal project. If he was with the Ministry's Mystery Department he probably wouldn't need these resources.

"Not that you wanted to reveal your purpose," Casey scoffed, "so I can't be interested but I'm sure I could attempt your little excursion. I can perform spells above the third year level." Another sip of tea. Tea was a marvelous beverage, herbs and flavors in hot water, nothing to trigger any of his food allergies.

Ventus did a very good job containing himself at the child's words. As if casting spells above the third year level was impressive. Perhaps if this was a child only a few months into their wizarding career. But it seemed likely that this was a boy who recently finished his third year. In which case Ventus should hope he could perform more advanced magic. After all. He himself was able to rival seventh years by his third year.

But playing it cool, Ventus merely smiled and took another sip of his tea. "Well, my dear boy," he said calmly, holding the cup lightly in front of him. "Would you really expect one to reveal the nature of research in fields that are frowned upon, and considered questionable morally?" Ventus felt his smile turn slightly more wicked.

"But still, perhaps a hint," as if five hands of glory wasn't obvious enough. "Think of a ritual that requires five points. Then consider what use the severed hand of a criminal would be in such a ritual." Honestly if the boy couldn't figure this out, Ventus didn't see the use in explaining further. The mind would probably be too feeble to control such a casting; leading to an untimely death.

A ritual requiring five points? That spoke of alchemy and related old techniques. No wonder Mr. Shang wasn't wanting his research public. The old ways could easily go wrong. But why focus with five Hands of Glory? Casey liked the utility of undetectable light but he and Mr. Shang were similar: they didn't need to use the Hands for the most associated use, for stealing, being rather well off in finance. And five, that was the puzzle. He couldn't be selling them out on his own, artifacts so rare they could only be made when you had a dead criminal...

No... "Surely not, Mr. Shang. A conduit of the recently departed? One of the more obscure attempts at immortality?"

Ventus gave a twisted sort of smile. The boy was at least clever, even if he did have to have the clues waved in front of his face. "Is that your conclusion?" he asked slyly. A part of him wanted to comment on the foolish mention of immortality. For in truth, humans were already immortal in their own ways. The soul continued unless certain circumstances removed it, even after the death of your original body. And even if that wasn't true, you still existed in records, in memories.

But the fact of the matter was everyone wanted to keep their body forever, and that simply wasn't possible. And, at least in theory, it seemed that they only way to continue forever was to sever your soul from any physical form, only possessing a host body when needed. And at this time Ventus was unsure whether or not it could be done on a living body.

"Assuming that is what I'm doing," Ventus continued calmly. "I still stand by my prior statement that you couldn't handle it," he gave a slight condescending sort of shrug.   

"I pray you find," Casey began, "that you may think I may not be able to handle it only because of lack of information and interest into the field. I assure you, my actual willpower for spall casting is able to overcome the rigors of any spell."

Casey placed the tea on the coffee table. "But perhaps a demonstration would better impress you?" Casey's mind ran through a gauntlet of spells he had picked up from advanced texts and honed in personal practice. Something impressive, spells not usually handled until NEWT level. If Casey had attempted casting a Patronous beforehand that might have worked, but he wasn't going to attempt it without prior experience nor the knowledge of what form his Patronous took. His attempts with Memory Extraction, preparing for Occlumency training with a purchased Pensieve and getting a feel for the manipulation of memories was suitably advanced for an almost fourth year, but not a skill he was ready to divulge. Plus, he had yet to cleanly extract memories, leaving him with lingering headaches. Damaging magic, curses hexes or jinxes, would also be impressive, taking care on which ones to perform in front of Mr. Shang so he couldn't take legal action.

And then Casey thought of something, a hex simple in intent but tricky to master and non-lethal so it wouldn't break any laws. It was often overlooked as a hex because of its medical versatility.

"Laxus!" Casey performed the Dead Limb 'Hex' on Mr. Shang himself, concentrating on his legs an arm. He noticed a slight depression in the targeted limbs. As a bonus this would effectively pin Mr. Shang to his seat.

A rather cruel eyebrow lifted on Ventus's face. Did the child honestly intend to hex him? In his own house? Such audacity in youth these days. Not to mention a foolish gesture. Ventus could easily perform wordless magic, he did so much of it daily without even thinking about it. The fact that this boy thought he would be able to get a spell cast off before he himself could was laughable. But then again, Ventus was idly curious if the child had any bite.

So he merely sat there as the spell was cast.

Well on the plus, Ventus did feel something as the spell contacted him. On that down side all he felt was a slight numbness in his limbs. And as he had performed that particular charm multiple times in his life, all it did was bring a malicious smile to his pointed face.

"Interesting choice," Ventus drawled, as he stood just to show he still could. "Most people would try a Patronus, because one with a corporeal form at your age would be impressive, but..." he crossed his arms, and sat back down. "That certainly was anti-climactic."

Casey's eyes made a lap of the floor and ceiling. "Yes, a patronous would be impressive, though I admit it has been placed lower on my list of priority spells to learn." He didn't imagine running into a Dementor or a Lethifold at school. "Not everyone can have a deer burst out of them when it's convenient. I'll take that as a request, though, the next spell I tackle."

What would his patronous be? Casey hoped it was something fierce, magical and powerful. Maybe a manticore, or an acromantula. Magical species were rarely seen as a patronous, it owed to the caster's immense ability.

"As for feeling anti-climatic, sometimes the better show is control and precision rather than grandeur." Even as he said it the words felt metallic in his mouth, hard to form. If he really wanted to parade skill, he could always blow up Mr. Shang's greenhouse, or garden shed if he didn't have one. It was a bitter lesson to swallow, but time away from school allowed him to reflect how haphazardly he had finished his finals.

Ventus gave the boy a wry smile as the boy attempted to explain why his spell was so weak. It was cute, in away. But then excuses generally were. Normally Ventus wouldn't be surprised that a child could not perform such a complex spell; it was only the fact that this one seemed to think Necromancy was easy that made him want the boy to prove himself.

"Expecto Patronum," Ventus muttered, pointing his wand to the side as a silvery cobra the size of an anaconda burst from the wand and coiled itself up, hood back next to the coffee table. He gave the patronus a slight smile before once more addressing the boy. "True enough, precision is often more impressive than flamboyance, however," Ventus lifted his left arm and wiggled his fingers. "Generally that's only if it works." With another wicked grin Ventus watched as the snake bowed its head and disappeared. "And let's be realistic, patronus' are fun."

Smiling to himself he lifted his cup of tea and took a rather long sip from it before standing. "But if you're so interested," Ventus said calmly, raising a hand and examining his fingernails. "I could perhaps give you an idea as to what sort of powers are dealt with. What kind of control is needed."